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Geckonia chazalia - Helmeted Gecko
Introduction (click on pictures below for larger view)
Geckonia chazalia get their common name, "helmeted gecko", from the row of enlarged scales lining the back of the head. This gives the appearance of a "helmet". They are a small, but sturdily built terrestrial gecko, with the females being noticeably larger and heavier bodied than the males. I have kept this species for several years and enjoy them immensely. They are fearless little geckos that have learned to associate my presence with food. When I enter the room, they come out and pace along the front of their tanks, waiting for handouts. I find them to be very vocal geckos, with lots of quiet little "chirps" and "grunts" whenever they are active. Their helmeted heads may appear to give them a constantly angry or stern expression, but I find them highly personable and entertaining.
Helmeted geckos are found in a fairly narrow strip along the Northwest coast of Africa, primarily in the arid, rocky deserts of Morocco. In their native habitat, these geckos are usually found under rocks or other debris during the day that creates a slightly cooler and more moist microclimate. Rainfall is quite rare, but the areas in which these geckos are most commonly found receive heavy fogs which roll in off the ocean. This is the primary source of moisture that life in this desert relies on.
These are hardy little geckos that will thrive if given the proper care. Like most geckos, they require a temperature gradient which allows them to choose a location with a temperature to their liking. I use an undertank heater which creates a warm end of approximately 85º F. The cool end is room temperature and ranges from 68º - 75º. I allow a slight night time drop. A 10 gallon tank can easily house a pair or a trio of these small geckos. I have witnessed little or no aggression among members of this species, although I have never tried to keep more than one male in an enclosure. I use a substrate sand for adults and paper towel for new hatchlings. Some keepers feel that UV light may be beneficial for this species, especially for babies. I have raised all of my animals without UV and have had no problems.
When I first acquired this species I was told that hydration was the key, and I have found this to be true. Even though they come from a desert environment, the moist fog which is a regular occurrence in their habitat creates a more humid condition than one might at first think. I give my helmeted geckos a light misting daily, and give the cool end of their enclosure a heavier misting approximately once a week so that the lower layers of the substrate retain some moisture.
These geckos are active and aggressive feeders. I am often surprised by how much they eat for their size in comparison to some of my other geckos. They are not shy about feeding and soon start to associate my presence with feeding time. They aggressively chase and consume prey as soon as it is place in their tank. I feed them lateralis roaches, small crickets, and mealworms (sparingly). I dust insects at every feeding with Repashy Calcium Plus. It is also important that breeding females are offered food often and have access to extra calcium as they are prolific egg layers and may have health problems if they aren't fed and supplemented properly.
I have found my females to be prolific egg layers. Even before I had any males to go with my 3 females, they began to lay eggs like clockwork. I must have thrown away at least a couple dozen eggs before I was able to locate a male to add to the group. Once the male was added to the group in 2008, I began to get some eggs that were fertile. I had some issues with incubation and had a number of eggs that went bad late in the developmental process, as well as a couple of newborn hatchlings that failed to thrive and died soon after hatching. I made some changes to my incubation methods, and late in the season had some success in producing my first CB babies. I have put my breeding groups together and have begun to get eggs in 2009. I have high hopes that I will produce a nice number of CB helmeted babies in 2009. | <urn:uuid:e1b67504-98ac-404c-811b-bdc3f263c332> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ridgeandvalleyreptiles.com/geckonia-chazalia.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.978403 | 909 | 2.78125 | 3 |
This is Detroit, see the skyline
A commotion on the assembly line
Raise a glass to the Ambassador
As she’s moving you to the dance floor
— Detroit ’67, The Sam Roberts Band
DETROIT — Sam Roberts has never gotten over a sight familiar to anyone who has ever crossed the Ambassador Bridge over the Detroit River: the expansive view, at the crest of the bridge, of the Detroit skyline below.
That image, and the events of 1967, were the inspiration for “Detroit ’67,” a song by his eponymous Montreal-based band that was released in Canada last year. Not surprisingly, the song is getting extensive air play in the Detroit area and is about to become the group’s new American single.
“Detroit ’67″ comes at a time when the city, and the problems faced by the auto industry, have inspired a number of entertainers.
The country singer John Rich has found his own hit song in ‘Shuttin’ Detroit Down,’ while NBC’s Jay Leno played two free shows at the Palace of Auburn Hills, Mich., that were meant for an audience of unemployed workers (although tickets were free to anyone who requested them.)
Mr. Roberts, 34, has a long history with Detroit, which he first glimpsed during the 1970s from the back seat of his parents’ Chevrolet Malibu station wagon. The Roberts family made frequent and lengthy car trips south from Montreal to Muncie, Ind., to visit his aunt, Denise Doz, crossing into Detroit from Windsor, Ontario. For Mr. Roberts, every arrival in the United States was notable.
“You’re sharing the same air, and all of a sudden, there’s a difference,” said Mr. Roberts by telephone from his Montreal home. “As a kid, growing up in Canada, it was not lost on me.”
Those trips began Mr. Roberts’s lifelong interest in automobiles. “I loved cars, and I loved the Ford Mustang most of all,” he said, especially the 1966 GT hardtop. “That, to me, was a car.”
Indeed, the era depicted in the song was no accident. Mr. Roberts, a graduate of McGill University with a degree in English literature, specifically wanted to pay homage to a time when Detroit was at its economic and musical peak, but also suffered one of its deepest crises, namely the 1967 riots.
The song features a catchy piano riff Mr. Roberts said is meant to reflect Motown songs of the time (think “Bernadette” by the Four Tops or “Honey Chile” by Martha Reeves and the Vandellas.) The lyrics include references to the Ambassador Bridge; the Teamsters president, James R. Hoffa; and Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac, the founder of Detroit.
They also mention the five-day chaos that began on 12th Street and led to the deaths of 43 people, the destruction of more than 2,000 buildings and more than 7,200 arrests. The riots prompted many residents, white and black, to eventually flee the city for the suburbs.
“You have that social tension and incredible creativity feeding off each other,” Mr. Roberts said.
The Sam Roberts Band recorded the song in one take, Mr. Roberts said, and decided to make it the last cut on its album, “Love at the End of the World,” which was released last summer. He then moved on to the video, setting out, with its director David Pawsey, to find footage of the city in 1967.
The video opens with film of Jerome P. Cavanagh, then Detroit’s mayor, and moves through shots of General Motors’ former headquarters on West Grand Boulevard, the Uniroyal tire plant on Jefferson Avenue, auto show displays, picket lines, the city’s bustling downtown and Metropolitan Beach, a popular park. Interspersed is contemporary video, shot in September, of Mr. Roberts and his bandmate Dave Nugent (no relation to Ted), strolling through empty city streets and through abandoned neighborhoods.
A good portion of the video takes place in a bar — shot in Montreal — where Mr. Roberts, his band, friends and parents gather around a piano. There also are signs for Detroit streets, such as St. Antoine and Beaubien, that are the same as those in Mr. Roberts’s hometown, a deliberate effort to link the two cities, he said.
The “Detroit ’67″ video ends with scenes of the Detroit riots, a somber note for what is otherwise a lively song. Mr. Roberts said he wanted to show that Detroit, despite all its travails, would find a way to stage a comeback. “To me, the song is a celebration of the city. It’s an acknowledgment that any town goes through good times and bad times,” he said.
Mr. Roberts added: “It’s like after a forest fire. You can look around and see destruction, but the seeds will sprout.”
In the meantime, his band has been adopted by Detroit and Windsor as something of a mascot. The group has played three events over the past few months to packed houses, thanks in part to the backing of 93.9 FM The River, a Windsor rock station with a broad Detroit audience. (The band’s most recent concert, at St. Andrew’s Hall in downtown Detroit, attracted Kid Rock, a local resident.)
The station plucked “Detroit ’67″ off the group’s album last summer, even before it was released as a single in Canada, and has had it in “power rotation” ever since, meaning it is played several times a week, said Matt Franklin, the station’s program manager and midday disc jockey.
Said Mr. Franklin, known as Phat Matt on the radio: “It’s a real phenomenon — a guy from Montreal who’s been able to write a song that’s so descriptive of this town.” | <urn:uuid:5fcab259-9a9f-47e2-b5e9-e2777d120c24> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://wheels.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/04/08/motown-circa-1967-inspires-a-canadian-band/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00071-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96882 | 1,298 | 1.609375 | 2 |
These days, students come from all walks of life and enter college for a variety of reasons, and with a variety of expectations. Many of these students are acutely aware of the affect collegiate life will have on future career options, and use their college experiences to discover and refine a career path that will satisfy them. Other students are in the midst of their careers and either want to change career paths or are looking for job training to advance their careers.
Career planning is a valuable exercise for any of these students.
A good starting point in deciding what course of collegiate study would best prepare you for a career is to analyze very thoughtfully what particular skills are strengths for you. In general, are you adept at working with people, or numbers, or the written word, and so forth? What subjects in high school or activities since graduating have had the most appeal for you? You should make a list of the activities you enjoy and the subjects you like to read about or discuss.
Another valuable career planning activity is to read up on career information. Research careers that you are interested in and that would utilize your strengths. What type of education is required to get into the field? Do you need a graduate degree? Will you need to pursue a long internship or residency program? Are you willing to spend the time it takes to fulfill these requirements?
Remember, you don't have to have all the answers, but if you have an idea in mind, it can only help you. With possible careers in mind, you can research the college majors that are relevant. You can determine what colleges offer strong programs in your chosen majors, or if a career college would be a good option. | <urn:uuid:e2ad8169-48d0-448e-ad21-efc500136d25> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.petersons.com/~/~/~/link.aspx?_id=D96F50E5B7054A2DBB0ACA230416B169&_z=z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976832 | 338 | 2.65625 | 3 |
Restore money for neighborhoods
A few months ago, the Wichita City Council voted 4-3 to take $50,000 from the neighborhood cleanup fund. This money was to be used to fund cleanups in any neighborhood of the city that organized a project and brought out volunteers to work within the neighborhood.
Two or three cleanups happen all over the city each Saturday from April through October. Hundreds of tons of trash, furniture, brush, tires, appliances, etc., are removed and the city improved. Removal of this material reduces breeding areas for insects and rodents and safety and fire hazards, and it helps to keep or improve property values for all citizens, even if they do not directly participate.
That $50,000 translates to about 13.1 cents per citizen.
The money taken from this activity was combined with funds taken from other sources and reallocated to fund a bus route faced with shutdown. Though I support having a good public transportation system, the route in question has fewer than 100 users.
The proposed replacement program for cleanups is a logistical nightmare. It will be fiscally impossible for neighborhoods to fund and will result in the destruction of a program that has benefited the city for more than 20 years.
Are there four City Council members who think Wichita citizens are worth 13.1 cents each? Restore the cleanup funding.
Sunflower Neighborhood and Business Association
Renew tax credit
A letter from the Kansas state director of Americans for Prosperity was a direct attack on my job, hundreds of others in Kansas, and tens of thousands across the United States (“Let credit expire,” Oct. 4 Letters to the Editor).
Wind power and the wind production tax credit (PTC) have kick-started an economy-boosting and job-building industry in Kansas. Because of increased wind-power production, nearly 500 American manufacturing plants build wind components, towers and blades.
Also thanks to the PTC’s success, the equivalent number of homes that Kansas wind farms now power is more than 430,000. Also, wind power’s costs have declined 90 percent since the 1980s, with improved technology and U.S.-based manufacturing making it competitive with other energy sources. Instead of losing jobs overseas, wind power is behind a boom in generating jobs in Kansas and other states.
That means we not only are saving money but also are running our homes on a clean, renewable and domestic energy supply that will keep the lights on for years to come.
I used to be a mechanical assembler at Siemens’ Hutchinson plant. I welcome wind power in Kansas and strongly support the renewal of the wind PTC.
Truth takes hit
The lies and half-truths fly between candidates – and they get away with it. For example, Mitt Romney has distorted President Obama’s record on welfare and immigration, while Obama has misrepresented Romney’s record on immigration and abortion.
They get away with it because we voters want to believe that our party’s nominee always tells the truth and the opposition lies through his teeth. We want to believe in the candidate who seems to hold the same views of the world that we do.
To remain in a comfort zone, we go to the political programs on TV or radio that seem to espouse the same values we do. Some of us get our “news” from talking heads on Fox News, and some of us get the whole “truth” from MSNBC.
Competent fact-check organizations have not been really successful in weeding out falsehoods, because so many people don’t want to believe what the fact-checkers discover about their truth-distorting candidate. When a political adviser announces, “We’re not going to let our campaign be dictated by fact-checkers,” we should know that truth will take a real hit – and so will we.
Our market economy grows when spending grows. Consumer spending accounts for about 70 percent of the economy. Yet the bulk of the tax cuts passed by our Republican leaders in the state government are going to businesses. It would have been smarter to give the bulk of the tax breaks to the 70 percent.
The Republican ideology has it wrong. Businesses are not the job creators. They hire in reaction to the increased demand for their goods and services. The real job creators are the American consumers. When consumers buy more, businesses hire more. Why would a business hire more employees when it doesn’t have the need for new employees?
Put health first
As a mom of three great kids, I am stunned by all the debate surrounding the issue of fluoridating Wichita’s water. The health of my children is my top priority, and fluoride has been proved again and again to be safe and effective in the fight against tooth decay.
I will, of course, take other steps to ensure my children have good oral health, such as teaching them how to brush properly and getting them to the dentist on a regular basis. But drinking fluoridated water just adds another layer of protection. Studies show dramatically reduced rates of decay in kids who live in towns with fluoridated water. Why haven’t we taken this step for our children here in Wichita?
Why is Wichita the last city of its size in the United States to not sign onto this?
If fluoridation is good enough for the American Dental Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, then it’s good enough for me.
I think it is time that Wichita put the health of its children first.
Good oral health is safely accomplished using a natural product named xylitol instead of a fluoride by-product of the phosphate fertilizer industry.
Xylitol was discovered during World War II in Finland when there were sugar shortages. The Finnish researched it for 30 years. They discovered that xylitol reduces cavities, remineralizes teeth, reduces ear infections, promotes healthy gums, increases saliva in dry-mouth sufferers, and is safe for diabetics.
As an elementary teacher concerned about children’s teeth, I co-designed the xylitol project in 2000 at Stanley Elementary School with Wichita physician Phil Allen and his wife, June. Our project entailed giving my students and two other classes a piece of xylitol gum and mint every day for the entire school year. The Allens provided the xylitol. The project was approved by the school principal, the district’s director of health and all parents. Our results clearly supported research findings of the Finnish. The xylitol project was in place five years until I retired.
Xylitol is safe, has many health benefits beyond healthy teeth, and is far more cost-effective and physically safer than fluoridating in Wichita’s water. It is used worldwide. Health food stores carry xylitol.
Many times in the past we have heard about terrible cases of child abuse in our community. Sometimes death is the result. Sometimes people go to prison and sometimes not. This is a huge load for our community to bear.
The results are depressing for our city, especially when the surviving victims grow up with serious problems. An abuse victim often doesn’t do well in school.
We urge our community’s citizens to have the courage to quickly report any abuse you observe or hear. The signs often are obvious. Call the police right away or call the social services.
Let’s not let this problem become a blight. There is too much pain for our precious, vulnerable little children.
STAN and KAY PETERSON | <urn:uuid:a48e682b-f4a9-497b-88f4-7f5cb0d01418> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.kansas.com/2012/10/14/2530169/letters-to-the-editor-on-neighborhood.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954475 | 1,568 | 1.695313 | 2 |
In this country there is no better place to find the preservation of the old Spanish ways than New Mexico, as this state is well known for having been isolated hundreds of years by vast rugged distances and warring Indians.
So well preserved are the origins of the American West that even the 15th century "foundation" livestock scarcely available in other parts of the world thrive in New Mexico. You can still find descendants of the rugged, enduring, power house-in-a-small-package Spanish Barb horses, Churra sheep, and Corriente cattle. You can hear cowboy history in the old, spoken Spanish. Although these old vaqueros are increasingly hard to find, there remain a few smaller than average, more rugged than average Onate colony decendents who will speak to you in the 15th century Spanish of the conquistadores preserved through fifteen generations of oral tradition.
Happily, to this day, the romance of wide open western spaces lives on in New Mexico. The Spanish caballero, already sporting a legacy of proud horsemanship even before Columbus' arrival in North America, saw the first rodeos whenever young vaqueros had some free time, an opportunity to turn work into play, and to show off their skills.
The first American Rodeos which took place in the early 1600's were conducted by the first American cowboys, the Spanish vaqueros. Two hundred twenty three years before the first easterners arrived in Texas to learn the art of cowboying the vaquero was already a folk hero in New Mexico. He had come to be known as a horseman of great skill and bravery. He was a solid comrade with his fellow vaqueros and a die-hard loyalist to his ranch and it's brand. He was looked up to by wranglers as a man who could rope anything that moved and ride anything that bucked. He could successfully do just about anything from a saddle. During the time of these first rodeos standardized rules and point systems were developed to determine who would win the vaquero competitions. "Jueces de campo," or rodeo judges presided over the rodeos to settle ownership disputes and assure that stock were branded correctly. Generally the vaqueros tended the stock on the open range until it was time to sell, brand, or butcher the animals. Anyone of these events required a rounding up of the animals - "al rodear." This was called a rodeo.
The killing (butchering) of an animal which frequently accompanied a rodeo was called a "matanza." The first recorded references to a Rodeo in the official republic of the United States are made in old New Mexico family journals.
As matanza researcher Cynthia Martin explains “A traditional Matanza is a family and community-gathering event, with friends and neighbors helping in the labor-intensive job of processing a large pig, goat or sheep”.
“Taking at least an entire day, the process goes from the slaughtering the animal and butchering the meat to cooking the various meat products and preparing what is left for distribution and storage. Of course all those helpers also need to be fed, so the women in the family plan and prepare large amounts of food for the event.”
Today some Matanza celebrations are coming back. They are more in the tradition of Home cooking, Family and friends in the 21st century.
Historically the celebration was done in the winter to prevent spoilage and so the tradition is carried on in the winter today too.
The Hispano Chamber of Commerce in Valencia County New Mexico have begun the tradition again and made it into a fund raising event. Teams compete each year for prizes in the butchering slaughtering and preparation of traditional matanza foods.
Information taken from the work
COWBOYS - VAQUEROS
Origins of the First American Cowboys
By Donald Gilbert Y Chavez
“Come and Get It: Matanza Celebrates Home-Cooking, Family, Friends”
By Cynthia Martin
New Mexico Magazine, January 2004 | <urn:uuid:86ba25b8-09da-4167-a6b2-683a69ea2c04> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.thesantafesite.com/articles-database/Matanza---A-New-Mexico-Celebration.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966615 | 834 | 2.875 | 3 |
What is a Doctor?
Doctors can be found in several settings, including public health organizations, teaching facilities, private practices, group practices and hospitals. Medical Doctors maintain or restore human health through the practice of medicine, which is the diagnosis and treatment for human disease, ailments, injuries, pain or other conditions.
es interesante pero no me agrada mucho la idea de ser doctor
What does a Doctor do?
Not all Doctors do the same thing everyday. Doctor's schedules differ depending on the kind of medicine they practice. Some doctors work in an office, others in the hospital, and some in places you might not think of, like laboratories where they develop new medicines and research cures.
Most doctors work very long hours and have to be available for emergencies. These hours are typically spent seeing patients in an office-based setting, running tests as well as interpreting them, prescribing medicine or treatments, doing rounds in the hospital, making notes on patient's physical conditions, advising patients on how to stay healthy and talking to them about further treatment. They keep up to date by taking classes and regularly reading books and medical journals.
Surgeons will usually work two or three full days in the hospital operating room performing surgeries.
Doctors will also invest time completing administrative duties such as updating patient records, returning phone calls or dealing with various office issues.
Types Of Doctors:
Audiologist - Ear Specialist
Allergist - Allergy Specialist
Andrologist - Male Reproductive System Specialist
Anesthesiologist - Anesthesia Specialist
Cardiologist - Heart Specialist
Dentist - Dental Specialist
Dermatologist - Skin Specialist
Endocrinologist - Hormone Specialist
Epidemiologist - Disease Specialist
Family Practician - General Physician
Gastroenterologist - Digestive System Specialist
Gynecologist - Female Reproductive Specialist
Hematologist - Blood Specialist
Hepatologist - Liver Specialist
Immunologist - Immune System Specialist
Infectious Disease Specialist
Internal Medicine Specialist
Internists - Adult Disease Specialist
Medical Geneticist - Genetic Disease Specialist
Microbiologist - Infectious Disease Specialist
Neonatologist - Premature & Critically Ill Newborn Specialist
Nephrologist - Kidney Specialist
Neurologist - Brain Specialist
Neurosurgeon - Nervous System Surgeon
Obstetrician - Childbirth & Gynecological Specialist
Oncologist - Cancer Specialist
Ophthalmologist - Eye Specialist
Orthopedic Surgeon - Skeletal (Bone) Specialist
ENT Specialist - Ear, Nose And Throat
Perinatologist - High Risk Pregnancy Specialist
Paleopathologist - Ancient Disease Specialist
Parasitologist - Parasite Specialist
Pathologist - Performs Autopsies And Are Living Organism Abnormality Specialists
Pathologist (Forensic) - Help Police & FBI Solve Crimes
Pediatrician - Treats Medical Problems Of Infants, Children And Adolescents
Physiologist - Physiology Specialist (Life Science Doctor)
Physiatrist - Medicine & Rehabilitation Specialist
Plastic Surgeon - Cosmetic & Structural Surgeon
Podiatrist - Foot & Ankle Specialist
Psychiatrist - Mental Illness & Behavioural Disorder Specialist
Pulmonologist - Lung Specialist
Radiologist - X-Ray & Imaging Technology Specialist
Rheumatologist - Allergic Condition & Autoimmune Disorder Specialist
Surgeon - Performs Operations
Urologist - Urinary System Specialist
Emergency Doctor - Treats Various Emergency Cases - On Call 24/7
Veterinarian - Animal Specialist (Various Kinds Of Doctors Within This Field)
What does it take to be a Doctor?
No doubt this profession requires deep knowledge of the academic disciplines (i.e. Anatomy, Physiology, etc.), existing diseases and their cures together with communicative skills that will enable doctors to establish good relationships with their patients.
In order to become a doctor you will have to go through many years of training, including undergraduate, graduate and hands-on study. To know exactly how long the training will take one must choose a specialty.
A pre-med student will typically obtain a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology or Chemistry. All medical undergraduates should attend classes in Chemistry, Mathematics, Biology and Physics. This degree typically takes four years to complete.
Once the student has the prerequisites for Medical School, he/she can start applying for the tests, the most authentic being the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT), a gruelling nine and a half hour standardized exam. This exam has several sections and the student has to clear all of them in order to become eligible to be admitted to a reputable Medical School.
Students will typically then spend four years in a Medical School. During their first two years they do classroom and laboratory work in Anatomy, Physiology, Microbiology, Medical Laws, Ethics and Pharmacology. In their last two years of Medical School they complete clinical rotations, or clerkships, in different medical departments such as: general practice, pediatrics, internal medicine, osteopathy, psychiatry and surgery. By experiencing these areas, students get the chance to decide on their specialty. Clinical rotations are conducted in hospitals and are always monitored by professionals.
Entering residency programs is the next step to becoming a doctor. This is the time when students obtain on-the-job paid training. Usually it is given in hospitals under the supervision of senior physician educators. Students are then called 'residents'. They act as professional doctors, dealing with patients, prescribing medications and working in different hospital areas.
If a specialty is chosen (i.e. Gastroenterology, Child Psychiatry, Oncology, etc.), the student will typically have to complete a fellowship or internship after their residency. This usually lasts from one to three years.
Regardless of your specialty, you as a Doctor must receive licensure before you start practicing medicine. Licensure is obtained from your jurisdiction or state, and this is done by passing the States Medical Licensing Exam. In Canada you must register with the College of Physicians and Surgeons in the province you live in.
Becoming a Doctor is not easy. Your will power and effort will play an important role in making you a successful Doctor. You must develop a keen interest in research and medicine. You must study extensively once you decide to study medicine. Passing through all the years of rigorous study requires not only patience and dedication, but attentiveness, carefulness, and a great sense of responsibility. Sometimes students will not make it to the end, even after passing the medical exam. In this case, a student can opt for other medical jobs, such as nursing or becoming a vocational doctor.
What is the workplace of a Doctor like?
There are many workplaces available for doctors. Some start working at an existing practice, others open their own practice. Large hospitals are always eager to take on new staff members. It is believed that a lot depends on your personal preferences as the environment in each place will be different (i.e. a government hospital vs. a private hospital).
In general the healthcare industry continues to grow, which is good news for anyone who is interested in a medical career.
How much does a Doctor earn?
The amount of money Doctors earn depends on factors such as patient volume, insurance carriers of the patient seen, place of work and the specialty of the Doctor. It has been noted that the average physician's salary in big cities such as New York, London, Sydney or Toronto is higher than of the same doctor in other cities. General hospitals usually offer the highest physician salaries. Plastic surgeons, Obstetrics/Gynaecology and Emergency Room Doctors tend to earn higher physician salaries.
Considering all of these factors, Doctors can earn an annual income of anywhere from about $120,000-$175,000 for a Family Medicine Physician, up to over $500,000 annually for specialists and sub-specialists.
It is important to remember that interns and medical residents are paid less, approximately $45,000 in their first year to $63,000 in their fifth year, depending on what state or province, and of course, what country they live in.
How you're compatible
Find your compatibility with this career and discover the career that you're meant for.
Doctors on sokanu
Does your group have something to offer people in this career? Contact us at firstname.lastname@example.org if you're interested in a partnership. | <urn:uuid:4a5ff750-2950-472d-82d7-9ff7a2145c22> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.sokanu.com/careers/doctor/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.926509 | 1,750 | 3.09375 | 3 |
The Church has many good reasons why people should believe in God, believe in Jesus Christ and believe in the beauty and urgency of her own mission. But she has only one irrefutable argument for the truth of what she teaches – the personal example of her saints.
Over this Thanksgiving weekend, or sometime during Advent, I have a homework assignment for you. I want you to rent or buy or borrow a copy of the 1966 film about Sir Thomas More, A Man for All Seasons. I want you to watch it with your family. Here’s why. More was one of the most distinguished scholars of his time, a brilliant lawyer, a gifted diplomat and a skilled political leader. Jonathan Swift, the great Anglo-Irish writer, once described him as the “person of the greatest virtue this kingdom (of England) ever produced.”
Above all, Thomas More was a man of profound Catholic faith and practice. He lived what he claimed to believe. He had his priorities in right order. He was a husband and a father first; a man who – in the words of Robert Bolt, the author of the original play and the 1966 film – “adored, and was adored, by his own large family.”
A Man for All Seasons won Oscars for both Best Picture and Best Actor, and it’s clearly one of the great stories ever brought to the screen. But it captures only a small fraction of the real man. In his daily life, Thomas More loved to laugh. He enjoyed life and every one of its gifts. Erasmus, the great Dutch humanist scholar and a friend of More and his family, described More as a man of “amiable joyousness (and) simple dress … born and framed for friendship … easy of access to all,” uninterested in ceremony and riches, humble, indifferent to food, unimpressed by opinions of the crowd, and never departing from common sense.
Despite the integrity of More’s character, and despite his faithful service, Henry VIII martyred him in 1535. More refused to accept the Tudor king’s illicit marriage to Anne Boleyn, and he refused to repudiate his fidelity to the Holy See. In 1935, the Church declared Thomas More a saint. Today – half a millennium after he died and a continent away -- this one man’s faith still moves us in our own daily lives. That’s the power of sainthood. That’s the power of holiness.
Here’s the lesson I want to leave you with this week. We’re all called to martyrdom. That’s what the word martyr means: It’s the Greek word for “witness.” We may or may not ever suffer personally for our love of Jesus Christ. But we’re all called to be witnesses. In proclaiming the Year of Faith, Benedict XVI wrote that:
“By faith, across the centuries, men and women of all ages, whose names are written in the Book of Life … have confessed the beauty of following the Lord Jesus wherever they were called to bear witness to the fact that they were Christian: in the family, in the workplace, in public life, in the exercise of the charisms and ministries to which they were called.”
The only thing that matters is to be a saint. That’s what we need to be. That’s what we need to become. And if we can serve God through the witness of our lives by kindling that fire of holiness again in the heart of our local parishes and communities, then the Christ Child who comes to us at Christmas will make all things new – in our Church, in our families and in our nation.
May God grant us all a joy-filled and blessed Thanksgiving. | <urn:uuid:f7fa1a44-1530-4607-a03c-b1821c0cbb14> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://levittown.patch.com/blog_posts/archbishop-chaput-this-thanksgiving-rekindling-the-fire-of-holiness | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973338 | 795 | 2.09375 | 2 |
Family: Parulidae, Wood Warblers view all from this family
Description ADULT MALE Has bright yellow head, neck, and underparts. Back is olive-yellow and wings are bluish gray with pale feather margins. Dark tail is marked with striking white spots. Legs and bill are dark. ADULT FEMALE Similar, but plumage is duller and less colorful overall, and spots on tail are smaller. JUVENILE Similar to adult female.
Dimensions Length: 5 1/2" (14 cm)
Habitat Fairly common, but declining summer visitor (mainly May-Aug) to wet woodland, often beside rivers. Winters from Central America to northern South America where it favors coastal mangroves. Species is threatened by loss of specific wintering habitat as well as loss and degradation of breeding habitat.
Observation Tips Easiest to detect by song and call.
Range Mid-Atlantic, Florida, Plains, California, Texas, Eastern Canada, Rocky Mountains, Southwest, Southeast, Great Lakes, New England
Voice Song is a distinctive series of rich, liquid notes: swiip-swiip-swiip-swiip-swiip; call is a sharp tchip.
Discussion Stunningly colorful and relatively large wood-warbler with a rather long bill. The only one of its kind in the east to nest in natural tree holes and sometimes nest boxes. Sexes are separable. | <urn:uuid:bc1a6ae9-e147-43aa-8cb3-8d30ea8dd45c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://enature.com/fieldguides/detail.asp?sortBy=has+audio&curFamilyID=216&curGroupID=1&lgfromWhere=&viewType=&curPageNum=32 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00067-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.906372 | 301 | 3 | 3 |
Founder and head honcho of Reprieve, Clive Stafford Smith, has a new book coming out on the American criminal justice system. Unsurprisingly, it is called "Injustice". Be sure not to read it.
When we hear the word fanatic, most of us think of some wide-eyed individual, perhaps holding a bomb or wearing a suicide vest. At best, we think of someone who not only won't change his mind but can't change the subject. There are though, fanatics who speak, apparently, with the voice of quiet reason. An impeccably English accent helps the deception, especially when addressing an American audience.
Clive Stafford Smith is one of these latter types of fanatics. He is given three pages in the latest issue of the New Humanist magazine to talk about his new book and sound off at the wicked American criminal justice system, with especial reference to the death penalty. Here, as in this short presentation, he sounds very persuasive. Certainly he is charismatic, but the same was often said of Ted Bundy, a man Stafford Smith himself said was nutty as a fruitcake, because evil people don't exist. This sort of drivel is of course philosophy, and should be confined to its ivory towers. Back on planet Earth, higher and more pragmatic standards are required.
Let's though return to that (superficially) persuasive speech and take a more critical look. He begins with a claim that is both amazing and shocking in equal measure, if it is both true and in context. This is that in New Orleans over a three year period, he and a charity he had set up represented 171 people who were facing capital charges, and they were able to prove that in 126 cases, the authorities (presumably primarily the police) had arrested the wrong person.
The charity concerned was the Justice Center, which was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Let us though consider this claim. First, what is he actually saying, that the police arrested and charged 171 people with capital murder, and that 126 of them were later found to be innocent? That would be worrying indeed. Firstly though, innocent people are often arrested on reasonable suspicion (probable cause in the US) of complicity in all manner of crimes including murder. And then released. For example, in the ongoing case of Emma Winnall, there were two early arrests. This dreadful crime began as an inquiry into a serious assault but progressed to a murder investigation after this frail elderly lady died in hospital. The two people arrested were her carer and the carer's son.
Anyone whose fingerprints and/or DNA are found at or near a crime scene is likely to be questioned by the police - certainly if they are doing their job - and sometimes, for whatever reason, they will arrest rather than simply take statements. We don't know how many of these 126 suspects or potential suspects were arrested under broadly similar circumstances, because in his presentation, Mr Stafford Smith did not read out a list of names. All the same, 126 in three years, that is more than one every nine days. Can that be for real?
This is all the more remarkable when one considers a fact known to all police officers and most true crime buffs, namely that in the majority of murder cases, there is no dispute about the identity of the perpetrator. Most murders are if not domestic then the result of an altercation in the workplace, in a bar, or some such. Satpal Ram stabbed and killed a fellow diner in a restaurant. At the time of writing, Hannah Bonser is on trial for the murder of a schoolgirl, but the only issue to be decided is her state of mind. [Bonser was convicted on July 11].
Nevertheless, it would be time consuming in the extreme to document and analyse the treatment meted out by New Orleans police to all 126 persons on this list - assuming Mr Stafford Smith were to release their names - but the following 6 names of people for whom he and his organisation Reprieve have advocated are in the public domain, and there is sufficient information available for the critical reader to assess both Mr Stafford Smith's credibility and his technique. These names are, in alphabetical order:
It is important to stress that Clive Stafford Smith and his Reprieve organisation have not simply advocated on behalf of these 6 individuals, they have proclaimed their actual innocence.
Linda Carty was the subject of a very sophisticated and even more dishonest marketing campaign in Britain. Reprieve concentrated first and foremost on trashing her lawyer, Jerry Guerinot, but they also totally misrepresented the strength of the case against her, which was in a nutshell, overwhelming.
The case of Ivan Teleguz is similar to that of Linda Carty, although unlike her he didn't dirty his hands by actually murdering the victim, instead he paid someone to carry out the crime. The common ground he has with Carty is that he is an immigrant, so the issue of consular assistance has been raised, and indeed, the guys and gals at Reprieve have made a video about this subject.
Another foreign national convicted of murder in the United States is Neil Revill; again, if you got all your information about his case from Reprieve, you might get the impression he too was a miscarriage of justice. Not so, the case against him was a lot stronger than they let on.
Troy Davis spent two decades on death row before he was executed. His innocence was proclaimed by Reprieve and trumpeted by another so-called human rights organisation that went the extra mile suborning both perjury and recantations in an ultimately vain effort to save his life. While any reasonable person may question a legal process that executes a man twenty years after he is sentenced to death, no jurist of reason who has studied the facts of this case can conclude that Troy Davis was anything but guilty of murder.
The case of Edward Johnson is of great significance for Clive Stafford Smith, because it is the one that first propelled him into the limelight many years ago. He has often proclaimed the innocence of this convicted murderer, and contributed to an amicus brief filed on Johnson's behalf. What the appellate court thought of this claim of actual innocence can be found here.
The fourth name on this list is the one that is occupying Clive Stafford Smith at the moment. He is fond of saying that capital punishment is a system that ensures those without capital get the punishment. Krishna Maharaj is an exception to this rule, a rich man on death row, at least he was on death row. In his New Humanist interview, Mr Stafford Smith claims the US courts have said that the innocence of his client is not relevant, and in the aforementioned speech he makes the same claim about convicted murderers in general, citing the Maharaj case.
For those who want to read the truth rather than listen to creative fantasy, the basic facts of the Maharaj case can be found here. If nothing else, the evidence against him is a lot stronger than Stafford Smith and Reprieve would have the world believe it to be.
According to Stafford Smith, in Herrera v Collins, (1993), it was held that the innocence of a man on death row is not relevant to whether or not he should be executed. This nonsense can be found all over the Internet, and as might be suspected, there is a lot more to the judgment than this cherry picked misquote. The full text of this ruling can be found here. Herrera was convicted of murdering two police officers, appealed his conviction more than once, and lost.
This was hardly surprising as he had pleaded guilty to murdering one of the officers, but years later he changed his mind, and tried to blame his dead brother. What did the court actually say about executing the innocent?
“...the evidence upon which petitioner's claim of innocence rests was not produced at his trial, but rather eight years later. In any system of criminal justice, innocence or guilt must be determined in some sort of a judicial proceeding. Petitioner's showing of innocence, and indeed his constitutional claim for relief based upon that showing, must be evaluated in the light of the previous proceedings in this case, which have stretched over a span of 10 years.”
There is a lot more to this judgment, but basically Herrera was trying it on, and the court would not allow it. The rules of evidence can become extremely complicated, but it is not enough simply for a convicted murderer or convicted anyone to claim he has found new evidence that proves his innocence. For one thing, this new evidence must be both new and worthy of belief. Clearly, in this case it was neither. There has also to be some finality to the process.
There is little doubt either that in the Maharaj case and indeed in many others, Clive Stafford Smith has been trying it on, including those of innocent Ed Johnson and Linda Carty.
This opinion article was written by an independent writer. The opinions and views expressed herein are those of the author and are not necessarily intended to reflect those of DigitalJournal.com | <urn:uuid:f600b086-4d4b-427e-ad79-1054ade01b31> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://digitaljournal.com/article/327972 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00021-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.981009 | 1,844 | 1.585938 | 2 |
At first glance, as the Universe is 13.7 billion years old, it seems natural to think that any object at a greater distance than 13.7 billion light-years will not be visible. However, as the Universe is expanding, photons in the cosmic microwave background (the first light emitted) have traveled approximately 45 billion light-years to get there: this makes the observable Universe about 90 billion light-years across.
This is the part I can't get my head around.
