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- Inspection of Septic Installations
- Banks and Littoral
- Fuel Wood
- Camp Fire
- Swimmer’s Itch
- Beaver Dam
This year, from May 21st to May 31st 2013 on west side will be the emptying of the septic tanks.
In 2011, one person started inspecting septic installations on properties. The present program calls for such an inspection on all properties located within the boundaries of Municipality of Lac-Simon. The west side has been inspected and the east side will be inspected in 2012.
In order to protect the environment and people’s health, the municipal council, during an extraordinary session held on September20, 2007, voted in Bylaw number 395-2007 to counteract eutrophication of lakes and waterways and lower risks of proliferation of cyanobacteria, in accordance with the Municipal Powers Act LQ.2005, c.6. Under this Act, municipalities are granted powers to regulate in matters of the environment, sanitation, nuisances, safety and general well-being of the population.
There are many causes of eutrophication and proliferation of cyanobacteria, such as the following: overuse of fertilizers; use of detergents with phosphate; numerous defective installations for wastewater discharge and treatment; and grass mowing where part of phosphorous-rich residues are thrown in waters.
The bylaw requires, among other actions, that a shoreline protective strip be left fallow in order to prevent organic matter from reaching the water.
We there fore remind you that the bylaw prohibits the use of any fertilizer and any detergent with phosphate.
Any natural or legal person contravening this bylaw is liable to prosecution and to a fine up to $4,000.
Let’s protect our waterways together!
Important Reminder: Adhere strictly to shore strip protection.
- It is every citizen’s duty to adhere strictly to shore strip protection.
- The shore is defined as a strip of ten (10) metres from the high water line (spring freshet).
- The littoralis the zone that goes from the shore to the center of the lake.
- Deforestation, construction and grass mowing are prohibited on the shore.
- Retaining walls, backfilling, dredging, rock or concrete quays are prohibited in the littoral.
Is your lakeside bare? Let nature follow its course and vegetation will soon fill it. The best adapted indigenous species will grow there as long as they are kept secure from mower blades!
Talk to our Municipal Director of Building-Environment and Planning before doing any work. Prevention is the most efficient way to avoid damage to our bodies of water and costs of revitalizing banks.
DID YOU KNOW THAT moving fuel wood, even just a few kilometres, may help spread insects in our forests? It is difficult to imagine that something as simple as bringing fuel wood to a favourite campground or cabin can endanger and destroy thousands of trees!
Invasive insects are propagated this way, hidden underthe bark.
The emerald ash borer (invasive insect from the Orient) has killed millions of ash trees in the United States and Southern Canada, right up to Ottawa. The Gatineau region is presently under alert and it is forbidden to move fuel wood out of the area, because fuel wood is the most important propagation vector.
Then, what can be done? Buy fuel wood on location; inquire about where it comes from; leave on site anything that comes from a natural source.
For more information, check the Canadian Food Inspection Agency’s website at www.inspection.gc.ca
DID YOU KNOW THAT ashes from a camp fire that is too near the water, i.e. within the shore strip, produces significant quantities of nutrients such as phosphates, nitrates, potashes, as well as pollutants such as heavy metals iflake water covers the ashes or the ashes are washed down the lake?
These nutrients promote the fast growth of algae and aquatic vegetation.
That’s why camp fires are prohibited on the shore strip (where lake water can submerge the land). If ever make a camp fire near the lake, it is important that you shovel up the cold ashes and carry them to a more appropriate place.
When in contact with water, it can happen that a parasite called cercaria (microscopic worm) gets under the skin and causes skin rash and itching. They are carried by infested aquatic birds. However, they are not a danger to human health.
Cercarias stick to your skin when bathing. As the skin dries, cercarias hide under the skin where they die. Red spots appear on the skin and swell like insect bites. Itching can last up to 10 days.
Recommendations to prevent the swimmer’s itch:
- Limit contact with water, particularly where there is abundant vegetation.
- When coming out of water, dry your skin vigorously with a towel. Avoid sun drying or air drying your skin.
Avoid feeding aquatic birds or they will come to your beach.
While bats are declining in number, mosquito populations are increasing.
Indeed, the bat population has decreased by nearly 70%.
When you know that a single bat can eat more than a thousand insects per night, it’s easy to imagine how much more comfortable garden life would be if your property had a shelter for a colony of bats.
Often maligned and misunderstood, bats are victim of the scarcity of their reproduction and hibernation sites.
Generally, bats hibernate in old mines or migrate south. They reproduce in attics, in tree holes and in artificial shelters built according to the plan below.
Installing a bat shelter:
- Place it 7 to 10 m from the ground
- It should be less than 300 m from water
- It must be a dark colour
- It must be facing south
The shelter must be in a spot where there is at least 8 hours of sunshine a day.
Therefore, if you want to save the bats and enjoy fewer mosquitoes, build a bat shelter. Above all, don’t scare them away from your home; they are your allies.
Like bats, swallows decrease significantly the mosquito population around your house.
The swallow population has decreased by 70%.
There are many reasons: use of pesticides; nest destruction by non-native birds, such as sparrows and starlings; migration; and nest built on plastic surface where it cannot stick and falls off.
However, one of the main causes is nest destruction by humans.
Too often, nests are destroyed on the pretense that droppings stain outside walls. There is a simple trick to avoid the mess: place a board 50 cm long and 15 cm wide about 1.2 m under the nest. This shelf will catch the droppings and prevent stains on the façade.
And what a pleasure to hear the swallows, to see their endless comings and goings, and above all, to have fewer mosquitoes!
The Organisme de bassins versants des rivières Rouge, Petite-Nation et Saumon (OBV RPNS) has started work to stabilize beaver dams that could cause damages.
There are two such sites in the Municipality of Lac-Simon.Drains and systems of flexible pipes and cages (‘cubes Morency’) have been installed to lower permanently the water level.
Keeping the water at the right level is better than trapping the beavers. When you trap beavers, they are soon replaced by younger beavers that reproduce faster. If you protect the older beaver family already present on the site, reproduction slows and there are fewer animals felling trees. It’s a more efficient approach andmore respectful of nature. A great initiative from our OBV.
Quebec's National Day
Quebec's National Day will be celebrated Sunday, J...jun
Municipal fireworks will be ...jul | <urn:uuid:36d1e1c1-017e-4b45-b8a6-ad77c6a6a024> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.lac-simon.net/environment.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00072-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.928607 | 1,664 | 2.140625 | 2 |
The Gender and Policy Network is composed of Princeton University students, faculty and alumni whose experiences, research and careers have convinced them of the salience of gender as a critical variable in the design, evaluation and implementation of policies. Recognizing the significance of gender to public and international affairs, the Network aims to promote the integration of gender into the curriculum of the Woodrow Wilson School and to promote engagement of these issues in the Princeton University community.
We do so by fostering dialogues and supplementing the curriculum at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs (WWS) at Princeton University. GPN's goals are to:
- Expand student learning about gender as a variable in public policies;
- Develop personal and professional contacts for sharing information and guidance among students, staff, faculty, and alumni; and
- Provide a forum for dialogue on contemporary issues about gender and policy. | <urn:uuid:3de9ceaa-6082-40ed-b8c6-9f8ddc19f5d6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.princeton.edu/gpn/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00043-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.918867 | 178 | 1.820313 | 2 |
In our casegoods, the drawers are fit to the openings formed by the frame of the case. They slide in and out, wood to wood. Fit is critical: too tight and the drawers will swell and stick in times and places of high humidity, too loose and they are sloppy. But fit is not absolute and unchanging — the dimension of wood varies with its moisture content. The moisture content of the wood at the time of assembly and fitting can be measured. The equilibrium moisture content of the wood in the case at its place, and places, of residence cannot be known — but can be assumed to be in a range of 6-14%. (Think mountains of Nevada-southern Florida.)
By measuring the dimension (depth of drawer, for example) and the moisture content of the wood at assembly, we can calculate the depth of the drawer at a moisture content of 14%, and fit it accordingly. It is far worse to have a stuck drawer than a loose one.
Aaron is fitting a drawer of a walnut buffet.
We have built the table of our stroke sander so we can sand drawer sides — smoothing, dimensioning and aligning. | <urn:uuid:e08d9bfd-930d-4275-963f-9a8158046530> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://garyweeks.wordpress.com/2011/12/12/fitting-drawers/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00024-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.941928 | 240 | 2.140625 | 2 |
Temperature rises in Greater Manchester campaign to save NHS!
If Nye Bevan’s famous statement the NHS will last as long as there are folk with the faith to fight for it is anything to go by, then the NHS is far from being finished in Greater Manchester. Stephen Hall of GMATUC
On Saturday 16 February more than a hundred activists gathered at the Friends Meeting House in Manchester to discuss the crisis facing the NHS. Although organised by the Greater Manchester Association of Trades Union Councils, it was much broader than the trade union movement in terms of the individuals and groups who turned up to the meeting. In her opening speech one of conference organisers, Pia Feig, outlined the scale of the health emergency; It is a wholesale assault on the welfare state. We need to organise a fightback against the cuts, at a local, regional and national level.
Dr. John Lister of the Health Emergency Campaign stressed the importance of a united campaign and told the meeting about how thousands of people had demonstrated in Lewisham against the closure of their A&E. The campaign in London was broad-based including councils such as Ealing, as well as the trade unions. John said that; the priority is to keep services alive and to push every button to mobilise individuals and groups. He believed that the Tory Government was worse than Thatcher in its determination to tear up the legislation that had set up the NHS in 1946. He said: We have to defend services and make them fit for purpose.
Karen Reissman, of the Save Bolton A&E Campaign, explained how the cuts were affecting her hospital. Five hundred staff are at risk of losing their jobs. That means five hundred people not working in our hospital will seriously compromise the health of local people. In Bolton 30,000 people have signed a petition to oppose the cuts and had joined the healthworkers in the campaign to save the A&E. Karen told the meeting that in Mid-Yorkshire the healthworkers have gone on strike over the cuts and she encouraged people to send messages of support to the strikers. For further details on this strike see
In the workshops a variety of individuals and groups spoke about their own local activity. Jo Harding, of the Save Trafford Hospital Campaign, told participants how their campaign started with just two people and that regular street stalls and petitioning had galvanised the local community in a high profile and positive campaign. She said that the petition was the most powerful tool in raising public awareness and it was the first time that people found out about what was really happening. Every week campaign members went out to towns across the borough to do street stalls and challenge the blatant lies that the officials were putting out. They had put the petition on the internet and, whilst recognising that this was a good way of contacting some people, it did not have the impact that talking to people face to face had.
Some people had become organised through the internet based lobby group 38 Degrees. Speakers from Stockport, Bury and Salford explained how they had become active by signing petitions through 38 Degrees and were now involved in work on the local Clinical Commissioning Groups. A representative from Manchester University told the meeting how he had taken a one year sabbatical from his medical degree to run their campaign to Save the NHS.
Several members of Unison members were at the meeting and they spoke about the atmosphere within the hospitals and the difficulties of union activity when £20 billion worth of cuts were being demanded by the Tory government. They felt it was important to join with the public in order to build up a campaign to challenge both the cuts in jobs and defend the service.
The conference ended with a variety of activities being planned, including linking up with other campaigns for a week of action in May, helping other people to organise local campaigns across Greater Manchester, and building up contacts with other campaigns that are facing cuts, including the Fire Brigades Union.
Pia Feig summed up the day: I think the best thing that came out of the conference and it was timely, was that it brought together people who are organising in a small way and they could meet with people from their area and share resources, and create informal networks where people can decide what is the best thing to do in their locality. For the Unison members who attended I think it showed them that there are people outside the NHS who want to work with them and it will boost their confidence in defending the service from the inside.
Thursday 28 Feb, 7pm,
room G1 at the Friends Meeting House,
6 Mount St., Manchester city centre
Room booked as “GMATUC / Keep Our NHS Public”.
Andy Burnham has agreed to speak at a public meeting on
Friday 8th March 6pm Bolton Town Hall.
The Staff Side Committee of Bolton Royal Infirmary have agreed to host the meeting (after meeting local MPs, who are all on board). | <urn:uuid:250f0c61-cbf7-4bdc-b30d-f6a7eb2b4f9e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://lipsticksocialist.wordpress.com/2013/02/21/temperature-rises-in-greater-manchester-campaign-to-save-nhs/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00067-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.983234 | 1,004 | 1.523438 | 2 |
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3 January 2012
2.4 billion fewer litres of petrol and drivers resolve to cut back further
Petrol sales, down 2.4 billion litres in the first nine months of 2011 compared to 2008, look set to collapse further in 2012. That’s if AA members stick to their most popular New Year’s resolutions and cut back even more on car use.
Nearly 40% say they will either drive more economically (26%) or drive less often (12%) in 2012, according to an AA Populus poll of 20,181 AA members – one of the biggest responses ever from the survey panel.
The cost of fuel and the affordability of driving has become such an obsession that other New Year resolutions take a far lower priority: drive more safely 5%, keep to the speed limit 4%, drive less aggressively 3%.
The response from lower-income drivers once again indicates how much harder they have been hit by record pump prices. While 37% of professionals and senior managers say they will drive less often or more economically, that rises to 40% for socio-economic groups that include skilled and unskilled manual and service workers, pensioners and the unemployed.
A higher percentage of unskilled workers, pensioners and unemployed (14%) will drive less often in 2012 than top and middle-level managers and professionals (11%).
Government statistics (Energy Trends December 2011) show that between January and September this year:
Regionally, the South West and Northern Ireland are most resolved to cut back on car use, both with 41% of AA members saying that they aim to drive more economically or less often. Least determined are those in London with 35%.
Drivers are clearly being forced into cutting their motoring by the high price of fuel and, for many, this will impose difficult constraints on their lives
Edmund King, AA president
“Drivers are clearly being forced into cutting their motoring by the high price of fuel and, for many, this will impose difficult constraints on their lives. We have reached the stage where motoring is once again only easily affordable for the better off and, with the car still the mainstay means of travel for the majority, that is depressing news at the start of 2012,” says Paul Watters, head of AA Public Affairs.
“The impact of high fuel prices on ordinary drivers is staggering with just over a quarter of those choosing a new-year resolution saying they would drive more economically and a further one in 10 intending to drive less. This far exceeded the 12% going for road safety-related resolutions, perhaps because the cost of motoring threatens the way they live their lives.”
(2 February 2012) | <urn:uuid:7532338e-9dd5-45ba-8438-e7b111a0f396> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.theaa.com/newsroom/news-2012/petrol-sales-fall-0112.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00023-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965206 | 589 | 1.554688 | 2 |
Eakins - what does Eakins surname mean?
This unusual name, with the modern variants Eakin and Ekins, can be either a patronymic or a metronymic i.e. derived from the personal name of the first bearer`s father or mother. As a patronymic it derives from `(a)ed` a medieval pet form of Adam (from the Hebrew meaning `red earth`), plus the diminutive suffix `kin` and `s`, a reduced form of `son of`. As a metronymic it derives from Eda, a medieval short form of the Olde English pre 7th century female name Eadgyw meaning `prosperity battle`. One, Edekin Gomey is recorded in the 1279 `Hundred Rolls of Oxfordshire`, and a Joan Edekin appears in the same Rolls. The metronymic form emerges in the early 14th century, (see below). In the modern idiom the name is spelt Edkins, Eakin(s) or Ekins. The Coat of Arms granted to the family of Weston Favill, county Nottingham has the blazon of a silver shield thereon a black bend lozengy between two red cross crosslets fitchee. The crest being a lion`s gamb holding a red cross crosslet fitchee bendwise. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Elena Edkynes, which was dated 1327, in the `Subsidy Rolls of Somerset` during the reign of King Edward 111, known as `The Father of the Navy` 1327 - 1377. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to `develop` often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.
Get the Eakins surname meaning widget for your website!
Select and copy the text below in your website's code. | <urn:uuid:1a5d00f2-2b9d-4011-a777-a82700182af5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://mysurna.me/surname.php?s=Eakins | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00074-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.921505 | 412 | 2.765625 | 3 |
PFBR almost on schedule
Dr. Baldevraj Director IGCAR delivering the keynote address at the MOU signing
ceremony held at SRM University on Thursday March 05, 2009
Work on second generation the 500-MW prototype fast breeder reactor (PFBR) was expected oto be completed by the end of current year, he said adding that it would be major achievement for the country, as no other country in Asian cub-contingent has developed it so far.
A breeder reactor is one that breeds more material for a nuclear fission reaction than it consumes, so that the reaction--that ultimately produces electricity--can continue, he explained.
If all goes well, the Rs.3,500 crore/$700 million project promoted by Bharatiya Nabhikiya Vidyut Nigam Ltd (Bhavini) will become the crowning glory for experts at the Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR), he added.
Many consignments of Sodium has been
injected to the reactor and that the tests conducted are positive.
Though we had lost some time during Tsunami we are almost on schedule
and the dates of commissio0ning would be announced shortly,
Atmospheric and environment monitoring programme
He added that the Micro Meteorological Tower, to check weather conditions and pollution levels, will be built by Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research, Kalpakkam, on the premises of SRM University.
First of its kind in Chennai, the facility was being built as part of IGCAR’s atmospheric and environment monitoring programme. The Micro Meteorological Tower would help in establishing surface, air and water pollution levels apart from helping urban planners in proper use of land space, Dr. Baldev Raj said.
he said it was part of a larger programme to make industries and educational institutions, including schools, monitor pollution levels in the environment.
A prototype of the tower about 15 metres tall would first be built, before the actual tower measuring 50 metres in height was installed. It would cost about Rs. 20 lakh and completed in about three months, Dr. Baldev Raj said. There were also plans to collaborate with research and educational institutions in designing a kit that would make it possible for even school children to test pollution levels. The IGCAR was planning to make the kit available at a cost of Rs. 10,000.
Advanced Heavy Water Reactor (AHWR)
Progress was made on the AHWR fuel cluster design optimisation studies in terms of vibration consideration and thermal hydraulic point. . Advanced operator information system for integration of all available AHWR plant information system at a single location was under development.
The peer review of the Detailed Project Report (DPR) of AHWR was completed by the 15 Review Groups of NPCIL. AHWR was also undergoing a review for its compliance with the international standards through participation in the IAEA initiated International Project on Innovative Nuclear Reactors and Fuel Cycles (INPRO).
The project is under review at the Regulatory Board and concurrence is expected to be received by next year. Once the concurrence is given it would take atleast seven years to complete the project he added.
Back to Home | <urn:uuid:8f3613ce-4b8a-4b67-bd83-9ef0da12c504> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.igcar.ernet.in/press_releases/press33.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00075-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960955 | 664 | 1.726563 | 2 |
Sir Kenneth Dover: Greek scholar and Chancellor of the University of St Andrews
Sir Kenneth Dover was one of the finest and most widely respected Greek scholars of the 20th century, and held many high positions in the academic world. He became better known to a wider public in 1994 through his remarkable autobiography Marginal Comment and the reactions that it aroused. And to generations of students, especially at St Andrews, he was always a hero . . .
Sir Kenneth Dover
Sir Kenneth Dover, who died on March 7 aged 89, was considered the finest Greek scholar of his generation and seemed to have led a life of almost oppressive decorum, crowned in 1978 by his election as President of the British Academy.
But in 1994 he published an autobiography, Marginal Comment, which deliberately shattered the image. The book portrayed a spikily intelligent man who was slave to an urge to demonstrate his emancipation from bourgeois constraints. The reader is not spared the least detail of Dover's sex life, right down to the culminating horror that at 64 he and his wife enjoyed "some of the best ----- of our life".
