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As 2010 nears its end, many Americans are beginning to think about year-end tax planning. This carried with it a great deal of uncertainty throughout November 2010, as Bush-era tax cuts were a hot issue in Congress. As of December 7, 2010, however, President Barack Obama announced a deal that would extend all Bush-era tax cuts. This deal assured that Americans, including wealthy Americans, would not see any unexpected rise in taxes in the year-end filing process. It also, however, announced pending changes in other areas of tax law, including estate tax and Social Security.
Extension of Tax Cuts
Bush-era tax cuts represent a decrease of approximately 3 percent for each individual filing. This tax break was enforced unilaterally, despite income. Initially, Democrats wanted to remove this break for individuals earning more than $200,000 ($250,000 for joint filers) as of January 1. However, with the breaks extended, all Americans will still receive the break benefit.
In addition to extending the cuts, the new tax program will extend unemployment benefits through 2011 for individuals currently facing an end to this government insurance program. The need for long-term unemployment insurance, according to President Obama, is the main reason Democrats were willing to compromise on other tax break issues. For example, the legislation will not extend the "Making Work Pay" benefit that was introduced in the stimulus bill. This means you cannot count on a $400 refund if your income is under $75,000. Instead, the legislation does include a 2 percent payroll tax holiday. This means individual tax payers will see about a 30 percent reduction in the total figure they must contribute to payroll tax on each paycheck.
Individual Tax Credits
You will be able to declare tax breaks and credits for energy efficiency improvements to your home or vehicle throughout 2010. These credits include improvements to make your home more energy efficient, credits for purchasing hybrid vehicles between 2006 and December 2010, credits for purchasing plug-in vehicles or hybrid vehicle conversion options. The amount of the credit varies based on your cost basis. The marriage tax refund will still be available. This means that if you are married filing jointly and this results in a higher tax bracket for one member of the couple--what is called the "marriage penalty"--you may be eligible for a refund. Further, the extension of cuts exempts estates valued at $5 million for singles and $10 million for couples from the standard 35 percent estate tax.
As you approach your year-end tax planning, it is critical to take a long look at how the legislation will affect individuals, retirement funds, estates and small businesses. Since tax cuts have been extended, you may find you are eligible for critical savings you were not expecting. However, the date when your qualifying events occurred will be critical in determining if you are eligible. For example, the date you purchased a hybrid, the date you were married, the date you hired a new employee, and other such factors will affect whether you can file for credits and tax cuts. For this reason, it is important to keep sales documents and certificates to be entered into your tax filing.
Year-End Tax Planning for Individuals
Year end tax planning can become complicated based on the number and types of income you have over the course of the year. Individuals earning no more than $200,000 (no more than $250,000 for married filing jointly) will see your Bush-era tax cuts extended through 2011. This means you are still eligible for a 3 percent reduction in your income tax, and you may also find key credits thanks to stimulus bill incentives. Applying these incentives at the right time can lead to a much lower tax liability in the future.
Energy Efficiency Tax Credit
You may be eligible for an energy tax credit up to 30 percent or $1,500, whichever is lower, for improvements to your home designed to increase its energy efficiency. The changes must fall into the energy efficient tax credit legislation introduced in the stimulus bill, but if so you will still be eligible for the credit in the coming tax season. You may also receive credits for purchasing a hybrid vehicle prior to December 30, for purchasing a plug-in vehicle or converting your current car to an electric vehicle. The credit you receive is based on your personal cost.
Retirement Plan Deductions
If you contribute to a tax deductible retirement plan, such as a 401k or IRA, you will still receive the same deductions in the coming year. Married individuals filing jointly can deduct up to $10,000 in contributions to an IRA if they are younger than 50 and up to $12,000 if they are between 50 and 60. The maximum deductible contribution to a 401k is $16,500 for 2010. If you earn more than $200,000 as a couple, your modified adjusted gross income will be phased out for catch-up contributions.
College Saving Plan Deductions
If you contribute to a 529 college savings plan for your children or a Coverdell account, you can deduct a portion of contributions. For a 529 plan, the maximum amount you can put into the account is between $100,000 and $350,000 depending on your state of residence. This drops to a much lower $2,000 if you elect to use the more flexible Coverdell account.
Estate Tax Reductions
Estate tax will be eliminated for individual estates valued under $5 million and joint estates valued under $10 million. This means the standard 35 percent estate tax will not apply to an inheritance smaller than this amount. This legislation has not yet gone into effect, so it will not change your inheritance if you received an estate in 2010. However, it will certainly affect the way you choose to save for your beneficiaries.
Payroll Tax Holiday
There is no payroll tax holiday for 2010. However, starting in 2011, there will be a 2 percent temporary payroll tax holiday. This may reduce the amount you contribute to taxes on each of your paychecks without compromising your Social Security benefits in the future. This holiday will go into effect unilaterally, so it will not depend on your income level. Regardless, if you earn no more than $200,000, or $250,000 married filing jointly, you should be well-under the limit for "wealthy" Americans whose tax breaks may be threatened if Bush-era cuts do end in the future.
Year End Tax Planning for Retirement Funds
Year end tax planning is a time to get your retirement accounts in line in order to maximize your deductions. Regardless of your income, retirement planning is essential and can result in a much higher income both this year and in the future. Consider these final tips to ensure you are not penalized for your savings behavior and to further assure you are getting the most benefit possible from your account.
Avoid Excess Contributions
It is essential to know your contribution limits annually. Your limits will vary depending on your income, the type of account you are using and the options your employer offers, if any. For the year 2010, maximum contributions to a traditional 401k or IRA were topped at $16,500, and maximum contributions to a Roth IRA were topped at $5,000. These limits go up if you are married filing jointly or over the age of 50. You may also be permitted a certain amount of catch-up contributions from a previous year. However, you cannot exceed these figures without penalty. If you have deposited too much money into your tax deductible or tax deferred account, you should receive a notice from your plan administrator. You have until December 30 to take the money out of the account. Do not rely wholly on your administrator; keep track personally and know your limits.
Assure Funds Are Fully Vested
If you want to get a deduction for funds placed into a deductible account this year, you actually have until April 15 of 2011 to place the funds into the account. This gives you several months of wiggle room after your 2010 income has been earned and vested into your account. You may find you have a little extra income to place into your fund, or you may find your tax liability can be reduced by depositing more. In either case, make sure the funds are fully vested by April to gain the benefits.
Rollovers to a different type of account can be very beneficial if they are done under the right conditions. For example, you can roll over funds from a traditional account to a Roth account to gain tax benefits in the future. Any rollover must be completed by the Roth IRA deadline of April 15, 2011 to count for the 2010 tax year. You may have increased tax liability when rolling over from a deductible account to a nondeductible account, but this liability applies only in the current year and can save you money in the future.
Meet Required Distribution Deadlines
Once you reach the maximum retirement age of 72-1/2, you must begin taking withdrawals from your retirement account. These withdrawals are called required minimum distributions. You must take the money out of your accounts by December 30, 2010 in order to meet the IRS's deadlines. If you fail to withdraw the money, it will be withdrawn for you at an additional penalty of 6 percent. Avoid this scenario by making a final review of your accounts to leave no account untouched. In some scenarios, if you have two accounts of the same form, you can take the money out of one and have it apply to both. Otherwise, you will need to take money out of each retirement account.
Year-End Tax Planning for Small Businesses
Year-end tax planning for small businesses provides them with opportunities to maximize profit and minimize tax liability in the future. This is particularly critical if your business opened its doors this year, meaning this is the inaugural tax filing and will set the standard for the future. You will have important decisions to make regarding which expenses to capitalize and which to deduct. You will also have to determine how to distribute earnings to shareholders, where applicable, to avoid double taxation in the future.
As a business owner, you can deduct or capitalize each of your capital assets. In some cases, you will not have a choice in which strategy you pursue; however, in many cases, the choice will be yours. Capitalizing assets is the process of declaring them as a part of the business's capital expenses. They are not deducted in the given year. Instead, the amount of depreciation in the future is deducted each year. For example, if you purchase a large piece of machinery for $50,000 and anticipate it will last you 10 years, it depreciates at a rate of $5,000 per year. You could choose to deduct the $50,000 expense this year, but by capitalizing the asset instead, you can spread out the deductions and potentially recognize a greater deduction overall.
If you do choose to deduct an asset, it counts as a dollar-for-dollar deduction against your business's income this year. You can deduct a number of one-time expenses, such as advertising costs, shipping costs and insurance costs. These expenses affect your profitability in this year, and they will not continue to serve you in future years. As a result, deduction is a better method than capitalization. In fact, you are not legally allowed to capitalize an expense that does not fit the narrow definition of a depreciating capital asset.
Special Deduction Consideration in the First Year
New business owners have a unique choice to make in their first year of operation. During this year, all rules about which expenses can be capitalized or deducted go out the window. Every single expense can be deducted. This includes the expense you went to in determining whether to go into business, the loan application process, meetings, and the purchases of start-up equipment for your office. In the future, the types of expenses you can deduct rather than capitalize will be determined for you. In the first year, though, you will set a pace for your tax filings in the future by making the decision on your own.
Distributing Earnings to Shareholders
If you have shareholders, you will have a whole new set of considerations to make in your year-end tax planning. For example, you can choose to accelerate your distribution of accumulated earnings and profits to 2010. Rather than allowing shareholders to consent to dividends, consider paying out cash distributions this year and allowing shareholders to loan the money back to you. This can allow you to avoid double taxation. You may also consider distributing real estate from a C or S corporation to accelerate capital gains. This is also a good time to consider converting to an LLC in a statutory conversion. Taking advantage of liquidation laws would allow you to avoid double taxation in the future. | <urn:uuid:cd99e95a-b87a-4478-8624-2bf2672335ff> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.finweb.com/taxes/year-end-tax-planning-for-2010.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00075-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963435 | 2,578 | 1.929688 | 2 |
Do you know what cancer is the deadliest? Lung cancer kills more people than any other cancer and by a landslide. According to the American Cancer Society and National Cancer Institute, 1.37 million cancer deaths are attributed to lung cancer every year, responsible for 26 percent of women’s cancer deaths and 29 percent of men’s cancer deaths. The next most deadly cancer may be surprising to many, however. Cancers of the stomach causes 736,000 deaths each year. The World Health Organization estimates there will be a total of 13.1 million cancer deaths a year by 2030. | <urn:uuid:eb23cf66-bb90-4386-b0f0-db9ccb5d80cf> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.hillcrest.com/category/tags/cancer | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00047-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946681 | 119 | 2.8125 | 3 |
In this round up we explore the world of HDMI, DVI, and other video signals and how they can be routed, switched, and managed in a wide variety of devices. One of they key elements of the digitally based systems is the ability to transcode or reformat one type of signal, say RGBHV into another like DVI internally within the matrix/router. This capability allows a true anything in/anything out structure and more importantly can have a significant impact on the design and cost of the cable infrastructure required to both feed signals into the matrix and distribute the resulting outputs.
The digitally based systems also open the door to the use of fiber optic cabling, increasing both the density of the possible I/O and the distances over which signals can be transmitted cleanly. In many cases both fiber and conventional copper cabling can be intermixed. Additionally the digitally based systems also allow the introduction of Cat 5/6 and high speed Ethernet as an option for signal transmission both in and out of the matrix. This blurring of the line between A/V and IT is expanding quickly as the technologies needed to accomplish the high-bandwidth transmission of HD video get ever lower in cost and more robust in performance.
The five key points to consider when planning the use of a digitally based matrix switcher/router are:
Do you need a system that allows future expansion or changes in signal format and content or can you define your requirements accurately enough to purchase a system with a fixed I/O structure?
Digitally based systems generally allow a much easier growth curve; that is, the addition of more inputs and outputs than hardwired analog systems. So be sure to consider this when planning the amount of rack space and such things as cooling requirements, additional cable routing and conduit and similar factors.
The high packing density of connectors found on digital systems can be an issue when using certain type of “consumer style” cables with oversized plugs or jacks that will not fit correctly. Make sure that the cables you plan to use will allow proper connection and termination.
If you are planning to use an HDMI based system, be sure to consider the use of the locking type HDMI connectors. HDMI connectors are notorious for their ability to magically unplug themselves at the worst possible time in the most inaccessible place. The newer generation of cables offers | <urn:uuid:1da043ba-c6f2-4265-b8c8-9b7d37c00d54> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.healthcaretechdecisions.com/article/techdecisions_guide_to_36_digitally_based_matrix_switchers | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00048-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.931308 | 476 | 2.21875 | 2 |
Click here for the 2012-2013 Full Calendar
Board Meeting Video - May 7th, 2013
Check out the Winter Newsletter!
Click here to view upcoming Board Meetings
ROSELLE PARK SURVEY – RESULTS
The following surveys were distributed by the Roselle Park Board of Education to parents and guardians during each of the Back-to-School evenings in September/October 2011.
Questions specific to elementary, middle, and high school issues were created by Board members, administrators, teachers, and parents for the purpose of giving the community an opportunity to provide anonymous feedback, particularly for those not always comfortable expressing their concerns or comments aloud. All respondents were given space to offer their comments which have been compiled below. Thanks to all those who participated.
Click HERE to access the survey results
Roselle Park School District
Core Values for Ethical Education
Moral character is not developed automatically. Efforts should be made to assist young people to develop the values necessary to make good moral decisions and conduct themselves in an appropriate manner.
In the Roselle Park School District we have made a commitment to:
Dogs are not allowed on school property during regular school hours. | <urn:uuid:84e19cb1-0dd9-4d86-a893-171867a94986> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.rpsd.org/?PN=Pages&SubP=Level1Page&L=2&DivisionID=3922&DepartmentID=3690&PageID=7716&ToggleSideNav= | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00052-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955269 | 243 | 1.5625 | 2 |
A Quote by Confucius on anger, caring, chance, consequences, diligence, doubt, information, kindness, sincerity, words, and work
The gentleman has nine cares. In seeing he is careful to see clearly; in hearing he is careful to hear distinctly; in his looks he is careful to be kind, in his manner to be respectful, in his words to be sincere, in his work to be diligent. When in doubt he is careful to ask for information; when angry he has a care for the consequences; and when he sees a chance for gain, he thinks carefully whether the pursuits of it would be right.
Contributed by: Zaady | <urn:uuid:9a919ad4-52e2-42a3-87fc-274a853cc2f4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.gaiam.com/quotes/authors/confucius/7488 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.982698 | 134 | 2.3125 | 2 |
When we talk about upright positions in labour, we refer to positions in which the woman is not supine or semi-recumbent. Generally this entails the woman’s being in a standing, kneeling, squatting or sitting position.
It is quite likely that women everywhere used to adopt predominantly upright positions during labour and birthing, just as they still do in many parts of the world today. It was not until the advent of modern obstetrics that women in the “developed” world were generally urged to adopt recumbent, or semi-recumbent, positions in childbirth.
Far from being a more “primitive” or outmoded way of birthing, though, upright positioning in fact offers many advantages over recumbent positioning, not least being the higher level of overall satisfaction women have of their birth experience. It is important to realize that the transition to the obstetric bed was for the most part based not on clinical necessities, but rather on social considerations. There is in fact no reason to deny women the opportunity to labour upright.
For the vast majority of birthing women, even in some complicated situations (such as shoulder difficulties and breech presentations), their natural inclination towards upright positioning remains a superior choice, one that is at last being supported by scientific research. For example, it has been demonstrated that upright positions are associated with reductions in the incidence of meconium-stained liquor, operative deliveries, episiotomies, 3rd- and 4th-degree tears and unfavourable neonatal outcomes. | <urn:uuid:2199b707-c5db-401b-a8d6-4d9aea079690> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.birthrite.com.au/eng/education/holistic_midwifery/upright/index.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00023-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96556 | 317 | 2.828125 | 3 |
I grew up in Chemical Valley.
Well, that isn’t the official name of my hometown, but it might as well be.
Charleston, West Virginia, the medium-sized capitol of the state, is situated along the Kanawha River valley, where it is bracketed on both the east and west sides with chemical plants.
DuPont, Union Carbide and Monsanto all have plants within spitting distance of the Kanawha River, while Union Carbide’s Technical Center–the site where experimental “pilot plants” are tested–is sited just above the city in the hills above South Charleston. Downriver, Dow, FMC, the German company, Bayer, and Fike Chemical all have plants, many of the clustered around the town of Nitro, which was named for the munitions plants situated there during World Wars I and II.
My grandfather and Dad both worked for Union Carbide for their entire adult lives; currently, an uncle and an aunt work in chemical plants, and my ex-father-in-law is a chemist at DuPont.
I grew up with air that smelled of chlorine, a river tainted with carbon tetrachloride, and the knowledge that if we heard something like an air-raid siren in the night, something bad had happened at one of the plants, and it might mean a relative’s death. My grandfather had a cancer on his neck as a result of accidental exposure to something toxic, and nearly everyone I know who lives there is plagued with chronic colds, sinus infections, asthma or other respiratory diseases, all attributed to the low air quality due to the presence of so many chemical plants.
One of the plants was, at the time I was living in Charleston, the only other site in the world where a pesticide containing methyl isocyanate–the gas that killed thousands in Bhopal, India– was made. When my Dad, who worked at Union Carbide, told me that the same process was used in the South Charleston plant, I was confronted with the knowledge that what had happened in India could happen to us.
Even though I was half a world away, I grew up in the shadow of the deaths at Bhopal, and I know what it is like to be afraid of chemicals.
Fear and mistrust of the chemical industry is nothing new in the United States. Bhopal happened twenty years ago, but is still fresh in the minds of many people. Closer to home for many Americans is the memory of the residents of Love Canal in Niagra Falls, New York, who had high rates of cancer and birth defects due to their houses being built over a former toxic waste dump for Hooker Chemicals and Plastics Corporation. Meryl Streep’s powerful performance in the film Silkwood, helps Americans recall the fate of Karen Silkwood, a chemical technition at the Kerr-Mcgee plutonium fuels production plant; she was unknowingly exposed to dangerously high amounts of radiocative plutonium at the plant. She died in a car wreck on the way to blow the whistle on the lax safety of her workplace; some speculate that she was run off the road to shut her up.
Facts aside, popular fiction often uses the chemical industry as bad guys, further bolstering American mistrust of chemicals.
The origin story of the Green Goblin, a perennial foe of comic hero, Spider-Man, is a tale of hubris, chemicals and greed. A corrupt industrialist, Norman Osborn created an intelligence-enhancing serum, which turned green and blew up in his face, making him into a maniacal murderer who took to inventing pumpkin bombs and flying razors which helped him in his quest to kill Spider-Man.
An even older neo-Luddite screed against human meddling with chemicals comes from the H. G. Wells tale, “The Food of the Gods,” a story which became fodder for a string of B-movies about giant rodents and insects wreaking havoc and eating people just because a scientist decided to create the “perfect food” to help mankind. They test it out on various creatures, which then grow into giant monstrousities, and
So, from all sides, Americans are bombarded with the message that “chemicals are bad, and are not to be trusted.”
The problem with that message is that it is not exactly true.
It’s not true because everything in the world is made up of chemicals.
Our bodies are made up of chemical compounds. Our metabolism works by way of complex chemical reactions in our lungs, guts, bloodstream and brain.
The air we breathe, the water we drink–these are chemicals.
Our food, whether we are talking about an apple straight from the tree, or an apple-flavored candy that never saw a tree in its life–our food is all made up of chemicals.
All of matter is made up of atoms and molecules, elements and compounds, solutions and substrates. The Universe is one big chemistry lab, in a metaphorical sense.
Another point I would like to reiterate is this: there is no structural, elemental or chemical difference between molecules that occur in nature and those created in a lab.
H2O is always water. If it comes out of a river it is water, if it comes out of your tap it is water, if it is synthesized in a lab from oxygen and hydrogen–it still is water. And when you drink it, the water from all of these sources will be metabolized in your body in the exact same way.
There is no functional difference between, say, carbon dioxide that is respired from our lungs, and carbon dioxide that is created in the lab. Either one could be used to carbonate a soda made from organic fruit juice, water and expressed cane juice or to replace the oxygen in a bag of organically grown salad greens, and there would be no functional difference between those products.
CO2 is CO2.
End of story.
Now, I am not saying that there are no chemical compounds in the world we should worry about. Agent Orange still sucks, the deaths at Bhopal still happened and I still don’t want artificially hydrogenated vegetable oils in my food. I am just saying that unquestioning and automatic fear of chemicals is unwarranted.
Chemicals are natural–that is just the way it is.
Knee-jerk, emotional fear of chemicals is not rational, and that irrational fear is being manipulated by some folks in the Organic Consumers Association in order to pursue their own agenda.
In reviewing and researching the list of synthetic chemical food additives allowed by the NOSB for USDA Certified Organic foods, I have found only one or two compounds that I think are the least bit questionable. Many of these compounds are naturally occuring molecules, and their non-synthetic counterparts are also on the list of allowable additives for organic processed foods, which I assume would not send the OCA into a tizzy of worry and fear-mongering.
Most of these chemicals are not that bad.
And in fact, some of them, particularly the vitamins and minerals, are actually benefical, and no rational individual could possibly object to them.
That is, if they knew what they were objecting to.
Annotated List of Allowable Food Additives:
Ozone consists of three oxygen bound loosely together; it is an unstable molecular formation. A colorless gas at standard room temperature and pressure, is both a powerful oxidant and a corrosive, poisonous pollutant. It can be found in low concentrations naturally in the atmosphere, and it can also be formed from the more prevalant (and breathable) O2 by electrical discharges. (Ozone is that funny smell that is in the air during a big thunderstorm with lots of lightning.) It is also what forms the ozone layer in our upper atmosphere, which shields the earth from harmful ultraviolet radiation from the sun.
In industrial application, ozone is used to sterilize water, food production surfaces, to wash fruits and vegetables and to remove yeast and mold particles from the air. Ozonated water (water into which O3 gas has been dissolved) is used to wash fresh produce. This treatment reduces the bacterial and fungal population on the fruits and vegetables by 90% without leaving behind a residue as chlorine treated water does.
Pectin (low-methoxy) is a naturally occuring heterogenous polysaccharide found in the cell walls of plants. Pectin, both low-methoxy (synthetic) and high-methoxy (non-synthetic) , is used to cause liquids to gel; low methoxy pectin is to make low-acid, low-sugar jellies and preserves, while the non-synthetic high-methoxy pectin is used to make the usual high-sugar fruit preserves, jams and jellies.
Pectin, which naturally occurs in high concentrations in apples and citrus fruits, is nutritionally classified as a water-soluble fiber and considered by health professionals as a necessary part of a healthy diet.
Despite being used for various purposes in conventional food processing, phosphoric acid is allowed by the NOSB to be used only in cleaning food contact surfaces and equipment in the production of USDA Certified Organic Foods. In non-organic food processing, it is used to acidify various products, including popular cola sodas. It is an agricultural chemical, so it is cheap and plentiful, but there is evidence to suggest that drinking large amounts of such beverages may disturb the normal balance of calcium-phosphorus ionic ratio in the bloodstream. When this happens, in order to compensate, the body may metabolize calcium from the bones, resulting in a loss of bone density. The popularity of cola drinks may be a factor in the appearance of increasing numbers of young women and older men with low bone density or osteoporosis.
Potassium acid tartrate, also known as cream of tartar when sold for household use, is generally derived from the acidic tartarate crystals that are a byproduct of wine fermentation. It is used, along with sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) as a leavener in many old recipes; it is also often used to stabilize egg whites when they are beaten into foam. In food processing it is used as the acidic portion of a chemical leavener, and is used as an acidic ingredient and a buffer.
Potassium carbonate is notated by the NOSB to only be used for FDA-approved applications where natural sodium carbonate is not an acceptable substitute. That said, sodium carbonate, or soda ash, is used in the manufacure of monsodium glutamate and soy sauce. (One suspects it is used in the soy sauces that are not naturally fermented.) It is also used as a neutralizing agent.
Potassium citrate is used as a buffer to lower the acidity of foods. It is also used medically to lower the acidity of the urine to prevent the formation of kidney stones, or to treat a potassium deficiency.
Also known as lye, potassium hydroxide is used in the process of saponification, or turning fats into soap. Lye is also used in conventional food production to chemically peel fruits and vegetables, however, this usage is prohibited by the NOSB. However, it is traditionally used in the production of Dutch cocoa, and has been used for centuries in the production of hominy and masa. In this preparation, he outer seed coat of corn is stripped away by soaking the grain in a solution of potassium hydroxide (often in the form of wood ash) or calcium hydroxide and water. After rinsing the corn, the lye is washed away with the seed coat, and the corn is made more digestible and nutritious as more of the protein is available to be metabolized.
Silicon dioxide is a naturally occurring mineral that has seventeen distinct crystalline forms. Examples include quartz and opal, glass or sand. Silicon dioxide is most often used as a water-absorbtive agent and an anti-caking agent in powdered food products so that they will continue to flow freely.
And with that, I will end for today and pick up tomorrow with sodium citrate.
I know that the suspense is killing you, and you are probably on the edge of your seats, wanting to know how the drama known as “Those Darned Chemicals” will end.
You just have to be patient and tune in tomorrow when you will hear Morganna say, “Oh my god! I don’t want sand in my food!”
And Zak will pipe in with, “Why, back in the day, when we were poor, we ate crawdads, and when there were no crawdads, we ate sand!”
Barbara will say, “No crawdads were hurt in the writing of this post.”
Until tomorrow, folks.
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time. | <urn:uuid:8f79673f-6388-4932-966e-d864728ffb47> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.tigersandstrawberries.com/2005/10/12/those-darned-chemicals-part-iv-what-me-worry/ | 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 | 0.96468 | 2,717 | 1.820313 | 2 |
The following data is extracted from Sketches Of Western North Carolina, Historical And Biographical Mecklenburg County, North Carolina Biographies.
"John Alexander", son of James Alexander, was in active service for upwards of five years. He was the husband of Mrs. Susanna Alexander, long known and highly esteemed in Mecklenburg county as the ministering angel, who was eminently instrumental in saving the life of Captain Joseph Graham, after he was cut down by the British cavalry, near Sugar Creek Church, and left by them, supposed to be dead. She found him by the roadside, conducted him to her house, dressed his wounds, made by ball and sabre, and tenderly cared for him during the night. On the next day, his symptoms becoming more favorable, she conveyed him to his mother's, about four miles distant, "on her own pony". Her husband died in 1805. In 1846, when eighty-six years of age, and in needy circumstances, she was granted a pension by the General Government, in behalf of her husband's military services, and lived to be nearly one hundred years old, enjoying the kind regard and veneration of all who knew her.
Source: Sketches Of Western North Carolina, Historical And Biographical Mecklenburg County, North Carolina Biographies | <urn:uuid:d74f9c12-73c1-46c0-b6e9-ff758309e1fd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.accessgenealogy.com/scripts/data/database.cgi?file=Data&report=SingleArticle&ArticleID=0027939 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.98374 | 271 | 2.359375 | 2 |
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One of the oldest conflicts in the American system of government is that between Congress and the President over the right to formulate and implement foreign policy. Is the President solely responsible for the conduct of external relations? Is the Congress an equal partner? Or does Congress have the right to shape U.S. policy by enacting legislation which proscribes a President's flexibility? These are not just debating points for historians and constitutional lawyers, but critical issues which need to be addressed if we are to see the successful exercise of American diplomacy in the 1980s. Our effectiveness in dealing with the problems ahead, especially U.S.-Soviet competition in the Third World, will depend to a significant degree on our ability to resolve the adversary relationship between the President and Congress.
Fifty-two Americans were taken hostage in Iran on November 4, 1979. Ten days later, in circumstances to be related, President Carter froze all assets of the government of Iran in the United States and under the control of U.S. banks, businesses and individuals outside the United States. This action, and related measures taken later, deprived Iran of the use of more than $12 billion in bank deposits, gold and other property. The President also cut off most export and other transactions between the United States and Iran and asked the U.N. Security Council to vote similar sanctions. U.N. action was blocked by a Soviet veto on January 13, 1980, but other nations gradually reduced their commerce with Iran. As the hostage crisis dragged on, these sanctions deprived Iran of critical supplies and spare parts and forced it into expensive deals with unreliable middlemen.
The recent heated debate over the sale of Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) planes and F-15 fighter components to Saudi Arabia was only one of a number of controversies involving U.S. arms sales. The next weapons transfer which will meet congressional resistance is that of F-16 fighters to Pakistan, a sale which some believe will give a renewed impetus to the arms race on the subcontinent and undermine nonproliferation efforts. Serious questions are also being raised about the wisdom of the planned sale of F-16s to Venezuela, thereby crossing a technological threshold which in the past has restrained the transfer of the most advanced fighter aircraft to Latin America. Proposed new arms supply relationships with Argentina, Chile and Guatemala will draw the ire of those who are concerned about the dropping of past restrictions based upon these countries' human rights records. The Reagan Administration is faced with a tough decision regarding the sale of the FX fighter to Taiwan. Beijing has put Washington on notice that it considers the proposed sale as a "litmus test" of future Sino-American relations. But the same type of symbolism is attached to the sale by Taipei, which would view the failure to sell as a sign of abandonment.
Since World War II there has been a continuing debate on military doctrine concerning the actual utility of nuclear weapons in war. This debate, irrespective of the merits of the divergent points of view, tends to create the perception that the outcome and scale of a nuclear conflict could be controlled by the doctrine or the types of nuclear weapons employed. Is this the case?
INTRODUCTION: Since World War II there has been a continuing debate on military doctrine concerning the actual utility of nuclear weapons in war. This debate, irrespective of the merits of the divergent points of view, tends to create the perception that the outcome and scale of a nuclear conflict could be controlled by the doctrine or the types of nuclear weapons employed. Is this the case?
Since nuclear deterrence began, some of the forces providing deterrence for the West have been stationed in Europe. In the early period, when delivery systems did not yet enjoy intercontinental range, European real estate was essential for America's strategic deterrent. But with new intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) and sea-based nuclear missiles, introduced in the late 1950s, the U.S. nuclear deterrent no longer required bases in Europe: the age of geographic deterrence identity between the United States and its European allies had come to an end.
The history of the Atlantic Alliance is a history of crises. But we must distinguish between the routine difficulties engendered by Western Europe's dependence on the United States for its security, as well as by the economic interdependence of the allies, and major breakdowns or misunderstandings which reveal not simply an inevitable divergence of interests but dramatically different views of the world and priorities. At the present time, complaints from West European leaders about the effects of high American interest rates on their economies, or about President Reagan's skeptical approach to North-South economic issues, belong in the first category. The current controversy in Europe over nuclear weapons belongs in the second, and now confronts the Alliance with one of its most dangerous tests.
Under Charles de Gaulle, French foreign policy as seen from Washington had a "nuisance value" at a time when France's domestic choices were much more in tune with those of her allies and neighbors. Under François Mitterrand, the radical nature of the domestic changes in France (e.g., nationalization of major industries and banks, decentralization of the administration of the country) have virtually changed French foreign policy into a reassuring value. At a time when pacifism is sweeping Northern Europe, and the Federal Republic of Germany in particular, France, with her firmness vis-à-vis the Soviet Union, her nuclear striking force, her strong defense budget and weak pacifist movement, seems an oasis of continuity.
The problem mounts, the experts are in near agreement as to how to resolve it, and yet another President gives it high priority. However, despite all of the above, the United States may fail to enact a new national immigration policy in the near future. The seriousness and care with which Congress is considering the issue are cause for encouragement, but President Reagan is in the process of finding out, as President Carter did before him, that there is little political capital to be made in this policy area.
The United States recently "discovered" Mexico. Potential oil reserves of 200 billion barrels helped focus our attention and sparked interest in forging some kind of special relationship with our southern neighbor. Concrete proposals range from a North American Accord or Common Market to less dramatic package deals that would swap petroleum for increased Mexican access to U.S. markets.
Relations between Canada and the United States have become more strained than at any time in recent memory. There have been many earlier periods of tension, but the policy orientations of the two capitals in late 1981 appear to be far more divergent than in the past. The two governments seem to be on a collision course, in a context that political leaders cannot fully control.
Russia today is a mighty world power, with the largest territory of any state, a population of 260 million, great mineral resources in a resource-hungry world, and a geopolitical position that gives it a large role in both European and Asian affairs. It is a military superpower with intercontinental and intermediate-range nuclear missiles in large numbers, supersonic airplanes, a huge standing army based on universal military service, and fleets in all oceans. It controls an East and Central European empire extending deep into Germany and the Balkans. Its power and influence radiate into Asia, the Middle East, the Mediterranean, Africa and Latin America. | <urn:uuid:6da9bddb-4048-4400-826e-96a30ca7ad9c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.foreignaffairs.com/issues/1981/60/2 | 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 | 0.951253 | 1,493 | 2.625 | 3 |
Attachment and Turing: The Un-Disposal of Ubiquitous AI
There is a Garfield comic whose three panels tell a story that goes something like this:
John [optimistic]: Wouldn’t it be great if everyday items could talk? The sink would say ‘Good morning John’, and the mirror would say ‘You’re looking splendid, John’.
Garfield [cynical]: I wouldn’t like that. A blown lightbulb would be like a death in the family.
Artificial intelligence and ubiquitous computing, should it ever arrive, might be just what John had in mind. Not only computers and smartphones, but also cars, refrigerators, and why not even light bulbs and deposit bottles might eventually wish us a good morning, understand us and converse with us in natural language. Regarding Garfield’s grim prediction, there could be backups. Indeed, the arrival of artificial intelligence has been described as the singularity after which all bets are off, any prediction of the future will become moot, as nobody is able to predict what will happen once ever smarter machines design ever smarter machines.
I agree that predictions around future developments will become difficult in the face of the achievement of “artificial intelligence” – but not due to the progression of superhuman thinking along the slope of Moore’s Law, but rather as a result of our own limited understanding of a construct that psychologists call “intelligence”. Intelligence is what the IQ test measures, anyone?
I wonder if what has commonly been described as the Turing test – an automaton exhibiting responses indistinguishable from human responses must be deemed intelligent – is actually a crossroads on the road to fallacy. While its elegance is captivating and its philosophical argument impeccable, the Turing test in this description really measures the appearance of human-ness, not of intelligence. The elicitation of emotional responses, and the subsequent creation of emotional attachment, should not be confused with intelligence.
Maybe I shouldn’t reveal this, but I find it difficult already to consistently apply the morally bad choices in Knights of the old Republic or Mass Effect. To illustrate my point, let’s just spin the tale of voice recognition and natural language processing in smartphones to its logical sequel: How am I ever going to dispose of a device that is so “intelligent” that I am unable to distinguish its responses from a human being? Is a company creating Turing test-passing devices going to be as unsuccessful as a car company manufacturing long-lasting cars?
Or what would we become if “ubiquitous intelligent technology” conditioned us to such a low level of empathy that we could? | <urn:uuid:003769c6-d7e7-4899-bca8-550a5898c266> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://devcsi.ukoln.ac.uk/2012/04/18/attachment-and-turing-the-un-disposal-of-ubiquitous-ai/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942054 | 552 | 2.25 | 2 |
What's the Latest Development?
Understanding how the brain works will give you insight into how we learn and how we can use our knowledge of the brain to help us learn better. Do not try to master one thing at a time, says UCLA psychologist Robert Bjork. Instead, mixing a variety of information into your lessons will give each fixed point more context, a powerful tool when it comes to memory retrieval. Also, take long breaks between study sessions. The more energy you exert in pulling up information to the present, the more likely you are to remember it.