But the cosmic background radiation bit has also never made sense to me. If these microwaves date to the time of the Big Bang, then they all originated at a single point and all were emitted within the same narrow window of time. So how can it be "background" radiation? Shouldn't it be a thin hollow globe of radiation, like a glass Christmas ornament but made of microwaves, the size of the universe and expanding at the speed of light? And with nothing behind it, since the emissions of the Bang stopped at some point? Wouldn't you need a continuous radiator to have the radiation be distributed evenly as a "background"? | <urn:uuid:8f27f2f9-ae29-43f5-8421-fe4a91d228b0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.trekbbs.com/showpost.php?p=7397944&postcount=6 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00065-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968164 | 228 | 3.671875 | 4 |
|Year of birth:
||Harrow Home For Girls; Arnold Grove Home For Girls|
This file deals with two sisters, L. and E. The girls lived with their mother and their siblings, their father having died from diabetes in January 1883. The mother received 7/- 6d per week assistance from the Poor Law authorities and she went out to work as a laundress. (The Guardians later withdrew this money as the children's attendance at school was so irregular.) The mother did not earn much and the family were very poor. As their mother was out working all day the children ran wild in the streets and played truant from school. It was felt to be important that they should be under more control and "properly brought up". On 9 January 1884 the girls were sent to the Harrow Home. E. was transferred to the Fareham Home for Girls on 23 February 1886. In January 1888 E's mother requested that the girl be returned to London where she could find her a situation near her family. She said that E. had written to her saying that she was not comfortable at Fareham and wished to leave. The Committee of the Fareham Home did not feel that it would be in E's best interests to leave. The girl was rather deaf and not suited to domestic service although she was doing well at laundry work.
The girl's mother was believed to have a very "mercenary" character and it was felt that she would "get hold of her daughter's wage if she was placed near her." The Committee wanted to find a position for E. as far away from her mother as possible. E. did not leave the Home at this time and on 18 May 1888 she went out to service in Market Drayton, Shropshire. In December 1888 news came that E. had lost her place because she had been "naughty." When her mistress was absent at hospital with the baby for a week E. apparently wore her clothes. The girl was returned to her mother, her former employer paying her fare. L. remained in the Harrow Home until 3 February 1887 when she was sent out to service in Beckenham, Kent. In September 1887 she left this situation and in November 1887 went out to service in Harrow. She later returned to the Harrow Home and then on 18 April 1888 she was transferred to the Arnold Grove Home for Girls in Nottingham. One year later she went out to service in North Luffenham.
||Behaviour; Disability; Employment; Maintenance; Poverty; Siblings; Law; School|
||1. Application to Waifs and Strays' Society for L. 29 June 1883|
2. Application to Waifs and Strays' Society for E. 29 June 1883
3. Letter from the Curate of St Andrew, Willesden concerning the family's finances 15 August 1883
4. Note about a meeting with E's mother 20 January 1888
5. Letter from E's mother with note from Fareham Home attached [January 1888]
6. Letter from Fareham Home to the Revd Edward Rudolf enclosing letter about E. losing her situation 13 December 1888
7. Letter about E., enclosed with above item 12 December 1888 | <urn:uuid:d2cb7966-7e2c-4a4b-9cb6-d4b7a83a20e1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.hiddenlives.org.uk/cases/case239.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00051-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.989667 | 668 | 2.265625 | 2 |
Occupational medicine is a rapidly expanding and professionals in this field will continue to increase in demand in the coming years, as more and more individuals become employed. Individuals wishing to work in this field can get the knowledge needed through training and gaining experience in the workplace, but not having formal education could violate the requirements of competence that are essential in most aspects of health and safety legislation. Local occupational medicine physicians deal with managing the health of workers and their are several programs within this field that deal with health laws and policy. General requirements for a career in this field consists of having a diploma in occupational medicine, Associateship of the Faculty Occupational Medicine (AFOM), Members of the Faculty (MFOM), and Fellowship of the Faculty (FFOM). Someone only wishing to practice in their careers part time may only be required to have a diploma in occupational medicine, which only provides a basic level of information in the field. Part time practitioners are able to display a core knowledge of practices and theories. Students wishing to obtain certification needed in this field can usually do so at local universities through residency programs. These students are given hands on training where they learn how to lead in their field, and focus on keeping workers healthy. This is done by making sure the environment in which workers work are safe for the health of the workers. This includes evaluating the chemical, social, and physical environment of workers. | <urn:uuid:ca671be3-42e0-43d9-b773-1f6b7839529d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.pointcom.com/MI/Detroit/business-search/Occupational%20Medicine/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971493 | 276 | 3.09375 | 3 |
Fishing report for southeastern Utah/center>
Mountain lakes and reservoirs are icing over. However, ice anglers should wait two to three weeks for the ice to thicken to a safe amount.
Ice fishermen should always carry safety gear, including ice awls, a long rope with attached floatation device, and change of clothes.
Joes Valley Reservoir closed Nov. 1 and will reopen Dec. 14. When the reservoir reopens to fishing, the trout limit will be two, of which only one can be over 22 inches. All trout 15 to 22 inches must be immediately released. The intent is to protect the big spawning splake, which congregate in shallow water and are very vulnerable to foul hooking. The big adult fish are needed to help control the Utah chub population, which was illegally introduced by fishermen using live minnows as bait.
Duck Fork Reservoir. There are no fish in Duck Fork Reservoir.
Electric Lake. Anglers may take a limit of eight fish using any legal bait. However, ice is forming along the edges, making bait casting difficult.
Gigliotti Pond. The DWR has restocked the Gigliotti Pond in recent weeks. About 500 rainbow trout as well as some bluegill and bass went into the pond in early to mid-October. Anglers are encouraged to harvest these trout before the pond freezes.
Huntington Creek. It's a good time of year for anglers to fish Huntington Creek.Water flows in the right fork are low due to reduced releases from Electric Lake. In a short while, snow and ice could make fishing tough. From Flood and Engineer's Canyon upstream to the dam, only artificial flies may be used. The limit is two fish. On the left fork, only artificial flies and lures may be used. Anglers are encouraged to harvest brown trout there.
Huntington Reservoir (near the top of Huntington Canyon (Last week, fishing was good from a float tube using a black leech pattern. However, shoreline ice will soon preclude further open water fishing. Release of tiger trout is encouraged so that fish can grow larger. Please harvest any brown trout which is caught. The reservoir is closed to the possession of cutthroat trout and trout with cutthroat markings.
Joes Valley Reservoir. The reservoir is closed to fishing as of Nov. 1 and will remain closed until Dec. 14. When the reservoir reopens to fishing, the trout limit will be two. No more than one trout may be over 22 inches. All trout 15 to 22 inches must be immediately released. This regulation change will protect the large spawning splake, which are very vulnerable in November and early December. In addition, splake from 15 to 22 inches are needed to help reduce the chubs, which were illegally introduced as live bait.
Scofield Reservoir. "Open-water fishing is over for the year at Scofield Reservoir," remarked Louis Berg, DWR southeastern region aquatics manager. "Ice is just starting to form, but within a week, it is likely that ice will cover the entire lake."
Straight Canyon. Water flows are optimal for fishing. This is a great time of year to catch brown trout by fly-fishing with nymphs. Be careful on the icy rocks and slippery slopes.
Lake Powell. DWR Lake Powell project leader Wayne Gustaveson updated the following fishing report Oct. 30.
The lake elevation is 3,624 M.S.L. and the water temperature is 63 to 64 degrees Fahrenheit.
Each fall we sample fish populations with gill nets. Our first survey for 2002 was in Warm Creek. Anglers have done very poorly recently in the back of Warm Creek despite the presence of many schools of shad.
Netting results were quite surprising in that many striped bass, smallmouth bass and walleye were caught.
The fish are definitely there. They are just not being caught.
It was very gratifying to see that lower lake striped bass and smallmouth were really putting on weight. The fish were fat! They were not longer but much heavier than when last seen.
Foraging for shad in Warm Creek has been very good. The fish are happy. But fat, happy fish are tough to catch.
Predators are eating shad and avoiding just about everything else.
So how do anglers fish for fat fish? Feeding periods are short but very important.
Returning to the same good fishing spots on a recurring basis will let the angler know when they start to feed and put them in position to catch some nice fish for a short time.
A better approach is to use bait that mimics the natural prey such as threadfin shad. A disadvantaged shad may be eaten even though the bass stomach is already full of shad. Those techniques that may work in this instance include jigging spoons, trolled shad lures and shallow crank baits.
Some anglers prefer the active baits over anchovies for at least two more weeks when shad and stripers will move to more stable wintering areas.
Use a noisy lure like a rattletrap to attract attention or a loud vibrating lure like a spinner bait. One theory is that the size of the vibrating blade should be shad size to transmit a fish vibration signal to the predator.
Shad size is large, about two to five inches, so use the largest blades possible. Using shad colored hard and soft baits is a sound idea.
Spoons bouncing on bottom mimic a sick shad falling out of the healthy school. The slow shad is the one eaten when the quick swimming healthy fish are ignored. The click of the spoon hitting bottom with the accompanying wisp of silt may attract a glance from a resting game fish.
Another ploy is to fish deep habitat in open water. Look on the graph for a cut or submerged channel in the 20 to 40 foot zone. With shad occupying open water the predators lurk below.
Bass still like structure even in open water and they may be holding on the lip of a drop off in the middle of the channel instead of on the rocky point or cove visible from the lake's surface.
This is a different report but we are faced with the uncommon problem of pursuing fish that are not as hungry as we are accustomed to fishing for.Good luck in the pursuit. The reward is a bigger, fatter fish.
The smallmouth we captured in nets were well above the average nine to 11 inch mold. Things are really looking up for all Lake Powell fish this winter and next spring. | <urn:uuid:db1ccf32-9470-482e-bc00-7f903f2269e9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.sunadvocate.com/index.php?tier=1&article_id=1966&poll=271&vote=results | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00070-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961597 | 1,367 | 1.859375 | 2 |
As you can tell by many Facebook posts and tweets, making a New Year’s resolution is not in style anymore. It’s because people make resolutions but usually don’t stick to them.
I saw a joke on Facebook that explains this. It said that someone was building a resolution gym. It’s a gym for the first two months but then turns into a bar the rest of the year.
I’m in a health-management program called Health Management Resources. We have a lot of lessons in psychology. We share ideas about how to exercise more and eat healthier.
The registered dietician who taught the last class went into great detail about how to change habits.
She referenced a Stanford instructor B.J. Fogg. He teaches people how to form new habits using a simple formula.
His formula is b=mat.
b = behavior, m = motivation, a = ability and t = trigger.
To change a behavior, you need to have a motivator. For example, when you do the new behavior, do a little cheer for yourself. “Yeah me!” Another motivator is the result. If you lose 10 pounds, you get to wear smaller-size jeans.
Next is ability. This means you need to be able to actually easily do the new habit or behavior. If you want to ride your bike every day, make sure you have a bike and a tire pump so if the tire is flat you can inflate it. Also, if you live in a rainy climate, riding your bike daily might not make a lot of sense. In this case, you might pick a new habit to start like writing your exercise bike while watching a Netflix movie.
Lastly, according to Fogg, you need a habit trigger. An example is that the smartphone alarm sounds and then you walk the dog.
Some other tips are habits take a lot of time to change and keep the new habit simple. If you try to change a lot of things, it is very difficult.
I actually used this formula to get in the habit of riding my exercise bike more and as a result I typically ride it eight miles a day now. This has become part of my lifestyle and it’s not a chore anymore. The habit formula really does work.
It's no wonder. Fogg has impressive credentials. He's on a Fortune top 10 gurus to know list and the founder of Instagram is a former student.
If you want more information about B.J. Fogg, his website is www.bjfogg.com. | <urn:uuid:c0fdb66f-3757-45cb-af16-8950c44726e7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://saratoga.patch.com/groups/michelle-mcintyres-blog/p/bp--how-to-start-a-good-habit | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00075-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957129 | 532 | 2.140625 | 2 |
The debt-ceiling negotiations going on in Washington right now have not, to put it mildly, cast the collected membership of the U.S. Congress in the most flattering possible light. In theory, members of Congress are meant to serve as enlightened representatives of their local districts, virtuous stewards of the common good. But the last several weeks have offered instead a portrait of shallow partisans willing to risk global economic catastrophe for the sake of indulging their personal vanity and furthering their own agendas, and a legislature unable to accomplish even the most basic of tasks.
Sadly, the United States is not the only country suffering from its lawmakers in this fashion. Legislative gridlock is commonplace -- as are the partisanship and vanity at its root -- in governments around the world. At least the United States can blame the creakiness of its institutions on the fact that they were designed some 200 years ago: Most other countries don't have nearly such a convenient excuse -- and, yet, they act just as shamelessly.
Think America's divided government is a hassle? Try not having a government at all. Belgium has lacked a functioning parliamentary majority for more than a year, ever since its last national election on June 13, 2010. Negotiations to form a new majority have broken down eight times over the past 400 days, as the country earned the dubious distinction of entering the Guinness World Records for the longest period of time without a government. The major Belgian parties aren't just talking past one another; they don't even share the same native language -- and that's a big part of the problem. Belgium's Flemish-speaking region wants to secure more financial autonomy, the better to enjoy the rewards of its economic success, but the country's French-speaking territories, dependent as they are on Flemish tax receipts to maintain their welfare provisions, have refused.
In the absence of any majority in Parliament, previous Prime Minister Yves Leterme has continued to preside over cabinet meetings, though proposals for ambitious legislation have been put on hold indefinitely. That's not to say, however, that Belgians necessarily notice any disruption in their daily lives. Many state functions, from education to welfare, are already administered at the regional, rather than the federal, level. Leterme's caretaker government, meanwhile, did succeed in serving its pre-scheduled six-month stint as president of the European Council in 2010. And in 2011, Belgium managed to send four fighter jets and 150 military personnel to enforce the no-fly zone over Libya.
Apparently, the reason that Parliament has yet to call for a new election is for fear that the international community (and bond markets) will judge the country incapable of solving its problems (though one would have thought that train had long ago left the station). Presiding over the stalemate, and tirelessly goading all parties to reach a final resolution, is the lonely King Albert II -- among the few symbols of national identity, apart from frites, that enjoys broad recognition throughout the country.
GEORGES GOBET/AFP/Getty Images | <urn:uuid:ab895a70-dc48-4f3b-8983-4e15bc53ff09> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2011/07/20/parliamentary_funk | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96511 | 623 | 1.953125 | 2 |
Chances are you have heard of the crowd funding site Kickstarter, but incase you haven’t let us give you a really brief introduction. Kickstarter was founded in 2008 by Perry Chen, Yancey Strickler and Charles Adler, the simple idea behind the site was to create a place where ideas could be made a reality by the backing of others. If you had a venture that you would love to make happen but aren’t rolling in money and not sure where to begin Kickstarter might be perfect for you, as the creator of the project you can select how much money you require to make your idea happen and how much time you want to allow for your project to hit its goal. If you fail to reach your goal, then no funds are collected from your backers.
There is a broad range of projects that are on Kickstarter, and they are placed under various groupings to allow them to be found easier. As of July 18th 2012 there were 64,216 projects that had been launched on the site, and the overall success rate of these projects stands at 44.03%. Even after a successful fundraising attempt, there is no guarantee that the project will be successful. It is, after all, business and many things can go wrong. Hence, there have been some worries about quality control with people creating projects without any real plan to carry them out. Kickstarter now make all project leaders aware that they may be liable to legal damages should they fail to deliver on promises. And as this platform is such a great opportunity to launch new concepts, we hope that people don’t go there to try and make it harder for genuine people looking to create their ideas.
The amounts raised by different projects really varies, but some of the most successful projects that have taken place on Kickstarter are:
- The Pebble Watch – Raised over $10 million which was 10,266% over the original target set out.
- Double Fine Adventure – Computer games company managed to raise over $3 million which was 834% over the original target.
- Wasteland 2 – Another computer game that managed to raise just under $3million with 325% over the original fundraising target.
Below are some examples of Kickstarter projects that you can back now.
Many musicians use Kickstarter as a way to help fund their albums. Madeline Fuhrman is one of them.
These are just a couple of examples showing the diversity of projects that people run on Kickstarter. We think that it is a really great site that looks to let people create their dreams, whatever they may be, by connecting with an audience that is interested, engaged and wants to see the idea come to fruition.
Have you ever launched a project on Kickstarter? What project would you choose to launch? Please leave any comments or thoughts about Kickstarter in the section below.
No related posts. | <urn:uuid:e891cb5c-28f9-422c-99a2-b081fe390e2f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://nerdinsider.com/2012/07/30/kick-starting-your-business/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00041-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97197 | 578 | 1.59375 | 2 |
The Houston Museum of Natural Science is located in Hermann Park, one of the city's most popular outdoor destinations. The museum consists of four floors that are home to a butterfly center, planetarium, IMAX theatre, special exhibits, and a few permanent exhibits. The museum has a long history and was established back in 1909. The original vision of the museum to was to enhance public knowledge about natural science and related subjects. Today, the museum is one of the most heavily attended in the United States and comparable to the Smithsonian Institution in D.C. and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Over a half million school children visit the museum annually creating a major science learning environment. The mission of the museum is to preserve and advance knowledge of natural science and its mission has placed it at the center of the Houston Museum District.
There are thirteen permanent exhibits at the Houston Museum of Natural Science. The museum offers a diverse assortment of things to do and see. Each exhibit is divided into a hall, room, or gallery. For example, the Paleontology Hall gives visitors the chance to study dinosaur fossils. The area contains more than 450 original fossils and replicas. The Cullen Hall has a collection of the world's finest gems and minerals. The earth's rarest and most beautiful examples of crystallized specimens is one of the many reasons the Houston Museum of Natural Science has been ranked so highly in the nation. The Weiss Energy Hall is another comprehensive exhibit that is considered the world's most sophisticated. The hall educates about scientific concepts involving the oil and gas industry. Visitors to the hall can learn about the process of energy development. Other exhibits in the museum involve a broad range of subjects such as Chemistry, Space Science, Egyptian history, African Wildlife, Texas Wildlife, The Americas, and Earth.
A visit to the Houston Museum of Natural Science could take hours because of all the artifacts, exhibits, and halls that are available to the visitors. One interesting space at the museum is called the 100 Years - 100 Objects collection. The museum has been established for over a hundred years and has one exceptional specimen or artifact for each year of the history on display. Visitors who are interested in movies can attend the museum's IMAX Theatre. Each movie has a theme related to earth and natural science. Movies range in sophistication so that they appeal to both younger and older audiences.
Part of the Houston Museum of Natural Science is a satellite facility located an hour away from Houston. The facility is called the George Observatory and is home to three domed telescopes and observatory houses for Space Science education. One of the largest telescopes at the Observatory is a 36-inch Gueymard Research Telescope and is the largest telescope open to the public regularly. The telescopes allows visitors to see flares, sunspots, and gas prominences caused by the sun. The George Observatory is designed for professional and amateur astronomers who have an interest in the solar system.
Read about other Houston tourist attractions:
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|Business Search - 14 Million verified businesses| | <urn:uuid:09dadc9e-c9e0-4eb0-a986-a0dba1f46533> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.city-data.com/articles/Houston-Museum-of-Natural-Science.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00061-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943752 | 632 | 2.953125 | 3 |
(covers information from several alternate timelines)
"Vulcan mind melds: utter foolishness. Anybody with an ounce of sense wouldn't share his brain with someone else; would you? I certainly wouldn't."
The Vulcan mind meld was a telepathic link between two individuals, allowing for the exchange of thoughts, thus in essence allowing the participants to become one mind. (TNG: "Sarek") It was a psionic technique for "synaptic pattern displacement". Normally it was employed only by Vulcans. It was a deeply personal thing, part of the private life, and generally not used on aliens, although cases were known where the mind meld was initiated between a Vulcan and a non-Vulcan. (VOY: "Meld", TNG: "Sarek") Those in a meld shared consciousness in a kind of gestalt. (DS9: "The Passenger")
Physical contact was required. The initiator placed the tips of his fingers at key locations on the head of the other participant. This allowed him to place pressure on key nerves and blood vessels to facilitate the link.
The fact that most Vulcans who performed the meld touch the other participant in different manners, reciting varying formulas, implies that it was only ritual behavior, helping to concentrate on the task, leaving mere physical contact being the ultimate prerequisite to initiate the meld. If successful, the link resulted in a merging of both minds, essentially creating a single consciousness in two bodies.
It is noteworthy that the meld could also be used by its initiator to probe another person's mind, while the melder him/herself shielded his/her mind from being read by the other participant, resulting in a rather one-sided psionic contact. (Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country) Only the subject in physical contact with the initiator participated in the meld; others in the vicinity are not affected.
Some species are immune to Vulcan mind meld and can resist it, shielding their mind from the attempted probing, including Cardassians, who can achieve this thanks to their intense mental training since childhood. (DS9: "The Maquis, Part II")
A mind meld could even be used to transfer the entire personality or "soul" (known to Vulcans as the katra) of an individual into another body. A special, appropriately prepared receptacle, such as a katric ark could also be used. Though Vulcans (and Trill, through the zhian'tara ritual) did this psionically, a number of people and races were able to duplicate this feat with technology, such as the people of Sargon's planet, Janice Lester, Dr. Ira Graves, Rao Vantika, and Tieran. (TOS: "Return to Tomorrow", "Turnabout Intruder"; Star Trek III: The Search for Spock; TNG: "The Schizoid Man"; VOY: "Warlord"; DS9: "The Passenger", "Facets")
Melding carried some risk. It could be physically debilitating for both parties. The pressure changes could potentially aggravate existing conditions. The melding resulted in some loss of identity, and could be difficult to break, especially when the subject's mind was powerful or dynamic. Aftereffects could be treated with the drug lexorin. (TOS: "Dagger of the Mind", "The Devil in the Dark"; VOY: "Ex Post Facto", "Meld", "Flashback"; Star Trek III: The Search for Spock)
At the conclusion of the meld, each mind retained some knowledge of the other.
It was possible to force a mind meld on an unwilling subject, but most Vulcans would be loath to do so, unless under the most dire circumstances. An exception may be the Vulcans of the mirror universe, whose ethical constraints, shaped by the savagery of their environment, were far different. (Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country; ENT: "In a Mirror, Darkly")
During the 22nd century, mind melding was believed to be an ability only a minority of Vulcans were born to. Because of the apparent intimacy of melding, Vulcans during this era considered it a deviant practice defiant to the ancestral teachings of their society. As a result, other Vulcans considered those who were natural "melders" to be outcasts. (ENT: "Stigma")
An improperly trained melder who initiated a mind meld can cause a degenerative neurological disorder known as Pa'nar Syndrome to develop in the meld recipient. If left untreated, the disorder is fatal. Vulcan medicine of the mid-22nd century believed that there was no cure; however, the disorder was known in Surak's time, as was its cure: a corrective meld performed by an experienced melder. It is likely that the ignorance of this cure was due to the widespread prejudice against melders, a prejudice that was not shared by the Syrrannite group. (ENT: "Fusion", "Stigma", "Kir'Shara")
Another side-effect is the transfer of emotion. When Spock Prime melded with the James Kirk of the alternate reality, both seemed emotionaly effected by the experience and Spock Prime apologized, explaining that emotional transference is a side-effect of the melding process. (Star Trek)
In 2151, the v'tosh ka'tur Tolaris initiated a mind meld with Subcommander T'Pol against her will. Since Tolaris had not been properly trained in the use of his mental abilities, this meld caused T'Pol to develop Pa'nar Syndrome. (ENT: "Fusion", "Stigma")
In 2154, Vulcan Ambassador Soval, defying the taboo of his day, melded with a comatose Corporal Askwith to learn who bombed the United Earth Embassy on Vulcan, deciding it was worth the risk upon discovering that the evidence implicating the Syrranites was fabricated. For this offense, Administrator V'Las (who was actually behind the bombing) relieved Soval of his post. (ENT: "The Forge")
In November of 2154, T'Pol initiated her first mind meld on the starship Enterprise NX-01. In an attempt to ultimately discover the location of Doctor Phlox, T'Pol melded with Ensign Hoshi Sato. (ENT: "Affliction")
In January of 2155 of the mirror universe, T'Pol, via a mind meld, implanted a telepathic "suggestion" into the mind of Commander Charles Tucker. Under this influence, Tucker sabotaged the power grid of the ISS Enterprise in order to disable a Suliban cloaking device. After doing this, T'Pol melded with Tucker again, erasing his memories of his actions. (ENT: "In a Mirror, Darkly")
In an alternate reality, future Spock melded with young Kirk in 2258 to explain how he and Nero came from the future. Furthermore, Spock mind-melded with a Romulan to find out where Captain Pike was being held. (Star Trek)
In 2266, on stardate 2715, Spock melded with Simon Van Gelder, then suffering from generalized synaptic damage, to learn whether Van Gelder's allegations about Tristan Adams were true, or delusions. Spock warned Van Gelder that the pressure changes could be dangerous. (TOS: "Dagger of the Mind")
The same year, on stardate 3192, Spock used what might have been a variation on a mind meld to convince a guard on Eminiar VII to open the door to the room where the landing party was imprisoned, facilitating their escape. (TOS: "A Taste of Armageddon")
Also in 2267, McCoy became the victim of an unwilling mind meld, when the mirror universe Spock forced information from him about the nature of the transporter accident that brought four USS Enterprise officers to the mirror universe. (TOS: "Mirror, Mirror")
On stardate 4657.5, Spock attempted a meld with Kelinda, a Kelvan, through a few feet of solid rock. Although the attempt was thwarted by Kelinda with prejudice, Spock was able to get an impression of the Kelvan's true non-humanoid form. (TOS: "By Any Other Name")
In 2268, on stardate 4385.3, Spock melded with Kirk, McCoy and Scott to ensure they believed the bullets fired at them from Virgil Earp, Morgan Earp, Wyatt Earp, and Doc Holliday (at the OK Corral) were unreal and, therefore, unable to harm them. (TOS: "Spectre of the Gun")
The same year, Spock melded with Kirk, who was suffering from retrograde amnesia, consequential to the misuse of a Preserver artifact. Although Spock had some difficulty emerging from this meld, he was able to successfully restore Kirk's memory. (TOS: "The Paradise Syndrome")
Later in 2268, Spock was driven mad by the sight of Ambassador Kollos. Miranda Jones, a Human telepath trained on Vulcan, used a meld to restore his sanity by making him forget what he'd seen. (TOS: "Is There in Truth No Beauty?")
In 2273, when the Enterprise was inside V'Ger, Commander Spock entered a section of V'Ger where it stored 3D images of objects that it encountered through its travels. He entered this area via thruster suit and subsequently encountered a large representation of Lieutenant Ilia with a pulsing sensor on her neck. Believing it to have some special meaning, he used a mind meld on it. Spock was overwhelmed by the information from the mind meld, and was flung back unconscious towards the Enterprise. (Star Trek: The Motion Picture)
In 2285, Spock used a mind meld to transfer his katra to McCoy before sacrificing himself to restore warp power during the Battle of the Mutara Nebula. (Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan) Upon the Enterprise's return to Earth, Sarek mind-melded with Kirk to discover the fate of Spock's katra. (Star Trek III: The Search for Spock)
After time-traveling to 1986, Spock mind melded with the humpback whales George and Gracie to inform them of the crew's plan to bring the whales back with them to the year 2286 to answer a mysterious probe that threatened Earth, reasoning that they had to confirm that the whales were willing to help them or they would be no better than those who made the whales extinct in the first place. (Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home)
In 2370, Sakonna, a Vulcan member of the Maquis, attempted a mind meld on Gul Dukat in an attempt to learn the location of illegal Cardassian weapons in the Demilitarized Zone. (DS9: "The Maquis, Part II")
In 2371, Tuvok melded with crewmate Lieutenant Tom Paris after Paris was accused of the murder of Banean scientist Doctor Tolen Ren. The meld allowed him to prove that Paris had been framed in an elaborate plot to provide the Banean's enemies, the Numiri, with critical information, when his analysis of the implanted memory revealed crucial anomalies that proved Paris couldn't have committed the murder. (VOY: "Ex Post Facto")
In 2372, Tuvok melded with the sociopath Betazoid Lon Suder in an attempt to gain a better understanding of Suder's violent impulses. While the meld provided Suder with a measure of emotional control, it also temporarily released Tuvok's more violent and primal urges. (VOY: "Meld")
In 2373, Tuvok melded with his close friend Kathryn Janeway to discover the root of a supposed memory he had of a girl falling to her death from a precipice. It was later discovered that Tuvok had a memory virus in his brain unwittingly transmitted to him in 2293 by Dmitri Valtane. The virus was destroyed with thoron radiation. (VOY: "Flashback")
Later that year, he melded with an alien named Guill in an investigation to prove B'Elanna Torres' innocence. Guill was from a society where violent thoughts were illegal. Guill was a collector and trader of such thoughts. Tuvok proceeded with the meld under the pretense that only images would be exchanged, but he also grabbed and choked Guill in the meld to get him to submit. (VOY: "Random Thoughts")
In 2377, Tuvok performed an extended technique of the mind meld, the "Bridging of Minds", on Captain Janeway and Seven of Nine, forming a bond between the two individuals, who were otherwise unable to telepathically link. (VOY: "Unimatrix Zero")
In the novelization of The Undiscovered Country featured a slightly different take on the forced mindmeld between Spock and Valeris. As Spock probed her mind, he stopped just short of breaking her will and gave her the choice to willingly help him. The choked sobs by Valeris was her gratitude and grief at being given the choice.
In the novel Memory Prime, the mind meld was used as a form of combat between Spock and a Romulan assassin.
In the William Shatner novel The Return, Spock performed a meld with Picard and Kirk in an attempt to free Kirk from the brainwashing program that had been implanted in him by the Borg/Romulan Alliance; at the time, Spock said that such a thing had never been done, but it is possible that the Bridging wasn't well-known among Vulcans. | <urn:uuid:10f23139-2186-4920-a463-14194bdd9f2b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Vulcan_mind_meld?oldid=1460295 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00044-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95705 | 2,913 | 2.328125 | 2 |
History of Markland Wood
The land on which the Markland Wood neighbourhood is built was originally granted to John Silverthorn in 1810. Silverthorn was an experienced millright and immediately built a saw mill and a grist mill on the banks of the Etobicoke River skirting his property.
The Silverthorn Mills were the focal point of this community as local farmers brought their grain to the grist mill to be ground into flour and their logs to the saw mill to be cut into lumber. The present day "Mill Road" was a shortcut used by the farmers on their way to the mills.
The Silverthorn Mills operated until 1870 when the water flow in the Etobicoke River decreased to the point where it could no longer power the mills. The Silverthorn family then turned their attention to farming. They proved to be as adept at farming as they were at milling, and even sold tomatoes from their farm to the nearby Campbell Soup Company.
The Silverthorn family saw the city at their doorstep when they decided to sell their farm to developer Mark Cavotti in 1958. Cavotti's associates honoured him by naming this development Markland Wood. Thus a neighbourhood was born.
May 24, 2013 · ArtsGallery in the Garden: Nature as Muse
May 26, 2013 · FamilyTHIS SUNDAY - Nature and Heritage Hikes with Toronto Brick Works
May 29, 2013 · Farmers MarketsMontgomery's Inn Farmers Market
Jun 1, 2013 · SportsCIMA Mayor's School Cricket Tournament
Jun 18, 2013 · CommunityLong Branch Historical Society | <urn:uuid:5290face-255a-4814-8d7a-b6570b3763f5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.torontoneighbourhoods.net/neighbourhoods/etobicoke/markland-wood/history | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954061 | 320 | 2.671875 | 3 |
WASHINGTON — WASHINGTON (AP) - LightSquared, a Virginia-based company that plans to build a nationwide wireless broadband network, is proposing to adapt its network so as not to interfere with GPS systems.
It plans to move some of its operations to a different slice of airwaves and to transmit signals at lower power levels.
The company outlined its plans amid mounting concern that its network would cripple GPS systems used for everything from aviation to public safety to military operations. The announcement follows the recent release of government test results showing that LightSquared's proposed network would cause serious interference problems for GPS systems.
The Federal Communications Commission gave LightSquared approval in January to build a nationwide wireless network that would compete with super-fast systems being rolled out by AT&T and Verizon. | <urn:uuid:4d11b5d8-04ae-4846-be15-948a9a32b4c4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.vcstar.com/news/2011/jun/20/wireless-network-outlines-plans-to-protect-02/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00061-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967289 | 159 | 1.804688 | 2 |
Intel’s new three-dimensional transistor design, announced early this week, is the culmination of more than a decade of research and development work that began in a lab at the University of California, Berkeley in 1999.
The 22-nanometer transistors, which Intel says will make chips 37 percent faster and half as power hungry, will be used for every element on the company’s 22-nanometer scale chips, including both the logic and memory circuits. Processors that use the “tri-gate” transistors have been demonstrated in working systems, and the company will begin volume production in the second half of this year. It’s unclear just how device-makers will take advantage of the chips, but they’re likely to enable improved battery life and greater sophistication for portable devices, as well as faster processing for desktops and servers.
Intel turned to the new design because existing designs have begun running up against a performance roadblock. Conventional transistors are made up of a metal structure called a gate that’s mounted on top of a flat channel of silicon. The gate controls the flow of current through the channel from a source electrode to a drain electrode. With every generation of chips, the channel has gotten smaller and smaller, enabling companies like Intel to make faster chips by packing in more transistors. But it has become more difficult for the gate to fully cut off the flow of current. Leaky transistors that don’t turn off completely waste power.
The tri-gate transistors use rectangular silicon channels that stick up from the surface of the chip, allowing the gate to contact the channel on three sides, instead of just one. This more intimate contact means the gate can turn the transistor off nearly completely even at the 22-nanometer scale, which is responsible for the energy-efficiency gains in Intel’s new chips. It’s also possible to make tri-gate transistors with more than one silicon channel connected to each gate in order to increase the amount of current that can flow through each transistor, enabling higher performance.
Intel didn’t invent this transistor design, but the company is the first to get it into production. If the company had stuck with planar transistors in the move from 32- to 22-nanometer transistors, the chips would have demonstrated 20 to 30 percent gains in efficiency and performance, says industry analyst Linley Gwennap. There had been speculation that the company would use the new transistor design for memory elements and not logic, and so not completely eliminate the planar transistors. By using the tri-gate technology for both memory and logic, says Gwennap, “Intel is really surging for the fences and seeing a large improvement in performance, which could be a huge advantage” over its competitors. | <urn:uuid:757c40db-232b-4ca9-bcc7-f6c6a765e57a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.technologyreview.com/news/423938/how-three-dimensional-transistors-went-from-lab-to-fab/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951049 | 574 | 3.1875 | 3 |
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Tuesday, January 8th, 2013
Blogs | Sociology of Sheena
…In the Name of Love and Sex
I’m going to tell you the moral of the story first. GRATITUDE. I’m grateful for friends that remind you of who you are, what’s really important in life and volunteer the clothes off their back all in the name of love and sex.
The other night I was out with my friend Amber, waiting for a Burlesque show to start when my lover called. He wanted me to come over to his place after the show. Amber heard my end of the conversation.
SLY: (on the phone) But I don’t have a change of clothes for work tomorrow. And I have pole class tomorrow night.
Lover: It’s okay then. I know its last minute. We’ll see each other later this week.
SLY: Well, just let me brainstorm for a minute and I’ll call you back.
I hate turning down an opportunity to spend time with family, friends and lovers when given the chance. And him specifically, I don’t care the time of day or place, I just want to see him. So I considered everything. If the Burlesque show ended at a certain time, how long would it take me to get back to my borough, change, pack a bag and then travel by train to his borough? Would it be better to take a taxi? Should I just say no? I flipped every possibility over and over in my head. My friend who had been listening to my end of it turned towards me.
Amber: When did you ever turn a man down because you didn’t have a change of clothes. You are the last person I’d ever think would say that.
SLY: But I have to work tomorrow and I have on a very specific kind of outfit. It would be different if I had on jeans and a tshirt.
Amber: When did you ever care? Really. You’re not going to go see him because of your tights?
SLY: You’re right. I had my pole delivered to my old job. My old boss used to play with my riding crop at work. Why do I care about wearing the same outfit two days in a row? You’re right!
Amber: If its that important we can go in the bathroom and switch dresses. Then when I see you later this week, we’ll just switch them back.
SLY: That is a cute dress. Where did you get it from? Is it bronze colored? I do like it. And we can fit each other’s clothes.
Amber: We can switch if you want so that you have a new outfit for tomorrow. Or just buy some new leggings tomorrow before going to work.
SLY: You’re right. I don’t care. I like him and I want to see him. I’m gonna go after the show!
I get it. When it comes to dating, love and sex….sometimes you have to say no. Sometimes, last minute things don’t work out. Other times, who the fuck cares if you have to wear the same outfit twice? If you live such a life that you have an amazing friendship with a delicious lover, where the conversations always stimulate your mind, where ideal nights involve movie time while his hand strums along the seam of your panty hose and where the sex is yum…..GO! Go see that man right now. Delight in him. Devour him. Discover new parts of him. Talk to him. Kiss him.
This is also a lesson in why you should always wear your pretty panties. You never know where the day may lead. | <urn:uuid:ecbe21ef-19ae-492c-b190-dc7a9000930a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://sheenalashay.com/2013/01/in-the-name-of-love-and-sex/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00034-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951311 | 950 | 1.609375 | 2 |
==> SAN DIEGO AREA HAMS ACTIVATED AS WILDFIRES RAVAGE SOUTHERN,CALIFORNIA
andre.kesteloot at verizon.net
Tue Oct 30 08:03:46 CDT 2007
==> SAN DIEGO AREA HAMS ACTIVATED AS WILDFIRES RAVAGE SOUTHERN
As fires raged through parts of the San Diego area and other areas in
Southern California, ham radio operators did their part to ensure the
safety of residents either affected or threatened by the fires. ARES
groups in San Diego were activated on Monday, October 22 and continued
to assist their served agencies until early Wednesday morning. Sixty
hams were called to service by the County of San Diego's Emergency
According to ARRL San Diego Section Emergency Coordinator James J.