But the issue which caught the headlines was his account of his attitude to Trevor Aston, a History fellow at Corpus Christi, Oxford, where Dover had been President between 1976 and 1986. Aston's disintegration into paranoia and alcoholism had proved a serious embarrassment to the college; Dover confessed to having thought long and hard about how to murder him . . . | <urn:uuid:4c5733ed-8e51-43dc-add2-23c3b158a806> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ntweblog.blogspot.com/2010/03/sir-kenneth-dover-obituaries.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.987048 | 291 | 1.984375 | 2 |
Researchers Link Elevated PTH to High Uric Acid
This article is part of our ongoing coverage of Renal Week 2009. Click here for a complete list of our Renal Week Live articles.
- Elevated serum parathyroid hormone (PTH) levels are associated with higher serum uric acid levels in the U.S. adult population.
- For every log increase in PTH, serum uric acid increased by 0.77 mg/dL.
Elevated serum parathyroid hormone (PTH) levels are associated with higher serum uric acid levels in the U.S. adult population, investigators reported at ASN's Renal Week 2009.
Diana I. Jalal, MD, of the University of Colorado Hospital in Aurora, and colleagues examined the association between PTH concentrations and uric acid levels in 9,766 adult participants in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), which looked at a representative sample of the adult U.S. population.
Of these subjects, 1,409 (14%) had elevated PTH levels (65 pg/mL or higher), 4,199 (43%) had serum uric acid levels of 5.5 mg/dL or higher, and 1,172 (12%) had serum uric acid levels of 7 mg/dL or higher.
Subjects with high PTH levels were older and more likely to be male and to have diabetes, the study revealed.
After adjusting for age, gender, race, hypertension, BMI, diabetes, calcium, phosphorus, alkaline phosphatase, 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels, and estimated glomerular filtration rate, PTH levels predicted higher serum uric acid levels. For every log increase in PTH, serum uric acid increased by 0.77 mg/dL.
Compared with a PTH level below 65 pg/mL, a PTH level of 65 pg/mL or higher was associated with a 0.3 mg/dL increase in serum uric acid. These results were unchanged in the absence of significant kidney disease. | <urn:uuid:92e96b9a-813e-4505-91ed-29a2d7425b5a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.renalandurologynews.com/researchers-link-elevated-pth-to-high-uric-acid/article/156849/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.931947 | 428 | 1.929688 | 2 |
The 41 had already been banned for life by the Korea Football Association following the scandal which erupted in 2011 and involved matches played the previous year. The scandal led the South Korean government to threaten to wind up the K-League if action was not taken.
Ten other players involved in match-fixing were given worldwide bans by FIFA in June while in March, South Korea's volleyball association banned 11 players for life in a bid to curb corruption in domestic sport.
FIFA said that a reprieve had been offered to 21 players who turned themselves in during the voluntary reporting period and expressed "grave regret" about their involvement in match-fixing.
The players would have to undergo a probation period of between two and five years, including periods of community service ranging from 200 to 500 hours.
"The probation is voluntary, which means that the respective player has to inform the K-League that he wishes to return to football," said FIFA.
"At this point, the player then has to commit himself to one of a variety of community services related to football.
"These services include the provision of coaching classes for local football clubs for youth and adult players, involvement in and support of football for those with disabilities, and the support of ongoing and future domestic anti-match-fixing activities.
"The reinstatement of the respective player in football after the probation period will only be decided by the Korea Football Association (KFA)."
Match-fixing is regarded as one of the biggest problems facing football with recent scandals also hitting Italian and Turkish domestic football as well as the national teams of Guatemala, Nicaragua and South Africa.
Guatemala last year gave lifetime bans to three regular internationals and one Nicaraguan was banned for life by his federation. Those bans have also been extended worldwide by FIFA.
Last month, a FIFA report sent to the South Africa Football Association alleged that the results of South Africa's pre-World Cup warm-up matches against Thailand, Bulgaria, Colombia and Guatemala leading up the 2010 finals were fixed and implicated the nation's officials.
On Sunday, SAFA reinstated its president and four other leading officials suspended over the scandal, saying they were improperly removed from office.
FIFA say that match-fixing is usually organised by illegal gambling rings who win money by betting on the results of matches they are manipulating with the help of players, officials or referees. | <urn:uuid:b1470a76-7329-4c9e-a96a-c2b85ebb7f7a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://eurosport.yahoo.com/news/world-football-fifa-bans-41-players-life-due-120358464.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.982155 | 483 | 1.5 | 2 |
Becoming A Software Engineer
A software engineer career can take two very different paths. The most common is a computer applications software engineer. Applications engineers are responsible for creating, developing and maintain both basic computer applications and specialized utility programs. The languages used include the C language group, including C++, C# ( or C Sharp), and the Visual variations of these, Java, FORTRAN, COBOL and others. Software engineers must begin by determining the users specific needs and then developing the program to fit those specific needs. Application engineers must be capable of not only developing many different types of software applications but they must also have the ability to work closely with team members who might come from different departments within the company, like sales and marketing, inventory and ordering, billing and even payroll, and, because rapid and accurate communication is always vital, a software engineer must also have a very good working relationship with the companies IT department.
The second path can be said to be very similar to applications development with the exception of the type of program these engineers develop. Instead of designing programs that work on specific functions, like work productivity suites, search engines or video games, systems software engineers design, develop and maintain the operating systems that allow the user to communicate with the computers hardware in a way that it can understand. A computers operating system takes off from the time the computer is turned on by presenting a user interface that allows the user to communicate with the central processing unit and to call forth the various applications that they user will need to be productive. A computer can be compared to a symphony orchestra, with the various musicians being the applications which are directed by the Conductor or operating system. If he conductor has no musicians we have no music and without direction the musicians will not be able to bring together complex musical compositions.
There are also embedded computer software engineers, working in the software engineer career track, who work in developing both operating systems and applications for embedded computers. Taking a look at the smart phone in your hand will give you a good idea of an embedded computer systems. The phone has many applications that allow you to make calls and send text messages, but there are also many other applications in these phones and all of then are directed by the phones operating system. Some computer systems, like the United States Air Traffic Control System, will contain both standard applications and operating systems and their embedded counterparts, melded into an extremely complex system that needs to operate at peak performance.
© 2013 How To Become A Software Engineer | <urn:uuid:50fb418a-5c99-41e9-9d31-9b3f99023eb9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.howtobecomeasoftwareengineer.net/software-engineer-career/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00054-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963613 | 504 | 2.84375 | 3 |
the frigid conditions they faced
in the Battle of the Bulge.
Hear two Texas WWII veterans discuss their experiences in one of the last major German offensives on the Western Front in the segment that aired on KWBU-FM:
Battle of the Bulge
Airdates: January 11, 12, 14
This is Living Stories, featuring voices from the collections of the Baylor University Institute for Oral History. I'm Kim Patterson.
The Battle of the Bulge, known as Watch on the Rhine in Germany, took place from December 16, 1944 through January 25 of the next year along the German-Belgian border. Germany hoped to split the Allied line of advance in half and then surround and destroy the Allied armies. With the help of extreme winter temperatures, the fight turned out to be the deadliest battle for the American military in Europe during WWII.
Dr. Howard C. Williams, who grew up in the Port Arthur area, served in the sound division of the sound and flash unit of the 291st Field Artillery Observation Battalion in WWII. He recalls the first days of the Battle of the Bulge:
"My part of it was just cold, snow, sleeping out under a tree. It was horrible, horrible. And we were shelled regularly, and we lost four or five men in my organization. Finally, it settled down enough that we were able to establish our—you know, our sound units and things like that."
Williams explains the role of the sound and flash unit in the battle:
"You set up at the frontline a series of microphones, about six, seven, eight of them, and put a thing about like a seismograph machine in back of that, and one or two poor souls went clear out in front of the line or as far as you could go. And when a German cannon fired, boom, you pressed the button. Sound waves come back, and as they come back, they hit the first microphone, second, third. And then that could be plotted. From that you could compute real rapidly where the cannon fired from, and then you immediately forwarded that information to the artillery, and they started covering that whole area. And the other part of it was they called flash unit. There were two or three of them, kind of like survey transits, and they'd set them up in high places. They'd watch, and when they'd see a cannon flash, they would try to [plot a] a triangle on it."
Chester P. Rutigliano of Del Rio served under Patton in the Third Army during the Battle of the Bulge. He describes the harsh conditions:
"We was there, I don't know how many days there, fighting and cold. Oh, was it cold. Snow. And we didn't have much clothes. See, if you had a lot of clothes, you don't mind it. But if you didn't—half of the guys got frozen hands and fingers and their legs. It was real bad. And I always tell the guys, ‘When you get in a foxhole, exercise. Get yourself going because [if] you don't, you're going to freeze. And you're going to lose your arm, you're going to lose your leg, your toes.' And some of the guys won't listen. They just sat in the foxhole like that. (demonstrates position) And when the time to go and they couldn't move; their foot is already frozen. A lot of them lost their foot. But some of the guys listen to me; then they got out okay."
By the end of the Battle of the Bulge, America had suffered 81,000 casualties, including 19,000 killed and more than 23,000 captured. But despite heavy losses, the Allies prevailed and by February of 1945 had regained the ground lost during the battle and started attacking all along the Western Front. With Germany never able to recover from the Battle of the Bulge, the Allies were able to overtake German territory and within a few months bring an end to the war in Europe.
Living Stories is heard every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday on 103 point 3 FM, Waco's NPR. For more information about this program or the Institute for Oral History, visit us at baylor.edu/livingstories.
Search our collection of full transcripts available online. | <urn:uuid:a4a2070a-0757-4039-aba5-5f5b93a7071f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.baylor.edu/livingstories/index.php?id=79211 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.977358 | 896 | 2.921875 | 3 |
NLRB Recess Appointments Ruled Unconstitutional: Hundreds of Decisions Affected and Board Unable to Act
In a decision handed down today, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled that President Obama lacked the authority to install three recess appointments to the National Labor Relations Board early last year. In its opinion for Noel Canning vs. NLRB, attached here, the Court concluded that the President ignored the Senate’s “advise and consent” role by appointing three Members to the Board while the Senate remained in session.
As a result of this case, the NLRB is left with only a single properly appointed Member, meaning that it lacks the quorum of three Members needed to take formal action. This decision is reminiscent of the June 2010 United States Supreme Court case in New Process Steel, where the Court overturned more than 500 decisions issued by Board that lacked a quorum.
The immediate effect of the Noel Canning decision is significant: overturning every case decided by the Board since January 2012, including the Board’s recent decisions overturning cases that previously stood for decades discussed in our posts here and here.
We anticipate the Board will issue a statement disagreeing with the decision, and indicating that it is considering an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. As events continue to develop, we will of course continue to update you. | <urn:uuid:18763391-226a-4297-9731-fb3004445fb8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.employmentlawwatch.com/2013/01/articles/employment-us/nlrb-recess-appointments-ruled-unconstitutional-hundreds-of-decisions-affected-and-board-unable-to-act/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+EmploymentLawWatch+%28Employment+Law+Watch%29 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00043-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962266 | 286 | 1.5625 | 2 |
CORSICANA OILFIELD. Corsicana field is an elliptical-shaped oil and gas producing area located in and around Corsicana in central Navarro County. It is significant because it was the first Texas field to produce oil and gas in important quantities. American Well and Prospecting Company, a water-well contractor, discovered it accidentally on June 9, 1894, while seeking a new water source for the city of Corsicana. The field produces from a pinch-out trap in an Upper Cretaceous sandstone reservoir at an average depth of 1,050 feet. The source of its primary recovery was a combined gas-cap and water drive. Its secondary recovery is the result of a number of saltwater flood projects initiated in the 1950s. Between 1896 and January 1, 1993, the field produced nearly 44 million barrels of oil. From 1900 through 1909 gas from the early field supplied fuel for domestic and industrial uses in Corsicana and other Texas cities.
In 1893 civic leaders of Corsicana needed a dependable water supply to promote commercial development. They contracted with American Well and Prospecting Company, operated by H. G. Johnston, Elmer Akins, and Charles Rittersbacher, to drill three water wells for the city. On June 9, 1894, the drillers took the first well to a depth of 1,027 feet, where they encountered oil. Although the producing formation was cased off, oil continued to rise to the surface outside the casing. When residents learned of the oil in the water well, interest in prospecting for oil in the area grew. On September 6, Ralph Beaton and H. G. Damon, local citizens, joined with an experienced Pennsylvania oilman, John Davidson, to organize the Corsicana Oil Development Company. The company took a twelve-year mineral lease from A. and Bertha Bunert and entered an agreement with John H. Galey of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, on September 14, 1894. Galey agreed to drill five wells for the company at his own expense in exchange for an undivided one-half interest in all oil and gas leases owned by Corsicana Oil Development. The first well was staked 200 feet south of the water well drilled by American Well and Prospecting and was completed on October 15, 1895. It had an initial flow of 2½ barrels of oil a day. The second well was a dry hole. The third well was staked at Fourth and Collins streets in town and was completed in May 1896 with an initial yield of twenty-two barrels of oil a day. Three additional wells were producing by the end of 1896, when annual production of 1,450 barrels of oil was reported.
By 1897 it was evident that commercial quantities of oil could be produced in the area, and development of the field moved to the east, northeast, and southeast of the original site. Although the early wells were small producers, prospectors sank so many wells that Corsicana oil flooded an already-limited Texas market, where the demand was only for use in local field development and for shipment to Austin and Dallas for making gas. With the only refinery in Texas located at Sour Lake, Corsicana operators at times found no market for their crude. At those times, they poured surplus oil on the ground. Waste in the field resulted in the passage on March 29, 1899, of the first Texas statutory regulation of the drilling, casing, plugging, and abandoning of oil and gas wells to end irresponsible producing and dumping. By the time dumping of crude was outlawed in Texas, Corsicana had found a dependable outlet for its oil. In 1897 Mayor James E. Whitesell and town leaders invited Joseph S. Cullinan, a successful Pennsylvania oilman, to come to Corsicana to advise in the development of the field. Cullinan was so interested in the oil potential of the area that he became a participant in its development. He contracted with several operators to buy 150,000 barrels of oil for fifty cents a barrel. He agreed to lay gathering lines, construct storage tanks, build a refinery, and find a market for Corsicana oil. He began the process of fulfilling his agreement, but those who had offered financial backing in his project lost confidence in the oil-producing ability of the area and withdrew from the contract. The resourceful Cullinan then turned to out-of-state capital to fund the $150,000 project. By the end of 1897 the field had increased annual yields to 65,975 barrels of oil from forty-seven wells.
Early in 1898, with a refinery under construction and storage tanks in place to handle production, operators continued to add producing wells to the field. Early operators in the field besides the J. S. Cullinan Company and Corsicana Oil Development Company included Consumers Petroleum Oil Company, Lone Star Petroleum Company, Corsicana Cotton Oil Company, Co-operative Oil Company, Navarro Oil Company, Southern Oil Company, Southern Development Company, and Verna Petroleum Oil Company. By midsummer of 1898, rotary drilling replaced cable tools in the field. Rotary rigs worked well in the soft formations of the field and were quick and economical. At the end of 1898, when 342 additional wells were completed and yearly yields had sharply increased to 544,620 barrels of oil, the stills at the new Cullinan refinery were fired. After the first shipment left the refinery on February 24, 1899, the price of Corsicana crude rose from $.50 a barrel to $.98 and to $1.10 by May 1900. In response to the higher price for crude in 1899, producers increased their annual production to 668,483 barrels.
By July 1900, when the field covered an area of twelve to fifteen square miles around Corsicana, the Cullinan refinery was processing 1,500 barrels of crude a day. Half of the crude was made into gasoline and kerosene and half into illuminating oil. The field reached its peak primary annual production of oil in 1900, when 839,554 barrels were brought to the surface, along with natural gas valued at $20,000. Most of the gas sold in Texas for domestic and industrial purposes was produced in Corsicana until 1909, when other areas developed gas reserves. Oil drilling and yields for 1901 and 1902 declined under the pressure of newly discovered gusher production in coastal salt-dome reservoirs at the Spindletop and Sour Lake oilfields.qqv In 1903 a second crude-processing plant, Central Oil Refinery, was built at Corsicana. Production continued a general decline from 1903 through 1918, though some years showed increases and a modest number of new well completions. In 1919 shallow production at Powell was added to Corsicana annual yields, boosting them to 305,335 barrels of oil in 1921. By 1923, when Powell shallow outputs were separated from those of Corsicana, production totals from the old field slid to 292,000 barrels of oil annually, and by 1929 the annual yield was 225,000 barrels. After 1930 and throughout the 1940s production in the mature field settled into yearly yields of less than 170,000 barrels of oil.
Beginning in December 1949, field production was revitalized by mergers with two old fields and by the beginning of secondary recovery projects. In 1950 Rice field, a nearby pool that was discovered in 1909, was consolidated with Corsicana, and in 1953 Angus field, a pool found before 1915, was combined with it. In 1950, when all the original wells had been abandoned for fifteen years, a water-flood project began in the field. Other floods that injected salt water into oil-bearing horizons were initiated in 1952, 1954, and 1956. These secondary recoveries brought annual production in the seventy-year-old field to a remarkable 1,611,055 barrels of oil and 17,859,000 cubic feet of gas in 1965. By 1975, when the field had been giving up oil for eighty years, production dropped to 328,901 barrels of oil, a figure that exceeded the 1905 production. In 1985 continued secondary recoveries forced up 378,474 barrels of oil and 4,981,000 cubic feet of casinghead gas. On January 1, 1993, the first commercial Texas field reported annual production of 196,645 barrels of oil and 3,091,000 cubic feet of casinghead gas. Cumulative production for the field reached 43,965,138 barrels of oil by that time, after ninety-nine years of operation.
William E. Galloway et al., Atlas of Major Texas Oil Reservoirs (Austin: University of Texas Bureau of Economic Geology, 1983). Frank A. Herald, ed., Occurrence of Oil and Gas in Northeast Texas (University of Texas Bureau of Economic Geology Publication 5116, Austin, August 15, 1951). Henry A. Ley, ed., Geology of Natural Gas (Tulsa: American Association of Petroleum Geologists, 1935). George C. Matson and Oliver B. Hopkins, The Corsicana Oil and Gas Field, Texas, in Contributions to Economic Geology, 1917 (Washington: GPO, 1917; U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 661-F). Edgar Wesley Owen, Trek of the Oil Finders: A History of Exploration for Petroleum (Tulsa: American Association for Petroleum Geologists, 1975). John S. Spratt, The Road to Spindletop (Dallas: Southern Methodist University Press, 1955; rpt., Austin: University of Texas Press, 1970). Charles Albert Warner, Texas Oil and Gas Since 1543 (Houston: Gulf, 1939). Daniel Yergin, The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money and Power (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1991).
The following, adapted from the Chicago Manual of Style, 15th edition, is the preferred citation for this article.Julia Cauble Smith, "CORSICANA OILFIELD," Handbook of Texas Online (http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/doc03), accessed May 18, 2013. Published by the Texas State Historical Association. | <urn:uuid:3ef1c49c-2d92-4cc2-ba55-1933f7fa80b0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/doc03 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00024-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961958 | 2,078 | 2.921875 | 3 |
Know what you are feeding
When John Jaeger, assistant professor of beef cattle science at Kansas State University (KSU), began receiving inquires from beef producers asking whether or not feeding wet distillers' grains (WDGs) to replacement heifers influenced reproduction, he and his colleagues decided the question merited a comprehensive study.