What's the Big Idea?
Misconceptions about how the brain works have helped to develop bad learning habits among generations of students, young and old. Even taking notes during a lecture, a practice so ingrained it seems impossible to advise against, will only help so much. It is better to take notes after class, says Bjork, forcing your brain to try harder to remember information. Instead of just trying to remember information, train your mind how to remember information better by focusing on the retrieval process of memory.
Photo credit: shutterstock.com | <urn:uuid:c055bfce-3fdd-4dcf-a5d9-7fcd56da02f6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://bigthink.com/ideafeed/help-your-brain-learn-better | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00031-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.932596 | 225 | 3.671875 | 4 |
Rhino horn use slammed by Chinese traditional medicinal practitioners
Could the ball finally be rolling for a debunking of the 'medicinal' myths surrounding rhino horn? That looks possible, with the statement Friday from the UK's Register of Chinese Herbal Medicine (RCHM) 'strongly condemning' the illegal trade in rhino horn - and other endangered species. That adds to moves that may bring the halting of the resurgent slaughter in rhinos a step closer. It is widely recognized by conservationists that any strategy to protect rhinos must include efforts to reduce demand for their horns.
Damaging myth rubbished
Rhino horn was originally prescribed, by Tradition Chinese Medicine (TCM) practitioners, as a cure for fevers and convulsions. But more recently, a tagging of powdered rhino horn as a possible cancer-cure has caused demand for rhino horn to leap. Many have seen the massive increase in poaching in southern Africa, in the last couple of years - plus the thefts of horn from museums across the world - as being driven by this damaging myth.
The statement from the official body for TCM in the UK comes after the equivalent in the US - the American College of Traditional Chinese Medicine (ACTCM) - rubbished the idea that rhino horn had any real medicinal effect. ACTCM president, Lixin Huang, said in a letter in August that 'there is no traditional use, nor any evidence for the effectiveness of, rhino horn as a cure for cancer.'
Both organizations say that they have strict policies to prevent the use of endangered animals by their members. Apparently rhino horn was withdrawn from the pharmacopoeia maintained by the Ministry of Health in China way back in 1993. Of course, that particular withdrawal of official approval has not prevented the recent rise in rhino deaths, from poaching, but many see hopeful signs of a change in attitudes.
Rhino conservation group, SavingRhinos, has welcomed the move by the RCHM, saying it 'applauded' the action. A day to celebrate the rhino, and emphasize action in aid of its conservation, is planned for 22nd September - World Rhino Day. That initiative is also being supported by the RCHM, which has posted links to World Rhino Day on its site.
Back in the protected reserves, the renewed threat to rhinos is leading to nations that are home to these endangered pachyderms, to consider more radical measures. De-horning rhinos, injecting poison into horns and banning 'legal hunts' have all been mooted recently by South Africa, which has seen nearly 300 rhino deaths alone this year. The battle to save the rhino may be far from over, but hopefully these latest statements may give the rhino a fighting chance.
Top Image Credit: © AcePhotography | <urn:uuid:1385010f-f95b-4631-a182-5b727137b8e9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.earthtimes.org/nature/rhino-horn-slammed-chinese-traditional-medicinal-practitioners/1350/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00039-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953081 | 582 | 2.46875 | 2 |
Home Safety month starts this Friday, June 1, and runs through the end of the month. It’s the perfect time to evaluate your home and make sure everything is as safe as possible.
Last year at this time, we took at look at the state of home safety—and gave a visual representation of the statistics:
Last year, we learned that only 8% of Americans are prepared for an emergency situation like a tornado, hurricane or earthquake. Now that June is here again, it’s time to re-evaluate. Have you made strides to increase your home safety since last June? Did you purchase a safety radio or put together a preparedness kit? | <urn:uuid:1290d154-8255-44c7-a608-cb45ee9bbc8c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.etoncorp.com/index.php/2012/05/time-to-think-home-safety/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970746 | 137 | 1.6875 | 2 |
Dec 19, 2008
Gold nanoparticles help make industrial dyes
A new environmentally friendly way to produce certain industrial dyes using gold nanoparticle catalysts has been developed by researchers in Spain. Normally, making dyes known as azobenzenes requires toxic transition metals or nitrates.
Avelino Corma and colleagues of the Universidad Politécnica de Valencia have shown that gold nanoparticles on titanium dioxide or cerium dioxide can catalyse the reactions necessary to produce azobenzenes. And this is with above 98% efficiency under mild reaction conditions. The technique could be used to make cheaper, safer dyes for use in pigments, food additives and drugs, say the researchers.
The key to the technique is to substitute stoichiometric processes in the reactions with catalytic ones, explains Corma. "In this way you can greatly reduce the formation of sub-products," he told nanotechweb.org. "This is exactly what we have done."
The researchers found that gold nanoparticles are able to stabilise TiO2 vacancies, activate aniline reactant molecules and activate oxygen, which also acts a reactant. Aniline can form a radical cation by giving one electron either to a vacancy on the TiO2 support or to cationic gold atoms. The reaction is then initiated. The oxygen is activated either on TiO2 or CeO2 vacancies and/or on gold nanoclusters.
"The advantage of this method is that it avoids using lead tetracetate or stoichiometric amounts of nitrites," said Corma. "Moreover, we can carry out a 'one-pot' process starting from the nitroaromatics (the chemicals needed to produce azobenzenes) instead of the anilines, as is done today. This avoids a reaction step for preparing the aniline from the nitroaromatics."
Corma says that the work could provide an environmentally friendly route to make industrial amounts of azo-compounds for dye manufacture. "We now need to do more work to better understand the mechanism and the exact nature of the catalyst active sites and improve yields for these asymmetric azo-materials."
The work was published in Science.
About the author
Belle Dumé is contributing editor at nanotechweb.org | <urn:uuid:e40b522e-e20d-4270-91d1-51183b18f94f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://nanotechweb.org/cws/article/tech/37115 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00037-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.91196 | 481 | 3.359375 | 3 |
|"He wasn't in Great Wizards of the Twentieth Century, or Notable Magical Names of Our Time [...]"
The subject of this article does not meet our notability standards. Although it is based on canonical/valid information, it was suggested it does not merit its own article and, as such, is to be either deleted or merged with similar articles.
If you disagree with either of these actions, please explain why at Category talk:Non-notable articles or improve the page and remove this tag.
|"Are you a wizard or not?"
The title of this article is conjectural. Although it is based on canonical information, the actual name is conjecture and may be supplanted at any time by additional information released from canonical sources. If this occurs, please move this page to the appropriate title.
|Female Gryffindor Student|
This female Gryffindor student attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and was sorted into Gryffindor House. She and other students were in the first game of the "Gryffindor's 1991 Quidditch Team" with Rubeus Hagrid in 1991 and celebrated with Dean and Ron because they were going in the way of the Quidditch field.
This girl started her magical education at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in 1991 and was Sorted into Gryffindor House. This girl like the others Gryffindors students, was very happy to go see the first game of the "Gryffindor's 1991 Quidditch Team", and followed Rubeus Hagrid to the Quidditchfield.
Behind the scenesEdit
- This individual is played by Julianne Hough in the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, but was not credited.
- She could be Sally-Anne Perks, a student in Harry's year whose House is unknown.
- She could also be either Alice Tolipan or Luca Carruse, two students who joined Dumbledore's Army in 1995 to oppose Dolores Umbridge.
- Other possible identities could be Lily Moon, Sophie Roper, Sally Smith, or Runcorn.
- Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (film) (First appearance) | <urn:uuid:d0ff53aa-1265-41f0-b05e-617f8a6782db> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://harrypotter.wikia.com/wiki/Unidentified_Gryffindor_girl_(VII) | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.936027 | 463 | 1.671875 | 2 |
One of the easiest means to raise the family budget is by the utilization of money conserving coupons. Because of elevated food prices and regular things, individuals are having a brand new appear at coupons.
Buyers saved about two million dollars this past year using coupons. Seventy eight coupons are used by percent of consumers often. If you are wealthy or inadequate, using coupons can and can save you cash it does not matter. A household has to only spend about one hour per week typically to find out about a one thousand dollar annual savings. Conserving money with coupons is not only about adding money to your wallet, it can also be plenty of fun. It is also exciting to know the beeps at the register if they check your coupons at the supermarket or store. Many escape of debt businesses now make a requirement to it to use coupons to assist lower the weekly costs of households and individuals in debt.
Food costs have gone up through the season because of the famine that struck all the nation in 2012. Many people have determined to start a backyard in 2013 to help provide their food expense down. Clipping and utilizing coupons is nevertheless going to be one of the best ways to keep part of your difficult earned revenue. One extra means to save is by using dual coupons and viewing for. Many grocery stores have one day per week where they’ll take and credit you with twice the face value on your discount. Double coupons in conjunction with store items for sale can in some cased suggest you receive them free.
Ahead of the current evening of computers, you were confined to coupons found in the Saturday newspaper and mail box. With the Worldwide, Net you can now locate and print valuable coupons right from the Web within the comfort of your home. Today it is easy to lookup and find the coupons you should help deliver your family’s meals budget down. It is usually going to be gratifying to continue to advocate this and cut coupons from your Sunday paper. Spending cash at the store won’t have to be trying. Saving cash with coupons can be a simple and enjoyable method to help bring your expenditures down. Making use of coupons regularly will help place money into your wallet and will additionally make going to the shop a little more entertaining. | <urn:uuid:636570a2-3da5-4c6d-a57d-b24a91d49816> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.whirlpoolgoldrefrigerator.net/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963303 | 453 | 1.90625 | 2 |
Shining new light on dark matter
In the 1930s, astronomers discovered that many galaxy clusters observable from Earth have a much stronger gravitational field than they should have given their predicted mass. Further astronomical observations only added to this puzzle. After much consideration, it was concluded that something mysterious called dark matter must be involved. Dark matter is in all respects invisible and can only be detected by its gravitational effect on normal matter. If this new theory was right then dark matter would make up most of the mass of the universe.
However, in February three scientists claimed that dark matter was not necessary and in fact by slightly altering Einstein's equations for general relativity they could account for the acceleration. Not everyone was convinced by the new explanation though, and now new evidence has been put forward in support of dark matter through studying the "bullet" galaxy cluster with the Chandra X-ray telescope.
The cluster was created when two separate clusters smashed together. Tremendous amounts of energy were released in this collision; enough in fact to tear the normal matter and the dark matter apart. Even though dark matter is invisible, scientists were able to see the effect by measuring how the mass of the cluster was distributed.
The data gathered supported a model involving dark matter but not an altered form of general relativity as was previously proposed. No doubt the argument over the existence of dark matter will continue but supporters of the dark matter model believe this provides the most conclusive evidence yet.
You can read the full story on Science Daily
posted by Plus @ 2:37 PM | <urn:uuid:5ffda486-7c3b-4d30-ac79-4b772b89c2ef> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://plus.maths.org/content/BLOG/g/content/issue31/features/acheson/www.britishscienceassociation.org/919778.polldaddy.com/919778.polldaddy.com/www.britishscienceassociation.org/forms/festival/events/showevent2.asp?page=87&EventID=134 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972935 | 309 | 3.890625 | 4 |
Photo from the cover of the 1990 Dogwood Trail Celebration brochure.
Lighted Dogwood Trail
The lighting of the dogwood became a tradition in
1964 when the Paducah Civic Beautification Board began this
nighttime tour of Paducah in bloom. Residents and businesses
spotlight dogwoods, azaleas, and blooming gardens throughout the
city. A Dogwood Reception held at City Hall kicks off the April
celebration. The trail is marked by signs placed at frequent
intervals along the route. The tour may be done by walking, bike,
private car or bus. Since its beginning, the Trail has grown from
two blocks to a twelve-mile tour of the West End lasting an hour
and a half with another 12 miles of alternate routes. Beautiful
both day and night, the Dogwood Trail encourages passersby to
appreciate how nature has blessed Paducah.
Originally submitted by: Ed Whitfield, Representative (1st District).
The Local Legacies project provides a "snapshot" of American Culture as it was expressed in spring of 2000. Consequently, it is not being updated with new or revised information with the exception of "Related Website" links. | <urn:uuid:ba22f791-8ded-403a-a888-e7fed9076b5c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://lcweb2.loc.gov/diglib/legacies/KY/200003049.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00043-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.934806 | 252 | 2.0625 | 2 |
SEOUL — A North Korean diplomat said his country had shut down its sole operating nuclear reactor after receiving an initial shipment of oil aid and that U.N. inspectors would start verifying the closure today.
If confirmed by the U.N. inspection team, the shutdown would be the North’s first step in nearly five years toward denuclearization, after lengthy international talks.
“Immediately after the arrival of the first heavy fuel oil, the facilities were shut down, and the [International Atomic Energy Agency] personnel will verify that, maybe by now or from today in Korea,” Kim Myong-gil, minister at the North's mission to the United Nations in New York, said by telephone.
The delivery yesterday of 6,200 tons of heavy fuel oil from South Korea was the first of 50,000 tons promised to the North in exchange for shutting down its reactor in a deal with the United States, China, Japan, South Korea and Russia. Pyongyang eventually will get 1 million tons of oil and other financial and political concessions.
After tortuous negotiations and delays — during which the North argued its nuclear program was needed for self-defense — the reclusive regime said this month that it would consider halting its reactor after it received the oil shipment.
The 10-member IAEA team arrived in the North Korean capital yesterday afternoon. Team chief Adel Tolba said the inspectors would stay in North Korea as long as needed to complete their work at the Yongbyon plutonium-producing reactor, located about 60 miles northeast of Pyongyang.
“We are going directly to the nuclear site at Yongbyon,” Mr. Tolba told broadcaster APTN outside the airport.
Footage showed dozens of cardboard boxes being loaded onto two trucks. It was not immediately clear what they contained, but Mr. Tolba had said he and his colleagues were bringing 2,200 pounds of equipment for use during the trip.
“The IAEA plans to have a permanent presence there, with some experts remaining at the site continuously,” said the diplomat, who requested anonymity owing to the issue’s sensitivity.
Mr. Kim said the next steps would include the North’s declaring details of its nuclear program and disabling the facilities, but he said that would happen only if the U.S. took actions “in parallel,” including removing wider economic sanctions against North Korea and striking it from a list of states that sponsor terrorism.
“After the shutdown, then we will discuss about the economic sanctions lifting and removing of the terrorism list. All those things should be discussed and resolved,” Mr. Kim said.
The South Korean tanker No. 9 Han Chang arrived at the North’s northeastern port of Sonbong, a Unification Ministry official said. The South Korean official spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the press.View Entire Story
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Cinco de Mayo on the Mall | <urn:uuid:c3d9ea60-dba5-4943-89d1-642625ce7eff> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2007/jul/15/north-korea-says-reactor-shut-down-59-1137/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967788 | 744 | 1.757813 | 2 |
There are many job skills that aren’t taught in school. From working with other employees to learning how to succeed in a corporate atmosphere, some things you don’t find out until you’re at work. Learning these can come to a big shock to new employees.
One task that comes up every single day is managing one’s email. It’s a daily chore that all office workers must face. Few people are ready for the challenge however. Now, most people know the basics of email etiquette prior to getting a job. The issue is with the scale of how much email you’re required to keep track of. Oftentimes in an office settings people like to cover their tracks so they won’t be accused of wrongdoing. As a result they copy anybody and everybody on their emails. The end result is that email management sometimes entails keeping track of hundreds of emails on a daily basis.Some employ the strategy of keeping everything in their inbox. That way at least it’s all in the same folder. Others will dutifully and meticulously organize it into separate folders. Whatever the case, email management is learned on the job, often with little training.
The email application of choice for businesses is Microsoft Outlook. It does many things well including allowing multiple ways to store your emails. They can be stored locally or archived onto external servers. Sometimes Exchange servers are set up and public and private folders as well. These all come in handy when it comes to storing your email. One blaring shortcoming of Outlook is its search utility. It is limited to searching one email storage location at a time. For most practical purposes, Outlook’s search utility is useless.
Filling in the void where Microsoft left off is Lookeen. It’s an add-in extension for Outlook that provides the search capabilities you need to find your emails. In a nutshell it indexes and then is able to search all your mail stores, regardless of location or type. It can be downloaded, installed, and then will appear as a toolbar within your Outlook application. During setup Lookeen will index all your email stores. Once this is done it will be continually updated as new email enters your inbox. The basic email usage for Outlook doesn’t change. When searching for an email just type in the search term in Lookeen’s toolbar as you normally would. A preview of the search results is similar to Outlook and highlights the search term.
It comes with a variety of impressive features including saving search queries for reuse, use of jointly used indices for searching public folders, and an analytics tool for advanced email discovery. The shared index ability is the central indexing of jointly used Outlook data. This will occur when a company has shared public folders. The main benefit is that your search index will be in one location, rather than each individual user having a separate search index on their computer. The analytics tool will track email trends so you can find out who’s sending you the most amount of email, how quickly are emails being processed, and other important information.
Lookeen isn’t limited to searching Outlook email. It will also search your attachments, appointments, tasks, notes and contacts. The attachments it can search include PDFs, and all common office application formats- Excel, Word, PowerPoint, etc. Lookeen is also able to search your desktop as well.
Lookeen’s basic product is for individual use. It comes with a 14 day free trial to ensure you’re satisfied prior to purchasing. There are also Enterprise solutions that allow system administrators to set it up globally, and bulk discounts.
Inbox management is a fact of life. Microsoft Outlook will likely continue to be the email tool of choice for businesses. As such, it’s critical to learn how to manage and find your emails. With Lookeen, this can be done simply and efficiently so that you can find the emails you want, when you need them. | <urn:uuid:01a139c2-dde8-483b-8aa7-f378f35048f4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://slapstart.com/2010/09/lookeen/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00047-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.941813 | 820 | 2.140625 | 2 |
Editor's note: The Journal's annual Unsung Heroes feature, which runs each Monday from Memorial Day to Veterans Day, profiles U.S. veterans who served in wars and conflicts from World War II to the present.
CHARLES TOWN - Retired U.S. Navy and World War II veteran Carroll Bond was just 14 when Pearl Harbor was bombed by the Japanese.
The Laurel, Md., native knew he would be drafted eventually. So instead of waiting for the inevitable, he signed up for the Navy at the age 16.
Carroll E. Bond, a U.S. Navy veteran, served in the South Pacific during World War II. On the left he holds up a picture of himself in Shanghai in 1947, and a picture of himself after he got home to Laurel, Md., later in 1947, on the right. (Journal photo by Ron Agnir)
For nearly the next three years, he traveled the seas of the South Pacific, staring down Japanese kamikaze pilots, taking part in invasions of Japanese-held islands like the Philippines and witnessing the day victory was claimed over Japan, which became known as V-J Day.
"I wanted to do my part, so as soon as I was able legally to join with my parents' permission I signed up at the naval yard in Washington, D.C.," said Bond, now 82, who has lived in Charles Town for about the last nine years.
Before long, Bond was sent to the Great Lakes Naval Training Station in Chicago for boot camp before being transferred to Treasure Island in San Francisco to await deployment overseas.
After about a month in Pearl Harbor, he was transferred to a transport ship, the LST 619, in the South Pacific. The 328-foot-long ship had been built that same year, 1944, and Bond was among the crew assembled for the Navy's new vessel. Lightly armed, it carried a little more than 100 crew members and seven officers.
"I was right in the midst of the turn around of World War II, and we were busy with air raids and suicide planes and D-Day invasions and all of that," Bond said.
During his tour of duty, Bond and his fellow crewmen visited many Japanese islands in the South Pacific, as U.S. forces made their long, arduous journey toward the Japanese mainland while liberating and occupying Japanese-held islands along the way.
No stranger to combat, Bond and his crew regularly saw raids by Japanese aircraft as well as kamikaze pilots. During one particular raid, Bond said the convoy he was in was attacked by 15 suicide planes.
"They would come and fly down just above the water level between the ships, which put them maybe 100 feet of where I was standing at a gun position," he said. "We couldn't shoot at them because we would be shooting at another ship."
The planes came so close that Bond could see the expression on the pilots' faces as they were making their attack runs before deliberately crashing into a ship.
He said there was no time to be afraid. In the heat of battle, everyone has to remain focused on what they're supposed to be doing. It's not until later that they have time to reflect on how close they might have been to death, he added.
Such was the case during another Japanese air raid, when a kamikaze pilot crashed into a ship that was sailing beside Bond's LST 619, which was carrying ammunition.
"The whole center of that ship blew up and bodies were flying through the air, and one actually almost hit me," Bond said.
It was a jarring sight for even the most hardened veteran. At the time, Bond's ship was carrying Army personnel who had served in the European theater before being sent to the South Pacific.
"There was one sergeant who up until that point was putting on the big brave act. He was saying he had been through the war and he knew it all, and I turned around and looked at him when this happened and he was trying to dig a fox hole in a steel deck," Bond said.
The attacks from the enemy weren't the only thing Bond had to worry about. Allied convoys were also at the mercy of Mother Nature on the open seas. At one point Bond's convoy sailed straight into a typhoon in the China Sea that nearly sunk several ships.
"The waves were so high and the winds were so strong it actually blew a big gun off the bow of a light cruiser, and we were just about one degree from capsizing ourselves," he said.
As the waves came in, the bow of Bond's ship would raise high into the air. But before before it could level out again another wave would hit midship, causing it to bend and break welding.
He said sailors had to hang on for dear life to avoid being swept overboard by the powerful waves. After surviving the typhoon, the entire convoy was forced to sail back to a dry dock so the ships could be repaired.
It wasn't the only storm allied forces were facing. As U.S. forces got closer and closer to Japan, the impending invasion of the mainland weighed heavily on the troops. The prior amphibious invasions that Bond had been part of would pale in comparison to such a monumental undertaking. Casualties were expected to be severe.
In that mindset, Bond and his fellow sailors sat in a convoy of about 800 ships that were in a bay north of the Philippines, awaiting the orders that would signal the start of the invasion.
That's until something unexpected happened.
Following the devastation from the atomic bombs that were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the impending invasion was averted. The unthinkable, V-J Day, had happened without a single U.S. troop stepping foot on the Japanese mainland.
"It was the biggest Fourth of July celebration you ever saw," Bond said. "If you're familiar with the military, they have tracer bullets that light up ... about the entire bay lit up."
Following the Japanese surrender, Bond was part of the amphibious force that carried occupational forces and equipment into Japan as well as throughout the Philippines.
As his convoy entered the harbor of Sasebo in Japan, Bond realized just what they would have faced if the invasion orders had been handed down. The inlet surrounding the harbor was so narrow only one ship at a time could sail into the harbor. As they did, Bond noticed huge guns with barrels big enough for a man to climb inside on both sides of the hills at the harbor.
"It was quite obvious that had we still been at war, they would let the ships go in, sink the last one and block us from getting back out," he said.
Even though the war was over, Bond didn't immediately return home. After his ship was decommissioned, Bond was transferred to Shanghai, China, where he spent another year on a yard freighter, a YF 755.
"We stayed there until actually the communists started coming down the Yangtze river. We could hear their gunfire coming down, taking over China when we left there," Bond said.
In all, Bond spent about two and a half years on active duty without leave.
A month before he was to turn 21, the Navy had to send him back to the United States because his enlistment period was nearly up. Upon his return, he was discharged and then re-enlisted in the Naval Reserve for four more years. Among Bond's numerous medals are four bronze stars for his service during four of the Pacific theater's major battles and invasions.
After he retired from the military, he worked in public utilities for a short time before becoming a police officer for about nine years, and then went into another career field before retiring in 1988.
Today, he lives in Charles Town with his wife.
Bond has no regrets about his service. Given the choice, he said he would do it all over again without question.
"It was exciting in a sense," he said. "I was getting to go around many places I ... wouldn't normally have been, and I was dedicated to what I was doing."
- Staff writer Edward Marshall can be reached at (304) 725-6581, or email@example.com | <urn:uuid:7220f7d4-3036-4294-97a3-28e879be2067> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://journal-news.net/page/content.detail/id/509059/Veteran-recalls-life-in-the-Pacific.html?nav=5231 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.99079 | 1,706 | 2.109375 | 2 |
Committees of Correspondence
Committees of Correspondence were organized by New England patriot leader
Samuel Adams and made up a system of communication between patriot leaders
in the towns of New England and eventually throughout the colonies. Committees
of Correspondence provided the political organization necessary to unite the
colonies in opposition to Parliament.
The Declaratory Act stated that Parliament
could legislate for the colonies in all cases. Passed just after the repeal of
the Stamp Act, most colonists interpreted the act as a face-saving mechanism
and nothing more. However, Parliament continually interpreted the act to its
broadest extent and continued to try to legislate in the colonies.
Letters From a Pennsylvania Farmer -
This series of twelve letters published by John Dickinson denounced the
Townshend duties, demonstrating that many of the arguments employed against
the Stamp Act were valid in regard to the Townshend duties as well. The
letters inspired anti-parliament sentiment throughout the colonies.
The Loyal Nine was a group of Boston merchants and artisans that formed during
the Stamp Act crisis to lead the public in attempts to drive the stamp
distributors from the city. This was one of the first steps toward political
organization in the colonies.
The Quartering Act was enacted in 1765, requiring colonial assemblies to pay for
certain supplies for troops stationed within their respective colonies. In
1767, New York, the colony in which the greatest number of troops were
stationed, refused to comply with the law, provoking
parliament to threaten the nullification of all
laws passed by the New York colonial legislature.
Salutary neglect refers to the state of Anglo-American relations before the end
of the French and Indian War. British
Parliament did not interfere in the government
of the colonies, and America existed in relative political isolation.
Sons of Liberty
The Sons of Liberty were the successors of the Loyal Nine as the leaders of the
opposition to the Stamp Act. They brought a new level of sophistication to
the mass demonstrations, prohibiting their followers to carry weapons and using
strict discipline and military formations to direct the protestors.
The Stamp Act required Americans to buy special watermarked paper for newspapers
and all legal documents. Violators faced juryless trials in vice-admiralty
courts, just as under the Sugar Act. The Stamp Act provoked the
organized response to British impositions.
The Sugar Act lowered the duty on foreign-produced molasses from six pence per
gallon to 3 pence per gallon, in attempts to discourage smuggling. The act
further stipulated that Americans could export many commodities, including
lumber, iron, skins, and whalebone, to foreign countries, only if they passed
through British ports first. The act also placed a heavy tax on formerly duty-
free Madeira wine from Portugal. The terms of the act and its methods of
enforcement outraged many colonists.
Parliament passed the Revenue Act of 1767 on
July 2, 1767. Popularly referred
to as the Townshend duties, the Revenue Act taxed glass, lead, paint, paper, and
tea entering the colonies. The colonists objected to the fact that it was
clearly designed more to raise revenue than to regulate trade in a manner
favorable to the British Empire.
In response to the Stamp Act, Patrick Henry persuaded the Virginia House of
Burgesses to adopt several strongly worded resolutions that denied
right to tax the colonies. These resolutions were known as the Virginia
Resolves, and persuaded many other colonial legislatures to adopt similar
The concept of virtual representation was employed by Prime Minister George
Grenville to explain why Parliament could
legally tax the colonists even though
the colonists could not elect any members of Parliament. The theory of virtual
representation held that the members of Parliament did not only represent their
specific geographical constituencies, but rather that they took into
consideration the well being of all British subjects when deliberating on
Writs of Assistance
Writs of assistance were general search warrants, which allowed customs officers
to search any building or ship they thought might contain smuggled goods, even
without probable cause for suspicion. The colonists considered the writs to be
a grave infringement upon personal liberties.
Samuel Adams played a key role in the defense of Colonial rights. He had been a
leader of the Sons of Liberty, and suggested the formation of the
committees of correspondence. Adams played a crucial role in spreading the
principle of colonial rights throughout New England.
An influential political leader from Pennsylvania, Dickinson published
Letters From a Pennsylvania Farmer in response to the Townshend
duties, and provoked much colonial response thereby.
Hutchinson was a British official who played many roles in the years leading up
to the American Revolution. He served as chief
justice of the Massachusetts supreme court that heard James Otis' case
against the writs of assistance; as lieutenant governor of Massachusetts
during the Stamp Act crisis; and finally, as the royal governor. In 1773,
Samuel Adams published a number of Hutchinson's letters, in which Hutchinson
advocated "an abridgement of what are called British liberties," and "a great
restraint of natural liberty" in the colonies.
King George III
The king of England during this period, King George III exercised a greater hand
in the government of the nation than many of his predecessors had. Colonists
were torn between loyalty to the king and resistance to acts carried out in his
MacIntosh, a shoemaker from the South End of Boston, was chosen by the Loyal
Nine to lead the coalition of the North End and South End factions in Boston
against the stamp distributor, Andrew Oliver. He oversaw the mob that drove
Oliver out of town before he could collect stamp taxes.
James Otis was an influential Bostonian heavily involved in the fight for
colonial rights. Most notably, he argued the case against the writs of
assistance in front of the Massachusetts supreme court. Though
unsuccessful in his case, Otis succeeded in illuminating the core of the
colonists' opposition to Parliamentary actions in the colonies.
Pontiac was an Ottawa Indian leader, who led a series of attacks against the
British forts near the Great Lakes, eight of which he successfully sacked. He
was a great proponent of driving the British out of Indian territory, fearing
the British presence there would encourage the colonists to move west and
overrun the tribal lands.
Townshend was the chancellor of the exchequer under Prime Minister William Pitt.
However, when Pitt fell ill, Townshend took effective control of the government.
His most notable action was the passage of the Revenue Act of 1767, popularly
called the Townshend duties. The act enraged the colonists and provoked
Wilkes was a political dissident who had fled Britain to evade arrest. During
the outcry against the Townshend duties, he returned to London to run for
Parliament in 1768. He was elected, but denied
his seat and jailed. A mass
movement grew up in Britain and the colonies in support of Wilkes, and when he
was finally released in 1770, he was hailed by one Boston celebration as "the
illustrious martyr of liberty."
On March 5, 1770, a crowd led by sailor Crispus Attucks formed to demonstrate
against the customs agents. When a British officer tried to disperse the crowd,
he and his men were bombarded with rocks and dared to shoot by the unruly mob.
After being knocked to the ground, one soldier finally did shoot, and others
followed. Five people were killed, including Attucks, who is often considered
the first casualty of the Revolutionary War.
Massacre of St. George's Fields
After John Wilkes was denied his seat in
Parliament, some 30,000 of his
followers, known as Wilkesites, gathered on St. George's Fields, outside the
prison where he was being held, to protest his arrest. When the protestors
began throwing objects, soldiers fired into the crowd, killing eleven. The so-
called Massacre of St. George's Fields emphasized the disagreement in Britain
over colonial rights and spurred the movement that grew up in support of
Stamp Act Congress
In response to the Stamp Act, and representing a new level of pan-colonial
political organization, on October 7, 1765, representatives of nine colonial
assemblies met in New York City at the Stamp Act Congress. The colonies
agreed widely on the principles that Parliament
could not tax anyone outside of Great Britain, and could not deny anyone a fair
trial, both of which had been done in the American colonies. | <urn:uuid:0004912a-7711-4b2d-8fc8-07112b42c085> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.sparknotes.com/history/american/prerevolution/terms.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00037-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95716 | 1,828 | 3.796875 | 4 |
BMW is conducting a voluntary safety recall involving nearly 505,000 vehicles in the Unites States over concerns that a battery connector cable can fail and cause engines to stall.
A notice on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) lists the number of vehicles potentially affected in the U.S. at 504,545. A report in The Detroit News and other media outlets says that another 65,000 vehicles in Canada are also affected by the recall.
Documentation from BMW (PDF) breaks down the recall population by model, manufacture date, and number of vehicles affected as follows:
- 2008 through 2012 BMW 1-Series coupes and convertibles - built from December 2007 through July 2011; 23,155 coupes/20,790 convertibles
- 2007 through 2011 BMW 3-Series sedans, coupes and convertibles - built from March 2007 through July 2011; 297,000 sedans/76,330 coupes/68,935 convertibles
- 2007 through 2011 BMW 3-Series sports wagons - built from March 2007 through June 2011; 7,310 sports wagons
- 2009 through 2011 BMW Z4 roadsters built from March 2009 through June 2011; 10,020 roadsters
At issue is a battery cable connection with a fuse box may degrade over time. This could cause the engine to fail to start, experience a momentary (less than one second) engine shutdown, or stall during operation, thus increasing the risk of a crash.
BMW became aware of the condition in July 2010 as a result of two field reports involving a 3-Series vehicle that failed to start. After subsequent additional reports were received for a no-start condition, BMW analyzed the situation and issued a service bulletin to dealers to address the issue.
In March 2012, Transport Canada submitted a public complaint to BMW of an alleged loss of electrical power and engine stall. Subsequent complaints and a warranty claim prompted BMW to intensively investigate and analyze the matter to determine a root cause and remedy.
To-date, BMW said it has received one report of an alleged accident that was provided by Transport Canada, but no reports of any injuries related to the issue.
What BMW will do
BMW will notify owners and dealers will replace the positive battery cable connector with an improved version, as well as secure the fuse box using a vibration-safe method. The service work will be performed at no charge. The BMW safety recall campaign is expected to begin during March 2013.
In the meantime, owners of BMW vehicles affected by the recall with any questions or concerns may contact BMW at 1-800-525-7417.
Alternatively, owners of vehicles involved in the campaign may contact NHTSA’s Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236 or go to http://www.safercar.gov. Reference the NHTSA campaign ID No. 13V044000.
This story originally appeared at The Car Connection | <urn:uuid:c1061392-756e-4854-837f-dee30d6145a3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.newsok.com/carsok/2013/02/20/bmw-recalling-nearly-505000-vehicles-in-u-s-to-fix-cables/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00068-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95006 | 602 | 1.609375 | 2 |
National Genealogical Society Book Loan CollectionEdit This Page
From FamilySearch Wiki
The National Genealogical Society Book Loan Collection is housed in the St. Louis County Library in St. Louis, Missouri. The books, with a few exceptions, are available to members of the NGS and non-members through interlibrary loan. Previously this loan privilege was restricted to NGS members only.
Over 20,000 genealogical books are available via interlibrary loan. Daily new books are being added to the collection. There is an online catalog where you may search for the title of a book/s that would be helpful in your research. There is a limit of two books per loan.
or do a Googlesearch for NGS book loan collection
Using the site
“Procedures for Inter-library Loan” gives more detailed direction to both the patron and to the librarian in your home town who will make the request for you.
An alternative to requesting a book for inter-library loan may be a photocopy request for up to 30 pages.
See St Louis County Library for more information.
(Some public libraries may charge you shipping costs, but most do not.)
- This page was last modified on 20 March 2013, at 22:41.
- This page has been accessed 616 times.
New to the Research Wiki?
In the FamilySearch Research Wiki, you can learn how to do genealogical research or share your knowledge with others.Learn More | <urn:uuid:ba3305b9-3bef-4f61-810c-442c7da34c10> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/National_Genealogical_Society_Book_Loan_Collection | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00050-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.914202 | 308 | 1.5 | 2 |
Asia Pacific tags:
Filter by importance | All results
15 May 2013
Capitalist crisis: 'Desperate times call for desperate measures': On 4 April the new governor of the Bank of Japan, Haruhiko Kuroda, took the world of finance completely by surprise when he launched an unprecedented stimulus package cash injection
30 March 2011
Resentment and anger need a socialist expression: The human cost of the Kanto- Tohoku earthquake and tsunami will be immense, writes Carl Simmonsm, Kokusai Rentai (CWI Japan).