Cammarano II, KG6R, hams assisted at the San Diego Medical Operations
Center, six trauma centers and 16 community hospitals. Hams served as a
resource, Cammarano said, "to be used in case primary circuits to
hospital communications were lost due to either overload or power
interruptions." In addition to these 60 amateurs, another dozen or so
hams were activated by the Red Cross.
ARRL Emergency Preparedness and Response Manager Dennis Dura, K2DCD,
learned that San Diego ARES volunteers were activated and now they are
in standby mode. "They are ready to go at a moment's notice, but there
are currently no plans for re-activation," he said. As in any emergency
situation, information can quickly change and the ARRL will continue to
monitor the situation and inform members if the situation changes.
As the fires started to spread, hams started a FIRENET on the Palomar
ARC 146.73 MHz repeater. Howard White, KY6LA, of La Jolla, who was among
those who served as net control operator under extremely stressful
conditions, disseminated a preliminary log of his experience. Excerpts
"With flames starting to engulf the county and no active single source
of information, as best as I could determine Charlie NN3V stepped into
the information vacuum to start the 'FIRENET' as an ad hoc operation on
Sunday afternoon. Early contributors included Gayle K6GO and Gary W6GDK.
Initial operations started by collecting fire information as to fire
location, wind directions, shelter locations and initial evacuations.
Hams provided eyes and ears on the ground where the danger was. Soon
however the fires seemed to be heading down to the Poway area so Charlie
and the other Poway hams needed to evacuate....
"Day One: Is the fire near us? Where is the head of the fire? What
directions are the heads going? What are the winds doing? Should we
evacuate? What roads are closed? What about our animals? Where should we
go? What should we take? What is the route to avoid the flames? Can you
help us find missing people or pets? Can you help us get barrels of
water for animals? Can you help us find food and water? Can you get the
police to deal with looters?
"Unlike Katrina, the questions and answers did not abate at night. It
was nonstop. Terry K3PXX needed routing around the fires to evacuate his
Animal trailer. Terry reported on Fires as he drove through Poway and
back to San Marcos EOC. ROARS hams had evacuated Ramona and the 147.03
repeater and were looking for help to be routed safely out of the area.
Fires broke out in Coronado Hills in San Marcos. People needed to be
evacuated. Brian KF6C asked where to evacuate his 4 children. San Marcos
EOC needed to be activated and FIRENET held the fort for them until they
could get there and became operational to evacuate San Marcos. George
KG6IDE tries to drive up to Ramona to evacuate elderly parents but we
turn him back to avoid the flames...
"0130 Tuesday: N9XF reports flame proceeding down 76 from Fallbrook. Tom
KI6IET, who is blind, but stays at his post as my backup net control,
needs to be evacuated. Evacuation arranged ok. Rob WA3IHV calls from his
office at Palomar hospital to tell us his family was evacuated OK and
"2100 Tuesday: FIRENET hams drive to Qualcomm Stadium and load trucks
with food. Dan leads ham relief convoy with food and supplies to Mira
Costa College. Fire victims at shelter express gratitude for first food
"2350 Wednesday: KG6VVN signs off as net control as the 146.730 repeater
runs out of fuel and goes off the air..."
Orange County update: Acting Section Emergency Coordinator Cathy
Gardenias, K6VC, provided this update on the situation in the ARRL
Orange Section as of October 25: "Slide Fire/Green Valley is 17%
contained; Grass Fire is 70% contained. Santiago Canyon Fire was 50% but
was reduced last night as it turned and headed for the Riverside County
border of the Cleveland National Forest.
"Amateur Radio operators have been utilized. The San Bernardino County
Fire EOC has been using ECS and ARES members in the EOC to monitor
communications and other jobs needed. At the command post at the Rim of
The World High School near Lake Arrowhead, ECS and ARES members who have
been fully trained in all ICS and S190 (bush training) are handling
communications and other needs. This is according to Jeff W6JJR DEC for
ARES San Bernardino County and a Public Information Officer (Miles) from
the EOC in San Bernardino. The EOC is at Level III at this time.
"SATERN [Salvation Army Team Emergency Radio Network] Amateur Radio
operators at all the shelters have been volunteering their time as non
communicators, but as helpers for those who are in need."
As of Friday afternoon, CNN reported that 14 of the nearly two dozen
fires were under control. Nearly 800 square miles has burned in Southern
California, and seven deaths have been blamed on the fires, with dozens
Ron Roberts, Chairman of the San Diego Board of Supervisors estimates
that 560,000 people were ordered to evacuate their homes, and thousands
more were evacuated in San Bernardino, Los Angeles and Orange counties.
Firefighters received help from Mexico, the state and federal
governments and even inmates from California's prisons. About 7000
firefighters were battling the blazes, including 2300 inmates from
California's Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, according to
President Bush visited the area on Thursday and declared a federal
emergency for seven counties: Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San
Bernardino, San Diego, Santa Barbara and Ventura. FEMA Administrator
David Paulison said that the President's action authorizes FEMA to
"coordinate all disaster relief efforts, which have the purpose of
alleviating the hardship and suffering caused by the emergency on the
local population, and to provide appropriate assistance for required
emergency measures, authorized under Title V of the Stafford Act, to
save lives, protect property and public health and safety and lessen or
avert the threat of a catastrophe." Schwarzenegger estimated that at
least $75 million in federal aid would be needed. -- Some information
from The Weather Channel and CNN
More information about the Tacos | <urn:uuid:27c9c9ce-8812-47ed-ad65-51da9b8702a9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://amrad.org/pipermail/tacos/2007/005235.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00062-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945237 | 1,604 | 1.796875 | 2 |
Jatun Sacha is a lovely place. Comprising 2500 hectares of easily accessible primary rainforest, it is one of the last little paradises around Tena.
Or so it seems…
Promoting the conservation of ecosystems through technical training, scientific research, environmental education, natural resource management, and community development involving local peoples surely can’t be all that bad, even if it meant privatizing many square metres of ancestral indigenous territories. After all this was government policy in the 1970s anyway, and better the land goes to an eco- humanitarian project than some overweight cattle farmer. ¿No?
The place is always buzzing with young and keen volunteers who rest their tired bodies in colourful hammocks under tropical canopies after a long day of planting, digging, sowing, collecting, counting and measuring. They make friends, fall in love with each other, and buy their beer in the next village’s shop. They learn much about the rainforest and its non-human inhabitants, often returning home – happy, sunburnt, their insect bites mostly scarred – with half a dissertation under their arm.
However, the well-equipped and -staffed botanical gardens and research stations of the Jatun Sacha Foundation have been deeply involved with pharma-giant Pfizer and Shaman pharmaceuticals, channelling research results, plant samples and inventories towards their commercial laboratories. The RAFI (now the ETC Group) communiqué linked to above speaks of some projected illegal export of 9000 species – all for the profit of Pfizer and the Botanical Garden in Missouri with which one of the Jatun Sacha founders is closely affiliated. Here is an excerpt:
Biology students and professors from the allegedly Opus Dei controlled Universidad Católica in Quito have over many years been witting- or unwittingly involved in what basically amounts to trafficking Ecuadorian species to the Pfizer laboratories. For how many of the exported samples the necessary permits have conveniently been forgotten, is unclear. According to a long-standing local activist, the Ministry of the Environment continues to lament the fact, yet points its finger at its lacking funds and control capacity.
Smuggling plants, however, is not just a violation of national and international legislation, but also part of the processes undermining indigenous peoples’ efforts of self-determination and their rights to the protection of their collective bio-cultural heritage – (for the best recent summary of the issues involved in protecting indigenous peoples’ heritage from erosion and misappropriation, please download “Banishing the Biopirates” (.pdf) from IIED).
Apart from its links to the pharmaceutical industry, Jatun Sacha is also a partner of Conservation International, which is accused of “neocolonialism, green imperialism, and being a “multinational conservation company“:
[A] growing number of people are questioning Conservation International’s credentials as an environmental organisation. The complex global web of partnerships, collaborations, initiatives and projects which Conservation International weaves is as expansive as it is mind boggling. Its major corporate supporters include Cemex, Citigroup, Chiquita, Exxon Mobil Foundation, Ford, Gap, J P Morgan Chase and Co., McDonalds, Sony, Starbucks, United Airlines and Walt Disney. Conservation International claims that its corporate supporters “know that their customers, shareholders and employees share a common concern about protecting the environment.”
With such friends one should think that the Foundation had, if not a sustainable conscience, at least a sustainable cash-flow – which leaves you wondering why certain of their (indigenous) full-time employees have not received any remuneration for the last several months of their labour. Jatun Sacha charges it volunteers substantially, of course, which makes it even more awkward to leave their workers unpaid.
So – in case you were thinking about volunteering in Ecuador, think twice about where exactly you want to do that and spend some time finding out more about Jatun Sacha or any other glittering organization luring in to quench the thirsting youth of the global upper/middle classes. There isn’t really a ready-made program to save the trees and fight the global pharmaceutical corporations who steal, pillage and plunder the Amazon and indigenous peoples all around the world. Organizations like Jatun Sacha are nothing less than another long, sneaky arm of capital, greenwashing its most ruthless perpetrators.
Coming to Ecuador we recommend you consider volunteering for smaller, independent foundations, such as Fundación Ishpingo in the Amazon or for example Golondrina, if you want to see the North-West of Ecuador. | <urn:uuid:e4d84af8-46ce-43b2-8734-54b7cc08505f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://colonos.wordpress.com/2007/05/03/jatun-sacha-the-long-sneaky-arm-of-pfizer-et-al/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00068-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942204 | 962 | 2.078125 | 2 |
In this Article
What Causes Myopia?
People who are nearsighted have what is called a refractive error. This means that the light rays bend incorrectly into the eye to transmit images to the brain. In people with myopia, the eyeball is too long or the cornea has too much curvature, so the light entering the eye is not focused correctly. Light rays of images focus in front of the retina, the light-sensitive part of the eye, rather than directly on the retina, causing blurred vision.
Myopia runs in families and usually appears in childhood. Sometimes the condition plateaus, or sometimes it worsens with age.
What Are the Symptoms of Myopia?
Comment on this
People who are nearsighted often complain of headaches, eyestrain, squinting or fatigue when driving, playing sports, or looking more than a few feet away.
How Is Myopia Diagnosed?
Myopia can be easily diagnosed using standard eye exams given by an eye doctor.
How Is Myopia Treated?
Glasses, contact lenses, or refractive surgery can correct myopia.
With myopia, your prescription for glasses or contact lens is a negative number, such as -3.00. The higher the number, the stronger your lenses will be.
Refractive surgery can reduce or even eliminate your dependence on glasses or contact lenses. The most common procedures for myopia are performed with a laser, including:
Reviewed by the doctors at The Cleveland Clinic Cole Eye Institute.
Edited by Charlotte E. Grayson, MD, WebMD, October 2004.
Last Editorial Review: 6/21/2005
Viewers share their comments
Myopia - Symptoms Question: What were the symptoms of your myopia?
Get the latest health and medical information delivered direct to your inbox FREE! | <urn:uuid:4b83c418-d134-4ec9-b935-ddab2f564dba> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.medicinenet.com/myopia/page2.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00073-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.914229 | 373 | 3.4375 | 3 |
Putting teeth into a Food Plan for Chicago
An Austin resident prepares to plant vegetable in her community garden plot. /Seeding Chicago
More than 350 people from all over Chicago have spent the last 12 months working to draft a healthy food plan for the city. The plan is intended to guide public and private efforts to build a healthier food culture in Chicago.
The Chicago Departments of Housing and Economic Development, Public Health, and Family and Support Services, in collaboration with the Mayor’s Office and diverse organizations and individuals across Chicago have supported the planning process. The Consortium to Lower Obesity in Chicago Children is helping facilitate the process.
Anyone interested in creating a healthier food environment in Chicago is invited to attend the Final Planning Workshop Thursday, July 19 from 1 to 4 p.m. at UBS Tower, One North Wacker Drive. This workshop is intended to present the draft food plan and discuss implementation strategies. RSVP to M Snodgrass or 312-573-7799.
In the meantime, if you’re really serious about eating healthy, here’s a plan of action you can implement NOW:
Buy fresh, local food.
Support local farmers’ markets. Find your nearest one here.
Eat produce that’s in season.
Cook at home more.
Plant a vegetable garden. Don’t have a patch of land? Grow vegetables in containers. Lettuce, fresh herbs and nutritionally rich kale, spinach and chard can be grown in pots. | <urn:uuid:67e8a221-e2e8-4b8c-ac0b-521da3d7d357> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://seedingchicago.com/2012/07/17/putting-teeth-into-a-food-plan-for-chicago/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00043-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.918154 | 311 | 2.09375 | 2 |
Results 1 to 9 of 9
02-06-2013, 08:47 PM #1
How do you know when the birdie's out?
Now, I know the 2 step thing you do to know that it's out. But I can't manage to think of how many steps I have took when I'm concentrating on the birdie. I see most of the players just knowing when it's going to be out, even with smashes. So please help!
02-07-2013, 03:24 AM #2
The ability to sensibly know in high percentage in regards if the incoming birdie is in or out depends on certain factors:
- Years of playing and training experiences to create that correct knowledge, awareness and observation of all the birdie's pathway patterns there is in correlation with the court dimension
- Your clear observation of the pathways that the birdie will follow while playing
The more focus you are on the path that the birdie will travel then it's likely that you can have a high chance to predict where it will land
- Your footwork movements swiftness when responding to any hits vs the speed of the birdie while playing
The sooner for you to position yourself in any area inside the court prior to the incoming birdie will give you a better view and sense of physical position in refer to the court dimension to accurately predicted if the birdie will land in or out.
In any of the above statements, it's still not easy to accurately knows 100% if the incoming birdie will land in or out especially if you're not in an optimal position to reply any incoming birdie and even if you're fully prepared, even world class player do make mistake in judging where does the birdie will land.
Nevertheless, your footwork agility when addressing any incoming birdie plays an important role to create a better chance of high awareness to sensibly predict if the birdie will land in or out since your footwork movements will able to positioned you for a better view to observe the path where the birdie will travel and land in refer to the dimension of the court. Combined this with years of playing experience, that sense will be more better.
If you are in the region of 50/50 or less in confidently predict if the birdie is out or in, its better to continously reply those incoming birdie and focus playing normally as you would and only take your chance on predicting those that is obviously out. Focusing on playing a better strategy and style of play while playing is more beneficial in obtaining good points rather then hoping to gain points from invalid reply.
02-07-2013, 03:38 AM #3
Nice essay. The key is always be behind the shuttle. If you can't understand that, the essay above is what you need.
shooting stroke liked this post
02-09-2013, 08:23 AM #4
Instinct and years of experience. if you are tall, use your height as a guage. If the shuttle is too hard to hit even at full stretch, most probably it is out. If the shuttle is coming to you at chest height, most probably it is out too.
Just my humble opinion
02-09-2013, 10:34 AM #5
02-09-2013, 10:54 PM #6
WOW! Really helped! Thanks guys for the support! I really appreciate it!
02-10-2013, 05:47 AM #7
great.If the shuttle is coming to you at chest height, most probably it is out too. thank you
02-11-2013, 09:51 AM #8
My judgement improved dramatically when I started leaving shots that were going out during training/warming up.
Many players make this mistake - then when they play a match they have the same reaction as in the warm-up - they just hit it anyway.
People warming up/training with you might get annoyed and ask 'it's not a game so you don't need to leave it' - but I guarantee these people will have the poorer judgement.
02-11-2013, 10:54 AM #9 | <urn:uuid:129e266a-f413-4b38-aba7-cd8ed302c56b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.badmintoncentral.com/forums/showthread.php/123334-How-do-you-know-when-the-birdie-s-out?p=2041524 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00055-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957025 | 851 | 1.585938 | 2 |
Elliot Grudem completed a three-part series on why it’s actually helpful to celebrate Advent. Grudem readily admits that Scripture doesn’t require us to do anything different around Advent and celebrating it doesn’t make us more spiritual, but it does have some benefits:
Celebrating Advent helps us cut through all the distractions of the Christmas season and focus our attention on Jesus Christ’s birth and ministry as well as his promised return. Since we can’t anticipate the day or the hour of Christ’s return, we are filled with both a sense of joyful expectation and humble reverence, with our spiritual focus being on lives of prayer and preparation.
Throughout the season we are constantly reminded that Jesus Christ is the promised Messiah and Savior of the World.
The series is available at The Resurgence.
In Other News…
Russell Moore says, “Jesus has AIDS.”
World Magazine interviews Evangelical scholar J.I. Packer who says he’s considering writing a systematic theology.
In Case You Missed It…
Here are a few of this week’s notable posts:
A review of Millard Erickson’s Making Sense of the Trinity: Three Crucial Questions
The final part of George Whitefield’s The Seed of the Woman and the Seed of the Serpent
A couple of ideas for something to do instead of boycotting a business for Christmas | <urn:uuid:5a8bb56f-8703-48c9-be7a-f5877ba04f4d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bloggingtheologically.com/2009/12/06/around-the-interweb-1206/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00073-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.92283 | 299 | 1.828125 | 2 |
Your Boozed-Up Pizza Craving, Explained
PopSci looks at the link between alcohol and fatty foods
Pizza and beer will always go together, but why does a night of drinking tend to end up with 2 a.m. cheese slices?
PopSci examined the link between alcohol and fatty foods, finding explanations in both biological impulses as well as brain chemistry. The first reason? "All mammals gravitate to eating the most energy-dense foods," David Levitsky, a professor at Cornell University, told PopSci. "Fat is the most energy-dense food available." And when you're drunk, your self-control is shot (explaining the trend of drunk puppy buying).
In the brain chemistry part, a chemical called galanin can be blamed as well. Galanin, when released, increases the desire for fats, and eating fats increases galanin production, leading to a downward spiral of pizza, burgers, and smothered French toast. Even worse? "Alcohol intake also results in increased galanin production," William Gruchow, a professor at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, told PopSci. Excellent.
Of course, a lot of these fatty cravings might just be conditioned into drinkers after several hungover Sunday mornings. We've constantly been told that fatty foods help hangovers, as science has proven that fatty foods slow down the absorption of alcohol, while carbs help ease nausea. So really, those early morning pizza sessions? That's just us being smart, right? | <urn:uuid:c0adc100-ff22-400e-84da-b707076042b0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.thedailymeal.com/your-boozed-pizza-craving-explained | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00037-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953243 | 320 | 2.375 | 2 |
The skyline of Indian cities could soar as the government considers permitting vertical growth with the aim of checking runaway realty prices and generating resources to upgrade urban infrastructure for future growth. A Planning Commission steering committee, in its draft report, has recommended providing additional FSI (floor space index; the ratio between built-up area and plot size) as development rights, but said it should not come free of cost.
The panel said the charges for additional FSI and land-use conversions should be at least 50% of the circle rate in the area and should be determined professionally. It added that additional FSI should be permitted selectively.
The commission’s steering group on urbanization said the revenue from grant of additional FSI should be “suitably ring-fenced for funding infrastructure projects to sustain higher FSI”. “The proposals, if accepted, would substantially increase availability of housing stock and moderate realty prices,” said an urban development ministry official.
Calling the present density regulations in Indian cities “archaic”, the report noted that Indian cities had the lowest FSI in the world. “This (densification) should be part of a balanced strategy for expanding the effective supply of prime land and, in the process, raising funds to finance urban infrastructure improvements,” the committee noted.
The Centre should introduce incentives that encourage states and cities to pursue densification strategies for future urban development, it said. Many cities were already levying such charges for additional FSI in some form or the other, it noted. Hyderabad, for instance, has a ‘city level impact fee for high rise buildings’ and Ahmedabad has systematically been selling a limited amount of additional FSI.
The committee said higher FSI should go hand in hand with provisions such as amalgamation of plots to make housing more affordable. Rather than the current practice of having a blanket FSI across a city, the panel wanted mixed land use promoted through the concept of granular FSI. “Densification with mixed land use as a planning strategy needs to be followed by the authorities to accommodate future urbanization needs,” said a ministry official. | <urn:uuid:78313141-c22e-4489-bb9c-a041ecda99b9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://indiarealestatemonitor.com/property-news/cities-will-become-taller-as-plan-panel-seeks-higher-floor-space-index/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00061-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950876 | 444 | 1.789063 | 2 |
Former White House economic adviser Larry Summers warned Thursday that the nation is at risk of sinking into a “great stagnation” — a period of high unemployment and sluggish growth — and urged policymakers to extend a temporary payroll tax cut.
Given the weakness of the economy, Summers argued that it is far more important to spur economic growth right now than to restrain record budget deficits — so long as policymakers adopt a plan to stabilize rampant government borrowing over the longer term.
“This is not the right moment to repeal the payroll tax cut,” Summers said in a speech at the liberal Center for American Progress. “Even if there was no explicit pay-for today, the extra income growth that would result as long as measures were taken at some point to stabilize the debt would be helpful.”
The statement puts Summers at odds with current administration officials, as well as congressional leaders, who have indicated that they are prepared to let the tax break expire on schedule in January. Enacted in December 2010, the payroll tax holiday cut the 6.2 percent tax that funds Social Security to 4.2 percent, boosting paychecks for virtually every American worker.
Unfortunately, the tax cut is also increasing budget deficits at the rate of about $120 billion a year, making it one of the largest components in the so-called “fiscal cliff,” the accumulation of tax increases and spending cuts that is on track to suck more than $500 billion out of the economy next year.
Summers said it is “extremely important” that policymakers reach an agreement to avoid the cliff. Not only would the nation likely be thrown into recession, he said, but “the path to recovery would not be altogether clear.”
However, simply avoiding the cliff would not be enough to put the economy back on track, Summers said. Neither, he said, would a deal to stabilize borrowing do the trick. Instead, Summers urged policymakers to “act boldly in the name of growth,” offering a five-point agenda that includes major new investments in public infrastructure, a significant increase in exports and a far-reaching overhaul of the nation’s Byzantine tax code. | <urn:uuid:1d1958e1-223b-423f-8811-b53d14cd36ac> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/larry-summers-keep-the-payroll-tax-cut/2012/10/11/eda4c918-13d0-11e2-ba83-a7a396e6b2a7_story.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00057-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963439 | 444 | 1.6875 | 2 |
The latest proposed amendment to the HHS mandate still draws on empirically unsound data and violates religious freedom.
Poor women will bear the brunt of government promoted contraceptive programs, along with its problematic side-effects. While contraception does not manufacture female happiness as its proponents suggest, religion can. The third in a three-part series.
Contraception isn’t the only way to plan a family, and it certainly isn’t cost-free: contraception leads to sexual disillusionment and weakens the marriage culture at the expense of the least well-off women. The second in a three-part series.
An unprecedented campaign against religious liberty, characterized by a formidable alliance between the White House and Planned Parenthood, bolstered by money, power, and market branding, is threatening women’s well-being. The first in a three-part series.
Against what social science tells us about human happiness, the government is promoting sexualityism—a commitment to uncommitted, unencumbered, inconsequential sex—as the answer.
Lawmakers must look past the “equality versus religious freedom” standoff, and consider the substantive merits of each particular case.
Family law has changed during the past 50 years to the detriment of child well-being, paving the way for the arguments in support of same-sex marriage. But there is a new strategy available to us to respond to this situation. The second in a two-part series.
The Supreme Court was more right than it knew during the past two centuries as it identified the state’s interest in marriage as children and their formation. The first in a two-part series.
New York Times reporter Linda Greenhouse refuses to see the truth about contraception, conscience, and religious liberty.
A recent rule issued by the Obama administration threatens our nation’s healthcare by attacking the consciences of our nation’s healthcare providers.
Religious communities are an essential part of the fabric of America, even over and above the vital services they provide to weak and vulnerable members of our communities; we must protect their conscience rights against legal coercion.
The new, pro-contraceptive recommendations by the Institute of Medicine endanger the health and well-being of women.
A new bill is needed to fix the healthcare law’s failure to adequately safeguard conscience
Do pro-lifers care about life after birth?
Abortion law is usually seen as a matter of constitutional law. Is it time for that to change?
Arguments have been aired. The facts are in. It’s time for all pro-lifers to acknowledge the shortcomings of the new health care bill.
Recent events suggest that Commonweal and Timothy Jost need to reassess their arguments about health care and abortion
The new health care law has endangered longstanding protections on conscience. We must act to address them or risk creating a dangerous precedent. | <urn:uuid:fedf3257-ef41-4bf2-9cdc-a82dd4bf0d39> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.thepublicdiscourse.com/author/helen-alvare/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946455 | 593 | 1.820313 | 2 |
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LANSING, Mich. (AP) — A legislative agency says it expects Michigan’s state government to take in more revenue this budget year and next.
The forecast released Thursday by the House Fiscal Agency is more optimistic than one put out last week by its counterpart in the Michigan Senate.
The House agency predicts more tax revenue being generated than it projected in May. The Senate forecast is more pessimistic and predicts less revenue will come in.
State officials will meet Friday and agree on consensus forecast using the two reports along with estimates from Gov. Rick Snyder’s administration.
The numbers will be used to draft a new state budget starting in October and to revise spending in the current budget.
The legislative fiscal agencies are about $400 million apart in their projections. | <urn:uuid:f36266ab-b104-464a-b144-fbc8c7cffb35> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.macombdaily.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130110/NEWS03/130119941 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.933357 | 165 | 1.710938 | 2 |
If you need help or advice about the National Minimum Wage the Pay and
Work Rights Helpline can advise workers, employers and any other interested
parties on a range of workplace rights and will deal with reports of abuse
of those rights. As well as the National Minimum Wage, the helpline can
also deal with enquiries about: working hour limits, employment agencies,
the Agricultural Minimum Wage and working for a gangmaster.
Telephone:0800 917 2368
Welcome to the Low Pay Commission
The Low Pay Commission (LPC) was established as an
independent body as a result of the National Minimum Wage Act 1998 to advise the
Government about the National Minimum Wage.
Low Pay Commission 2013 Report
The Commission's 2013 Report is available via the link below.
Invitation to Tender for Research for 2014 and 2015 Reports
The Low Pay Commission invites tenders for research for its 2014 and 2015
Reports. The details, including application and CV forms, are available via the link below. Please note
the closing deadline is 5pm on Tuesday 7 May 2013. Also below is a draft employer survey, which forms
part of the research for the 2014 Report.
The Apprentice Minimum Wage applies to those apprentices under the age of 19 and those aged 19 and over in the first 12 months of their apprenticeship.
The current rate is shown in the table above.
The current accommodation offset rate is £4.91 per day or £34.37 per week.
Compulsory School Age
* In England and Wales: a person is no longer
of compulsory school age after the last Friday of June of the
school year in which their 16th birthday occurs.
* In Northern Ireland: a person is no longer
of compulsory school age after the 30th June of the school year
in which their 16th birthday occurs.
* In Scotland: pupils whose 16th birthday
falls between 1st March and 30th September may not leave before
the 31st May of that year. Pupils aged 16 on or between 1st
October and the last day of February may not leave until the
start of the Christmas holidays in that school year.' | <urn:uuid:606589dd-a40b-42f2-a023-915bcb46f49c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.lowpay.gov.uk/lowpay/index.shtml | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944829 | 450 | 1.71875 | 2 |
Thirty officers have been suspended as a scandal in the police department of the Marseilles, on the southern coast of France, widened over the weekend.
Twelve of the suspended policemen in the bustling Mediterranean port city have already been arrested on charges of drug dealing and extortion in what is becoming one of the biggest examples of police corruption in France’s history
"The feeling is of a gangrene that has struck, that has touched this service," prosecutor Jacques Dallest said of the police brigade under investigation.
"I consider it an organized system of theft, racketeering, and drug trafficking.”
Dallest warned further arrests may be likely.
However, David-Olivier Reverdy, a spokesman for the Alliance police union in Marseille, cautioned that suspension does not necessarily mean guilt.
"These suspensions cannot be considered on the same level as those for the officers already charged," he said.
"Either they are suspected of such minor breaches that they cannot be charged or they are suspected of things that are not connected to the investigation that is underway.”
Marseilles, which became infamous around the world as a center of drug trafficking through the notorious ‘French Connection’ heroin smuggling ring of the 1950s to 1970s, remains a city ensnared in gang warfare and violence.
A recent wave of drug-related crime prompted city officials to request the intervention of the national army (a proposal that was rejected by President Francois Hollande).
Much of the violence takes place in the poor, heavily immigrant northern segments of the city where grim high-rise apartments dominate the landscape.
Karim Baila, a journalist and Marseilles native, told National Public Radio: “There is poverty, discrimination and segregation where we've put people in these high-rise ghettos. And they are so overcome by unemployment and misery that a parallel economy has taken over. Drugs and gangs now rule, and they've become no-go zones for the police."
Baila noted that drug dealers in the northern ghettoes of Marseilles trade in marijuana, cocaine, heroin and ecstasy. They can make up to $100,000 per day and they idolize Tony Montana, the fictional drug lord character played by Al Pacino in the 1980s film “Scarface.”
With unemployment running at around 50 percent in these projects, the local youths have few options in life.
A local resident named Saida Hidri told NPR: “The kids drop out of school to work but there are no jobs. So they fall into the drug gangs where they can earn good money. But later, if they want to leave they'll be killed because they know the network. They're prisoners, and so are their families. That's why we live in fear."
The Marseilles affair is the second major police corruption case in France in less than a year.
Last year, a police scandal hit the city of Lyon in France’s southeast where former deputy police chief Michel Neyret was placed under house arrested on charges he accepted gifts and favors from the city’s organized crime figures and also sold drugs himself.
"There is no place for those who tarnish the police uniform," Interior Minister Manuel Valls told reporters.
To contact the editor, e-mail: | <urn:uuid:8275fbd0-2fdc-4a5b-b0f6-5e7cc6254312> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://au.ibtimes.com/articles/392376/20121009/marseilles-police-corruption-scandal-immigrants-poverty-drugs-ghettoes.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00061-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96849 | 678 | 1.578125 | 2 |
The Battle of Fortuna (Oikonny Rebellion) was a masssive space battle that took place just prior to the Aparoid Invasion. Each side fielded massive armadas, but overall, the Cornerian ships were built with higher quality, so they inevitably won, yet the Venomians proved strategic by calling out reserved stealth tactics which kept the battle equal until the arrival of the Star Fox team.
Andrew Oikonny, a former member of team Star Wolf, took command of the late Andross's forces (the Venomian army). He decided to lure the Cornerian Fleet to Fortuna, where he kept his base. This proved to be a rather unfortunate gamble, as revealed later on.Venomian Battlecruisers, his flagship, many squadrons of Venomian fighters, several squadrons of Venomian Interceptors, at least five Venomian Heavy Fighters, and at least four Venomian Stealth Bombers. By Peppy Hare's account, the simian soldiers were all common ruffians and other scum, seeking only profit in exchange for service.
Space battle Edit
The battle wasn't easy for the Cornerians, as they suffered heavy losses to Oikonny, and they were not at all prepared for his Stealth Squadron. Despite this setback, they managed to pull through, mainly after Fox McCloud destroyed six battleships single-handed, and obliterated half of the troublesome Stealth Squadron. Oikonny, being something of a coward, fled down to the surface of Fortuna when Fox broke through his lines and was about to fire on his flagship.
Ground Battle EditFortuna was the site of a Venomian Base, so he expected it to be heavily fortified. He blasted his way through many fighters and heavy fighters, picking several off Falco Lombardi's tail and saving Slippy Toad a second time. There were plenty of ground fortifications, including Venomian Light Tanks, several Venomian Heavy Tanks, at least four Venomian Assault Mechs, and a large group of at least ten Venomian Heavy Assault Mechs.
Oikonny EditAfter plowing through all that, Fox finally tracked down Oikonny's Flagship, which in turn, transformed into an Oikonny Andross. After taking out both hands, it was destroyed by a few shots from an Aparoid Moth.
This sudden apperance of a new threat drew the Cornerians attentions away from the Venomian army, for this was the start of the catastrophic Aparoid Invasion.Any surviving Venomians were destroyed by Aparoids, or fled the planet into the Sargasso Hideout. Once the Aparoids were exterminated, supplies were taken by the Cornerians, from the remains of Andross's bases, to help reconstruct the Lylat System after the Aparoid Invasion. | <urn:uuid:d711fa03-bb6f-4d19-a241-1e8cb9cea9f1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://starfox.wikia.com/wiki/Battle_of_Fortuna | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00022-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97109 | 585 | 1.757813 | 2 |
On the second anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, anger over the stalled rebuilding was palpable Wednesday throughout the city where the mourning for the dead and feeling of loss doesn't seem to subside.
Hurricane Katrina made landfall south of New Orleans at 6:10 a.m. Aug. 29, 2005, as a strong Category 3 hurricane that flooded 80 percent of the city and killed more than 1,600 people in Louisiana and Mississippi. It was the worst natural disaster in the history of the United States.
New Orleans churches staged memorial services, including one at the historic St. Louis Cathedral on Jackson Square, and ring bells in honor of the victims. People throughout the city will hold their own private ceremonies to remember where they were when Katrina hit, and what they lost.
"We ring the bells today for the 17, 1,800 people who have gone on to a better place," Mayor Ray Nagin said after large bell tolled a dozen times and a crowd wordlessly sounded handheld bells for more than a minute. "We ring the bells for a city that is in recovery, that is struggling, that is performing miracles on a daily basis."
1. RevK wrote:
I could be wrong or it may just be my perception of things, but after Hurricane Hugo destroyed much of South Carolina, I didn’t see this kind of pressure put on the Federal Government to rebuild - it seems to have been left up to the locals.
August 30, 9:39 am | [comment link]
2. Mike Bertaut wrote:
Absolutely correct. The New Orleans “position” has always been that since the Fed (through the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers) put the state out of the levee business (after the ‘27 flood) any tragedy befalling the area due to levee failure implies a federal responsibility to set aright. If the Army Corps had passed on taking over the Mississippi River Levee system in the early 1930’s, New Orleans area would have never been home to 1.2 Million people, it would have remained a curious port town with a European/South American culture. The implied safety of the federal levee system and guarantees meant security for investment, and that’s essentially how New Orleans got big in the first place.
Remember that law of unintended consequences? New Orleans is a prime example of it.
August 30, 9:52 am | [comment link]
3. John316 wrote:
I believe I remember complaints after Hugo which led to investigations of FEMA and some reforms. There were also plenty of complaints after Andrew which led to even more reforms at FEMA.
Some perspective can be found in the loss numbers:
August 30, 11:18 am | [comment link]
Hugo deaths = 82 and $10 billion in damage
Andrew deaths = 65 and $26.5 billion in damage
Katrina deaths = 1,836 and $81.2 billion in damage
4. Rolling Eyes wrote:
#1, #2, another thing to consider is that South Carolina isn’t as dependent upon ALL forms of assistance from the federal government as New Orleans is. It’s not just the levees, but welfare, etc. Someone, please correct me if I’m wrong, but I remember lots of news stories after Katrina pointing out how a MASSIVE percentage of New Orleans citizens completely lived off the government. They were completely dependent upon government help in every aspect of their lives, including, evidently, preventing acts of God. That’s why you see all the pressure on the Government to fix them. They don’t know any better.
RevK makes a great point about South Carolina. And what about all the huge hurricanes that have hit Florida in the past 20 years? All the sudden, when NO gets hit, all you hear is “George Bush doesn’t care about black people”, and other nonsense.
August 30, 11:22 am | [comment link]
5. Mike Bertaut wrote:
#4 RE you are correct. About 48% of Orleans Parish residents were on some type of public assistance pre-Katrina. For reasons I’ve stated before, if you can overlook the crime and horrible schools, New Orleans was a paradise for the urban poor pre-K. The current political administrations were heavily invested in protecting that voting block, and vice versa (notice William Jefferson re-elected even after $100k was found in his freezer). They really have never had to fend for themselves, and had always seen the government as their security blanket, tattered and moldy as it was.
That’s also why 30k folks got stranded at the Superdome. When a hurricane came, you either left town or went down to the Dome. The city said explicitly that the Dome was NOT a shelter for Katrina. 40,000 people showed up anyway, so they went ahead and opened it, without planning or supplies, anticipating a 24 hour stay at most and certainly no flooding.
It’s all very sad. It’s the Great Society come home to roost, in its worst possible manifestation.
August 30, 11:29 am | [comment link]
6. HowieG wrote:
The only reason that I see that Katrina is still in the news is that the Mayor of NO and the Governor of LA, are highly incompetent leaders who still believe that the welfare state (aka Fed. gov. handouts) is a natural entitlement. Billions of Tax-payers dollars have been sent to NO and LA for recovery work with little to show for it. It’s very strange that groups like the Vietnamese in NO, and others in next-door Mississippi, can significantly rebuild in the two years since Katrina, but those who expect handouts (welfare) are incapable. Blaming Bush and FEMA for their own laziness is disgusting and worthy of scorn.
August 30, 11:56 am | [comment link]
7. RevK wrote:
In my earlier post, I was not trying to make a Republican or Democrat talking point; I was merely asking why Katrina’s effect on New Orleans seems to be the federal government’s problem. As posters have pointed out, there have been other hurricanes that have devastated areas before - even the other parts of Katrina’s wake. I knew the director of one state’s FEMA during Hugo. What he has told me is that FEMA’s policy and orientation toward disaster relief is to help the locals solve their own problems, but not to take over from them. Somehow during Katrina, this doesn’t apply to New Orleans, but it does to Pascagoula. Hmmm.