“We were getting a lot of calls from producers who were seeing poor conception rates when WDGs were used as a protein supplement,” recalls Jaeger.
The study compared the performance of heifers fed a typical Kansas drylot replacement ration with one that replaced the conventional protein supplement with WDGs.
“Our non-WDGs control was 85% ground sorghum hay, 9.5% ground milo as a protein source, and 7% soybean meal as a protein supplement. The remaining percentage consisted of vitamins, minerals, and salt,” notes Jaeger.
The ration that included WDGs consisted of 65% ground sorghum hay, 7.9% ground milo, and 25.7% WDGs. Cattle fed this ration received the same vitamin, mineral, and salt supplements as the ones fed the non-WDGs diet.
Before the study began, the 172 pre-conditioned, weaned heifers under 1 year received 60 days of growers followed by two weeks of the diet they would receive during the study. “This allowed the animals to adjust to the study diet, which reduced the variables in the study and improved accuracy,” says Jaeger.
Several factors considered
In building the study parameters, the researchers didn't just restrict their investigation to conception rates. Instead, they felt it was important to monitor weight gain during and after the study. They also recorded when each of the heifers reached puberty.
In order to accomplish this, each animal's weight and body score were recorded every 28 days over the 94-day life of the study. Blood samples were also collected for analysis of progesterone levels to determine which heifers were pubertal.
At the end of the study, all heifers were turned on to grass. Half of each group remained for 23 days and were then synchronized by artificial insemination and bred. The remaining animals were bred under identical conditions after 51 days.
Protein intake is the key
While the researchers did not detect any negligible difference between the conception rates of the cattle fed WDGs and those that were not, Jaeger believes other data pointed to a possible reason why producers he spoke with might have experienced conception issues.
“During the feeding period, the average daily gain was less for those fed WDGs,” he says. “The difference was significant – running from .4 to 1 pound a day.”
He says, on average, heifers receiving WDGs reached puberty later than the control group.
To Jaeger and his associates, this indicated the WDGs group was not receiving the level of protein for optimal development. “The fact that all animals were pastured for a period of time afterward allowed the WDGs group to catch up,” he says. “It might mean a small modification to your heifers' diets, but it is definitely doable.” | <urn:uuid:d4101868-836a-4c3c-b4ad-0db585c59694> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.agriculture.com/livestock/cattle/feed/know-what-you-are-feeding_281-ar17908 | 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 | 0.980731 | 674 | 2.8125 | 3 |
Mr Tsvangirai has taken refuge in the Dutch embassy, fearing for his safety
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has said Zimbabwe's presidential run-off poll should be postponed following the withdrawal of the opposition candidate.
Mr Ban said Morgan Tsvangirai's decision was understandable, and condemned what he called a government campaign of violence and intimidation.
Later, the UN Security Council declared that it would be "impossible" to hold free and fair elections.
Zimbabwe election officials had said Friday's second round would go ahead.
Mr Tsvangirai has taken refuge in the Dutch embassy in the capital Harare.
A Dutch foreign ministry spokesman said Mr Tsvangirai feared for his safety, but had not requested asylum.
Zimbabwe's head of police, however, said Mr Tsvangirai was not in any danger.
On Monday, more than 60 supporters of Mr Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party were arrested at its Harare headquarters.
'Too much violence'
The UN Security Council unanimously adopted a statement condemning the violence and saying that free and fair elections would be impossible to hold on 27 June.
UN chief says he is "distressed" by the situation in Zimbabwe
The non-binding statement is much watered down from a draft version circulated by Western countries on the council. But for the first time, Zimbabwe is criticised by South Africa, Russia and China.
Earlier, Mr Ban said that if the run-off took place as scheduled, it would only "deepen divisions within the country and produce a result that cannot be credible".
He said: "Conditions do not exist for free and fair elections right now in Zimbabwe. "There has been too much violence, too much intimidation."
He said the world had witnessed "fear, hostility and blatant attacks" against Zimbabwe's people.
Mr Mugabe and his Zanu-PF blame the opposition for the election violence
After discussing the issues with a number of African leaders, he said he strongly advised President Robert Mugabe's leadership to postpone the election until the right conditions were in place for people to vote freely and fairly.
Mr Ban added that what happened in Zimbabwe had significance beyond its borders and was the "single greatest challenge to regional stability".
The MDC won the parliamentary vote in March, and claims to have won the first round of the presidential contest outright. According to official results, Mr Tsvangirai led but failed to gain enough votes to avoid a run-off.
The BBC's John Simpson in Harare says few people in Zimbabwe even know that Mr Tsvangirai has withdrawn from the race, because the country's official media mention him and the MDC as little as possible.
He adds that it is clear that on Friday, Mr Mugabe will be elected, by however large or small a majority, as the next president of Zimbabwe.
ZIMBABWE AND ITS NEIGHBOURS
Zimbabwe's opposition wants neighbouring countries to persuade
Robert Mugabe to step down. So how are relations changing?
South Africa's leader Thabo Mbeki remains the key mediator. He has not
criticised Mr Mugabe, despite pressure from the ruling ANC.
Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa called Zimbabwe a "regional
embarrassment", before suffering a stroke on 29 June.
Angola's President Jose Eduardo dos Santos is one of Robert Mugabe's closest allies. He has urged Mr Mugabe to end the violence.
Botswana said Zimbabwe's 27 June run-off vote was so flawed by violence
that it could not be considered legitimate.
Namibia is an ally of Robert Mugabe. It wants to re-distribute white-owned farms to black villagers. It has not criticised the violence.
Mozambique has hosted some white farmers forced out of Zimbabwe when their land was seized. It is seen as sympathetic to the opposition.
Tanzania's ruling party has a history of backing Robert Mugabe's
Zanu-PF party. Its foreign minister has condemned the violence.
DR Congo's President Joseph Kabila is an ally of Robert Mugabe who
sent troops to help his father, Laurent Kabila, fight rebels.
Malawi is seen as neutral. But 3m people from Malawi are in Zimbabwe
and many were badly hit by the farm invasions.
This page is best viewed in an up-to-date web browser with style sheets (CSS) enabled. While you will be able to view the content of this page in your current browser, you will not be able to get the full visual experience. Please consider upgrading your browser software or enabling style sheets (CSS) if you are able to do so. | <urn:uuid:19d85356-2168-446b-9d2e-0c8dbb4d6cf6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7470304.stm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00039-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975215 | 987 | 1.601563 | 2 |
Jul 31, 2008 (01:07 PM EDT)
Sprint Rolls Out 'Airave' Cell Phone Signal Booster
Read the Original Article at InformationWeek
Sprint is rolling out hardware that enhances cellular coverage in the home or office and offers another option to ditch a traditional landline.
The Airave, made by Samsung, is essentially a mini-cell phone tower. The femtocell connects to Sprint's network via a user's broadband network and creates a smaller cell phone network, up to 5,000 square feet, within the user's home or business.
Up to three different cell phones can use the mini-network simultaneously, and users can switch from the Airave to Sprint's network without losing a call. The Airave will require a $4.99 monthly service fee, but customers with the carrier's Simply Everything plan will be able to make unlimited in-house calls.
Users without an unlimited voice plan can pay a $10 monthly fee for unlimited home calls, but there is a slight catch. While subscribers won't be charged for calls originating from the Airave network, moving to a Sprint tower will change the rate plan from unlimited to whatever the subscriber has.
Switching from a Sprint tower to the femtocell will not change the plan to unlimited, the company said.
"People want ubiquitous cell service on their wireless phones everywhere they go, and that includes their home and offices," said Tom Jasny, Samsung Mobile's VP of wireless systems and broadband, in a statement. "The Airave makes it even easier to get enhanced coverage, no matter where you live or work."
Sprint tested the Airave in Denver and Indianapolis last year, and the femtocell will be available nationwide Aug. 17 for $99.99.
Sprint is the latest mobile operator to enter the household and challenge traditional landlines. Last month, T-Mobile unveiled its @Home service, which also offers existing subscribers unlimited home calling for $10 a month. | <urn:uuid:b03be07e-205c-4401-b498-7cd1f140f40d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.techweb.com/news/209901155/sprint-rolls-out-airave-cell-phone-signal-booster.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.913905 | 404 | 1.65625 | 2 |
Having cost the Republican Party a Congressional seat earlier this year with his plan to turn Medicare into a voucher program, House Budget Committee Chair Paul Ryan is back with an even more sweeping health care proposal.
Ryan’s latest offering, unveiled in a speech a week ago at Stanford University’s conservative Hoover Institution, is nothing less than a blueprint for replacing the Affordable Care Act with a consumer-driven model that would eliminate the current tax-exempt treatment of employer-paid health insurance.
Is Ryan right? Or wrong?
Ryan believes that exempting health care benefits from employee income tax leads to insurance choices that are unnecessarily costly (since they are effectively subsidized), insufficiently tailored to employee needs (since few choices are offered), inadequately valued (since the employee isn’t paying), and unreasonably tie employees to their jobs (since they may not be able to move without switching insurance). He also believes the present system is unfair: higher-paid employees get a greater tax advantage, while employees of smaller businesses have fewer (or no) options at higher prices than their peers in larger corporations.
He’s right! Common sense says that people are likely to choose the most generous coverage available if it is free or offered at a very low price, while employers—especially those who must negotiate union contracts—see tax-subsidized health insurance as a “better buy” than salary payments.
Ryan proposes to tackle the issue in dramatic fashion, discouraging employer-paid health insurance by taxing it as ordinary income and balancing this with new tax credits to offset individuals’ own purchases of coverage, in the belief that this will result in greater sensitivity to health care costs, more cost-effective insurance purchasing decisions, more portability of coverage, and a more equitable system than today’s.
He’s wrong! While his proposal has a certain elegant simplicity, there’s no certainty that employers would replace health care benefits by pay increases to cover the employees’ costs of coverage. Tax credits, presumably funded by taxing wage increases to replace employer-paid insurance, won’t cover more than a fraction of the cost of individual coverage. Many employees would likely fail to purchase insurance and potentially create huge debts for themselves, while marginal small businesses will find themselves pressured to increase wages so that their employees can pay for coverage.
Even with these problems, Ryan’s proposal is an interesting starting point. One intriguing comment in his Stanford speech characterized it as a defined contribution plan. If this was simply a way of describing tax credits, the “contribution” is sadly inadequate by typical benefits standards. On the other hand, a true defined contribution version of Ryan’s proposal could avoid the risks of employers failing to compensate their workers for their increased expenses and of employees failing to purchase coverage.
Here’s one way in which this might work. Employers above a certain size would be required to contribute a fixed dollar amount for employees to use to buy coverage through an employer plan (if offered) or from an exchange. This basic contribution would be enough to purchase relatively modest coverage and would be tax-free to the employee and a pre-tax deduction for the employer. Any employer contributions above this level would be taxable to the employee. Tax credits would be available to smaller businesses and to employers with high percentages of older workers. Employees could “trade up” to more generous coverage by adding their own money to the employer contribution, but no tax advantage would result. Individuals who failed to purchase coverage would simply be assigned to the lowest cost available health plan.
This true defined contribution approach may have less appeal to the red-blooded Darwinians in the Ryan camp, but it would far better protect employees from being shortchanged by their employers—or themselves. And, like Ryan’s version, it puts responsibility for coverage choice where it belongs—with the individual insured—something that is more likely to lead to better-value choices.
(In a previous THCB blog post Beltway consultant Bob Laszewski slams defined contribution plans as having failed to control costs over the past twenty years. However, Laszewski lumps the typical percentage-of-premium plans into the “defined” category, thereby confusing plans in which there is little cost incentive for the employee to choose “value” with those where the entire excess of premium over a defined dollar amount must be paid out-of-pocket.)
None of this discussion is relevant, of course, unless Republicans are able to win the presidency and control both houses of Congress. However, if we do find ourselves with a Republican administration determined to scrap the Accountable Care Act, it might be an advantage to have a proposal that would work and actually benefit both employers and employees.
Roger Collier was formerly CEO of a national health care consulting firm. His experience includes the design and implementation of innovative health care programs for HMOs, health insurers, and state and federal agencies. He is editor of Health Care REFORM UPDATE. | <urn:uuid:53cdc570-2aa3-445e-9301-c8349426efc6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://thehealthcareblog.com/blog/2011/10/11/paul-ryan-is-right-and-wrong/comment-page-1/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96516 | 1,023 | 1.59375 | 2 |
January 19, 2008
'Get out!' vs. 'Finish the job!'
By Rachel Glogowski
Associate Editor, Youth Journalism International
With global reporting by Youth Journalism International
The war in Iraq and Afghanistan is a hot topic for teens across the world.
Whatever their feelings are, most young people interviewed by Youth Journalism International agree that it is one of the most important issues facing future President Barack Obama.
“I want him to understand that the situation in Iraq and Afghanistan is unbearable,” said 18-year-old Alessia Ubaldini of Genoa, Italy. “He is a world citizen. He was born in Honolulu and he has lived in so many different places. I think he’s open minded enough to understand different nations.”
Many teens said Obama should withdraw troops from Iraq.
“Get us out,” said Rocco DiTaranto, an eighth grader at Bristow Middle School in West Hartford, Connecticut.
Alice Cordara, a 17-year-old high school student at Liceo Classico Mazzini in Genoa, Italy, said she wants the new American president to stay in contact with the leaders of both Iraq and Afghanistan.
Youth Journalism International
“I hope Obama will retire the troops from both the countries, even if I’ve heard he only wants to move them from Iraq to Afghanistan,” she said.
But many students recognize that pulling troops out is not a simple matter.
“It’s a tricky issue, and any withdrawal would be a gradual process,” said 17-year-old Paul Harris, of Ballarat, Victoria, Australia.
“I’m not educated enough to say, but I don’t think it wise to pull the troops out immediately,” said 14-year-old Rebecca Au. “We don’t want to send the message that after these people have worked so hard, we think it all meaningless.”
Au, a student at Owl Academy in Highland Park, New Jersey added, “I don’t know when exactly, but I don’t think it should be an abrupt withdrawal. We should bring the troops home, certainly, but eventually.”
Many teens have ideas about what should be done after troops are withdrawn.
Eighteen-year-old South African citizen Nolitha Namatovu Luzuka believes the U.S. should help rebuild infrastructure and assist governments “where at all possible.”
Cyrilla Mulindi, who like Luzuka is a student at Clarendon High School for Girls in East London, South Africa, said, “Take the troops out, but keep American peace-keeping corps present to help restore what has been damaged.”
Although many teens support gradual troop withdrawl, some said pulling U.S. soldiers out is not the right step to take.
Katie Mullaney, a 16-year-old student at Agape Academy in Hopkinton, Massachusetts, described her opinion about the Iraqi War and Afghanistan conflict in three words.
“Finish the job,” she said.
Ray Ma, a homeschooled 15-year-old from Columbia, South Carolina, agreed that troops should remain in the Middle East.
Ma said he would “like to see Obama changing his mind about the purposed troop withdrawal in Iraq. To withdraw now or anytime soon will destroy everything that we've been working on in Iraq since the beginning of the war.”
Ma said the most important thing is to win “the heart of the Afghan people.”
“We must not become or act like an invading army and violate their national sovereignty,” he said. “If we lose the support of the Afghan people, we lose the war.”
The current fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan is a controversial issue for teens from across the globe. But no matter their stance on troop withdrawal, most hope that Obama will be able to find some solution to the ongoing conflicts in these areas.
Saeed Haris, a 24-year-old student at the American University of Afghanistan in Kabul, said the war needs to come to a quick conclusion.
“It will be good to invest on the people rather investing on [a] particular president,” said Haris, “since governments will change, but people will remain mostly unchanged.”
Contributing to this Youth Journalism International project were Associate Editor Rachel Glogowski in Bristol, Connecticut, U.S.A.; Senior Reporters Katie Grosser in Meschede, Calle, Germany; Edrees Kakar in Kabul, Afghanistan; Alexandra Patrikios in Ballarat, Victoria, Australia; and Wesley Saxena in West Hartford, Connecticut, U.S.A.; Reporters Sana Ali in Kuwait; Shekinah-Glory Dhanie-Beepat in Carteret, New Jersey, U.S.A; Eugenia Durante in Genoa, Italy; Kiernan Majerus-Collins in West Hartford, Connecticut, U.S.A.; Harsha Mishra in Bareilly, Uttar Province, India; and Mariechen Puchert in East London, Eastern Cape, South Africa; and Junior Reporters Brice Birdsall in Portland, Oregon, U.S.A.; Sarah Heath in Spring City, Tennessee, U.S.A.; Jacqueline Mejia in Queens, New York, U.S.A.; and Mariah Pulver in Tucson, Arizona, U.S.A.
Youth Journalism International reporters in eight countries talked to more than 30 young people on five continents to find out what the election of Barack Obama might mean for them, their nation, the world and the future. Read this special issue -- the largest we've ever undertaken -- to find out what they had to say on the eve of Obama's Inauguration as president of the United States.
Help The Tattoo thrive! Your donation can help us continue to provide the world's premier teen journalism. | <urn:uuid:6bd384ec-c174-48b6-ba76-6921defede2d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://home.comcast.net/~majerus-collins/obama-inaugural-6-2009-01-19zfdrei325342526863457.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.940072 | 1,272 | 2.234375 | 2 |
Silicone tape is a remarkable feat of chemical engineering that has resulted in a long lasting and highly durable protective tape. Made from cured silicone rubber, silicone tape typically contains a thin layer of silicone gel to make the product self fusing, which forms a permanent bond around whatever it is applied to.
This quality has led to a number of alternate names for silicone tape, including self amalgamating tape, self vulcanizing tape, and silicone gel tape. The tape forms the bond when stretched and wrapped around an object
and, depending on the specific brand and how it is used, will self fuse within minutes or a few hours
Another feature of silicone tape is the inclusion of polydimethylsiloxane in the gel, which contains zinc oxide. This material is added to act as a UV inhibitor. This means that the tape is resistant to ultraviolet radiation from natural sunlight, which often contributes to the degradation of ordinary tape. It is also resistant to other environmental factors, including the effects of ozone. In addition, silicone tape is designed to withstand moisture, as well as contact with solvents, fuels, acids, and even splashing from soldering.
This tape remains flexible in cold temperatures too. More importantly, some kinds of silicone tape are heat resistant and flame retardant
. This is achieved by formulating the composition of the tape to allow it to evenly conduct and disperse heat, yet remain non-combustible. This is obviously very desirable when using silicone tape under conditions where it may come into contact with excessive heat or open flame.
As might be expected, there is an abundance of applications for the use of this tape. For instance, adaptations of silicone tape are used in the biomedical and pharmaceutical fields where it performs a variety of functions. In clinical settings, it is used to adhere medical equipment to the body
, such as catheters and prosthetic devices. In addition, since this tape is not affected by moisture and will adhere to many different surfaces, it can be reapplied
. In some cases, it can even be cleaned and reused when appropriate. | <urn:uuid:2a7a27ee-a851-4f22-8724-6df8e129c07a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/modder-accessories-supplier-forum/53487-zfm-zero-filler-mod-29.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948991 | 422 | 3.171875 | 3 |
I have told you before about how much I love TED talks. One of my favorite TED talks is from Sir Ken Robinson. He talks about how schools kill creativity. (I added the video below.) I came across a video that features Sir Ken again doing a talk for RSA. The RSA is “an enlightenment organisation committed to finding innovative practical solutions to today’s social challenges.” One angle on that is the RSA Animate that is shown with Sir Ken’s talk. Very TED-like, so I can get on board with that.