23 March 2011
After Japan's tsunami disaster -: The earthquake off Japan's east coast and the giant tsunami wave that followed on 11 March has, at the time of writing, officially killed over 8,500 people with another 13,000 people still missing...
16 March 2011
Exclusive report from Japan:
Take over the power and building industries!
Millions around the world watched, read and listened in horror to the reports coming from Japan on 11 March and the days that followed...
16 March 2011
As we go to press the horrendous tsunami and earthquakes have claimed an estimated 3,000 lives in Japan. The final toll could be tens of thousands...
14 March 2011
Japan: The massive earthquake that struck north-eastern Japan on Friday 11 March and ensuing destruction caused by one of the most powerful tsunamis ever witnessed was the "worst crisis since 1945" according to Prime Minister, Naoto Kan. Reporters in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, from chinaworker.info, write.
16 September 2009
THE EDIFICE of Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) rule has finally come tumbling down with the dramatic defeat it suffered in the Lower House elections on 30 August, writes Carl Simmons, Kokusai Rentai (International Solidarity), CWI in Japan.
9 September 2009
THE FILM City of Life and Death depicts the Japanese Imperial army's infamous massacre of the Chinese city of Nanking in 1937, writes Rob Bishop.
17 June 2009
The underground explosion of a massive nuclear bomb on 25 May of the North Korean regime brought it to the centre of world attention. Clare Doyle considers the motives of North Korea's ossified Stalinist regime
8 October 2008
ECONOMISTS AND political leaders are looking to the recent economic history of Japan with growing fear. Is the US economy also heading for a 'lost decade'? asks Jared Wood, Oxford Socialist Party.
1 June 2006
World economy: IN THE second week of May there was a convulsion in the world financial system. Shortly after rising to near-peak levels, shares fell sharply on world stock exchanges, especially in so-called 'emerging markets' like India and Turkey. Lynn Walsh examines these events and exposes the instability of the global capitalist system.
22 February 2006
THE FAILURE of the capitalist powers at the recent WTO (World Trade Organisation) talks in Hong Kong to further 'liberalise' world trade reflects the growing difficulties and contradictions inherent in the world economy...
11 August 2005
HIROSHIMA, 6 August 1945, 8am. The 'all clear' sounded, signalling the end of an air raid by US bombers. Workers and school children left...
18 October 2003
CAN US capitalism pull the world economy out of its present stagnation? Japan has been stuck at near-zero growth for over ten years...
19 October 2001
THE UNITED Nations estimates that the effects of September's terror attacks are likely to cost the global economy £230 billion and slow it down by 1%, writes Why is the world economy heading towards a serious crisis?.
4 May 2001
AS JAPAN'S rulers struggle to extricate the economy from its decade-long morass, hopes have been placed in newly elected Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi...
30 March 2001
IT WAS panic on the financial streets of London, New York, Tokyo, Paris and other world financial centres last week as stock markets went into simultaneous freefall...
Search entire database: | <urn:uuid:ae53a26f-bab8-4d94-9215-fd0541c12180> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.socialistparty.org.uk/keyword/Japan | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00022-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.935924 | 829 | 1.84375 | 2 |
It’s not unusual in politics for what would in abstract seem a sensible policy to become hugely unpopular when it hits Westminster. Most Conservative MPs would agree, in principle, that placing the burden of the cost of rail travel on the shoulders of those who actually travel by train is far more sensible than the money coming from all taxpayers, regardless of whether they use the rail network, and regardless of whether they live in commuter-land or not.
But it was also inevitable that this week’s huge price rise would be very difficult for MPs to sell to their constituents when the cost of living is rising across the board. Today’s story in The Observer quoting MPs who want the government to change course on this matter does feature a fair number of commuter belt constituencies. But those constituencies are not just those ringing London: Philip Davies is one of those uttering threats, reminding the government that it ‘should be on the side of the people – not hitting them where it hurts most’. His constituency is outside Bradford.
This would be a useful U-turn for ministers to make as, with the decision to defer the fuel duty rise at the end of June, they can argue that they have listened to the country. Backbench MPs can go back to their constituencies and argue that they do have influence over the government on the matters that real people care about – something it might not be a bad thing to remind voters of following this summer’s wrangling over constitutional reform.Tags: Rail fares, Railways, UK politics | <urn:uuid:2102b469-0c9f-4319-999f-ab397e342b40> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blogs.spectator.co.uk/coffeehouse/2012/08/a-u-turn-on-rail-fares-would-buoy-up-backbenchers/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00029-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957491 | 311 | 1.664063 | 2 |
Mastery over Water. One of the major success of the Angkor Empire was due to its mastery over the control of water from the Mekong River. Being situated in the tropical Monsoon zone, the Angkor was subjected to a wet season with heavy rainfall during Monsoon and a dry season during the off-Monsoon period.
Due to their engineering genius, the ancient Khmer built extensive irrigation and drainage system in order to manage the excessive water from the flood. This water was stored in the huge reservoirs such as the East and West Baray, and irrigated to the farmlands during the dry period. In this way, the Angkor were able to cultivate and harvest rice crops two or three times in one year. Such a high productivity of rice crops in a year helped to strengthen the country's economy significantly, and thus enhanced its prosperity. This enabled the god-king of the Angkor Empire to mobilize large number of laborers and slaves to undergo temples construction, several of which required over ten thousands of laborers and took them from two to three decades to complete.
In addition, the Angkor kings were able to recruit manpower to serve in military which play a major role, not only in defending the throne, but in invading the neighbors. The Angkor kingdom expanded its territory vigorously and became a strong regional empire.
The two major reservoirs at the Angkor are the East and West Baray. The East Baray has long been dry whereas the West Baray is still in use today. Two more reservoirs had been discovered recently by the aerial photographs.
It was estimated by George Grosliers, a French archaeologist, that the total agricultural land of the Angkor Empire was about 70,000 hectares. Being used to cultivate crop two or three times in one year, the land was able to support the densely populated Angkor kingdom. This mastery over the water is one of the major factor for the rise of Khmer Civilization. | <urn:uuid:5b070ce5-842e-4683-a0b9-325eaef74d3d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.vietnambudgettour.com/webplus/viewer.asp?pgid=55&aid=1245 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00043-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.977951 | 402 | 3.625 | 4 |
GEMS Parental Engagement Programme
The GEMS Parental Engagement Programme was launched in 2009 with the goal of improving student achievement. A priority in every GEMS school, this initiative requires strategic and on-going support of parents to help further student progress. Demand for the programme is evident by the tens of thousands of parents who participate in Parental Engagement events and activities in our schools.
Schools facilitate regular opportunities for parents to understand the value of engagement and help develop their skills to assist learning at home. GEMS ensures the school infrastructure and professional development to integrate parents into teaching and learning, and provides information, tips and resources on both parenting and how to support the ‘3-a-day’ approach at home, on a dedicated Parental Engagement website, www.gemsparents.com
Each GEMS school is unique and develops Parental Engagement activities tailored to meet the needs of their community, but certain elements are expected from every school. These may include:
In addition to strong on-going parent outreach in each school, GEMS brings Parental Engagement to the centre stage of our schools across the United Arab Emirates in an annual celebration called “Parental Engagement Week.” The week is a reminder of this daily priority and highlights the most effective activities which support parents, who in turn support their child or teenager. | <urn:uuid:ea2f68ae-70be-445b-987e-92317196a0e4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.gemseducation.com/MENASA/milleniumshj0025/contents.php?pageid=90&parentid=239 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00042-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954108 | 279 | 1.976563 | 2 |
A pop filter or pop shield is an anti-pop noise protection filter for microphones, typically used in a recording studio. It serves to reduce or eliminate 'popping' sounds caused by the mechanical impact of fast moving air on the microphone during recorded speech and singing. It can also protect against the accumulation of saliva on the microphone element. Salts in human saliva are corrosive and thus use of a pop filter may prolong the life of the microphone.
A typical pop filter is composed of one or more layers of acoustically semi-transparent material such as woven nylon stretched over a circular frame, and often includes a clamp and a flexible mounting bracket. Metal pop filters use a fine mesh metal screen in place of the nylon. An improvised pop shield, functionally identical to the professional units, can be made with material from tights or stockings stretched over a kitchen sieve, embroidery hoop or a loop of wire such as a bent coat hanger. It is important that the pop shield is not attached directly to the microphone as vibrations will be transmitted from the shield to the mic.
Popping sounds occur particularly in the pronunciation of aspirated plosives (such as the first 'p' in the English word "popping"). Pop filters are designed to attenuate the energy of plosive, which otherwise might exceed the design input capacity of the microphone, leading to clipping. Pop filters do not appreciably affect hissing sounds or sibilance, which is why de-essers are used instead.
A pop filter differs from a microphone windscreen. Pop filters are generally used in a studio environment, while windscreens are typically used outdoors. Windscreens are also used by vocalists on stage to reduce plosives and saliva, though they may not be as acoustically transparent as a studio pop filter.
- Russell, Mike. "The Microphone Pop Shield". Retrieved November 17, 2012.
|Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Microphone pop filters|
|This sound technology article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.| | <urn:uuid:3ca620fb-5055-431b-8b28-efced1258799> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pop_filter | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00043-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.923151 | 426 | 2.875 | 3 |
Missouri River flooding
Tue July 5, 2011
Army Corps of Engineers criticized for timing of letters to flood-besieged farmers
The letters in question are an attempt to gauge farmers' interest in selling their lands to the federal government for wildlife habitat restoration. Farmers in Missouri and Iowa have been receiving the letters.
Missouri U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill (D) says she’s asked the Corps to stop sending the letters until after the flooding subsides.
“It almost looks like they’re preying upon folks who are down and out," McCaskill said. "I just think that it looks opportunistic and crass, and I think it’s bad manners...I think they should hold off on any attempts to buy any land until these folks have a chance to get out from underneath the water and catch their breath.”
The Missouri Farm Bureau has also called on the Army Corps of Engineers to cease and desist. President Blake Hurst says he believes the timing of the letters was a big mistake.
“I would have hoped that there was somebody there that would have looked at those letters and said, ‘Hey, wait a minute, perhaps (at a) time when literally thousands of farmers are seeing their summer’s work washed away, this might not be a good time to send those letters.’ But obviously nobody there who saw that letter had that thought," Hurst said.
The St. Joseph News-Press quotes an Army Corps of Engineers spokesman as saying that the timing of the letters was both a coincidence and a mistake. The Corps has not yet responded to our requests for comments.
Missouri River Flooding / Vaccinations
Missouri River Flooding | <urn:uuid:f9025a79-bf8a-4491-955b-dc765e9e3110> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.news.stlpublicradio.org/post/army-corps-engineers-criticized-timing-letters-flood-besieged-farmers | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00035-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.982212 | 358 | 1.726563 | 2 |
This is the twenty-fourth installment, comprising Act 4. Scene 3, chapter 9: 15-29, in the online commentary on the Gospel of Mark, which I am blogging on throughout the liturgical year. Please see the twenty-thirdinstallment here. Links to the entire series are available in one spot at The Complete Gospel of Mark Online Commentary.
This is my division of the Gospel:
Act 1, 1:14-3:6;
Act 2, 3:7-6:6;
Act 3, 6:7-8:26;
Act 4, 8:27-10:52;
Act 5, 11:1-13:37;
Act 6, 14:1-16:8(20).
Scene 3: 9:15-29
14 When they came to the disciples, they saw a great crowd around them, and some scribes arguing with them. 15 When the whole crowd saw him, they were immediately overcome with awe, and they ran forward to greet him. 16 He asked them, "What are you arguing about with them?" 17 Someone from the crowd answered him, "Teacher, I brought you my son; he has a spirit that makes him unable to speak; 18 and whenever it seizes him, it dashes him down; and he foams and grinds his teeth and becomes rigid; and I asked your disciples to cast it out, but they could not do so." 19 He answered them, "You faithless generation, how much longer must I be among you? How much longer must I put up with you? Bring him to me." 20 And they brought the boy to him. When the spirit saw him, immediately it convulsed the boy, and he fell on the ground and rolled about, foaming at the mouth. 21 Jesus asked the father, "How long has this been happening to him?" And he said, "From childhood. 22 It has often cast him into the fire and into the water, to destroy him; but if you are able to do anything, have pity on us and help us." 23 Jesus said to him, "If you are able!—All things can be done for the one who believes." 24 Immediately the father of the child cried out, "I believe; help my unbelief!" 25 When Jesus saw that a crowd came running together, he rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, "You spirit that keeps this boy from speaking and hearing, I command you, come out of him, and never enter him again!" 26 After crying out and convulsing him terribly, it came out, and the boy was like a corpse, so that most of them said, "He is dead." 27 But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he was able to stand. 28 When he had entered the house, his disciples asked him privately, "Why could we not cast it out?" 29 He said to them, "This kind can come out only through prayer." (NRSV)
As Act 4, Scene 3 opens and Jesus and Peter, James and John literally descend from the mountaintop, Mark makes it clear that there is a figurative descent as well. From the revelation of glory, they come to the nitty-gritty of daily life. Jesus and the others see the rest of the disciples who had remained on the ground arguing with some scribes, with a crowd gathered around them (9:14). This is not strange, but a normal event, and one must suspect that there was a debate concerning religious practice or interpretation of the Torah, as we have seen elsewhere in the Gospel. Something from the glory must remain with Jesus, though, for when the crowd saw him, they left the normal day-to-day attraction of a good argument – how else do cable news networks attract viewers? - and “immediately overcome with awe” they ran to Jesus (9:15). The use of euthus, “immediately,” is a common feature of Mark and a sign, I think, of both its oral origin and, perhaps more significantly, its dramatic structure and character. Mark moves his story forward with cinematic quickness. The divine remains with Jesus, the crowd sees it on him “immediately” and they move to be near him without a second thought. Leave the scribes and disciples – the numinous is near. Mark has Jesus, if you will excuse me, immediately return them to mundane, "What are you arguing about with them?" (9:16) But Mark does not follow this question up; the crowd has no chance to respond to his question or to comment on Jesus’ radiance. Scenes are constantly shifting, moving forward; our vision is turned to someone or something else. The camera keeps moving.
We do not learn the content of the argument or hear the crowd’s response to Jesus; instead, we hear the voice of a man in the crowd, with a more pressing concern: “Teacher, I brought you my son; he has a spirit that makes him unable to speak; and whenever it seizes him, it dashes him down; and he foams and grinds his teeth and becomes rigid; and I asked your disciples to cast it out, but they could not do so” (9:17-18). It is possible, of course, that this was the issue that the scribes and Jesus’ disciples were arguing about, but I tend to see the child’s struggles as a concern that initially caught their attention and then they were turned away from it by a dispute with the scribes. Their petty argumentation (and I use the word “petty” aware that the religious matters discussed might be of some significance) lead them to overlook the genuine need in their midst. It is true, though, that the man had asked Jesus’ disciples to cast out the spirit but “they could not do so.” I am suggesting that their incompetence, though, was due to their focus on their own religious arguments and not on the sick child. They passed over the truly significant matter to engage in religious disputation.
It is amazing to consider in all of the Gospels, Mark included, how often those brought to Jesus for healing, of either physical or spiritual illnesses, are children. It is fair to say that Jesus is not pleased with the response of his disciples to the father and child and in 9:19, though he generalizes his criticism to “you faithless generation, how much longer must I be among you? How much longer must I put up with you? Bring him to me,” the disciples themselves must be at the forefront of Jesus’ criticism. The picture begins to appear of disciples in two camps, scribes and those of Jesus, so immersed in their own argumentation, in striking the telling rhetorical blow against their adversaries, that the real enemy cannot be seen: a spirit which torments a child.
Jesus concentrates on the boy who is brought to him and “when the spirit saw him, immediately it convulsed the boy, and he fell on the ground and rolled about, foaming at the mouth” (9:20). From a modern medical perspective, we might be tempted to diagnose this as some sort of seizure disorder, but it is important that we maintain Jesus’ (and Mark’s) understanding of the matter. The illness is caused by a spirit and Jesus takes the time to ask, "How long has this been happening to him?" (9:21). The father tells him that it has been happening “from childhood” (9:21), which in formal descriptions of ancient age ranges begins at age 7, but might be intended simply to assert only that it has happened since he was very young. The father continues to describe the travails of the boy: “It has often cast him into the fire and into the water, to destroy him; but if you are able to do anything, have pity on us and help us” (9:22). The father begs Jesus, “if you are able,” and the verb for “able” here is a form of dynamai, which also has a sense of “power.” The father is asking, “if you have the power to do it, please heal him!”
Jesus response to the father is a challenge, to the father, the disciples and the whole crowd. He repeats the first phrase from the father, “if you have the power!”, as if to say, why rely on me? And the nature of the challenge becomes clear with the completion of the sentence: “all things can be done for the one who believes” (9:23). This phrase, though, needs some attention. The phrase rendered as “can be done” is a form of the noun dynatos, which is related of course to the verb just used by the father and Jesus. It is hard to bring out the close relationship between the two words in English, “if you have the power to do it? All things can be powerfully done for the one who has faith.” Yes, the last word is better translated as “one who has faith” than “one who believes,” as it is a form of pisteuo, which throughout this Gospel is the essential prerequisite for Jesus’ healings and, indeed, for being his disciple. Jesus can do it, he has the power, the ability, but he demands faith as a response: do you have it?
The father’s reply is dramatically Markan. For the third time in this passage (see also vv. 15 and 20) the word euthus, “immediately,” is used: “Immediately the father of the child cried out, "I believe; help my unbelief!" As earlier, I would translate the father’s cry in this manner: “I have faith (pisteuo), help my lack of faith (apistia).”
The scene rivets the crowd, who begin to run towards Jesus, the man and his son. Jesus acts, and not privately mind you, as Mark has just set the visual scene, by speaking: “You spirit that keeps this boy from speaking and hearing, I command you, come out of him, and never enter him again!” (9:25). Mark does not present the spirit as going gently into the night, but tormenting the boy one last time: “after crying out and convulsing him terribly, it came out, and the boy was like a corpse, so that most of them said, ‘He is dead,’” (9:26). But the boy was not dead and Jesus lifted him up and the boy stood up. Mark ends the scene here in a way, not giving us a wondrous crowd, a thankful and joyful father, or a boy restored. We must assume all of this, or perhaps a stunned silence, as the audience is taken to a private moment with Jesus and the disciples. It is not a new scene, though, but a dénouement of the scene just experienced. We are left to ponder what has just taken place.
The disciples ask Jesus why they did not “have the power, ”and yes, it is a form of dynamai as used earlier in the scene, in passive voice here, to cast out the spirit which tormented the boy (9:28). Jesus answer is somewhat puzzling, “This kind can come out only through prayer” (9:29). Once again, the English translation hides dynamai: “this sort of spirit cannot be empowered to be cast out unless through prayer.” My translation here is awkward, but it brings out some elements of the Greek a bit more clearly, including dynamai, which is used throughout the passage, and the negative (oudeis) which is used in the Greek, “this cannot be done without prayer.”
Surely, though, the disciples know of the goodness and need for prayer, as Jesus himself as witnessed to them; is he criticizing their attention on the scribes and arguments instead of the real enemy, the forces of sin and evil? Is he instructing them not to be so concerned with the positions of your human adversaries as with your own preparation to confront sin and evil? Prayer not only prepares them personally, it prepares them to help others where it really matters.The real enemy is not our fellow humans, but the spiritual forces which torment us.
John W. Martens
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Antiochus Of AscalonArticle Free Pass
Antiochus Of Ascalon, (born c. 120 bc—died 68 bc), Greek philosopher who followed Philo of Larissa as the head of the Academy, charting a new course for Platonism. He built up his philosophical system on a foundation of three schools: Platonism, Peripateticism, and Stoicism. Stoic ideas played the most important role in his thinking. He rebelled against two Skeptics, Arcesilaus and Carneades, both of whom had a strong influence on the direction of Platonism, and broke the ground for a more positive direction.
What made you want to look up "Antiochus Of Ascalon"? Please share what surprised you most... | <urn:uuid:81e6d517-a34e-4266-9ee5-15a162a21258> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/28408/Antiochus-Of-Ascalon | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00067-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967921 | 163 | 3.0625 | 3 |
It's one of those chores that most of us would rather avoid: Maneuvering an iron around buttons, tussling with pockets that only seem to get more wrinkled -- the frustration can make you want to pay the dry cleaner to do the work for you. But ironing a shirt doesn't have to be difficult. Here are some tips for making it a manageable task.
Tools and Materials
- Well-laundered, damp shirt
- Spray bottle
- Heavy iron
- Ironing board
Ironing a Shirt How-To
1. Begin with a well-laundered, damp shirt. Cotton and linen should be almost wet when ironing for best results. Spray the shirt with water, roll it into a ball, and keep it wrapped in a towel for up to 24 hours.
2. Spray the shirt with sizing rather than starch -- you will get a neat, but not stiff result. Allow the sizing to be absorbed into the fibers for a couple of minutes before ironing.
3. Using a heavy iron on a high setting and an ironing board with a terry-cloth cover, begin ironing the inside of the cuffs and up the tabs of the sleeves.
4. Turning the tab side of the sleeve upward, iron up the inside of the sleeve. Repeat with the other sleeve.
5. Fit the shirt smoothly over the end of the board, and iron the yoke.
6. Iron the inside-front panels. You can iron right over the buttons and the pocket from the back side of the fabric -- the buttons will be protected from the heat and the pocket will come out smooth.
7. Move on to the right-front panel, the back of the shirt, the side seams, and around to the left-front panel.
8. Spray the collar with a little sizing, stretch it taut, then iron over each side. Fold the collar neatly down, and press along the seam. Hang your impeccably pressed shirt on a hanger, buttoning the top button to hold it in place. | <urn:uuid:27f398ed-29c4-4cc5-bc8b-00f285195ede> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.marthastewart.com/247348/ironing-shirt | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00041-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.902456 | 426 | 1.640625 | 2 |
Studies have shown that cord blood stem cell transplants from a related donor have better survival rates than unrelated stem cell transplants, with fewer serious complications.10,28
Our Newborn Possibilities Program provides free access to genetically related donor stem cells to those families who qualify for the Designated Treatment Protocol.
Over 3,500 patients have participated in our Newborn Possibilities Program, which offers families free collection,* processing, and five years of storage. All families residing in the United States who meet the qualification criteria may apply.
You may be eligible for our Newborn Possibilities Program if a family member meets the following Designated Treatment Protocol assessment criteria:
- Has been diagnosed with a life-threatening disease currently treatable with a donor stem cell transplant
- Has an oncologist or attending physician who agrees stem cells may be used for treatment
- Is a full sibling or biological parent to the newborn donor — a first-degree blood relative
- Lives in the U.S.
- Has an active disease or is in recent remission
If you believe you are eligible and would like to be considered for free cord blood and tissue banking under our Newborn Possibilities Program, contact a Cord Blood Education Specialists today at 1-888-932-6568.
*CBR is not responsible for fees charged by your healthcare provider or hospital associated with the collection of your newborn’s cord blood sample or any fees associated with shipping the sample to our laboratory. | <urn:uuid:06dd6a58-6c52-4fd9-9107-82321101dccc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cordblood.com/benefits-cord-blood/family-cord-bloods | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00058-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.91688 | 300 | 1.5 | 2 |
As the flagship journal of the Society for Research in Child Development (SRCD), Child Development has published articles, essays, reviews, and tutorials on various topics in the field of child development since 1930. Spanning many disciplines, the journal provides the latest research, not only for researchers and theoreticians, but also for child psychiatrists, clinical psychologists, psychiatric social workers, specialists in early childhood education, educational psychologists, special education teachers, and other researchers. In addition to six issues per year of Child Development, subscribers to the journal also receive a full subscription to Child Development Perspectives and Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development.
Teachers' gestures boost math learning
Students perform better when their instructors use hand gestures – a simple teaching tool that could yield benefits in higher-level math such as algebra.
Boston Public Schools' prekindergarten program boosts children's skills
Boston Public Schools' prekindergarten program is substantially improving children's readiness to start kindergarten, according to a new study of more than 2,000 children enrolled there. The program uses research-based curricula ...
Motivation, study habits—not IQ—determine growth in math achievement
It's not how smart students are but how motivated they are and how they study that determines their growth in math achievement. That's the main finding of a new study that appears in the journal Child Development.
Jamaican teen immigrants do better when they retain strong ties to original culture
Many young Jamaican immigrants are succeeding in the United States precisely because they remain strongly tied to Jamaican culture, said University of Illinois professor Gail M. Ferguson.
Homelessness, high mobility threaten children's achievement
Children who are homeless or move frequently have chronically lower math and reading skills than other low-income students who don't move as much.
Comparison of immigrant children in four nations shows strengths, lags
Young children whose families immigrate to Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States are as prepared and capable of starting school as their native-born counterparts, with one exception—vocabulary and ...
Teachers, school climate key to Latino immigrants' academic success
Teachers and schools that value diversity have a big impact on the academic experiences of Latino immigrant children living in predominantly White communities. That's the finding of a new study by researchers at the University ...
Mixed findings emerge on immigrant families' home environments
Despite often living in poor neighborhoods, immigrant Mexican mothers report few conflicts at home, support from spouses, and strong mental health. At the same time, these moms say they are less likely to read with their ...
Children of immigrants have advantage in academics, school engagement
Children of immigrants are outperforming children whose family trees have deeper roots in the United States, learning more in school and then making smoother transitions into adulthood, according to sociologists at The Johns ... | <urn:uuid:25c8bbcd-2665-4456-843c-6a378b013304> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://phys.org/journals/child-development/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00074-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947293 | 587 | 2.828125 | 3 |
Wonderful Definitions of Designations at Office
1) Project Manager is a Person who thinks nine women can deliver a baby in One month.
2) Developer is a Person who thinks it will take 18 months to deliver a Baby.
3) Onsite Coordinator is one who thinks single woman can deliver nine babies in one month.
4) Client is the one who doesn't know why he wants a baby.
5) Marketing Manager is a person who thinks he can deliver a baby even if no man and woman are available.
6) Resource Optimization Team thinks they don't need a man or woman; they'll produce a child with zero resources.
7) Documentation Team thinks they don't care whether the child is delivewhite, they'll just document 9 months.
8) Quality Auditor is the person who is never happy with the PROCESS to Produce a baby. and lastly……………..
9) Tester is a person who always tells his wife that this is not the Right baby.
10) Team Lead is a person actually knows how many men and women requiwhite to deliver the baby , but will not tell anyone. | <urn:uuid:82e55019-4239-4769-822d-552bf8bd35ad> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.teluguone.com/comedy/content/Wonderful-Definitions-of-Designations-s1-34-7663.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00063-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.929543 | 236 | 2.328125 | 2 |
Six HitsTrivia brain teasers have some element of trivia in them, but they are not just pure trivia questions.
I saw my friend Bob at the bar. He was drinking heavily and looked really down. I asked him, "What's the matter?"
He said, "My baseball team just got six hits in an inning and yet they didn't score a single run!"
I said, "That's impossible!"
HintRemember the rules
AnswerThe first batter got a single. He was then thrown out trying to steal second. One hit, one out, no runs.
The next batter got a double and was thrown out trying to stretch it into a triple. Two hits, two outs, no runs.
The next three batters each got a single, with each runner moving up one base on each hit. Five hits, two outs, no runs.
The last batter hit a ground ball between first and second which struck the runner who was leading off from first. By the rules, the batter is credited with a hit, the runner is called out, and the inning is over. Six hits, three outs, no runs.
I told Bob, "The next round's on me."
See another brain teaser just like this one...
Or, just get a random brain teaser
If you become a registered user you can vote on this brain teaser, keep track of
which ones you have seen, and even make your own.
Back to Top | <urn:uuid:1f3aa6cf-e88d-4880-8ade-a02387287aab> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.braingle.com/brainteasers/teaser.php?op=2&id=26637&comm=0 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00022-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.980006 | 301 | 1.773438 | 2 |
TWO IMPORTANT SUPREME COURT VICTORIES FOR CLEAN AIR
Chicago - The U.S. Supreme Court today handed down two important Clean Air Act decisions. In Massachusetts v. EPA, the court ruled that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) has the authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from automobiles that scientists say contribute to global warming and climate change.
The US EPA had argued that under the Clean Air Act, it did not have sufficient statutory authority to enforce such measures. Illinois joined Massachusetts and 10 environmental organizations as petitioners in the case.
“Today’s Supreme Court victory is an important first step in ensuring that the US EPA takes all appropriate action to effectively deal with climate change,” said Attorney General Lisa Madigan.
The Supreme Court also today unanimously turned back a Clean Air Act New Source Review challenge by Duke Energy Corporation regarding a Virginia power plant. Illinois filed an amicus brief in Environmental Defense Fund v. Duke Energy Corp. in support of the US EPA’s contention that companies who make changes to polluting facilities such as power plants and refineries must update their pollution control equipment whenever those changes increase the total amount of pollution emitted annually – for example, where the changes allow the plant to operate more hours per day or more days per year. Duke Energy had argued that the control equipment upgrades were only required for expansions of plant capacity that result in more pollution emitted per hour.“The U.S. Supreme Court today preserved the clear provisions of the Clean Air Act, which safeguard the air we breathe from factories, refineries and power plants by requiring modern pollution controls on plants that increase their emissions,” said Madigan. “The court recognized that these controls have to be installed not just on the rare occasions when companies expand plant capacity, but whenever they make changes that result in more pollution over time.”
- 30 - | <urn:uuid:a1d90707-f7b6-4116-95c9-a8ccd3d774f9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.illinoisattorneygeneral.gov/pressroom/2007_04/20070402.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00040-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.941738 | 389 | 2.625 | 3 |
Electric rates in Ashland will go up by 5.3 percent on Jan. 1, costing the typical residential customer another $3.45 each month.
The Ashland City Council unanimously but reluctantly approved the increase Tuesday night.
Earlier this year, the council approved a 12.7 percent water-bill hike and 10 percent sewer-rate increase.
Increase typical customer will see after Jan. 1
"It is frustrating," Councilor Greg Lemhouse said. "We seem to be chasing our tails with water rates and electricity rates."
Ashland is faced with rising wholesale power and electricity transmission charges from the Bonneville Power Administration. The Ashland Electric Department is further burdened because it must shoulder a share of the Ashland Fiber Network's debt burden, City Administrator Dave Kanner said.
Launched in the late 1990s to provide high-speed Internet and cable-television service, AFN sank $15.5 million into debt before stemming the financial bleeding by selling off its money-losing cable-television side.
AFN still sells high-speed Internet service and is able to make part of its debt payments.
Ashland addresses the rest of the debt with property taxes, reduced spending for other city departments, and asking other departments to contribute toward the debt.
Despite the challenges for the Electric Department and the coming rate increase in January, Ashland residents still will pay less for electricity than people in other communities who rely on Pacific Power.
A typical residential Pacific Power bill is $80.67 per month, compared with $65.24 per month for an Ashland customer who uses the same amount of electricity, according to data collected by city staff.
The typical residential bill in Ashland will go up to $68.69 per month in January, according to the data.
Ashland could face a greater escalation of electricity rates in the future if it can't improve on its already strong track record of electricity conservation.
BPA sets electricity-use benchmarks for communities, and if communities go over those benchmarks, they must pay 35 percent more for the so-called "tier-two power" they use.
BPA projects that Ashland will need to begin buying that higher-cost, tier-two power in 2015, city officials said.
Staff reporter Vickie Aldous can be reached at 541-479-8199 or firstname.lastname@example.org. | <urn:uuid:abeae405-206f-4238-be36-34e83729df0c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.dailytidings.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20121123/NEWS02/211230315/-1/NEWS | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00056-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.929488 | 493 | 1.671875 | 2 |
Nikolas Evans was a 21-year-old college student when he was attacked outside an Austin bar and fell to the ground, hitting his head. He died ten days later. He had no wife, no children, and no fiancé.
Should he now become a father?
In a case that has raised as many eyebrows as ethical questions, Nikolas Evans’s mother went to court and obtained a judge’s order allowing her dead son’s sperm to be collected so that she could have a surrogate produce a grandchild for her.
“I just thought about how much I loved my son and how much I loved raising him, and how sad I was that he wasn’t going to be here anymore,” Marissa Evans said. “And if I could find a way to have a grandbaby to raise, that it might make my heart heal a little.”
Ms. Evans—who also has a 22-year-old son—said Nikolas often spoke of having three boys, and had even chosen names for them: Hunter, Tod, and Van. “As the mother of a son I knew so well,” she said, “I feel he would have wanted me to do this.”
While Nikolas Evans may have told his mother he wanted children someday, a philosophy professor said, it’s wrong to assume he also would have wanted to father a child posthumously if he died prematurely. “This is a tough way for a kid to come into the world,” said a university ethicist. “As the details emerge and the child learns more about their origins, I just wonder what the impact will be on a ‘replacement child.’”
Though legal experts and medical ethicists say the case may be precedent-setting, for many it remains unsettling. “Imagine a close relative strip-mining your body for the material to create children you never consented to have,” said a Texas newspaper editorial. “Privacy rights end when you die, of course, but to have one’s next of kin making such a profound, and profoundly intimate, choice for one after death will strike many people as a gross violation of personal sovereignty.”
Tell us what you think: Is pursuing a grandchild in this manner responsible? Should there be laws to govern the use of a deceased son’s sperm? If so, what should the legal boundaries be? | <urn:uuid:943bb123-5bf7-48b6-9fa3-aed2f82f8ff4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://responsibility-project.libertymutual.com/blog/should-a-dead-man-become-a-dad- | 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 | 0.981524 | 515 | 1.523438 | 2 |
The Women's Studies Lecture Series is an annual event for male and female students, spouses, and friends of GRTS that promotes awareness about issues related to gender and diversity from a Christian Worldview. Various guest lecturers present on topics that are related to relevant issues associated with ministry and current academic research. This free evening event provides a forum that fosters thoughtful dialogue and conversations that are an extension of our women's studies cognate which is embedded in many of our Master's Degree programs at GRTS.
The next lecture will take place on Thursday, March 28, 2013 at 7pm in the Leon J. Wood seminary building at Grand Rapids Theololgical Seminary.
Little Things Mean A Lot: From Racial Micro-Inequities to Racial Micro-aggressions
"Many of us experience, or know someone who experiences, daily messages that cause us to feel either excluded or included, engaged or discouraged, and valued or overlooked. It is the little things that mean a lot, that often tip the scale in favor of a pleasant or unpleasant work environment." Dr. Loyd-Paige will present an overview of concepts related to racial micro-aggression and micro-affirmations. Examples of micro-aggressions will be presented and participants will have an opportunity to explore ways to prevent or reduce micro-aggressions. | <urn:uuid:7776c969-49a4-46b1-9bda-80e23fb6c370> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cornerstone.edu/grts-womens-studies-lecture-series | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00052-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.938908 | 275 | 2.078125 | 2 |
The Petraeus Affair Affair is salacious stuff. It also, naturally, raises a lot of questions about privacy. But there’s also an interesting First Amendment angle underneath the sensation: why did the FBI investigate Paula Broadwell—the Petraeus biographer and paramour who allegedly sent “harassing” emails to Tampa housewife Jill Kelley—in the first place? The Daily Beast reported Tuesday that none of the Broadwell emails contained “overt threats,” and really amounted to “cat-fight stuff” (a source’s words, not mine). Further, it appears the email that initially prompted Kelley to go to the FBI (titled “kelleypatrol”) was forwarded by General Allen, not sent directly. And, apparently, prosecutors expressed doubt that any of the emails constituted a threat.