I don’t buy the N.O. argument that the Army Corps of Engineers owns responsibility because they didn’t ‘turn it over to the locals’ in the 1930’s. The Dams and Rivers section of the Corps of Engineers has responsibility for all of the nations dams and levees, as well as other structures. Using that argument, it becomes the Army’s problem to clean up and fix after every disaster. Even so, my understanding is that the fed gov put a ton of money into levees, but much of it got diverted to other projects because the levees were deemed to be ‘good enough.’ If that is true, who diverted it and for what purpose?
Finally, for a practical matter, engineering is like anything else in life, it has trade-offs. I suppose the Corps of Engineers could have built 500 foot high, half-mile wide levees in N.O., but at what cost to the city and to other projects? They seemed to think the levees were good enough; and they almost were.
Which still begs the question, “Why does N.O. require federal bail-out (read: my tax dollars) and not Pascagoula?
August 30, 11:58 am | [comment link]
8. Mike Bertaut wrote:
Excellent points. I find this so interesting that I am arguing FOR New Orleans when on the eve of Katrina I couldn’t care less. something about taking care of 22 people for several months, 10 for over a year at my home put me with “boots on the ground” in New Orleans. So here are a few things to consider. I don’t necessarily agree with all these arguments, but they are the basis for what is happening now.
The Levee thing. The Corps was SO enamored with their levee system that they encouraged FEMA to remove flood insurance requirements on some 50% of the city that was below sea level. Only 40% of the homes that flooded had flood insurance, and over 40% of the total that flooded were not REQUIRED to have it, even though they were below sea level. My home, 50 miles north of New Orleans is 14 feet ABOVE sea level and I have to have flood insurance to get a mortgage.
Now, I don’t know about you, but, in the absence of an unimaginable (to them anyway) disaster like Katrina, if the Army Corps of Engineers, FEMA, and your mortgage banker tell you that your property doesn’t flood, the average Joe is going to believe them. And so they did.
No such guarentees have ever been made before, not in Florida, South Carolina, and certainly not in Pascagoula Mississippi. Yet, that exact warranty was made by the U.S. Government to the people who live inside those levees in New Orleans.
I believe one of the reasons the Fed has put up $81B so far is simply because they recognize their own liabilities and are in effect “admitting guilt”. Otherwise they would certainly not have compensated the area at anywhere near the level they have.
Now, to be clear I want to state a few unequivocal positions that I personally hold, after living in this area for 46 years.
First, to me, pre-Katrina New Orleans was not somewhere I would ever have lived. Bad schools, bad politicians, bad roads, bad crime, bad attitudes, and bad traffic held no attractions for me at all. Then again, I wasn’t the current government’s target demographic. It was a morass of corruption, bribery and graft, peopled by a poor urban population who was heavily dependant on the government for everything from food to health care. It was Mexico—North.
But that doesn’t change the fact that an agency of the federal government gave the city assurances that it failed on. Why that happened is up for debate. THAT it happened is not.
My 2 cents…..mrb
August 30, 2:35 pm | [comment link]
9. libraryjim wrote:
They played a clip on the news tonight that brought the issue back to NO and Ray “School Bus” Nagin: he was actually saying that he didn’t want the federal government telling HIM how to rebuilid HIS city—send the money but keep out, in essence! Now he is yelling the loudest about the failings of the feds in this case.
Someone called in from NO and was asked “Why in the world did you re-elect this clown?” and the answer was “the clown was better than the crook running against him.”
September 1, 9:36 pm | [comment link]
10. Mike Bertaut wrote:
Yeah, and he’s got the nerve to think about running for governor. Truly out of touch with reality. Anyway, once the fed is finished putting away William Jefferson, Nagin will take over his seat in Congress and then he can make poorly worded comments in the national press. Then I guess Maxine Waters will have some competion for quotes.
Wish them luck…mrb
September 4, 10:04 am | [comment link] | <urn:uuid:37de05ed-69f0-4431-8ab3-8a53cd0baee4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.kendallharmon.net/t19/index.php/t19/article/5419/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972098 | 2,498 | 2.453125 | 2 |
From Piper Cubs to P-51s, planes with tailwheels are some of our favorites. But they do have a tendency to be more difficult to control on the runway. In this article from Jerry Smith, you’ll learn how to set up your tail-dragger as well as flying tips for smooth takeoffs and landings.
Though many planes are equipped with tricycle landing gear, planes with tailwheels–tail-draggers–remain very popular. It is fair to say that most of the RC airplanes flown today fall into the tail-dragger category. In the air, tail-draggers behave just like tricycle-gear aircraft do, but on the ground, it’s another story altogether. Once you’ve built your first tailwheel plane, coping with its ground handling can be challenging. Here are some tips for taming that tail-dragger.
A tail-dragger has its balance point behind the main landing gear. At rest, this keeps the tail firmly on the ground, but once the tail comes up during takeoff, the model becomes inherently less stable. You must keep it lined up with the runway’s centerline, or its center of mass will try to shift around one way or the other, and this will result in an abrupt, tail-swinging turn known as a “ground loop.” If you let this happen, you may damage your model. The secret to taking off and landing a tail-dragger smoothly is to quickly use the rudder to correct any tail-swing. The sooner you correct it, the smoother your maneuver will be. Setting up the main landing gear with a little toe-in will also help to reduce tail-swing. It does take more skill to take off and land a tail-dragger, but it’s nothing that can’t be overcome with a little time and practice.
This Sullivan Products tailwheel assembly is one of the best I’ve used for sport airplanes. It is available in four sizes; choose one to suit your model’s weight.
This tailwheel is typical of what you find in most ARF kits. It looks strong but does not prevent steering shock from reaching the rudder servo.
This tailwheel is supplied with the Great Planes CAP 232 and the Super Sportster ARF kits and is also available separately. It’s light and easy to install.
This Carl Goldberg Products tailwheel is another good choice. It comes with all the hardware, including the wheel, and is available in four sizes to fit airplanes weighing from 6 to 39 pounds. The bright plated finish will keep it looking new and free of rust.
One of the best I’ve used is this Ohio Superstar Products tailwheel. It’s available in five sizes for models weighing from 4 to 50 pounds. It is very rugged and has a very true-to-scale look.
You’ll find this great-looking tailwheel on the Pacific Aeromodel 27% Edge 540 T ARF. It has a fiberglass strut, a neat caster-wheel assembly and springs to absorb steering shock.
Though there are many tail-dragger models on the market, some kits include tailwheel hardware that isn’t as rugged as it should be. This is where the many aftermarket tailwheel assemblies come in.
One of my favorites for sport and non-scale airplanes is the spring-loaded Sullivan tailwheel. It’s robust and easy to attach with two screws. It has a spring wire to isolate the side steering loads from the servo and is available in four sizes. Another very good tailwheel is the sport design from Great Planes (GPMA2868). It is one of the best I have seen in ARF kits. A nylon bushing is mounted in a hole in the tail. The tailwheel-wire strut is mounted in the bushing with a wheel collar installed and retained by an aluminum clip. A thin wire that acts as a spring is soldered to and wrapped around the tailwheel strut and captured in a nylon bushing mounted under the rudder. The tailwheel assembly is plated, and it includes a wheel.
Carl Goldberg Products offers a new tailwheel assembly in three sizes for 6- to 35-pound models. It is a more conventional design and very true to scale. It comes with all the hardware, including the wheel. The strut is made of hardened, plated and polished steel, and the wheel caster comes mounted. A tiller arm is connected to the rudder with two springs, and this arrangement isolates the servo from steering shock.
Another excellent choice that has been around for years is the Ohio Superstar tailwheel. It also has a tiller arm and springs to isolate the servo from steering shock. It comes painted black and is available in sizes to fit small and large airplanes.
Be aware of the flimsy tailwheel setup that has the wheel attached directly to the rudder. This setup is acceptable for small models, but it is not good for larger planes. Because of the constant shock of ground steering and landing, sooner or later, a tailwheel that’s attached to the rudder will fail and damage the rudder and possibly its servo, too. A good tailwheel setup provides positive steering and ground handling, isolates the rudder from steering shock and should last a long time.
So, with your next model, take a closer look at the tailwheel assembly that comes in the kit. If it’s wimpy, there are plenty of aftermarket tailwheel choices that will improve your model’s ground handling and enhance its scale looks. | <urn:uuid:742b1def-f29b-48fb-939f-9ab4d67e66e0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.modelairplanenews.com/blog/2011/10/31/tail-draggers-what-you-need-to-know/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00070-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94482 | 1,177 | 1.703125 | 2 |
Sri Lanka has been inhabited for more than two millenia, and its major influences come from the Sinhalese and Tamil ethnic groups and Buddhist and Hindu religions from India. Most visitors to Sri Lanka don't spend time in the capital, and until 2009, Colombo was largely off the radar for foreign visitors due to its intermittent 29-year civil war. Now, peace has settled and visitors will find its capital an unexpected delight. Its fringe of beaches isn't all that makes Colombo unique, as the country's diverse array of ethnicities - including Muslims and Burghers - each bring their own rich cultures while sharing that laid-back spirit so special among islanders. You would be hard-pushed to find their rip-roaring sense of humour and fun in other major cities, too.
A comfortable bed
Colombo's budget and mid-range accommodation can be uninspiring but you'll find plenty of it around Mount Lavinia Beach. If you're at that end of town, splash out and stay at the Mount Lavinia Hotel (www.mountlaviniahotel.com; 00 94 11 2711711), the scene of a secret love affair between the former British Governor-General of Ceylon, Sir Thomas Maitland, and Lovina, a Mestizo dancer in the 19th century. A double starts at around US$146 (Dh536).
For a very different historical experience, head to Tintagel Colombo (www.paradiseroadhotels.com; 00 94 11 4602060). It's the newly repurposed home of the former prime minister Solomon Bandaranaike, who was assassinated on the veranda in 1959. An executive suite starts at US$280 (Dh1,028) per night. The boldly decadent interior is exactly what you'd expect from the Paradise Road empire behind it, which began with the Paradise Road art gallery just down the road.
Boutique hotels are popping up all over now, but the original is still one of the best. Havelock Bungalows (www.havelockbungalow.com; 00 94 11 2585191) may be in the centre but you wouldn't know it from its peaceful atmosphere, complete with garden, pool and comfy sofas in the living room. A standard room starts at US$100 (Dh367). Always book ahead wherever you stay.
Find your feet
Arriving at the Fort Railway Station, the kinetic buzz of shoppers, insane whirr of traffic and dusty heat can be overwhelming. Jump into the madness and explore the sprawling Pettah Market that is packed with Bob Marley flip-flops, glittering saris and everything else under the scorching sun. Alternatively, make your way to the cooling Beira Lake in the heart of the city or to the verdant Viharamahadevi Park, near Colombo's most regal attractions. You can take a moment to plot your route (the city is divided into easily demarcated districts) with a trusty tuk-tuk driver.
Meet the locals
Head to Galle Face Green with the locals at sunset. Here, kids play ball games en masse, and couples stroll along the seafront, shaded under vibrantly adorned umbrellas. It's a great time to see Colombites at leisure, as well as sample local street food. Kottu Roti, a chopped up pancake-like noodle mixed with meat and vegetables, is a hearty favourite. To mix with socialites, it has to be Colombo 7, where the streets are lined with trees and (relatively) expensive cafes. Head for afternoon tea, cake and gossip at The Commons Café (www.thecommonscolombo.com; 00 92 112 694 435) and savour delectable sweets in the lush courtyard.
Book a table
You'll never go hungry in Colombo; the city is full of street stalls heaped with fried "short eats" and family run cafes selling enormous portions of the Sri Lankan staple - rice and curry. For elegant surroundings outside the major hotels, options are limited. However, Ministry of Crab (www.ministryofcrab.com) is a treat and can be found in the atmospheric surroundings of the Old Colombo Dutch Hospital. The restaurant celebrates fresh Sri Lankan seafood and has received rave reviews. Sample a classic dish and opt for a kilo of chilli crab (5,570 rupees; Dh167) with a coconutty Pol Sambola (240 rupees; Dh7) on the side. Lemon Bar & Kitchen (www.lemon.lk, 00 94 11 2682122) is all the rage among expats, and serves up celebrity Chef Koluu's European and Sri Lankan dishes with a rooftop view. Start with an artichoke dip followed by Beef Pethi curry with its zesty, lime pickle.
Colombo's malls aren't yet comparable to the shopping centres in the rest of Asia and the Middle East, although Odel's (www.odel.lk) flagship store is a good one-stop shop for both souvenirs and everyday clothing. The city does boutiques well, and you'll find an enchanting array of ethically minded clothing, local crafts and reasonably priced artwork. You can find the flower power fashion of the young designer Deneth Piumakshi (www.denethpiuma.com) at Cantaloupe Boutique on Galle Face Court 1. Her vibrant creations are not only playful but are also made by village women who use "cheetah", a bright, floral sarong that was once traditional dress.
What to avoid
While Colombo's small scale makes it manageable, the heat, dust and slender pavements make cabs or a tuk-tuks a better option than walking. For a true Sri Lankan experience, take a bus.
The beach. Recline at Mount Lavinia's palm-shaded Buba Restaurant & Beach Club (42/11, Vihara Rd, Dehiwala; 00 92 2732 190) alongside hip young locals. Adventurous types can arrange a kite surfing tour with Kite Surfing Lanka (www.kitesurfinglanka.com). They can arrange transport from Colombo to Kalpitiya and a day's tuition, with equipment, for Dh570 per person.
Return direct flights from Dubai to Colombo take four hours 40 minutes and start at (Dh1,221) with SriLankan Airlines (www.srilankan.com).
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HEALTH -- July 24, 2012 at 8:57 PM EDT
Should 'Poor Countries' Be Doing More to Finance Their HIV Fights?
Science magazine reporter Jon Cohen speaks with the Kaiser Family Foundation's Jackie Judd about a call Tuesday for a new approach to financing the global battle against the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Read the full transcript below the video.
The NewsHour is partnering with the Kaiser Family Foundation to bring you these video updates throughout the conference week. Check back for more soon. And of course, stay tuned to the NewsHour broadcast for further analysis throughout the proceedings.
Jackie Judd, Kaiser Family Foundation: Jon Cohen of Science magazine, welcome.
Cohen: Thanks, Jackie. It's another interesting day at the AIDS Conference.
Judd: And if you step back from the speeches, the sessions, the panels, and look at it in a larger way, one of the themes evolving is we're talking about the evolution of the epidemic in many different ways. And today there was a discussion about the evolution of the financing of the epidemic. Fill us in.
Cohen: Well, we've had a period of time over the last decade where there's been a lot of dependency from poor countries and middle-income countries on wealthy countries. And what we saw in 2011, and this is a talk from Bernhard Schwartländer of UNAIDS, in 2011 there were 81 countries that were taken care of for 50 percent or more of their HIV/AIDS needs. South Africa is at the front of that pack, really went from very little domestic money to taking care of the bulk of it. And the donor countries are saying to the partners, 'Hey, we expect you to do more...'
Judd: And their contributions have flat-lined in the past several years, correct?
Cohen: As the Kaiser report shows that just came out, yeah, we've hit the plateau there, we've got a roof problem. So the thing that really startled me about what Schwartländer was saying is there are many, many countries that are going to be moving out of low-income status into middle-income status and that's going to put pressure on them from the donors to do more and more.
Judd: He said, 'The world is getting richer. We need to make it fairer.'
Cohen: That's right. And by fairer, he meant that every country should pay more of their fair share. And many, many poor countries signed on to a declaration that they would pay 15 percent of their health care needs and many have not done it. And he pointed a finger at them and said, 'Hey, it's time that you take care of your problem. We'll help you, but do more.'
Judd: And they will push back, I presume.
Cohen: I think so. I think that the countries that aren't contributing now aren't contributing because they feel overwhelmed by other things. But he's saying, 'Uh-uh, you've got to take care of this, too.
Judd: Another piece of the evolution of this epidemic is the way it looks -- who is HIV-positive. You heard about a study today that points to the aging of those who are impacted.
Cohen: Yeah, I was a little frightened because I'm in that aging group. But it's the over-50 group. But the startling thing to me was that by 2015, half the HIV-infected people in North American and Europe are going to be over 50. I didn't know that.
Judd: What are the policy implications. Older people, of course, have more complicated health issues.
Cohen: It's baffling. They have more complicated health issues. They've got diseases of aging that are going to compete with their disease. HIV is going to, as one researcher said today, accentuate the likelihood that they get these diseases of aging. And think about it, you're 65, 70, you're HIV-infected. You're taking pills for all these things. HIV is just one thing you're taking pills for. There could be problems of adherence that we haven't even imagined. There could be problems with sexuality in that generation. People like to think that people over 50 don't have sex, but they made the point again and again today that they do and that men over 50 are six times less likely to use condoms. Now imagine there are a lot of HIV-infected men over 50. You can see a potential problem.
Judd: And a final question. One piece of research caught your eye that had to do with a study out of Uganda.
Cohen: Yeah, it was sobering. I'm not sure what it means. It had over 500 couples where one person's infected at the beginning and another isn't. Now that's the very design of a study -- a larger study, a better-designed study, that led to the breakthrough notion that treatment is prevention. Because the study published last year showed that it reduced treating the infected partner, reduced the likelihood of transmission by 96 percent. The study today found nothing. Now there could be a whole lot of reasons why. It could be that the person who got infected wasn't even infected by their partner. The study published last year did genetic analysis to make sure the people who did get infected got infected by their partner. Could be that they were polygamists and that explains it. It could be a bunch of different things. Or it could be that applying this in the real world could be very, very tricky. And there are lots of variables we don't know yet.
Judd: Well on that we will end it and say thank you.
Cohen: Thank you, Jackie.
Watch this week's speeches from the International AIDS Conference in their entirety here or on the NewsHour's Health Page. Also there, find background materials including a primer on this week's conference in Washington and a look at how the HIV/AIDS fight in the District of Columbia itself compares with a nation in sub-Saharan Africa on three fronts: assisting orphans, preventing the spread of HIV in correctional facilities and reducing stigma in churches. | <urn:uuid:ec2b6e0d-eeed-4bf0-8a4d-69856b9044d5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/2012/07/big-aids-news-coming-this-week-the-future-of-financing-the-epidemic.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00028-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974799 | 1,275 | 1.507813 | 2 |
We had one data file, there was no sequence problem
for retrieving the data without order by clause.It was in sequence.
When we added another datafile and index file.
Now when program retrieves the data(no order by
it does not come in sequence. e.g if order numbers are
123456, then it retrieves as 123654.Even I run a
simple select query without order by clause, it does
the same way.
Is it possible that data may be in two different
datafiles and retrieving without order by class
resulted that(no sequency)?
It retrieves data in sequency some time ,but most of
the time it does not.
Adding datafiles to tablespaces doesnot have any effect on the retrival of data.In order to retrieve the data in order u want use ORDER BY clause in ur select statement.
If u want any help regarding ur doubts please write to me at
you are mixing 2 thigs that have no connection: the output of a select statment and the way your data is stord on your machin.
a datafile is a file in a directory, it is where you stor the data in your tables. when you create a table you create it a table space. when you create a tablespace you connct it to a datefile. you can read a lot about it in the oracle documantation (under concepts).
when you ex. a select the system is takeing the data from the datafile in a specific way that has it's own logic, no connection to datafile, but to data in the table, indexes and so on...
Thanks for suggetions.
When we had one data file , it was in sequency without using
order by clause.
The user used to see in sequence (form 4.5). When we added, then it retrieves in sequence some time but most of the time not.
I understand that order by clause will put in sequence.
but, why it was doing before adding second data file?
Oracle will in many cases return the data in the order inserted, particularly if no rows have been deleted from the table with subsequent inserts. However, it was essentially luck. Control everything you can - default behavior has a way of creeping through revisions and system changes. Don't count on it if you can help it. | <urn:uuid:464ec6e4-5e37-44e7-8ea3-d5f825f48fd7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.dbasupport.com/forums/showthread.php?7342-Multiple-data-files&p=29385 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.923264 | 496 | 2.71875 | 3 |
Regular vaccination is vital to protect your pet against many important infectious diseases.
All dogs should be routinely vaccinated against Distemper, Hepatitis, Leptospirosis, Parainfluenza and Parvovirus. In addition, dogs can be vaccinated against Infectious Bronchitis. This vaccine is especially important for those dogs attending regular shows or going into boarding kennels.
Here are some points for you to consider:
- Puppies receive some immunity from their mothers, both via the placenta, before birth and in the first milk, known as the colostrums. However, this immunity fades rapidly from 6-12 weeks of age. For this reason, a puppy should receive the initial vaccination from 8 weeks of age.
- A primary course of vaccinations involves 2 injections, 2 weeks apart, giving your pet immunity for the first year of life.
- Your puppy should be kept indoors for at least 1 week after its last injection, in order to avoid exposure to infection before your pet is fully protected.
- Immunity to infectious diseases is not indefinite, and will gradually fall leaving your pet at risk. Regular annual booster vaccinations are vital to maintain your pet's immunity and to protect against diseases.
- Your vet will provide you with a record of vaccination, showing the vaccines that have been administered to your dog, and the dates that the next booster is due.
- Prevention is particularly important since these diseases are often difficult to treat successfully and may result in recurrent long term illness or even the death of a pet.
- All of these diseases share the same initial symptoms of depression, a loss of appetite and a high temperature, so if your dog is unwell, and especially if it has not been vaccinated, seek the advice of your vet immediately. | <urn:uuid:15ff6f90-aa46-4ed8-b935-3f30b2df8f9b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.caravetgroup.com/Vaccinations/Default.379.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954399 | 362 | 3.328125 | 3 |
Some call it a Skywire Loop Antenna, some call it a W0MHS Loop
Skywire Antenna, nowadays it's called a Full Wave Loop Antenna
but it still is a force to be reckoned with. In the first couple hours of
having it up I was able to hear stations I could not hear before.
The skywire loop is an excellent antenna - they can be a bit of work to get
up in the air if you have a lot of obstacles (trees, xyl, etc.) but it is
What's the right length?
574' feet for 160-15 meters (10 meters also, but with a short
feedline). Anything shorter becomes a challenge to match on the upper bands
and increases the chances of the feedline becoming the radiator and a source
The length of a loop best suited for operation on 160 meters
is too short for use on the higher bands.
The optimal choice is to cut the loop for resonance on the highest band you
plan to use, however it becomes difficult to use a giant 160 meter loop on
10 meters - your feedline length must not be a fractional wavelength of the
band you want to use or else you'll wind up using your feedline as the
If you plan to use the loop for 160 meters 99% of the time then cut it for
160 meters @ 544' - but be prepared for difficulty and reduced performance
I recommend a different loop for use on 20-10 meters if those are
your favorite bands, mostly because it's easier to put up 71 feet of wire
(14MHz) with only 18 feet per side. It's also easier to make a 23' diameter
loop for 20 meters more circular instead of square shaped. Remember, the
ideal loop is a perfect circle - it's not too hard to make an 8-sided loop
for 20 meters using PVC pipe and some dacron rope to hold it rigid.
Formula for length of full wave loop
The formula for a calculating the length of a full wave loop antenna is: Length (feet) = 1005/f
544' is comfortably resonant at 1.847kHz, 3.694kHz, 7.389kHz, 14.779kHz and 29.558kHz. Not an optimal length.
560' is comfortably resonant at 1.794kHz, 3.589kHz, 7.178kHz, 14.357kHz and 28.714kHz. Not an optimal length.
565' is comfortably resonant at 1.778kHz, 3.557kHz, 7.115kHz, 14.230kHz and 28.460kHz. Still a little short.
574' is comfortably resonant at 1.750kHz, 3.5kHz, 7.00kHz, 14.000kHz and 28.000kHz. My personal preference.
Noise seems to be greatly reduced with the loop compared to dipoles. My
dipoles are mounted on a pole at the end of the house and some of the
noise may be due to their height (35 feet for the dipoles vs. 30 feet for
the loop) and close proximity to the house and stuff inside. The loop is
40 feet or greater from the house in most places. The noise on 20 meters
is sometimes reduced as much as 1 S unit when using the loop compared to
the dipole (even at 3:00am when nothing in the house is on). Once in a
while a station may be slightly stronger with the dipole but the noise is
stronger too - weaker stations are easier to copy with the loop due to
Polarity of the loop shouldn't matter but sometimes it does. The
difference in polarity can be heard as some stations being much louder than
others when the polarity is changed - i'm guessing this is due to
cancellation of signals as received by the different length of the sides of
my loop. A circular loop would reduce these effects.
I have an old DPDT copper knife switch that I use to switch the polarity of
the 160 meter loop. My experiments with smaller loops, 20 meter loop for
example, shows that the polarity plays very little role.
Performance is exceptional and rarely is beaten by a dipole at the
Feedpoint location is important - it's preferable to have the
feedpoint on the north side of the loop (or a side that faces a part of the
world where there is little DX), especially if your loop is square. My
loop's performance was increased by moving the feedpoint to the north side;
stations to the south were easier to hear.
Corner feedpoint locations of square loops increase gain in the
direction of the opposite corner. A loop fed in the southwest corner will
have a few dB (3dB or more) gain favoring the northeast corner.
The loop really, really cuts the mustard on 160, 80 and 40
meters compared to a dipole at the same height. It works just fine and
dandy on 20 meters as well but I'd rather have a dedicated 20 meter loop for
20 through 10 meters. I had a separate loop for 20-10 and it was far easier
to put up and maintain (a lot less wire to be targeted by nearby falling
Signal reports are usually equivalent or better with the loop than my
20 or 40 meter dipoles at 38-40 feet.
QSB seems to be less of a problem with the loop than the dipole - the
fades aren't as deep and sometimes not there at all while the dipole could
The loop is a little quieter than the dipole, especially on the lower
My experience so far has been that the computerized models of loops are
over-optimistic compared to real operation in the field. You can get a
rough idea with modelling software but that software doesn't take into
account how much the wire droops from the corners to the middle of each
side, etc. The exception to this is corner-fed loops, they do have a strong
lobe as the models predict.
The bottom line is if you can put up a loop with the corners at least 25
feet high it'll work as well as anything else at that height and give you
the convenience of having the other bands available from a single antenna.
10-Nov-06: Spent almost the entire day cutting trees, limbs, brush and
climbing ladders to tie pulleys to trees and run the 544 feet of wire.
11-Nov-06: Another 3 hours spent cutting more limbs and branches I didn't
see near the end of the previous day.
21-Nov-06: I worked HC8N quite easily on 30 meters with 100 watts - big
pileup but easy to work.
Winter 2007 - 544' to short - added another 20' - 15 meters is much easier
to tune now
Spring 2008 - wire broke - my pulleys are too small, I should have used a 3"
pulley at each corner. Added more wire - 574' is a great length.
Common Misconceptions and Myths
When I read about full wave loops, five things came to mind:
Tuners are a bother
Ladder line is a bother
It's too big
It's hard to put up
It isn't worth it
I was wrong. A manual tuner is as easy as tuning a linear, ladder line is a
misunderstood jewel, there's no such thing as an antenna that is
too big, it was fairly simple to put up (even in my woodsy yard) and the
performance makes up for whatever negatives are left over.
Ladder line has become my feedline of choice - RFI is greatly reduced and
power levels are not a concern. My tuner will burn up before ladder line
Skywire Loop Websites
Ladder Line Safety -
important reading for anyone interested in using open line "ladder line"
Take a look at KA1FSB's loop antenna
page for more details on what i'm doing
Pulleys - BIG ones are better, preferably 3", and get good ones. DON'T
use anything smaller than 2" or the wire in the corners will break after a
I use marine-grade
Harken free running blocks (see
for details). Check for strength (200lbs is good), preferably with a sheave
nade if delrin - conductivity should not be an issue even if the insulation wears | <urn:uuid:a60b884b-38c3-4876-a8d5-33bba754ce82> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://n1su.com/loop.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939395 | 1,785 | 1.929688 | 2 |
In the next couple weeks the Democrats and Republicans will both have their National Conventions. The party conventions that precede the U.S. Presidential election were “originally designed to give citizens more direct control over whom their party nominated to run for president…” (1) Over time the process has changed, and it was in the 1970’s when both parties initiated rule changes that committed delegates to choosing a candidate prior to the convention. (1)
The growing prominence of the media has also impacted the conventions. (2) In recent years the tremendous planning efforts include accommodating a global audience.
The website for each party offers videos on convention planning, which includes renovating the venue; security; IT; accommodations for the media, and this year… maybe hurricane preparedness? Both parties will offer many social networking options, for those who want to stay up to the minute with what’s happening. (3, 4)
So what IS happening at these conventions? Well, in addition to formally nominating the party’s candidate – putting into motion the real race for the Presidency – it is at the conventions that the formal platforms are assembled. The platform is the position of the party on specific issues. The party platform will, in turn, be incorporated into the campaign efforts of the nominated candidate. So, in addition to the speeches and glitter and the James Taylor concert, there will be meetings and debate and compromise as all of the disparate opinions of each party are pulled and stretched into the party’s campaign platform. It is real-time political drama, a rival to any episode of Boss!
(1) Warren, K. F. (2008). Encyclopedia of U.S. campaigns, elections, and electoral behavior. Los Angeles: Sage. p. 142
(2) Panagopoulos, C., & Reilly Center for Media & Public Affairs. (2007). Rewiring politics: Presidential nominating conventions in the media age. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press.
(3) 2012 Democratic National Convention (2012, August 23) Retrieved from: http://www.demconvention.com/photos-video/
(4) 2012 Republican National Convention. (2012, August 23) Retrieved from: | <urn:uuid:60905aa4-2320-45db-87b5-8a228d294cc7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://homer.gsu.edu/blogs/library/2012/08/24/let-the-parties-begin/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.932179 | 454 | 2.078125 | 2 |
AfriGeneas Books~Authors~Reviews Forum
Deaths Compiled ~ Pittsburgh Courier
Compiler: Marlene Garrett Bransom
This book is a compilation of deaths and obituaries that appeared throughout the Pittsburgh Courier community columns and headlines. These deaths represent individuals who lived in the small towns of southwestern Pennsylvania such as Beaver Falls, Belle Vernon, Braddock, Brownsville, Canonsburg, Connellsville, Charleroi, Erie, Greensburg, Homestead, Elizabeth, McKeesport, Monessen, Monongahela, Oil City, Scottdale, Sharon, Sewickley, Uniontown, Washington, and Waynesburg, as well as Pittsburgh; in eastern Ohio, the towns of Akron, Cadiz, Dayton, East Liverpool, Salem, Smithfield, Warren, Wilberforce, Youngstown and Zanesville; in West Virginia, the towns of Huntington and Wheeling. Other towns across the state of Pennsylvania such as Altoona, Harrisburg and Williamsport are also represented as well as Buffalo and Flushing, New York.
Many of these deaths are just one line long; however, that one line often contains the name of the dead person, their parent’s name and where and when the deceased died. Many of the deaths that appear in this book are much more detailed describing when and where the deceased was born, when they came to a certain area, how long they lived there, whether or not they were a slave, the plantation they came from, and who enslaved them.
This invaluable genealogical data, most likely, is only found in The Pittsburgh Courier. Many of these early settlers were remarkable citizens who established the first churches, schools and social clubs. They were professional and nonprofessional, skilled and unskilled. They were of all classes and represented a variety of religious affiliations.
The beginning of the book contains a listing of all the deaths that are featured in the book and concludes with an every name index at the end of the book.
2011, 8.5x11, Softbound, 206 pages | <urn:uuid:8cef7b16-fb33-434c-8c19-240db8820cbd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.afrigeneas.com/forum-books/index.cgi/md/read/id/11105/sbj/deaths-compiled-pittsburgh-courier/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00039-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961911 | 424 | 2.09375 | 2 |
WASHINGTON Let’s face it: Eating at a fast-food restaurant is not about the ambience. It’s fast, and its music and lighting seem geared to on-the-fly dining.
But did it ever occur to you that meals served amid bright lights and intrusive contempo-jazz might contribute to overeating? Or that dimming the lights a tad and soothing the pace of that frenetic soundtrack might have the opposite effect?
A new study, published in September in Psychological Reports: Human Resources and Marketing, says it does — and fast-food restaurants could institute such changes without fear of losing money.
Two “food psychologists” — Brian Wansink of Cornell University and Koert van Ittersum of the University of Georgia — were allowed to take over a Hardee’s restaurant in Champaign, Ill., and did a little redecorating before welcoming in customers — er, subjects.
As customers arrived, generally in groups of two to four, 33 were randomly directed to the usual Hardee’s seating area: bright lights, upbeat music, energizing primary colours and hard, noise-reflecting surfaces. Twenty-nine others were directed to a back area that had been spruced up with window shades, white tablecloths, indirect lighting, tasteful plants, candles on the tables and paintings on the walls. Soft, instrumental jazz-ballads replaced Hardee’s customary soundtrack. The diners in this condition were told it was a new “thing” the restaurant was trying out.
Wansink, van Ittersum and others have experimentally manipulated dining experiences for some time, and their findings have been inconsistent: In some circumstances, soft lighting causes diners to eat and drink more probably because they feel less inhibited and less aroused. Soft lighting also appears to promote lingering and, hence, greater consumption.
Other studies have found little difference in consumption with such changes. But Wansink and van Ittersum have gone on record that getting too relaxed in a restaurant may be a formula for overeating.
When Wansink and van Ittersum compared the orders and intake of the customers in the usual Hardee’s atmosphere to those of diners who sat in Hardee’s soft-lighting-and-music area, they found that the latter diners ordered the same number of calories worth of food and spent about the same amount. But they ate it more slowly — 4.7 per cent more slowly — and left more of the food they’d ordered on their plate, uneaten.
On average, the soft-lights-and-music crowd consumed 133 fewer calories than did the fast-food customers in the unmodified Hardee’s restaurant area (525 calories for the fast food diners versus 658 calories for the fast food customers).
Upon leaving, those diners rated the quality of the food they had eaten more highly than had those who had the typical fast-food experience.
“Even when people stayed longer, they ate less,” the authors said. And debriefings with some diners revealed why. Those eating their fast food under the influence of dimmer lights and softer music told researchers they ate more slowly and, as they took more time, their food became less appealing, so they stopped eating it earlier.
“They might have been more responsive to internal cues than external cues,” the authors wrote. “The authors’ previous warning not to eat too much in relaxing situations may have been premature.”
Food psychologists have played with lots of conditions that seem to pare consumers’ consumption, including smaller plates, smaller portions and surroundings of different colours. Revamping the fast-food experience, where many people take in loads of calories in a short sitting, may be the new frontier.
Los Angeles Times | <urn:uuid:97c7094d-8bd1-456e-a11b-398cf849d908> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.thespec.com/living-story/2126427-mellow-setting-puts-fast-food-consumers-in-a-mood-to-eat-less/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965375 | 798 | 1.71875 | 2 |
Get flash to fully experience Pearltrees
Inspired by the song of Jay Chou, Shanghai-based artist Hong Yi decided to create his portrait using nothing but Nescafe coffee stains on the bottom of a mug . Yi says that it was “a tricky medium to use – too much water and the rings wouldn’t form easily, very little water and you’d have to be precise with where you place the cup coz the rings would pretty much be permanent.” The 26-year-old artist was inspired by the first line of the song about lifting up a coffee cup off the saucer and “the ending of the song about fragmented pieces – this is shown through the portrait as a whole – how it’s formed by many individual rings, many of them broken and imperfect.” Website: http://hongyi.carbonmade.com <p style="text-align:right;color:#A8A8A8"></p>
The hands are a notorious source of frustration. This section won't concentrate on the muscle structure, since the hand is very complex in this regard, and knowing this won't help much in drawing them. Instead, we'll look at proportions, range of motion, and possible simplifications.
(click images for detail) For the better part of three decades multidisciplinary artist Guy Laramee has worked as a stage writer, director, composer, a fabricator of musical instruments, a singer, sculptor, painter and writer. Among his sculptural works are two incredible series of carved book landscapes and structures entitled Biblios and The Great Wall , where the dense pages of old books are excavated to reveal serene mountains, plateaus, and ancient structures. Of these works he says: So I carve landscapes out of books and I paint Romantic landscapes. Mountains of disused knowledge return to what they really are: mountains.
I love the look of family photos printed on canvas, but I never knew I could make them at home! After transferring photos to fabric , I was super excited to try some pieces using stretched canvas. I hope this inspires some of you to make something special for your home... Here's how I transferred my photo to canvas: 1. Supplies needed- stretched canvas (I chose an 8x10 size), gel medium (I used this kind from Liquidex ), paint brush and the image you want to transfer (laser copy) and a spray bottle filled with water.
Now its time for KOREA, TAIWAN AND TOKYO. If you live here and want to participate in my project, email me amazing old pictures to : email@example.com Riff Raff 1976 & 2011 London | <urn:uuid:6c0c2cdc-11a6-41dc-a376-bd867c138ae9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.pearltrees.com/zoermg/art/id4111791 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957108 | 561 | 1.546875 | 2 |
Photos by Cathleen Allison / AP
Firefighters battle a wildfire south of Gardnerville, Nev. On May 22, 2012. The fast-moving blaze near the Nevada-California line destroyed at least two homes on Tuesday as it forced evacuations and sent up huge plumes of black smoke, witnesses said.
Firefighters battle a wildfire south of Gardnerville, Nev., on Tuesday.
The Record-Courier reports:
Firefighters are battling a wildfire that is threatening more than 100 homes in the southern Douglas County Community of Topaz Ranch Estates.