This the third or fourth post that I have done relating to education reform or the way that our children learn. I remember hearing that all revolutions start in the back room of an ale house. Well, maybe blog posts are the modern day pint of ale.
It’s a little over 11 minutes long, but well worth the time invested.
Here is the creativity talk from Sir Ken Robinson:
I have ran into several people this past week and I seem to be talking a lot about TED Talks. I have posted several to my website over the past few years. I would encourage everyone to carve out a half-day, get a big cup of coffee and explore TED.com There are so many amazing topics that a half-day will not be nearly enough, but it should get you started.
Here is another one that I found fascinating. I hope you enjoy.
When I was on the city council I was amazed that when I would share stats that people did not know about them already. I can’t tell you how many times during my election that I was asked who else is running. I chalked it up to apathy. People just don’t care or are too lazy to take the time to get involved. After watching this TED Talk about apathy, I have a whole new perspective.
As you know, I love me some TED Talks and I usually only share the ones that hit home for me. I have sent this to the mayor and city council of Danville. This video is only about 7 minutes long, but is very visually based. If we want to make Danville a better place, we need to share great ideas like this video. For more TED Talks, visit their website at TED.com
I stumbled onto TED about 4 years ago. For those of you that don’t know, TED stands for Technology, Entertainment & Design. To quote from them: “It started out (in 1984) as a conference bringing together people from those three worlds. Since then its scope has become ever broader.” The premise of TED is to give speakers 20 minutes to share their ideas, talents or findings with the world. I have watched hours of TED videos in the past 4 years.
The other day I watched a talk by Barry Schwartz on the Loss of our Wisdom. It’s a great talk and speaks volumes about the state of our society. It’s well worth the 20 minutes.
Just tonight while flipping through TED talks on Tivo, I watched a great one by Larry Lessig: How creativity is being strangled by the law. As someone trying to put creative content out there, I think that it’s especially interesting. (He even references John Philip Sousa, so that makes it cool on it’s own right.)
One of my favorite all time TED talks is: Hans Rosling: Debunking third-world myths with the best stats you’ve ever seen | <urn:uuid:e734a6fc-4772-43f6-b1e7-2131204e6e56> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://keithsouza.com/category/ted-talks/?scheme=bright-orange | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00071-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970999 | 724 | 1.640625 | 2 |
It is by no means easy for the applied mathematician to decide how much importance he should attach to the more abstract and aesthetic side of his work and how much to the detailed applications to physics, astronomy, engineering or the design of instruments. Great mathematical ideas do not blossom in workshops, as a rule, but on the other hand the theorist should not divorce himself from a healthy and intimate connection with practical questions.
Sir William Rowan Hamilton (1805-1865) created a method in Geometrical Optics, which, after lying long in disuse, is at last finding its proper place in the science. To all appearances, Hamilton attached little importance to the practical applications of his method, and it was only with the publication of his Mathematical Papers, Vol. I (Cambridge, 1931), that it was possible to form a more correct and balanced judgment of Hamilton as an applied mathematician. Great indeed was the labour which he employed with a view to applying his method to the design of optical instruments, but for him the abstract and aesthetic side of his work was of so much greater public importance than its practical use that the details of application remained unpublished till long after his death and long after other workers had discovered equivalent processes.
Since it was left largely to those primarily interested in optical design to develop the subject of Geometrical Optics, it is only natural that the student of the subject soon finds himself immersed in details which tend to cloud his understanding of the underlying general principles. Now, just as it is widely recognized that in the teaching of mechanics a middle course must be steered between a completely abstract presentation and a technical approach, so it seems to me that the student of Geometrical Optics is most likely to understand the principles of Hamilton's method if he does not think too much at first of technical applications. But, at the same time, he should not be kept entirely remote from them.
Since editing, in collaboration with Professor Arthur Conway, F.R.S., Hamilton's papers on Geometrical Optics, I have had the opportunity of lecturing on the subject to graduate students and undergraduates in the University of Toronto. This book represents a course of twenty-five lectures to the latter. Although the reader may fail to find in it some things which he would naturally expect in a book on Geometrical Optics, no apology is offered on that account. If Hamilton's method is understood, the book serves its purpose. For that reason it is not necessary to defend the application of the method to problems which would admit shorter special solutions.
Hamilton was a master of mathematical notation, and he might in this respect be profitably studied by some modern writers in our subject. I have employed his notation in the main, changing the signs of the W and T functions to make their physical interpretation more obvious, and making some changes in nomenclature. It does not seem necessary or desirable to use the word "eikonal", which Bruns invented in 1895 in ignorance of Hamilton's work. Since one letter is just about as good as another, would it not be a harmless compliment to the genius of Hamilton for writers on Geometrical Optics to employ for the various characteristic functions the letters which he employed?
Although Hamilton himself started by considering the simpler case of isotropic media, it was not long before he saw that his method was also applicable to anisotropic media, and when h, came to give his theory final form in his Third Supplement, he did so in all generality. This has done much to discourage those interested in the more practical aspects of his method, because in order to apply it they have been compelled to think in terms of (to them) unnecessary generality. To avoid a repetition of this error of policy, the theory of anisotropic media has been entirely omitted from this book. To compensate for this omission and for the fact that, although an attempt has been made to amplify Hamilton's work in the directions since found of most interest, these amplifications have not been sufficient to create an adequate text-book, a brief bibliography is given below. In some of these works Hamilton's characteristic functions are referred to as Bruns' eikonals, but there is no significant difference.
I have to thank three of my students, Messrs H R Roberts, P R Wallace and A White, for assistance in the preparation of the manuscript, and my colleagues, Professor A F Stevenson and Dr B A Griffith, for reading the proofs and making valuable suggestions. It is also a pleasure to pay tribute to the skill and accuracy of the Cambridge University Press.
J. L. S.
E T Whittaker, The Theory of Optical Instruments (Cambridge Tracts, No. 7, 1907).
J G Leathem, The Elementary Theory of the Symmetrical Optical Instrument (Cambridge Tracts, No. 8, 1908).
J P C Southall, The Principles and Methods of Geometrical Optics (New York, 1913).
S Czapski and O Eppenstein, Grundzüge der Theorie der optischen Instrumente (Leipzig, 1924).
O C Steward, The Symmetrical Optical System (Cambridge Tracts, No. 25, 1928).
M Herzberger, Strahlenoptik (Berlin, 1931).
The Mathematical Papers of Sir W R Hamilton, Vol. I (edited by A W Conway and J L Synge, Cambridge, 1931).
W R Hamiltons Abhandlungen zur Strahlenoptik (translated and edited with notes by G Prange, Leipzig, 1933).
M Born, Optik (Berlin, 1933).
J L Synge, Hamilton's Method in Geometrical Optics, Journal of the Optical Society of America 27 (1937), 75-82.
The URL of this page is: | <urn:uuid:8dac3db1-afbb-4b4c-9267-f03feeb57aa3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www-history.mcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/~history/Extras/Synge_Hamilton.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00022-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960034 | 1,212 | 3.125 | 3 |
This article was originally distributed via PRWeb. PRWeb, WorldNow and this Site make no warranties or representations in connection therewith.
SOURCE: Athanatos Christian Ministries
The two new additions are from Martin Luther's popular writings on the discussion of free will as well his commentary on the book of Galatians
Nashville, TN;New York, NY;Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI;Chicago, IL;Los Angeles-
Long Beach, CA (PRWEB) November 22, 2012 -- Athanatos Christian Ministries announces two additions to their product catalog from prominent Christian theologian, Martin Luther. The two new additions cover the topic of free will as well as a commentary on the book of Galatians. Luther’s writings have been the source of inspiration for authors within the Christian community, as well as those who are viewed as secular authors, but draw many concepts from Christian foundations. ACM Executive Director Anthony Horvath highly recommends Luther's writings for those new to apologetics, as well as those who have been studying it for years. "It's hard to find a more significant figure in the Christian theology movement. These two writings of Luther are must reads for anyone seeking to deepen their understanding of apologetics and how it has grown in the history of Christianity," says Horvath.
In a topic that has that been hotly debated for several hundred years, the concept of “free will” covers many divisive issues that are in the media daily. As the world has grown in knowledge and seen advancement in science and technology, the concept of free will has become a target of those outside the realm of Christianity to see to prove answers outside of the scope of the Gospel.
In The Bondage of the Will, Martin Luther seeks to answer the challenges presented by Erasmus on the topic of free will and what resulted was a classic publication in Christian theology. As the calendar has advanced through multiple generations since the original writing of the book, those on both sides of the topic continue to seek to persuade theother. Just as Luther relied on ‘sola scriptura’ in this defense of the topic, as you read this classic version you will be able to weigh the evidence and decide for yourself. In this edition, you will find an index of keywords, as well as an index of Bible references, to aid the serious researcher.
The second publication is Martin Luther’s Commentary on Galatians. In this classic commentary on the Apostle Paul’s epistle to the Galatians, Luther’s writings was influential in helping move Protestantism towards an understanding of the Gospel,
which is foundational to many in the Christian faith to this day. Luther’s Commentary on Galatians is available in print format, as well as e-book format, and it comes with a helpful index to help track down concepts, keywords and theological terms as they
emerge in Luther’s writings. Luther's Commentary on Galations is available at Amazon in printed paperback format or also on Kindle. The publication is also available on Athanatos Christian Ministries website.
Athanatos Christian Ministries, an apologetics ministry with an emphasis on defending the Faith through the arts and literature since its founding in 2008. ACM’s purpose is to apply the Christian world view in creative contexts that range from Christian apologetics
to education to literature and the arts and anything else it can imagine to edify the church. ACM has a significant emphasis on the arts and literature because it perceives that the culture has extraordinary influence on faith formation; usually a negative influence. For
this reason ACM encourages Christians to participate in the culture in meaningful ways with works of art that exhibit excellence.
For the original version on PRWeb visit: http://www.prweb.com/releases/prweb2012/11/prweb10163847.htm | <urn:uuid:a337124e-85a0-4dca-b106-f783020293f5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cwrichmond.tv/story/20167862/athanatos-christian-ministries-announces-addition-of-two-classic-works-by-christian-theologian-martin-luther-to-online-catalog | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00048-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958906 | 801 | 1.90625 | 2 |
History & Current Affairs
05/06/2003 - The film industry is more than just mere entertainment: it has an important role to play in preserving the collective memories of contemporary society. To that end this year’s edition of the Summer School (Locarno, Switzerland on 3-9 August) will focus on documentary films.
Thirty university students or graduates from Switzerland and abroad will attend the 2003 workshop, organised by the Swiss-Italian University and the International Locarno Film Festival, where, by means of lessons, seminars, film analysis and meetings with filmmakers and audiovisual industry operators, they will learn the ins and outs of what it takes to make a successful documentary.
For ulterior information: click here.
(Translated from Italian) | <urn:uuid:b104a0f1-5355-4d5e-8e35-d11726a53b31> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://cineuropa.org/nw.aspx?t=newsdetail&l=en&did=30889 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00031-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.923582 | 156 | 2.046875 | 2 |
After treaties with the American Indians and federal legislation opened up Oklahoma lands for settlement between 1889 and 1906, agriculture developed very rapidly. Although the Indians in eastern Oklahoma had done some farming, mainly by leasing their lands to white tenants, farming in Oklahoma did not become very important until after 1889. Following the Land Run of April 22, 1889, when thousands of people rushed into the Unassigned Lands, agriculture moved swiftly toward becoming the basis of the Oklahoma economy. As the president of the State Board of Agriculture wrote in 1907, "agriculture is, and will be for years to come if not forever, the leading industry in our State." His prediction was partially correct because agriculture was the state's leading industry well into the twentieth century.
The pioneer settlers who pushed quickly into Oklahoma Territory to establish farms on free or cheap land did not have an easy time. Confronted by periodic droughts, low prices for crops and livestock, lack of capital, and other problems, they struggled to get a firm foothold on the land. Many of them initially lived in sod houses or dugouts and provided most of their own subsistence by growing garden vegetables, milking a few cows, butchering their own meat, and raising a few acres of corn. Times were so difficult and farmers so desperate in 1891 because of the severe drought in parts of the territory that the railroads provided some seed grain so farmers could plant a crop.
Despite the hardships endured in the early years of settlement, the federal census reported that between 1890 and 1900 the number of farms increased from 8,826 to 108,000. By 1910, the first census taken after statehood, the number had jumped to 190,192. Of this number 13,209 farms were operated by African American farmers. In less than twenty years the area that became Oklahoma added about 180,000 farms to the nation's total. This was one of the most rapidly settled agricultural frontiers in American history. After 1910 the number of farms in Oklahoma remained about the same for a generation, between 190,000 and 210,000, until a steady drop began in the late 1930s.
Oklahoma farmers produced a wide variety of crops including corn, cotton, winter wheat, oats, milo maize, potatoes, sweet potatoes, peanuts, broomcorn, cowpeas, alfalfa, wild hay, and others. They also produced and sold poultry, eggs, cheese, butter, and garden and orchard products. The main crops by acreage and value, however, were corn, cotton, and winter wheat.
Corn was an ideal crop for a largely self-sufficient family in the early years of settlement. It was fairly easy to raise and was valuable as both a feed for livestock and food for the family table. A farm wife could prepare grits, cornbread, and other foods from cornmeal, ground at home or at a local mill. Most farmers planted some corn, and by 1910 more than five million acres were grown. This was more than twice as much as any other crop.
Cotton was Oklahoma's leading money crop, and production increased rapidly after about 1900. A decade later cotton farmers produced 923,000 bales on 2,324,000 acres. In the first decade of the twentieth century cotton growing was concentrated in central and southwestern counties of the state. In 1907 Lincoln County had thousands of acres of cotton, and some was grown in Woodward and surrounding counties. By 1910 Oklahoma ranked sixth among the cotton-producing states with a crop value of $61.8 million, as compared to the value of the corn crop of $47.8 million and wheat of $22.2 million.
The growing emphasis on cotton, however, raised serious questions among some of the state's leaders because of the system's effect on farm families. J. P. Connors, president of the State Board of Agriculture, wrote in 1908 that by concentrating on cotton, instead of diversifying their crops and raising livestock, farmers became trapped in a destructive credit system. As early as 1910 some 54 percent of Oklahoma farmers were tenants, and tenancy was even higher among cotton farmers. The rate was highest among African American sharecroppers. Connors did not advise against planting cotton but urged farmers to diversify and raise as much of their own living as possible.
Representatives of the newly established agricultural college at Stillwater (Oklahoma A&M, now Oklahoma State University), directors of the Agricultural Experiment Stations, and editors of farm publications were among others who urged farmers to diversify their operations. Farmers were advised to attend conferences and institutes to gain better knowledge of how they might improve their income, and how farm wives could increase their contribution to the family welfare. For example, in 1916 the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) reported that farm women in Bryan County experienced greater success in dairying and raising poultry under the guidance of a home demonstration agent. Despite the effort to better educate farmers and improve life on the family farm, many farmers were either unwilling or unable to make the recommended changes. This was especially the case where cotton was the principal crop.
By the eve of World War I Oklahoma farmers had established an agricultural pattern that would persist for another generation. Wheat growing rapidly expanded in the central and northwestern parts of the state, while corn acreage steadily declined. By 1920 only a little more than half as much corn was planted as in 1910. Wheat acreage, on the other hand, more than doubled in that decade. As farmers pushed farther west into the drier parts of the state, especially the Panhandle where rainfall averaged less than twenty inches annually, they planted more drought-resistant sorghum crops such as milo maize and Kaffir corn.
By 1920 the average size Oklahoma farm was 166 acres. However, there were huge variations in size. The largest category of farms, or 34 percent, were from 100 to 174 acres, the traditional 160 homestead. But there were thousands under fifty acres, many of them operated by white and black sharecroppers. The large farms, those of more than 260 acres, made up about 14 percent of the total. Most of the state's farms were family enterprises where the operator used horse and mule power to pull their plows, cultivators, and other machinery. A few large wheat farmers were beginning to adopt tractors and combines, but full-scale tractor farming was still in the future. Farm families provided much of their own living, especially outside the main cotton-producing areas, and most of their own labor. Men and sometimes women, as well as children, worked in the fields, milked cows, and did other chores. Women tended gardens, raised chickens, made and sold butter, and marketed eggs. Their work contributed greatly to the economic condition of residents. The federal census of 1920 reported that on the average Oklahoma farm families provided 57 percent of their own food.
Oklahoma's 194,000 farmers were just beginning to be exposed to modern conveniences by 1920. Only 4 percent had electricity, 1 percent owned trucks, and 3 percent had acquired tractors to replace or supplement horse and mule power. However, an increasing number of farmers were getting better connected to the larger world: 25 percent had automobiles, and 37 percent enjoyed telephones. But overall, it was still the horse-and-wagon and dirt-road period of farming in the Sooner State. The benefits of electricity, running water, and indoor bathroom facilities were still nearly a generation away for most.
The deflation and severe drop in farm prices that began in late 1920 severely affected all of American agriculture. Oklahoma farmers were among those hardest hit. The prices of cotton, wheat, and livestock, the main source of agricultural income, drastically dropped. Between 1919 and 1920 cotton prices declined from thirty-five cents a pound to twelve cents; wheat brought only half as much in 1921 as it had in 1919. The cost of things farmers had to buy did not drop in proportion to those of farm prices, which created what the economists called a cost-price squeeze.
These conditions intensified a spirit of political unrest and radicalism among Oklahoma farmers who believed that the large corporate and financial institutions had become their oppressors. There had been a substantial number of discontented farmers even before 1907 statehood. Some of them had joined the Socialist Party, which advocated state-operated enterprises such as a state bank and state-owned grain elevators, warehouses, and other facilities that Socialists believed could serve farmers better and at lower costs. Farmers complained loudly about high interest rates, especially those charged to tenants and sharecroppers. In some cases interest rates were as high as 40 percent a year on loans. Many farmers in Oklahoma voted for Fred W. Holt, the Socialist candidate for governor in 1914, when the party polled about fifty-two thousand votes. Farmers also joined the Nonpartisan League in 1918 and demanded that the state establish state-owned marketing facilities to help farmers.
With this background of protest, it is not surprising that financially depressed farmers were the most numerous supporters of the Oklahoma Farmer-Labor Reconstruction League, and of Jack Walton, the organization's candidate for governor in 1922. The league's legislative goals called for much the same program advocated by the Socialists. Farmers believed that state-owned enterprises would help their economic situation. While the farm vote helped Walton win the governorship, he was unable to push any of the league's programs through the legislature and was eventually impeached. Farmers were left without any assistance from state government. John A. Simpson, a leader in the Oklahoma Farmers' Union and later president of the National Farmers Union, was the most active and influential farm spokesperson in Oklahoma.
Better prices by 1923 and 1924 for both wheat and cotton reduced farm discontent, although life on thousands of Oklahoma farms was a struggle. There were a few good years in the 1920s but also some very bad ones for commercial farmers. In 1925 cotton farmers planted 5.2 million acres of cotton and produced 1,691,000 bales that brought seventeen cents a pound. But the next year a huge crop drove prices down to only nine cents a pound. Wheat prices were also good in 1925, bringing $1.40 a bushel, but within a couple of years it was only a dollar a bushel. In short, the extreme changes in the price of farm crops and livestock were hard on farm income. Moreover, both interest rates and taxes continued to be high. By 1930, 61 percent of Oklahoma's farmers were tenants, and in some counties tenancy was as high as 70 percent.