I’m guessing that these discussions arose in the context of the federal “cyber-stalking” law, which I wrote about here and here. If, in fact, the underlying Broadwell emails were merely “cat-fight stuff,” FBI reliance on the cyber-stalking statute to conduct the investigation would highlight the serious dangers inherent in laws that sweep too broadly in their attempt to get at potentially threatening speech.
It is certainly true that you don’t have a constitutional right to physically threaten someone. One of the very few categories of speech that the Supreme Court has consistently held to be outside the scope of the First Amendment’s protections is the “true threat.” But, the actual definition of a “true threat” is narrow, as it should be. In many of the cases discussing the proper definition, courts have identified a few limitations to prevent “true threat” doctrine from reaching protected speech. These include requirements that (1) the speaker intend to communicate a threat, (2) that the threatened harm be reasonably immediate (it can’t be “I’m going to get you one of these days”), and (3) that the person receiving the threat have an objectively reasonable basis to believe it will be carried out (in other words, the victim can’t be oversensitive).
Despite these judicial limitations, in the age of the internet, legislators often introduce two problems into cyber-stalking and cyber-harassment laws. One, such laws are often drafted very broadly to cover speech that is either purely private (think about keeping a diary on your computer) or totally public (tweeting or blogging where the intended recipient can “avert her eyes,” sometimes called “one-to-many” speech to distinguish it from one-on-one communications).
The second problem—which is at issue in the Petraeus Affair—is when the laws are written to cover speech other than direct physical threats (or physically threatening intimidation or harassment, as when a stalker stalks a target). Under current federal law, you can be prosecuted for speech that is intended to and results in “substantial emotional distress,” which is undefined and has been used by prosecutors to cover merely offensive or uncomfortable speech. If I had to guess, I imagine that the lawyers looking at the emails told the FBI that there was a weak but colorable case that the Broadwell emails qualified as emotionally “distressing.” (It is true that the federal statute reaches “harass[ing]” and “intimidat[ing]” speech, though the number and nature of the emails here seems inconsistent for a pattern of true harassment, and intimidation usually requires some kind of physical threat, even if implied.)
Expanding cyber-stalking law to speech that is merely uncomfortable (as opposed to a true threat of violence) is troubling in and of itself, but there’s one more potential scenario that’s also of concern: did the FBI use an overbroad cyber-stalking statute as pretext to engage in a wide-ranging counter-intelligence investigation? Successful cyber-stalking prosecutions tend to follow a typical pattern (and are often related, tragically, to underlying domestic abuse). Under the First Amendment, prosecutors probably shouldn’t proceed under a simple allegation of “emotional distress” absent some underlying intimidation, harassment or actual threat to cause physical injury. If the FBI loosely used the federal cyber-stalking law as an excuse for a massive fishing expedition under a bare emotional distress theory, that should be of serious concern to us all.
Details continue to emerge in L’Affaire Petraeus, and it’s possible the FBI and federal prosecutors used a different legal theory to conduct the investigation. Nevertheless, as we’ve already pointed out here, the scandal shows the dramatic sophistication of the modern surveillance state, and the cyber-stalking angle is just one piece of that larger troubling story. | <urn:uuid:859c5c14-1d83-45df-b672-46b191118886> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.aclu.org/blog/free-speech-national-security-technology-and-liberty/petraeus-and-perils-federal-cyber-stalking | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952203 | 1,009 | 1.578125 | 2 |
Chicken Houses for Orphans
How do you finance an orphanage in rural Ecuador? One orphanage has decided to raise chickens that not only supply a steady income for the center, but food for the kids as well. Students in OM Andean Region's mission training program are constructing the chicken houses as a short-term mission project. It is all part of a two-month training program: four weeks of classes, one retreat week, and four weeks of practical service. The houses were built for the Shalom Foundation, a Christian orphanage where OM Ecuador volunteers every week.
Pray for the children at the orphanage, for the workers, and for God's continued provision through creative programs like these. | <urn:uuid:465cf6e7-72e5-4534-ab12-669c977123d5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.omusa.org/what-we-do/relief-and-development/business-as-mission/chicken-houses-for-ophans | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963963 | 143 | 1.945313 | 2 |
The Place: Japan. The Time: The not-so-distant-future. Faced with the prospect of losing control over the nation's young people, a totalitarian government decides upon a ruthless demonstration of power. The Battle Royale Act annually sends a randomly-selected class of highschool students to an uninhabited island where they are compelled to kill each other until only one of their number survives.
The reasoning behind this bizarre piece of legislation is perhaps the weakest part of the plot - but the Director deftly causes us to suspend disbelief by drawing us surely and touchingly into the feelings of the young cast. Unlike many western movies which trot out a body count of simplistic characters who are only there to die horribly for our entertainment, Battle Royale somehow manages to rapidly introduce us to the story's potential victims and make us care about them.
We are deliberately disoriented by blackly humorous elements - most notably the video taped instructions delivered by a relentlessly hyper female presenter; like a living cartoon character, she mockingly tells the children to think of her as their new big sister and urges them to ‘fight with gusto’. As the class is issued with their survival packs (containing food, water, a flashlight and a randomly-issued weapon which might be as deadly as a shotgun or as useless as a paper fan), we see them react in a variety of realistic ways - some are numbed with terror; some decline to kill; others rush outside and prepare to ambush their former friends.
You will read reviews that describe this film as excessively violent. I believe that this is a gross overstatement. Though there are many deaths and not a little blood, the main emphasis is upon simple human values - issues such as trust, friendship, love and hate - which the competition tests to their very limits. Children who have little genuine experience of living are forced to evaluate their relationships with each other if they want to stay alive. Alliances are formed and broken; long suppressed crushes and barely buried antagonisms influence their decisions.
There are no easy or mindless deaths in this film. The violent scenes make the point that violence and death are not cool or funny. This is not Kill Bill; every character in Battle Royale has value as a living, breathing human being. It may sound corny to say that the movie is an emotional rollercoaster ride, but it truly is - having dared to give us three dimensional people who bleed when they are cut, the Director sometimes dares to cruelly follow scenes of tragedy with jarring moments of biting, dark and sarcastic wit.
We are given subtle hints that the game is rigged and that the class has not really been 'chosen by impartial lottery'. The adults who manage the contest have hidden agendas; disconcertingly, their own behaviour does not make them good role models for the young 'delinquents' they are supposedly attempting to reform. Their leader - one of the students' former teachers - is revealed (like many of the S.S. men who ran the Nazi concentration camps) to be a failure in life outside the game. Uninspiring as a teacher and unloved and unrespected as a father, he receives such bitterly contemptuous 'phone calls from his own daughter that we almost feel pity for him. Yet, this emotionally-crippled man ultimately shows himself to be unexpectedly capable of an unconventional brand of compassion.
If this was an American movie, the class would be played by people in their twenties and thirties. Two or three of the students would be given a lot of screen time and the rest would be faceless cannon fodder. Five seconds after the opening titles, you would know who was going to survive. Despite its odd premise, Battle Royale seems closer to reality because its teenagers really are teenagers and it allows no comforting certainties about who lives or dies.
The true genius of Battle Royale lies in the ensemble playing of the entire cast. Although young, not one of them strikes a dud note and the script gives almost all of the students a chance to shine at some point. The fight scenes are not staged in the style of 'Enter The Dragon' - the kids are not weapons experts or Karate champions. We see them kill each other but we are not invited to hate them - they are, after all, children. They are scared and desperate.
Some reviewers have criticised aspects of the dialogue as unrealistic. There are certainly times when the script seems stagey - but it is important to remember that these Japanese children are products of a national culture which often finds the expression of passionate emotions problematical. If anything, the formal phrasing and awkwardness of their most heartfelt expressions only serves to make them more meaningful.
The Special Edition ends (quite literally) with a question. You will find yourself going back to this movie time and time again to answer it. Each viewing is rewarded with details that you probably missed previously - the depth of characterisation and the layers of hidden-in-plain-sight clues continually allow you to understand the story from fresh perspectives. | <urn:uuid:02b0b37a-1bef-4036-9e1f-38a38bec7f2c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.amazon.co.uk/Battle-Royale-Disc-Edition-Blu-ray/dp/B004CSKCS6 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968883 | 1,024 | 1.53125 | 2 |
Computer Science and Marketing: A Developing Relationship
Computer science was birthed as a solitary discipline with its roots in mathematics. It eventually became a standard degree program and gained widespread acceptance as it overcame the challenges of a once-skeptical intellectual environment. Yet, as the field expanded and the internet dominated the territory, the union of marketing and complex algorithms started to form a new school of thought that is just beginning to catch fire.
The Link to Marketing
The search engine Google, arguably the king of the internet, in 2008, offered a $50,000 grant entitled “Google and WPP Marketing Research Awards Program.” Today, it offers 11 research proposals of $80,000 each. Its purpose was to fund academic research for media interaction, relevance measurement, verticals and new media, and audience engagement.
The awards program website lists the following:
We encourage creative theory development and empirical analysis to help solve marketing and advertising problems, so a wide range of methodologies and approaches are welcome. In order to facilitate research in these areas, Google and WPP will make available useful marketing data to qualified academics conducting research in this program.
This passage suggests applying a computer science model to assist with devising solutions to marketing issues. Google welcomes all approaches and scientific data with an emphasis placed on creativity.
Image Credit: Depositphotos.com
In his blog, Chief Marketing technologist Scott Brinker discusses the future of computer science and how it will bleed into the marketing industry. He mentioned an MIT talk in which Christos Papadimitriou, computer science expert, referred to “computer science as the new math.” Scott referred to this definition and alluded to the fact that the field is slowly becoming applicable to many industries instead of being an isolated discipline. Christos cited marked breakthroughs where composter science influenced the physics, biology and social science sectors.
Computer science has now become a major constituent of the social sciences as it relates to the internet. The dynamic of social networking is improved by understanding how people behave and their patterns, which can be measured scientifically. Marketers can utilize this data to improve their methods and more effectively reach people and covert them to buying customers. According to Scott, “Computational problems in marketing are sounding more and more like theoretical computer science dissertations.”
The Marketing Connection
Marketing has become more technologically oriented. By simply researching the aspects of web analytics and search engine optimization, we see scientific formulas and complex algorithms used to determine a rich user experience. Google’s own algorithm has been prodded, tweaked and improved by programmers of all disciplines. Marketers have been plotting away in an attempt to discover the hidden details of this complex algorithm to rank their websites higher in the search engine results.
Scott believes marketers who possess knowledge of technology have a competitive edge. With a plethora of new technologies dangled in front of marketers tempting them to increase their skills, it is evident that a relationship between the two fields would greatly work in one’s favor. Similar to how copywriting has presently become an integral component of online marketing, computer science will soon be one spoke of the marketing wheel that helps the industry seamlessly roll into its new level of influence. According to Scott, “The worldview of computer science needs to be cross-pollinated throughout marketing, even if it emanates from only a small percentage of the team.”
Colleges and universities are discovering the link between computer science and a higher level of success in the workplace. As a result, many are offering computer science as courses in “unrelated” degree programs or encouraging graduates of other disciplines to earn a computer science degree.
The University of Tennessee at Martin offers a management degree that includes classes such as Entrepreneurship, Marketing, and Computer science. Oregon State University introduced a new degree concept that will allow students who earned a bachelor’s degree to participate in an online bachelor’s degree program in computer science. The school believes the degree will enhance students’ careers regardless of the industry to create more value in the workplace.
According to Terri Fiez, head of the OSU School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, “The need for expertise in computer science has now become so pervasive that these skills can be paired with almost any type of other college degree to create something more valued than either one would be separately. Industry experts we’re working with are thrilled with this idea. We call it ‘one plus one equals three’.”
These positive results are the catalysts for the expansion of this exciting new relationship. Only time will tell how far it will go, but according to present statistics, the future looks promising
Computer science is permeating many industries and spreading virally. The influence on marketing has proven to enhance the way people measure, collect and apply data. Article Courtesy of Southern New Hampshire University’s Online College Degree Programs.
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- How to move forward when Debt is Dragging you Down - May 17, 2013 | <urn:uuid:105c1f70-4608-4d40-8cc3-5e4f6d41cd9e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://inspirationfeed.com/articles/technology-articles/computer-science-and-marketing-a-developing-relationship/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00045-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.933916 | 1,211 | 2.3125 | 2 |
War and its aftermath serve as powerful motivators for the elaboration and transmission of individual, communal, and national histories. These histories both reflect and constitute human experience as they contour social memory and produce their truth effects. These histories use the past in a creative manner, combining and recombining elements of that past in service to interests in the present. In this sense, the conscious appropriation of history involves both memory and forgetting—both being dynamic processes permeated with intentionality.
In this essay I explore the political use of the narratives being elaborated in rural villages in the department of Ayacucho regarding the internal war that convulsed Peru for some fifteen years. I suggest that each narrative has a political intent and assumes both an internal and external audience. Indeed, the deployment of war narratives has much to do with forging new relations of power, ethnicity, and gender that are integral to the contemporary politics of the region. These new relations impact the construction of democratic practices and the model of citizenship being elaborated in the current context. | <urn:uuid:3684390f-c1ce-410d-aff9-04a60caa661a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wcfia.harvard.edu/node/4488 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00072-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951751 | 206 | 2.28125 | 2 |
Report Claims No Pakistani Civilian Deaths From Drones in 2012
Civilian deaths due to drone strikes in Pakistan are falling rapidly, and the death rate is now close to zero — or so asserts a New America Foundation (NAF) report.
The report was authored by Peter Bergen and Jennifer Rowland of NAF, a public policy think tank based in Washington, D.C. Bergen is the cable news channel CNN’s national security analyst and a director of NAF, and Rowland is a program associate.
The report states that since 2004, there have been 310 drone strikes in northwest Pakistan, killing between 1,870 and 2,873 individuals, of whom 1,577 to 2,402 were described as militants in reliable press accounts. This would put the overall civilian fatality rate at 16%.
Bergen and Rowland say that they used data compiled by the NAF, and the most “reliable press sources” which include The New York Times, Reuters, The Washington Post, and the Associated Press, to name a few, and leading English media outlets in Pakistan: Dawn, Express Tribune, and Geo TV.
However, some skeptics challenge the accuracy of the report, based on NAF’s statistical database.
Chris Woods of the Bureau for Investigative Journalism (TBIJ) believes that NAF has not only underestimated the number of strikes and civilian deaths, but adds that civilian death percentages need to be treated with extreme caution.
“It [NAF] relies only on a small number of media reports immediately following a strike. Sometimes we learn crucial facts days, weeks, or even months after an initial attack,” he told IPS.
“In February of this year, for example, a major investigation by Associated Press, based on 80 eyewitness testimonies from civilians in Waziristan, found previously unknown evidence of civilian deaths in 20% of the sampled strikes. Unfortunately, NAF has not incorporated these important findings into its data,” said Woods.
TBIJ’s own data puts the total number of drone strikes at 355, with a minimum of 2,513 people killed, of whom between 482 and 835 were civilians.
CNN’s controversial graph released with the report puts civilian deaths at zero for 2012.
Muhammad Idrees Ahmad, a sociologist and journalist, is scathing in his criticism of the report.
“NAF plays fast and loose with its statistics, and in some cases it deliberately misreports,” he told IPS. “Two particularly egregious cases where civilian casualties were actually reported even in the U.S. press were either omitted or misreported in the database.”
For example, as reported by Ahmed for al-Jazeera, 82 children were killed at a seminary in Bajaur on Oct. 30, 2006. The NAF database continues to list the number as “80 militants.”
In another incident on Aug. 14, 2010, the AP reported seven civilian deaths, which are still listed as seven “militant” deaths in the database.
Likening Bergen’s report to propaganda, Ahmed argues that there are no “reliable press accounts” when it comes to Pakistan’s Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA). He says that the redefinition of the term “militant” — which now encompasses any male citizen over the age of 18 in a combat zone — has not only skewed reporting figures, but also given license to more indiscriminate targeting.
Not one to cut the Pakistani government any slack, Ahmed says that it is in the interest of the United States as well as Pakistani authorities to lowball the figures. Pakistani officials would want to minimize public anger and outrage, and reporting militant deaths plays well to this particular stance.
“The Pakistani government doesn’t even make an effort to confirm the identity or category of the victims. I’ve asked people in FATA. They confirm that no one from the Pakistani government/military ever visits after an attack to confirm who the actual victims were. It’s convenient to declare them all ‘militant,’” said Ahmed. | <urn:uuid:722639f7-4c82-4839-900d-9856f76d61dc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ikners.com/2012/07/18/civilian-deaths-from-drones-in-pakistan/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956469 | 871 | 1.546875 | 2 |
Specialized Therapy Services
To Maintain And To Improve Your Health As One Gets Older.
Our goal is to provide care that is exceptional. We achieve this by assessing the unique aspects of a patient's condition and then developing a recovery plan tailored to their specific needs. Together we can work to help patients live longer, healthier lives.
Aquatic Rehabilitation To Optimize Your Strength, Motion And Function
A warm, safe environment is provided by using buoyancy and the properties of water in order to improve flexibility, strength, stabilization, and gait training. Aquatic therapy in combination with a land-based program is used to treat a variety of neurologic and musculoskeletal dysfunctions to gain patient independence.
If you suffer from severe pain due to back, neck, shoulder, knee or ankle problems or are recovering from surgery, aquatic therapy can help you start realizing the benefits of movement more quickly and with far less pain than on land.
With help of our professional Aquatic Therapy team we will work with your physician to build an aquatic rehabilitation program that will optimize your strength, motion and function in an aquatic environment.
Make An Appointment With An IRG Aquatic Clinic
ASTYM- Augmented Soft Tissue Mobilization
Our Goal Is To Help Patients Regain Full Hand And Upper Extremity Function
The ASTYM - Augmented Soft Tissue Mobilization-system is a non-invasive treatment which effectively treats a wide variety of musculoskeletal disorders. The ASTYM system allows the clinician to stimulate the body’s own capacity for healing in patients with soft tissue degeneration, scarring/fibrosis or chronic conditions.
The clinician certified in ASTYM system uses patented instruments to evaluate the tissue, locating dysfunctional soft tissue through the resonance of the instruments and creating stimulation from the instruments that initiates a healing response.
Patients with the following diagnoses have demonstrated excellent results when treated with the ASTYM system. Any patient that may have fibrosis, scaring or soft tissue degeneration as a component of their dysfunction may benefit as well.
Patients With The Following Diagnoses Have Demonstrated Excellent Results With ASTYM:
- Lateral epicondylitis
- Carpal tunnel syndrome
- DeQuervain’s tenosynovitis
- Trigger finger
- Joint contractures
- IT band syndrome
- Patellar tendinitis
- Anterior knee pain
- Shin splints
- Chronic ankle sprains
- Plantar fasciitis/heel pain
- Achilles tendinitis
- Other forms of tendinitis & tendinopathies
Make An Appointment With An IRG ASTYM Clinic
IRG Specializes In Developing Innovative, Practical Solutions To Some Of The Most Challenging Ergonomics Problems
Ergonomics is a tool used by employers to enhance employee interface with the work area, job tasks, and work systems. IRG has developed specialized risk control consulting services to provide your company with the assistance needed to minimize post injury losses, while maximizing efficiency and comfort in the workplace.
IRG specializes in developing innovative, practical solutions to some of the most challenging ergonomics problems in manufacturing and service industries.
Applied Effectively, Ergonomics Is A Tool That Can Be Used In Manufacturing And Service Industries To:
- Lower workers’ compensation costs
- Reduce injury rates
- Reduce absenteeism
- Increase productivity
- Improve quality of work
- Lower turnover rates
- Benefit employee morale
- Maintain regulatory compliance
- Adapt to an aging workforce - 2008: 62 million people will be 45 and older (group will comprise 40% of US labor force)* - 2008: 25 million workers will be over the age of 55 (48% increase)*
* Marvin V. Greene, Not the Same Old Story, Safety+Health, October 2004
Fall And Balance Prevention
Among Older Americans, Fall-Related Injuries Are The Leading Cause Of Death
Fear of falling, to some degree, has been reported to occur in 12% to 65% of older adults who live independently in the community and do not have a history of falling. Among Americans aged 65 and older, fall-related injuries are the leading cause of death due to unintentional injuries, highlighting the importance of fall prevention as part of a safety program.
It has shown that individualized multi-dimensional exercise programs yield significant improvements in balance measure, mobility measures, and decreased fall risk.
We Have Trained Therapists And Programs In Place To Assist In Case You Have:
- Decreased ability to balance?
- Difficulty getting up from a seated position?
- Decreased activity level due to fear of falling?
Make An Appointment With A Fall And Balance Prevention Clinic
Massage Is A Popular Therapy Used To Relieve Muscle Tension, Spasms, Inflammation, Fluid Retention, Aches, Stiffness, And Pain.
Other benefits include improved circulation (blood and lymph), general flexibility, range of motion, and increased tissue elasticity (e.g. scar tissue).
During treatment, the MASSAGE therapist may include localized massage (e.g. low back or neck) as a prelude to exercise. Massage increases circulation and warms muscles and other soft tissues (e.g. tendons, ligaments). Other types of massage include full-body massage, which often leaves the patient feeling relaxed and free of anxiety.
To enjoy the benefits of massage which have been discussed, it is best to receive a therapeutic massage from a practitioner who has blended a thorough knowledge of anatomy, physiology, kinesiology, and massage technique with a sensitive, powerful touch and the healing sense.
How Does Massage Work To Relax Muscles?
As the therapist uses their hands or specialized tools to rhythmically knead, rub, and stroke (effluerage) muscles, circulation is stimulated. Blood flow delivers oxygen and nutrients, and is key to helping muscles eliminate waste products such as lactic acid that may collect in muscles from spasms causing pain. Following trauma, muscles may act as mini-splints to protect and limit motion, similar to a cast on a broken arm. A typical example is a person who uses a computer for a prolonged time period without taking a break to stretch the neck. The result: stiff neck, aching, even pain. Taking periodic breaks to rub (mini-massage) and stretch the neck will promote circulation to the muscles.
Make An Appointment With An IRG Massage Therapy Clinic
IRG Clinics Have Qualified Staff To Assist You With State-Of-The-Art, High-Quality, Cost-Effective Care.
Who Should Be Considered As A Candidate For Orthotics?
Custom orthotics are shoe inserts created from plaster molds of the feet. The goals of custom orthotics are to limit abnormal foot motions, provide pressure relief, and accommodate structural deformities of the feet. Often, by impacting foot function, knee, hip, and/or low back dysfunctions are positively affected.
Who would benefit from Orthotics?
A variety of conditions can be helped. Often persons with lower extremity injuries of no known origin have foot problems that can contribute. In addition to most foot problems, orthotics are often used in the treatment of anterior knee pain (patello-femoral joint syndrome), illio-tibial band syndrome, hip tendonitis/bursitis, low-back pain.
Make An Appointment With An IRG Orthotics Clinic
Vestibular Rehabilitation is an exercise approach to treating symptoms of dizziness associated with peripheral vestibular pathology.
Recent studies have shown that patients often benefit from rehabilitation exercises that enhance the central nervous system's adaptation process to inner ear dysfunction, increase the patient’s postural stability, or relieve the specific symptoms. Our therapists have specialized training in vestibular rehabilitation programs and understand the needs of this population. We place great importance on patient education throughout the recovery process and make it our goal to educate and assist patients in self-management of their symptoms.
Vestibular Rehabilitation Services Incude:
- Consultation to determine rehabilitation potential for complaints of dizziness and unsteadiness with a probable vestibular etiology
- Comprehensive examinations to establish baseline function and document change over time
- Development of a customized rehabilitation program designed to improve symptoms and restore function
Make An Appointment With A Vestibular Rehabilitation Clinic
Women's Health Therapy
Women's health therapy is a specialized form of physical therapy that encompasses exercises and education to treat the unique problems of women.
Who Should Be Considered As A Candidate For Women's health therapy?
Women’s health therapy is a specialized form of physical therapy that encompasses exercises and education to treat the unique problems of women. An estimated 15 million women in the U.S. experience problems relating to incontinence, as well as pelvic pain, interstitial cystitis, osteoporosis, pelvic dysfunction, and pre and post pregnancy concerns. Our Women’s Health Program consists of a comprehensive treatment plan for these conditions.
Comprehensive Treatment Plan Includes:
- Examination of the muscles, pelvic joints, and nerves surrounding the pelvis
- Internal or external biofeedback for pain or incontinence
- Exercise programs appropriate to the medical needs of
- Pain management and relief
Make An Appointment With An IRG Womens Health Therapy
Pediatric Physical Therapy
A pediatric physical therapist specializes in helping children attain their gross motor and developmental milestones.
Who Should Be Considered As A Candidate For pediatric physical therapy?
A pediatric physical therapist specializes in helping children attain their gross motor and developmental milestones. We work with children to help them achieve their maximum potential and independence by facilitating motor development, improving function and overall coordination, increasing strength and balance, and promoting family involvement. We treat children from birth through adolescence, and collaborate with the families and other medical specialists in order to develop the best plan of care for each child.
The following are signs that a child may require physical therapy intervention:
- Difficulty attaining developmental milestones such as rolling, sitting, crawling, walking, jumping, etc.
- Decreased coordination and/or balance
- Decreased mobility
- Decreased range of motion
- Status post surgery
- Stiffness or laxity in joints and/or muscles
- Consultation regarding equipment such as walkers, wheelchairs, orthotics, etc.
Make An Appointment With Lisa Burns, MPT Pediatric Physical Therapist | <urn:uuid:a47c2b3a-9add-462a-93c0-af9ebd8941f4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.irgpt.com/specialized-therapy.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00034-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.901019 | 2,185 | 1.804688 | 2 |
You might be able to remember those biochem facts if, while you're staring at your laptop, you are simultaneously scratching a Scottie under the chin.
That's the concept. Pet therapy dogs from Tony LaRussa's Animal Rescue Foundation of Walnut Creek will visit the U.C. Berkeley campus to calm the students in the week before finals. The week of dog therapy begins Monday, April 30.
“Studies show that interaction with animals lowers blood pressure, reduces anxiety, improves physical and mental health, and gives a feeling of well-being," stated Pat Mills, ARF coordinator of the pet therapy program in a U.C. Berkeley press release. "The dogs will provide students with a huge stress relief, a wonderful fur fix and unconditional love.” | <urn:uuid:945d7506-8cbc-4d3b-a5ca-c576f170ed59> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://walnutcreek.patch.com/groups/schools/p/unconditional-love-studying-a-s | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00022-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.922549 | 158 | 1.59375 | 2 |
The REANZ trustees trust you have enjoyed the March events, just two more on 23rd March, we now look ahead to April, May and June.
Diti Hill presents her Reggio Emilia summer school experiences
Research represents one of the essential dimensions of life of children and adults alike, a knowledge-building tension that must be recognised and valued. Shared research between adults and children is a priority practice of everyday life, an existential and ethical approach necessary for interpreting the complexity of the world, of phenomena, of systems of co-existence, and is a powerful instrument of renewal in education. As human beings, all children possess hundred languages, hundred ways of thinking, of expressing themselves, of understanding and of encountering others, with a way of thinking that creates connections between the various dimensions of experience rather than separating them.
Wellington 23rd March 2013Wellington 23March13
Invercargill 23rd March 201323rd March Invercargill
Whangarei 6th April 6th April
Dunedin 13th April 201313th April Dunedin
Christchurch 18th May18th May Christchurch
Wellington 15th JuneJune 15th Wellington
Enjoy the end of year NewsletterEnd of Year Newsletter
Helen P Ann Pelo Thank you to Helen Pritchard – Manukau Institute of Technology for writing about Ann Pelos workshops in October. | <urn:uuid:f2e2bcfb-532d-457c-803c-bb85541bb058> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.reanz.org/category/reanz/newsletters/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.928349 | 283 | 1.53125 | 2 |
“Enhanced water” is gaining popularity and is helping companies such as Coca-Cola and Pepsi to turn a tidy profit. Many of these trendy drinks contain an array of ingredients and claim a variety of health benefits. Newsweek and the Center for Science in the Public Interest, an advocacy group that focuses on nutrition, say that the science behind many of these health claims is weak. They have assembled a small list of four “enhanced water” drinks which are probably doing little more than keeping you hydrated.
VitaminWater B-Relaxed Jackfruit-Guava with vitamins B and theanine
Coca Cola claims that vitamins B and theanine help fight stress. The CSPI says there is no evidence that the vitamins in this water have a calming effect. Theanine can reduce blood pressure but doesn’t have an effect on mood, according to studies in the Journal of Psychopharmacology. Additionally, this drink contains no jackfruit or guava, just flavors.
Dasani Plus Defend + Protect with zinc and vitamin E
Vitamin E typically only boosts immunity in large quantities in people who have a deficiency. There is evidence that zinc lozenges may shorten the duration colds, but there is no evidence to suggest that drinking zinc in water has an effect on cold duration.
Sobe Life Water Challenge Your Life with taurine and ginseng
This beverage’s label doesn’t say how much taurine and ginseng is in the bottle. Newsweek asked Sobe about the quantities to which they replied, “We allow customers to decide what ‘challenge’ means to them.”
Aquafina Alive Satisfy with maltodextrin
Maltodextrin is a fiber, but not a soluble fiber, so it may do nothing to keep you regular, if that is your goal.
A Healthy Drink? Try Plain Water [Newsweek] | <urn:uuid:fe16456f-5caa-469d-bcbf-0956da78ea06> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://consumerist.com/2008/07/01/4-waters-enhanced-with-100-hype/comment-page-2/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00074-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944466 | 404 | 2.046875 | 2 |
Since posting our story on Hope for Healing Autism, I have been asked a lot of questions regarding my opinion on vaccines and whether or not we would choose to vaccinate in the future. When our son was born and the question of vaccines came up, all I knew was that it was a widely debated issue. I myself had been fully vaccinated and had no reason to question the validity of this practice. But, with my awareness that this was a controversial topic and my “question everything” personality, I knew I needed to study this issue myself and come to my own conclusions on the matter.
At first I was overwhelmed by the mixed reviews and conflicting reports. I became so frustrated with the fact that everything I read seemed to come to a different conclusion on which vaccines were safe, if any. My doctors urged me to vaccinate for the wellbeing of my child and the world at large. Parenting magazines stated that there is no validity to the claims that autism is linked with vaccines. Friends urged me that this was not true and that vaccinations were dangerous. Other friends argued the exact opposite.
In the end, it was largely my research into the autoimmune disorder epidemic that heightened my awareness that there is more to all of this than meets the eye. After much reading and studying, we have come to the conclusion that we feel it is safest not to vaccinate. I know that statement will turn some people off instantly, but I have compiled a list of facts I wish I had known when I began researching this issue in the first place. It is my desire that these facts will help you better understand the debate, become more accurately informed, and most of all, will help you to be comfortable with whatever choice you make in this area for your own family. Feel free to disagree with or disregard any or all of this information. To the best of my knowledge, it is accurate, but as with anything, it may have its flaws.
I do not want to convince anyone of anything. I do not want to cause arguments or debates. I simply want parents to be able to make more accurately informed decisions concerning vaccines.
Interesting Facts Regarding Vaccines and Disease:
- A two month old baby can receive as many as 8 vaccines on a single day. At age 15 to 18 months, a child can receive as many as 12 vaccines on a single day.
- During the past quarter century, the number of children with learning disabilities, ADHD, asthma and diabetes has more than tripled.
- An epidemic of chronic disease and disability is plaguing America. Our children are the most highly vaccinated children in the world and they are among the most chronically ill and disabled.
- More than twice as many children have chronic brain and immune system dysfunction today than did in the 1970’s when half as many vaccines were given to children.
Factors that Weighed into our Decision on Vaccinations:
- It is a common misnomer that when children aren’t vaccinated, they are at risk for life threatening diseases. It is widely believed that vaccines have saved our world from all sorts of diseases. However, health statistics show that there was a steady decline of infectious diseases in developing countries whether they had vaccines or not. There was also a decline in infectious disease for which there were no vaccine. It is believed that this decline is due to improved sanitation, hygiene and better nutrition.
- By 1850-1940, instances of infectious diseases were down by 90%. This was long before we began introducing most vaccines. In a study done by John and Sonja McKinlay in St. Martin’s Press, New York, it was stated that “it is estimated that at most, 3.5% of the total decline in mortality since 1900 could be ascribed to medical measures introduced for the diseases considered. Furthermore, medical measures were introduced several decades after marked decline had already set in and having no detectable influences in most instances.” Only 10% of the world got the smallpox vaccine. Yet we hear that this vaccine eradicated smallpox. According to Dr. Sherri Tenpenny, “Smallpox would have died out anyway regardless of the vaccine.” This is also the case with Polio. The disease was already dying out before the vaccine was introduced.
- But if you don’t vaccinate, your kids could get meningitis, etc.!” Statistics actually show that the majority of people who report getting these infectious diseases are, by far, the ones who were vaccinated. 80% of people who get the flu have been vaccinated against it. Multiple studies show that more children who have been fully vaccinated get measles than those who are unvaccinated.
- The amount of required vaccinations has more than doubled in the last twenty years, bringing the grand total recommended vaccinations to 49 within the first 6 years of a child’s life.
- The FDA wants to add even more vaccines into these tiny baby’s bodies almost as soon as they are born, including a flu shot twice a year for the first two years followed by an annual flu shot for life.
- Most of these vaccines are given before the age of five. Yet the majority of the brain’s development is in the first five years of life. The toxins in the vaccines inhibit the brain’s ability to develop properly.
- It is a common misnomer that a student is required to be vaccinated in order to attend school. However, each state has exemptions. Find out how you can be exempt in your state.
- The things that fill vaccines are known neurotoxins (e.g. formaldehyde, thimerosol (mercury), aluminum, ammonium sulfate, aborted fetal tissue, antibiotics, MSG), meaning they are literally poison to the brain. Our bodies cannot detoxify these substances, and therefore, they hide away in our brains and bodies creating new diseases.
- Each vaccine has been tested individually. However, they have not been tested together. And now that so many vaccines are required, they developed “cocktails” so that our little ones only have to receive one or two pricks instead of five or six. This sounds appealing to the mother concerned about the pain involved in getting shots, but can these little bodies handle this many toxins at once? Once again, studies have not been done to show the safety of these vaccines given in numerous doses, nor have there been long term studies on the affects of all of these new vaccines being given to our little ones at a younger and younger age.
- Vaccines artificially expose the body with these viruses in a way the body was not meant to defend against. God made our bodies with the amazing ability to heal and protect itself. Babies are exposed to germs in the air, and their bodies are constantly learning to detoxify them and strengthen them. But only when they are introduced in this natural way, by breathing them in etc. are their immune systems able to build up a defense against them. When they are injected directly into the bloodstream, the body’s natural defense mechanisms are not triggered properly. As one researcher said, our bodies never grow stronger by taking the easy way out. It is only through the difficult way, that is, being exposed to and fighting the germs the way God intended that our bodies can build up that lifelong immunity to the much scarier adult forms of the diseases (shingles from chicken pox for example). Vaccines do not trigger the lifelong immunity that actually catching the disease does. This is why you have to be re-vaccinated every 5-7 years.