The fire was reported at 1:39 p.m. as burning in heavy fuel between homes. Structures were confirmed burning. | <urn:uuid:9aa10d49-9ed6-43e7-9c8c-b9cf4c8f2762> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://photoblog.nbcnews.com/gardnerville | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950107 | 143 | 1.757813 | 2 |
The physicians of the Sentara Cancer Network use state-of-the-art technology to diagnose and treat patients with breast cancer.
Stereotactic Guided Breast Biopsy
This alternative to surgical biopsy uses an image-guided needle to quickly extract tissue that can be examined and evaluated under a microscope by a pathologist.
Ultrasound Guided Breast Biopsy Another alternative to surgical biopsy using an ultrasound image-guided needle to quickly extract tissue that can be examined and evaluated under a microscope by a pathologist.
MRI Guided Breast BiopsyAn alternative to surgical biopsy using an MRI image-guided needle to quickly extract tissue that can be examined and evaluated under a microscope by a pathologist.
There are a wide variety of treatment options available for treating breast cancer. Treatments vary depending on the nature of each patients cancer and will be developed individually. Some of the most common treatment options include:
For some types of cancer, the most effective treatment is surgically removing the tumor. Your surgeon may recommend one of the following breast cancer surgical procedures:
With this breast conserving surgery, the surgeon spares as much healthy breast tissue as possible during surgery. A lumpectomy is an inpatient procedure involving the surgical removal of the tumor and some healthy tissue surrounding the tumor site. The surgeon also removes some axillary lymph nodes to test for evidence of cancer. If a patient is a candidate for a lumpectomy it can be an alternative to mastectomy.
A simple mastectomy is an inpatient procedure consisting of the complete surgical removal of the affected breast and some axillary lymph nodes.
Modified Radical Mastectomy
A modified radical mastectomy is an inpatient procedure requiring the complete surgical removal of the affected breast, as well as the removal of a number of axillary lymph nodes and the lining of the chest wall muscles.
A radical mastectomy is an inpatient procedure involving the complete surgical removal of the affected breast, the chest wall muscles, the underarm lymph nodes and the fat and skin surrounding the chest muscles. Rarely used, radical mastectomy represents the most extensive mastectomy procedure, required only when cancer invades the chest wall muscle.
Sentinel Node Mapping
After a patient undergoes a primary cancer surgery such as a lumpectomy or mastectomy, a sentinel node mapping procedure may be recommended. With this procedure, the first lymph node that receives drainage from the affected breast can be removed and examined for cancer. Correctly identifying the draining nodes can significantly increase the accuracy of which nodes to surgically remove and evaluate for spread of cancer. It also helps prevent unnecessary removal of nodes that may not be in the lymphatic drainage field of the tumor. Reducing the number of nodes can reduce the chances of developing lymphedema.
Axillary Node Dissection
Another standard inpatient procedure conducted after a woman undergoes a primary cancer surgery such as a lumpectomy or mastectomy is an axillary node dissection. The axillary lymph nodes consist of three bundles of lymph nodes. Level I nodes are located beneath the armpit. Level II nodes located inside the armpit, and Level III nodes located in the shoulder. Depending upon disease progression, the surgeon removes as few as four and as many as thirty total lymph nodes from the body to test for evidence of cancer.
Chemotherapy is a systematic treatment using drugs that can destroy breast cancer cells. Given intravenously, by injection or taken orally, chemotherapy drugs may be used alone or combined with other treatments. Learn more.
Radiation therapy is used to treat cancer as well as offer relief from some of the symptoms of cancer. It may be used alone or in combination with surgery or chemotherapy. Sentara's advanced radiation therapies include:
Intraoperative Accelerated Partial Breast Irradiation (Intra Beam)
It is a complete system to deliver Intra-operative, or post-operative radiation therapy directly into tumors or tumor cavities. Sentara is participating in a national clinical trial.
External Beam Radiation Therapy or IORT for breast cancer
This is a method for delivering a beam of high-energy x-rays to the location of the patient's tumor. These x-rays can destroy the cancer cells and careful treatment planning allows the surrounding normal tissues to be spared.
Brachytherapy/Radioactive Seed Implant Therapy
Brachytherapy is a form of radiotherapy where a radioactive source is placed inside or next to the area requiring treatment. MammoSite® is a type of brachytherapy.
For some patients, it can be beneficial to combine conventional treatment modalities with holistic approaches related to diet, lifestyle, exercise, stress care and nutrition. Some complementary therapies may help relieve certain symptoms of cancer, relieve side effects of cancer therapy, or improve a patient's sense of well-being.
Examples might include: drinking peppermint tea for nausea or engaging in massage therapy, yoga or meditation to reduce stress. If you’re interested in trying a complementary approach, contact your physician or health care team to see what is available and what may be appropriate for you.
When a woman with breast cancer decides, with the input from her general surgeon, to have a partial or complete mastectomy she doesn't have to face the specter of remaining deformed for life.
Women now facing removal of the breast, and women who have had previous mastectomies, have a right, protected by federal law, to coverage by their insurance carrier for breast reconstruction, including procedures needed to enhance, reduce or lift the opposite side for symmetry.
Reconstruction can be done at the
same time as the mastectomy or afterward, depending on treatment needs.
Surgeons can reconstruct breasts using implants or a patient’s own tissue. Sentara Obici Hospital offers, state-of-the-art, microsurgical Deep Inferior Epigastric Perforator (DIEP) flap breast reconstruction using a patient’s tissue. This technique, available in only a few of places within the United States, creates a natural breast without sacrificing other body functions. | <urn:uuid:17a13a71-1356-4429-93d3-16a8bc1a5f96> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.sentara.com/Services/Cancer/Breast/Pages/Treatment.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00035-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.918287 | 1,245 | 2.25 | 2 |
Police and fire honor guards, motorcycle escorts, Boy Scouts and thousands of mourners attended services for Sandy Hook School shooting victims in Connecticut Thursday; and in New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan compared slain teacher Anne Marie Murphy to Jesus.
In a Katonah, N.Y. church crowded to overflowing, the cardinal said Murphy "has brought together a community, a nation, a world, now awed by her own life and death," as her relatives expressed sympathy for the dozens of other families in mourning for the 20 students and six women killed last Friday.
Murphy, 52, died trying to protect her young pupils, according to her father, Hugh McGowan. Her body was found covering a group of children's bodies as if to shield them, McGowan said.
Dolan underscored her sacrifice.
"Like Jesus, Annie laid down her life for her friends," he said. "Like Jesus, Annie's life and death brings light, truth, goodness and love to a world often shrouded in darkness, evil, selfishness and death."
Mourners started to arrive more than an hour before Murphy's funeral Mass at St. Mary of the Assumption Church, about 15 of them arriving in a yellow school bus marked "Newtown." Some young people on the bus wore Newtown athletic jackets.
Before the service, Murphy's brother-in-law Thomas Newman read a brief statement from her family.
Her relatives "pray for all the families touched so terribly, that God may help these feelings of such great pain and grief pass quickly; that they be replaced with only happy thoughts and joyous memories of those we have lost," the statement said.
Dolan decided to preach at Murphy's funeral "to express his support for all who lost their lives in Newtown and their families," Archdiocese of New York spokesman Joseph Zwilling said. "Just being present, even in our silence — we can make that silence a prayer."
As the bell tolled at the white clapboard church, a wooden casket was carried up the steps, with dozens of Murphy's relatives following. The church soon filled, and nearly 100 more people waited outside.
A similar scene was played out Thursday morning outside the Danbury funeral for Lauren Rousseau, the 30-year-old substitute teacher at Sandy Hook. Lines formed hours before her service and the church could not contain the hundreds who attended.
In Newtown Thursday morning, funeral masses were held for 6-year-olds Benjamin Wheeler and Catherine Hubbard.
Benjamin Wheeler was a new member of Tiger Cub Scout Pack 170. But Thursday he was treated like a Eagle Scout by the Cub Scouts and Boys Scouts of America.
At Benjamin's funeral at Trinity Episcopal Church, members of both groups, alongside other family and friends, waited to pay tribute. For nearly two hours, other scouts and their leaders, holding flags representing their respective packs and troops, waited outside in the cold in front of a large picture of Benjamin at the church's entrance.
When the doors to the church opened about 1 p.m., the scouts saluted and raised their flags.
Benjamin — and his classmate Chase Kowalski, whose memorial service was Wednesday — were awarded the Spirit of the Eagle Award Thursday. Their families were presented with the Award from BSA Chief Scout Executive Wayne Brock and other officials, who had traveled to Newtown to honor the pair.
Jon Pleva, the council director of field service, presented an American Flag to the families of both.
Victoria Soto, 27, whose funeral was Wednesday in Stratford, was an Explorer as a girl at Stratford EMS Post 4911. Three of the other victims were siblings of boys in Pack 170.
Earlier in the day, Catherine Hubbard, 6, also was remembered with a funeral at St. Rose of Lima Roman Catholic Church. During her mass the procession for Benjamin Wheeler could be seen passing by outside the church, headed for Trinity Episcopal Church, where his funeral was to begin 20 minutes later.
An Associated Press report is included in this story. | <urn:uuid:ce90f983-b426-4eec-ab09-eea9735f0835> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.aberdeennews.com/topic/hc-funerals-newtown-sandy-hook-shooting-1221-20121220,0,6801718.story | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00070-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974563 | 828 | 1.546875 | 2 |
Brussels, 20 November 2008.
Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner, responsible for External Relations and European Neighbourhood Policy, said: "The Arctic is a unique and vulnerable region located in the immediate vicinity of Europe. Its evolution will have significant repercussions on the life of Europeans for generations to come Enhancing the European Union’s contribution to Arctic cooperation will open new perspectives in our relations with the Arctic states. The EU is ready to work with them to increase stability, to enhance Arctic multilateral governance through the existing legal frameworks as well as to keep the right balance between the priority goal of preserving the environment and the need for sustainable use of natural resources including hydrocarbons."
Joe Borg, Commissioner in charge of the Maritime Affairs and Fisheries added: "We cannot remain impassive in the face of the alarming developments affecting the Arctic climate and, in consequence, the rest of our planet. On the other hand, the combination of the climatic changes and the recent technological developments opens up new opportunities interlaced with challenges. As many EU policies in the areas such as climate change, environment, energy, research, fisheries and transport have a direct impact on the Arctic, a coordinated action is needed and the Integrated Maritime Policy can provide a much needed collaborative platform."
The Communication emphasises the close link between the European Union and the Arctic. EU policies of wider or global range have a direct bearing for the Arctic. The document provides a comprehensive review of EU interests in all areas of Arctic-related cooperation, and stresses that the developments in the Arctic require an integrated response.
Three main policy objectives are identified:
To achieve these objectives, the Commission makes a number of proposals such as:
The development of an EU Arctic policy dovetails with the Integrated Maritime Policy for the EU, which aims to coordinate all EU policies with a maritime dimension to ensure environmental sustainability and the quality of living conditions in coastal regions while promoting the growth potential of maritime industries.
For more information:
The Arctic thematic website:
The EU's relations with countries in the Arctic region:
The Northern Dimension Policy: | <urn:uuid:6d710bfe-8385-4b1e-9fa5-4f502b44385b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-08-1750_en.htm?locale=en | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.90919 | 429 | 2.28125 | 2 |
Our Top Stories
President Obama Celebrates Ramadan at White House Iftar Dinner
01:36 PM EDT
Last night, President Obama continued the White House tradition of hosting an Iftar - the meal that breaks the day of fasting - celebrating Ramadan in the State Dining Room. During his remarks at the Iftar dinner, President Obama reflected on the importance of religious freedom as one of the founding principles of our Nation:
Our Founders understood that the best way to honor the place of faith in the lives of our people was to protect their freedom to practice religion. In the Virginia Act of Establishing Religion Freedom, Thomas Jefferson wrote that “all men shall be free to profess, and by argument to maintain, their opinions in matters of religion.” The First Amendment of our Constitution established the freedom of religion as the law of the land. And that right has been upheld ever since.
Indeed, over the course of our history, religion has flourished within our borders precisely because Americans have had the right to worship as they choose -– including the right to believe in no religion at all. And it is a testament to the wisdom of our Founders that America remains deeply religious -– a nation where the ability of peoples of different faiths to coexist peacefully and with mutual respect for one another stands in stark contrast to the religious conflict that persists elsewhere around the globe.
Now, that's not to say that religion is without controversy. Recently, attention has been focused on the construction of mosques in certain communities -– particularly New York. Now, we must all recognize and respect the sensitivities surrounding the development of Lower Manhattan. The 9/11 attacks were a deeply traumatic event for our country. And the pain and the experience of suffering by those who lost loved ones is just unimaginable. So I understand the emotions that this issue engenders. And Ground Zero is, indeed, hallowed ground.
But let me be clear. As a citizen, and as President, I believe that Muslims have the same right to practice their religion as everyone else in this country. (Applause.) And that includes the right to build a place of worship and a community center on private property in Lower Manhattan, in accordance with local laws and ordinances. This is America. And our commitment to religious freedom must be unshakeable. The principle that people of all faiths are welcome in this country and that they will not be treated differently by their government is essential to who we are. The writ of the Founders must endure.
We must never forget those who we lost so tragically on 9/11, and we must always honor those who led the response to that attack -– from the firefighters who charged up smoke-filled staircases, to our troops who are serving in Afghanistan today. And let us also remember who we’re fighting against, and what we’re fighting for. Our enemies respect no religious freedom. Al Qaeda’s cause is not Islam -– it’s a gross distortion of Islam. These are not religious leaders -– they’re terrorists who murder innocent men and women and children. In fact, al Qaeda has killed more Muslims than people of any other religion -– and that list of victims includes innocent Muslims who were killed on 9/11.
So that's who we’re fighting against. And the reason that we will win this fight is not simply the strength of our arms -– it is the strength of our values. The democracy that we uphold. The freedoms that we cherish. The laws that we apply without regard to race, or religion, or wealth, or status. Our capacity to show not merely tolerance, but respect towards those who are different from us –- and that way of life, that quintessentially American creed, stands in stark contrast to the nihilism of those who attacked us on that September morning, and who continue to plot against us today.
The President also reflected on the many contributions Muslim Americans have made to our country:
Like so many other immigrants, generations of Muslims came to forge their future here. They became farmers and merchants, worked in mills and factories. They helped lay the railroads. They helped to build America. They founded the first Islamic center in New York City in the 1890s. They built America’s first mosque on the prairie of North Dakota. And perhaps the oldest surviving mosque in America —- still in use today —- is in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
Today, our nation is strengthened by millions of Muslim Americans. They excel in every walk of life. Muslim American communities —- including mosques in all 50 states —- also serve their neighbors. Muslim Americans protect our communities as police officers and firefighters and first responders. Muslim American clerics have spoken out against terror and extremism, reaffirming that Islam teaches that one must save human life, not take it. And Muslim Americans serve with honor in our military. At next week’s iftar at the Pentagon, tribute will be paid to three soldiers who gave their lives in Iraq and now rest among the heroes of Arlington National Cemetery.
These Muslim Americans died for the security that we depend on, and the freedoms that we cherish. They are part of an unbroken line of Americans that stretches back to our founding; Americans of all faiths who have served and sacrificed to extend the promise of America to new generations, and to ensure that what is exceptional about America is protected -– our commitment to stay true to our core values, and our ability slowly but surely to perfect our union. | <urn:uuid:636e09bf-51d9-4c9a-85bf-579d45d3324f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/08/14/president-obama-celebrates-ramadan-white-house-iftar-dinner | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960909 | 1,122 | 2.296875 | 2 |
During intensive exercise, lactic acid builds up resulting in completely worn-out muscles. This way, athletes are not able to continue exercising in the same way as before. This process will end in muscle acidification and tiredness! Carnosine is a di-peptide consisting of the amino acids Beta-alanine and L-histidine, which are mostly found in the muscles. It’s a 100% natural substance that tries to control the acidification in the muscles. The substance is considered to be an anti-oxidant and fights the surplus of free radicals. It also protects against symptoms of old age and it supports the immune system. It is also proven that sufficiently high carnosine concentrations prevent muscle injuries and improve injury healing.
Preferring beta-alanine to carnosine supplements is a logical choice because you would have to take a double amount of carnosine to get the same result as beta-alanine. That’s why supplements with beta-alanine are the most effective! This 100% natural product is the perfect aid to better sporting achievements, to increase muscle mass and to improve endurance!
Suggested use: Take 2 capsules in the morning and 2 capsules in the evening with 250ml of water.
Packaging: Available in a pot of 120 capsules. | <urn:uuid:d9f960de-25d0-4a87-b05e-63b41504cfbd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.performance.be/beta-alanine.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.919083 | 268 | 1.9375 | 2 |
Finally wrapped up an album that has been in production for over three years – which is not saying much, considering that the music had been sitting, locked away for over four decades. I first encountered the L’Orchestre National on Youtube, via a badly degraded pinkish hued clip of a very funky Mauritanian anthem (previously). Luckily I was in Mauritania at the time and was quickly able to learn the source of the “mystery video” and meet with Hadrami and a number of the musicians over the following years.
The National Orchestra of Mauritania (L’Orchestre National de Mauritanie) was formed in the post-colonial years as the official band of the young country. National Orchestras were common throughout West Africa. Probably the Malian Orchestras are the best known, but the practice began in Guinea under president Sekou Touré. A dictator with a questionable record of human rights, Touré nevertheless provided support for the arts, with music groups competing for the title. Mauritania sought to replicate this model, and in 1967 fourteen musicians from various ethnicities were sent to Conakry to learn how to become a National Orchestra.
They returned the next year to Mauritania as the pride of the country. Their songs were often political (“La Mone” for example, praising the new national currency), but sometimes folk inspired (“Seinam Moussa”). However, in every case, they were composed to be both traditional and modern – an ideal that came directly from the government of Mauritania, borne of this desire to create an independent nation that would shake out the shackles of colonialism and invoke the strength of its history. Unfortunately the hopeful government of Daddah did eventually fail, and with it went the National Orchestra.
The search for the recordings of the Orchestra have spanned multiple trips to Mauritania and many years. Young music vendors have no context for the group and older vendors simply grow quite with a nostalgic glint in their eyes. The music is nowhere to be found. While the recordings of the group were never outright banned, they had effectively vanished. The only official release was 500 copies of a 7″ vinyl record of a live performance, pressed in Beirut in 1973. What little remains of the archives of the the radio was salvaged by an engineer working in the station during the 1978 coup d’etat who absconded with the reels as soldiers ambushed the station, under orders to burn everything (the National Radio of Mauritania is one of the first places to be taken over during a coup – it is heavily guarded even today, giving it a certain air of impenetrability). These reels were stored in his home in Cinquième, one of the popular neighborhoods of Nouakchott, subject to intermittent flooding, where they remain today (along with the entire recorded history of the country from 1960 until the coup d’etat).
The selections of the record are all from the Orchestre National featuring Hadrami Ould Meidah between the years of 1968 and 1975. It’s available now on vinyl, in collaboration with Mississippi Records – and CD, of the latter, primarily to get it back to Mauritania where it can breathe again. Incidentally, on the back of the 7″ vinyl record from 1973 is some text in Arabic. Hadrami told me that it says to “look for the upcoming full album of L’Orchestre National de Mauritanie.” I like to think that we’ve finally fulfilled the promise, just a bit later than planned.
Vinyl here ($12 + S/H) – or wherever records are sold: | <urn:uuid:8805c054-f90e-494d-91b3-696595587e9f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://sahelsounds.com/tag/hadrami/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967189 | 767 | 1.65625 | 2 |
HydraArticle Free Pass
Hydra, genus of invertebrate freshwater animals of the class Hydrozoa (phylum Cnidaria). The body of such an organism consists of a thin, usually translucent tube that measures up to about 30 millimetres (1.2 inches) long but is capable of great contraction. The body wall is comprised of two layers of cells separated by a thin, structureless layer of connective tissue called the mesoglea and the enteron, a cavity containing intestinal organs. The lower end of the body is closed, and an opening at the upper end both ingests food and ejects residue. Around this opening is a circlet of 4 to about 25 tentacles.
Eggs and sperm appear in separate swellings (gonads) in the outer body layer, and individuals usually have separate sexes. Some species, however, are hermaphroditic (i.e., functional reproductive organs of both sexes occur in the same individual). Eggs are retained in the ovaries and fertilized by sperm from neighbouring individuals. Offspring are eventually released as miniature hydras. Vegetative reproduction by budding is also common. Finger-shaped outpushings of the wall develop mouth and tentacles and finally nip off at the base, forming separate new individuals. Locomotion is by creeping on the adhesive base, or by looping; i.e., tentacles attach to the substrate, the base releases, and the whole body somersaults, enabling the base to attach in a new position.
The genus is represented by about 25 species, which differ chiefly in colour, tentacle length and number, and gonad position and size. All Hydra species feed on other small invertebrate animals such as crustaceans. Hydra is an unusual hydrozoan genus in that its life cycle lacks any trace of a jellyfish stage, and the polyp stage is solitary rather than colonial.
What made you want to look up "Hydra"? Please share what surprised you most... | <urn:uuid:a72a5f0e-ad0b-4bb5-a507-861dba0f0d6f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/278116/Hydra | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00058-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.925493 | 410 | 3.625 | 4 |
There has been a lot of talk about how new traffic patterns surrounding the Washington Headquarters Service complex rising at Mark Center may affect the Winkler Botanical Preserve next door. Until recently, most of that talk had taken place in the bureaucratic corridors of City Hall.
Mayor Bill Euille toured the natural oasis Saturday to see for himself how the Department of Defense’s new administrative building looms over the preserve and how the construction of a ramp or road would negatively affect the wilderness, which is used to teach thousands of school children each year and is already surrounded by an urban environment.
“From my personal vantage point it would have a really large impact,” Euille said. “You would need much more space than for just the road because you would need to get the construction equipment in and heavy equipment to take down the vegetation and haul it out. Then you’ve got to bring in all the equipment to build a new road.”
The preserve is safe for now, partly because of Rep. Jim Moran (D-8), who said he would not seek any funding from congress for the transportation renovations, which is overseen by the Virginia Department of Transportation.
“When people come out and see how [the WHS structure] already looms over the preserve, it is to really understand the full, devastating impacts of what an exit ramp and a road would do in addition,” said Jodie Smolik, executive director of Winkler Preserve.
But unless viable options surface, a chunk of the land area could be in danger. Despite the city’s role as main stakeholder and its resulting influence on the situation, the transportation solution is up to the state.
“The final decision is VDOT’s, so the Council made a resolution stating specifically, with no hesitation, that the preserve was off limits,” Euille said.
The BRAC Advisory Commission, the citizens group charged with overseeing the project, recently reviewed its 20th option a highway exit from the I-395 HOV lane that remains preliminary. The group has essentially shot down the previous 19, according to Chairman Dave Dexter.
“We’re desperate to fix this,” he said of the increased congestion expected from 6,400 new commuters to the city beginning in 2011 when the building is completed.
Euille and the City Council have already stood resolute against any plan that might affect the Winkler Preserve and have said the funds will have to come from the state or DOD. | <urn:uuid:9ee6d122-3644-4258-89c5-d9e2b9b0fe2c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://alextimes.com/2010/03/mayor-sees-brac-encroachment-first-hand/3/?sort=id&dir=DESC&pagenum=1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968063 | 523 | 1.71875 | 2 |
I started researching organizations to help me with my job search and I have been looking at the missions of these various organizations. Even though I am looking for a technology related position, I decided I would first focus on organizations whose missions interest me. I am interested in organizations related to education, environment, and health.
Through my research and the recent posts about the use of Flickr for nonprofits, I have realized the nptech tag can be used in other ways. Learning about tagging is not just a skill for techies, it is a skill for anyone.
More uses of nptech
How can non-profit organizations use tags?
- Tag images, bookmarks, and blog entries to share with others who might be interested in the mission of your organization.
- Look at the users of the tags and see who else is interested in the mission of your organization
- Find images on Flickr related to the mission of your organization. Images found on the Creative Commons section can be used for websites, newsletters, or blog entries.
- Find bookmarks on Del.icio.us to help with researching about the mission of your organization.
- Find blog entries on Technorati related to the mission of your organization.
Tags (missions, events, organizations)
I will be adding to this list as I find more tags.
I decided to write an entry about this topic after reading the following blog entries: | <urn:uuid:55280c64-6304-4771-8dae-fc3625075401> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://eweinb04.blogspot.com/2005/08/tagging-missions-of-organizations.html?showComment=1123636560000 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00040-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.923096 | 288 | 1.664063 | 2 |
Hell of a Vision
Regionalism and the Modern American West
Publication Year: 2012
Published by: University of Arizona Press
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List of Figures
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Regionalism has been an important part of my mental landscape since I moved back East to attend graduate school over twenty-five years ago. I first discovered it as a concept at Brown University under the mentorship of the late John L. Thomas, to whom this book is dedicated. ...
Introduction: The Regionalist Gaze
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After two failed attempts, John Wesley Powell and his men at last reached the top of Longs Peak on the morning of August 23, 1868. “Glory to God!” Powell exulted as he took in the view, and the men of the expedition gave three cheers. For hours they wandered the summit, a flat six acres of rock mostly barren of snow and life. ...
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In 1878, John Wesley Powell had noted that farming on the Great Plains was an iffy proposition at best, but heedless of his data, home-seekers by the hundreds of thousands poured into the Plains states and territories during the next two decades. This Plains land boom prompted the Census Office to announce the disappearance of the frontier line in 1890. ...
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Charles Lummis had to walk 3,507 miles to begin to see beyond the frontier myth. The distance between his starting point in Ohio and his destination in California was actually much shorter, but the route he took during that fall of 1884 was, appropriately, far from linear. ...
3. Roll On, Columbia (Valley Authority)
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Caroline Henderson’s farmhouse in Texas County, Oklahoma, sat close to ground zero of the Dust Bowl. From there she surveyed the American Dream in a series of nationally published letters during the mid-1930s. Henderson was the very type of the hardy pioneer stock rhapsodized over by frontier apologists. ...
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“No, the West of song and story, the West of fable and myth, the West of the colorful books and neon-promotion brochures, as well as the western ‘society’ of Frederick Jackson Turner, is gone,” wrote Ladd Haystead, who covered the region for Fortune magazine, in 1945. “It started to wither in the Dust Bowl days. ...
5. Quiet Revolution, Angry West
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“It is quite possible that loss of meaning is the problem of our time,” social scientist Raymond Gastil wrote at the conclusion of his 1975 book, Cultural Regions of the United States. “But if so, what do we do about it?” This “crisis of meaning” was not a new one, he noted, recalling that the 1920s had first witnessed the modernist “failure” of cultural coherence. ...
6. Hell of a Vision
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In 1990, the nation was treated to a spectacle unique in the history of American regionalism: the “Buffalo Commons” road show, starring Frank and Deborah Popper. The two Rutgers University professors were touring the Plains states—sometimes in the company of network TV news crews, sometimes with police escorts ...
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The solitary square mile of southeastern Wyoming that the writer Annie Proulx purchased for her dream home in 2003 brings to focus many of the enduring themes of modern western regionalism. As described in Proulx’s 2011 memoir, Bird Cloud, the 640 acres straddling the North Platte River had a past and a present layered in the multiple regional identities of the West. ...
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Page Count: 272
Publication Year: 2012
Series Title: The Modern American West | <urn:uuid:9efae55f-aaf5-4b1c-ae90-96f48d6b1ca3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://muse.jhu.edu/books/9780816599431 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.932941 | 881 | 1.632813 | 2 |
Following up on the post below by my colleague Anthony Sanders, Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown’s speech to the Ohio State Chapter of the American Constitution Society assailing the Citizens United ruling had a revealing theme. Much of what he said was the usual apocalyptic hysteria about the ruling that Brown has made before. However, Brown also suggested why he believed the ruling was so problematic: he believes it will make it harder to pass legislation he thinks is important. In other words, Brown believes the government must suppress speech in order to prevent some groups from interfering with his ability to get the policy outcomes he wants.
This view is not new, unfortunately. One can easily disregard Brown’s simplistic Manichean worldview, where corporations run by autocratic robber barons (undoubtedly all fat men sporting walrus mustaches and wearing waistcoats and top hats) frustrate the noble legislature’s selfless quest for social democracy by manipulating the beliefs of a sheep-like public. More fundamentally, though, it is hard to find a position more antithetical to the First Amendment than the argument, “we need to suppress speech so the government has an easier time doing what it wants.”
The First Amendment prevents the government from abridging free speech and the law at issue in Citizens United did just that—it banned books, pamphlets, advertisements, etc. because of the identity of the speaker. The fact that the Court struck down a law that silenced speakers with which government officials often disagree is precisely why the case was so important for the continued vitality of the First Amendment. Perhaps Senator Brown’s real problem with the case is that it establishes that if the First Amendment protects anything, it protects political speech—even the speech of those who disagree with wanna-be censors like Sherrod Brown. | <urn:uuid:5aac1026-058a-4d97-85d9-f0914e0b2ec8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://congressshallmakenolaw.org/bmaurer/74-a-little-bit-of-honesty-on-citizens-united | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00037-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958287 | 366 | 2.15625 | 2 |
Baklava stresses me out.
As soon as I open the plastic packaging and roll out the cold sheets of phyllo dough, I feel like I’m in a race against time. I can picture the sand streaming down the hour glass, announcing the moment that the phyllo dough will become parched and unworkable, as if your potter’s wheel could only spin for so long. Time is of the essence, but working quickly is not necessarily the solution. Move too carelessly and too quickly, and the thin sheets will tear and break into equally unworkable pieces.
I’ve tried covering the sheets with cold towels, or keeping half the sheets in the refrigerator, but have not noticed any real difference. If I am going to work with phyllo dough, I am going to have to work quickly and carefully. And that stresses me out. Continue reading
Despite its relative utility, chemistry never held much sway. Instead of chemical compounds and balanced equations, I preferred studying the subjunctive tense for être and avoir, or drawing the shape of parabolic curves, or studying the machinations of medieval European princes. Even looking at plant cells seemed more interesting than mixing chemicals.
Admittedly, some of my classmates saw things differently. Walk into a French, Algebra, or History classroom, and the setting is sedate and similar: rows of desks, facing a blackboard. Walk into a chemistry classroom, and the mood is one of potential and excitement: Bunsen burners, microscopes, lab coats, test tubes, fire extinguishers, and an emergency chemical-bath. As one of the Chemistry teachers liked to boast, “You can’t die in English class.”
And yet, all I could muster up was a stifled yawn. Chemistry Continue reading | <urn:uuid:799f0c66-5936-48b1-b5d8-2ca3b665e6bf> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://judicialpeach.com/tag/honey/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952099 | 378 | 2.09375 | 2 |
Shots - Health Blog
Mon May 21, 2012
Your Stories Of Being Sick Inside The U.S. Health Care System
Originally published on Mon May 21, 2012 9:42 pm
To get a feeling for what being sick in America is really like, and to help us understand the findings of our poll with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Harvard School of Public Health, NPR did a call-out on Facebook. We asked people to share their experiences of the health care system, and within 24 hours, we were flooded with close to 1,000 responses.
The stories, often lengthy and detailed, echoed what our poll found: Americans with recent firsthand experience of the U.S. medical system are more likely than the general public to say there are serious problems with the cost and quality of care.
From Oregon to Florida and Maine to Mississippi, Facebook respondents told wrenching tales of bankruptcies, missed diagnoses, medical errors, miscommunication and treatment that was delayed or foregone because of its cost.
Take Aimee Snyder, a 28-year-old graduate student at the University of Arizona. She got preoccupied with choosing her courses and missed the sign-up deadline for health insurance by one day. Then she started having leg pains and shortness of breath.
"My leg swelled up to double the size and turned purple," Snyder says. But she didn't seek care because she couldn't imagine how she'd pay the emergency room bill. After hobbling around in pain for several days, she discovered she could get a discount on her hospital bill and went to the ER.
Doctors found an extensive blood clot in her leg, with pieces breaking off and going to her lungs. She could have died within hours. Luckily, she's fine, but she's had to pay more than $15,000 in bills so far, and she's had to borrow from her family and use student loan funds to pay them.
The new poll finds that 43 percent of people with recent illness ended up with serious financial problems.
Sometimes, medical bills are higher than they need to be. Andrew Dasenbrock of Salt Lake City recently had to pay twice for much of his care. He's 32, a self-employed IT consultant who says he can't afford health insurance.
It started when he woke up one night with alarming stomach pain — "like shards of glass traveling through me," he says. Doctors at a nearby urgent care center ran a bunch of tests but couldn't figure out what was wrong, so they sent him to the hospital.
Even though the hospital was part of the same system, the doctors there weren't alerted that Dasenbrock was coming and his records weren't transferred. So he had to fill out the same questionnaires and repeat all the same diagnostic tests, as he was doubled over in pain.
A CT scan showed a nonserious ailment that needed only simple treatment — lots of fluids — and Dasenbrock went home. But two days later he got two bills totaling thousands of dollars.
"I laid the two bills next to each other and it was literally word for word, letter for letter and line item by line item the same charges ... for all the tests I had gone through," Dasenbrock says. He ended up having to pay for the duplicate tests.
Just as in the poll, the cost of care was a big problem for many Facebook users who contacted NPR. And often they reported ruinous financial problems.
Marty Clear is one case. He's a 60-year-old freelance writer in Tampa who can't afford health insurance. "If I make $400 a week, it's a really good week," he says.
He went to the emergency room for a problem and doctors found something unrelated: an enormous tumor on his kidney. It turned out to weigh 8 pounds.
"I was treated at one of the best cancer hospitals in the country, but I know I'll never have any money again," Clear laments. "I'm never going to be out of debt for this."
Clear has sold his car and he skips meals to save money. He feels he'll never be able to pay off medical bills, which may total $200,000. The worst part, he says, is the guilt.
"I feel awful every single day," he says. "You know, people saved my life. And more than that — people fed me and bathed me and changed my socks, you know? And they're not going to get paid — at least they're not going to get paid by me. And I'm going to be ashamed of that for the rest of my life."
There were hundreds of stories raising questions about the quality of care people got. Many were too complicated to recount briefly, and difficult to verify in any objective way. But the level of detail and thoughtfulness of many responses makes it clear things did not go the way they should.
A major theme was miscommunication among caregivers. Jacki Bronicki, a medical librarian at the University of Michigan, tells of the frustration she felt about the treatment received by her father, 80-year-old Douglas Harlow Brown, who has Parkinson's disease.
Last year he fell and broke three ribs. He was admitted to the hospital, and his mental state began to deteriorate by the second day. "He wasn't even coherent by the third day," Bronicki says.
Brown, a retired engineer who taught physics, was mentally fine before the hospitalization, Bronicki says. So it wasn't normal for him to be so confused.
But she says the parade of doctors who saw him seemed to assume "that was his natural state, given his age and condition. We would have to convince each new doctor that saw him — tell the story of his Parkinson's, explain that this was not his normal, that he was normally functioning, talking, coherent."
A neurologist finally figured out what was wrong. Different doctors had prescribed different pain medications, and the drugs were interfering with Brown's Parkinson's medication. That caused his mental deterioration and made his limbs rigid.
After the medication was straightened out, Brown improved. But Bronicki and her sisters felt they had to maintain a constant vigil at his bedside to prevent another medication error.
And now Bronicki regrets that she ever took her father to the hospital in the first place. After all, there's no specific treatment for broken ribs, which must heal by themselves.
"He has a lot more dementia than he had a year before," she says. "He can't walk anymore. And I'm not sure if it would have normally progressed like this, or if we really sped it up."
Among many stories like this, there were some from people who think the quality of their care is fine.
Liz Gubernatis of Saint Joseph, Mo., says she's been "astonished at the supportive, cohesive care" she has gotten since she was diagnosed recently with diabetes.
"I've been scared, but educated," she writes, "cried, but consoled, and cheered on by a team of amazing doctors, nurses and patient-care folks. Being sick in America isn't all doom and gloom."
According to the new poll, one in four people with recent illness say the quality of care is not a problem for this country. That's not exactly a ringing endorsement.
And even though nearly half of poll respondents say they're very satisfied with the quality of care they get, that leaves lots of room for improvement.
STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
It's MORNING EDITION from NPR News. I'm Steve Inskeep.
RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:
And I'm Renee Montagne. Good morning.
Today in Your Health, we're looking at what it means to be sick in America. NPR conducted a poll along with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Harvard School of Public Health. It found that people who've recently been sick are more likely to report big problems with the U.S. health care system than the general public. NPR health correspondents Patti Neighmond and Richard Knox talked to many people whose experience reflects the poll results.
PATTI NEIGHMOND, BYLINE: Our poll is one of the very few focusing on people who've actually been seriously ill in the past year.
RICHARD KNOX, BYLINE: And it turns out they have a different view of the U.S. health system. Three out of four say the cost of care is a very serious problem.
NEIGHMOND: And nearly half say the quality of care is also a very serious problem. This is important because a bigger proportion of sick people feel this way than people who aren't sick and they say the problems have gotten worse over the past five years.
KNOX: Now, poll numbers can point to problems. But we wanted to get a feeling for what being sick in America is really like. So we did a call-out on Facebook asking people to share their experiences. In the first 24 hours, we were flooded with close to a thousand responses.
NEIGHMOND: They were articulate and heartfelt, and often lengthy. We read every single one of them. And the picture they painted was depressing. From Oregon to Florida, Maine to Mississippi, we heard stories of bankruptcies, missed diagnosis and medical errors.
KNOX: And stories like these really back up what our poll found. Take Aimee Snyder. She's a grad student in Tucson. She got preoccupied with lining up her courses and missed signing up for health insurance by one day. Then she started having pains in her legs and shortness of breath.
AIMEE SNYDER: My leg swelled up to double the size and it turned purple and I just - I couldn't walk anymore. I couldn't even stand straight.