However hard the economic struggle was for farmers in the agricultural depression of the 1920s, the onset of the Great Depression in 1929 and 1930 created even worse conditions. By 1931 and 1932 farm commodity prices had dropped to disastrous levels. The farm price of the huge cotton crop of 1931 fell to about five cents a pound, and wheat brought as little as thirty cents a bushel. Prices of other crops and livestock also dropped. Peanuts, which had become an important crop for some farmers in the southwestern part of the state, declined to as low as $1.60 for one hundred pounds, or about one and one-half cents a pound. The gross income of all Oklahoma farm production, both crops and livestock, dropped from $314 million in 1929 to $115 million in 1932.
Under these circumstances, what could farm families do? They had tried to improve their position in the economy in the 1920s by forming agricultural cooperatives. They had sought to increase their efficiency through agricultural mechanization by using more and better production equipment. They had appealed for state and federal help, but nothing had brought any relief. About all the USDA could suggest was for farmers to become more self-sufficient. But, according to one writer, farmers had lowered their standard of living "to an extent reminiscent of pioneer days."
Finally, in May 1933 farmers began to see a glimmer of hope through Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal when Congress created the Agricultural Adjustment Administration (AAA) and subsequently enacted other legislation to help farmers. Believing that huge agricultural surpluses were responsible for low prices, the AAA provided Oklahoma's cotton and wheat farmers cash benefit payments in return for reducing their acreage. Producers of some other crops also received federal benefits, and programs were implemented to assist hog and cattle raisers. To bring supply and demand into better balance, farmers plowed under a portion of their growing cotton in the spring of 1933. Drought cut wheat production, but farmers received benefit payments if they promised to reduce acreage in 1934. Federal programs also included better farm credit facilities and payment for certain soil conservation practices. Some farmers also received cash from work relief projects.
Federal programs were very significant in helping Oklahoma farmers get through the Great Depression. For example, in the fall of 1933 the state's wheat growers received $6,840,000 in cash benefit payments, and cotton farmers realized millions more. Cash payments continued through the 1930s and beyond. Since cash payments to farmers of the main crops were made for reducing acreage, the larger operators benefitted most from direct government payments. Small farmers, especially sharecroppers, received little help. This left thousands of small family farmers still struggling to survive.
Federal farm programs helped farmers get better prices for their products, but nothing could stop the drought and severe dust storms that struck western Oklahoma between 1933 and 1937. The western and northwestern counties all suffered, but conditions were worst in the Panhandle. The economic catastrophe created by wind, drought, and poor prices caused such distress and financial hardship that thousands abandoned their farms and migrated to California and elsewhere. Many of these migrants left the eastern part of the state as well. The Dust Bowl out-migration was most dramatic between 1935 and 1940 when the number of farms decreased by 33,638.
The drought conditions in the 1930s encouraged some farmers in western Oklahoma to turn to irrigation. That area rested on a huge underground aquifer, and by the 1930s deep drilling and pump technology made deep well irrigation practical. A few farmers turned to irrigation before 1950, but land under irrigation expanded quite rapidly in the next thirty years.
The highest number of farms in Oklahoma history, 213,325, was recorded in 1935. These figures reflect some return to the farm by town dwellers who wanted to raise part of their own food or who no longer had an urban job. From 1935 onward, however, the number of farms dramatically declined. Even though during World War II both crops and prices were favorable to farmers, by 1950 Oklahoma had only 142,246 farms. Many of the small operators concluded that they could not make a living, or they found better conditions in nonfarm employment. Even somewhat better living conditions could not keep families "down on the farm." By 1950 Oklahoma's farm population was only 25 percent of the state's total, compared to 50 percent in 1920.
To a large extent because the Rural Electrification Administration (REA) was established in 1935, living conditions on the farm were beginning a major transformation. By 1950 about two-thirds of Oklahoma's farmers had electricity. In addition to electric lights, many farm families began to enjoy running water, bathroom facilities, home freezers, refrigerators, electric washing machines, and other conveniences. By midcentury the better-off farmers experienced about the same home conveniences and standard of living as their town and city cousins.
By 1950 it was clear that a major restructuring was occurring in Oklahoma agriculture. Farms were becoming fewer and larger as the better capitalized and more efficient producers expanded by renting or buying more land from departing neighbors. From 1950 to 1980 the number of farms dropped from 142,246 to 72,000, and the average size more than doubled from 253 acres to 481 acres. By 1997, the last federal census of agriculture in the twentieth century, Oklahoma reported a few more farms, but this was caused partially by a change in the definition of a farm.
By the 1970s the state's commercial agriculture was concentrated in the hands of relatively few farmers. In 1978 the market value of all farm products sold was $2,367,696,000. Fifty-five percent of that value was produced by only 3,716 farmers and ranchers. These large corporate farms were highly capitalized with huge investments in equipment such as tractors, trucks, grain combines, mechanical cotton pickers, hay balers, and other expensive machines. Farms were significant business enterprises that required not only large amounts of capital but also good management to be successful. In 1997, for example, more than 4four hundred Oklahoma farmers sold in excess of $500,000 worth of wheat, and 114 of them more than $1 million worth.
Thousands of small farmers had become "sidewalk and suitcase farmers," part-time or hobby farmers who derived their main income from off-farm work. Of the 74,214 farms reported in 1997, over half, or 41,154, of the operators listed their main occupation as something other than farming. Only 33,060 listed farming as their principal occupation. Whether it was grain or cotton farming, raising peanuts or sorghums, or raising chickens, hogs, or cattle, the operations were mainly in the hands of large operators. By the end of the century most of the hogs and poultry were raised in confined conditions by a few producers. Despite a growing degree of concentration in agriculture, most farms continued to be family owned. But the successful family farms of the 1990s were dramatically different from those in the years before World War II.
By the 1990s the annual value of Oklahoma's agricultural production ranged between $4 and $5 billion annually. In 1997 the figure was $4.1 billion. Of this amount, crops were responsible for $908 million and livestock and poultry products for $3.2 billion. Wheat had become by far the main commercial crop, leading hay, cotton, sorghums, peanuts, and soybeans by a large margin. By the late twentieth century Oklahoma usually ranked second, third, or fourth in the nation in winter wheat production.
While the number of farms and the farm population declined sharply after World War II, agriculture continued to be a major factor in Oklahoma's economy. Farming not only supplied food and fiber for state, national, and world needs, it furnished the raw materials for processing and manufacturing industries that provided consumer goods and nonfarm employment.
By 2000 only a very small percentage of Oklahomans lived on farms. However, the historical experience of farming and farm life have placed an indelible imprint upon the state and its people. The steady decline of the farm population and agriculture's lessening role in the economy have not eliminated the traits and character associated with strong rural traditions. Hard work, honesty, responsibility, neighborliness, a cohesive family life, and practicality are some of the historic farm traits that have been incorporated into the lives of modern Oklahomans. Indeed, the state's farm experiences have left a permanent mark, not only on its economy, but on Sooner history and culture that will take generations to erase, if ever.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: Gilbert C. Fite, American Agriculture and Farm Policy Since 1900 (New York: Macmillan, 1964). Gilbert C. Fite, Cotton Fields No More: Southern Agriculture, 1865-1980 (Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 1984). Gilbert C. Fite, The Farmer's Frontier, 1865-1900 (New York: Holt Rinehart, and Winston, 1966). Donald E. Green, ed., Rural Oklahoma (Oklahoma City: Oklahoma Historical Society, 1977). Ralph E. Olson, "Agriculture in Oklahoma," in Geography of Oklahoma, ed. John W. Morris (Oklahoma City: Oklahoma Historical Society, 1977). U.S. Bureau of the Census, Census of Agriculture (Washington D.C.: GPO, 1890-1997).
Gilbert C. Fite
© Oklahoma Historical Society | <urn:uuid:7e08d571-5e52-49b7-b19b-0dad1ddb4874> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://digital.library.okstate.edu/encyclopedia/entries/F/FA019.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00071-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.977021 | 4,059 | 4.03125 | 4 |
It might be time to consider antique tools value if you find yourself rummaging around in your garage and come across a rusty old saw that your grandfather gave you years ago.
Antique Tools Value
Like any other type of antique, antique tools value depends on availability and condition. The more common the tool, the less value the tool will have. The better condition the tool is in, the more valuable the tool might be. And, while online auctions tend to even out selling prices nationally, you might find that antique farm tools that originated in the Midwest might fetch better prices in the Northeast and the Southwest than they would have at home. This is simply because there are more of these types of tools readily available in the Midwest than in other parts of the country.
Another factor that can add to the value of antique tools is provenance. Provenance is the story behind the tool. Documentation of who owned the tool, particularly if that person became well-known or was an acknowledged collector, can add to the value of the tool.
Vernon Ward and the Fine Tool Journal developed a rating system for tools that is commonly used today to help establish values. The Fine Tool Journal Classification System rates tools as follows:
Your rusty old saw may be considered to be in fair to poor condition. This means that it probably would not have a whole lot of value to a tool collector. However, there are people that buy tools simply because they look old and display them in their garages, homes or gardens. You still may be able to get a few bucks from one of them.
Are you looking for that perfect piece of pottery or some vaseline glass? How about an old rocking horse or Disney character figurine? Have you looked at all your local antique stores and drawn a blank? | <urn:uuid:45176e79-e967-46e9-b6a1-c959dee9e968> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.life123.com/hobbies/antiques-collectibles/antiques/antique-tools-value.shtml | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00058-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957194 | 364 | 1.96875 | 2 |
Doesn’t get much stranger than this. It’s called ‘Extreme Aerial Bowfishing’. The sport was born out of the massive overpopulation of Asian Carp in the Illinois River. Each year residents take to the river with bows and literally shoot the jumping carp out of the air. It’s like shooting fish in a barrel until one bow hunter, Jodi, became the hunted. In an instant, a rogue carp leaps from the water and breaks Jodi’s jaw.
The amazing images were captured by Field and Stream photographer Bill Konway.
Wild Jumping Carp On Illinois River
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Federal Appeals Court Finds A "Reasonable Expectation of Privacy" in EmailThe Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that the Constitution establishes greater protections for stored email than is set out in federal laws. In Warshak v. United States, the government compelled an internet service provider to reveal 27,000 emails without securing a warrant or giving notice to the customer, Steven Warshak. The Court held that the seizure violated Warshak's Fourth Amendment rights. In response to the Government's assertions that its actions were based on the Stored Communications Act, the Court responded "to the extent that the SCA purports to permit the government to obtain such emails warrantlessly, the SCA is unconstitutional." The Sixth Circuit joins the First Circuit in finding that email is subject to strong protections under electronic privacy laws. EPIC joined a group of civil liberties organizations and Professor Orin Kerr to submit a "Friend of the Court" brief in U.S. v. Councilman, a First Circuit case concerning email and the Wiretap Act. A separate amicus brief in Councilman from leading technology experts explained that privacy protection is "critical for electronic mail." For more information, see EPIC: Wiretapping.
TrackBack URL for this entry: | <urn:uuid:105a2cbf-e409-496f-a6fd-e720087dd5e2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://epic.org/2010/12/federal-appeals-court-finds-a.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00037-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.920936 | 253 | 1.679688 | 2 |
Quarter of under-12s 'bullied each term'
MORE than a quarter of primary school children in Sheffield have been bullied at least once during term and 10 per cent of them have been bullied once a week. At secondary school, 10per cent have been bullied during term, writes Ngaio Crequer.
Repeated across the country, it means that as many as 350,000 school children aged 8 to 12 are being bullied at least once a week.
The figures were supplied by Peter Smith, Professor of Psychology at the University of Sheffield, who has carried out a research project for the Department for Education.
He was speaking at the launch of a campaign by Young Minds, the children's mental health charity, which is trying to raise awareness about the effects of bullying.
The campaign launch was told of one young girl who was twice dragged into the boys' lavatory at her school and stripped. Other girls encouraged the boys in their action. In a separate incident, a 13-year-old refused to go to school because a gang of boys was terrorising other pupils with a tack gun - a gun used to pin staples to walls. When questioned, the boys said they had done it because 'it's the fashion'.
Peter Wilson, director of Young Minds, said about 20 per cent of children under 16 - about 2 million children - had mental health, as opposed to mental illness, problems. The signs were: children refusing to attend school; difficulty concentrating and learning; irritability or disruptive behaviour; eating or sleeping problems.
- 1 Man and woman arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to murder victim of Woolwich machete attack, named as Drummer Lee Rigby
- 2 'Sickening, deluded and unforgivable': Horrific attack brings terror to London’s streets
- 3 Grace Dent: I’m not sure how these people can avoid being called ‘bigots’. And the more ‘civilised’, the worse they are
- 4 Woolwich murder: They killed, then they performed - these men should be starved of our attention
- 5 Woolwich attack: The EDL will seek to exploit this evil crime for their own evil ends
BMF is the UK’s biggest and best loved outdoor fitness classes
Find out what The Independent's resident travel expert has to say about one of the most beautiful small cities in the world
Nook is donating eReaders to volunteers at high-need schools and participating in exclusive events throughout the campaign.
Get the latest on The Evening Standard's campaign to get London's children reading.
Win anything from gadgets to five-star holidays on our competitions and offers page. | <urn:uuid:ce7df7c5-829d-4f42-9806-1582c03ca0c9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/quarter-of-under12s-bullied-each-term-1372619.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00031-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972411 | 554 | 2.28125 | 2 |
Fix-It Disk Optimiser
Optimise and Defrag Your Hard Disk for Top Performance
- Clean your hard disk and remove unnecessary junk and duplicate files
- Defragment your hard disk to improve data access and PC performance
- Extend the life of your hard drive
- Optimise your PC with one-click. Easy for anyone - even novice users
Every hard drive begins its life as a series of well-organised files, neatly arranged in sequential units of data on the drive's platter. But as more and more data is read from and written to your hard drive, and as programs are installed and removed, those sequential units quickly become fragmented, with some parts of a file stored here, and other parts stored elsewhere on the disk. This results in longer read times for your programs and longer boot-up times, since each data request requires your computer to work harder than it ought to, just to piece together all of the pieces that make up the requested file.
This is where Fix-It Disk Optimiser comes in. It removes all the fragments from the hard disk by gathering all the small chunks of free space together. This helps to create a larger area of free space, which can then be used for better storage purposes. The scattered data is also brought together so it can be accessed quickly from the area where it has been stored sequentially.
Fix-It Disk Optimiser solves the problem of data fragmentation, bringing a renewed level of responsiveness to your programs and reducing the time it takes for your computer to boot. With Fix-It Disk Optimiser, all of the fragments of data are rearranged back to a sequential order on your hard drive, greatly improving data access times.
Whenever you're experiencing sluggish application response times, slow boot and restart cycles, and a general decline in system performance, it's time to defragment the data using Fix-It Disk Optimiser.
Fix-It Disk Optimiser increases access times by rearranging the files stored on your drive. Enhance your systems performance quickly and easily with a few clicks using Fix-It Disk Optimiser.
Simple and easy to use interface
Fix-It Disk Optimiser has an advanced defragmentation engine but it is very simple to use at the same time. Novice users can also use this program easily without any expert guidance.
Minimal space required to defrag
Fix-It Disk Optimiser even works on hard drives which have very low free space. It will work with hard drives having as low as 1 GB of free disk space.
Safe and reliable to use
Fix-It Disk Optimisers engine is so designed that it does not cause any damage to your hard drive and the data stored on it. It is completely safe and reliable to use unlike the other defragmenters in the market.
Efficiently optimises and defragments the drive
Fix-It Disk Optimiser not only defragments the data, it also rearranges the files on basis of modified date and places them in such a way that it increases access times and enhances overall system performance.
Light on system resources
Fix-It Disk Optimiser writes contiguous files to the disk in such a way that minimal system resources are used unlike other resource hungry defragmenters.
Graphical view and summary report
Not only does Fix-It Disk Optimiser calculate and display the percentage of fragmentation on the disk, it also shows a graphical view of the fragmentation and defragmentation. It also shows a summary report of the before and after optimisation statistics.
Fix-It Disk Optimiser now includes the most comprehensive set of utilities which will keep your PC running smooth, clean and error free.
Disk Cleaner helps to remove junk and obsolete files from your system
- Erases files that contain identifying information
- Allows you to specify how certain file types are handled
- Cleans out unnecessary files that are left behind by uninstallers
- Presents a summary of detected junk files, temp files, and empty folders
- Creates a system restore point before cleaning files
Whenever you run a Windows application, or install a new one, data that is necessary for the operation of that program is written to your hard drive in the form of several files. For programs that use the Internet, these files will contain evidence of your browsing habits and online purchases. These files are supposed to be temporary, and the application should remove them once you’ve closed out the program or the installation has completed.
Due to a number of different reasons, such as program errors, application crashes, poorly programmed uninstallers, and conflicts with other running processes, many of these temporary files aren’t removed, and remain on your hard drive – unused, forgotten, and taking up valuable disk space! The longer you use your applications, and the more applications you install, the more disk space is consumed by these temporary files. After a while, system performance begins to degrade, increasing the risk of data loss, application crashes, cross-linked drive references, random reboots, and a host of other nuisances.
Disk Cleaner is specifically designed to identify these junk files that threaten to destabilise your system and compromise your identity. With Disk Cleaner, you are assured of the complete removal of these files, which are often missed by other utilities available in the market!
• Frees up disk space for use by other applications
• Speeds up general system performance and reduces crashes
• Protects your privacy by removing files that contain identifying information
Disk Info : Fix probable Disk errors
- Scans your file system of your hard drive for errors
- Finds bad sectors on your hard disk
- Can be used to salvages readable data from bad hard disk sectors
- Provides valuable information about each hard drive on your system
- Performs a health check on each drive in your system
Out of all of the hardware components that are installed in your computer, your hard drive is subjected to the most abuse. Day after day of reading and writing data can raise the risk of errors that result from failing sectors on the drive platter. It's the most valuable piece of hardware you have, so you need a utility that will ensure that your hard drive is operating at peak efficiency. Disk Info is that utility.
Disk Info performs diagnostic tests on your hard drive, informing you of any problem sectors and attempting to salvage any readable data that it finds in those bad sectors. Think about it - you may just think that you've lost an important file to a bad sector, but with Disk Info, you may still be able to get it back!
Even if you don't have any unreadable sectors on your hard disk, Disk Infois incredibly helpful in tracking the continuing health of your drive. With Disk Info, you'll be able to monitor the most vital operating parameters of your hard drive, to see if they are within the normal range. Normal usage of Disk Info means that you'll be able to spot when a drive is failing, before it actually fails! With Disk Info, data loss from hard disk failure becomes a thing of the past.
• Recovers data from unreadable sectors on your hard drive
• Alerts you to problems with your hard drive before it fails
• Obtain identifying information about your hard drive for troubleshooting purposes
Dup Files Remover : removes all duplicate files from your system
- Finds and removing duplicate files
- Scan and removal process is quick and efficient
- Locates duplicate files across multiple drives
Here's a problem we never had to deal with before computers came along - duplicate files. Since it's so easy to intentionally or accidentally create copies of your files, it's very likely that your computer's hard drive is cluttered with multiple copies of the same files. Maybe you copied a list of files when you meant to move them. Or you have the same file saved in different directory locations. Sometimes different software installations will install the same files over and over, which are used once and never needed again.
Dup Files Remover take up a lot of unnecessary disk space and can drag down your system's file access rate. They also create an environment ripe for program errors - if an application finds more than one instance of a particular file, it could use the wrong one, or just outright crash on you.