- Many of these vaccines, like the Hep B vaccine, were never tested on newborns for safety–only 5-6 years olds. Yet new moms are told to give their babies this vaccine moments after it enters the world!
- Most of the vaccines–like the one for pertussis–are not even given until after two months of age, and yet an infant’s greatest risk is before they are two months old.
- Statistically, infectious diseases such as influenza and pertussis are rarely fatal. When these diseases prove fatal, it is in those who are autoimmune compromised, such as the very young, the autoimmune disordered, and the elderly. However, because of the nature of vaccines introducing disease into the body, autoimmune disordered children are recommended not to receive any further vaccinations. And yet they are the ones with the highest risk for fatality if they catch the disease.
- We are not taking into account the cost at which we are attempting to “save” our children from illness. We will vaccinate in hopes of preventing them getting polio and tuberculosis, but at what point do we say, “Which is worse? The threat of an illness that has all but been eradicated? or the new childhood epidemics autism, asthma, ADHD and allergies that are paralyzing people and are called “living death” that are strongly linked with receiving vaccines?”
- Much of what drives the vaccine issue is fear. We are so afraid we will harm our children we will do anything to help them! And most people think this IS helping them. Fear is the big motivator. We are running to get these vaccines because we are afraid. But the more we inform ourselves, the less we realize we need to fear.
Understanding the Immune Response to Infectious Disease vs. the Immune Response to Immunization
What is the difference between normal immune system response to illness and vaccination? If we do not inform ourselves, we live in fear. When our babies are born, everything in their body is underdeveloped except their brain stem. This is a time when they need to be protected from toxins, not assaulted with them. What is the process? When the body is exposed to an infectious illness, the body identifies it and begins detoxifying to fight against it. It initiates white blood cells and T cells which attack the invader directly. When the THi cell gets involved, your body develops lifelong immunity. A fever (up to a certain point) plays a critical role in fighting off the infection in the body. There is no system in the human body which is strenghtened by avoiding challenges, but only through overcoming them. The medical model does the opposite of what the body is doing. If you challenge the immune system and it overcomes, it is healthier. If children are not well, there are so many things you can do to proactively help their bodies respond better.
Let us look at the way our body responds to food poisoning for instance. When we eat bad food, we vomit. Is this unpleasant? Yes. But it is actually our body ridding itself of the poisons. The body goes through a similar process when it is exposed to infectious illnesses. However, there are some major differences in the body’s response to an encountered illness and an injected illness. First, when an unvaccinated child is walking around the world, they are being exposed to infectious diseases slowly. A child is not going to be exposed to eight different diseases all at once. When we are injected with a vaccine, we are not only changing the timing of exposure, but the method. When we vaccinate, we bypass the normal method and inject it straight into the muscle (also all the toxins). If it goes into the blood, that disease can go into all the vital organs of the body and wreak havoc. TH2 cells are stimulated, and they do not have lifelong immunity, which is why you have to be continuously re-vacccinated for the rest of their lives to maintain “immunity.”
Hep B vaccine was designed for the prostitutes and drug users. Hep B is passed by having multiple sexual partners or by dirty needles. Now they are giving it to babies within the first few hours of their birth.
Being informed on the facts of how rarely anyone actually dies from these illnesses, we realize we do not have to live in fear to do whatever it takes to prevent it—even exposing ourselves and our children to even more harmful toxins to avoid them getting the actual disease.
A bit about mercury content in vaccines
The FDA has stated “lead, cadmium, and mercury are examples of toxic elements that are toxic even when present at relatively low levels…” Mercury is the most poisonous neurotoxin on this earth.
When women become pregnant, one of the first things they are warned not to eat is any type of fish. Why is this? Because of the mercury contained in fish. Even a nursing mother is told to avoid fish due to the mercury content.
Thimerosol is a form of inorganic mercury. It has long been associated with serious neurological disorders.
While thimerosol has been largely removed from vaccines, there are many concerns about the legitimacy of this claim. First, if it is not an active ingredient, manufacturers do not have to list it in the ingredients. So you may ask for thimerosol free and think you are getting it, but it may still be in there. Also, they have been gradually weeding out the thimerosol over the past few years, and when tested, trace amounts still exist within the vaccines. It is kind of like a food that has been manufactured on equipment that had previously been used to produce peanuts. They list that fact on the side because even trace amounts of peanuts can be fatal to those with an allergy. And remember what the FDA said about even trace amounts of mercury—it is toxic. And then there is the question of what they replaced the thimerosol with—are there studies on their safety?
In the 1950’s, the amount of thimerosol that five year old children were exposed to via vaccines was 50 micrograms. By the year 2003, children were receiving 212.5 mcg of thimerosol by the age of 5. According to the EPA Safety recommendation, infants should receive no more than .01mcg-4 mcg a day. However, in one round of vaccines, an infant will receive 41-60 times the amount of recommended thimerosol (FDACenterfor Biologics Evaluation and Research). These neurotoxins do not get eliminated. They are absorbed into the brain like water in a sponge, causing long term damage.
Rhogam still contains full level of mercury-25 mcg. It is possible, though very difficult, to find Rhogam shots that do not have thimerosol in them. If you are pregnant and have the Rh factor, ask for a specific list of ingredients and ensure you are receiving the vaccine without rhogam.
I have done my best to gather reliable information in my research on vaccines. I would have liked to footnote more thoroughly, but it was rather overwhelming since a lot of the information was gleaned from multiple sources and can be found at numerous locations. I have listed below many of my sources so you can seek out further information for yourself. Please do not fault my improper citation below. I did not list every publishing detail, etc. I mostly just linked to websites or articles. It is not my mom’s fault. She taught me better. Really.
Healing the New Childhood Epidemics, Dr. Kenneth Bock
Gut and Psychology Syndrome, Dr. Natasha Campbell
World Health Statistics Annual
Healing the New Childhood Epidemics, Gut and Psychology Syndrome
The Vaccine Book, Dr. Bob Sears | <urn:uuid:355ea244-c912-4857-bc28-98de932edbda> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://ashleynicolewillcox.wordpress.com/tag/vaccines/ | 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 | 0.971537 | 3,169 | 2.21875 | 2 |
POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. (AP) - Missouri has recorded its first fishing record of the year.
The Department of Conservation says a southeastern Missouri man caught a record gizzard shad in the Black River last month.
Brian Taylor caught the fish by jigging. It measured 16 inches and weighed 1 pound, 14 ounces. That was 6 ounces heavier than the previous state record for gizzard shad in the alternative-methods category. The old mark was set in 2011.
Gizzard shad live in quiet waters of lakes, ponds, reservoirs and backwaters. They can be found at least occasionally in every major stream system and are most abundant in reservoirs and large rivers. | <urn:uuid:e5048750-40be-4622-97b3-be96ec61a5ea> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ktrs.com/news/national-news/itemlist/tag/gizzard%20shad | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00042-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955584 | 143 | 2.078125 | 2 |
The next time you get a call and decide to give to well-respected charities like The American Cancer Society or The American Diabetes Association, just keep in mind that your donation to fight cancer or support diabetes research could actually be going to the wallets of the telemarketers soliciting your donations. Bloomberg Markets' David Evans examines how charities--well-respected charities which promise to cure really bad things like cancer--cut contracts with telemarketers, in particular a company named InfoCision, to help lure in long-term donors. As Evans explains, charities will even allow and "encourage" telemarketers to lie about the amount that will eventually given to the charity, when in fact, barely any of it goes to where donors intend. Some of it never even sees the charity, as Evans writes:
Many of the biggest-name charities in the U.S. have signed similarly one-sided contracts with telemarketers during the past decade. The American Cancer Society, the largest health charity in the U.S., enlisted InfoCision from 1999 to 2011 to raise money.
In fiscal 2010, InfoCision gathered $5.3 million for the society. Hundreds of thousands of volunteers took part, but none of that money -- not one penny -- went to fund cancer research or help patients, according to the society’s filing with the U.S. Internal Revenue Service and the state of Maine.
Every bit of it went to InfoCision, the filings say. The society actually lost money on the program that year, according to its filings.
Photo by: .shock via Shutterstock. | <urn:uuid:a3bac305-a2b0-4938-9cfc-34423835c756> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.theatlanticwire.com/business/2012/09/american-cancer-society-used-53-million-donations-pay-its-telemarketer/56770/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00034-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.940008 | 327 | 2.21875 | 2 |
Established in 1999, Fight Crime: Invest in Kids New York is a statewide, bi-partisan, non-profit anti-crime organization of more than 300 police chiefs, sheriffs, prosecutors, other law enforcement leaders and violence survivors. We are part of the more than 5,000 member national organization, Fight Crime: Invest in Kids, headquartered in Washington, D.C.
As leaders on the front-line in the battle against crime, our mission is to take a hard-nosed look at the research about what works to keep kids from becoming criminals. Research and experience show that certain targeted investments in programs that give kids a good start in life will prevent children from engaging in later crime and violence. These investments include quality early education and care, child abuse and neglect prevention, after-school programs, and programs that help troubled kids get back on track.
For more, read our 2009 Legislative Recommendations.
If you would like further information or have any questions about the materials presented in this section, please contact Arielle Bernstein at email@example.com. | <urn:uuid:f5fe7833-4d54-455d-a7b3-4a83af4bb16d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.fightcrime.org/state/new-york/legislation | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00055-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944225 | 220 | 1.828125 | 2 |
Thu September 20, 2012
As Scientists Question New Rat Study, GMO Debate Rages On
The headlines on the press releases that started showing up yesterday, here at The Salt certainly got our attention. Just one sample: "BREAKING NEWS: New Study Links Genetically Engineered Food to Tumors."
The reason for all the excitement was a study published this week in the well-respected journal Food and Chemical Toxicology. The French scientists who conducted the study basically concluded that rats fed a diet of genetically modified corn and small amounts of herbicides got sicker faster than their counterparts eating regular corn and no herbicides.
Based on the study, several anti-GMO groups are calling for a ban and the French government is calling for more investigation, but many scientists met the research with a heavy dose of skepticism.
The study describes an experiment in which scientists fed 18 different groups of rats (ten rats in each group) various concentrations of a genetically engineered kind of corn and/or small amounts of the herbicide Roundup. (Roundup is widely used in combination with genetically engineered "Roundup Ready" crops.)
Two control groups got a diet of non-modified corn and no Roundup. The experiment went on for two years, an unusually long time. Most experiments with rats that attempt to measure the toxic effects of chemicals last only 90 days.
On average, the rats that ate GM corn or drank water laced with Roundup did worse than the control group. Tumors showed up earlier (at least in some of the groups) and more rats died than in the control groups. The contrast was most stark among female rats.
So is this solid evidence that GM corn (or other crops) are bad for you? The author of the paper, Gilles-Eric Seralini, who has been campaigning against GM crops since 1997, says yes. Definitely yes.
Other scientists say, absolutely not.
Some of their complaints about the study are aimed at the study's methods. Critics point out that the type of experimental rats used in this study are particularly prone to tumors. So if you divide up 200 of them into twenty groups, as this study did, you are likely to get very high tumor rates in some of the groups. And the fact that such clusters of tumors didn't show up in the two small control groups could easily be due to random chance.
One particularly irreverent critic, Michael Grayer, a medical statistician, pointed out that the study included 18 groups of rats that were exposed to GMOs or Roundup (nine each for male and female rats), compared to only two control groups. "The potential for cherry-picking the nice positive results here from a sea of boring null ones is immense," he wrote on his blog. "Not saying they did it, of course, but it's certainly a concern."
Also, if this experiment truly showed a link between genetically engineered food and tumors, one might expect the rats that ate more of the GM corn to develop more tumors. In fact, the opposite happened. The rats eating a diet of 33 percent GMO corn stayed healthier than animals eating food with a GMO concentration of just 11 percent.
Seralini, for his part, says that this simply shows that GMOs are toxic in a different way. They merely need to rise above a certain threshold level to have harmful effects; increasing the concentration doesn't increase the harm.
Some scientists were inclined to dismiss the study simply based on Seralini's history of anti-GMO claims. "I know this guy. He has published a lot of rubbish," says Harry Kuiper, a Dutch scientist who used to be in charge of the European Commission's research program on the safety of genetically modified foods. That program sponsored many previous studies, including animal feeding studies, which came to less alarming conclusions and got much less attention than Seralini's.
In fact, Kuiper and many of his colleagues don't even think that animal feeding studies are a very good tool for studying the safety of GM foods. If there was a harmful chemical hidden in GM corn, they say, such studies wouldn't be likely to catch it, because rats can't eat enough corn for them to get a harmful dose of the toxic or cancer-causing substance.
But apart from methodological concerns and personal animosity, there's a deeper reason why scientists like Kuiper give little credence to Seralini's studies. There's a saying in science: Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. For most of the scientists who have been studying the safety of GMOs, it's an extraordinary claim, at this point, to assert that the current generation of genetically modified crops are harmful to human health.
There's no apparent reason why that should be true; No one has found new toxic substances in these crops. And the giant feeding experiment that's been going on for the past fifteen years — hundreds of millions of Americans consuming GMO ingredients — hasn't produced evidence of harm, either.
It would take a lot more evidence that the results of this study to change their minds. | <urn:uuid:bb6c5fbf-0ebe-456d-a219-61664db23a91> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://utahpublicradio.org/post/scientists-question-new-rat-study-gmo-debate-rages | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969444 | 1,028 | 2.15625 | 2 |
A few days ago the registrar of political parties in the country, John Tendwa, who some people claim is at best when engaged in controversy, again threatened non-performing political parties with de-registration. Given the prevailing political heat, this amounts not to playing with fire as such but to fishing in troubled waters.
The targettted political outfits know themselves and have hit back forcefully, spurring the ongoing debate on whether such parties should be outlawed or not.
Of course some observers contend that this is a time wasting exercise, on the grounds that the nation has more pressing challenges to cope with - both natural and man-created. Some of us beg to differ with those who entertain this line of thinking, contending that outlawing or threatening to outlaw a political party in a state which claims to be democratic is not a petty issue.
The basic question here can as well be - when is a political party considered non-performing or performing poorly? Registrar Tendwa is not ambiguous on this.
According to him, a political party which has been around for a number of years and can’t manage to secure a parliamentary seat or two in general elections, or a few seats in local government elections, that is at grassroots level, is literally good for nothing and may as well be forced to close shop.
But threatened political entities argue vehemently that using performance in our brand of elections to gauge their standing in society and take action against them is both unwarranted and unfair.
The point they emphasize here is that elections held since re-introduction of multiparty politics in the country have never been conducted under a level playing field.
They cite the example of the rolling party which makes use of the entire government machinery to get all sorts of mileage during the polls. They even claim that national resources are covertly used to the advantage of the party holding the reigns of power.
Critics of the way elections are conducted go further and state the obvious that money power plays a big role in determining winners, thanks to rampant electoral corruption which has characterized past elections. Indeed, opposition parties have a point here, for elections in the country tend to have many flaws. Some political analysts attribute the low turnout of voters at the polls, as was the case in 2010, as evidence of disillusion resulting from past electoral flaws.
It is, however, also true that even if we agree with the view that the fate of political parties should not depend on election results, yet there are other indicators which can be used to assess them and determine whether they have a future, or are destined to either collapse or remain ineffective.
Yes, it is an open secret that some of the 19 plus political parties operate exclusively in Dar es Salaam, the de facto “capital “of Tanzaniania, have little presence even in other big towns, rarely hold elections as the founders consider them as personal assets, are always in financial doldrums because they have no strong membership base to support them, and their leaders are always busy attending meetings and holding press conferences in the city. One also notes that most of them become active during the elections season.
With the above mentioned modus operandi, some observers rightly conclude that political parties of this kind are their own enemies and have a bleak future. But is it right to subject these limping parties to psychological torture through deregistration threats, even when we know that implementing such threats is easily said than done under the prevailing global political order?
We tend to support those who argue that so long as the weak political parties are not engaging in socially unacceptable practices like promoting divisive politics or disrupting peace in the community, undertaking political activities is their democratic right which must be upheld. Since the law of the jungle, that is “survival of the fittest” is in operation in our society, let these parties be left alone to struggle for their political survival without undue interference.
After all we already have opposition parties which are getting strong enough to effectively play a watchdog role on any party which will be in power at any given time.
This is the rationale of having the multiparty political system in a modern state. When this objective is achieved, why bother about pawns in the political chess game?
Henry Muhanika is a media consultant. firstname.lastname@example.org | <urn:uuid:d73b5ad5-20fb-421d-98fb-467dfc0dd8ac> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ippmedia.com/frontend/index.php/karanrend/indextphp/ltter/?l=43672 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00029-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970741 | 877 | 2.046875 | 2 |
Firstly, you do not need to stay in a key for a chord sequence to 'work'. There is only one real rule in music and that is "If it sounds good, it is good." Many composers do not think in roman numerals, or about keys and come up with great music as a result.
However, this is not to say that you shouldn't. If thinking in keys works for you, then great. Just don't let it stifle what you do. I have no idea what you listen to, so it's hard to give a reference of a song that breaks the 'rules' and is still great but I'll go with Creep by Radiohead as an easy example. The sequence actually goes from a Bmaj to Bmin. Obviously these chords are not in the same key but it still works in the context they play it in. It's all about context.
I should also add if you do want to think of this sequence in terms of keys, you could say that the song is not in fact in Cm at all. It all depends on the "implied harmony" of the piece, which is to do with everything else that is going on, including rhythm, but I would say the piece is probably either in Bb Major (making Cm a II and F7 a V), or possibly Bb's relative minor, D Minor (making Cm a VII and F7 a III).
Hope this helps. | <urn:uuid:e1b7a0ff-2326-45aa-831f-a2486e0721a8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://music.stackexchange.com/questions/4437/composing-a-song-in-cm-with-major-chord-substitutes/4450 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.979378 | 300 | 2.265625 | 2 |
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NIH Research Matters (March 12, 2012): Early Epigenetic Effects in Alzheimer's Disease
Repression of certain gene activity in the brain appears to be an early event affecting people with Alzheimer's disease, a new study found. In mouse models of Alzheimer's disease, this blockage and its effet on memory were treatable.
Alzheimer's disease is the most common cause of dementia in older adults. It affects as many as 5.1 million Americans. A hallmark of the disease is the accumulation of a toxic protein fragment called beta-amyloid in brain nerve cells (neurons). Preventing the cognitive problems that result has been a major medical challenge.
Studies in animals have linked a process called histone acetylation in brain cells to cognitive decline. Histones are the structures around which long DNA strands are wonde to make chromosomes. When histones undergo chemical modifications such as acetylation (the addition of an acetyl group), this changes how DNA is packed and thus, how genes are read, or expressed. Such changes are called epigenetic modifications.
Drugs that increase histone acetylation can reverse cognitive decline in animal models. Most of these drugs target proteins called histone deacetylases (HDACs). However, exactly how histone acetylation affects cognition has been unknown. A research team led by Dr. Li-Huei Tsai at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology used mouse models of Alzheimer's disease to investigate. Their work was partly supported by NIH's National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) and National Institute on Aging (NIA). The study appeared online on February 29, 2012 in Nature.
Around the time the mice began to show signs of brain cell degeneration, the researchers found, the animals had higher levels of HDAC2, but not other related HDAC proteins, in the parts of the brain involved in learning and memory. | <urn:uuid:8f40d723-3052-4ff1-8b86-d186acc7c69b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://madrc.mgh.harvard.edu/nih-research-matters-march-12-2012-early-epigenetic-effects-alzheimers-disease | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00062-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.940421 | 426 | 2.765625 | 3 |
Author: John Boyne
Paperback: 215 pages
Book Challenges: War Through the Generations World War II Reading Challenge
‘I’m Shmuel,’ said the little boy.
Bruno scrunched up his face, not sure that he had heard the little boy right. ‘What did you say your name was?’ he asked.
‘Shmuel,’ said the little boy as if it was the most natural thing in the world. ‘What did you say your name was?’
‘Bruno,’ said Bruno.
‘I’ve never heard of that name,’ said Shmuel.
‘And I’ve never heard of your name,’ said Bruno. ‘Shmuel.’ He thought about it. ‘Shmuel,’ he repeated. ‘I like the way it sounds when I say it. Shmuel. It sounds like the wind blowing.’
‘Bruno,’ said Shmuel, nodding his head happily. ‘Yes, I think I like your name too. It sounds like someone who’s rubbing their arms to keep warm… I’m nine,’ he said. ‘My birthday is April the fifteenth nineteen thirty-four.’
Bruno’s eyes opened wide and his mouth made the shape of an O. ‘I don’t believe it,’ he said… ‘my birthday is april the fifteenth too. And I was born in nineteen thirty-four. We were born on the same day… We’re like twins,’ said Bruno.
-The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne, pages 109-110
The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne is a story of friendship told through the eyes of Bruno, the nine-year-old son of a concentration camp Commandant. Uprooted from friends and the only home he’s ever known, Bruno hates his new home in “Out-With,” his mispronunciation of Auschwitz, and makes sure everyone knows it. But one day, when he goes out exploring the area around his house, he meets a boy his own age on the other side of the fence where everyone wears striped pyjamas all day. The two quickly become friends, and meet as often as possible at the same time and spot everyday from then on.
One of the things I like about this book is Boyne’s layered subtleties. Bruno, the naive and sheltered innocent, passes along clues of his mother’s infidelity, drinking and depression, as well as the competition that goes on between Gretel, his twelve-turning-thirteen year-old sister, and his mother for the attention of the young Lieutenant Koltor. Bruno witnesses but can’t quite grasp the difference between him and his family and the people on the other side of the fence, asking different people about it with varying degrees of failure to get a satisfactory answer. His father tells him the others aren’t people -not really, not in the way we think of. The Lieutenant calls them a derogatory name that is never passed along in the book. Gretel comes the closest to answering him, failing only because she herself doesn’t understand it, either, telling him that the people on the other side were Jews and they were The Opposite, and The Opposite hate the Jews.
There are a few things that just got under my skin with this book, however. For instance, if these people are German, then I assume they speak German in their thoughts as well as conversations with one another. I found it mildly irritating that Bruno would think “Auschwitz” would sound like “Aus mit” (the direct translation “Out-with”). Or that he would hear “Der Führer” and think people were calling Hitler “Das Wut”. Also, there are a lot of repetition in the book. Okay, I get it… Father’s office is “Out of bounds at all times with no exceptions.” I got that the first time. And I caught it on page 1 that Bruno had some stuff that belonged to him and were nobody else’s business. Another thing I really wish Boyne had added to the book was how Bruno and Shmuel would have spent their birthday. No doubt Bruno would have had a party with cake and a big dinner, but how would he have shared the special day with his “twin”?
Boyne’s storytelling in The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas is reminiscent of Scout’s recounting in To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, though not as well-done nor is Bruno as developed as a character as Scout was. In Boyne’s attempt to reach as broad an audience as possible, the story is a bit like thin gruel. Everyone can digest it, but it hasn’t got very much flavor. If you are looking for a good book that glimpses the lives of the people during Nazi Germany, I’d recommend The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. The writing is magical, the storytelling point-of-view is unique, and the depth of even the tertiary characters are better than Bruno’s.
Still, I’m passing this book on to my kids. I think it’s a good book to introduce young and reluctant readers to the subjects: The Holocaust, racism, hate, friendship, loyalty, love. I think 4th and 5th graders, particularly boys of that age, would enjoy this book the most. For me, a mom with a children the same ages as Bruno and Gretel (not to mention the same relationship as the bickering siblings, as well), I found Bruno to be an exasperatingly annoying little whiner at times.
I give The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne 3 out of 5 stars. It’s an acceptable read, but for me, as forgettable as Bruno found his three best friends for life. In a year, I doubt I’ll even remember their names.
In 2008, The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas was made into a movie. I’ll have to put it on the top of my Netflix Queue, it looks fairly good. Maybe they’ll address the birthday issue for me in it.
Filed under: Book Challenges, Book Reviews | Tagged: adultery, Auschwitz, Bruno, children, Children's fiction, concentration camp, death, family, fiction, friendship, German, Germany, hate, holocaust, Jews, prejudice, Shmuel, sibling rivalry, siblings, starvation, The Holocaust, World War II, WWII | 9 Comments » | <urn:uuid:f5787f14-51e7-4063-85c1-dd4fed10dd9f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://thekoolaidmom.wordpress.com/tag/wwii/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.977381 | 1,459 | 2.390625 | 2 |
Just how important is camouflage? After all, weren't hunters taking deer long before fancy camouflage became all the rage?
The answer is that camouflage is very important to today's hunters, largely because so many hunters are using shorter-range weapons, and also because shrinking woodlands have created more pressured deer. So not only does a modern bowhunter have to get within 20 or so yards of a deer, but he also has to stay hidden from a deer that is used to watching for humans.
Since deer don't see colors the way we do, the key to staying invisible is to break up your outline. In other words, it's not so much the color of your camouflage that is important, but how well it blends in to your surroundings. Modern camouflage, with its high definition capability, adds visual layers. 3-D camo takes that concept even farther. But the key is to choose a pattern that fits well with the surroundings you hunt most often.
And to really make your setups effective, give your camouflage some help. Use existing branches and leaves to help break up your outline, or add some if there aren't any there. The more you help your camouflage do its job and take away that human outline, the harder it will be for a deer to lock on to you, even if it's on alert. | <urn:uuid:49831b76-399e-452f-8fc5-b889e5dba0ce> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.buckmasters.com/how-important-is-camouflage-3.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00025-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968639 | 268 | 2.375 | 2 |
Illustration: Edwin Fotheringham
Three studies try to establish, once and for all, the best way to drop pounds. Naomi Barr has the results.
Americans spend $60 billion a year on diets, pills, and programs in the hope that the weight loss approach they choose will ultimately triumph over others. Although there are many diets in contention, a clear winner has yet to emerge. As obesity rates continue to rise dramatically worldwide, scientists have recognized the need to test the effectiveness of the most widely used plans. Over the past two years, three notable university-based studies (one from Stanford, a second from Harvard and the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, and a third from the University of Missouri) have pitted some of the leading diets against one another—and, in the last case, against exercise—to determine which approach offers the best results. Their conclusions may surprise you, so before you spend any more money or time fretting over the most recent diet aid, check out the results of the matchups.
Low Carb (e.g., Atkins)
Advises lots of protein, mostly in the form of meat at every meal, and restricts carbohydrates. Thirty percent of your calories will come from protein, 50 percent from fat, and about 20 percent from carbs, especially good ones like veggies and fruit.
Low Fat (e.g., Weight Watchers)
Emphasizes grains, fruits, and vegetables and allows modest servings of meat. Portion control is key. About 50 percent of your calories will come from carbohydrates, 30 percent from fat, and 20 percent from protein.
Balances carbohydrates, fat, and protein, theoretically to stabilize hormones that trigger hunger and weight gain. Thirty percent of the calories you eat will be fat, 40 percent carbohydrates, and 30 percent protein.
Prescribes grains, vegetables, and sources of healthy fats such as olive oil and nuts. About 45 percent of your calories on this plan will come from carbohydrates, 35 percent from fat, and 20 percent from protein.
Is an extremely low-fat vegetarian diet that recommends forgoing nuts, meat, and fish. Roughly 70 percent of your calories will come from carbohydrates, 20 percent from protein, and 10 percent from fat.
We Hear You! | <urn:uuid:856df7d8-7450-40e1-8f61-10a371e7ccc2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.oprah.com/health/Is-South-Beach-Diet-Better-Than-Atkins-or-Other-Diets/1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.923208 | 461 | 2.640625 | 3 |
Summary: In the modern world, success depends upon literacy, a fact especially true for deaf children who, if they read and write well, can take full advantage of e-mail, the Internet, and other communication innovations. Literacy and Your Deaf Child: What Every Parent Should Know provides parents with the means to ensure that their deaf or hard of hearing child becomes a proficient reader and writer. In nine chapters, parents will learn about the relationship of language to ...show morereading and writing, including the associated terminology, the challenges that deaf children face, and the role of schools. They'll also learn activities that they can engage in at home that will strengthen their children's reading and writing capabilities.
Literacy and Your Deaf Child begins by introducing some common concepts, among them the importance of parental involvement in a deaf child's education. It outlines how children acquire language and describes the auditory and visual links to literacy. With this information parents can make informed decisions regarding hearing aids, cochlear implants, speechreading, and sign communication, all of which can have a marked influence on their child's language development. Parents will discover how to create environments at home and in their community for fostering their child's literacy, especially in school by learning how to work closely with their child's teachers. The book also refers throughout to the developmental link between American Sign Language and English literacy for children who use sign communication, making it the best guide available for all deaf children and their parents. ...show less | <urn:uuid:e5b879b3-a543-4336-b65c-14f08b1488e3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.textbooks.com/Literacy-and-Your-Deaf-Child-What-Every-Parent-Should-Know-03-Edition/9781563681363/David-A-Stewart-and-Bryan-R-Clarke.php?mpcond=VeryGood | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00043-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954485 | 300 | 3.5625 | 4 |
This is a crystal that hangs in our window. It catches the morning light and spreads our living room with a rainbow of colors. The air currents cause the crystal to gently turn. This image shows colors from the reflections from our backyard.
- Camera: Canon 5D Mark III
- Lens: 50mm f/1.4
- ISO: 1600
- Shutter Speed: 1/400
- Aperture: f/5.6
- Focal Length: 50mm
This image has been getting a lot of views on Flickr. I am somewhat surprised because it was a shot that I took to just play with my camera. I was looking for something to shoot using my 50mm lens on my new 5D MarIII. I just wanted to see what I could do. I had to manually focus because the auto focus wanted to select the trees in the backyard. When you display the image at 1:1 you can even see the finger prints on the side of the crystal.
This image was taken one morning after frost/ice lightly coated the branches of the trees. Everything was sparkling when you looked toward the sun. I was able to catch the sun just peaking between the “V” of the tree to create a starburst of light.
- ISO: 100
- Shutter speed: 1/60
- Aperture: f/16
- Lens: EF 24-105mm f/4.0L IS
- Focal Length: 58mm
This image is an HDR created from 5 images taken at different exposures. I accomplished this by using a Auto Exposure Bracketing. I set the camera on Aperture Priority. In the camera menu I have the option to take 3, 5, or 7 exposures. I can set the increment for number of stops that are over and under exposed. For this image I shot -4,-2, 0, +2, and +4. I have included all five images below. The shutter speed is changed on each shot to get the additional exposures.
My purpose was to darken the bright areas of the image and lighten the dark portions. I use a piece of software titled PhotoMatrix Pro to combine the exposures into a single file. PhotoMatrix Pro has a number of presets for making adjustments. I use these presets as a starting point for making the final adjustments. The single file is then imported back into Lightroom for final adjustment.
When combining the 5 images, PhotoMatrix Pro will blend the best exposure for various portions from each of the 5 images to create the final image shown at the top of this post. | <urn:uuid:2f8d2ea7-ac01-4d35-8400-2e76bf320e04> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.joelmotylinskiphoto.com/blog/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943519 | 532 | 1.765625 | 2 |
Mother's Day Features
10 Tips to Help You Get Ready for the Holidays
For many of us, the holiday season is a time that is anticipated with both joy and anxiety. Sure, we love the celebrations, the family traditions, and we cherish the memories of holidays gone by; but along with them, we add the stresses of preparation, expectations and the fear of letdowns, or family squabbles that we have experienced in the past. Here are ten tips that I’ve found to be helpful in getting ready for an enjoyable, meaningful holiday season.
1. Set manageable expectations. Spend some time now setting realistic and manageable expectations for your holiday season. Understand that you can’t do everything! Be realistic about what you can do. Make a priority list of your most important events and activities for you and your family. Then, pace yourself. Organize your time. Keep in mind that it’s the holiday “season” (not “day”) and spread out your activities to lessen stress and increase enjoyment.
2. Remember the holiday season does not eliminate sadness or loneliness. Problems and difficulties arise even during the holiday season. And, for some, the holiday season evokes painful memories of events or the loss of loved ones in the past. Give room for yourself and your family to experience these feelings. Try not to let them become a consuming focus. Make an effort to work through present challenges and conflicts.
3. Acknowledge the past, but look toward the future. Life brings changes. Each season of life is different. Determine to enjoy this holiday season for what it is. Acknowledging the past, whether it was good or bad, is appropriate. But, if you find that this year has been a rough one and you don’t anticipate having the best holiday season ever, try not to set yourself up by comparing today with the “good old days.” Take advantage of the joys the present holiday season has to offer.
4. Develop and encourage a life of gratitude. Gratitude is an attribute that transcends circumstances. No matter what your circumstances, I believe there is reason to be thankful in them. Your circumstances may never change, but your attitude toward them can change…and this can make all the difference. Christians have a special reason to adopt the attitude of gratitude, because we know that whatever comes, our times are in God's hands. It was Jesus who said, in effect, "So don't be anxious about tomorrow. God will take care of your tomorrow, too." (See Matthew 6:34.)
If you want to help your kids develop an attitude of gratitude, I encourage you to try an experiment that might radically influence your family. It’s called “Thank Therapy.” Thank Therapy is simply focusing on the many things in your life for which you can be thankful. Get started by having each family member create individual lists, of “Twenty Reasons Why I’m Thankful.” Thank Therapy is simply an act of the will to concentrate on the good and not the bad.
5. Do something for someone else. One of the ways we can demonstrate that we are grateful to God for His many blessings is to help others. To get more out of this holiday season, try getting involved in serving others. For some great ideas, read HomeWord’s free online article, “Helping Others at the Holiday Season.”
6. Enjoy activities that are cheap or free. There are many good holiday-related activities that will add to your family’s enjoyment, such as driving around to look at holiday decorations, baking Christmas cookies, going window-shopping, and playing in the snow.
7. Enjoy a family holiday tradition. Traditions provide opportunities to keep your family’s legacy going. They create meaningful memories. So, from the silly to the sentimental, if your family has some holiday traditions, if possible, be sure to include them in your holiday activity plans.
8. Try something new. Celebrate the holidays in a new way. You may just create a new tradition that will keep going for generations!
9. Spend money responsibly. The holiday season brings with it a big temptation to spend money beyond your means and to rack up significant credit card debt, especially when it comes to purchasing Christmas presents for your family. Just say no! While your family may be thrilled by your gifts on Christmas Day, don’t forget that come springtime, your kids may well have laid aside or forgotten those gifts, even while you’re struggling to make the payments. Decide now to be financially responsible this holiday season!
10. Carve out some time for yourself! Don’t take on all of the responsibilities of your family’s holiday celebrations by yourself. Share the load. Create some space during the holidays for you to recharge your own batteries.
Printed by permission of HomeWord. For additional information on HomeWord, visit http://www.homeword.com/ or call 800-397-9725.
We pray that you will continue to be blessed from these resources. If we can be of any further assistance, please contact us. | <urn:uuid:6b8f13db-979a-4133-ab9d-21c6d1c63679> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.solidgospel105.com/Article.asp?id=951530&spid=28177 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00023-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951936 | 1,075 | 1.671875 | 2 |
Three thousand years ago in Ancient Greece, there was a sun drenched island in the Aegean Sea called Rhodes. It was a boiling hot summer day. In the agora there were people selling fruit and fish. A woman was bartering about the price of olives in the stoa. A group of young men were singing happily that they had won the Trojan War. A donkey was eating some food from a lady. Shopkeepers were weighing juicy oranges for customers. Children were playing and grown-ups were peaking in the stoa. A slave carried an amphora on her head. The people who were chatting were having great fun. But they didn’t know the danger that was coming…
The Greek monster that was called Bellerophon lived in the underworld and was controlled by Hades. He had a head that was as cold as a treasure and he could turn you into a shiny silver statue. His feet were as strong as a horse’s leg so it could kick you very far away. The snake tail was so deadly that he could spit venom and you would die in one second. His black sharp ear could shoot swords and turn you into ash in one minute. The monster had two brothers. The father of the Bellerophons had a very hard time crying with his eldest son. The connection was that Hades sent Bellerophon because the father of the hero killed Hades sons and Bellerophon was still alive in the underworld.