KNOX: But she didn't seek medical care because she was afraid of how much it would cost.
SNYDER: I could not fathom, you know, carrying around that kind of debt that would come from going to the emergency room.
KNOX: Finally, several days later, she did go to the ER. After she found out she could get a discount on her hospital bills because she was uninsured. The doctors found an extensive blood clot in her leg. Pieces of it were breaking off and going to her lungs. She could have died within hours or been crippled for life.
NEIGHMOND: Fortunately, she's fine. But she's had to pay $15,000 so far and the bills keep coming.
SNYDER: I owed money all over the place. I owed $3,000 to the vascular surgeons and, you know, money to the emergency room people and I owed money to the CT people.
KNOX: So have you paid off what you think you owe at this point?
SNYDER: Well, I have put it on my student loans. So I have deferred it for another 10 years.
KNOX: She's using her student loan to pay off her medical bills.
NEIGHMOND: Our poll says that more than 40 percent of people with recent illness ended up with serious financial problems. Andrew Dasenbrock is 32 and self employed. He says he can't afford health insurance. He pays his medical bills with his credit card. Recently he had to pay twice for much of his medical care. It started one night when he woke up with excruciating pain in his stomach.
ANDREW DASENBROCK: I started feeling a very intense and unique tearing sensation, like shards of glass were traveling through me and just tearing open every square inch.
NEIGHMOND: He went to the nearby urgent care center. After a number of tests, doctors couldn't figure out what was wrong. So they sent him to the hospital.
DASENBROCK: I arrive at the hospital and they had absolutely no idea I was coming.
NEIGHMOND: The hospital was part of the same system as the urgent care center. But records weren't transferred. Doctors weren't alerted. And even though he was doubled over, literally crying in pain, he had to fill out all the same paperwork and repeat all the same tests.
KNOX: Eventually a cat scan showed Dasenbrock's intestinal tract was inflamed. The treatment was simple lots of fluids. He was sent home. Two days later he got two bills in the mail.
DASENBROCK: I lay the two bills next to each other and it was literally word for word, letter for letter, line item by line item the exact same charges on the two separate invoices for all the tests that I had gone through.
NEIGHMOND: Money is a big problem for people who are sick, both in the poll and among those who contacted us on Facebook.
KNOX: Reading hundreds of these stories, one after another after another, really makes it plain what's going on. Marty Clear is an example. He's a 60-year-old freelance writer in Tampa who doesn't have health insurance.
MARTY CLEAR: I cannot afford it. If I make $400 a week, it's a really good week.
KNOX: He went to the emergency room for a problem and they found something unrelated - an enormous tumor on his kidney. It turned out to weigh eight pounds. Fortunately, Marty Clear got really good care.
CLEAR: I was treated at one of the best cancer hospitals in the country. But I know I'll never have any money again, you know. Any extra money I have will go to pay off one bill or another. I have no idea how to decide which bill to pay when I do have some money. But I'm never going to be out of debt for this.
KNOX: He's sold his car. He skips meals to save money. But the worst part is the guilt.
DAVID GREENE, HOST:
I feel awful every single day. You know, people saved my life. And did more than that - people fed me and bathed me, and changed my socks, you know? And they're not going to get paid - at least they're not going to get paid by me. And I'm going to be ashamed of that for the rest of my life.
NEIGHMOND: But it's not just about cost. In both our poll and in the Facebook responses, we found a whole other set of people who feel let down by the quality of the care they got.
KNOX: Yes, in the poll, about half of those who had been sick say there were problems with the quality of their care. Many who responded to our Facebook post had devastating experiences. There were unexpected deaths and permanent disability that might have been avoided through better communication among caregivers.
NEIGHMOND: Like Jacki Bronicki's father, Douglas Harlow Brown. He's 80 years old and has Parkinson's disease.
Last year he fell, broke three ribs and was admitted to the hospital.
JACKI BRONICKI: After the second day, his mental state, he was barely functioning. He wasn't even coherent by the third day.
NEIGHMOND: Bronicki says the important thing to know is that her father was mentally fine before the hospitalization - a retired engineer who taught physics. She says it just wasn't normal for him to be so confused. Most frustrating, there was no one doctor in charge.
BRONICKI: When doctors would come in they would assume that was his natural state given his age and condition. We would have to convince each new doctor that saw him - tell them the story of his Parkinson's, but that this was not his normal - he was normally functioning, talking, coherent.
NEIGHMOND: Different doctors prescribed different pain medications. A neurologist finally figured out what was going on. The pain meds were interfering with Brown's Parkinson's medication, which affected his mental status and made his limbs rigid.
KNOX: An antidote was prescribed and Brown improved. But Bronicki and her sisters felt they had to stay at his bedside 24/7 to avoid another medication error. And now she regrets even taking her father to the hospital in the first place.
BRONICKI: Well, he has a lot more dementia than he had a year before; he's almost in a wheelchair because he can't walk anymore, and like I said, I'm not sure if it would have normally progressed like this or if we really sped it up.
KNOX: We heard from many people with stories like this. But we also heard from some people who think the quality of care is fine. Liz Gubernatis of Saint Joseph, Missouri, says she's been astonished at the supportive, cohesive care she's gotten since she was diagnosed, recently, with diabetes.
NEIGHMOND: I've been scared, but educated, she writes, cried but consoled, and cheered on by a team of amazing doctors, nurses and patient-care folks. Being sick in America isn't all doom and gloom.
KNOX: In fact, according to our poll, one-in-four people with recent illness say that the quality of care is not a problem for this country. Still, that's not exactly a ringing endorsement. Clearly, there's lots of room for improvement.
NEIGHMOND: And over the next few days we'll be hearing more stories that reflect our poll results, showing what it's like to be sick in America.
I'm Patti Neighmond.
KNOX: I'm Richard Knox, NPR News.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
MONTAGNE: And you can read more stories in our Sick in America series at www.npr.org.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
MONTAGNE: you're listening to MORNING EDITION from NPR News. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright National Public Radio. | <urn:uuid:53ed3ab6-5e28-4ad2-ae87-3459b6a336b1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.krvs.org/post/your-stories-being-sick-inside-us-health-care-system | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00063-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.987946 | 3,753 | 2.09375 | 2 |
Right get your exploring hat on, because we are going cloud catching. Come on! It’s the latest craze, all the East London kids are doing it and if we have learnt anything recently, it’s that if Silicon Roundabout (read Old Street) is doing it now, we will all be doing it in two years. The beauty of finding and using the lesser-spotted but oft-mentioned cloud is that they can be anywhere right? It doesn’t matter where you store your files as long as it’s sent onwards and upwards into the lovely cloud filled beautiful blue data sky. Well, think again, because it turns out, it really is all about location, location, location and I am not just referring to Kirstie and Phil…
Where your data cloud or host server that you use is located has been a topic of interest lately due to some companies housing their data storage in locations in which their work doesn’t have a presence. Cheap hosting and flexible data protection laws allows this to happen. However as a result, some companies find themselves excluded from working in areas, such as the public sector, if personal data is being stored somewhere outside their jurisdiction. It is becoming increasingly common for contractors to stipulate the location of servers to remain in the same country.
When it comes to things like hosted Exchange and cloud computing it can make sense to use providers that store their data based where you are. It eases the migration, aids customer support process and helps protects your personal information. However the argument for the other side also makes sense. If we are truly living in a world of free and global communication then surely it doesn’t matter where our data is stored? The internet has no borders so why should cloud computing? This would all make perfect sense until it becomes clear that certain laws, such as the United States of America’s data protection act, would allow authorities legal access to your personal information simply if it was stored in their country.
The debate will continue to rage on as more and more people use services like Exchange hosting and migrate their personal files to remote servers. It is also likely we will see an increase in legislation related to data sovereignty, control of access to data and location specific regulations as clouds are kept less global and more national. | <urn:uuid:a66873b7-8ad2-46a9-a066-d1a683d83969> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.giacom.com/blog/index.php/2012/06/how-do-you-solve-a-problem-like-mariahow-do-you-catch-a-cloud-and-pin-it-down/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970196 | 468 | 2.109375 | 2 |
Byline: Barbara Osborn
The Queer Youth Fund, a giving circle housed at Liberty Hill, was established in 2002. It gives significant multi-year grants to small youth-led organizations that promote equality and justice for lesbian, gay, transgender, queer and questioning (LGBTQQ) youth. So far, the Queer Youth Fund has invested more than $3 million in LGBTQQ youth projects in the U.S. and Canada. It was founded by Weston Milliken, Jim Johnson and Ralph Alpert.
We spoke with Weston Milliken.
You’ve just announced the 2010 Queer Youth Fund grants. Each group will receive $100,000 over three to five years. Tell me about one of the groups selected this year.
WM: Probably the most compelling story of my last set of site visits was in Missoula, Montana. This is where a group of middle school students from a program of the National Coalition Building Institute organized a march on city hall when the city council was considering a nondiscrimination ordinance. Ten percent of Missoula's population showed up for that march. The hearing went well past midnight, and the nondiscrimination ordinance passed. It shows what young people can do when they’re given a voice and some guidance.
Of all the philanthropic investments you could have made, you chose to focus on gay youth. Why?
WM: Growing up in the south in the 1970s, it wasn’t a comfortable place to be gay, so I wanted to use my money to make things easier for other youth. I also had an experience of a college friend who committed suicide. He was distraught about being gay and felt that he didn’t belong. That was also a contributing factor. So now I am trying to make life better for queer kids and to do it in a systematic way. We wanted to do something big, so the grants would make a significant difference to an organization and to provide funding over many years because that helps organizations’ financial stability.
One of the things that we focus on is empowered youth. We’re really trying to avoid adult-driven organizations. We’re looking for projects where youth can contribute and have significant control over what happens in the organization.
The fund is almost 10 years old. How has the Queer Youth Fund changed?
WM: One of the things that has changed is our process. We began involving community collaborators in our proposal reviews. The youth who are in those positions as community organizers have different life experiences than me, a rich white male. We focused on racial and gender diversity, including trans people, and that’s provided an extraordinary set of perspectives. It’s been very, very helpful to identify things that work and don’t work. And we are receiving more proposals from organizations that are dealing with trans and intersex issues.
The other thing that’s changed is when we first started the fund, proposals came from the coasts: Boston, Washington, San Francisco, Los Angeles. As time has gone on, our funding has moved into smaller communities and states that you don’t necessarily think of when you think gay like Jackson, Mississippi, and Missoula, Montana.
What grantee do you feel fabulous about?
WM: You want one?! That’s like asking someone for a favorite child. Let me answer it this way. We twice funded Gay Straight Alliance Network. A few years ago, they put together an annual conference of state-based Gay Straight Alliances. That year I looked at a list of all the organizations that were coming to the meeting and half of them had been finalists or grantees of Queer Youth Fund. It gave me a sense that we had a pretty significant impact and were doing the right thing. We were making an impact nationally and that a relatively small amount of money applied in a strategic way could have an impact.
See "Home," a video created by Ana Lopez, a participant in the video program of another Queer Youth Fund grant recipient, Reach LA. To see other videos by Reach LA Youth Video Production participants, go to the virtual "crash pad" and click on the windows to see young filmmakers' works.
RETURN TO LIBERTY HILL'S WEBSITE.
Be the first to know. Sign up for videos, news and invites from Liberty Hill.
Read about Liberty Hill's grants advancing LGBTQ equality. | <urn:uuid:554c32d3-1425-42fa-abed-277f7f271c1c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://libertyhill.typepad.com/main/2010/10/qyf-fights-hate-with-love.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964496 | 909 | 1.804688 | 2 |
From a leading scholar of our country’s foreign policy, the brilliant essay about America and the world that has caused a storm in international circles now expanded into book form.
European leaders, increasingly disturbed by U.S. policy and actions abroad, feel they are headed for what the New York Times (July 21, 2002) describes as a “moment of truth.” After years of mutual resentment and tension, there is a sudden recognition that the real interests of America and its allies are diverging sharply and that the trans-atlantic relationship itself has changed, possibly irreversibly. Europe sees the United States as high-handed, unilateralist, and unnecessarily belligerent; the United States sees Europe as spent, unserious, and weak. The anger and mistrust on both sides are hardening into incomprehension.
This past summer, in Policy Review, Robert Kagan reached incisively into this impasse to force both sides to see themselves through the eyes of the other. Tracing the widely differing histories of Europe and America since the end of World War II, he makes clear how for one the need to escape a bloody past has led to a new set of transnational beliefs about power and threat, while the other has perforce evolved into the guarantor of that “postmodern paradise” by dint of its might and global reach. This remarkable analysis is being discussed from Washington to Paris to Tokyo. It is esssential reading. | <urn:uuid:fb2f2a57-d841-4d6c-9bbe-f92e1e6243b8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.page1book.com/perl/bookdetail.pl?ISBN=1-40004-093-0 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958457 | 297 | 1.882813 | 2 |
Paul Franz Eilers grew up in an environment where pain and rejection were normal. Most of us cannot possibly identify with the life that he lived as a child. Many that knew him say a book should be written about it. But in the end, God used sadness to create a wonderful gladness.
He was born in Alabama on April 22, 1938 to a German father and an American mother. It was during the hardship years of the Great Depression, jobs were scarce and it was a struggle to support a wife and young family. So Alfred Eilers decided to move the family to his native Germany, where the Eilers family had considerable wealth and his job prospects were much better. Unfortunately, it was also the beginning of World War II. Almost as soon as they were settled, Alfred Eilers was drafted into the German military and in short order sent to the Russian front. Shortly thereafter, he was killed in action. At the time of his father's death, Paul was just two years old.
Because they were Americans, Paul and his mother, along with his two brothers, ran the risk of being found out. So they were hidden in the countryside by grandmother Eilers. While there, they had to live off the land and one time forced to steal food from a British camp. After a few months, it was determined to be safe enough to return to the home of Mrs. Eilers in Hamburg. However, Adolf Hitler's SS army soon found them. They were abruptly arrested, boarded onto a train boxcar and sent to a Nazi concentration camp. Though only six years old at the time, Paul recalls the coal cinders burning holes in his clothes during the train ride.
They were imprisoned at the concentration camp for three years at which time the British army freed them. At the age of nine and unable to speak a word of English, Paul found himself onboard a passenger ship, along with the rest of his family. They were bound for Ellis Island, New York, America's immigrant station. That trip was the best experience of Paul's young life. For the first time, he had food, a room in which to sleep and freedom to roam the ship. Unfortunately, the nightmare had only just begun.
Paul's life in America was worse than what he experienced in Germany. Since he only knew German, one of the many difficulties he had to overcome was the language barrier. Even after he learned English, for quite awhile he spoke with a German accent. Due to the current world war with Germany, Paul was used as a scapegoat by kids and adults alike for their hatred of all things German. He often fell victim to verbal as well as physical abuse.
During this difficult time, his mother, Georgia, was unable to find employment. Due to her financial situation, she was forced to put her children in a Virginia orphanage. Paul and his brother, Don, were not given an explanation as to why they were being taken to an orphanage or even told goodbye. Imagine the feelings of anxiety and rejection that Paul went through. At the time, he was all of nine years old.
Life at the orphanage was hard. The children had to wake up every morning at 4:00 a.m. to work in the fields or on the grounds for the better part of the day. Paul's responsibilities included milking the cows as well as starting the coal burning furnace. He lived at the orphanage for five years and while there he tried to escape at least three times. He was caught each time, taken back to the orphanage and beaten.
At the age of fourteen, Paul and his brother, Don, were able to move to Rocky Mount, North Carolina and live with their mother and two younger siblings. During this time, Georgia Eilers worked at a dress shop and they lived on Edgecombe Street in a house that better resembled a shack. During the day, sunlight peeked through the cracks in the walls and in the winter, the toilet water would often freeze. But Paul was much happier living there than at the orphanage. At last, he finally had a place to call home.
Paul attended R.M. Wilson Junior High School and afterwards Rocky Mount Senior High. While in school, he worked in the cafeteria mopping floors and wiping tables in order to eat lunch. Government free lunch programs did not exist back then. Many times school lunch was the only meal Paul had for the day. More often than not, he would overeat and then vomit behind the school dumpster.
Paul soon found his outlet through football. Looking back, the family believes this saved him. Years later, a relative discovered that over seventy-five percent of the boys at his orphanage ended up in prison. It was through football that Paul was able to release a lot of pent-up frustration and anger, which landed him in the record books. As a senior in 1957, he was named to the North Carolina All-State team. He was also honored with a place on The Sporting News All-America team, which was awarded to the best high school football players in the nation. Highly recruited, he eventually ended up becoming a Tar Heel, playing for coach Jim Tatum at the University of North Carolina.
After college, Paul enlisted with the Army where he served as a medic at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. After four years of service, Paul moved back to Rocky Mount where a friend introduced him to a local girl, Catherine Smith. They soon fell in love and on April 17, 1966, were married at First Baptist Church. A management career with a department store chain ensued, while his wife worked as a dental hygienist.
After nine years of retail management, Paul had enough of being overworked and underpaid. The couple with their two young sons, Paul Jr. and David, also tired of being moved from city to city in order for Paul to open a new store or turn around an existing one. So Paul quit his retail job and moved the family back to Rocky Mount. He and Cathy then decided to start their own cleaning and remodeling business, a livelihood that lasted for over twenty-five years.
As Paul got older, he began to have dizzy spells and had trouble catching his breath. After much prodding from his wife, he eventually went to the Veterans Medical Center in Durham. Test results revealed a severe case of emphysema, which led to him being placed on oxygen and unable to continue working. Over the next eight years, his health gradually declined. He suffered a heart attack, became borderline diabetic and was eventually diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.
Around this time, God began to pursue Paul and draw him near to Him. Throughout his life, Paul had struggled with the issue of faith. He had a hard time understanding how God would let him go through so many trials and tribulations. But during these tough times, God had never left nor forsaken Paul. Not when his father died. Not in the concentration camp. Not at the orphanage. And not when he was hungry, helpless and hopeless. God was there with Paul, the entire time.
Because of his eight year battle with sickness, Paul no longer had the energy to hold on to his bitterness. Working on his heart, God placed people in Paul's path in his search for truth. His grandchildren would often crawl into his lap, showing him the unconditional love of God. Through this process, God gave Paul the faith to believe. His resentment and anger were swallowed up by the love of God. So Paul believed in his heart that Jesus died for his sins and saved him for the life to come. A spiritual orphan, he was no more.
Paul Franz Eilers died on Tuesday, January 23, 2007. He is finally home now, so it is a day of celebration. For those who knew him, it is a day of deep emotion because of their loss. The tears in their eyes and the pain in their heart are testaments to how much he meant to them. So cherish the tears and embrace the pain, because you would not have them, if you had not known Paul and been blessed by his life. Amen. | <urn:uuid:fa2bfa36-cbd0-47b2-b4af-ed4424ae1fde> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.pauleilers.com/2007/02/nine-years-old.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.994196 | 1,657 | 2.15625 | 2 |
Introduced by Missouri State Representative Casey Guernsey, with 61 co-sponsors, is the Missouri 2nd Amendment Preservation Act. House Bill 170 (HB170) would nullify any and all federal acts, orders, laws, statutes, rules, or regulations of the federal government on personal firearms, firearm accessories, and ammunition.
The bill states, in part:
“Any official, agent, or employee of the federal government who enforces or attempts to enforce any act, order, law, statute, rule, or regulation of the federal government upon a personal firearm, a firearm accessory, or ammunition that is owned or manufactured commercially or privately in the state of Missouri and that remains exclusively within the borders of the state of Missouri shall be guilty of a class D felony.”
A class D felony in Missouri carries a prison sentence of up to 4 years.
While a number of states, including Wyoming, South Carolina, Indiana, and others – are looking to go head to head with the feds on specific issues under the 2nd amendment, the Missouri legislation is the strongest introduced anywhere in the country so far.
Tenth Amendment Center national communications director, Mike Maharrey summed up the sentiment:
“When you’ve got people like Feinstein talking about major bans and Biden telling us that all they need is an executive order, you know these folks are willing to go all the way. So, it’s good to see these folks in Missouri go all the way as well, all the way in support the 2nd Amendment without any ifs, ands, or butts. The feds have absolutely zero constitutional authority to make any laws over personal firearms. Period.”
The Second Amendment was not created to give the right to keep and bear arms to the people. The founders acknowledged that the people already had those rights. The 2nd was intended to protect them by keeping the federal government off their backs.
Robert Natelson writes in The Original Constitution “The Second Amendment served purposes besides buttressing the natural right of self-defense and the reserved power of armed resistance. By guaranteeing continuation of the state militias, it strengthened state power in the state-federal balance…By protecting the militia, the Amendment promoted citizen involvement in government military affairs.”
“The purpose of the Second Amendment suggests that the word “arms” should be interpreted rather broadly to include a range of military and self defense weapons,” Natelson explained.
The bill was introduced on January 15, 2013 and read for the first time in the House. It has yet to be assigned to a committee. But, with 61 co-sponsors, strong grassroots pressure will help get this bill moving forward.
Sources close to the Tenth Amendment Center tell us to expect a number of other states considering similar legislation in the coming weeks.
LEGISLATION AND TRACKING
If you would like to see model legislation to introduce in your state to nullify federal firearm laws, please see The Tenth Amendment Center’s Model Legislation: The 2nd Amendment Preservation Act.
Track the status of 2nd Amendment preservation legislation in states around the country HERE
In Missouri? Join the new 2nd Amendment Preservation Group on facebook and get active to nullify federal gun laws: http://www.facebook.com/groups/2ndAmendmentMissouri/
Missouri residents can help pass this bill by contacting their state reps to support the bill right now. http://www.house.mo.gov/legislatorlookup.aspx | <urn:uuid:36ffb28f-3dc5-4ff5-b605-45ffee0af2ab> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.tenthamendmentcenter.com/2013/01/missouri-bill-proposes-jail-time-for-feds-violating-the-2nd-amendment/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00056-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947086 | 726 | 1.898438 | 2 |
Research paper topics, free example research papers
Free research papers and essays on topics related to: raymond
- Women In The Workforce - 1,610 words
Women In The Workforce Western female thought through the centuries has identified the relationship between patriarchy and gender as crucial to the womens subordinate position. For two hundred years, patriarchy precluded women from having a legal or political identity and the legislation and attitudes supporting this provided the model for slavery. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries suffrage campaigners succeeded in securing some legal and political rights for women in the UK. By the middle of the 20th century, the emphasis had shifted from suffrage to social and economic equality in the public and private sphere and the womens movement that sprung up during the 1960s began to argue t ...
Related: women in the workforce, workforce, social change, east germany, firstly
- Women In The Workforce - 1,532 words
... as been shaped by capitalist development, highlighting explanations which connect gender inequality with economic needs (e.g., Mitchell J, 1966 used Marxist theory in Women: The Longest Revolution). However, while most feminists see the close links between the organization of production and the division of labor many thought that there was a limited future for feminism under theories which reduced the specifics of womens lives to the extent that the subjective and interpersonal flavor was not captured (e.g., Firestone S, 1970; The Dialectic of Sex: the Case for Feminist Revolution). The socialist or Marxist feminist proposition positions class as the most basic form of human conflict but ...
Related: century women, women in the workforce, workforce, double standard, annual review | <urn:uuid:4c4522ac-2b3b-4f2c-8ab1-d6ce78f635d8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://promptpapers.com/research-paper-topics.php?tid=2770326&topic=raymond&page=9 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00074-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952263 | 344 | 2.671875 | 3 |
Hans-Ulrich Möhring (born 1953) is a German author and translator.
In 1984 Möhring began to work for numerous book-trades and publishing groups as a translator for works by authors like Tad Williams – among other things Williams' science fiction tetralogy Otherland – and James Hamilton-Paterson.
He translated J.R.R. Tolkien's poem The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrún (Die Legende von Sigurd und Gudrún) into German. The German edition, which was released on August 20, 2010, contains both the original verses and the translated ones.
Hans-Ulrich Möhring currently lives in a village in Holstein, Northern Germany. | <urn:uuid:4bfac2aa-b287-44b9-a174-4577bc365e0b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.tolkiengateway.net/wiki/Hans-Ulrich_M%C3%B6hring | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00031-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.924503 | 155 | 1.609375 | 2 |
Liberty University’s Washington Semester Internship Program is now under the management of Liberty’s Career Center, but the goal remains the same: to train and equip young leaders by providing students with practical training and educational opportunities in and around the nation’s capital.
According to Director Carrie Barnhouse, participants will gain academic internship credit as well as valuable life skills.
“Our goal is to see students learn and grow through experiential education opportunities provided in D.C.,” she said. “Our chancellor has often referred to these students as being on the front lines. They are fighting the cultural war by conquering the capital.”
In the spring, Liberty students participated in internships at the White House, Concerned Women for America headquarters and the U.S. District Attorney’s Office.
“With the changes taking place in Washington with the recent election, it is more important than ever to ensure our students are being mentored, trained and equipped to help make a difference,” Barnhouse said.
She said more than 100 students have participated in this program during the past three years and nearly half of them have been offered jobs.
“When they get to D.C. they make contacts and develop relationships with networks that help secure employment later in life,” she said.
Nearly 50 percent of the students who complete their Washington Semester internships said they learned skills that would be beneficial in their future careers, she said.
With more than 5,000 alumni living and working within a 60-mile radius of D.C., the Career Center is working with these professionals to find placement opportunities for interns.
“Our goal is to identify students’ career goals. It is important to know what you want to do with your major and how you plan to use your skills,” Barnhouse said. “We want to find internships that are relative to helping secure a students’ future.” | <urn:uuid:2c63fd47-8219-4a7c-bd29-94bb9349bbdb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.liberty.edu/news/index.cfm?PID=18495&MID=5829 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00035-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973003 | 408 | 1.664063 | 2 |
Bird-Watching in India
What better way to admire the gift of nature then to look at birds. Its never easy to photograph a bird, it has to be done in a jiffy and at the right moment, before they fly away.
Bird photography is indeed very interesting, because you learn a lot about their habits, environment they prefer, their calls etc. We are still learning to capture better shots of avian creatures. Here are some of them.
This image on the right was taken during our trek to Ghangaria on the way to Valley of Flowers from Gobindghat. This beautiful bird had a mix of colors, even his tail is not plain blue, it had streaks of white.
Kingfisher sitting on the roof in Karjat, a scenic village 90 km away from Mumbai. They are generally shy birds, little noise and they fly away. Although we have managed to click their picture on a number of occasions. This little red birdie was having a nice time floating on the ice sheets in Hemkund Sahib, in Uttaranchal around 4329 m above sea level. You can clearly see his reflection on the icy cold lake. On the same lake there was another bird sitting on a stone making ripples in water. This picture is taken by Clyde, and its one of my favorite photographs. Beautiful effect in the water. Red-eyed female Koel also known as nightingale because of their melodious call. Sanjay Gandhi National Park in Mumbai, one of the few green zones in the city, is home to variety of species. Indian eagle flying high, making its presence felt in the clear sky. Crested bird keeping an eye on its surroundings. This picture was taken in Mumbai itself, in 7 Bungalows, part of suburban Mumbai. This bird is the Black-crowned Night Heron, we thought it was an egret. This was shot at the historical Banganga Tank in Southern Mumbai. Banganga holds religious importance, dating back to the 14th century. Its a temple complex surrounded by high-rise buildings, typical set up in Mumbai.
But Banganga still retains its old charm. The tank had large number of ducks, little Cormorant, different types of fish etc. Some were floating on water gently. And some were trying to catch a fish. We do hope you liked the small collection of bird pictures, they were suppose to go on the photography blog, which should start soon!
Share and Learn: | <urn:uuid:c6b5b31e-935d-4326-9ae9-28290550d270> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://fractalenlightenment.com/889/photography/bird-watching-in-india | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00049-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.980857 | 510 | 1.976563 | 2 |
US Virgin Island is a group of several islands in an Archipelago in the United State. At first The US Virgin Island is inhibited by Arawak, confidant and boney people. Christopher Columbus gives the first name in 1493. During the seizure of terrorism Denmark turn the island into royal colony in 1754. Among some countries that joined the struggle of The US Virgin Island are French, Denmark, Spanish and England. Denmark built a number of successful businesses in sugarcane of forced labor from the locals. However, after the abolition of slavery, Denmark has feeling that it is no longer profitable. Denmark was trying to sell it to America, but unable to found the proper negotiation. So the ownership of US Virgin Island still remains on hands of Denmark, until the First World War.
American would eventually go on to buy the island for fear it will become a haven for German. The agreement between the US and Denmark signed on 17 January 1917. After the formal ownership belongs to America on 30 March 1917, the Americans gave the name The US Virgin Island. And 10 years later, the government gave United State citizenship to local people.
The US Virgin Island can be said is a heaven for the natural resources. There are some famous island like St Thomas, St John and St Croix. These all three have a natural beauty that is extraordinary, in addition to the warm blue water, white sand beaches, and natural beauty we can get all facilities that we want during our trip.
St Thomas is the second largest island in the US Virgin Island which has a size of 32 square miles. It is the capital city of Charlotte Amalie. If we go to St Thomas we should not hesitate to shopping around, because there are along the coastal main street that sell goods, jewelry, perfume, and even locally made item. While in St John is the smallest one, here we will found virgin island national park. It is a quite place with beautiful scenery that is best for natural lovers. St Croix is famous for its rich culture and history, including the first largest in The US Virgin Island. | <urn:uuid:24c82755-b56c-4e97-8c40-4b3c6a0adebd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://shedexpedition.com/us-virgin-island-history/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00036-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965644 | 423 | 2.65625 | 3 |
CFLs and LEDs Duke It Out After the Light Bulb Ban
When the phase-out of common household incandescent light bulbs begins in January 2012, there will still be plenty of electricity-guzzling 100W bulbs (or lamps, as they are called in the industry) on the market shelves. There will also be a variety of energy-saving products to choose from. Halogen incandescent lamps, for instance, will save a third on energy costs and provide the same light quality you’re used to. Newer technologies can save even more on electricity consumption and are coming down in price.
“You can find a CFL or LED that will give you the brightness and light quality you like, and it will save you around $50 over the life of each CFL and anywhere from $65 to $400 over the lifetime of each LED,” said Celia Kuperszmid Lehrman, deputy home and yard editor at Consumer Reports.
In a recent round of testing, Consumer Reports found that many of the problems associated with the early compact fluorescent replacements for common incandescents have been overcome. From the mid-eighties to the mid-ninties, most CFL products were just not ready for prime time. They flickered, they buzzed, they didn’t turn on right away…and worst of all was the color. “Consumers have been disappointed in the past by the bluish light produced by CFL bulbs,” said Michelle McMullen, vice president of vendor relations for Bellacor.com. “CFLs today come in a variety of colors. Consumers want to find bulbs that have a color rendering index (CRI) greater than 80; preferably closer to 100.”
Hugh Prosser, buyer for Lamps Plus, recommends consumers pay attention to color temperature: for indoor table lamps and overhead lights look for 2700K, but in a bright kitchen or outdoors, the “cooler-looking” 3500K or 4100K would be appropriate. “Don’t pay attention to cool-white or warm white, actually look at the color temperature on the label,” Prosser warned.
Beginning in January 2012, all this information – lumens, CRI, color temperature, and life rating (number of hours you can expect the lamp to operate) will be found on the Lighting Facts label printed on every lamp package, regardless of technology.
Despite these improvements, CFL prices still surprise consumers used to buying cheap incandescents. But you’d have to burn through 5 to 10 incandescent lamps to equal the long life of that one $5 to $10 CFL; which might give you the payback right there. And because of the lower wattage, the CFL will save about 75% in energy costs.
Even so, “green” consumers are still put off by CFL technology due to the mercury content. Manufacturers have drastically reduced the amount of mercury in these lamps, and today many CFLs contain less than a milligram inside the sealed glass tube.
But consider that electricity use is the main source of mercury emissions in the US, and CFLs use so much less electricity than the incandescent they replace. Burning through multiple incandescents will spew perhaps 5 mg of mercury out into the atmosphere, compared to 1 mg over the life of one CFL (source: US EPA). Nevertheless, spent CFL lamps should be recycled and are accepted at Home Depot, Ikea, Lowe’s, and some ACE hardware stores.
The solid state lighting manufacturers (also known as LED lighting) have taken their lessons from the CFL debacle and rely heavily on testing of products to build consumer confidence. Prices for LED replacement lamps are dropping, but remain high at $20 to $40 for the household lamp equivalent – thus the payback is much longer than for CFLs. But the LEDs’ low electricity consumption (saving 85% or more compared to incandescents) and incredibly long life (perhaps 20 to 50 years if used a few hours a day) will make convincing offers as the technology becomes more accepted. Further, reducing wattage that much can make rooms with a lot of tracklights or downlights noticeably cooler, and so save on air-conditioning.
Though they contain no mercury, spent LEDs should be recycled along with other household electronics.
The first places you’ll see LED lighting are in sockets with long burning hours (think dusk-to-dawn floodlights) and hard-to-reach places like high-ceilinged downlights. LEDs love the cold and will do well outdoors. Dimmable LEDs are also better than CFLs at dimming to low light levels, but neither will produce that romantic candlelight-colored glow when dimmed way down.
When crunching the numbers, CFLs and LEDs win hands-down. But for romance, better stick with halogen.
Written by Lois I. Hutchinson | <urn:uuid:2e15ae79-06d0-4d74-899e-31c44ff091b4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://lighting.com/after-the-light-bulb-ban/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00029-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948084 | 1,031 | 2.125 | 2 |
Source: Boston Consulting Group
For change to cascade in an organization, its leadership must be truly aligned and must clearly and respectfully communicate the need to change to employees, as well as solicit their feedback. Leaders are role models. If they try to fake leadership alignment, employees will pick up on it and the change will derail. In order to drive success, leaders may need to change how they behave. They may find the process uncomfortable if they have never been accountable for cooperative goals beyond their line responsibilities. In the words of Mahatma Gandhi, executives "Must be the change you want to see." | <urn:uuid:ed3c827b-1636-4e01-9375-99722d1fba8c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.techrepublic.com/whitepapers/cascading-change/2330793?scname=leading-change | 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 | 0.956936 | 120 | 1.789063 | 2 |
Myanmar is preparing to open its first session of Parliament in more than two decades, a major step in the ruling military’s self—styled transition to democracy but one being carried out with little fanfare or public enthusiasm.
There is muted hope that Monday’s convening of the new legislature will be a step, however small, in the right direction for a country that has seen the Army rule with impunity since a 1962 coup ended the last legitimate parliamentary democracy. Still, with a quarter of the seats in the upper and lower houses reserved for the military and the remainder dominated by political parties loyal to the outgoing junta, there is little chance for an actual return of power to the people.
The junta for years has been touting the convening of Parliament as the penultimate step in its so—called roadmap to democracy, leaving only the task of having it elect a President. Current junta chief Senior Gen. Than Shwe, however, is expected to remain the country’s guiding force, no matter what position he holds in the new regime.
While the general public is curious who may become head of state, even though it is certain to be a prominent member of the junta, there appears to be little popular interest in Parliament’s opening. Last November’s election has done little to quell criticism that the road map is nothing but Army rule by a different name.
Even the military has done little to highlight the simultaneous opening of the 440—seat lower house and 224—seat upper house in a massive new building in Naypyitaw, the remote city to which the capital was moved from Yangon in 2005. Neither the press nor the foreign diplomatic community has been invited to attend, which is tantamount to saying “stay away.”
While the credibility of the road map was long ago dismissed by opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy party, which boycotted the polls and consequently was dissolved under a new election law, some anti-military parties prefer to look at the bright side.
They expressed optimism that despite being a minority, they will be able to make proposals and work for democratic changes within a legal framework that was previously absent.
“Our experience of 20 years trying to make our voices heard from the streets hasn’t yielded any result. But this time I am optimistic that we can achieve something as we are going to talk in the Parliament,” said Thein Nyunt, an elected representative and former leader of the National Democratic Force, a party formed by breakaway members of Suu Kyi’s NLD.
Others, however, note that the combination of military and pro—military lawmakers can push through or block any legislation and constitutional amendments on their own. The pro—junta Union Solidarity and Development Party combined with military appointees will account for 85 per cent of seats in the lower house and 83 per cent in the upper house.
“Generally speaking, having a Parliament is better than not having a parliament. However, this Parliament is a military—dominated Parliament that will lack independence,” said 90—year old Thakin Chan Tun, a former Ambassador and veteran politician.
He said there is little doubt that Than Shwe will be the one pulling parliamentary strings.
“The parliament will only perpetuate military rule. ... Do not expect democratic changes to come,” he said. | <urn:uuid:86b7f5b5-a73e-4331-9a90-929384cded07> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/myanmar-parliament-to-open-but-army-in-control/article1139821.ece | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00073-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967436 | 702 | 1.789063 | 2 |
The Guest Post Series on “My Favourite Things” has contributions by those sharing my interests in travel, books, photography, music, and on issues that I am passionate about. Though the guest posts are not always by fellow bloggers, the guest authors are always those who have interesting experiences to share.
Today’s guest post is by Srinayan, the infrequent blogger of The Random Walkaround. Srinayan, however, prefers to be known as a lethargic blogger who is long on intent, but somehow falls short on delivery. An engineer by profession, he writes on many topics, but always with sensitive insight and understated humour. Today’s guest post is on something that readers attending classical music performances would be familiar with.
Performing artistes of today — especially classical dancers and musicians — often speak about the necessity to connect with their audiences. The ability to do so decides the difference between recognition (and a healthy bank balance) and obscurity. Audience tastes and receptiveness is no longer taken for granted.