Dup Files Remover thoroughly searches your hard disk and removes all duplicate files from your system, freeing up valuable disk space and increasing the efficiency of your file system.
Dup Files Remover should be run on a regular basis, and should be run whenever you install or remove a software application.
• Frees up disk space
• Reduces the risk of program errors
• Improves system performance
|Platform||Windows XP, Windows Vista 32-bit, Windows 7, Windows 7 64-bit, Windows 7 32-bit|
Compatible OS :
- Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7 (both 32 and 64 bit compatible) | <urn:uuid:9ee0a69b-c909-4766-bf10-78c32c778798> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.avanquest.com/UK/software/fix-it-disk-optimiser-138075?meta=work&cat=pc-essentials&sub=pc-security-pc-health | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.913558 | 1,825 | 1.875 | 2 |
BOSTON (Reuters) - A 65-year-old quadruple amputee has received two new hands in a rare double transplant operation, Boston's Brigham and Women's Hospital said on Friday.
Richard Mangino got the two hands last week in a 12-hour transplant procedure by a team of more than 40 doctors, nurses and other medical staff, the hospital said.
Mangino, from Revere, Massachusetts, lost his arms below the elbows and legs below the knees after contracting sepsis, a bloodstream infection, in 2002.
The complicated surgery included transplanting skin, tendons, muscles, ligaments, bones and blood vessels on both forearms and hands, the hospital said.
The double-hand transplant is the second performed by Brigham and Women's, a teaching affiliate of Harvard Medical School.
In May, a team performed a full face transplant and its first double-hand transplant on Charla Nash, a Connecticut woman who was mauled by a chimpanzee in 2009.
The hospital said the hand transplant was successful, but the hands did not thrive after complications from pneumonia and were removed.
There are a few other programs around the country that perform hand transplants.
The first hand transplant was performed in France in 1998, and the first in the United States was completed a year later.
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What's YourSodium IQ? | <urn:uuid:ac7eeb77-3e1d-450c-9f15-242914b8c6bd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.lifescript.com/health/centers/respiratory/news/2011/10/14/rare_transplant_gives_quadruple_amputee_two_new_hands.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955072 | 380 | 1.671875 | 2 |
Exodus 25-30, Genesis 2, Genesis 14, Psalm 110, Psalm 22,
"The Missing Rib of the Tabernacle"
The inspiration for this first image came to me one day as I was reading the book of Exodus. When I read about the altar of incense that was to be placed before the Holy of Holies in the Tabernacle, I found myself praying, "O Lord, make my heart burn night and day with love for You. May my adoration rise like perpetual incense before You."
It struck me that this altar of incense was a beautiful picture of a heart ablaze with love for God. As I imagined myself in this dark and holy Tabernacle, with the light of the seven-lamped Menorah reflecting off of the golden pillars on either side, my mind's eye caught a glimpse of what seemed to be a rib cage surrounding that glowing "heart" of the Tabernacle. But why, then, was there this assymetry in the design--five pillars at the entrance and only four at the curtain of the Holy of Holies? This missing pillar/rib reminded me of how Eve was created from one of Adam's ribs. Could this be some mystical reference to Christ--the New Adam--whose Bride, the Church, was made from His wounded side, just as Eve proceeded from the side of Adam?
O, such a generous donation! Jesus, God in the flesh, slept the deep sleep of death, so that we might have life. In effect, He allowed His lungs to collapse on the cross, so that ours may be supported, making us fit to breathe the breath of Heaven again, restoring our relationship with God.
The Catehism of the Catholic Church puts it this way:
There are a few other points to ponder as you look at this image.
First of all, you'll notice the reddish-blueish covering that is coupled together with 50 golden clasps. God commanded Moses to create three coverings for the Tabernacle. The first covering was made of red, blue, and purple material with interwoven linen. It consisted of two sets of "curtains", each containing five strips of fabric sewn together. The two five-piece curtains became one ten-piece curtain when they were coupled together with the golden clasps, just in front of the Holy of Holies. Could these seams and openings indicate the torn and battered flesh of Jesus Christ? And could one of these golden clasps indicate the very place He was pierced in His sacred side?
Then notice how the curtain before the Holy of Holies is separating, showing the radiance of God's Shekinah glory emanating from the Ark of the Covenant. Remember that when Jesus was crucified that the veil of the Temple was torn in two, indicating that He had gained entrance for all who trust in Him as their Savior and Great High Priest (Heb. 9:11).
The table in the back is for the Bread of the Presence. Twelve loaves would have been placed upon it in the Tabernacle. I have included two wine vessels, once again calling to mind Melchizedek who's offering included bread and wine--a clear Eucharistic reference. As our Lord Jesus said, "This is my body. This is my blood."
The meaning of the five rods and silver cup will become more clear in the next image, entitled "The Tabernacle's Western Wall".
NOTE: This view of the Tabernacle is more symbolically driven than it is technical. If you're interested, click here for a technical study of the Tabernacle I developed to accompany these images. | <urn:uuid:85824b2f-b303-4937-8415-5a799ead61f7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.k4communications.com/messianic/tabernacle_ribs.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00058-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960468 | 760 | 2.359375 | 2 |
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In this work we present a novel execution flow for the super-resolution image restoration (SRIR) non-uniform grid projection algorithm - the macroblock-level flow. The novel flow is compared with the reference frame-level flow. The frame-level flow is characterized by the fact that transitions from one step of the algorithm to another occur only after the current step is carried out for all macro blocks (MBs) of the frame being currently processed. The novel flow carries out complete processing of one MB before the processing of another MB starts. The memory requirements of both schemes are evaluated in detail and compared. The study on the achievable memory reduction in total memory requirements was carried out for different values of the algorithm parameters: the MB size, scale factor, search area size and number of reference frames included in the sliding frame window. The results show quantitatively that the parameter that influences storage instantiation the most and has the greatest influence on the total memory size is the number of reference frames in the sliding frame window. The conducted study shows that, for a QCIF frame format, switching from frame-to macroblock-level is feasible and fully validated functionally and that the new execution flow can lead to memory reduction by a factor of 6.8 to 40, depending on the algorithm parameters values. Memory reduction greatly facilitates hardware implementations of the algorithm and this is the main result claimed. But the reduction in memory size comes at the cost of increasing the number of memory accesses and therefore communications traffic. The increase noted in memory accesses it to be quantified in future work as well as the potential impact on power consumption. The reduction in memory size might also make it fit on chip without turning to external memory, thereby reducing power consumption. This trade off in power is yet to be quantified.
Multimedia (ISM), 2011 IEEE International Symposium on
Date of Conference: 5-7 Dec. 2011 | <urn:uuid:1d3e0637-c26a-4903-bf64-5aa96e27bb64> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/articleDetails.jsp?reload=true&tp=&arnumber=6123329&contentType=Conference+Publications&sortType%3Dasc_p_Sequence%26filter%3DAND(p_IS_Number%3A6123309) | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00076-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.920269 | 388 | 1.609375 | 2 |
Islam is the religion of peace. Mosques are places where peaceful worshipers gather. And no one should ever be concerned about a mosque going up near their home. Never.
A Jewish woman in Isfahan, Iran, was murdered and cut in half by Muslim extremists who wanted to take over her home, Israel Radio reported on Thursday.
Relatives of the woman said she had lived next to a newly built mosque, and worshippers had demanded that she and her family leave their home so the mosque could be expanded.
The woman submitted a complaint to authorities about the efforts to take over her home. On Monday, a group of thugs came to her house, murdered her, and, according to reports, cut her body in half.
The event left the Jewish community in Iran, estimated to be around 25,000 people, worried and fearing escalating violence against it.
But remember, Jews and Christians in the Muslim are “protected”. They pay protection money in the form of Jizya. And they’re not persecuted too much, unless they don’t make way for a mosque or unless Islamists take over.
This is your life. This is your life under Islam. | <urn:uuid:86e6ea60-ec67-433a-9cd0-a3c2a97ae06e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://frontpagemag.com/2012/dgreenfield/jewish-woman-in-iran-cut-in-half-for-refusing-to-turn-over-her-home-to-a-mosque/comment-page-1/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973979 | 246 | 1.765625 | 2 |
Summer School: Role of Sea Ice in the Climate System
The Norwegian Research School for Climate Dynamics will organize a summer school on "Role of sea ice in the climate system" from 27 June to 9 July 2009. The Norwegian Research School in Climate Dynamics (ResClim) is a national training environment for PhD candidates in climate dynamics. The summer school will be hosted by University Centre in Svalbard in the high Arctic and will gather a range of experienced researchers as guest lecturers.
For more info, please visit: | <urn:uuid:1c9aaff4-3b4b-40f7-b807-e536dc9584c4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.arcus.org/events/arctic-calendar/6136 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00035-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.930052 | 105 | 1.890625 | 2 |
study found that 95% of babies will become confused if given a bottle
during the first 3-4 weeks of life. For some babies it may take many
bottles before they show any nipple confusion; for others it can take
only one or two. For this reason it is best to avoid offering your baby
a bottle before he is 4 weeks of age.|
What about pacifiers, you may ask. A pacifier must be considered an
artificial nipple just as a bottle nipple is. When using a pacifier in
the early weeks, watch your baby closely for signs of nipple confusion.
If you notice any, it is best to limit or completely avoid pacifier use
until the baby is older. Signs of nipple confusion in the baby include:
pushing mother's nipple out of the mouth, crying in frustration at
latch-on or shortly thereafter, pushing back from the breast, or trying
to suck at the breast as he does with the bottle. Additionally, you may
have sore nipples.
What if supplements are medically indicated before your baby is 4 weeks
of age? There are a variety of feeding methods available that are
satisfactory alternatives to bottle feeding. Even a very young baby can
be fed with an eyedropper, feeding syringe, soft, flexible, medicine
cup, spoon, bowl, or nursing supplementer which can be used at the breast or attached to a finger. If your doctor has advised supplements, please contact a lactation consultant or La Leche League leader in your area for additional support and encouragement.
She will be able to assist you with alternative feeding methods and
maintenance of your milk supply until baby is back on your breast
Written by Becky Flora, IBCLC
Last revision: December 29, 1998
Source: La Leche League International's " The Breastfeeding Answer Book" (1997) by Nancy Mohrbacher, IBCLC and Julie Stock, BA, IBCLC | <urn:uuid:617cc236-f6ff-4afa-b49d-16bc47708e81> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://breastfeeding.hypermart.net/avoidingnipple.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00070-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.918857 | 408 | 2.21875 | 2 |
Governor opposes gay marriage but has not said whether he will veto bill
CONCORD, N.H. — The Senate will hold a hearing Wednesday, April 15, on whether to make New Hampshire the fifth state to allow gay couples to marry.
The House narrowly passed the measure last month. Democratic Gov. John Lynch opposes gay marriage but has not said specifically that he would veto it.
Two years ago, the Legislature approved, and Lynch signed, civil unions for gays, which provide all the rights of marriage, except in name.
Currently, Connecticut, Vermont and Massachusetts allow gay couples to marry.
Powered by Facebook Comments | <urn:uuid:58eabdab-70d0-468f-8a48-a2fae62755a9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.dallasvoice.com/nh-senate-hearing-wednesday-on-gay-marriage-1019191.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943632 | 130 | 1.710938 | 2 |
The Junior Development Program includes lessons that are tailored to each of the nipper age groups, ensuring the content is relevant, in line with lifesaving and surf sports most up to date training standards and most of all exciting! The program is based on participatory evaluation and not assessed on competence; this means your child must only be actively involved in each of the lessons to be eligible for the award. We believe this is the best way to introduce juniors to surf life saving where fun takes priority over being ‘tested’.
Below is a summary of each of the junior development awards:
Surf Play 1 & 2 (Under 6 & Under 7)
Surf Play is the program designed for the most junior members. There is no award for Surf Play – the focus is on play, participation and fun. Activities and games will be the focus of the sessions with a number of simple beach safety and awareness lessons available such as: basic safety practices during activities, what makes up a beach environment, sunsmart guidelines, the importance of having an adult with them at the beach, what a lifesaver is and what they do, wading, beach sprinting and beach flags.
For a summary of the learning outcomes for Surf Play 1 click here, Surf Play 2 click here.
Surf Aware 1 (Under 8)
Surf Aware 1 is the first of the junior development awards. The focus is on understanding, identifying and demonstrating sunsmart guidelines and dangers that relate to themselves, as well as what it means to feel safe. They learn to recognise whether they are, or someone else is, in an emergency situation and how to get help. Ecosurf discusses the beach environment and communities surf lifesavers operate in. Surf sports skills focus on; bodyboarding, wading, dolphin-diving, beach sprint starts and beach flags starts.
For a summary of the learning outcomes for Surf Aware 1 click here.
Surf Aware 2 (Under 9)
Surf Aware 2 builds on Surf Aware 1. Personal Safety Networks are introduced so participants are comfortable asking for help; Ecosurf talks about the impact surf lifesavers can have on the beach. Safety of self steps up a gear by introducing safety tips and the ability to identify hazardous surf conditions. As an U9, participants can begin to use a nipper board, so basic board positioning and paddling is introduced. Other surf sports skills focus on; body surfing, sand running technique and diving for a beach flag.
For a summary of the learning outcomes for Surf Aware 2 click here.
Surf Safe 1 (Under 10)
The first of the Surf Safe awards Surf Safe 1 begins to get a little more specific in its lessons introducing a number of new topics. Participants will identify adults at the surf clubs they can ask to help them, in Ecosurf they focus on water conservation and in sun safety the spotlight is on the consequences of skin damage. Participants learn about rips, recognising unsafe behaviours and relating these areas to preventative actions. Resuscitation is introduced for the first time with an opportunity to experience CPR on a manikin. Rescue techniques are also introduced for the first time as participants learn to use body boards to assist distressed swimmers and experience rescue tubes. Surf sports skills focus on; entering and negotiating the surf on a board and beach relay baton changes.
For a summary of the learning outcomes for Surf Safe 1 click here.
Surf Safe 2 (Under 11)
Surf Safe 2 takes a significant step up in the level of content. As U11’s they have the ability to learn more technical aspects of lifesaving and are able to be more physical in surf sports skills. Participants are encouraged to persist when needing help and Ecosurf gets into energy conservation. There is a strong focus on recognising ‘at risk’ people and recognising and managing patients suffering from a range of basic first aid cases. As a 10 year old participants can learn how to perform CPR and there is an opportunity to work towards a Resuscitation Certificate. There is also a strong section on communication both interpersonal and through beach signage. There is a significant percentage of surf sports skills which focus on; board dismounts, catching waves on a board, board relay, surf swimming techniques, crouching beach sprint starts and ironman/ironwoman and cameron relay transitions.
For a summary of the learning outcomes for Surf Safe 2 click here.
Surf Smart 1 (Under 12)
Surf Smart 1 continues similar to Surf Safe 2. Participants begin to learn about their rights and responsibilities as a member of SLS, the Ecosurf lesson looks at how weather impacts on the beach environment. Personal health & wellbeing and sun safety is focused on skin cancer and staying fit and healthy respectively. The role of patrols is first introduced to this award as is the managing rips and using them to assist in rescues. As an 11 year old, participants can work towards a Basic Emergency Care Certificate (as well as a Resuscitation Certificate). This certificate comprises of lessons in the human body, complete basic first aid and resuscitation. Some more signals are introduced that compliment the first set previously learnt. Previous board skills come into play as participants learn how to conduct a board rescue. The focus of surf sports skills is to complete all the skills in each skill set and includes; rolling under a wave on a board, diving under large waves, beach sprint arm and leg drive and beach flags race strategies.
For a summary of the learning outcomes for Surf Smart 1 click here.
Surf Smart 2 (Under 13)
The last of the junior development awards, Surf Smart 2 looks to wrap up the skills and knowledge learnt in all the previous awards. Participants learn about what the SLS Member Safety and Wellbeing Policy is, and in Ecosurf they tackle the issues of Global Warming and Climate Change and how they will impact on surf life saving. Surf Safety is wrapped up into the 10 Surf Safety Tips, Communication focuses on the importance of communicating with beach users, Patrols identifies other professional emergency services and participants will experience performing a tube rescue. Participants can work towards a Basic Emergency Care Certificate (as well as a Resuscitation Certificate). This certificate comprises of lessons in the human body, complete basic first aid and resuscitation. The focus of surf sports skills is on bringing all the skills learnt in previous awards together to participate in an event for each of the disciplines: board race, board rescue, surf race, run-swim-run, beach sprint, beach relay, beach flags, ironman/ironwoman and cameron relay.
For a summary of the learning outcomes for Surf Smart 2 click here. | <urn:uuid:7f61def0-916a-4c37-9205-6905b57e2c2a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://sls.com.au/members/nippers | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.927417 | 1,366 | 2.40625 | 2 |
Current tech insights may curb future global problems
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How can technology help solve some of the world's most pressing problems? It's a question that, coming up on a century now, the Rockefeller Foundation has been asking and helping to answer. Rather than light a cake for this milestone, the philanthropy recently held an event, asking that question of the next 100 years.
“For the past 99 years Rockefeller has had a mission to promote the well being of humankind throughout the globe. And the way we've done that is through some really catalytic innovations, so we thought as we approach our 100-year anniversary that we should invite as many people as we could to help us frame new problems and come up with new ideas for how we can affect social change,” says Zia Khan of the Rockefeller Foundation.
Technologies highlighted to help accelerate that change range from 3D printers, which could be put in developing countries to essentially print parts for broken devices or print entire devices on demand, to a vision of sensor filled cities being worked on by the MIT SENSEable City Lab, where information from new sensors and sensors in devices we already carry, like smartphones, can be used to understand cities better and make them more efficient.
“You can think of anything from energy consumption to waste management to the way we meet, the way we move and, as we saw in the Arab Spring, to also all of the governance systems,” says Carlo Ratti of MIT SENSEable City Lab.
Another idea being discussed is kill-free meat, when cells are taken from an animal like a cow and cultivated in a lab to essentially become a slab of beef.
The professor working on the project says having meat that doesn't require a slaughterhouse may actually have more potential benefits than one might realize.
“From much less resources we can make much more meat, which is economical, which is providing the world with meat. By providing different nutrients to the cells we could even make it more healthy for us,” says Mark Post of the University of Maastricht.
Researchers expect to produce the first burger in November but say mass production of this type of meat will probably take another 10 to 20 years. | <urn:uuid:c8f5b1dd-8905-471b-b29c-9ec8b5749b5f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://coastal.news14.com/content/tech_talk/660916/current-tech-insights-may-curb-future-global-problems?ap=1&MP4 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958268 | 481 | 3.3125 | 3 |
Syndicated Columnist Paul Krugman broadly addresses the claim that “there are fears that taxes, regulation and budget deficits are holding down” business recovery (“Pity the country’s poor chief executive officers,” July 12). More specifically, there are claims that uncertainty over health care cost, energy cost and a possibly tax increase are holding back business expansion. What’s the logic? Maximizing profits and fierce competition are the hallmarks of capitalism. If my costs increase, do I hunker down and forge ahead, or do I put my head in the sand and say, “Oh well, I’m not as profitable as I was”?
For 30 years, I’ve been uncertain about health care costs. Who can ever be certain about local, state, and federal taxes and fees? Then there are energy costs. In 2003 a gallon of gasoline was $1.25, and in 2005 the cost was $3.20. Businesses hunkered down.