As soon as the horrible dangerous monster appeared in the darkness, the people were panicking until they fell into a disgusting lake. Statues crashed on each other. All the men tried to save their family, but they did not make it. Some slaves ran around screaming until they broke their bones in the deadly cobra pond. They were shouting, “Help! Help! Death is coming!” A poor baby was lying on the ground almost dying. Blood was dropping from the table and flowers.
Zeus saw danger what happened so he sent his son and told him what to do. Artermis was the goddess of hunting. She said that Pursus had to kill the Bellorophon because it killed all the animals in the forest. The hero also wanted to help because his village was also destroyed. The hero was very nervous for the incredible fight against the Bellerophon. Zeus and Artermis were helping to kill the monster. The reward was that the hero could get one of his lightning bolts from Zeus.
The horrified monster was hungry. Bellerophon was very eager to see the Hero. Pursus finally came to the cave of the monster. The hero shouted, “Kity come to Papa”. Bellerophon was attacking the shocked Pursus. The monster hit in his leg with his sharp grey ear.
”Ohhhhhh,” said Pursus, “why are you doing this to me,” said the Hero.
The monster said “Your village was attacking my family. Hades sent me here.”
“OK,” whispered the hero.
Monster said, “Can we go on with the fight”.
“Yes,”said Pursus. Bellerophon was trying to turn Pursus into a silver statue. But in one second the monster was turning Pursus’ feet into stone. Bellerophon was steaming his mouth until fire came out. The monster’s frog feet were kicking in his belly for three times. Bellerophon was running into the Hero but just in time he put his sword out and killed the third son of Hades.
The people left the Bellerophon’s body hidden in the underworld. Pursus was exhausted from the horrible fight with the monster. Everybody was celebrating the death of Bellerophon. The city was so happy so that they could sacrifice Zeus to thank him for sending his son. People were dancing, singing, playing music and doing gymnastics as sport by the party. Rich men were eating boiled eggs, olives, sardines, snails, pigeons and lobsters. A woman was drinking wine and lying on a bench. A potter was stuffing some snails into his mouth in one bite without thinking. The reward to the hero was that he should get one lightning bolt of Zeus his father and become a god. We remember the hero to go to Greece and there is a statue in Athens of Pursus, the god of today!
Dear Bo, at work I have take time to read your very interesting story. I must say I found it a bit scary, but luckily the hero won and was awarded to be come a Gog. Well done, am sooo proud of you Bo! love daddy
Name: Omi Mulder
10th January 2013
Very nice story Bo
I am proud of you
Name: Remy Maduro
10th January 2013
Dear Bo, this is a very nice story. You are one of the best.....Congrats..... | <urn:uuid:91a1f3fd-ddc1-4584-8810-64c233bbc0c9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://myths.e2bn.org/mythsandlegends/userstory16902-pursus-and-the-bellerophon.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.993533 | 1,021 | 2.703125 | 3 |
Slow-motion Technological Disaster Research Builds Toward a Response ModelPosted Oct. 18, 2012
Research led by principal investigator Professor Rebecca Cline, Ph.D. on community members’ psychosocial responses during a slow-motion technological disaster can serve as a model for understanding and responding to future disasters of this nature. The report, authored by Heather Orom, at University at Buffalo, and Dr. Cline was the lead article in the October issue of the Journal of Family Issues. The researchers used focus groups to explore the psychosocial consequences of the Libby, Montana community’s exposure to amphibole asbestos. Slow-motion technological disasters, such as oil spills and human exposure to harmful chemicals, are occurring more frequently, yet evidence-based practices for responding to them do not exist. These disasters differ from natural disasters in numerous ways. Causes are associated with human failure; thus, blame is part of the community’s response. Further, substantial uncertainty surrounds the disaster and community conflict about the seriousness of the disaster typically arises. No clear endpoint exists for the toxic exposure and related health consequences. These differences result in community reactions that differ from those in natural disasters. Thus, different approaches to responding are needed for communities, responding agencies and health care professionals. To read the full article, visit jfi.sagepub.com.
Human-caused disasters of this kind are increasing in number, leaving communities such as Libby, Montana to handle the physical health, mental health and social consequences. Cline was the principal investigator for the larger investigation of which the published analysis is a part. The article is titled “A Typology of Communication Dynamics in Families Living a Slow-Motion Technological Disaster.”Orom and Cline found five communication patterns in family communication about asbestos-related diseases: Open/Supportive, Silent/Supportive, Open/Conflictual, Silent/Conflictual and Silent/Denial. Whether the communication was open and supportive or silent and conflictual may influence family members’ health behavior, including screening for asbestos-related disease, and their degree of psychosocial distress. The same open conflict about the legitimacy of health problems from asbestos exposure that is found in the community as a whole, for example between strangers, can also be found within some family relationships. In other relationships relatives avoided conversation about asbestos-related disease, similar to the way family members respond to cancer or HIV. Avoiding talking about asbestos-related disease likely occurs in order to avoid distress, anger or conflict among family or community members.
Cline has served in the School of Communication Studies for three years and received her Ph.D. from The Pennsylvania State University. Cline is a nationally recognized leader in health communication, public health and health education based on her research, expertise and experience in graduate education and curriculum development. She has conducted extensive research in the areas of interpersonal communication and health, including psychosocial responses to slow-motion technological disasters and interpersonal communication related to HIV/AIDS prevention.
The School of Communication Studiesis one of the fours schools in the College of Communication and Informationat Kent State University. Founded in 1932, the School is in its eightieth year. The school offers undergraduate degrees in global, health, interpersonal, organizational, public and applied communication. Graduate degrees are offered in interpersonal, mediated and mass communication, health and global communication. | <urn:uuid:973a638d-6f9f-4fec-9c6b-e9e0caa2125e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.kent.edu/research/newsdetail.cfm?newsitem=741E30F9-AEF3-6905-7C548E354416A7BE | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00036-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944502 | 689 | 2.53125 | 3 |
Privacy on the Books and on the Ground
Stanford Law Review
U.S. privacy law is under attack. Scholars and advocates criticize it as weak, incomplete, and confusing, and argue that it fails to empower individuals to control the use of their personal information. These critiques present a largely accurate description of the law “on the books.” But the debate has strangely ignored privacy “on the ground”—since 1994, no one has conducted a sustained inquiry into how corporations actually manage privacy, and what motivates them.
This Article presents findings from the first study of corporate privacy management in fifteen years, involving qualitative interviews with chief privacy officers identified by their peers as industry leaders. Spurred by these findings, we present a descriptive account of privacy “on the ground” that upends the terms of the prevailing policy debate. This alternative account identifies elements neglected by the traditional story—the emergence of the Federal Trade Commission as a privacy regulator, the increasing influence of privacy advocates, market and media pressures for privacy protection, and the rise of privacy professionals—and traces the ways in which these players supplemented a privacy debate largely focused on processes (such as notice and consent mechanisms) with a growing emphasis on substance: preventing violations of consumers’ expectations of privacy.1/4/2011 | <urn:uuid:f3e54f14-275c-4c1c-bcad-75e4cef5143a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.law.berkeley.edu/10698.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00033-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.928686 | 264 | 1.992188 | 2 |
1. When testing for ripeness, never squeeze or
press hard on the peach. Peaches blemish and
tear easily. 2. Peaches should not be washed
until just before you intend to use it. Washing
will remove most of the fuzz of the peach. 3.
Peaches can only become softer, they will not
get sweeter or riper -- that stopped when the
peach was picked from the tree. 4. To soften,
place the peaches in a single layer in a paper
bag. Fold the bag shut and place on the counter
-- not in the refrigerator -- out of direct
sunlight. A firm peach may take three to four
days to soften. For faster softening, add an
apple or banana to the bag; they give off
ethylene gas, which speeds up the process. Check
each peach daily. | <urn:uuid:afc0271e-269f-4399-81a8-2e7ffb5cbaee> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.woodstockorchardsllc.com/PeachHarvestSchedule.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00032-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.917838 | 185 | 2.078125 | 2 |
Maquinna Marine Provincial Park features a scenic rainforest with bright green foliage and moss with a river which supplies the natural hot mineral water to the rocky pools at Hot Springs Cove on the West Coast of Vancouver Island in British Columbia. The moss covered rocks and tree roots located beside the river are constantly wet from the steam created by the hot water promoting the growth of the vibrant green moss. It needs damp and shady conditions to survive and the bank of the stream leading to Hot Springs Cove is a perfect place for this moss to grow.
This river which leads to the Hot Springs Cove in the scenic Openit Peninsula in Maquinna Marine Provincial Park comes from deep within the earth and bubbles up to the surface like a natural hot bath. The water is cooled however by the Pacific Ocean and as the water filters down through the natural rock pools each one is slightly cooler than the one below it.
Some visitors to the Hot Springs think that the water has healing properties and will come to sit in the pools to benefit from the steam and condition of the water that they know is all natural. To reach the hot springs visitors take a boardwalk trail through the rainforest of the park, surrounded by vivid green foliage.
Moss covered rocks and tree roots beside the stream which supplies the natural hot mineral water to the rocky pools at Hot Springs Cove, Openit Peninsula, Maquinna Marine Provincial Park, Clayoquot Sound, Clayoquot Sound UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, West Coast, Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada.
I photographed this photo with the digital SLR camera model Canon EOS-1Ds Mark III, aperture of f/11.0, exposure time of 13/1 sec. on ISO 100, as always I used a original Canon Lens, the focus lenght for this picture was 23mm.
Back to top of photo page. | <urn:uuid:6ebb724d-6151-48fe-a3bc-a3e5609016dc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.hickerphoto.com/picture/natural-scenic-rainforest-foliage-river-47969.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00052-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.928865 | 375 | 2.546875 | 3 |
|Browse All Terms|
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The most widely adopted model building code in the United States is a performance based document meeting the needs of government units charged with the enforcement of building regulations.
Do you have a term that should be included in the glossary?
Submit a term for review | <urn:uuid:0ffc7b85-895c-4c7d-927b-e982116400a3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ispe.org/glossary?term=Uniform+Building+Code+(UBC) | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00059-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.906467 | 97 | 1.789063 | 2 |
Google has started fully supporting DNSSEC, the domain name security standard, on its Public DNS service.
According to a blog post from the company, while the free-to-use DNS resolution service has always passed on DNSSEC requests, now its resolvers will also validate DNSSEC signatures.
What does this mean?
Well, users of Public DNS will get protected from DNS cache poisoning attacks, but only for the small number of domains (such as domainincite.com) that are DNSSEC-signed.
It also means that if a company borks its DNSSEC implementation or key rollover, it’s likely to cause problems for Public DNS users. Comcast, an even earlier adopter, sees such problems pretty regularly.
But the big-picture story is that a whole bunch of new validating resolvers have been added to the internet, providing a boost to DNSSEC’s protracted global roll-out.
Currently Google Public DNS is serving more than 130 billion DNS queries on average (peaking at 150 billion) from more than 70 million unique IP addresses each day. However, only 7% of queries from the client side are DNSSEC-enabled (about 3% requesting validation and 4% requesting DNSSEC data but no validation) and about 1% of DNS responses from the name server side are signed. Overall, DNSSEC is still at an early stage and we hope that our support will help expedite its deployment.
One has to wonder whether Google’s participation in the ICANN new gTLD program — with its mandatory DNSSEC at the registry level — encouraged the company to adopt the technology.
The proposed .secure generic top-level domain is now officially contested, after NCC Group, best known in the domain industry for its data escrow services, announced a bid.
Newly formed NCC subsidiary Artemis Internet Inc, based in San Francisco, is the official applicant.
According to Artemis chief technology officer Alex Stamos, who co-founded security testing firm iSEC Partners and sold it to NCC for $22.8 million two years ago, this is a hard security play.
The .secure gTLD would be all about enforcing strict security policies on registrants, he said.
“Right now there are a lot of interesting security technologies out there, but they’re generally not very effective because they’re optional,” he said.
As well as premium pricing and a manual registrant verification process expected to take about two weeks – complete with mailing address confirmation and two-factor authentication tokens – Artemis plans to force registrants to adhere to certain baseline security policies.
For example, all .secure web sites would have to be completely HTTPS, Stamos said. The only permissible use of a standard port 80 URL would be to redirect to the encrypted site.
The same would go for mail servers – they’d all have to use TLS to encrypt email as standard.
“When you go to bank.secure you’ll know that the software and servers at the other end are going to make the most secure decisions possible,” Stamos said.
Artemis would scan its registrants’ sites for compliance with these baseline rules, looking out for things such as botched SSL implementations.
But Artmeis wants to take it a step further. It is also proposing a new protocol, Domain Policy Framework, which would let registrants publish their security policies in the DNS.
Stamos said the company has set up a Domain Policy Working Group to develop the spec, which it plans to submit to the IETF for standardization before the end of the year.
The other members of the working group, which promise to include some “influential” names in financial services, software and social media, will be announced in July.
DPF would work alongside the existing DNSSEC and DANE protocols to enable registrants to specify, for example, which Certificate Authorities browsers should trust when accessing their .secure domain, preventing certain types of attacks, Stamos said.
Obviously, this system is not going to work without support from browser software, but Stamos said he’s hopeful that the big vendors will embrace the DPF spec.
“The most innovative and forward-leaning browsers will support it first,” he said.
Domains in .secure would still be accessible by non-compliant browsers, he said.
ARI Registry Services has been hired to manage the back-end registry, but Artemis is also building a secondary registry system for storing the DPF records, which it plans to offer to other TLD registries.
NCC plans to invest up to £6 million ($9.7 million) in Artmeis over the next 15 months, according to a press release.
Another firm, Domain Security Company, also plans to apply for .secure.
Five of the world’s leading DNS experts have come together to draft a report slamming America’s proposed PROTECT IP Act, comparing it to the Great Firewall of China.
In a technical analysis of the bill’s provisions, the authors conclude that it threatens to weaken the security and stability of the internet, putting it at risk of fragmentation.
The bill (pdf), proposed by Senator Leahy, would force DNS server operators, such as ISPs, to intercept and redirect traffic destined for domains identified as hosting pirated content.
The new paper (pdf) says this behavior is easily circumvented, incompatible with DNS security, and would cause more problems than it solves.
The paper was written by: Steve Crocker, Shinkuro; David Dagon, Georgia Tech; Dan Kaminsky, DKH; Danny McPherson, Verisign and Paul Vixie of the Internet Systems Consortium.
These are some of the brightest guys in the DNS business. Three sit on ICANN’s Security and Stability Advisory Committee and Crocker is vice-chairman of ICANN’s board of directors.
One of their major concerns is that PROTECT IP’s filtering would be “fundamentally incompatible” with DNSSEC, the new security protocol that has been strongly embraced by the US government.
The authors note that any attempts to redirect domains at the DNS level would be interpreted as precisely the kind of man-in-the-middle attack that DNSSEC was designed to prevent.
They also point out that working around these filters would be easy – changing user DNS server settings to an overseas provider would be a trivial matter.
PROTECT IP’s DNS filtering will be evaded through trivial and often automated changes through easily accessible and installed software plugins. Given this strong potential for evasion, the long-term benefits of using mandated DNS filtering to combat infringement seem modest at best.
If bootleggers start using dodgy DNS servers in order to find file-sharing sites, they put themselves at risk of other types of criminal activity, the paper warns.
If piracy sites start running their own DNS boxes and end users start subscribing to them, what’s to stop them pharming users by capturing their bank or Paypal traffic, for example?
The paper also expresses concern that a US move to legitimize filtering could cause other nations to follow suit, fragmenting the mostly universal internet.
If the Internet moves towards a world in which every country is picking and choosing which domains to resolve and which to filter, the ability of American technology innovators to offer products and services around the world will decrease.
This, incidentally, is pretty much the same argument used to push for the rejection of the .xxx top-level domain (which Crocker voted for).
VeriSign announced late yesterday that it has fully implemented DNSSEC in .com, meaning pretty much anyone with a .com domain name can now implement it too.
DNSSEC is a domain-crypto protocol mashup that allows web surfers, say, to trust that when they visit wellsfargo.com they really are looking at the bank’s web site.
It uses validatable cryptographic signatures to prevent cache poisoning attacks such as the Kaminsky Bug, the potential internet-killer that caused panic briefly back in 2008.
With .com now supporting the technology, DNSSEC is now available in over half of the world’s domains, due to the size of the .com zone. But registrants have to decide to use it.
I chatted to Matt Larson, VeriSign’s VP of DNS research, and Sean Leach, VP of technology, this afternoon, and they said that .com’s signing could be the tipping point for adoption.
“I feel based on talking to people that everybody has been waiting for .com,” Larson said. “It could open the floodgates.”
What we’re looking at now is a period of gradual adoption. I expect a handful of major companies will announce they’ve signed their .coms, probably in the second half of the year.
Just like a TLD launch, DNSSEC will probably need a few anchor tenants to raise the profile of the technology. Paypal, for example, said it plans to use the technology at an ICANN workshop in San Francisco last month, but that it will take about six months to test.
“Most people have their most valuable domains in the .com space,” said Leach. “We need some of the big guys to be first movers.”
There’s also the issue of ISPs. Not many support DNSSEC today. The industry has been talking up Comcast’s aggressive deployment vision for over a year now, but few others have announced plans.
And of course application developer support is needed. Judging from comments made by Mozilla representatives in San Francisco, browser makers, for example, are not exactly champing at the bit to natively support the technology.
You can, however, currently download plugins for Firefox that validate DNSSEC claims, such as this one.
According to Leach, many enterprises are currently demanding DNSSEC support when they buy new technology products. This could light a fire under reluctant developers.
But DNSSEC deployment will still be slow going, so registries are doing what they can to make it less of a cost/hassle for users.
Accredited registrars can currently use VeriSign’s cloud-based signing service for free on a trial basis, for example. The service is designed to remove the complexity of managing keys from the equation.
I’m told “several” registrars have signed up, but the only one I’m currently aware of is Go Daddy.
VeriSign and other registries are also offering managed DNSSEC as part of their managed DNS resolution enterprise offerings.
Neither of the VeriSign VPs was prepared to speculate about how many .com domains will be signed a year from now.
I have the option to turn on DNSSEC as part of a Go Daddy hosting package. I probably will, but only in the interests of research. As a domain consumer, I have to say the benefits haven’t really been sold to me yet.
Go Daddy has officially unveiled its Premium DNS service, which will enable its customers to buy and use managed DNSSEC services for the first time.
The price is $2.99 per month, which works out to $35.88 a year.
For the money, buyers also get a bunch of other tools, such as reports and audits, off-site DNS functionality and backup name servers.
There’s also a “Vanity Nameserver” option, which appears to let customers set their domain’s name servers to display as something like brand.domaincontrol.com, rather than ns1.domaincontrol.com.
It also appears that users of Go Daddy’s standard service will now be limited to 100 forwarded sub-domains, with Premium DNS users getting an unlimited number.
But the big deal as I see it is the addition of managed DNSSEC.
DNSSEC is a new security protocol that substantially mitigates the risk of falling prey to a DNS hijacking using, say, a cache poisoning attack.
Remember the Kaminsky Bug? DNSSEC prevents that kind of thing from happening again.
The problem with DNSSEC is that it’s massively complex and quite hard work to manage, requiring frequent key generation and rollover.
Go Daddy users can already manage their own DNSSEC records if they choose, but that’s only really an option if you’re a hard-core DNS geek.
Paying a few bucks a month to have somebody else manage it for you is an absolute bargain, if you care enough about your domain’s security.
I suggest that this could be a lucrative business for Go Daddy primarily because proponents of DNSSEC hope that one day it will be ubiquitous. Every domain will use it.
Go Daddy has over 45 million domains under management today. If customers representing only 1% of its domains choose to upgrade, that’s an extra $16 million into company coffers annually.
If they all do (which is not going to happen) we’re talking about a $1.6 billion business.
I don’t think the new service is going to lead to a massive uptick in the number of signed domains, but it will certainly get the ball rolling. For enterprises, it’s good value.
But individuals and large domain portfolio holders will not flock to return to 1999 .com prices just in order to implement a protocol they’ve been doing just fine without.
The future of broad DNSSEC adoption is more likely to be in open-source and freeware tools and services that can be easily understood by geeks and non-geeks alike. | <urn:uuid:771b9e22-eec8-4266-ba4f-5c70f19e308d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://domainincite.com/tag/dnssec | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00060-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944402 | 2,900 | 1.882813 | 2 |
By Erika, Pure Matters
I have moments of forgetfulness regularly, whether I’m trying to recall where I put the car keys, what was next on my “To Do” list, or how I was planning to end a sentence. Forgetfulness can lead right into frustration, taking me out of the moment, wasting precious time, and raising concern about whether there’s a bigger problem. But, not to worry, absentmindedness isn’t always a sign of a health problem like Alzheimer’s or Dementia.
There’s a difference between misplacing your glasses and more serious memory impairments that disrupt your daily life. We’ve put together a guide to help you spot the difference between signs of normal forgetfulness and signs of Alzheimer’s, Dementia, or other memory-related illnesses.
Forgetfulness Not To Fret Over
Forgetfulness can be normal, and not a cause for concern, in many situations. As we age, it takes longer to learn new information and it’s more difficult to retain information. Stress, anxiety, and depression can also cause memory problems.
Other normal reasons for forgetfulness that shouldn’t be cause for concern include the following:
- Forgetting appointments once in a while, but remembering them later.
- Making occasional mistakes when doing an everyday task.
- Occasionally misplacing items.
If any of these symptoms are ongoing or become worse, make an appointment with your doctor, who may recommend medication or counseling. If your forgetfulness is a normal response to stress, a major life change, or depression, your memory should improve as you begin feeling better.
Early Signs of Alzheimer’s or other Memory-Related Health Concerns
Dementia is the loss of memory, thinking, and reasoning skills that interferes with your daily activities. Dementia is a group of symptoms caused by diseases like Alzheimer’s. Symptoms of Alzheimer’s start slowly, but steadily become more serious.
Signs of a serious memory concern like Alzheimer’s or dementia may include:
- Repeatedly forgetting appointments, events, or names of family or friends.
- Finding it extremely difficult or impossible to complete everyday tasks that used to be easy, like managing a budget or driving to a familiar location.
- Confusion with time or place.
- Withdrawal from social activities and work.
- Difficulty having a conversation and/or trouble remembering the words for everyday objects.
- Neglecting personal safety, nutrition, and cleanliness.
Alzheimer’s is more common in people over 65, but can occur in adults as young as 40. If you’ve experienced some of these signs, or you have concerns about your memory, make an appointment with your doctor. There are medications that could help with some types of dementia, depending on the stage and symptoms.
Tips on Keeping your Memory Sharp
If you suffer from occasional forgetfulness, some of these actions may help keep your memory in shape:
- Use memory aids like notes and calendars, make “to do” lists, and plan your schedule.
- Participate in classes or group activities that have a positive impact on the mind and body, like meditation.
- Exercise regularly, to help keep your brain and body in a healthy state and to relieve stress and anxiety.
Limit drug and alcohol use. | <urn:uuid:666effbe-bc80-4ed2-8db9-c45a11daa45c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.local10.com/thats-life/seniorsolutions/Is-it-forgetfulness-or-early-signs-of-Alzheimer-s/-/2604076/16802304/-/fp15ngz/-/index.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.915724 | 712 | 2.765625 | 3 |
Get flash to fully experience Pearltrees
Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution; its development is one of the most prominent examples of free and open source software collaboration, which allows its underlying source code to be used, modified, and distributed—commercially or non-commercially—by anyone.
iOS was previously known as iPhone os and this is basically an operating system for the mobile and was developed and also distributed by the company apple.
Here are very very basic unix commands you must know. These unix commands are related to the file and directory management in unix and some unix commands are general. You will also come to know how communication takes place between unix computers and also various security commands.
Practical Code Editors
Web development has become a very important topic on the web these days and the internet has become the best source for developers to learn more about web development.
Every month we bring new and recently released applications and tools for our audience, today, We have collected 10 of the useful security tools and applications for developers that will to help you simplify your website and development related tasks and keep your website a step ahead of the competition.
I was searching the other days a really good code editor to use, cause I found myself for the first time in the situation of having to use one. I discovered that if you search for one of these a lot of the ones you find are outdated, deprecated and no use for modern web design. However, if you search the depths of the internet well enough you find out about some online code editors that you haven’t heard about before.
Using Django 1.4? Check out the new, updated version of this post with Django 1.4 specific changes and updates . One of the things I wish I had known when starting my Django project for IllestRhyme was "How do I start a real Django project".
Benchmark (per Dictionary.com ) - "an established point of reference against which computers or programs can be measured in tests comparing their performance, reliability, etc."
Seamless web search - lose less focus 90% of the time I switch context away from Vim, it’s to load Chrome to search for something. In order to make this as seamless as possible, I’ve added a function to my .vimrc which brings up a prompt where I can enter my search terms, hit enter and it launches Chrome and searches the search engine of my choice with the entered text. I should note - this is for Chrome on OS X, however, it could be adapted to work on other platforms and with other browsers.
Have you ever peeked into the source code of any of the applications you run every day? Ever used make install to install some application?
It is always interesting to read a book about a technical topic from its creator.
This guide is aimed at computer programmers who want to master the GNU Emacs text editor. It has been said that the Emacs learning curve is not so much steep as long .
Table of Contents | <urn:uuid:3c8325ef-3452-4df9-92fa-dd0dd0f7e812> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.pearltrees.com/markgloom/programming/id4706259 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953388 | 636 | 2.859375 | 3 |
The Death Of The Gap Year?
The gap year is a foreign concept to most Americans — most high school graduates here head straight on to college. But for the British, the gap year is a hallowed institution, the year-long break before Uni (that’s university to you Yanks) where the budding minds of the best and the brightest head off into once was the country’s imperial backyard to expand their horizons and hone their skills for their upcoming education. Or it’s a chance to get completely bombed on some island in the Gulf of Thailand with tens of thousands of other sub-25 travelers and do a lot of nothing until the real world catches up — a spring break that never ends.
And this is worrying some back in the U.K. who, in this recent Guardian exposé on the life of a gap year traveler in Thailand, are concerned that for the 160,000 who take off that year, “the golden age of the gap year is over.” No longer is the time off “used in a focused way to support an application to the course or university you are targeting,” but as the article explores in the island of Koh Phangan, Thailand, the gap year is now epitomized by the Full Moon Party that happens there every month. And oh yes, there will binge drinking.
Like Richard from “The Beach,” the Guardian‘s author begins his adventure by touching down on Khao San Road, where much to the author’s chagrin, life seems to be no different for gap year travelers than back home in London, what with the sports bars, Western music, and hordes of tourists. Forgoing the normal bus trip — most people take a plane now anyway — his next stop is Koh Phangan, a short plane trip and ferry ride south where he runs into a couple Brit backpackers who explain to him their distaste for tourists, a slightly odd attitude given their surroundings:
We’re sitting on the side of a dirt track near the centre of Had Rin, the main tourist town on Koh Phangan, and venue for tomorrow’s Full Moon Party. Tourists are whizzing past every 30 seconds on mopeds belching out acrid fumes. Every second shop is an internet cafe packed with tourists checking Facebook. Every third shop is a travel agent’s filled with tourists plotting their next move. It’s an odd place to visit if you don’t like tourists. And particularly if you yourself are one.
Most have come for the all-night party that is host to crowds of between 10,000-30,000 revelers, a party that seems even the DJ’s have become bored with working. Toilets overflow, urination occurs in the sea, and Black Eyed Peas songs are played — a far cry from the first party thrown by Sutti Kuasurkul — the man who started it all — back in the mid-’80s. He still lives there, and owns a hostel nearby, but won’t even answer questions about what’s come of his creation. The “beach” has been discovered.
And what of those who say this has nothing to do with travel to Thailand? So be it responds one backpacker:
This isn’t a Thai experience . . . this is a party experience. Chiang Mai and Bangkok, you get a Thai experience. Koh Phangan is a party place . . . We’ve gone through the Thai experience,We’ve seen it, we’ve done it. So for us this is just a nice way to cap it off and celebrate what we’ve achieved, all that we’ve been through. A lot of people just see the Khao San Road and here — and they’re tourists. They’re not travellers. They’re not going to learn anything here about Thai culture. Whereas going to places like Chiang Mai, you just learn so much about their culture of respect, and the emphasis they place on those . . . those aspects.
[image by Evan Rosenfeld/Flickr]
Posted on September 08, 2010 by Matt Stabile | <urn:uuid:6745a4fb-83de-4c6d-af2f-f2195be160ef> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.theexpeditioner.com/2010/09/08/the-death-of-the-gap-year/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00076-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947644 | 883 | 1.679688 | 2 |
SOCIAL SECURITY FOR PUBLIC EMPLOYEES (EXCERPT)
Act 205 of 1951
38.856 Employee contributions; payroll deduction.
The contribution imposed by section 5 shall be collected by the state treasurer by deducting the amount of the contribution from wages as and when paid, but failure to make such deduction shall not relieve the employee from liability for such contribution. The contributions so collected shall be turned over to the contribution fund established under section 13 of this act.
History: 1951, Act 205, Imd. Eff. June 14, 1951
Am. 1961, Act 83, Eff. Sept. 8, 1961
© 2009 Legislative Council, State of Michigan | <urn:uuid:e1728315-35e1-4ac0-ad5b-354fe1653eac> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.legislature.mi.gov/(S(erzfiyumfkfkfx45zhblmri5))/mileg.aspx?page=getObject&objectName=mcl-38-856 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00048-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.927543 | 142 | 1.570313 | 2 |
A movement is changing the way we learn and work. Bring a Maker Space to Cairo, help support DIY culture and entrepreneurship!
What do you want to do?
We want to organize a fully immersive three-day Maker/Hacker space at Maker Fair Africa in Cairo, Egypt, but we need your support to heat the soldering irons and power the circuits! Imagine a place that integrates art, science, and technology into a great startup culture; open to all curious humans of all skill levels and all ages; and supported by Egypt's finest makers. Our goal is to establish a full-time Maker/Hackerspace in Cairo -- and more throughout Africa!
Maker Faire Africa and the Three-Day Maker Space
#MFA11 will happen this year Oct 6-8. MFA's third annual event will be held in Cairo. What is a Maker Faire? Well, we'll let MFA explain:
"... Africa’s most innovative makers of things – engineers, artists, designers, entrepreneurs, tinkerers & hackers – prepare to incubate their inventions in Cairo, Egypt, during a three day creative fair that includes a public exhibit, professional workshops, social meet-ups, project mashups, competitions and more."
We* are flying to Maker Faire Africa to run a three-day maker space with help from Cairo's existing hacker space crew. We want to let to show attendees the idea that they could have a maker space year-round. We are providing the tools and environment to simulate what a maker space feels like. We will provide Arduino workshops, 3D printing workshops (thanks Maker Bot!), Drawdio music instrument making workshops and silk painting workshops. We hope to establish more to come as we get in contact with additional Egyptian makers.
Your (tax deductible) donations will go towards:
- Flights for 2 people to Cairo from the states (Bilal and Mitch)
- Promotional material for the event.
- Travel and hotel money for two weeks while we conduct a survey of local makers.
- Material costs for the maker space: scarves, wires, paint, electronics.
- Making some cool laser-cut and screen-printed stuff!
- A nice microphone for the audio quality during our interviews.
- Revolving micro loan to assist with the initial build out of these spaces. If you donate more than the budget now, we don't have to ask you later for the loan :)
Six Nights and three days and six days
The project extends beyond the three day mission and is split in two phases:
Phase I: We will expand the existing Egyptian dialog on maker spaces between people like Tarek Ahmed and Hussein El Said by co-hosting hacker space meetups the week leading up to the event and the week after. Mitch and Bilal will share their extensive experience in starting and supporting hackerspaces. We are focusing on finding as many women makers and entrepreneurs as possible as we are interested dispelling stereotypes nationally and abroad about who makers are. We will interview local makers and publish video of the creative DIY open sourced attitudes in Cairo and Alexandria. The six days before and after the Three Day Maker Space are a part of a survey of the support for maker culture and entrepreneurship in Cairo. We hope to discover the infrastructure and people that exist already and compile a list of resources and bridge the gap between makers in Cairo, Alexandria, and the rest of the world.
Phase II: The second phase built around a revolving micro loan to help bootstrap these spaces. We will accept applicants we have found during our exploration. Please donate even if we've reached our goal! Any money that goes over the needed amount will go towards a fund that will continue circulating, supporting makers in emergent nations. This loan will be available for people like Tarek and Hussein to use for their initial build out and installation of tools. This resource will help create a space that adds value to its members' lives, which will make their monthly donation meaningful. And this, in turn, helps the lives of the greater community.
Why Cairo? Why maker spaces?
The technologically savvy young people who banded together and overthrew a dictator are exactly the types of passionate people who can benefit from a maker space. There are as many kinds of maker spaces as there are spaces themselves, but they all are spaces of empowerment and ability. Although the hacker spaces of the world have been helping to provide internet access to people in Cairo and Syria when their governments clamped down on them, it excites me even more to see what the brilliant people of Egypt will come up with when they are given the ability to make almost anything with almost nothing.
Maker spaces around the world provide a community of passionate people who love to share what they know with the rest of the community. Maker spaces have banded together under the banner of hacker spaces and have been providing more and more people every year with community, tools, learning opportunities and personal development, enthusiastically sharing and exploring what they love to make and do. These things are the very foundation of a person ready to change the world.
Who are you and why are you here?
Hello! We're GEMSI, the Global Entrepreneurship and Maker Space Initiative: a small international team of makers, hackers, entrepreneurs, artists, and lovers with a mission. Our core team has been building communities and helping organize hacker spaces for years. Put simply, our focus is encouraging the development of democratic maker communities to stimulate and support passionate makers and entrepreneurship.
The volunteers supporting this effort are: Bilal Ghalib from Ann Arbor, Michigan; Mitch Altman from San Fransico, California; Tarek Ahmed from Cairo, Egypt; Sarms Jabra from Chicago, Illinois; Zelda Moran from Montreal, Canada; Manal Jameel from Alexandria, Egypt; and more.
To Maker Faire Africa for supporting this project with your gracious hosting of The Three Day Maker Faire and your initial financial donation. Thank you to The School Factory for fiscally sponsoring our project and letting us take tax deductible donations! Thank you Tarek for being so passionate and running with this project from day one. And thank you to all the volunteers for their time and effort. And each and every one of our donors for helping out.
Don't be a stranger! Keep in touch!
All donations are tax deductible through the non-profit organization The School Factory.