A generation-and more-ago this approach would have been dismissed as pandering to the audience. Concert-goers were generally knowledgeable and came to the performances fully aware of what to expect. A well-known artiste knew that he (or she) had to live up to expectations. A less well-known performer knew that this concert could be another step forward in his (or her) quest for wider recognition. Fulsome praise or damming criticism — the artiste had to be prepared for both.
There would the occasional misstep or the wrong note which made the performance more memorable. | <urn:uuid:48729727-d07c-4013-93c6-2858d2f397c8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://thatandthisinmumbai.wordpress.com/tag/dance-appreciation/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975757 | 336 | 1.65625 | 2 |
Explanation of advice on life to college graduates that applies to everyone. Key words: philosophy, tips, golden rule, good life, wellness, principles, enjoyment, positive outlook, accountable, responsibility, wholeness, Ron Kurtus, School for Champions. Copyright © Restrictions
Advice on Life to College Graduates
by Paula Wagner Apfelbach On Wisconsin magazine, Winter 2000
When students graduate from college and go out into life, they may need some helpful tips or advice on how to make it in the "real world."
This advice can also apply to just about everyone.
When preparing for the college life and transitioning into the "real world" students grow into adults quickly, and getting those Online Doctorate Degrees in post-grad seems easier than they've ever imagined!
Advice on Life
This advice can apply to everyone, in most situations.
Trust your gut. It will very rarely steer you wrong.
No matter what you believe today, most of your friends will fall away over time. Those who remain for the long haul are precious.
Honesty is still the best policy especially if it's delivered respectfully and gently.
Having a few regrets isn't such a bad thing; they serve as reminders to do things differently next time.
Sleep enough. Then, when you figure out how, tell me.
Apologize. Enough said.
If you still don't know what you want to be when you grow up, don't sweat it. You can decide later and change your mind often after that.
Listen. Listen some more.
There's just no substitute for taking the high road, having insurance, or speaking kindly.
Live simply. Less truly is more.
Think long and hard before welcoming dogs or small children into your life. Then, if you do, learn good parenting skills and love them wholly and unconditionally.
The Golden Rule is a classic. It has been true across all cultures, through all of time.
Another classic is the one that says, "Whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger."
Duct tape is overrated, but it will hold up a fallen hem.
When the big, bad world gets you down, know that there are many good, decent people out there, too. Life will always be about balance.
I've heard this attributed to Prince Charles, but no matter: Never miss an opportunity to sit down or go to the bathroom.
When it's hard to wake up, recall that it's proof that you're alive. Pondering the alternative will open your eyes the rest of the way.
Create bonding rituals with those you love; the strength you gain may be your only sustenance in difficult times.
Visit a cemetery. It's a powerful reminder of your significance- or lack thereof.
People seldom change. If you can't accept them as they are, spare yourself an ulcer and move on.
When consoling someone, a simple, genuine "I'm sorry" carries tremendous weight.
Work isn't everything. Neither is sex or winning. But holding hands comes close.
If you achieve just one major goal each year, you'll have accomplished a great deal by the end of your life.
Deep down, people just want to feel capable and lovable. If you can make them feel that way, you'll have them eating out of your hands.
Four words: luggage with huge wheels.
Learn to accept a compliment gracefully. A smile and simple "thank you" will do.
Some people do act like jerks, but it's probably healthier for you to feel sorry for them than angry at them.
Go easy on yourself. Some days, you're the only one who will.
Cook something the first time according to the recipe. After that, wing it.
Respect your elders. They really have "been there, done that," and they'd be thrilled to tell you about it, if only you'd ask.
Respect cultures, ideologies, and viewpoints that are different from your own. They have a lot to offer.
Nothing replaces good health. Nothing.
Not everyone likes you (or me either), but that's okay. No one's opinion of you matters more than your own.
Take care of the earth and those who need your help.
Cultivate an interest in the arts. Their grace endures.
Good cooking, polished manners, passable golf, and excellent typing skills will still get you pretty far.
Be who you are. Who else could you be?
Be present. Be grateful. Be awed.
Thanks for listening
These are good pointers or tips for all of us to follow to succeed in life.
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Advice on Life to College Graduates | <urn:uuid:e061f84e-4313-469e-aafc-bed62abe01f3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.school-for-champions.com/life/collegeadvice.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00038-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951936 | 1,110 | 2.296875 | 2 |
Does the iPad use any type of controller for drive wear leveling? It seems like Sandforce is the only player in the field.
migrated from superuser.com Feb 20 '11 at 17:10
Apple iPad does not use an SSD. It uses a flash based drive.
UPDATE: In response to the differences between SSD's and Flash Drives, here is the following excerpt explaining the difference.
‘Flash Drives’ are a generic term which used for anything from USB memory sticks to SSDs. An USB flash drive uses lower quality low performance NAND flash with just 1 or 2 channels. Its durable, cheap but slow. An SSD on the other hand uses high performance NAND with mutliple channels. ( 12 or 8 is not uncommon), and there is a memory controller on a SSD which is much better and both can store data even if its not powered. Flash drives (USB) are slow storage devices where as SSDs are high performance drives. They’re much faster than normal HDDs.
A USB flash drive uses USB, which is generally a slower interface than the Serial ATA interface. A USB flash drive is generally thought of as a removable device by the OS and is managed as such. A SSD is treated similarly to a hard drive, and is often recognized by your OS as a type of fixed disk.
USB flash drives and solid-state drives are both based on flash memory. Most of the flash memory use NAND memory, which are available as single-level cells (SLC) and multi-level cells (MLC). Single-level cells store a single bit in a single memory cell, whereas multi-level cells store more than a single bit in a single memory cell. The MLC accomplishes this by allowing each memory cell to store multiple electrical states, therefore, allow one MLC cell to store more information than one SLC cell. For example, a MLC that uses 4-levels can store 2 bits of information. MLC are cheaper, as they can store more information per memory cell than SLC. Cheap, large SSDs and USB flash memory use MLC disks, although not necessarily. MLCs sounds great in terms of storage density, but it does have a catch. MLCs are slower than SLC. Therefore, the large capacity USB flash drives and SSDs tend to be slower. Solid-State Drives (SSDs) have no moving parts, high reliability and longer life-span than traditional hard drives
Taken from here
|show 2 more comments|
This isn't a big concern since you will likely be writing to flash less than you would on a desktop. Streaming video will go to DRAM. I'm an electrical engineer who uses flash and I would be ok buying an iPad; I expect the battery will fail long before the flash. Additionally when a sector goes bad, it will be skipped on future writes.
Whether Flash is used in an SSD (SATA interface) or just as a Flash memory hanging off any other internal bus, the Flash wearing out issues are the same. Unless Apple has done something in system software to minimize write cycles (caching schemes?) the wearing out risks are real and only Apple can explain how it is mitigating it. Yes, SandForce controller is the only one that claims Write cycle reduction and thus extend the Flash endurance by minimizing the write cycles. | <urn:uuid:c4572f5d-5edd-4729-9e87-7cfd7597ae41> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/8794/tablets-and-ssd-degradation/8798 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00031-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950732 | 692 | 2.203125 | 2 |
Quality house plans should be more than a few pages showing a floor plan and elevations. They should contain enough information that the builder knows exactly what you want and enough information that the inspection department knows the plans meet the current codes.
Each House Plan Package Includes:
Cover Sheet - Includes front elevation and general specifications for construction per the "IRC 2012" building code.
Foundation Plan- Includes your choice of concrete slab, crawl space or basement (when available). All of which will be fully dimensioned and show all required load bearing points.
Floor Plans- Will show all exterior and interior walls, room dimensions, doors, window schedule, kitchen and bath fixtures, and fireplace and stairway location (if applicable). Floor plans are fully dimensioned.
Exterior Elevations- Includes the front, rear and sides of the house with detailed measurements for wall/ceiling heights and required roof pitch.
Details- Fully labeled wall sections, footing details, and when needed stair and building sections. Example
House Plans may also include:
Floor Framing Plans- Shows bearing walls, girder locations and sizes, joist framing w/ size and spacing.
Roof Plans- Most of the plans are designed for trusses. Truss placement plan showing locations of truss girders and commons. Stick framed plans show all load bearing points, joist and rafter size and spacing.
Electrical Plans- Provides suggested locations for lights and light switches.
Reverse Plans- These are full reverse sets of a particular house plan and are offered at an additional charge. The writing will read correctly.
Modifications- We offer modifications on all stock house plans. These revisions can usually be completed within two weeks. Modifications could be anything from adding/ removing brick or changing door locations to enlarging rooms to meet your needs. When finished you will have a set of custom designed house plans.
Cabinet Elevations- Our plans do not come with these details. Most builders and home owners have the cabinet builders provide this service. If you need the cabinet designs give us a call.
We do not provide heating, plumbing, electrical panel details, or engineering seals.
If there is any information you feel should be supplied as part of your plans, please contact us. We want to make every effort to be the best resource for builder friendly house plans.
We have put substantial care and effort into the creation of our blueprints. However, because we cannot provide on-site consultation, supervision and control over actual construction, and because of the great variance in local building requirements, building practices and soil, seismic, weather and other conditions, WE CANNOT MAKE ANY WARRANTY, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, WITH RESPECT TO THE CONTENT OR USE OF OUR BLUEPRINTS, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY OR OF FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. | <urn:uuid:36ba2133-7b1d-4481-bca2-7e2614c64682> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.houseplandesignworks.com/pages.php?pID=4&CDpath=3 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.906368 | 598 | 1.601563 | 2 |
Length: 1/3 mile
Surface: hard surface, walking and biking trail
Difficulty: Moderate slope
The Art Trail features several outdoor sculptures, an amphitheater, and access to artist James Turrell's Skyspace structure, The Way of Color. The Art Trail also connects the Museum's south entrance to the Crystal Bridges Trail. This trail provides access to springs, and features many native plants, including cone flowers, American basket flowers, and black-eyed susans.
Download Trail Map
Art Trail Photo Gallery
Art on the Art Trail
The Way of Color
Stone, concrete, stainless steel, and LED lighting
228 x 652 in. (579.1 x 1656.1 cm)
© James Turrell. Photography by Timothy Hursley
James Turrell has referred to himself as a "sculptor of light." Precisely crafted from native stone, Turrell's Skyspace, The Way of Color, provides a view of the sky altered by stunning lighting effects that change with the light and weather conditions outside, creating a unique experience for each viewer.
Dan Ostermiller's subjects are animals—wild and domestic—captured in expressive, natural poses that suggest hints of personality. The surface of the work is important to the artist—who has paid particular attention to the marks, folds, and textures that describe the bear's form.
André Harvey works from direct observation to create portraits of his animal subjects, capturing the character and disposition of each creature. Stella was sculpted initially in clay, then cast in bronze from a mold, and weighs inat a hefty 560 pounds. | <urn:uuid:6084dade-ab57-4ded-9a0c-b086b51c2a26> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://crystalbridges.org/Trails-and-Grounds/Art-Trail | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.934845 | 335 | 2.0625 | 2 |
I'm not sure which "new name" you're refering to in this sentence. The title of the thread calls the concept of "poles" into question. But do you mean "magnetism" in the above sentence? If it is the latter, then the problem arose because knowledge of the doughnut shape preceeded
knowledge of the simpler shape by many centuries. All the "doughnut case" vocabulary was already in place.
In general I gree with what this Gentleman said: | <urn:uuid:95c184b7-01eb-4747-a125-49d17c6681f1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.physicsforums.com/showpost.php?p=93208&postcount=27 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00059-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95378 | 104 | 1.8125 | 2 |
It’s good that you are using group work and you are right to say that it can sometimes be difficult to get students moving. I’ll first consider interesting ways to group students and then look at how to help the activity go more smoothly.
There are a variety of ways of putting students into groups; you could consider any of the following:
All students who have their birthday in January and February work together. Those who have their birthday in March and April work together, etc.
All students wearing black shoes work together, those wearing brown shoes work together, etc.
People who come to class by bus work together, those who walk to class work together, etc.
Students with brown eyes, green eyes work together.
People who prefer skiing holidays work together. Those who prefer beach holidays work together.
There are many other options like these that you can invent yourself. You can even link it into the topic of the lesson. For example, in a lesson about the family, you could group people from families of three children together, those from families of four children together, etc.
These are all novel ways of grouping students but you will need to organise it carefully. If we take the example of eye colour, first of all ask those with brown eyes to put their hands up. Tell them they are the brown-eyed group. Then do the same with green eyes and blue eyes. You then designate areas of the classroom as being for brown, green and blue-eyed people. Check everybody understands where they should be going, for example by asking 2 or 3 students what colour eyes they have and then asking the group where those students should go. Tell students that when you give the signal, they are to move to that area of the room and not before. Make sure you leave enough time to give clear instructions, to check understanding and leave plenty of time for students to actually move. You might also want to tell them what to take, e.g. just a pen and paper. Some students might start moving everything, including coats and bags.
Another thing to consider is that in any of the examples above, you will not get groups of even numbers. Some groups will be bigger than others. You might need to ask some people to move to another group, but that breaks up the identity of the group. You could also split a large group into two smaller groups. For example, two groups of brown-eyed students, one group of blue-eyed students, etc. Also consider your choice of grouping carefully. For example, in some cultures, a large majority of people have brown eyes; so this type of categorization wouldn’t work. Splitting people up according to form of transport used wouldn’t work in some towns.
If your students are resisting group work, you might want to have a few lessons where they simply work with the people sitting next to them. This will get them used to group work and also save time.
I hope you and your students will enjoy these activities. | <urn:uuid:07858122-183e-4801-a4f2-e2169ffea8fe> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.tefl.net/forums/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=585&p=1049 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972821 | 616 | 3.640625 | 4 |
Mar 21, 1871:
Stanley begins search for Livingstone
On this day in 1871, journalist Henry Morton Stanley begins his famous search through Africa for the missing British explorer Dr. David Livingstone.
In the late 19th century, Europeans and Americans were deeply fascinated by the "Dark Continent" of Africa and its many mysteries. Few did more to increase Africa's fame than Livingstone, one of England's most intrepid explorers. In August 1865, he set out on a planned two-year expedition to find the source of the Nile River. Livingstone also wanted to help bring about the abolition of the slave trade, which was devastating Africa's population.
Almost six years after his expedition began, little had been heard from Livingstone. James Gordon Bennett, Jr., editor of the New York Herald, decided to capitalize on the public's craze for news of their hero. He sent Stanley to lead an expedition into the African wilderness to find Livingstone or bring back proof of his death. At age 28, Stanley had his own fascinating past. As a young orphan in Wales, he crossed the Atlantic on the crew of a merchant ship. He jumped ship in New Orleans and later served in the Civil War as both a Confederate and a Union soldier before beginning a career in journalism.
After setting out from Zanzibar in March 1871, Stanley led his caravan of nearly 2,000 men into the interior of Africa. Nearly eight months passed--during which Stanley contracted dysentery, cerebral malaria and smallpox--before the expedition approached the village of Ujiji, on the shore of Lake Tanganyika. Sick and poverty-stricken, Livingstone had come to Ujiji that July after living for some time at the mercy of Arab slave traders. When Stanley's caravan entered the village on October 27, flying the American flag, villagers crowded toward the new arrivals. Spotting a white man with a gray beard in the crowd, Stanley stepped toward him and stretched out his hand: "Dr. Livingstone, I presume?"
These words--and Livingstone's grateful response--soon became famous across Europe and the United States. Though Stanley urged Livingstone to return with him to London, the explorer vowed to continue his original mission. Livingstone died 18 months later in today's Zambia; his body was embalmed and returned to Britain, where he was buried in Westminster Abbey. As for Stanley, he returned to Africa to fulfill a promise he had made to Livingstone to find the source of the Nile. He later damaged his reputation by accepting money from King Leopold II of Belgium to help create the Belgian-ruled Congo Free State and promote the slave trade. When he left Africa, Stanley resumed his British citizenship and even served in Parliament, but when he died he was refused burial in Westminster Abbey because of his actions in the Congo Free State. | <urn:uuid:a26d41c9-a99d-4d4b-893a-c3f47ad32b62> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.conservativeunderground.com/forum505/showthread.php?48242-Forum-Rules&goto=nextoldest | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00054-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975032 | 586 | 3.71875 | 4 |
President Obama Shuns Lech Walesa
By Rory Cooper:
Lech Walesa was once a trade-union activist. He was often arrested for speaking his mind against Communist oppression behind the Iron Curtain in Poland and for defying the Soviet Union. He was an electrician who, with no higher education, led one of the most profound freedom movements of the 20th century — Solidarity. He became president of Poland and swept in reforms, pushing the Soviet Union out of his homeland and moving the country toward a free-market economy and individual liberty. And President Obama doesn’t want him to set foot in the White House.
Absolutely outrageous. Obama hates anti-Communists.
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time. | <urn:uuid:7f5964c8-50df-44ee-b877-309ba7deb68a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blackkettle.wordpress.com/2012/06/02/president-obama-shuns-lech-walesa/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00039-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.983564 | 153 | 1.523438 | 2 |
Media Release Friday, 7 June 2002
Global Dimensions of Lead Hit Home in Australia,
Australia's leading lead campaigner, Elizabeth O'Brien yesterday returned home from speaking at the 4th international lead poisoning prevention conference in Washington DC with a renewed hope that governments and lead industry in the world's largest lead producing country must listen and respond to the needs of Australian children and people around the world who are being poisoned by the lead we export. Australia exported 672,000 tonnes of lead worth A$ 637m in FY 2000 - 2001.
The conference, Global Dimensions of Lead run by the National Safety Council of the USA, had speakers including Dr Abraham George and Prof Thuppil Venkatesh from India where 50% of 32,000 people so far blood lead tested have been found to be poisoned (higher than 10 micrograms of lead per decilitre (µg/dL) of blood). Among lead acid battery recyclers, the rate was 90% of children poisoned. While it is true that up to one third of Australian-produced lead acid batteries in past years have escaped our poor collection and recycling systems and ended up in developing countries being recycled (often by children in backyards) - it is clear that Australian lead has contributed to India's silent epidemic of lead poisoning. And India only knows about its problems because businessman Dr George put his own money into the blood testing campaign and setting up of a national centre.
"I call on the state and federal governments of Australia, and our major lead industries or philanthropists, to fund the work of The LEAD Group in Australia, that is essential to coordinate the efforts of communities and especially parents of lead poisoned children, to overcome and manage this menace" said O'Brien, the National Coordinator of The LEAD Group and Manager of the Global Lead Advice and Support Service (GLASS).
At the Washington conference, Russian researcher Dr Anna Orlova called on the World Health Organisation (WHO) to coordinate global surveillance of lead poisoning so that we do not remain in the current state of simply not knowing how many millions or billions of people are lead poisoned worldwide. She also asked the lead industry body, the International Lead Management Centre, to fund community action in all lead smelting and mining towns. Dr James Rochow, US environmental attorney who has campaigned since 1992 for the global phase out of leaded petrol (coordinated by his non-government organisation (NGO) - the Alliance to End Childhood Lead Poisoning) called on all national governments to identify remaining sources of lead poisoning and write national plans to eliminate them, coordinated by regional bodies including government, industry and NGO representatives.
In the US national lead conference that overlapped and followed the international lead conference, Dr Bruce Lanphear and Dr John Rosen called on the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) to redefine lead poisoning at a yet lower level of >5 micrograms per decilitre (µg/dL), to take into account the findings of researchers that lead impacts negatively on IQ, reading and maths abilities and a range of educational and social outcomes at levels as low as 2.5 µg/dL. Lanphear found that there was an 11.1 point reduction in IQ for the initial 10 microgram per deciliter increase in blood lead [from zero]. The two leading US lead researchers cited the work of Rick Nevin - "Research Links Childhood Lead Exposure to Changes in Violent Crime Rates Throughout the 20th Century" [see http://www.lead.org.au/lanv8n2/Nevin.pdf] noting that the phase-out of leaded petrol in the US has enabled a 90% drop in the number of lead poisoned children (greater than the current CDC level of 10 µg/dL). They estimate that in the age range of 6-16 years alone, there are a further 13-16 million US children [and presumably billions worldwide] who are unacceptably being affected by lead because their blood lead level is greater than 5 µg/dL.
Attendees at the US national lead conference discussed seemingly endless hundreds of millions of US dollars of government funding that is being granted to deal with the major remaining issue of removing or managing the estimated 3.3 million tonnes of lead that currently sits in the paint on US houses. Elizabeth O'Brien could only report that, in Australia, A$15,000 has been assigned annually by Environment Australia and nothing at all from health or consumer agencies, to fund the Lead Advisory Service Australia (run by The LEAD Group) and that even this paltry amount of expenditure on all non-mining and smelting lead education in Australia is due to cease at the end of June 2002.
At home in Australia, Elizabeth O'Brien returned to the news that The LEAD Group will need to write a third funding proposal to the enHealth Council to get all state and federal health departments to consider again whether to give a tiny proportion of the income that Australian governments generate from our massive lead production and export, back to the community to help prevent themselves and their children being poisoned by the lead that's already out there and the lead that's being added daily. The work of the Lead Advisory Service Australia (LASA) continues unabated, years after governments declared there was no more lead problem because air lead levels had fallen. LASA annually receives 4,000 to 5,500 calls (by freecall 1800 626 086) and email (via a form on www.lead.org.au/cu.html) from people who need information and referrals mainly for primary prevention of lead poisoning. The LEAD Group does a stunning job of providing the right information at the right time to ensure lead is not released into the environment through unsafe renovation and demolition practices or through a range of hobbies and occupations utilising lead.
"The LEAD Group's overseas information and referral service has been named the Global Lead Advice and Support Service since the number of emails from overseas has exceeded a thousand calls, sourced from 42 countries. The problem of lead is global and our governments and the lead industry must find the will to support the work of the few dedicated individuals at The LEAD Group who really know how to help people both before and after they are lead poisoned," said O'Brien. "I call on the enHealth Council and Environment Australia to each dedicate $150,000 annually to the Lead Advisory Service Australia, to partially honour Australia's 1996 agreement at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) concerning the Declaration on Risk Reduction for Lead in which member countries agreed to "develop, implement, monitor, and share information about actions that will reduce human exposure to lead" and that "the success of the Ministerial Declaration is contingent on the amount of publicity and support it receives."
CONTACT: Elizabeth O'Brien ph +61 2 9716 0014 ###
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Phone: +61 2 9716 0014 | <urn:uuid:2b0fc13b-5f8e-4afe-879b-b12d43302dbd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.lead.org.au/mr/20020607.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00053-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952294 | 1,466 | 2 | 2 |
Knights Templar win heresy reprieve after 700 yrs.
Posted 13 October 2007 - 11:02 PM
By Philip Pullella Fri Oct 12, 4:10 AM ET
VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - The Knights Templar, the medieval Christian military order accused of heresy and sexual misconduct, will soon be partly rehabilitated when the Vatican publishes trial documents it had closely guarded for 700 years.
A reproduction of the minutes of trials against the Templars, "'Processus Contra Templarios -- Papal Inquiry into the Trial of the Templars"' is a massive work and much more than a book -- with a 5,900 euros ($8,333) price tag.
"This is a milestone because it is the first time that these documents are being released by the Vatican, which gives a stamp of authority to the entire project," said Professor Barbara Frale, a medievalist at the Vatican's Secret Archives.
"Nothing before this offered scholars original documents of the trials of the Templars," she told Reuters in a telephone interview ahead of the official presentation of the work on October 25.
The epic comes in a soft leather case that includes a large-format book including scholarly commentary, reproductions of original parchments in Latin, and -- to tantalize Templar buffs -- replicas of the wax seals used by 14th-century inquisitors.
Reuters was given an advance preview of the work, of which only 799 numbered copies have been made.
One parchment measuring about half a meter wide by some two meters long is so detailed that it includes reproductions of stains and imperfections seen on the originals.
Pope Benedict will be given the first set of the work, published by the Vatican Secret Archives in collaboration with Italy's Scrinium cultural foundation, which acted as curator and will have exclusive world distribution rights.
The Templars, whose full name was "Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon," were founded in 1119 by knights sworn to protecting Christian pilgrims visiting the Holy Land after the Crusaders captured Jerusalem in 1099.
They amassed enormous wealth and helped finance wars of some European monarchs. Legends of their hidden treasures, secret rituals and power have figured over the years in films and bestsellers such as "The Da Vinci Code."
The Knights have also been portrayed as guardians of the legendary Holy Grail, the cup used by Christ at the Last Supper before his crucifixion.
The Vatican expects most copies of the work to be bought up by specialized libraries at top universities and by leading medieval scholars.
BURNED AT THE STAKE
The Templars went into decline after Muslims re-conquered the Holy Land at the end of the 13th century and were accused of heresy by King Philip IV of France, their foremost persecutor. Their alleged offences included denying Christ and secretly worshipping idols.
The most titillating part of the documents is the so-called Chinon Parchment, which contains phrases in which Pope Clement V absolves the Templars of charges of heresy, which had been the backbone of King Philip's attempts to eliminate them.
Templars were burned at the stake for heresy by King Philip's agents after they made confessions that most historians believe were given under duress.
The parchment, also known as the Chinon Chart, was "misplaced" in the Vatican archives until 2001, when Frale stumbled across it.
"The parchment was catalogued incorrectly at some point in history. At first I couldn't believe my eyes. I was incredulous," she said.
"This was the document that a lot of historians were looking for," the 37-year-old scholar said.
Philip was heavily indebted to the Templars, who had helped him finance his wars, and getting rid of them was a convenient way of cancelling his debts, some historians say.
Frale said Pope Clement was convinced that while the Templars had committed some grave sins, they were not heretics.
SPITTING ON THE CROSS
Their initiation ceremony is believed to have included spitting on the cross, but Frale said they justified this as a ritual of obedience in preparation for possible capture by Muslims. They were also said to have practiced sodomy.
"Simply put, the pope recognized that they were not heretics but guilty of many other minor crimes -- such as abuses, violence and sinful acts within the order," she said. "But that is not the same as heresy."
Despite his conviction that the Templars were not guilty of heresy, in 1312 Pope Clement ordered the Templars disbanded for what Frale called "the good of the Church" following his repeated clashes with the French king.
Frale depicted the trials against the Templars between 1307 and 1312 as a battle of political wills between Clement and Philip, and said the document means Clement's position has to be reappraised by historians.
"This will allow anyone to see what is actually in documents like these and deflate legends that are in vogue these days," she said.
Rosi Fontana, who has helped the Vatican coordinate the project, said: "The most incredible thing is that 700 years have passed and people are still fascinated by all of this."
"The precise reproduction of the parchments will allow scholars to study them, touch them, admire them as if they were dealing with the real thing," Fontana said.
"But even better, it means the originals will not deteriorate as fast as they would if they were constantly being viewed," she said.
Posted 15 October 2007 - 09:56 AM
Unless their spirits still remember the persecution, come back and say "Told you so!".
The whole thing is a very interesting story, though. Thanks!
Posted 15 October 2007 - 11:46 AM
Posted 04 April 2008 - 04:27 AM
Thanks for the article Shawn.
Posted 04 April 2008 - 12:19 PM
There are some really interesting mysteries involving treasures, cults, conspiracies, and murders, when it comes to the Knights Templar.
Edited by Shawn333, 04 April 2008 - 12:21 PM.
Posted 04 April 2008 - 12:39 PM
Posted 04 April 2008 - 06:10 PM
wow! Great line and I agree wholeheartedly.
Posted 06 November 2008 - 05:59 AM
By Fiona Govan, Madrid Correspondent
The Association of the Sovereign Order of the Temple of Christ, whose members claim to be descended from the legendary crusaders, have filed a lawsuit against Benedict XVI calling for him to recognise the seizure of assets worth 100 billion euros (£79 billion).
They claim that when the order was dissolved by his predecessor Pope Clement V in 1307, more than 9,000 properties as well as countless pastures, mills and other commercial ventures belonging to the knights were appropriated by the church.
But their motive is not to reclaim damages only to restore the "good name" of the Knights Templar.
"We are not trying to cause the economic collapse of the Roman Catholic Church, but to illustrate to the court the magnitude of the plot against our Order," said a statement issued by the self-proclaimed modern day knights.
The Templars was a powerful secretive group of warrior monks founded by French knight Hugues de Payens after the First Crusade of 1099 to protect pilgrims en route to Jerusalem.
They amassed enormous wealth and helped to finance wars waged by European monarchs, but spectacularly fell from grace after the Muslims reconquered the Holy Land in 1244 and rumours surfaced of their heretic practices.
The Knights were accused of denying Jesus, worshipping icons of the devil in secret initiation ceremonies, and practising sodomy.
Many Templars confessed to their crimes under torture and some, including the Grand Master Jacques de Molay, were burned at the stake.
The legal move by the Spanish group comes follows the unprecedented step by the Vatican towards the rehabilitation of the group when last October it released copies of parchments recording the trials of the Knights between 1307 and 1312.
The papers lay hidden for more than three centuries having been "misfiled" within papal archives until they were discovered by an academic in 2001.
The Chinon parchment revealed that, contrary to historic belief, Clement V had declared the Templars were not heretics but disbanded the order anyway to maintain peace with their accuser, King Philip IV of France.
Over the centuries, various groups have claimed to be descended from the Templars and legend abounds over hidden treasures, secret rituals, and their rumoured guardianship of the Holy Grail.
Most recently the knights have fascinated the modern generation after being featured in the film Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade and Dan Brown's novel The Da Vinci Code.
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Posted 11 December 2008 - 10:43 AM
Edited by Abelskeeper, 11 December 2008 - 10:44 AM.
Posted 20 May 2012 - 12:18 PM
said that he was in this ¨group¨ knight Templar..
it was terrible he killed many kids.. and my friend
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The top tax bracket for U.S. corporations stands at 35 percent, one of the highest rates in the world. So how is it possible that a giant of American business, General Electric, paid nothing in federal taxes last year, even as it made billions in profit?
And should the CEO of GE, Jeffrey Immelt, be advising the president on business?
For two years, President Obama has been talking about the need for corporate tax reform, declaring that the system is too complicated and that companies pay too much.
"Simplify, eliminate loopholes, treat everybody fairly," Obama said in February.
For those unaccustomed to the loopholes and shelters of the corporate tax code, GE's success at avoiding taxes is nothing short of extraordinary. The company, led by Immelt, earned $14.2 billion in profits in 2010, but it paid not a penny in taxes because the bulk of those profits, some $9 billion, were offshore. In fact, GE got a $3.2 billion tax benefit.
Watch "World News with Diane Sawyer" for more tonight on ABC.
"Two things are disconcerting. One is, there's disproportionate amount of profits being reported offshore. And then, even for the profits that are reported onshore, they're paying less than 35 percent," said Martin Sullivan, a contributing editor for Tax Analysts.
2010 was the second year in a row that GE recorded billions in profits and paid no taxes.
During that same period, Immelt has been a close advisor to the president on the business community, a relationship that rubs some the wrong way. Immelt serves as the chairman of Obama's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness.
In a statement, General Electric said that it "pays what it owes under the law and is scrupulous about its compliance with tax obligations in all jurisdictions." The company claims that its zero-dollar tax bill is largely a result of losses at its financial arm, GE Capital, due to the Wall Street meltdown.
Today, White House spokesman Jay Carney said that the president is "bothered" by the idea that a U.S. company could pay no taxes, but he wouldn't talk about GE specifically. Carney was also quick to say that Immelt's council advises the president on job growth and not on tax policy.
"It is part of the problem of the corporate tax structure that companies hire, you know, armies of tax lawyers to understand how it works and to take advantage of the various loopholes that exist, that are legal in order to reduce their tax burden," Carney said.
When President Obama announced his decision to appoint Immelt to the unpaid advisory role on job creation in January, some critics wondered whether the move was appropriate. Under his leadership, GE laid off 21,000 American workers and closed 20 factories between 2007 and 2009. More than half of GE's workforce is now outside the United States. | <urn:uuid:20ccb5e3-0391-4e69-8e40-29ee8e0fe8f7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/general-electric-paid-federal-taxes-2010/story?id=13224558 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00062-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.979832 | 594 | 1.78125 | 2 |
Citizenship in motion
1. Lessons in Otherness?
Reflecting on colonial history then is ridden with 'new tensions and violence' while potentially writing what Balibar calls a 'lesson of otherness' into the fibre of European citizenship: the European recognition 'of otherness as an indispensable element of its own identity, its virtuality, its 'power'' (Balibar, L'Europe, l'Amérique, la guerre. p. 38)
Balibar's valuable considerations prompt a number of questions: what is new in this 'lesson of otherness?' In post-colonial studies otherness is widely recognised as an 'essential element' of European identity since the beginning of modernity. As Bhabha or Spivak taught us, a movement of contamination, transits, and metissage contradictorily coexist within colonial experience and anticipate the 'postcolonial' present.
In themselves, metissage and 'hybridisation' - rather than exclusively referring to experiences of emancipation - can also describe particularly brutal manners of exercising domination and articulating exploitation. Instead of the constitutive relation between otherness and European identity, the question then is a recognition of otherness that historically would entail a self-criticism of Europe. There is no trace of this self criticism and recognition in the manner in which political Europe relates to contemporary migration: neither in national legislations on the issue, nor in the directives of the Commission, nor on the articles on European citizenship in the project of a constitutional treaty discussed and not approved at the Brussels intergovernmental conference of last December. The only signal of a counter-trend is the very presence of migrants in Europe. Shall we interpret this presence as that of a social movement that keeps challenging the policies that would make of Europe a 'fortress' and that thus creates the possibility for an 'other' European citizenship while also providing it with a material example? What are the resonance effects of this social movement on other social practices and other questions of citizenship that are equally cancelled out of the institutional configuration that European citizenship is contradictorily taking on? What are the constituent perspectives opened up on this terrain for the movements present in Europe today, which in the context of a global movement of insubordination struggle against 'neoliberalism' and war? In my view, these are the issues worth exploring.
2. European borders.
Regarding the war, while a discussion on the constitution of a new European border police ensues and the 'war against terrorism' opens an internal war trench of which migrants (in Europe as in the US) are the first victims, the struggle continues on the European borders. Human rights organisations calculate that in the last ten years almost four thousand refugees and migrants have lost their lives, drowned in seas and rivers, exploded on mine fields, suffocated in containers while trying to cross those borders. It is hard to quantify the similar fate of those in the process of approaching European borders, crossing the Sahara for instance. What is this if not a war, and a much dirtier one in not being waged in conventional terms? Is indignation enough when one is faced with the reality of this war and with the cruelty of 'human traffickers' and 'new merchants of slaves '? Is it more opportune to underline that unlike traditional slaves the majority of women and men on rafts and broken fishing boats did not choose to be there?
Around this issue we place the question of recognition: the recognition of contemporary movements of migration as social movements that are motivated, though faced with conditions of poverty and social and political devastation, by specific stances of freedom and demands for citizenship. What happens on the European borders is far from being of 'marginal' importance. The very notion of border - the practices of its government as much as its 'localisation' - seems to have changed fundamentally in the course of 'globalisation'. On the one hand, borders are projected to the outside and cast their shadow hundreds of miles further from the geographical lines that delineate an area such as Europe (or the US or Australia). Tony Blair's latest proposal to institute Transit Processing Centres is a metaphor for real detention centres in key conflict areas such as Asia and Africa, where to assess asylum-seeking applications of potential refugees. It is the most recent instance in a process that for the last fifteen years has permitted an increasingly invasive intervention of national and European authorities in the policies of borders control and migration movements in strategically placed Third World countries. On the other hand, borders are continuously decomposed and recomposed; they project their shadow onto the heart of 'cities' and no longer simply signal its external perimeter. Detention centres for migrants awaiting expulsion are placed all over Europe. They can no longer be seen as an anomaly but as a founding institution for an emerging European citizenship. They are only the most visible forms of a complex process through which the European apartheid that Balibar has relentlessly denounced in the last few years is taking shape.
A further differentiation is thus introduced, this time also formally, within European citizenship: its effects on the labour market can be clearly seen in the competition between African and Polish workers for 'deskilled' and seasonal jobs in agriculture in the south of Spain. As citizens of a country bidding to access the EU, the Polish are already in a relatively privileged position.
3. Which European citizenship?
The condition of migrants constitutes a privileged point from which to observe and investigate the trend towards selectively decomposing the figures of citizenship that, the moment when European citizenship starts assuming clear contours, is placed at its centre and deeply influences what we might call its material constitution. From this derive fundamental and inevitable issues: the closure of detention centres and the regularisation of sans papiers, two crucial elements for the united day of action for the rights of migrants decided at St. Denis on the 31st of January this year. Another crucial issue linked to this is the separation of residence permits from work contracts and of European citizenship from the citizenship of countries enjoying membership in the Union.
It is on this gap that we need to focus. The issue is one of constitutional politics: our first aim cannot be a European constitution with its demos conceived according to the classical categories of European constitutionalism; we need to prevent the closure of this constituent process and keep opening it up when it seems to come to a halt, so that within it, through struggle and political action, all the elements of material constitution that have been accumulating throughout time can be continuously called into question.
Translated by Arianna Bove for MakeWorld#4 | <urn:uuid:e49b9090-ce95-4f39-8b9b-53929c2f7ceb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.generation-online.org/t/tmezzadra.htm | 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 | 0.943586 | 1,335 | 1.867188 | 2 |
New Delhi: The power situation in North India improved partially on Monday morning. Power was restored in parts of Punjab, Delhi, Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh. Power has been restored in Lucknow and other big cities in Uttar Pradesh.
Thirty to forty per cent power was restored in Jammu and Kashmir. Power supply was being given in rotation in the Kashmir valley.
Power Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde said that the fault occurred near Agra.
The Metro service in Delhi was also hit. However, the Metro train services were fully restored around 10:45 am. The DMRC was getting hydel power from Bhutan through the grid on a priority basis. The Prime Minister's Office and AIIMS Hospital also got power supply on priority basis.