Business operates in an uncertain world. The “fear claim,” as Krugman points out, is merely political rhetoric. | <urn:uuid:e6407ef8-fcef-465b-95f9-98ee5e78f761> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://cincinnati.com/blogs/letters/2010/07/14/krugman-wrong-about-business-fears/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00034-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953436 | 235 | 1.679688 | 2 |
Animal Sacrifice and Christ's Resurrection
Christian Reflections on Killing and Eating (or Not)
Our dear friend Barry, who went to seminary with Clifton, sometimes prayed like this before church function meals. "We give you thanks O Lord for that which died that we might eat...." Praying like this would raise some eyebrows. We Americans eat a lot of meat. Eating meat is not generally reserved for special occasions, nor is it a special treat. It is rather "everyday everymeal" fare most of the time. Three meatless meals in a row would be unthinkable for many.
And yet, Barry's prayer causes some discomfort. We eat meat, but are made uncomfortable by animals dying so that we might eat. We are especially uncomfortable talking about the deaths of animals in front of God, whose chief attribute for many mainline Protestants is being nice. And thanking God for the deaths of animals (unlike the sacrifices of soldiers) seems pejoratively pagan or Jewish or both (and neither label is pejorative to the authors): meat is, for us as a society, a food product, usually packaged, or pre-prepared, by an industry that seems to have more to do with the stock market than either the stockyard or the meat market. Our meat is seldom an animal that died in our hands. We thank God for "this food," or "these thy gifts," not for "that which died that we might eat."
Cultured Theology and Discomfort with Sacrifice
We cannot help but think that our discomfort with Barry's prayer has something to do with our discomfort, as modern people, with religious sacrifice, especially animal sacrifice. Clifton used to serve in a large downtown congregation that, it is safe to say, leaned to the left both politically and theologically. Many of the well-educated congregants felt various levels of discomfort with thinking of Christ's death as a sacrifice, or as being in some way an atonement for sin. This discomfort, it should be said, springs from an admirable source (and one fully affirmed by the traditional theology), to wit, repulsed rejection of the notion that God the Father abusively does violence to the Son, rejection of a God who, for being violent, is less than love and so less than good.
Yet it is also safe to say that most of these cultured congregants, uncomfortable with sacrificial atonement in theology, are not vegetarians. Now, the bare thought of a religion that practices animal sacrifice is (to post-industrial people) horrifying. It conjures images of misguided high school "satanists" chasing cats—"religious" ritual justifying remorseless cruelty. This is the kind of thing that makes us worry that the secular state needs to keep religion at bay to stay pure. Yet, we educated Americans can comfortably both feel repulsed by sacrificial violence in a religious context, and enjoy having our hunger slaked every few hours by the slain harvest of the largest and most elaborate and impersonal system of animal sacrifice ever to employ the verdant visage of the earth. The modern meat industry renders miniscule by comparison the largest ritual mellifluities of animal death conjured by any pagan culture or offered from the hands of any Jewish populace in antiquity. The differences between us and the ancient pagans and Jews are (for our purposes) two: we kill more animals, and we don't thank God for the good in their deaths. We have, in fact, lost the ability to recognize the meat we eat as sacrificed.
Hungry Hears a Who?
It represents a great loss, in the view of the authors, that we (as a society) have lost the ability to thank God for the deaths of the animals we eat. We worry that animal sacrifice is bad, but the result of this is that we can no longer acknowledge the dignity of the lives of the animals we take when we eat. When my meat is a product of industry, or a fruit of fast food chains, I am safely distant from the most morally significant input into my meal: the (invisible) life of the animal that was ended so that I can eat it: the cow shot in the head, perhaps, or electrocuted; or the chicken mechanically decapitated.
But Christians should not be comfortably distant from our sacrifices, for we believe that it is by our nearness to one certain sacrifice that we are saved. The first step is to recollect and recover the animals we eat as sacrifices. To be a sacrifice is to be more than an industrial product. (The state, which in modernity asserts for itself the sacred status previously attached to the church, rightly helps us remember this in the case of soldiers.) Sacrifice implies loss, the immolation of something real and good. Product implies successfully functioning industry, sales and profits. There is no loss remembered when meat is mass-produced. There is no loss of life mourned when we enjoy the offerings of the fast-food empire. The notion of sacrifice (for Christians, Jews, Muslims, and perhaps virtuous pagans) belongs to an entirely different moral and religious order: it is like a bright comet from another world illumining the blank visage of a black sky. To recognize an eaten animal as a sacrifice acknowledges the life that was ended, and which we share.
In our society, pets have dignity, food has none.
Lil' Nugget: The Loss and the Gain of Sacrifice
The tension between pet and food entered our lives in a big way when we were gifted Lil' Nugget after the loss of another chicken at the hands of a suspected raccoon. Lil' Nugget was a Bantee rooster. A Bantee is like a mini-chicken. This rooster was spunky. Yet, we always knew... one day, we were going to eat that spunky rooster. I mean, it's all in the name.
Lil' Nugget's time came when he was full grown and had been crowing so loudly so early in the morning for a few months that we were worried our neighbors might start to hate us. A member of our congregation who was no stranger to raising chickens for food was kind enough to show us how to slaughter or harvest Lil' Nugget. It was bloody, and relatively quick.
We ate Lil' Nugget. In fact, he became chicken n' dumplings. Lindsey spent several hours cleaning and preparing Lil' Nugget-turned-meat and remembers almost being sick in the middle of preparing the dish. He had just been running through the yard that morning. He was tasty, though rather small: he did not have nearly as much meat on his bones as the plump chickens rotisseried and sold hot-and-ready at H-E-B, our local grocery store.
Of course, we had mixed feelings about eating Lil' Nugget, even though he was named after food. What we realized over the next few days was that a good little animal's life had been ended for us to eat him, and that his death was a loss. It was uncomfortably personal. Our yard went, with the flash of a blade, from three chickens down to two. (We're back up to three now, since Lil' Nugget did have the chance to reproduce himself.) He no longer crows in the mornings. A life, which was good, which added something good and pleasant and lovely to our lives, which contributed in a small but real way to the beauty of the universe, ended. His feathers were beautiful.
The only language we have adequate to both the loss of a good life and the gain of a good meal from Lil' Nugget is sacrifice. To the extent that we have lost the religious and moral resources to dignify our meals as sacrifices, our eating has lost touch with reality.
Sacrificing the Goods of Animal Sacrifice
In the long aftermath of Lil' Nugget's sacrificial immolation and consumption, and in relation to Lindsey's research reading adventures into diet and health (a good story for another time), we have for the most part given up eating meat. We do not think eating meat is wrong, in principle (though there is much wrong in the meat industry), but more like unnecessary. Not absolutely wrong, for the risen Lord Jesus ate broiled fish. We do not understand the way that eaten fish, consumed by the glorified Lord, is being redeemed as a (quite-literal) foretaste of all creation—but we are confident that such is occurring.
Our home is generally vegetarian. Clifton, following the theological wisdom of his friend Wilson who researched diet and fasting in the Christian tradition, eats thankfully whatever is put before him when he is a guest or a pastor, out of the conviction that table fellowship is to be desired more highly than purity of diet. Lindsey, out of the conviction that it is more healthy to almost never eat meat, and abhorrence at killing animals, almost never eats meat.
We both eat the body and drink the blood of Jesus Christ, the one sacrifice offered for our lives, as constantly as we are able.
To sacrifice the enjoyment of eating meals in which we recognize sacrificed animals—or conversely to gratefully partake of the goodness that comes by the deaths of animals—requires that we recover a right religious vision of sacrifice, paradigmatically apprehended in the ultimacy of Jesus Christ's sacrifice, his loving gift of himself to his Father at the hands of sinners. This comes into focus as we constantly behold Christ's once-and-for-all sacrifice re-presented liturgically in the Eucharist. John Wesley, an early leader of the Methodist movement, was quite comfortable regarding holy communion as "the Christian sacrifice." To the extent that we fail to see and be grateful for this one sacrifice, we will in all probability continue in our inability to rightly recognize the many.
Lindsey Foster Stringer is an education management consultant by profession and a financial coach by ministry. Clifton Stringer is the pastor of Lakehills United Methodist Church in Lakehills, TX. | <urn:uuid:6d78c27b-869a-4800-b6f6-5737272b1434> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ministrymatters.com/preach/article/entry/2827/article-animal-sacrifice-and-christs-resurrection | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00043-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976212 | 2,077 | 1.976563 | 2 |
Introductory Statistics: Concepts, Models, and Applications
David W. Stockburger
Hypothesis tests are procedures for making rational decisions about the reality of effects.
Most decisions require that an individual select a single alternative from a number of possible alternatives. The decision is made without knowing whether or not it is correct; that is, it is based on incomplete information. For example, a person either takes or does not take an umbrella to school based upon both the weather report and observation of outside conditions. If it is not currently raining, this decision must be made with incomplete information.
A rational decision is characterized by the use of a procedure which insures the likelihood or probability that success is incorporated into the decision-making process. The procedure must be stated in such a fashion that another individual, using the same information, would make the same decision.
One is reminded of a STAR TREK episode. Captain Kirk, for one reason or another, is stranded on a planet without his communicator and is unable to get back to the Enterprise. Spock has assumed command and is being attacked by Klingons (who else). Spock asks for and receives information about the location of the enemy, but is unable to act because he does not have complete information. Captain Kirk arrives at the last moment and saves the day because he can act on incomplete information.
This story goes against the concept of rational man. Spock, being the ultimate rational man, would not be immobilized by indecision. Instead, he would have selected the alternative which realized the greatest expected benefit given the information available. If complete information were required to make decisions, few decisions would be made by rational men and women. This is obviously not the case. The script writer misunderstood Spock and rational man.
When a change in one thing is associated with a change in another, we have an effect. The changes may be either quantitative or qualitative, with the hypothesis testing procedure selected based upon the type of change observed. For example, if changes in salt intake in a diet are associated with activity level in children, we say an effect occurred. In another case, if the distribution of political party preference (Republicans, Democrats, or Independents) differs for sex (Male or Female), then an effect is present. Much of the behavioral science is directed toward discovering and understanding effects.
The effects discussed in the remainder of this text appear as various statistics including: differences between means, contingency tables, and correlation coefficients.
All hypothesis tests conform to similar principles and proceed with the same sequence of events.
Hypothesis testing is equivalent to the geometrical concept of hypothesis negation. That is, if one wishes to prove that A (the hypothesis) is true, one first assumes that it isn't true. If it is shown that this assumption is logically impossible, then the original hypothesis is proven. In the case of hypothesis testing the hypothesis may never be proven; rather, it is decided that the model of no effects is unlikely enough that the opposite hypothesis, that of real effects, must be true.
An analogous situation exists with respect to hypothesis testing in statistics. In hypothesis testing one wishes to show real effects of an experiment. By showing that the experimental results were unlikely, given that there were no effects, one may decide that the effects are, in fact, real. The hypothesis that there were no effects is called the NULL HYPOTHESIS. The symbol H0 is used to abbreviate the Null Hypothesis in statistics. Note that, unlike geometry, we cannot prove the effects are real, rather we may decide the effects are real.
For example, suppose the following probability model (distribution) described the state of the world. In this case the decision would be that there were no effects; the null hypothesis is true.
Event A might be considered fairly likely, given the above model was correct. As a result the model would be retained, along with the NULL HYPOTHESIS. Event B on the other hand is unlikely, given the model. Here the model would be rejected, along with the NULL HYPOTHESIS.
The SAMPLING DISTRIBUTION is a distribution of a sample statistic. It is used as a model of what would happen if
1.) the null hypothesis were true (there really were no effects), and
2.) the experiment was repeated an infinite number of times.
Because of its importance in hypothesis testing, the sampling distribution will be discussed in a separate chapter.
Probability is a theory of uncertainty. It is a necessary concept because the world according to the scientist is unknowable in its entirety. However, prediction and decisions are obviously possible. As such, probability theory is a rational means of dealing with an uncertain world.
Probabilities are numbers associated with events that range from zero to one (0-1). A probability of zero means that the event is impossible. For example, if I were to flip a coin, the probability of a leg is zero, due to the fact that a coin may have a head or tail, but not a leg. Given a probability of one, however, the event is certain. For example, if I flip a coin the probability of heads, tails, or an edge is one, because the coin must take one of these possibilities.
In real life, most events have probabilities between these two extremes. For instance, the probability of rain tonight is .40; tomorrow night the probability is .10. Thus it can be said that rain is more likely tonight than tomorrow.
The meaning of the term probability depends upon one's philosophical orientation. In the CLASSICAL approach, probabilities refer to the relative frequency of an event, given the experiment was repeated an infinite number of times. For example, the .40 probability of rain tonight means that if the exact conditions of this evening were repeated an infinite number of times, it would rain 40% of the time.
In the Subjective approach, however, the term probability refers to a "degree of belief." That is, the individual assigning the number .40 to the probability of rain tonight believes that, on a scale from 0 to 1, the likelihood of rain is .40. This leads to a branch of statistics called "BAYESIAN STATISTICS." While many statisticians take this approach, it is not usually taught at the introductory level. At this point in time all the introductory student needs to know is that a person calling themselves a "Bayesian Statistician" is not ignorant of statistics. Most likely, he or she is simply involved in the theory of statistics.
No matter what theoretical position is taken, all probabilities must conform to certain rules. Some of the rules are concerned with how probabilities combine with one another to form new probabilities. For example, when events are independent, that is, one doesn't effect the other, the probabilities may be multiplied together to find the probability of the joint event. The probability of rain today AND the probability of getting a head when flipping a coin is the product of the two individual probabilities.
A deck of cards illustrates other principles of probability theory. In bridge, poker, rummy, etc., the probability of a heart can be found by dividing thirteen, the number of hearts, by fifty-two, the number of cards, assuming each card is equally likely to be drawn. The probability of a queen is four (the number of queens) divided by the number of cards. The probability of a queen OR a heart is sixteen divided by fifty-two. This figure is computed by adding the probability of hearts to the probability of a queen, and then subtracting the probability of a queen AND a heart which equals 1/52.
An introductory mathematical probability and statistics course usually begins with the principles of probability and proceeds to the applications of these principles. One problem a student might encounter concerns unsorted socks in a sock drawer. Suppose one has twenty-five pairs of unsorted socks in a sock drawer. What is the probability of drawing out two socks at random and getting a pair? What is the probability of getting a match to one of the first two when drawing out a third sock? How many socks on the average would need to be drawn before one could expect to find a pair? This problem is rather difficult and will not be solved here, but is used to illustrate the type of problem found in mathematical statistics. | <urn:uuid:2e74a1f6-24ef-4460-9459-29b99a23417d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.psychstat.missouristate.edu/introbook/sbk18m.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00045-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958773 | 1,698 | 4.15625 | 4 |
Anytime we go through a genuine crisis, our intimate relationships with other people — spouses or sweethearts, children, family and friends — are affected. Whether those relationships help us through the crisis, or go down in flames depends on a host of factors, most of which are within our control.
People in crisis find it difficult to socialize with others, concentrate and have any get-up-and-go. Even small tasks or chores feel overwhelming and hard to complete. Libido diminishes considerably, and emotions other than depression or anxiety feel blunted and difficult to access. Normal things that have brought pleasure in the past — watching a movie, going out on the town, dancing, sports or having sex — no longer feel pleasurable or interesting. And some people have mood spirals, where their depression or anxiety intensifies the more depressed they get.
A crisis strains a relationship. People in crisis are likely to be morose, pessimistic, hopeless, sad, anxious, fatigued and less fun to be around. They complain a lot. They say negative things about what's wrong with their lives, their work, their families, their partners and with the world. They often have flat emotions, withdraw from their vital relationships, and are prone to saying or doing things that are insensitive, hostile, angry or uncaring.
It is hard to feel loving to someone who is giving little back. It is hard to feel connected to someone who is withdrawn, angry, impatient, negative or simply not present. This is profoundly multiplied if both people in a relationship are going through a crisis together, and neither of them have a whole lot to give to each other.
Here's what you can do to keep your relationship intact while one or both of you are going through a crisis:
• Affectionate touch is the one thing you can't let slide. Touch grounds us and keeps us connected to each other. Whether it's through cuddling, holding hands, hugging or just sitting next to each other, staying in touch is vital to keeping a relationship connected through hard times. It's also wonderfully comforting to be held.
• Develop control over your words and actions toward others. Don't take your anger or irritation out on your intimate partner, your children or other people. It will not help you to push other people away.
• Make yourself go out and play together occasionally. As counter-intuitive as it sounds, play and having fun reduces despair and reminds us that we're still alive. It also keeps us connected, knowing that someone is here with us through the hard times.
• Buy yourselves something you've been wanting and would enjoy.
• Create a list of goals and interests you wish to experience, achieve, accomplish or try together.
• Dress up occasionally. Put something on that makes you feel good.
• Take turns asking each other questions and listen to the answers: What losses are you grieving? What are you depressed about? What are you anxious about? How angry are you? How do you envision reducing these emotions so you can feel better? What helps you stay connected? How would you like me to nurture or take care of you?
• Get out in the sunlight as much as possible. If you must be indoors, sit near a window and use full-spectrum light bulbs.
• Be physically active. Motion aids emotion.
• Look beyond your current feelings. Tell yourself: "I'm more than these emotions, more than this setback or loss. I'm not going to let these things define me, ruin my life or destroy my relationship."
• Spend time with a pet.
• Eliminate sugar, caffeine, junk food and limit your intake of alcohol. You want to get through this, not numb it so that it stays buried just below the surface.
• Try the following communication exercise with each other, stimulated by author Nathaniel Branden. Take turns answering these questions, and answer each question thoroughly:
I feel most connected with you when...;
You could help me to talk about my feelings more if you would...;
If I were more willing to expose how vulnerable I feel...;
If I brought 5 percent more friendliness to my encounters with you...;
If I were 5 percent more open to hearing your feelings...;
If I were 5 percent more responsive to your needs...;
When I get withdrawn, you could pull me back by...;
I love that you...;
I love that we....
• Get help from a psychotherapist and/or a marriage and family therapist. Grieving, depression and anxiety are all highly treatable.
Neil Rosenthal is a licensed marriage and family therapist in Westminster and Boulder. He is a syndicated newspaper columnist. You can reach him at (303)758-8777, or contact him via his website heartrelationships.com. | <urn:uuid:6143f559-4057-4664-8740-e2885ea42384> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.denverpost.com/rss/ci_21321880?source=rss | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00068-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965952 | 993 | 2.375 | 2 |
Deaths from breast cancer are decreasing for women of all races except African-American women — with a mortality rate of 33.8 percent, compared to 25 percent among white women. This, despite the fact that among all ages, white women have breast cancer more than black women.
Under the age of 45, black women have breast cancer more than white women, and the cancer is usually more aggressive.
Experts believe African-American women are not getting mammograms enough, so the cancer is at a worse stage when detected, thus harder to treat.
Black women are also more likely to have triple-negative breast cancer, a type of breast cancer that does not respond to common treatments.
This year, 26,840 African-American women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in the United States and 6,040 will die.
HOW IT KILLS
Breast cancer can start in different parts of the breast. The most common type begins in the milk ducts. Less commonly, cancer can begin in the glands or in the soft, fatty tissue of the breast.
The cancer can spread to the rest of the body through the lymphatic system which is made up of lymph nodes — the glands that enlarge during a cold virus or other infection — and lymphatic vessels. When the cancer has traveled and made it to the lymph nodes, it raises concern that the cancer has traveled through the blood to other areas. This, by definition, makes the cancer more advanced and requires additional treatments.