Have a question? If the info above doesn't help, you can ask the project creator directly.
pledged of $7,022 goal
seconds to go
Sep 10, 2011 - Sep 30, 2011
Pledge $5 or more
29 backers Limited (471 of 500 left)
You'll get a sticker with the GEMSI bridge connecting you with other supporters. Wear it proudly! You'll also be featured as a supporter on GEMSI's website.Estimated delivery: Oct 2011
Pledge $24 or more
85 backers Limited (15 of 100 left)
You get the GEMSI Sticker, your name on the website and a t-shirt with the GEMSI bridge on it! It will be hand screened on Alternative Apparel (trust me, you'll like the fabric, it's kitten soft!). You'll appear on the little fast moving credits from the cinema - you know like a stunt man or something - for all the video content we will produce.Estimated delivery: Nov 2011
Pledge $50 or more
21 backers Limited (179 of 200 left)
Get the sticker and a CUSTOM hand printed GEMSI tee shirt printed by me, Bilal Ghalib on ultra soft and delightful Alternative Apparel TShirts! Add any text based message you want above the GEMSI bridge logo. For example: "Bilal Supports:" [insert GEMSI here] or "Makers Unite!" [insert GEMSI logo here]. Ps. This is an awesome chance for you to be creative and get a true one of a kind gift for a geeky friend.Estimated delivery: Dec 2011
Pledge $100 or more
12 backers Limited (88 of 100 left)
Get the sticker, the shirt and Mitch Altman's slightly subversive, and ultimately practical TV B Gone remote control. Turn off or on any TV anywhere. Ever been at a noisy restaurant and wished you could turn off the blaring tv?Estimated delivery: Nov 2011
Pledge $295 or more
3 backers Limited (17 of 20 left)
Now this is amazing. Get an original hand painted scarf with a design of your choosing by Manal. Manal is one of the female artist and entrepreneurs who will be helping GEMSI by running fabric modification workshop! She's wonderful and talented! You'll also get the GEMSI shirt, and the sticker! Here's another tip for a great gift (check the delivery date ;).Estimated delivery: Dec 2011
Pledge $1,122 or more
0 backers Limited (3 of 3 left)
Not only will you receive the GEMSI sticker, shirt, and a TV-B-Gone you will help participate in the events as they unfold through 5 Skype conversations with the GEMSI team on the ground and access to our email and attuned attention. Do you love the project so much you wish you were a part of it? Well for the price of a plane ticket you can participate fully without having to deal with the TSA!Estimated delivery: Oct 2011 | <urn:uuid:7f44ada5-5cc8-4b21-882b-36174af1d593> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/bilal/3-day-egyptian-maker-space-expanding-the-maker-mov?ref=a5715f | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.930499 | 1,944 | 1.5 | 2 |
Whereas chiropractors are likely to crunch and click the bones, osteopaths are more likely to apply pressure to the soft tissue: the muscles, the ligaments, and the tendons.
“We’re principally concerned with the locomotion of the body,” explains osteopath John Betser. “We are looking at the bones, muscles, joints and ligaments, and how they do or don’t work together.”
Four-year degree course.
Back and shoulder injuries, shin splints, plantar fasciitis. While osteopaths can treat the same injuries as other doctors, it is important to select an osteopath who is well versed in sports medicine and used to treating your specific injury.
When to go
When a sudden or nagging injury won’t go away, particularly if the injury can be cured by manipulation of the muscles, ligaments and tendons.
What to expect
On the first visit, an osteopath will ask questions and do a standard examination to diagnose the problem. Expect the doctor to touch the injury and stretch it to help pinpoint what is wrong. Osteopaths don’t always use manipulation to effect a cure, but their medical philosophy leads them in that direction.
A club runner in his late 50s had a persistent injury in his right calf. Having visited a variety of specialists, he eventually consulted an osteopath, who discovered that the problem stemmed from a change of job a couple of years previously. At work he was standing for hours on end, always with his right leg slightly bent. As a result the calf muscle had started to shorten on that side.
Pressure applied to the lower calf enabled him to stand more symmetrically, thus reducing the tension in the right calf. More intricate stretches were prescribed and soon he was back to pain-free running.
Cost of treatment
Most people consult an osteopath privately. But, as with chiropractic treatment, it is available occasionally on the NHS.
The Osteopathic Sports Care Association; 0870-601 0037; Osteopathic Information Service; 020 7357 6655; www.osteopathy.org.uk | <urn:uuid:e25b9d42-19e1-4ed8-9a26-0627882c1d4b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.runnersworld.co.uk/beating-injury/which-injury-specialist-osteopaths/242.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00029-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947797 | 455 | 2.109375 | 2 |
Feds to Test River, May Impose Pollution Controls
HOPKINSVILLE, KY - A southwestern Kentucky river is set to undergo testing and farmers and businesses could face more restrictions in an effort to reduce river pollution depending upon the result.
The United States Geological Survey will test the Little River, which runs through Trigg and Christian counties. The last test of the river in 2001 resulted in the federal government classifying it as "impaired" because of the pollution levels.
Christian County Planning Director Steve Bourne told The Kentucky New Era that may people object to the 2001 test because it took place during high water flows, when there was greater runoff and potentially more pollution.
The Geological Survey will gather samples from 17 locations between October 2012 and September 2014.
The results are expected by September 2015. | <urn:uuid:e1047dfd-fea9-47a7-8785-bd54a66a684f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.westkentuckystar.com/News/Local-Regional/Western-Kentucky/Feds-to-Test-River-may-Impose-Pollution-Controls.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00073-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959838 | 165 | 2.4375 | 2 |
If you’re a Marylander like me, this is a time to be proud. The Old Line State has stepped forward, making ocean conservation a priority and providing an example that other states would be wise to follow.
First, Maryland became a leader in developing offshore wind energy by passing The Maryland Offshore Wind Energy Act of 2013, which was signed into law by Governor Martin O’Malley this week. The measure will help spur the development of at least 200 megawatts of renewable energy off Maryland’s coast – enough to power about 200,000 homes.
While wind turbines already dot Europe’s coast, the United States has yet to construct a single offshore wind farm. Maryland’s legislation marks an important milestone on this country’s path to a clean ocean energy future.
This victory was made possible by the tireless advocacy of Oceana and a diverse coalition of environmental, faith, business and community groups, all of which recognized the need to transition to this clean and abundant form of energy, and away from fossil fuels. Special thanks to Chesapeake Climate Action Network, National Wildlife Federation, Maryland League of Conservation Voters, Maryland Sierra Club and Environment Maryland for helping to pressure lawmakers to take this first step towards a greener energy portfolio for the state.
Second, both the Maryland House and Senate passed a bill to prohibit the sale and trade of shark fins. Pending the signature of the Governor, Maryland will become the first state on the East Coast to adopt such a ban. Approximately 100 million sharks are killed each year, primarily to support the demand for shark fin soup. While shark finning is banned in the U.S, this brutal practice—which involves slicing the fins off a live shark and then dumping it back in the water where it is left to die—is still occurring around the world. By stopping the shark fin trade in state, Maryland can help protect sharks worldwide.
So congratulations Maryland, but remember, there’s a lot of work still left to do to protect our oceans. As for the rest of the states, what are you waiting for?
Andy Sharpless is the CEO of Oceana.
If you watched this week’s State of the Union address, you may have heard President Obama announce that he was opening 75 percent of our “potential offshore oil and gas resources.”
The good news is that this isn’t news; it’s simply a reiteration of the administration’s current five-year drilling plan that fully protects the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, as well as much of the U.S. Arctic. The bad news, however, is that plan expands offshore drilling to include much more of the Gulf of Mexico than ever before – and worse yet, some of the Arctic. It’s as if the massive 2010 spill never happened.
In other good news, the President expressed his wish to reduce subsidies for oil companies. The oil companies receive about $10 billion a year in tax breaks, and the Obama administration has proposed cutting $4 billion.
I applaud the President’s commitment to reducing subsidies for the big oil companies, although I wish he would go further and eliminate them completely.
Unfortunately, the State of the Union address, as well as this week’s Republican primary debate in Florida, reiterated that our political leaders still fail to grasp a basic economic fact: that increasing our domestic supply of oil will not lower our prices at the gas pump.
Oil is a global commodity, and prices are set on a world market. Multinational companies who drill for oil – like Shell, B.P. and Exxon – will sell to the highest bidder. That may be the U.S. It may just as well be India or China.
As we learned during the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil disaster, there’s more at stake. National Journal writer Beth Reinhard asked the right question at Monday’s Republican debate when she noted drilling in Florida will create at most 5,000 jobs, while an oil spill threatens the 1 million jobs that depend upon tourism, which contributes $40 billion each year to Florida’s economy.
That’s a high price to pay to help oil companies continue to make record profits. And yet Rick Santorum, on the receiving end of her question, reiterated his support for more domestic drilling.
Unfortunately, oil companies are powerful players in the election season. They dole out enormous contributions to the candidates, which may explain why we see misinformation on both sides of the political aisle.
Here at Oceana, we’ll stick to the facts. More offshore drilling won’t lower your price at the pump, and we’ll continue to fight to protect our beaches and seafood from dirty and dangerous drilling.
Andy Sharpless is the CEO of Oceana.
Last week, the federal government released a report from the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling. In some ways, the Commission got it exactly right. After extensive study, the Commission concluded that:
• The Gulf of Mexico oil disaster was not an isolated incident, and
• It was the result of systemic failure in the oil industry and its government regulators.
But where the Commission failed was in its recommendations for the future of the oil industry in America. While acknowledging that offshore drilling can never be safe, the Commission declined to recommend removing the cap on liability for drilling disasters like the Deepwater Horizon. Explaining this decision on national television, Chairman Reilly said that some Commission members worried that removing liability limits for disasters would cause the international oil companies to transfer operations to countries that limited their risks from failures like the one this summer in the Gulf.
A hundred days after the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded, it appears that BP has finally succeeded in controlling the blowout that spewed millions of gallons of oil a day into the Gulf of Mexico.
Yet to paraphrase Winston Churchill, this is just the end of the beginning. The creatures that live in, and the people that depend on the Gulf of Mexico will be affected by the oil spill for years, and we are just starting to comprehend the scope of this tragedy.
That’s why I am pleased to announce that Oceana is launching an ambitious, eight-week scientific expedition in the Gulf of Mexico. We will assess the effects of the oil spill on the marine environment, and we will trumpet the message that ocean oil drilling is too dangerous to be allowed to wreck any more of our oceans and our beaches.
This expedition team, led by Oceana’s Chief Scientist Mike Hirshfield and Oceana’s vice president for Europe, Xavier Pastor, will also include research by Dr. Jeff Short, Oceana’s Pacific science director and one of the world’s leading experts on Exxon Valdez and the effects of oil spills from his years as a government scientist at NOAA. The crew also includes scientists, divers and underwater photographers from our U.S., Chile and Spain offices, as well as academic scientists.
Working from the Latitude, a 167-foot ship capable of sailing in shallow and deep waters, the crew will test for underwater oil and study important seafloor habitats as well as the migratory marine life affected by the spill. This includes endangered sea turtles as well as the rare whale shark.
We are fortunate to have supporters who believe in Oceana’s targeted, science-based work and make this kind of original research possible. The facts uncovered by our on-the-water team will be critical in the fight to end dangerous offshore drilling.
You can give today to help us support the critical work of the expedition. Please help us protect the oceans today!
When the expedition launches in early August, we will post frequent updates on Oceana.org, and I’ll be sure to share the most exciting developments with you.
Andy Sharpless is the CEO of Oceana. | <urn:uuid:71951f37-21ee-4543-bb91-04965ae8b714> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://oceana.org/es/category/blog-free-tags/ceo-note | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953382 | 1,699 | 2.265625 | 2 |
People return to battle-scarred Malian town of Diabaly
|Publisher||Integrated Regional Information Networks (IRIN)|
|Publication Date||23 January 2013|
|Cite as||Integrated Regional Information Networks (IRIN), People return to battle-scarred Malian town of Diabaly, 23 January 2013, available at: http://www.refworld.org/docid/510272fb2.html [accessed 24 May 2013]|
|Disclaimer||This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.|
Residents of Diabaly, in the Ségou region of central Mali, have returned to find their town heavily scarred from the week of heavy shelling it endured until 21 January.
Diabaly, with a population of 35,000, was briefly captured by Islamist groups on 14 January, leading to air strikes by French forces, which officially liberated it one week later. Most Islamists fled on 18 January.
Resident Mariam Sissoko was one of the first of those who had fled the fighting to return. "I no longer recognize Diabaly. Everywhere you look there are burnt-out cars and tanks, destroyed buildings. The stadium has been completely destroyed. Frontless shops have been looted," she told IRIN.
Shelling destroyed dozens of homes and shops, as well as the principal school's four classrooms.
On one side street in the town, civilians surveyed the burned-out wreckages of eight rebel pick-up trucks. The military camp, which the rebels used as a base, is in disarray, littered with ammunition, clothes, empty food packages and a few copies of the Koran.
Most of the dead bodies have been cleared from the streets, though one or two remain. Near the river lay the body of a man, as yet unidentified but thought to be a civilian. It is unknown how many rebels, Malian forces or civilians died in the fighting.
Aminata Kassoge, another resident, told IRIN she knew of at least three people from her neighbourhood who were killed. Some Malian soldiers injured in the fighting are recovering in the hospital in Ségou.
Children play by the riverbed where French and Malian troops who now patrol the streets have parked their armoured cars. Malian soldiers proudly display boxes of machine gun ammunition and an assortment of hand grenades left behind by the fleeing rebels.
On the other side of the gravel road is the church where the rebels left their mark, decapitating a statue of the Virgin Mary, smashing religious artefacts and flipping over wooden benches.
Local priest Father Daniel is not at home, but his 16-year-old daughter, Estelle Kouaté, shows us a room where rebels scribbled Koranic verses on the wall. She fled to a neighbour's house when the Islamists entered the town. "They told us we'll die together and those who insisted on leaving were non-believers," she said.
Photo: Katarina Hoije/IRIN Life in Diabaly is slowly returning to normal Most of the dozens of families who fled Diabaly - by bicycle, donkey, car or motorbike - to neighbouring villages Koroma and Niono or to Ségou, the first major town on the road north from the capital Bamako, have since returned.
Many of those who remained are still shaken. When armed forces bombed the rebel camp, weapon caches and vehicles, the rebels initially dug in; some took refuge in people's homes, residents told IRIN.
Resident Cherif Moulaye told IRIN Islamists taking shelter in houses threatened to kill people if they complained. Some residents holed up at home watched as shops were looted and animals stolen.
Ségou region's mayor stressed the need to start rebuilding; his first priority is to rebuild the school and find a temporary school in the meantime.
Roadside vendors and traders in the market have gradually returned to work, some selling their wares at inflated prices; the cost of rice is up by 27 percent, sugar by 20 percent.
There is also a severe fuel shortage because much of the fuel was looted, according to teacher Diarra Moulaye. But, while some residents reportedly sided with the rebels, others are relieved they are gone, and that the fighting is over.
Toutou Traore's mud-brick house has been blackened in the fighting and jagged pieces of shrapnel are stuck in the wall. "The air strikes pushed back the rebels. Without them we would have been finished. Diabaly would have become a ghost town like Timbuktu or Gao," he told IRIN.
Rising number of displaced
As fighting has continued elsewhere, the number of displaced has risen: some 7,500 Malians have fled to neighbouring countries, according to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), 4,208 to Mauritania, 1,829 to Burkina Faso and 1,300 to Niger.
Far fewer are estimated to be freshly internally displaced: 1,479 have fled to Mopti, 1,136 to Bamako and 984 to Ségou, bringing the total number of internally displaced since 2012 to 228,920.
In Konna, 60km northeast of Mopti in central Mali, sources told UNHCR that about 5,000 people had left during fighting, but are now on their way back. The agency heard a similar pattern for Niono, in Ségou Region.
Agencies are gearing up to help the displaced, though in some areas access remains restricted.
Ibrahim Almahadi, director of social and economic protection in Ségou, looks tired sitting behind his wooden desk at the social services office. "The authorities are struggling to help the IDPs [internally displaced persons]. Now that Diabaly was retaken we're hoping that people will return home, but we're worrying more people will come from Douentza, Gao and Timbuktu as the fighting continues," he told IRIN.
Two-thirds of the displaced are living with host families, who are resorting to borrowing money and food, selling goods and reducing the amount of food they eat to survive, according to the UN World Food Programme. | <urn:uuid:52655b3c-b91e-47cc-83c5-440ab08cc071> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.refworld.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/rwmain?page=topic&tocid=4565c22535&toid=&publisher=&type=&coi=&docid=510272fb2&skip=0 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00045-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969351 | 1,334 | 2.046875 | 2 |
By Eric Hood
By Eric Hood
By Michelle Woo
By Joel Beers
By Michelle Woo
By Aimee Murillo
By Michelle Woo
By Gustavo Arellano
This is a tale of two productions. One is the eagerly anticipated opening of Anna In the Tropics, a Nilo Cruz play that South Coast Repertory had its shrewd little orbs on long before the play stunned the theatrical world by winning the 2003 Pulitzer Prize for drama.
The other production is H, a one-man experimental Hamlet currently on the boards at the Insurgo Theater Movement that is, well, bombing big-time at the box office.
To find out more about the disparate experiences of winning and losing, we checked in with both Cruz and Insurgo front man John Beane about their plays.
Cruz is a gifted writer whose play Two Sisters and a Pianowas a lyrical yet riveting portrait of two women caught in the tumultuous tides of the human heart and geopolitics in revolutionary Cuba. Anna In the Tropicsis set in 1929 in a Florida cigar factory. The lives of Spanish and Cuban workers are upended by the arrival of a "lector" who reads aloud from Tolstoy's Anna Kareninaas they work.OC Weekly: What does a Pulitzer Prize look like, and have you ever slept with yours?Nilo Cruz:It's a little sculpture—from Tiffany, I think—and it's made of glass. It's very small. It fits into the palm of your hand and is in the shape of a star. And no, I've never slept with mine, but I keep it close by. What do you hope people walk away with after seeingAnna In the Tropics?
That's always the hardest question to answer because it's very hard to dictate what emotion the audience will walk away with. I can't assume the responsibility that they'll walk away with anything, period. . . . But from the beginning, I was interested in documenting the presence of Latinos in the United States in the late 19th century and looking at this particular location. It was a little utopia, the way that people lived there who brought their traditions from Cuba and Spain. It has endless possibilities, and it did exist at one point in time, and art was very important in the work place. That's what I hope people will learn from this, that it did happen.Why Tolstoy and not, say, Dostoevsky?
I've always liked Anna Karenina, and since so many cigar brands are named after women or romantic love stories, I thought the [novel in his play] had to be a love story. Plus, a lot of cigar workers in the '20s and '30s were socialist, so anything coming out of Russia they embraced.What is a playwright's responsibility to the politics of his or her homeland?
I think it's important, but you don't always have to be didactic. . . . Sometimes choosing not to write about something political in a political climate is a political statement. When you have destruction all around you and choose to do something creative, to build something, that is a political statement.So there's no overt politics inAnna?
The play is set at a time when the cigar companies are becoming industrialized and the machine is moving into the workspace and people are trying to hold onto their traditions in the midst of it. . . . But I think the play is more about the power of art. This novel starts to change the lives of the workers. They start to question their reality, so the book becomes a kind of catalyst.If Fidel Castro walked into the room now, what would you say?
I think I would be very silent. Silence is sometimes more powerful than words.Is there something truly distinct about your writing?
I was thinking the other day that the work I'm doing is very lyrical and quite poetic, and I think that's kind of radical at this point in time. No one is doing this kind of work anymore. In film and theater, it's like bad taste is in. It's about how sloppily or sensationally you can present your material. But to have a sense of beauty and present it onstage is very rare these days.Why is it so rare?
I'm not sure. Maybe it has something to do with television or not going beyond the surface. It may also have to do with the mentality and materialism of capitalism. We're living the fast and easy life, and the works of art that [are produced in that culture] don't require a lot of thinking and are not very profound. Look at the objects that were being made at the turn of the century, the attention to detail. We don't get that kind of work anymore, but there are some of us who are interested in that type of beauty—and I don't mean pretty or nice: you can find beauty in an alleyway, in a homeless person who might be filthy and delusional but who sees the world in a different way, a way that can be very prophetic or pathetic. So it's important for me to look for that beauty and to focus on it and delineate it.So, you won the Pulitzer. Does that mean it's time to retire?
It has invigorated me. I don't think the prize is as much about Annaas it is a way of telling me to write plays and go further with the art form—to continue what I was doing before, to do this kind of work and to help give the Latino experience a place in the American theater.
Closer to home, you can't help but wonder if John Beane, the big cheese at Insurgo Theater Movement, is contemplating hari kari. Beane is producing and starring in H, a one-man show entirely from Hamlet's perspective. Beane worked with director Tadao Ogihara on the concept.
The idea sounds interesting, but it has been a difficult business move. The play was a last-minute replacement for an adaptation of Robin Hood that Beane, the adaptor, didn't feel was ready for theatrical prime-time.
Through the first three weekends, four of the nine scheduled performances of Hwere canceled due to low, or no, audience. So far, less than 50 people have seen the show.
"It's below expectations," Beane said of the low turnout. "We knew going in that it wouldn't be a big hit and wouldn't garner a whole lot of attention. It was experimental for this company, which was the main draw for us. Personally, it's been a satisfying experiment."
But what about the business side of things? "Let's just say a lot of friends have seen it. The fortunate thing is it didn't cost much to produce."
Beane has learned a couple of valuable lessons. "It reminded me of how fricking hard acting is, especially when you're up there by yourself," he said.
He has also learned that you may start a theater company because you love to act, but that acting may get in the way of business. "I'm definitely pulling back my role in the performance of things this season," says Beane. "We're moving toward getting ourselves ready to being a long-term theater, getting the books straight and stuff like that. And I need to focus on running the theater."H, which lasts a mere 70 minutes, does run three more nights. Hopefully. Anna In the Tropics at South Coast Repertory's Argyros Stage, 655 Town Center Dr., Costa Mesa, (714) 708-5555. Previews begin Sun. Sun., 2 & 7:45 p.m.; Tues.-Fri., 7:45 p.m. $19-$38. Regular run begins Oct. 3; H at Insurgo Theater Movement, 4883 E. La Palma, Anaheim Hills, (714) 517-7798. Fri.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 2 p.m. $12-$15.
Find everything you're looking for in your city
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Check out the hottest list of places and things to do around your city | <urn:uuid:2f98f0d8-dc01-4032-bb17-78df8c1bbc52> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ocweekly.com/2003-10-02/culture/a-tale-of-two-productions/full/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00054-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.977975 | 1,709 | 1.53125 | 2 |
There has been much to-do lately about an HBO documentary, “The Weight of the Nation”. It’s an ‘exploration’ of the American ‘obesity crisis’. It’s title, whether intentional or not, is an homage to the technically groundbreaking silent film “Birth of a Nation”, which presented the KKK as the solution to the American ‘crisis’ of autonomous (and thus dangerous) black people. In the HBO production, fat has become the enemy that is endangering/destroying the social body of American … and I don’t see how this can possibly do anything but cast fat people as walking symbols of poor health and representatives of the ‘epidemic’ infecting the country.
Some people liked the documentary, seeing the film not as an unknowing attack on the fat body, but as a warning that “this epidemic of preventable disease won’t be solved by invoking the mantra of personal responsibility and waiting for the food industry to put healthy people before healthy profits. It would take a public/private partnership of unprecedented proportions to get us back on track” as a result of the fact that “We’ve tolerated–even cultivated–a food culture that’s literally toxic. And we’ve engineered exercise right out of our lives.”
While I agree that making it so hard for schools to offer physical education and time to play (thank you funding cuts and testing-not-teaching mandates) and subsidizing grain, but not organic vegetables, adds to an American HEALTH issue, I cannot escape the irritation that fat is portrayed as an undisputed marker of ill health and is, all by itself, deadly. Because that is bullshit.
For one thing, being “fat” is NOT dangerous just by itself. As I have pointed out before, people are considered ‘obese’, and thus at serious health risk, when they hit 30 BMI, even though the correlation between health and weight doesn’t look bad until you hit 40 BMI; the diet industry, not the American Medical Association, came up with 30 BMI as the marker for naughty fat. The real culprit undermining health is a sedentary lifestyle. Fat people who exercise are as healthy as thin people who exercise, and thin sedentary people are as sick as any sedentary lard ass.
Furthermore, just eating veggies and running around make make you lose weight in the short term, but there is a REASON 95-98% of dieters have regained their lost weight (plus some) by five years. Your body is genetically prone to storing extra weight, or it is not. Obesity researcher Dr. Rudy Leibel noted one study which showed, “ the average weight gain in the cohort (all slim people) after eating 5000 calories a day and not exercising, was only 6-11 lbs! After the experiment, they all easily went back to their normal weight without “doing anything”. This tended to suggest that the affinity to gain weight as well as the affinity to eat when no longer “hungry” may be genetic also.”
Let us not forget that non-genetic factors, like stress, poverty, ethnicity, sleep deprivation, and being a sexual/physical/emotional abuse survivor all increase your chances of being overweight of obese. Shall we eradicate these people to restore national health, then?
Ignorance of these basic facts is why you read heartbreaking articles about people who, AS HAS BEEN PROVEN WILL HAPPEN MORE THAN 95% OF THE TIME, lose weight and then gain more back, blame themselves, shame themselves, then quotes a few doctors about how common this is, trumpets one study that shows exercise keeps lost weight off for a year (but no word on 5 years, huh?), and ends with the by saying, “With so many drawbacks, you might wonder if you’d be better off just accepting your belly rolls. But the perils of being overweight still outweigh the risks of yo-yoing. So how do you quit the cycle for good? Despite what you read in the tabloids, it is possible”, which is completely counter to the facts given about weight gain an the dangers of yo-yo dieting by physicians who were interviewed in the article itself! Multiple studies have shown yo-yo dieting wrecks your health. The few studies saying yo-yo diets weren’t dangerous were done on ANIMALS in lab conditions, not people. ARGH!!
I’m not the only one to have noticed that “The Weight of the Nation” is more likely to inspire fear and loathing of fat people, than anything else. Fat people already have plenty of people who despise them, so adding to that dogpile of hate with incomplete facts was really not something HBO really needed to do … because it is NEVER a good idea when one group of people are portrayed in popular culture as being a diseased blight on the larger social body. | <urn:uuid:8d650e37-0a7d-403b-b95f-2cb47025df96> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://bettyfokker.wordpress.com/2012/05/16/the-weight-of-a-national-prejudice/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00042-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962445 | 1,043 | 1.679688 | 2 |
Six Senses Laamu
Laamu Atoll retains its very ancient culture, remaining virtually unspoilt by modern civilization.
Many of the islands have important archaeological sites, like Dhanbidhoo, Mundoo, Gan and Isdhoo. These are remains of monasteries, viharas and stupas of large proportions.
Pay a visit to the local communities to see the traditional lifestyle still prevailing, living indiferent to many modern ammenities. | <urn:uuid:196be882-b3d1-4b74-a7f7-73ecaeb1af9d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.sixsenses.com/resorts/laamu/destination | 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 | 0.926082 | 100 | 1.8125 | 2 |
Contact: Stephen J. Hudik
Human Rights Institute at Kean University Hosts Holocaust Survivor, Educator and Author
The Human Rights Institute at Kean University will host Holocaust survivor, educator and author Dr. Suzanne Vromen, for two presentations and book signings, Shedding Light on Dark Times, Belgian Nuns and their Daring Rescue of Young Jews from the Nazis. Vromen will appear on Monday, March 23, from 12:30 p.m. to 2 p.m. in the Center for Academic Success, Room 106; and from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. in the University Center, Room 226. Both venues are located on the universityís campus, at 1000 Morris Avenue in Union, N.J.
A professor emeritus at Bard College, Vromen is the author of Hidden Children of the Holocaust, Belgian Nuns and their Daring Rescue of Young Jews from the Nazis, published by Oxford University Press in May 2008. The book recounts the heroic tale of Belgian nuns who sheltered and cared for Jewish children living in occupied Belgium during World War II.
Vromenís own experience as a Holocaust survivor guided her research. She was living in Belgium in 1940 when the Germans invaded. A year later, she and her family escaped and found refuge in the Belgian Congo. "Recalling her Ďinitial bewilderment at being plunged suddenly into a Catholic milieu,í Vromen was able to connect at the deepest level with the surviving rescuers and former hidden children she interviewed,í" wrote Booklist editor and reviewer Donna Seaman. "These remarkably detailed and profoundly moving conversations are matched by Vromenís fresh and insightful analysis of knotty questions of identity, inheritance, faith and survival."
A longtime professor at Bard, Vromen co-founded the collegeís Women's Studies Program and directed it for eight years. She recently taught as a Fulbright senior specialist at the Buber Institute of the Free University of Brussels. She has also held numerous workshops for high school teachers under the auspices of the Facing History and Ourselves organization.
Vromenís presentation is sponsored by the Human Rights Institute at Kean University, in conjunction with Keanís Jewish Studies & World Affairs Program, Womenís Studies Program, M.A. in Holocaust & Genocide Studies program and the Holocaust Resource Center.
The Human Rights Institute aims to raise awareness of human rights violations worldwide among the general public, teachers and students. Its goals are to combat genocide and to promote conflict resolution through wide-ranging activities, including conferences, seminars, teacher training and curricula development for New Jersey schoolchildren.
For further information regarding the institute or Vromenís appearance, please contact Dr. Hank Kaplowitz, acting executive director of the Human Rights Institute at Kean University, at 908-737-4018. | <urn:uuid:292cdba6-4e6f-46ee-ace2-6f7af8bb3cca> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.kean.edu/pressreleases/2009/03/16_HRIHolocaustSurvivor.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00054-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.931564 | 586 | 2.21875 | 2 |
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Re: Feathered Theropods -Reprise
At 01:49 AM 9/28/98 -0700, Peter Von Sholly wrote:
> I thought Velociraptors were about six feet long, half of that
>tail. Aren't wolves much bigger than that? Bulk-wise, I mean?
Well, let's see, half of that six is tail, which is very light. That
leaves about three feet of body. That is about right for a wolf, indeed
perhaps even a bit smaller than a wolf.
Greg Paul, in _Predatory Dinosaurs_, estimates the weight of _Velociraptor_
at 7-15 kg. (And _Deinonychus_ at 50-75 kg). My copy of _Encyclopedia of
Mammals_ places wolves at 12-80 kg, so _V._s *are* a trifle smaller than
wolves, and _Deinonychus_ is about the size of a *very* large male wolf.
(Based on some of the other notes in the wolf article, it appears that the
upper size range in restricted to certain localized races, with most wolves
being less than about 40 kg).
May the peace of God be with you. email@example.com | <urn:uuid:a074bcde-c619-4291-9f30-16d00c53a9b0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://dml.cmnh.org/1998Oct/msg00034.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00062-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.906379 | 304 | 2.09375 | 2 |
Bogota Hacks/Hackers to Launch Crowdsourced Map on Environmental Problems
“Mi Bogotá Verde,” or My Green Bogota, a new, crowdsourced digital map that will track solid waste disposal – the first of many urban environmental concerns – is just weeks away from going online in Bogota.
The map was developed during the first hackathon of the Bogota chapter of Hacks/Hackers, created just four months ago.
I am co-organizer of this chapter, the first in Colombia, something I spearheaded as part of my mandate as a Knight International Journalism Fellow here.
Hacks/Hackers is an international organization of journalists (hacks) and computer technologists (hackers) with more than 10,000 members worldwide. The Bogota chapter is nearing the 200-member mark.
This is third mapping project I have coordinated during my one-year stay here. In July, we at ICFJ launched a digital map to track political and administrative corruption in Colombia in partnership with the Consejo de Redacción, an organization of investigative journalists. We also partnered with El Tiempo, Colombia’s largest newspaper, to develop a digital map to monitor crime in the capital, a map that is to go live this month.
Our hackathon on August 11 was organized with the idea of putting together a general environmental map, but we decided rather than trying to deal with all environmental concerns, we would kick off by focusing on just one.
Our digital map will seek citizen input to monitor the garbage problem in this capital city of more than 8 million people.
What is going to make this map stand out is our thumbs-up, thumbs-down approach to the solid-waste problem. Rather than treating this as a crisis map, we will also show where and when something is done right.
We are kicking off with just three main categories – good and bad practices for dealing with solid waste, and reports verified by editors. With time, the map will expand to include other urban environmental concerns. We are using the open-source Ushahidi mapping platform.
The slogan for the map, “Entre todos lo lograremos,” or “All together, we will succeed,” also applies to the 20-plus people who showed up for the hackathon.
Our participants included journalists, cartographers, designers, developers, Web entrepreneurs and environmentalists.
We think it’s a terrific start for one of the newest Hacks/Hackers chapters.
The mapping project was selected at the second Hacks/Hackers Bogota meeting in late May. A volunteer organizing committee met periodically in June and July to get things going and keep up the momentum.
And when we all got together, the momentum was definitely there, first through our brainstorming and then with our get-down-to-it attitude to move ahead. We divided into three groups to get our work done – communications, strategy and technology.
“I love the topic,” said Diana Salazar, who works in strategic digital communications at the Bogota Mayor’s Office. “And I think this interdisciplinary approach is important to generate optimum results.”
We had lots of help. HubBOG, which fosters shared workspaces and entrepreneurship, opened up one of its workspaces. There was participant spillover from the members and organizers of Bogodev, a meetup group of Web and mobile developers, and Bogotech, an organization of entrepreneurs and technology enthusiasts. Co-organizer Renata Cabrales, social media editor at El Tiempo, got us some great pre-hackathon coverage.
Now the work is continuing through the Google group we set up at the hackathon. You can follow us on Twitter at #BogmapaAmbiental. | <urn:uuid:56100d08-8b3f-4b26-a5b5-a610c57b2435> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.icfj.org/node/44786 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.93532 | 796 | 1.8125 | 2 |
WASHINGTON, DC (WUSA) -- Despite the explosion of flu cases, it's not too late to get vaccinated.
Health departments in the DC Metro area say there should be enough flu vaccine to go around but you won't be able to walk into every pharmacy to get your shot.
Instead of wasting your time going from store to store, we have a way to help you locate the sometimes elusive flu vaccine with Health Map Vaccine Finder (http://flushot.healthmap.org/). All you have to do is put in your zipcode and you'll see a list of stores in the area with the vaccine.
While the vaccine finder is a helpful tool, keep in mind a lot of people are searcing for the same vaccine so you may want to call ahead to see how much the store has in stock. | <urn:uuid:3da3a4e8-82d6-48c0-8381-0f9fda474855> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wusa9.com/news/article/237637/374/Widespread-Flu-Cases-How-To-Find-The-Vaccine | 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 | 0.967634 | 169 | 1.671875 | 2 |
The events are May 4-5 in Madison at the Madison City Schools Stadium from 7 p.m.-7 a.m.; May 18-19 at John Hunt Park from 7 p.m.-7 a.m.; and May 18-19 for North Madison County at Hazel Green High School from 7 p.m.-7 a.m.
Relay For Life is the signature fundraising event of the American Cancer Society. It is an overnight team event that raises awareness of cancer in the community and raises funds to fight cancer.
At Relay for Life, teams of people camp out at a local high school, park or fairground and take turns walking or running around a track or path. Each team is asked to have a representative on the track at all times during the event. Because cancer never sleeps, the American Cancer Society Relay For Life is an overnight event that lasts anywhere from 12-24 hours.
In the months leading up to the Relay For Life event, teams seek sponsorship and donations. As Relay begins, teams pitch tents, decorate their campsite, set out food, games and sleeping bags they will need throughout the event. Then, cancer survivors from the community join together in the inspirational Victory Lap that officially begins the annual Relay For Life.