Forty Northern Railway trains were also running late, but railway services have resumed across the seven north affected states. The Railway was sourcing power from three power stations.
CPRO for Northern Railways Neeraj Sharma said, "Many trains on the adjoining networks have been held up in different stations. Power supply has been partially restored. Trains have started moving in the Delhi division. Trains which were held up have been moved with diesel engines."
Water services were also affected across Delhi. There are seven water plants, of which five started working between 7:30 to 8:00 am, while two were yet to begin. Water supply is slow and low all across the city.
Seven states in North India faced a long power cut late on Sunday night. Due to a massive breakdown in the northern grid, there was a major power failure which affected seven north Indian states. There was no power in Delhi and neighbouring states since 2 am.
Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Rajasthan were the states affected. Train services were also affected by the power failure in North India.
The BSES said such a power failure happened after 11 years. "Northern grid collapsed due to heavy demand in the last few days. Deficient rainfall and on the other hand sowing season is making farmers depend more on ground water which increased demand in the last few days," BSES officials said. | <urn:uuid:4199fbc3-995c-43af-aed9-bc43e369cfd0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://ibnlive.in.com/news/power-supply-restored-partially-in-north-india/276157-3.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00040-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.985158 | 454 | 1.601563 | 2 |
- TEDxChange 2013 is a TEDx event co-organized by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and TED. Convened by Melinda French Gates and hosted by Chris Anderson, TEDxChange will focus on issues surrounding global health and development. TEDxChange type events are TEDx events hosted around the live webcast of TEDxChange, and also feature local speakers. Our event is called TEDxYouth@TampaBayChange, and is one of many TEDx events happening around the globe on April 3rd that will expand on the ideas brought up at TEDxChange 2012.
In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TED has created a program called TEDx. TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. Our event is call TEDxYouth@TampaBay, where x=independently organized TED event.
At our TEDxYouth@TampaBay event, TEDTalks video and live speakers will combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events, including ours, are self-organized.
Author Archives: tmw2010
Saturday, March 23rd marks the 4th birthday of TEDx, the regional, independently organized events that have brought the TED experience to people all around the world. TEDxYouth@TampaBay has been one of those events since 2010, as well as our local … Continue reading
In our continuing look back at our recent TEDxYouth@TampaBay event, please enjoy revisiting our fun Q&A with 9 year old playwright, Spencer Opal-Levine!
FIRST robotics programs are in full swing around Tampa Bay, Florida and the nation right now, and most students involved in the hands-on STEM education robotics teams are pretty familiar with failure and it’s necessary role in success. Arnold, a … Continue reading
“TEDxYouth gave me the opportunity to challenge both my fears and my health issues so that I could conquer the “impossible.” As I took a group picture with the presenters at the end of the day, I realized that for … Continue reading
Over the next few days, we’ll be featuring talks from our 2012 TEDxYouth@TampaBay event held just last month. We think Davida Bowen‘s message is an empowering one to start the year off with! Enjoy! And many thanks to Starfruit Productions … Continue reading
On the cusp of the New Year, and as you wait for our TEDxYouth@TampaBay videos to come online, please enjoy this lovely look at the Big Dreams of the students of Lee Academy! | <urn:uuid:a5c4379f-5a7f-45b5-9d63-2972e6043cde> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://tedxyouthtampabay.com/author/tmw2010/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00030-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945459 | 573 | 1.554688 | 2 |
THURSDAY, Feb. 3 (HealthDay News) -- Prophylactic treatment of bleeding and arthropathy in children with hemophilia A is effective, particularly when initiated early in life, according to a study published online Jan. 21 in the Journal of Thrombosis and Haemostasis.
Alessandro Gringeri, M.D., from the University of Milan in Italy, and colleagues conducted a 10-year randomized controlled study of 1- to 7-year-old children with severe hemophilia A who had negative clinical-radiological joint scores at entry and at least one bleed during the preceding six-month period. The efficacy of prevention of hemarthroses and joint damage by prophylaxis with 25 IU/kg recombinant factor VIII three times a week (21 children) was compared with episodic therapy (19 children) with up to 25 IU/kg every 12 or 24 hours until bleeding resolution.
The researchers found that children on prophylaxis had significantly fewer hemarthroses than the children receiving episodic treatment (0.20 versus 0.52 events/patient/month). Signs of arthropathy, assessed by plain-film radiology, were demonstrated in 29 percent of the patients in the prophylaxis group and 74 percent of patients treated episodically. Prophylaxis was more effective when initiated early, at or before 36 months, resulting in fewer joint bleeds and no radiologic signs of arthropathy.
"Early prophylaxis is more efficacious than delayed prophylaxis, even though the latter still generates substantial benefits to these patients. The higher costs of prophylaxis compared to episodic therapy are balanced by a better orthopedic outcome and hence a better quality of life," the authors write.
This study was supported by an unrestricted grant from Baxter Italy; several authors disclosed financial relationships with pharmaceutical companies, including Baxter.
Copyright © 2011 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
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Few foods are as associated with St. Patrick’s Day as corned beef.
What’s hard sometimes is to take a traditional food fare and make it new and different. Try rethinking an old recipe, vintage is the modern term, and make it your own.
Corned Beef Hash is a recipe I remember my grandmother and my mother making over time to stretch the family food budget. I doubt if either one had a recipe, but what I do remember is the corned beef was so shredded it was hard to identify what it was. To a youngster, that’s scary.
They didn’t have access to the convenience products we have today, which meant they would have spent much more time cutting and chopping than many of today’s cooks.
Browse the frozen vegetable section in your local grocery store and you will find a number of frozen potato items. I like Potatoes O’Brian because they already have seasoning items in them, but if you can’t find those, use frozen hash brown potatoes and add green and red bell pepper.
Julie Kay is a columnist for The Advocate. She can be reached at email@example.com. | <urn:uuid:d8b8b949-9ba4-4f04-8bd9-179087a56831> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://theadvocate.com/features/food/5309034-123/what-a-crock-corned-beef | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00052-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965578 | 250 | 1.515625 | 2 |
Demand for ubiquitous mobile functionality to achieve enhanced productivity, a better social-networking experience, and improved multimedia quality, continues to drive innovation in technologies that will deliver to these objectives in an energy and cost-efficient manner. While the performance of embedded processors has increased to meet the rising demands of general-purpose computations, dedicated multimedia accelerators provide dramatic improvements in performance and energy efficiency of specific applications. Energy harvesting is another area of growing importance, leading to technologies that leverage non-volatile logic-based SoC’s for applications that do not have a constant power source or handheld devices with very limited battery capacity.
Technology scaling continues to be exploited to deliver designs capable of operating at lower voltages, resulting in reduced energy per operation, as well as reducing the area required to implement specific functions. Processors unveiled at ISSCC 2013 are built on a variety of technology nodes, with best-in-class results accomplished along the axes of integration, performance/watt and functional integration, as well as a few industry-first implementations. These are demonstrated in various process nodes ranging from 0.13μm down to 28nm bulk, and SOI CMOS technologies.
Emerging medical applications require a significant reduction in the standby power over state-of-the-art commercial processors. This drives the exploration of new leakage-reduction techniques in both logic and on-chip memories, targeting orders of magnitude reduction in leakage currents. Fast wake-up time requirements drive the need for saving and restoring the processor state.
In the late 1990s, a GSM phone contained a simple RISC processor running at 26MHz, supporting a primitive user interface. After a steady increase in clock frequency to roughly 300 MHz in the early 2000s, there has been sudden spurt towards 1 GHz and beyond. Moreover, following trends in laptops and desktops, processor architectures have become much more advanced, and recent smart phones incorporate dual and even quad-core processors, running up to 2GHz frequencies. Battery capacity, mostly driven by the required form factor, as well as thermal limits imply a power budget of roughly 3W for a smartphone. From this budget, also the power amplifier (for cellular communication) and the displays have to be powered. The available power budget for everything digital is in the range of 2W (peak) to 1W (sustained). As a result, energy efficiency has become the main challenge in designing application processors, graphics processors, media processors (video, image, audio), and modems (cellular, WLAN, GPS, Bluetooth). For video and image processing, the trend has been towards dedicated, optimized hardware solutions. Some new areas where dedicated processors are particularly needed include gesture-based user interfaces, and computational imaging, to name a few. For all digital circuits, the limited power budget leads to more fine-grained clock gating, various forms of (adaptive) voltage-frequency scaling, a variety of body-bias schemes, and elaborate power management strategies.
Interestingly, cellular links, wireless LAN, as well as short links consistently show a 10× increase every five years, with no sign of abating. With essentially constant power and thermal budgets, energy efficiency has become a central theme in designing the digital circuits for the involved signal processing. Historically, CMOS feature sizes halve every five years. For a brief period in the 1990s, CMOS scaling (a.k.a. Dennard scaling) provided a 23 (α-3) increase in energy efficiency per five years, almost matching the required 10×. During the past decade; however, CMOS scaling offers a roughly 3× improvement in energy efficiency every five years. The resulting ever-widening gap has led to alternative approaches to improve energy efficiency, namely, new standards, smarter algorithms, more efficient digital signal processors, highly-optimized accelerators, smarter hardware-software partitioning, as well as the power management techniques mentioned above.
This and other related topics will be discussed at length at ISSCC 2013, the foremost global forum for new developments in the integrated-circuit industry. ISSCC, the International Solid-State Circuits Conference, will be held on February 17-21, 2013, at the San Francisco Marriott Marquis Hotel. | <urn:uuid:90db3e13-b413-4a12-b230-94589fddb081> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.electroiq.com/articles/sst/2013/02/isscc-2013--energy-efficient-digital-trends.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00072-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.929789 | 864 | 2.734375 | 3 |
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Over the past 15 years, a group of scholars has finally persuaded economists to believe something non-economists find obvious: “behavioural economics” shows that people do not act as economic theory predicts.
However, this is not a vindication of folk wisdom over the pointy-heads. The deviations from “rational behaviour” were not the wonderful cornucopia of humanist motivations you might imagine. There were patterns. We were risk-averse when it came to losses – likely to overestimate chances of loss and underestimate chances of gain, for example. We rely on heuristics to frame problems but cling to them even when they are contradicted by the facts. Some of these patterns are endearing; the supposedly “irrational” concerns for equality that persist in all but Republicans and the economically trained, for example. But most were simply the mapping of cognitive bias. We can take advantage of those biases, as those who sell us expensive and irrational warranties on consumer goods do. Or we can correct for them, like a pilot who is trained to rely on his instruments rather than his faulty perceptions when flying in heavy cloud.
Studying intellectual property and the internet has convinced me that we have another cognitive bias. Call it the openness aversion. We are likely to undervalue the importance, viability and productive power of open systems, open networks and non-proprietary production. Test yourself on the following questions. In each case, it is 1991 and I have removed from you all knowledge of the past 15 years.
You have to design a global computer network. One group of scientists describes a system that is fundamentally open – open protocols and systems so anyone could connect to it and offer information or products to the world. Another group – scholars, businessmen, bureaucrats – points out the problems. Anyone could connect to it. They could do anything. There would be porn, piracy, viruses and spam. Terrorists could put up videos glorifying themselves. Your activist neighbour could compete with The New York Times in documenting the Iraq war. Better to have a well-managed system, in which official approval is required to put up a site; where only a few actions are permitted; where most of us are merely recipients of information; where spam, viruses, piracy (and innovation and anonymous speech) are impossible. Which would you have picked?
Imagine a form of software that anyone could copy and change, created under a licence that required subsequent programmers to offer their software under the same terms. Imagine legions of programmers worldwide contributing their creations back into a “commons”. Is this anarchic-sounding method of production economically viable? Could it successfully compete with the hierarchically organised companies producing proprietary, closed code, controlled by both law and technology?
Set yourself the task of producing the greatest reference work the world has ever seen. It must cover everything from the best Thai food in Raleigh to the annual rice production of Thailand, the best places to see blue whales to the history of the Blue Dog Coalition. Would you create a massive organisation of paid experts with layers of editors producing tomes that are controlled by copyright and trademark? Or would you wait for hobbyists, scientists and volunteer encyclopedists to produce, and search engines to organise, a cornucopia of information? I know which way I would have bet in 1991. But I also know that the last time I consulted an encyclopedia was in 1998.
It is not that openness is always right. Rather, it is that we need a balance between open and closed, owned and free, and we are systematically likely to get the balance wrong. Partly this is because we still do not understand the kind of property that exists on networks. Most of our experience is with tangible property; fields that can be overgrazed if outsiders cannot be excluded. For that kind of property, control makes more sense. We still do not intuitively grasp the kind of property that cannot be exhausted by overuse (think of a piece of software) and that can become more valuable to us the more it is used by others (think of a communications standard). There the threats are different, but so are the opportunities for productive sharing. Our intuitions, policies and business models misidentify both. Like astronauts brought up in gravity, our reflexes are poorly suited for free fall.
The questions I asked are related to the world wide web – which celebrated its 15th birthday last year. Would we create it today? In 1991, you would have scoffed at the web, at open-source software and at getting your information from Google. Control and ownership seem intuitively the right way to go. How do you feel about today’s debates? Should we preserve “net neutrality” and openness or give network owners greater control? Should we create new rights for broadcasters and database owners? The next project of the behavioural economists should be to study our cognitive frameworks about property, control and networks. Like the pilot in the cloud looking at his instruments, we might learn that we are upside down.
The writer is professor of law at Duke Law School, a co-founder of the Center for the Study of the Public Domain and a board member of Creative Commons
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The photographs in the John D. Whiting Collection document two related subject areas: (1) places, events, and people in the Middle East, and (2) daily life among members and associates at the American Colony in Jerusalem. More than 3,200 images cover the years 1870 to 1951, with the bulk dating from 1900 to 1940. The heart of the collection is twenty-eight photograph albums that offer a visual narrative through many captioned images. There are also panoramic photos, stereographs, individual photo prints, transparencies, and negatives. John D. Whiting (1882-1951), other American Colony photographers (including Eric Matson and Lewis Larsson), and the Matson Photo Service took most of the images, some of which are hand-colored.
A major part of the collection portrays people, places, events, architecture, and historic sites in Palestine (present-day Israel, West Bank and the Gaza Strip); Lebanon; Jordan; Syria; and Turkey. Especially significant are two albums documenting Palestine during World War I and the early British Mandate period. The "Diaries in Photos" albums include photographs taken primarily by Whiting during his 1930s trips in the Middle East with tourists, British officials, family, friends, and others. Many other albums depict the lives and activities of American Colony members, such as the Whiting and Vester families. Images show their residences, trips, social gatherings, charitable works, and friends and associates.
The papers of John D. Whiting, businessman, photographer, author, tour guide, and intelligence officer, were given to the Library of Congress by Wendy Whiting Blome and John F. Whiting in 2005-2006.
John D. Whiting (1882-1951) was a notable member of the American Colony, a Christian community of Americans, Swedes, and others based in Jerusalem. Born in 1882, a year after his parents John C. and Mary Whiting immigrated to Jerusalem with other Colony members, Whiting lived most of his life in the city. In 1909, he married Grace Spafford (1881-1964) the daughter of Horatio and Anna Spafford, the Colony's founders. The Whitings raised three children; sons Spafford, David, and Edmund Wilson. A daughter, Grace, died in infancy in 1915.
John Whiting led a varied and multi-faceted professional life in Jerusalem. He worked with the American Colony Photo Department as a photographer and also helped run the business. With his brother-in-law, Frederick Vester, he was a partner and manager of the Vester & Co.-American Colony Store near the Jaffa Gate, where American Colony Photo Department prints, lantern slides, and postcard images were sold along with other merchandise. He was involved in starting a short-lived New York City branch of the American Colony Store, which failed due to economic recession. Whiting was fluent in Arabic. He collected antiquities such as pottery and figurines that were sold at the store, as well as Palestinian needlework and other artifacts. From 1908 to around 1915, Whiting was deputy American consul for Jerusalem, specializing in issues of commerce and agriculture. During World War I he supplied aid to wounded soldiers as a volunteer with the Turkish Red Crescent and the American Colony Nurses. In 1918 he began service as an intelligence officer for the British Army. Whiting had widespread knowledge of the landscapes and historic sites of the Middle East. He often guided visitors on tours of Palestine, Syria, Jordan, and Lebanon. He wrote numerous articles for National Geographic Magazine illustrated with photographs produced by the American Colony Photo Department and its successor studio, the Matson Photo Service. (See Selected Bibliography).
Twenty-two of the Whiting Collection albums were selected for digitization and are available in the Prints and Photographs Online Catalog (PPOC) (http://www.loc.gov/pictures/) along with descriptive information. These album images can be seen in two viewing arrangements:
Selected individual images from other albums and photographs in the collection are also available online. The digital scans were made by a contractor, DataTrac, in 2007 and 2008. We ask researchers to use the digital images to help preserve the original materials.
All P&P Whiting collection materials are listed below with links to online images or descriptive information in PPOC. The list is organized in two categories: "Views, Events, and People of the Middle East" and "American Colony Life, Members, and Associates," based on the predominant subject of the images.
Views, Events, and People of the Middle East
Diary in photos, vol. I, 1934-1935
Diary in photos, vol. II, 1936-1937
Diary in photos, vol. III, 1938
Diary in photos, vol. IV, 1938
Diary in photos, vol. V, 1939
Trip to Cappadocia, 1935, vol. I
Trip to Cappadocia, 1935, vol. II
World War I in Palestine and the Sinai
World War I and the British Mandate in Palestine
Meetings of British, Arab, and Bedouin officials in Amman, Jordan, April 1921
Hand-colored photographs of Jerusalem and Palestine
Photographs of Jerusalem and the Middle East
Bedouins in Jordan and other locations
Photographs of the West Bank, Jordan, and Syria
Photographs of architectural monuments in Jerusalem, Syria, and Egypt
Photographs of the Dead Sea and surrounding area
Photographs of Lebanon, Turkey, and Syria
Dead Sea album prepared for the Palestine Potash Ltd
Photographs of irises
Middle East views and American Colony members
Panoramic photographs of Jerusalem and Haifa
Photographs of Jerusalem gates and other structures (Robertson and Beato)
Call number: PR 13 CN 2006:051:48
American Colony Life, Members, and Associates
Members and activities of the American Colony (Jerusalem)
Studio portraits of members of the American Colony (Jerusalem), friends, and associates
Portraits of the Whiting and Spafford families and other members of the American Colony (Jerusalem)
Portraits of the Vester and Whiting families and other members of the American Colony (Jerusalem)
Portraits of members of the American Colony (Jerusalem), friends, and associates
Members of the American Colony (Jerusalem) and trips
Photographs of an American Colony (Jerusalem) bazaar
Photographs of members of the American Colony (Jerusalem) and Middle East locations
Photographs related to the American Colony (Jerusalem) and ancient inscriptions
Portraits taken in Jerusalem by the Krikorian studio
Stereographs of the American Colony and Jerusalem
Users may download images themselves or can order copies through the Library of Congress Duplication Services. Orders must include the reproduction number of the desired image. Example: LC-DIG-ppmsca-17414-00009.
No restrictions are known on publication or other forms of distribution of the images in the John D. Whiting Collection. Please cite the source of the image with the credit line: Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, [reproduction number, e.g., LC-DIG-ppmsca-17414-00009].
In the Prints & Photographs Division:
G. Eric and Edith Matson Photograph Collection:
Elsewhere in the Library of Congress
Manuscript Division: http://www.loc.gov/rr/mss/
John D. Whiting Papers: Includes diaries, correspondence, subject files, caption lists, photographs and albums including one of the 1915 locust plague in Palestine.
New acquisitions: John D. Whiting papers:
The American Colony in Jerusalem, 1870-2006:
American Colony of Jerusalem Papers:
Virtual exhibit: The American Colony in Jerusalem:
Whiting, John D. Samaritanernas pa°skfest i ord och bild: bibliska blodsoffer i va°ra dagar (Samaritans Passover in Words and Pictures: Biblical Blood Sacrifice in our Day). Stockholm: Bonnier, 1917. (Photographs by Lewis Larsson). LC Call Number: BM910 .W48 1917
National Geographic Magazine (NGM) articles written by John D. Whiting
"Among the Bethlehem Shepherds." NGM 50 (December 1926): 729-753
"Bedouin Life in Bible Lands: the Nomads of the 'House of Hair' Offer Unstinted Hospitality to an American." NGM 71 (January 1937): 58-83
"Bethlehem and the Christmas Story." NGM 56 (December 1929): 699-736
"Canoeing down the River Jordan." NGM 78 (December 1940): 781-808
"From Jerusalem to Aleppo." NGM 24 (January 1913): 71-113
"Jerusalem's Locust Plague." NGM 28 (December 1915): 511:550.
"Last Israelitish Blood Sacrifice." NGM 37 (January 1920):1-46.
"Petra, Ancient Caravan Stronghold." NGM 67 (February 1935): 129-165
"Village life in the Holy Land." NGM 25 (March 1914): 249-314
"Where Early Christians Lived in Cones of Rock: A Journey in Cappadocia in Turkey." NGM 76 (December 1939): 763-802.
>> Collection Guides & Finding Aids >> | <urn:uuid:588f2986-4802-4c4f-a68f-4243f6ae9766> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://loc.gov/rr/print/coll/629_whiting.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00023-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.917542 | 1,996 | 2.234375 | 2 |
Time is money, and the uncertain economy demands that you reduce overhead and improve efficiency. Here are some strategies to streamline routines and improve the flow of information by removing wasted time from your systems and routines.
Establish a regular time to work on routine tasks, such as reading and responding to correspondence. Decide immediately whether to handle, delegate, file or discard a task or request. Group similar items and complete them together. Most importantly, make sure your supplies and current files are within your reach. If you have to stand up or search for materials, you will tend to procrastinate.
Format reports consistently, so readers can locate important information fast. A single page or bulleted list usually is sufficient. Better yet, circulate only the changes to procedures or project information, and delete all routine reports from your system. If it doesn’t need to be known or require action, don’t make someone read it.
Keep standard documents, such as training materials and employee manuals, in binders that allow you to remove and replace single items. Print on both sides of pages, use graphics to convey complicated information or provide visual clues, and organize indexing to facilitate retrieval.
Upload reference documents to a company Intranet instead of attaching them to e-mails. Studies show comprehension decreases when text is read from a computer screen. Downloading breaks work rhythms, so keep messages short. Use codes or key words in e-mail subject lines to enable the message to be absorbed by scanning the inbox list without opening it. Etiquette-driven but unnecessary responses to messages can be eliminated by using e-mail receipts or automatic responses, such as “message acknowledged” in subject lines, and it is not necessary to use salutations, such as “Dear Sue” or “Hi” in e-mails.
Using a central electronic calendar also can expedite the transfer of routine information and prevent scheduling conflicts. Regular meetings are blocked into the calendar well in advance, and planners are motivated to schedule early to claim their preferred slots.
Model conversations are brief and focused. Leave voice messages that are no longer than 20 seconds and don’t require replies. Keep hallway conversations to a minute or less. Listen to customer complaints before breaking in to offer solutions, and you will avoid long debates. Require employees who approach you with problems or complaints to offer ideas and solutions at the same time. Building and maintaining relationships depends on the quality, not the quantity, of words.
Most meetings are time wasters, so reduce or eliminate them if possible. Instead, establish routine times on certain days when everyone is available to communicate by conference call, text message or in person. If you need to schedule a brainstorming session, distribute the agenda and background information in advance. Keep the discussion focused, and discourage side conversations, irrelevant comments and excessive repetition.
Encourage employees to structure work to align with individual body clock preferences. Morning people should tackle difficult projects early, while night owls need to defer them until later in the day. Allowing individuals to set flexible schedules, or even telecommute occasionally, has been shown to improve motivation and efficiency. Since you don’t monitor employee work every minute, the required level of trust is already established. You judge by results, not time invested.
Synchronize and organize
Make sure to back up and synchronize your phone, laptop computer and/or PDA automatically. Transferring information between electronic devices takes only seconds and saves you the frustration of searching for missing data, especially if you use a consistent filing system that can jog your memory when you need to find information fast.
It seems paradoxical, but waiting a few minutes before responding to a crisis can help you make better decisions. An internal or external customer may imply the existence of an emergency to pressure you into a hasty decision that may be detrimental to the company. Unless your building is on fire or someone is threatening your employees, you will save time and money by taking a few minutes to relax, consult key people and gather data before committing to action.
Most important, make your priorities and strategies transparent, so everyone in the company can organize work and align their efforts with overall company goals. Often, inefficiency results when employees are not given clear expectations or purposes for their work.
NORBERG-JOHNSON is a former subcontractor and past president of two national construction associations. She may be reached at firstname.lastname@example.org. | <urn:uuid:5cfa18c2-dbd0-4fcc-afd5-befdec7473a1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ecmag.com/section/miscellaneous/time-savers-tough-times | 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 | 0.919762 | 914 | 1.929688 | 2 |
PARKERSBURG - Wood County Solid Waste Authority director/compliance officer John Reed showed off the authority's new website and filed a report on compliance concerns.
During a meeting Monday with county commissioners, Reed showed off the authority's first website, which is accessible at www.woodcountyrecycles.com.
"The website is also now accessible through a link that was just added to the county webpage. The website was designed to be informational and educational. If you enter your ZIP code, it will provide you with recycling locations for all types of items from batteries and anitfreeze to oil and tires. The SWA website will constantly be updated and the Citizens in Action students group will have a video online showing people how to prepare old paint for disposal," Reed said.
Photo by Pamela Brust
John Reed, director of the Wood County Solid Waste Authority and the county compliance officer, showed off the authority’s new website for county commissioners Monday.
The website also contains landfill facts.
"We were being inundated with phones calls on a daily basis about where to go to recycle items, so this will help everybody find out where to go and there is an email link if you need additional information," Reed said.
The theme for the new website and advertising campaign, which may launch in January, is "Recycling is in your Hands."
The Wood County SWA's new website is online at www.woodcountyrecycles.com or click on the link on Wood County's website at woodcountywv.com.
Stonewall Marketing developed, implemented and will maintain the website and developed the ad campaign that will be used as the theme at a cost of $13,000. Funding for the SWA's budget comes from landfill tipping fees paid by haulers. The funds, which are distributed to the authorities, are to be used for education and recycling activities and programs.
In other business Monday, Reed filed a compliance report for January through November, which included 18 open dumps, 19 junked vehicles, 24 illegal salvage yards, 11 tire dumps, 28 households with no trash service, 54 reports of dilapidated houses. Under floodplain compliance, there were 63 permits issued and 21 required field inspections were completed.
Reed said some of the dumps have been cleared.
"Sometimes we were able, by going through the trash, to find some identification. When we did, we contacted the offender and they cleaned it up," Reed said.
West Virginia law allows two unlicensed vehicles on property, but three or more is a violation of the county salvage yard ordinance.
"We have done really well with clearing out the tires. My first year here we took out 40,000 tires that were collected. This year it's under 10,000," Reed said.
Building in the floodplain requires property owners meet elevation and other special requirements. Reed said most of the floodplain building permits issued were for additions. Out of the permits, only a few were new structures that required follow-up visits to assure compliance," Reed noted.
"There are four dilapidated housing complaint cases in the Murphytown we are still working with the property owners on getting them cleaned up," Reed said.
"Usually it's difficult to get the properties cleaned in the winter, so it might be helpful to take the ongoing cases and contact them about planning for the spring, with followups in May. Using the carrot-stick approach, hopefully we can get this done," said commission President Blair Couch.
The countywide free cleanup drop-off is scheduled for the end of April.
"If we can coordinate the cleanups with that, they can collect everything and be able to dispose of it free of charge in April," Couch said. | <urn:uuid:06e1c307-844a-4ab5-b7d5-53c95cee0d61> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.newsandsentinel.com/page/content.detail/id/567934/SWA-website-has-recycling-information.html?nav=5066 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00041-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969758 | 769 | 1.851563 | 2 |
Chabot Condemns Supreme Court Decision Protecting Child Rapists
Introduces Constitutional Amendment to Protect Children
Congressman Steve Chabot (R-Cincinnati), a senior Member of the House Judiciary Committee, introduced a constitutional amendment today reaffirming the right of states' to use the death penalty for crimes against children. Chabot introduced H. J. Res. 96 in response to the U.S. Supreme Court's decision yesterday, which held that the Eighth Amendment bars the death penalty for crimes, including the rape of children, when the crime does not result in death.
"The Supreme Court's decision is a travesty," said Chabot, who served six years as Chairman of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution. "Children look to their parents, family, and to the criminal justice system for protection. What message does it send to our kids that we will put the interests of pedophiles and abusers ahead of the interests of our children? It's inexcusable."
On Wednesday, the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 in the Louisiana case of Patrick Kennedy that Kennedy's death sentence amounted to "cruel and unusual punishment" and violated his rights under the Eighth Amendment. Kennedy had been convicted in 2003 of raping his 8-year-old stepdaughter. Chabot, who also serves as Co-chair of the Congressional Caucus for Missing and Exploited Children, said his constitutional amendment will "ensure that those who seek to harm children in unspeakable ways can receive the ultimate punishment." | <urn:uuid:20989099-c868-4deb-9875-93759b0572ab> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://votesmart.org/public-statement/355447/chabot-condemns-supreme-court-decision-protecting-child-rapists | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961334 | 310 | 1.9375 | 2 |
FISHBONE MODEL MAKING KIT for adults and children where a creative imagination is the key to having fun!
The kit includes over 50 pieces of fish head bones, paint and a paintbrush. You can glue the fish bones together in any way you imagine and create anything from cute animals and angels to spaceships, monsters or goblins.
Today we throw away tonnes of bones and other by-products of fish and meat. Something Fishy uses leftovers from the fishing industry in Iceland. The bones are from wild fish caught in the North Atlantic, mainly cod, haddock and wolffish.
The fish bones are cleaned in an eco-friendly way, using enzyme technology which leaves the bones totally free of living organism.
The aim of the product is to inspire parents and children to spend time together and to stimulate the imagination and foster creativity, at the same time as to bring people in contact with natural materials.
Something Fishy is sold and exhibited in SPARK Design Space [Klapparst. 33, 101 Rvk.] and online: www.sparkdesignspace.com
Please share pictures of your own Fishy creations on www.facebook.com/SomethingFishyModelMaking | <urn:uuid:10aa9430-aecd-48c8-81ea-7172157aa23a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://hugdetta.com/index.php?/projects/skepnuskoepunsomething-fishy/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00076-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.917217 | 251 | 2.234375 | 2 |
Shandi Finnessey, Miss America entry in the 2004 Miss Universe, contest chose an American Indian image as her theme for the “native costume” competition. No, she’s not Indian, and no, her northern plains war bonnet costume was not authentic. But this beautiful blonde, blue-eyed white girl from Florissant, Missouri new what visual image distinguishes her country from all others: the northern plains American Indian war bonnet.
And immediately Indians protest! That is, the professional, liberal Indians. That is, one or two.
Jim Adams, wrote an editorial for Indian Country Today, the largest Indian paper in America. Adams quickly quotes Tex Hall, President of the National Congress of American Indians, and current chairman of the Affiliated Tribes, Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara, of North Dakota, recalling the blatantly inauthentic costumes the black hip-hop group Outkast wore during their Grammy performance, and how “many” Indians protested all that.
Adams points out that Outkast responded with insincerity and even professional perfidy, not following through on a promised performance for Indian youth as a peace offering. All Adams can say regarding Finnessy’s costume is that she didn’t win with it, as if that validates the liberal Indian aftermath protest. Finessey came in second, second to Australia’s Jennifer Hawkins, whose “national costume” dress, unless made of tanned and dyed wallaby skin, resembled absolutely nothing associated with Australia.
Adams’ report is an opinionated inflation based on a conversation with Tex Hall. On this basis, Adams can say, “Some are calling it worse than the Grammys,” and “Native viewers are taking offense.” Adams plus Tex, that’s two, and two requires the plural. Why, it sounds like every Indian in America is upset with Shandi. Standard slop for Indian Country Today reporting.
Hall promises to “demand an apology” from both broadcaster NBC and the Miss Universe Organization—owned by Donald Trump, a major casino mogul as well.
Hall and liberal northern plains Indians have long been protesting the use of the Indian imagery their tribes dominate. They have been particularly miffed at the “Fighting Sioux” image of the University of North Dakota. Of course, much of that is simply tribal envy, and in the case of the war bonnet, Hall may again be out of place. The tribes over which he is chairman are not known for wearing the war bonnet. The Hidatsa, a branch of the Crow, do in fact speak a Siouan language, but the earliest descriptions and depictions of them are without the war bonnet. Such a distinct piece of attire is also absent among the Arikara and the Mandan. All three of these tribes are historical enemies of the Sioux.
I’m afraid the war bonnet is associated principally with the fighting Sioux, and also the Blackfeet, the Cheyenne, and later other plains tribes, even southern tribes, like the Comanche. But the Sioux are really the image makers of the American Indian. They are the Ralph Lauren of Indian clothing. When Tex Hall puts on a war bonnet, in a very real way, he is simply putting on a “costume” himself.
Hall nonetheless rebukes Shandi’s grandmother, who is from North Dakota, for not being sensitive to Indian culture and tradition. “The war bonnet is never worn by a woman.” he says. Well, Hall should have been around in 1940, when Miss Oklahoma wore the high plains bonnet herself. Martyne Woods was of Choctaw descent—an eastern woodland tribe.
So why don’t liberals like Adams and Hall protest the use of Indian girl models for soft porn? Are they unaware of Keith DeHaas, of Norman, Oklahoma? DeHaas is a successful Indian entrepreneur, originally from North Dakota, in fact—Standing Rock Lakota Sioux. He created the famous Rez Dog Clothing company, operating out of Norman.
DeHaas has created yearly calendars, with hot shots of Indian girls modeling bikinis. This is as far from Indian tradition as possible. This is completely outrageous, and brings no honor to Indian people, no respect for tradition, nor does it encourage Indian young people to follow the traditions. This is the ultimate assimilation—adopting the modes of sexual attraction of the foreign, conquering race.
I don’t hear any Indian protest against DeHaas, except my own. Where are the great liberal Indians, the sanctimonious guardians of Indian tradition? Where is the outrage, the demand for an apology, the legal suit?
The hypocrisy of these whining, racist Indians is more obvious and egregious than anything Jesse Jackson could conjure up.
At least Shandi’s heart was in the right place. | <urn:uuid:a43c5b8f-8197-4598-83a1-df4e4f246380> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://archive.frontpagemag.com/readArticle.aspx?ARTID=12576 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.938686 | 1,024 | 1.601563 | 2 |
This “contagion effect” has a stronger effect on turnout than education, income, or age.
Nowhere will you find a human relationship associated with more similarities in voting behavior than you will find between a husband and wife. But what causes husbands and wives to embrace similar ideologies, issue positions, and turnout rates? Maybe it’s just that we seek out politically similar dating partners. Maybe it’s that husbands and wives share the same political experiences over time.
Or maybe–just maybe–voting is “contagious.”1
The trouble is, it is difficult to prove empirically whether voting is contagious. To do so requires somehow controlling for selection effects and other outside factors. In the article reviewed here, Nickerson reports on an innovative experiment that does just that. Ahead of the September 10th, 2002, Congressional primaries in Denver and Minneapolis, Nickerson sent canvassers door to door to households that had (exactly) two registered voters. At each household, the canvasser gave a brief message to whomever answered the door. Based on random assignment, each household received either a “get out the vote” (GOTV) appeal or a placebo message about the importance of recycling.2
There are actually two experiments going on here. The first tests the direct effect of delivering a GOTV appeal to whomever answered the door. Consistent with previous experiments, Nickerson finds that this group voted at a rate 9.8 percentage points higher than the placebo group.
The second experiment is far more interesting. For it, Nickerson looks at turnout rates among those who did not answer the door. Those who did not answer the door at houses receiving the GOTV message voted at a rate 6.0 percentage points higher than those who did not answer the door in the placebo group. This is the contagion effect.
In other words, 61.2% of the treatment effect was passed on from the mobilized voters to their housemates.3 This is huge. Nickerson points out that this “contagion effect” has a stronger effect on turnout than education, income, or age.
Of course, every study has its shortcomings. Experiments like this are the gold standard for making a causal claim. However, experiments also suffer from external validity problems–that is, this study’s conclusions may not apply in every circumstance. Nickerson points out several potential concerns. Among them:
- This study looks only at two-voter households. But what about college roommates, multi-generational households, and other living arrangements?
- Nickerson conducted this study during a primary. But what about during higher-salience elections?
- Turnout might be contagious, but what about other behaviors, like volunteering, donating, or even vote choice?
Nickerson’s paper uses the best of methods to make a fascinating contribution to the literature. Still, I would ask just a couple more questions.
First, Nickerson does not randomly select which member of each household receives the message; instead, the message goes to whomever answers the door. It seems plausible that the person more likely to answer the door might differ from the person who does not. Might the effect have been (slightly) different if the message were delivered to the second person instead of the first?
Second, what causes this contagion? Nickerson mentions two possible reasons, the lowered costs of voting (sharing a ride to the polls) and the social pressure to conform (see Gerber, Green, and Larimer 2008). My hunch is that it’s the latter; it’s easy to ignore your civic duty to vote when your spouse also ignores it, but if your spouse bothers to vote, the situation changes. It might be nice to see further research looking specifically at how social pressures and civic duty operate within the family. | <urn:uuid:34ba82a6-3cc7-4bb4-9e52-c3aba1813459> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://abstractpolitics.com/2008/05/is-voting-contagious-evidence-from-two-field-experiments/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955925 | 798 | 2.109375 | 2 |