Highlighting the evening is a luminaria ceremony held after dark to honor cancer survivors and to remember loved ones lost to this disease. The luminaria bags are then lit and line the walking track. They are left burning throughout the night to remind participants of the incredible importance of their contributions.
Ways to get involved in Relay For Life include: form a team, join the planning committee, be a sponsor or give your support with a contribution. For more information, call 1-800-227-2345 or visit www.relayforlife.org, www.cancer.org or facebook.com/ACS.Huntsville. | <urn:uuid:91d3b340-819a-4c51-9fe9-c21a2460013d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.al.com/breaking/2012/04/madison_county_gearing_up_for.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00038-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.926621 | 391 | 1.609375 | 2 |
On Sunday night of April 27th 1919, a general strike that had gripped Limerick for almost a fortnight was called to an end by the Strike Committee – all workers were called upon to return to work the following morning. At a time of revolution across Europe, the city had been deemed a ‘Soviet’ by trade unionists and national and international media alike, and events in Limerick made news internationally.
94 years later Limerick’s Live 95fm will broadcast a new documentary on the topic. The programme – simply entitled ‘The Limerick Soviet’ – explores the climate in which the ‘Soviet’ emerged, and chronicles the events as they unfolded. Hear the thoughts of historians and experts as they recall this fascinating story in this one-off 40 minute documentary.
‘The Limerick Soviet’ is produced by locally-based independent producer Ciarán Ryan. Ciarán has produced a number of documentaries for various stations, and this is his third production for Limerick’s Live 95fm. He previously made the documentaries ‘Friday Night Blues’ (2010), and ‘The Right Cut’ (2013) for the local station.
‘The Limerick Soviet’ airs on Saturday, April 27th, at 9.05am on Limerick’s Live 95fm, and online at www.live95fm.ie
The documentary is made with the support of the Broadcast Authority Of Ireland’s Sound & Vision Scheme. The Broadcasting Funding Scheme (Sound & Vision II) was established to provide funding in support of high quality programmes on Irish culture, heritage and experience, and programmes to improve adult literacy.
There’s been a lack of posts here recently due to a lack of time. Apologies!
Two new docs broadcast this year already – The Right Cut on Limerick’s Live 95fm, and Music In Print on RTÉ 2XM. Both can be listened to/downloaded here
Next up is another documentary for 95fm entitled The Limerick Soviet. Should be going out late April
The programme was produced by Ciarán Ryan, and was inspired by a round-table discussion that he held with several local promoters in Limerick for the now defunct [crude] magazine three years ago. Ciarán himself has put on a number of DIY gigs over the years, but was still surprised by many of the stories he encountered: “The one thing that really stood was the collective passion that all of these people had or still have for what they do. None of them make a living out of putting on gigs, and in many cases have lost money. They don’t even get to watch the bands they often put on because they have so much work to do. In a way, it’s a pretty selfless task,” remarked Ciarán.
“Doing It For Themselves” is made with the support of the Broadcast Authority Of Ireland’s Sound & Vision Scheme. The Broadcasting Funding Scheme (Sound & Vision II) was established to provide funding in support of high quality programmes on Irish culture, heritage and experience, and programmes to improve adult literacy.
Photo of Plugd Records by Marcin Lewandowski.
· Saturday, July 21st at 12pm
· Wednesday, July 25th at 6pm (Repeat)
For the past few years, the majority of discussion around independent record stores internationally has been about the death of them. A growing digital age combined with less disposable income means that the record store is obsolete in the 21st Century. Or is it?
“Independents’ Days”, a new 45-minute documentary that will air on RTÉ 2XM this July, shows how independent stores in Ireland are bucking the trend by diversifying and embracing shop-share models. Featuring contributions from those working and running stores in five Irish cities, the documentary looks at how each is dismantling the traditional record store model by teaming up with cafés, venues, bookstores, etc.
The programme will look at how each is showing resilience in a particularly stormy time economically and culturally; ‘Independents’ Days’ celebratesthese outlets while simultaneously showing a realistic picture of the life that comes with the business. As well as featuring the likes of Wing Nut, Elastic Witch, and Plugd Records, members of Melodica Deathship and the Popical Island collective give their views on the importance of independent record stores. Additionally, it looks at the pastime of record collecting, as the programme meets all kind of collectors.
“Independents’ Days” is produced by Ciarán Ryan, an independent radio producer based in Limerick. Ciarán presents ‘Inches’ on RTÉ 2XM, and reports from the mid-west for Arena on RTÉ Radio 1. He has produced a number of documentaries for numerous local, regional, and community radio stations. This is his first documentary for RTÉ 2XM.
“Independents’ Days” is made with the support of the Broadcast Authority Of Ireland’s Sound & Vision Scheme. The Broadcasting Funding Scheme (Sound & Vision II) was established to provide funding in support of high quality programmes on Irish culture, heritage and experience, and programmes to improve adult literacy.
RTÉ 2XM is one of RTÉ Radio’s digital stations. The station primarily broadcasts alternative music programming, and can be found online, on digital, and UPC Channel 944.
Sounds Of The Summer – New Series Starts on SPIN South West July 9th
Close your eyes, and imagine the following sounds: waves crashing at Lahinch; the clash of the ash in Thurles; the sizzle of a barbeque; silage cutting; horses racing in Dingle.
All have something in common – they form part of a new series of soundscapes that will be broadcast exclusively on SPIN South West over eight weeks in July and August, kicking off on July 9th at 2pm. The series is the brainchild of independent producer Ciarán Ryan, who wanted to design an auditory project that was evocative of summer life in the South-West of Ireland, encompassing cultural and sporting events, summer holiday sounds, and the natural surroundings of the region. The series will see him traverse the region over the summer visiting various locations where he will gather these pieces.
“Sounds Of The Summer” is an innovative and participatory series that invites listeners of SPIN South West to think about the sounds that surround their daily lives this summer and recommend them for broadcast. Each weekday at 2pm, a two-minute soundscape will be broadcast during the SPIN Talk programme; it is envisaged that many of these will be suggested by listeners of the programme.
“Sounds Of The Summer” is made with the support of the Broadcast Authority Of Ireland’s Sound & Vision Scheme. The Broadcasting Funding Scheme (Sound & Vision II) was established to provide funding in support of high quality programmes on Irish culture, heritage and experience, and programmes to improve adult literacy.
SPIN South West sets out to prove that the South West contains some of Ireland’s most creative individuals, with a new arts/culture series “Smart Arts” that starts this coming Friday, June 29th. Over five consecutive Fridays, everything from knitwear design to literature to film-making and design, to rock and pop stardom will all be covered in this profiling series.
The series kicks off with the internationally-renowned knitwear designer Tim Ryan. Tim is a native of Puckane, Co. Tipperary and “Smart Arts” traveled to his current base of London to see him at work, and find out more about his designs who have been worn by the likes of Kate Moss, Sienna Miller and Nicole Roberts to name but a few. July 6th focuses on the work of West Limerick’s very own master of horror, Darren Shan, who has sold over twenty million books and counting! The most successful band to ever come out of Limerick is undoubtedly The Cranberries and guitarist Noel Hogan speaks to SPIN on July 13th. Ever wonder who was beyond the album cover for DJ Shadow’s seminal hip-hop record Entroducing? None other than Limerick’s Brian Cross, aka B+, who has spent the past two decades in LA, writing, filming, photographing, and djing, and is featured on the July 20th edition of “Smart Arts”. The final programme in the series (July 27th) profiles Thurles pop starlet Una Healy from The Saturdays.
Smarts Arts goes out from 2.15-2.35pm on Fridays from June 29th to July 27th, and was produced by Ciarán Ryan. Ciarán has produced documentaries on a wide range of topics for various regional, local, and community radio stations, and also reports on arts happenings in the mid-west for RTÉ Radio 1′s Arena Programme. Additionally, he presents music programming for RTÉ 2XM and 2FM, and is currently studying for a research MA in Media Studies at Mary Immaculate College. It was made with the support of the Broadcast Authority Of Ireland’s Sound & Vision Scheme. The Broadcasting Funding Scheme (Sound & Vision II) was established to provide funding in support of high quality programmes on Irish culture, heritage and experience, and programmes to improve adult literacy.
It’s Saturday morning and SPIN South West is going to the Milk Market in Limerick! As part of the BAI (Broadcast Authority of Ireland) Funding scheme, Sound & Vision, SPIN South West are broadcasting a documentary on the phenomenon of the Limerick Milk Market. “Market Mornings”, produced by Ciarán Ryan, will air this coming Saturday (May 26th) at 1.45pm, and will be repeated on the June Bank Holiday Monday at the same time.
The programme is designed to feel like an auditory trip around the market – without narration, the programme tells the story of the market in the words of the market traders and customers to the tune of the bustle and atmosphere of a Saturday morning in Limerick City. The programme presents the experience of a walk through one of Limerick’s newest landmarks. The programme is not a historical look at the market, instead it focuses very much on the now.
Traders from across the South West appear, showcasing the variety of activities that take place there, including the likes of Tommy Ryan of Ponaire Coffee, Kerry-based food artisan Olivier Beaujouan, Ruth Crean of Nice Day Designs, and many more. They share the stories of their crafts and businesses, giving insights into their relationship with the Market.
Ciarán Ryan said of the documentary:” “It was a really interesting piece to work on. Seeing how early market traders and staff set up, to overlooking how days progress – from near silence to a cacophony of sounds in the matter of hours. Capturing the perspectives of those who interact with the market was fascinating, and I am particularly grateful to those who cooperated in the production of the programme.”
Programme Director, SPIN South West, Nessa McGann: “SPIN South West are delighted to be participating in the Sound & Vision scheme. It’s a great way to celebrate regional life and a very positive image of Limerick. Everyone loves the market and it’s great to broadcast a programme about such a well loved aspect of life in the city – we encourage everyone to listen to the programme, and visit the market!”
The programme was made with the support of the Broadcasting Authority Of Ireland’s Sound & Vision Scheme. The Broadcasting Funding Scheme (Sound & Vision II) was established to provide funding in support of high quality programmes on Irish culture, heritage and experience, and programmes to improve adult literacy. | <urn:uuid:804f4780-ae59-4511-8ec2-e9c8b6fe1816> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://cryanproductions.wordpress.com/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00045-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957569 | 2,479 | 1.796875 | 2 |
While we may brush and floss tirelessly and our dentists may regularly scrape and pick at our teeth to minimize the formation of plaque known as tartar or dental calculus, anthropologists may be rejoicing at the fact that past civilizations were not so careful with their dental hygiene.
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- Body's immune system response to dental plaque varies by gender and raceFri, 25 Sep 2009, 11:32:16 EDT | <urn:uuid:b2c2c2ef-aead-4c0d-8ec1-9e3b9d10d0fe> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://esciencenews.com/sources/physorg/2012/05/02/researchers.discover.new.research.use.plaque | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.913971 | 202 | 3.0625 | 3 |
From A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland, 1837
BALLYHANE, or BALLYHEAN, a parish, in the barony of CARRA, county of MAYO, and province of CONNAUGHT, 4 ½ miles (S. by W.) from Castlebar; containing 3734 inhabitants. This parish is situated on the road from Castlebar to Ballinrobe, and is principally under tillage; it contains Kilboyne House, the residence of Sir S. O'Malley, Bart. Fairs are held on July 4th, and Aug. 20th. It is a rectory and vicarage, in the diocese of Tuam, and forms part of the union of Burriscarra, the church of which, a neat plain edifice, is situated in this parish, and has been lately repaired by a grant of £269 from the Ecclesiastical Commissioners: the tithes amount to £165. In the R. C. divisions it is part of the union or district of Castlebar: the chapel is a good slated building. At Drumrathcahil is a school of 76 boys and 40 girls; and there are two pay schools. At Kinturk are the ruins a fine old castle, formerly one of the residences of Grace O'Malley.
From a sad, comfortless childhood Giles Truelove developed into a reclusive and uncommunicative man whose sole passion was books. For so long they were the only meaning to his existence. But when fate eventually intervened to have the outside world intrude upon his life, he began to discover emotions that he never knew he had.
A story for the genuine booklover, penned by an Irish bookseller under the pseudonym of Ralph St. John Featherstonehaugh.
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Texas Family History Research
From Ancestry.com Wiki
This entry was originally written by Wendy Bebout Elliott, Ph.D. FUGA for Red Book: American State, County, and Town Sources.
Native American tribes resided in the area when present-day Texas was settled in 1682 by the Spanish at Isleta, near today’s El Paso. Between 1685 and 1700, Franciscan missions and Spanish military outposts (presidios) were established in east Texas at Nacogdoches, Goliad, and San Antonio. In 1718 San Antonio, with its military post and mission, became the administrative headquarters of the region under Spanish jurisdiction. The province of Texas was established in 1727 with vaguely defined boundaries. Groups of colonists supplemented the population of soldiers and priests, particularly in San Antonio and in smaller numbers elsewhere. Early municipalities were organized in Texas under the Spanish and Mexican governments. Between 1731 and 1836 twenty-nine political subdivisions were founded completely or partially in Texas.
As a result of the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, a boundary dispute erupted with Spain over the Louisiana-Texas border. Spain claimed land east to the Red River, while the United States contended its territory expanded west to the Sabine River. A region of neutral ground created in 1806 established a temporary compromise, but because neither country had jurisdiction over this area, it became a haven for outlaws. Beginning about 1809, Quapaw, Osage, and Oto tribes relocated into the region.
Louisiana Catholics were encouraged to emigrate and settle in Texas, and Spanish officials loosened traditional barriers against alien immigration. The Sabine River was accepted as the western boundary of Louisiana in 1819, although border problems continued. The next year Arkansas Territory’s Miller County was organized, with land partially inside the Texas border.
Mexico gained its independence from Spain in 1821 and claimed the area of today’s Texas. The Mexican government, while insisting that only immigrants of the Roman Catholic faith were desired, did permit American settlers to enter under the auspices of certain grantees (impresarios).
When Stephen F. Austin, the first American impresario, inherited his father’s grant, he established a colony in Texas under the auspices of the new nation of Mexico. His colonists were among the first Anglo-Americans to settle in present-day Texas. Boundaries remained undefined, and colonists spread from the coast to the old San Antonio road and between the Lavaca and San Jacinto rivers. Austin’s colony stimulated others to follow.
Contracts from the Mexican government continued to be issued for settlement through 1832. Large groups from Tennessee and Arkansas migrated into Texas beginning in the 1820s. Others from Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Kentucky followed. The municipality of Refugio was created in 1825, followed by Austin in 1827, Goliad about 1828, and Nacogdoches and Liberty in 1831. Duplication of granted land and undefined boundaries complicated land titles. The number of early municipalities, organized in the eighteenth century under Spanish and Mexican governments, increased in the 1830s. A comparison of names of early and later municipalities reflects the great influx of Americans into present-day Texas during this period.
Families from South Carolina and Georgia migrated overland through Alabama and Mississippi to Texas; others left Alabama and Mississippi for Texas. Some traveled by ship from the port at New Orleans to Galveston and Indianola.
When General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna led his Mexican troops against American forces, the Battle of the Alamo became the most famous of the battles that took place among the ensuing military conflict. Four days before the decisive victory at San Jacinto, the Republic of Texas was established on 2 March 1836.
By 1836 American citizens residing in the state actively promoted statehood for Texas. To encourage immigration the Republic of Texas offered colonization contracts beginning in 1841. After some boundaries were defined and settled, Congress accepted the Republic of Texas into the Union in 1845 as the twenty-eighth state.
Texas’s entry into the union incited the Mexicans and led to the Mexican War, 1846–48, which was fought over and on Texas soil. The Mexican government hoped to retain Texas and other territory in the southwest including California, land both countries claimed. The United States was victorious and made good its claims to the southwest.
To make the area suitable for extending settlements, a number of fortifications were built by the federal government to protect settlers from attacks by Native Americans. Conflict with native groups continued intermittently through the early decades of statehood.
Prior to 1850, over 30,000 Germans had settled in Texas. Sympathies were divided among Texans over the slavery and states’ rights issues that preceded the hostilities between the North and the South. Over the objections of Governor Samuel Houston and the German settlers, Texas seceded from the Union and joined the Confederacy, supplying many soldiers to the Confederate army. Texas was readmitted in 1866.
Expansion of cotton and wheat production, livestock, and oil provided great stimuli for growth. In addition to the Germans, several other groups of European immigrants settled in Texas, including Czechs, Poles, Swedes, Norwegians, and Irish. During the Depression, the Post Cereal Company offered inexpensive land in west Texas for those who would contract to grow grain for the company’s products. The state has continued to be a destination point for its Mexican neighbors seeking employment in farm and industry. | <urn:uuid:9cf4ba70-4282-4de2-bfef-95e44ab97fd1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ancestry.co.uk/wiki/index.php?title=History_of_Texas | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967153 | 1,136 | 3.859375 | 4 |
Few artists have captured bugs so beautifully or realistically as John
Obadiah Westwood, a prolific nineteenth-century entomologist and archaeologist
with unique artistic
talent. Westwood (1805-1893), born in Sheffield, England, spent his
early years there and in Lichfield Staffordshire. He trained to be a
lawyer but instead pursued his avocations of entomology and archaeology.
He become one of the most prominent entomologists of his era. He served
as a curator and professor at Oxford University and served as an entomological
referee for the Gardner's Chronicle. Westwood also was a Fellow of the
Linnean Society and president of the Entomological Society of London.
Oxford University paid tribute to Westwood by conferring an honorary
master's of arts degree on him and appointing him a Fellow of the Magdalen
College. A true Renaissance man, Westwood's hobbies included reproducing
Anglo-Saxon and mediaeval manuscripts, illuminations, ivories, and inscribed
stones. Many of his works, such as the 1848 volume The Cabinet of Oriental
Entomology, are incredibly detailed and feature richly painted scenes
of insect and plant life.
motto was "waste not, want not." He was thought a bit eccentric because
he recycled materials. Westwood frequently recorded his papers, memoirs,
and drawings were often done on the back side of circulars, prospectuses,
and other scrap paper.
Reverend Frederick William Hope, a wealthy amateur entomologist, became
Westwood's patron. Hope, who was an entomologist by avocation, received
an excellent education in the natural sciences. He went to Christ Church
and earned a B.A. degree in December 1820 and an M.A. Degree in April
1823. At Oxford, Hope developed a fascination for zoological studies.
He received a curacy in Shropshire to earn his living, but Hope never
worked as a preacher because of health reasons. Hope married Ellen Meredith,
who supported him in his interest in the natural sciences. The Hopes
were very generous people and shared their resources with others interested
in the natural sciences. Frederick Hope was well known among British
intellectuals. In fact, Darwin
called him, "my father in Entomology." Hope had a very close friendship
with John Obadiah Westwood and the two shared a deep interest in entomology.
Westwood was thoroughly acquainted with Hope's collections. When Hope
donated the collections to Oxford, Westwood acted as a mediator and
ensured the safety and security of the collections. Hope asked that
Westwood be made "conservator" of his collections and nominated him
as the first Hope Professor of Zoology. In a letter to Westwood, Hope
wrote, "as you have known my collections above 20 years & have arranged
the greater part of the Insects &c. &c., I wish you particularly to
be my Curator, as you know the original specimens of Lee's Cabinet named
by Fabricius . . . The geographical arrangement of my Insecta cannot
be known by anyone but yourself. I do not wish it to be disturbed as
it is the result of much labor. [Audrey Z. Smith, A History of the Hope
Entomological Collections in the University Museum, Oxford with lists
of Archives and Collections (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1986) 11-12.]
University founded the Hope Entomological Collection in 1947 to mark
the centenary of the establishment of the Hope Entomological Collections.
In Westwood's day the collection was part of the Hope Department of
Zoology. The department focused primarily on entomology.
nineteenth century experienced rapid technological and scientific changes.
In the natural sciences alone developments included Edward Jenner's
smallpox vaccination process using a cowpox vaccine in 1799, Humphry
Davy's discovery of nitrous oxide (laughing gas) which was the first
effective anesthetic in 1801, and Mendeléev's development of the Periodic
Table in 1870 are but a few of the major advances made in science. Certainly
one of the most notable scientific theories of the nineteenth century
was Charles Darwin's theory of evolution and the publication of The
Origin of Species in 1859. While Darwin's theory is accepted in the
scientific community today, it proved controversial in the nineteenth
century. The idea of natural selection threatened Victorian ideas of
Christianity. Westwood, described by some as "a staunch churchman,"
disagreed with Darwin. Westwood's writing and correspondence indicates
that although he was not convinced of the theory of natural selection,
he respected Darwin. Westwood may have believed in the earlier Lamarkian
theory developed by Jeane Baptiste Pierre Antoine de Monet, the Chavalier
de Lamarck (1744-1829), a biologist and founder of invertebrate paleontology.
Lamark posited that organisms adapt to their environments and are able
to pass these changes on to succeeding generations. | <urn:uuid:ca55f732-3897-49a6-8488-733f1a2cf949> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://lib.ncsu.edu/exhibits/westwood/biography.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00062-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949606 | 1,079 | 2.625 | 3 |
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A fundamental tenet of Chinese medicine is that as humans we are connected to the world around us, and that the microcosm and the macrocosm - the little picture and the big picture - offer similar views, with the difference being merely a matter of scale. In light of over two decades of voluminous Western research indicating that the stability of the climate has been seriously compromised, how can Chinese medicine contribute to the ongoing discussion about climate change? Even a basic discussion of yinyang theory can provide significant insights into what climatologists describe is happening globally. This article examines prevalent assumptions about climate change held in the industrialised West through the lens of Chinese medicine, and explores deep-reaching philosophical understandings from classic Chinese medical texts that have much to offer in discussions about - and action towards - climate stabilisation.
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Already a subscriber? Login now to access the article archive. | <urn:uuid:05d73b13-215a-4455-aeba-e5b81ca49683> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.jcm.co.uk/jcm-article-archive/product/catalog/product/view/11174/the-yin-and-yang-of-climate-change-chinese-medicine-and-cultural-transformation/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.910016 | 247 | 1.796875 | 2 |
A Boy Scout meeting at an elementary school in Bloomington, Ill., came to an unexpected end for one adult volunteer: Police arrested the uniformed assistant scoutmaster, acting on a tip about a convicted sex offender in a school zone.
Brian Liska was surprised by his arrest in October 2011 -- just as he’d been surprised months earlier when he learned that the Boy Scouts of America’s national office had approved him as a volunteer in the first place.
“It kind of puzzled me,” Liska, 38, said in a recent phone interview.
He’d applied for the post because his adolescent son was a Scout. He told Scripps he’d advised the troop’s scoutmaster of his criminal history: Back in 1997, at age 22, he was convicted of having a sexual relationship with a 14-year-old girl and sentenced to 120 days in jail. Liska and the girl “actually considered themselves boyfriend/girlfriend,” the investigating officer had said in court proceedings.
To this day, Liska said he doesn’t know if national Scouting officials approved his application because they were unaware of his past conviction -- or if they knew about it but decided he was fit nonetheless.
“What type of criteria are they really looking for in their leaders?” Liska wondered. “Maybe they need to ... do a little bit more investigating down on their applications.”
The Boy Scouts’ top leaders -- responding to recent news stories about the organization’s internal “ineligible volunteer files,” rife with allegations and accounts of child molestation -- say it has tightened the gaps through which predators slip in.
Today , “we have a very good system of protecting kids,” Boy Scouts National President Wayne Perry said in an interview with Scripps, citing measures such as criminal background checks, “intensive youth-protection training” for Scouting youths and adults, and continued use of the files themselves.
But recent cases like Liska’s raise questions about how the organization screens its prospective adult leaders and volunteers.
Scripps also found evidence in court records that at least 13 Scout leaders abused Scouts within the last decade. (Liska is not counted among them; he was never accused of harming a child, and another adult always was present at the few Scouting events he attended.)
Not long after the organization’s 1910 founding, the organization began developing files on individuals it deemed unfit for Scouting -- often because of allegations or evidence of sexual misconduct. A Scripps team reviewed a set of 1,881 of these so-called “perversion files,” from 1970 to 1991, shared by an attorney who’d obtained them as evidence in lawsuits representing Scout victims.
With the Oct. 18 court-ordered public release of another, largely overlapping, set of files, Boy Scout officials issued a written statement expressing confidence in the current system of safeguards. They invited “any additional examination by authorities of Scouting policies, training and files to learn from our longstanding Youth Protection efforts.”
Those efforts now include compulsory background checks for all leaders and staff, a ban since 1991 on adults other than parents being alone with Scouts at official activities, and a mandate, just since 2011, that any Scout leader or volunteer must report suspicious behavior to law-enforcement authorities.
The organization’s leaders have pledged to review the files, kept at national headquarters in Irving, Texas, and to turn over any evidence of crimes by scout leaders.
Perry also told Scripps that the review would include whether Scout leaders had properly handled allegations of abuse: “There were instances ... where these people failed. And to the extent that they violated the law, they should be prosecuted. To the extent that they failed to follow our system, they should be removed from our system.”
Boy Scout officials declined Scripps’ repeated requests for specifics about its current protection program.
Liska said he was “shocked” that Boy Scout officials didn't block him from joining the troop because of his child-sex conviction. "I'm sure they looked at it,” he said, “and if they didn't, something got through the loophole there."
In January, Liska -- who stocks merchandise for a living -- pleaded guilty to one count of being a child sex offender in a school zone. He was sentenced to two years of probation.
The Boy Scouts depends on a commercial background-check service instead of the more muscular, and costly, FBI criminal history database that’s more effective at identifying known predators.
Problems persist beyond background checks. The organization’s safety rules, such as the one prohibiting adults from being alone with unrelated youths, aren’t always enforced. That has enabled some adults to isolate Scouts and molest them -- on camping, hiking and canoe trips, during “tick checks” for bloodthirsty insects.
Sometimes, it’s because the person in charge is the predator.
Such was the recent case with William Hoefling, a suburban Detroit troop leader who took exceptional interest in a Scout he’d described as “shy and green.” When parents raised concerns about the relationship, “I quickly told them that I was the only one that was to correct” the teen’s shyness, he wrote in a Facebook message included in the court file.
On the teen’s 15th birthday, Hoefling gave him a small bottle of Canadian Club whiskey before a Scout meeting, the first of a dozen times he gave the teen liquor, according to court records.
In late August 2009, he and the teen sat drinking liquor in Hoefling’s van when the Scout leader grabbed the teen’s genitals. Two months later, at a Scout ranch in Metamora, Mich., Hoefling lured the teen into his tent for a drink and grabbed again.
“I was livid, and because I couldn’t sleep, what he had just done to me … I really wanted to go away for a bit,” the teen testified.
He also was confused, he said, and stayed in the tent for another drink. Hoefling later snuggled up, wrapping his arm around the teen’s shoulders. “I tried to, like, push … his arm off me, but, he -- I mean, he wouldn’t get it off,” the teen told the court.
The teen wasn’t Hoefling’s only victim. The Scout leader also showed pornography to another Scout.
Finally, in 2010, Hoefling was caught, convicted and imprisoned for crimes including child sex abuse and criminal sexual conduct. He’s incarcerated in Marquette Branch Prison, in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.
Despite Scouting’s increasingly stringent controls, predators have wormed their way into positions of authority.
The director of the Gerber Boy Scout camp in Twin Lakes, Mich., was caught with more than 100,000 child images of child pornography plus some sex devices. Before his arrest in 2010, Scott Allan Herrick provided alcohol to Scouts, showed them pornographic videos, hosted them for overnight stays, and “assaulted and bullied boys by holding a knife to their throat(s) as a demonstration of ‘who’s boss,’ ” Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel Mekaru reported in a sentencing memo.
Herrick, who also served as a swim instructor at the Muskegon (Mich.) Family YMCA, was able to insinuate “himself into a position of trust and authority within two internationally renowned organizations that are dedicated to the welfare and advancement of our children,” Mekaru wrote.
In court proceedings, Herrick denied that he’d ever abused children -- or sought his posts in youth groups to gain access to them. Through his attorney, Herrick declined to comment.
Herrick was convicted of three counts of attempting to produce child pornography and got a 95-year sentence. He’s currently in a federal prison near Tucson, Ariz.
(Contact Isaac Wolf at email@example.com.) | <urn:uuid:2017839d-2ce5-4897-9f9b-32604991f2b3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.courierpress.com/news/2012/oct/30/bsa-feature-story-3-scouts-today/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00035-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971006 | 1,719 | 1.765625 | 2 |
Oct. 4, 2012
Northwest to host Take Back the Night to combat violent crimes
The Maryville community is invited to take a stand against violence as Northwest Missouri State University’s Coalition Against Violence organization hosts the second annual Take Back the Night at Northwest.
The event begins at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 11, at the Raymond J. Courter College Park Pavilion. The program will feature speakers sharing their experiences with sexual and domestic violence. Additionally, representatives of various campus and community organizations will be on hand to discuss the resources available to residents.
Take Back the Night continues with a march around the Northwest campus to protest violence, hate and other bias-motivated crimes. The event concludes with a gathering for refreshments at the J.W. Jones Student Union.
“Take Back the Night is such a powerful way to let our community and our world know that we will not stand for violence of any kind,” said Katelyn Stoewsand, co-president of the Coalition Against Violence. “It is so important that we work to prevent violence and to empower survivors, and Take Back the Night does just that. If you participate in this event, you are truly making a significant impact in the lives of many people. This is a great way to give back to your community and make a difference.”
The Take Back the Night Foundation is a national non-profit organization founded on a movement that began in 1975 to combat sexual violence and abuse on campuses and in communities around the world. Take Back the Night aims to empower survivors in the healing process and inspires responsibility with a goal to create safe communities and respectful relationships through awareness events and initiatives.
The foundation reports that one out of every three women in the United States will be beaten or abused. Nationwide, 32 percent of students report dating violence by a previous partner, and 21 percent report violence by a current partner. For more information about the Take Back the Night Foundation go to www.takebackthenight.org.
For information about Northwest’s Take Back the Night or about joining Coalition Against Violence, contact Katelyn Stoewsand at email@example.com.
For more information, please contact:
Mark Hornickel, Media Relations Specialist
firstname.lastname@example.org | 660.562.1704 | Fax: 660.562.1900
Northwest Missouri State University
215 Administration Building | 800 University Drive | Maryville, MO 64468 | <urn:uuid:3016693e-e8a1-4aa2-8eba-117d2e79b8a4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nwmissouri.edu/media/news/2012/10/04takebackthenight.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.916368 | 515 | 1.523438 | 2 |
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Waste forceps are dental instruments used by dentists for grasping purposes during dental operations. These are made of high grade stainless steel. Blacksmith surgical Waste forceps are made of high quality stainless steel and are sterilized. Blacksmith surgical Waste forceps are available in different sizes and shapes as per customer’s requirements.
Blacksmith surgical Waste forceps are high quality as they are made of high grade material. They are very efficient in performance and are highly durable. Blacksmith surgical has a vision to improve the quality of life by providing high quality dental instruments that are producing 100 % results of dental operations. They have achieved this goal as they are one the best brands that are manufacturing high quality dental instruments.Blacksmith surgical does not only manufacture the designs by their engineers but also as per customers’ description.
Blacksmith surgical greatly focuses on the quality of dental instruments because that is what determines the efficiency of dental operations. Blacksmith surgical Waste forceps are made of high grade material which makes them worth trusting. Their dental instruments are ultrasonically cleaned and rust prevented. Certain tests are carried out on these Waste forceps to ensure a highest possible quality reaching to the dentists. Blacksmith surgical Waste forceps are available in mirror, sand and dull polish.
Blacksmith surgical has entered in to this industry with a vision to manufacture high quality dental instruments however it also focuses on the quality of packing. Blacksmith surgical Waste forceps are available in export quality, bluster and sterilized packing. | <urn:uuid:410923fb-b24b-43c4-8671-7bfdd67aa97a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.blacksmithsurgical.com/dental-instruments/waste-forceps | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00041-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960888 | 315 | 1.679688 | 2 |
Career Mentor Program
The Career Mentor Program exists allow students and alumni access to connect with alumni and community members who have agreed to be contacted. Career mentors can answer questions about their work, the cities they live, and more. Since networking is one of the most effective ways to find a job, getting a Career Mentor is a great idea!
Following are typical questions an individual might ask of his/her mentor:
- What are the pros and cons of working in this field?
- Can you tell me about an average work day for you?
- What personal qualities must one have to be successful in this field?
- What are the vital skills needed for this field?
- How did you get in this field?
- What college classes helped you the most?
- What's the best way for a student to prepare for this field?
- How are jobs/internships found in this field?
- Do you know of anyone in the field willing to offer an internship?
- What do people in your field look for in new hires?
- Do you have any job search advice?
- Sounds great! How does it work?
The Career Mentor Program is available through the ICSC’s College Central Network (CCN) System. Individuals interested in receiving a mentor or serving as a mentor must be registered in the CCN system at http://www.collegecentral.com/ncwc/. Once registering and logging into the system, users can access the mentoring network feature to search for a career mentor or to sign-up to be available as a career mentor. | <urn:uuid:acf4076a-d566-4bf4-b656-63be7b525742> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ncwc.edu/student-affairs/icsc/students/career-mentor-program.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946889 | 333 | 1.679688 | 2 |
Grow your music program from the bottom up with Preschool Praise'ntations!
Preschool Praise'ntations is an INTER-ACTIVE, AGE APPROPRIATE and AFFORDABLE music resource for 3's, 4's and 5's created by preschool music specialist Darlene Abbott and veteran children's publisher, Kathie Hill. Perfect for preschool choir, chapel, home school or weekday preschool classes, each volume (BLUE, ORANGE, GREEN and RED) helps children master the foundational concepts of rhythm, melody and singing skills as they memorize scripture and biblical concepts through 20 songs that fall into three themed programs or "praise'ntations."
These "praise'ntations" can be shared with parents, friends or congregations in an In the Round format (a glorified open house where parents join children in a singing circle to hear their songs and participate in learning activities); a Room to Room format (where children and their guests move through themed rooms as costumed teachers/workers lead songs and activities mastered in the small group sessions); or a Stage Praise'ntation (where children share their songs and short narratives in a "stand and sing" format.) All instructions for these options are included in the Teacher’s Book.
The TEACHER’S BOOK for each volume of Preschool Praise'ntaitons (1, 2, 3, & 4) features 200+ pages in a sturdy, spiral binding and includes all 20 songs with piano transcriptions plus 12 transition songs used in the lesson plans. The 20 forty-sixty minute lesson plans contain instructions for a Singing Circle 1 and 2 and can easily be divided into 40 twenty-thirty minute sessions. In addition, optional small group Table Time activities teach musical or spiritual concepts with flash cards, worksheets, games, and printed resources included in the Teacher's Book.
The TEACHER'S CD TRAX includes all 20 praise'ntation songs in split track & stereo Instrumental plus demonstrations of the 12 transition songs.* Affordable KID'S CDs (available separately or in discounted sets of 10) feature the 20 songs with short continuity dialogue so the listener can follow from one themed praise'ntation to the next.
*The Volume 1 (Blue) Cd Trax contains a full mix followed by a split track mix and 12 transition songs. | <urn:uuid:1b894409-cb0e-4b5b-8a48-bfd5ff1cc653> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.kathiehillmusic.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=5&zenid=v5bff717p0nqveobhrc99vm2j2 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00063-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.912917 | 490 | 2.015625 | 2 |