Bone, lung, liver and brain are the common places that breast cancer can spread to if not caught early. The cancer then grows in those organs until the organs can no longer function normally.
The gap recently began to narrow between the number of black women getting mammograms compared to white women. In late 2009, a government task force released their opinion that women under the age of 50 no longer needed routine mammograms based on research that showed no benefit.
There has been a reported decline in the number of mammograms since that announcement. It is unclear whether this will result in an increase in undiagnosed breast cancer or if it reduced the number of mammograms performed unnecessarily.
theGRIO: It’s too risky to wait for breast cancer screening
HOW WE CAN OVERCOME IT
Things that increase the risk of breast cancer:
- Family history
- Drinking alcohol — more than one drink a day raises your risk.
- Being overweight or obese
- Environmental pollution
- Long-term combination hormone therapy for menopausal symptoms — discuss the option of short-term versus alternatives. Birth control pills do not increase risk.
Things shown to prevent breast cancer:
- Physical activity
- Balanced diet with fruits and vegetables
- Breast feed
Get diagnosed early:
- Self-breast exams are now controversial, warning that it increases unnecessary anxiety and procedures. Talk with your doctor about whether to continue.
- Have mammograms starting at age 50, consider having them younger depending on your risk factors.
- Discuss your family history with your doctor.
WHAT OTHERS ARE DOING TO KEEP US HEALTHY
Seven female broadcasters have teamed up this month to launch “Queens of Keeping It Real,” a national campaign to dispel myths about breast cancer and African-American women, encourage screening and increase awareness.
Findings from a study of over 30,000 women supports that taking omega-3 fatty acids or fish oil decrease the risk of breast cancer by 32 percent. Previous studies showed no association between breast cancer risk and consuming omega-3 through food, but the limitation was that U.S. women do not eat a large amount of fish. Dr. White, one of the researchers, says their findings need to be confirmed in a follow-up study but the evidence is promising.
Researchers are also investigating the use of tamoxifen, a drug used to treat breast cancer as a means to prevent it. The study found a benefit in women under 55 who have already reached menopause. There are risks involved with the treatment, but Dr. Joyce Noah-Vanhoucke and her team found that the benefits outweighed the risk in this particular group. She adds that tamoxifen is relatively affordable with a year’s worth of the medicine costing about $200. | <urn:uuid:1a736b49-9474-433c-8f2e-9ef6c7c899cb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://thegrio.com/2011/05/26/black-women-continue-to-die-more-from-breast-cancer/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00051-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945407 | 880 | 3.265625 | 3 |
From the paper:
“The benefits of allocating to alternatives with a sizable percentage allocated to managed futures are quite compelling. As the contribution to alternatives increases, all four moments of the return distribution benefit:
1) Mean return increases
2) Standard deviation decreases
3) Skewness increases
4) Kurtosis decreases
Overall, our analysis is best summarized by the following quote from Dr. Kat (regarding his own findings almost 10 years ago): “Investing in managed futures can improve the overall risk profile of a portfolio far beyond what can be achieved with hedge funds alone. Making an allocation to managed futures not only neutralizes the unwanted side effects of hedge funds, but also leads to further risk reduction. Assuming managed futures offer an acceptable expected return, all of this comes at quite a low price in terms of expected return foregone.”
In November 2002, Cass Business School Professor Harry M. Kat, Ph.D. began to circulate a Working Paper entitled Managed Futures and Hedge Funds: A Match Made In Heaven. The Journal of Investment Management subsequently published the paper in the First Quarter of 2004. In the paper, Kat noted that while adding hedge fund exposure to traditional portfolios of stocks and bonds increased returns and reduced volatility, it also produced an undesired side effect – increased tail risk (lower skew and higher kurtosis). He went on to analyze the effects of adding managed futures to the traditional portfolios, and then of combining hedge funds and managed futures, and finally the effect of adding both hedge funds and managed futures to the traditional portfolios. He found that managed futures were better diversifiers than hedge funds; that they reduced the portfolio’s volatility to a greater degree and more quickly than did hedge funds, and without the undesirable side effects. He concluded that the most desirable results were obtained by combining both managed futures and hedge funds with the traditional portfolios. Kat’s original period of study was June 1994-May 2001. In this paper, we revisit and update Kat’s original work. Using similar data for the period June 2001-December 2011, we find that his observations continue to hold true more than 10 years later. During the subsequent 10.5 years, a highly volatile period that included separate stock market drawdowns of 36% and 56%, managed futures have continued to provide more effective and more valuable diversification for portfolios of stocks and bonds than have hedge funds. | <urn:uuid:30a94f67-1bb5-4b64-a48f-004b5b866632> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mebanefaber.com/2012/09/19/a-match-made-in-heaven/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00029-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952972 | 488 | 1.765625 | 2 |
The Tipsy Historian opened up with a Veterans Day salvo, arguing that modern-day Civil War art sanitizes the brutal reality of combat and distorts our view of the past. He also compares these images unfavorably with wartime illustrations of battle:
There were of course contemporary artist renderings of Civil War fighting, most from journalists and troops who witnessed fighting. This art, while certainly not as refined as Mr. Troiani’s, pulled no punches when it came to showing destruction and death. You may be sure these depictions weren’t getting slapped up on the walls of private homes.
I’m not sure I agree with this. There were a lot of people churning out battle pictures during and after the war, and many weren’t hardened eyewitnesses. In my former capacity as an assistant curator, I looked at a lot of these prints and illustrations, and none were particularly explicit or accurate. Take a look at this Kurz and Allison print of the storming of Ft. Wagner. It dates from twenty-five years after the war, but the overall feel is similar to a lot of earlier material:
Personally, I think images like this one pull quite a few punches indeed. There’s death, but it’s noble and remarkably clean. If anything, there’s less gritty realism here than in most Kunstler and Troiani prints, which do convey something of the dirt, smoke, exhaustion, and confusion of warfare. Of course, I’m not accounting for eyewitness sketches by people like Waud, but I think we can safely conclude that sanitized battle prints aren’t an exclusively modern phenomenon.
I also take issue with the idea that wartime images like these wouldn’t have been seen in private homes. I suspect that accounted for a large portion of sales by firms producing images like the one above. Anyway, the same blogger offers further thoughts on modern-day Civil War art here and here.
Over at Civil War Memory, Kevin Levin takes a shot at a rather mushy painting of Robert E. Lee. The sentimental depicitions of Confederate commanders that characterize many modern Civil War artworks bother him so much that one of his subsequent comments sounds almost like an apology: “I’ve admitted a few times that I own a number of prints by Don Troiani, which hang in my office. I consider them to be more on the line of investments considering that I have doubled my money.” Admitted? Geez, what’s to admit? It’s not like we’re talking about soft-core porn. Hey, we’re all history buffs around here, right?
I’d like to get a few historical prints myself, when I can spare the money. I’ve been drooling over Troiani’s King’s Mountain and Cowpens pieces for a while now, and eventually I’ll probably buckle under and shell out the cash. While I’m making out my wish list, I wouldn’t refuse one of the many Pickett’s Charge prints floating around out there; no history nut’s home is really complete without one. These images may not convey the total reality of warfare, but they remind me of places I love and subjects that fascinate me, and they’re a cut above dogs playing poker. | <urn:uuid:ecd18a91-4c22-423d-b4d1-5c0f86c02177> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://pastinthepresent.wordpress.com/2008/11/13/everybodys-talking-about-civil-war-art/?like=1&source=post_flair&_wpnonce=fb311db3f8 | 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 | 0.957941 | 704 | 2.234375 | 2 |
Just building on something that bluenote blogged about earlier.
Two thousand two hundred years ago the first sovereign emperor of China realized the horrible confusion that existed within his dynasty due to uncontrolled language. Qin Shi Huang used good judgment (if harsh policy) to establish a single written language so that his subjects could understand one another. The official language of China was established about 2200 years ago.
A considerable period after Spain was taken back from the Moors in the thirteenth century, the Real Academia Espanola was formed about 300 years ago. It's purpose was to create a standardized Spanish language based on the Castillian dialect, creating a living and evolving language.
About 200 years ago, Noah Webster scripted the first compendium of the English language and created the Dictionary. Today, students of English consider the Oxford English Dictionary to be the definitive text on what is and what is not English.
But across the Atlantic, we've fucked it all up.
As far as Spanish was concerned, Voseo and Ustedes dialects started to pop up for Spanish. Removed from the Iberian peninsula, people seemed to want to “create” their own variations on their native tongue. English dialects are not much better. There are scores of them all across the United States and Canada. Even French evolved into Creole and Haitian here. But is that so bad?
Yeah, it is. While there's nothing wrong with minor variations, the point behind sticking to a single, standardized language is that so people can still understand each other. As long as the core language is unchanged and it's rules left mostly intact then the variations in dialects that occur still allow the communication to stay robust.
There's no need for me to copy and paste here. Just about everyone has seen that awful chain e-mail where everything looks like it was written by a dyslexic and yet you can still read it anyway. That's not as clever as some people think. Mark Twain made a much better point of it when he wrote A Plan for the Improvement of English Spelling...and he did it all without e-mail.
But the point that Clemens made goes on to say that there is a line that you can cross. That it's possible to degrade the core of language even by something as simple as spelling; and when that happens it's a real problem. Forget about trying to recognize it as English. You will have trouble recognizing it as a language at all.
Sir bluenote says “I'm disappointed...Not just in the people who wrote (recent blogs), but in the education system that allowed them to be written...(people) with no sense of grammar, spelling or syntax?” And he's right. These turn up all the time. Apostrophes placed anywhere. Even rudimentary spelling is ignored. If it's an attempt at writing, it fails. If it's an attempt at individuality, it also fails.
Even one of the most erratic poets of free verse, e.e.cummings, was a thoughtful wordsmith. His play of language was deliberate, and all one had to do was read his novels to see that he wasn't just pulling words out of his ass. He already knew English inside and out, and was artistically experimenting with it. That is very different from someone who splashes around sloppy free verse and still can't write a paragraph that proves they have more than a third grade education.
And as usual for me, this blog was long. And some may note I used some deliberately multisyllabic or obscure words. But my raison d'plume was not negligent or perfunctory obfuscation, but premeditated process. For it is with much lugubriousness it is admissible that the sonorous rabble and hoi polloi that now plague our venerable linguistic traditions shall be those that are most in need to glean a modicum of illumination from these words.
Heheh...try writing that without a thesaurus.
But in regards to those idiots that will have no clue as to what I just wrote there? As the French say: c'est la vie. As the Americans say: Fuck 'em. | <urn:uuid:9708896d-1c1f-43a4-9ce1-5bba37ec65a5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ebaumsworld.com/blogs/view/1068280/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976745 | 866 | 2.484375 | 2 |
Newtown History Center
The Newtown History Center is a complex of homes and museums located in a quaint town on the Valley Pike. Learn the story of a great Philadelphia Wagon Road/Wilderness Trail Settlement founded by early Shenandoah Valley pioneers. Learn about the town's fame in the freight wagon industry and more. Walking tour also available. Hours of operation vary, call for times. | <urn:uuid:ba9a6dc5-c021-4bd1-8ab1-e6b30c78f241> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://m.virginia.org/listings/historicsites/newtownhistorycenter/?device=mobile&view=maps | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00031-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.916918 | 78 | 1.609375 | 2 |
The U.S. First Lady would discuss health, fitness and parenting on March 4
BANGALORE, INDIA: After the Google+ Hangout sessions of United States President, Barack Obama, and his deputy in , now First Lady Michelle Obama is going to join the Fireside Hangout on March 4.
"It's First Lady Michelle Obama's turn as she joins her first-ever Fireside Hangout to discuss Let's Move!, her initiative to ensure that all our children grow up healthy and reach their full potential. The First Lady will be joined by Kelly Ripa, Emmy award-winning co-host of popular daytime talk show "LIVE with Kelly and Michael," and families from around the country," said a recent post on Google's official blog.
About three years ago, Michelle launched the Let's Move! initiative to rally the country around kids' health and create real support for families to live healthier lives. Since then, communities across the United States have worked together to share, collaborate on and create ways to improve the health of U.S. Children, expounded the post.
"This year, the First Lady is using Google+ to celebrate the anniversary of Let's Move! and to connect with communities on Google+ who are passionate about healthy eating, fitness and parenting."
To join the Google+ Hangout with First Lady Michelle Obama, share your thoughts and questions on raising healthier families and communities on the Let's Move YouTube channel. You can either submit a video (preferable) or text entry telling us a bit about yourself, what your family does to stay healthy and a question for the First Lady by February 28. | <urn:uuid:0c45a8b7-a23f-4b20-ab10-62723bb6d3f5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ciol.com/ciol/news/175127/after-obama-michelles-google-hangout | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00034-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951479 | 336 | 1.601563 | 2 |
Facilitating virtual contact between organizations and customers, it allows people to exchange goods and services immediately without the barriers of time or distance. The result is a significant reduction in costs while increasing the convenience for the consumer.
An important aspect of E-commerce is its ability to take orders and receive payments through an online shopping cart. E-commerce promotes openness, connectivity, and integration between organizations and customers. From the organization’s perspective, ecommerce provides an immediate means to satisfy the demands of each individual customer for products, services, and information. From the consumer’s perspective, ecommerce offers increased convenience, product variety, time and financial savings. The result is a transfer of power from the merchant to the consumer as the customer can choose to purchase any item, at any time of the day, at their own convenience.
Some of the benefits for your organization:
- Lower transaction costs - if an ecommerce site is well implemented, the shopping cart site can significantly lower both the up front order-taking costs and the customer service costs after the sale by automating processes.
- Elimination of errors - since online selling involves little human intervention, it virtually eliminates the processing errors caused by humans. This in turn makes online selling cheaper, more convenient and efficient. In addition, the level of customer satisfaction increases, often resulting in further income for the organization.
- Greater convenience - selling from a website is not confined to business hours. It is continuous, 24 hours a day and 365 days a year. It truly is a 24/7 cashier!
- No more bounced checks – with almost instant verification from the card holders bank stating whether the account has sufficient credit to cover the purchase, no more items will be bought with NSF checks.
The benefits to your customers:
- Convenience and ease of use - consumers can shop at anytime of day, wearing whatever they want. With just a few clicks, they can pay bills or have an item shipped to their door, all without leaving the comfort of their own home. Product information and pictures can also be listed on the site to give consumers a better idea of the product.
- Variety and more choice - consumers have greater opportunity to compare and contrast the various products available. Since merchants are not limited by physical shelf space, ecommerce websites can offer a larger selection of items than “brick and mortar” stores.
- No more lost money – the kids’ lunch money won’t get lost in their backpack and checks will no longer get lost in the mail or sent to the wrong department. If something goes wrong with the purchase, the credit card company will be able to track the money, determine, and fix any errors in the processing. | <urn:uuid:04b6acfd-8b8d-47f5-9bdb-3c6c8ba37f5d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.revtrak.com/learning-center/how-e-commerce-works | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.937555 | 555 | 1.921875 | 2 |
Any rock that solidifies from lava is a volcanic rock. All volcanic rocks are igneous rocks, and are perhaps more correctly known as extrusive igneous rocks; this is in contrast to magma that solidifies beneath the ground, which is known as plutonic rock or intrusive igneous rock. Volcanic rocks, particularly basalt, makes up much of the Earth's crust, and nearly all of the ocean floor.
There are a number of ways that you might classify volcanic rocks; the most important classifications are based on the minerals contained in the rock. The type of rock formed from lava depends on the chemical composition of the magma from which is comes. Magma is graded along a continuum of mafic to felsic. Mafic rocks have comparatively low silica content, and therefor solidify more slowly, and are less viscous lavas. Felsic rocks have lots of silica, and therefor harden quickly and flow more slowly.
||Calcic plagioclase feldspar, pyroxene, and olivine.
||Basalt flows easily, and can cover a lot of ground. Because of this it is the most common extrusive igneous rock. It is particularly common at divergent plate boundaries, and thus the sea floor is made primarily of basalt. It is very dark in color.
|| Plagioclase, pyroxene, and hornblende.
||Common in subduction zones, and therefor often found in mountain ranges. Andesite contains lots of phenocrysts, and thus classification of andesite often depends on the most abundant phenocryst.
|| Plagioclase feldspar, biotite, hornblende, and pyroxene.
||Formed when young oceanic crust is subducted. Dacite often forms as an intrusive formation in sills and dikes, and often erupts explosively in its volcanic form.
|| Alkali feldspar.
|| Typically porphyritic. It crystallizes quickly, staying close to the volcanic vent. Trachyte often forms from fractional crystallization of basaltic magma at high pressure, as the felsic minerals crystallize out of the magma and form a comparatively mafic magma.
||Quartz, alkali feldspar, biotite, and hornblende.
||Very viscous, solidifying quickly. It is comparatively rare, but may be present in large masses where it does appear. Often pinkish-gray in color.
||Usually the same as rhyolite.
||Not technically a mineral, and therefor not technically a rock. Obsidian forms when felsic lava cools so quickly that that it does not have time to form crystals. Obsidian is technically a glass, not a rock, but geologists, being a liberal group, have consented to have it grouped with the igneous rocks.
Once the lava hardens, it can create a large range of formations. As noted above, the silica content (along with temperature) determines the rate of flow of the lava, but it also helps determine the shape of the resulting volcanic cone and the physical structure of the resulting rocks.
(low silica content)
(high silica content)
Fluid, fast-moving basaltic lavas forming Pahoehoe and a'a type lava flows. The resulting cones are the low-profile shield volcanoes. Felsic lava forms into basalt, which is the most common type of volcanic rock worldwide. Pahoehoe may make interesting formations, such as ropey folds and lava tubes. Pillow lava and hyaloclastite are also generally mafic.
Andesite domes and block lavas formed from basaltic andesites. It is intermediate in all ways; between the mafic and felsic lavas in flow rate, temperature, and explosiveness.
Forms lava spines and lava domes, formed by lava that solidifies shortly after leaving the vent. Even though these lavas solidify comparatively quickly, silica-rich rhyolitic lava flows can cover tens of kilometers. Felsic lava is the most explosive, as rapidly forming silica bonds can trap gases which then escape violently, resulting in rocks like pumice and reticulite
Lava with particularly high silica content may form glassy Obsidian, including interesting formations like Limu o Pele and Pele's hair.
Volcanic rocks aren't all formed from lava flows; some are formed from explosive eruptions, resulting in dust, pebbles, and boulders ejected from the vent. These are called tephra, or in their consolidated forms, pyroclastic rocks. Pyroclastic flows, nuee ardentes, and ash clouds are often the most spectacular and damaging result of a volcanic eruption, and looking at the rocks blown free from an explosion can tell us a lot about the force of the volcano.
||2 mm or less.
||Exploding gases, thermal shock, and entrainment of highly fractured surface rock result in a tremendous amount of dust and ash, which can form clouds that last for months, and can travel for hundreds of miles.
||Tuff. This is sometimes lumped in with tufa.
||2 to 64 mm
||Most volcanic cinders fall into this category. Highly fractured country rock may also form lapilli.
||Lapilli tuff or lapillistone.
||64 mm or greater.
||Bombs specifically refer to large clumps of lava that have become airborn. These may literally explode, either when they hit the ground (due to impact) or latter (due to expanding gases).
||64 mm or greater.
||These are masses of country rock that have been blown into the air by the force of the eruption.
There are also carbonatite volcanoes, in which carbonate rocks are melted and erupt. All the known examples are inactive but for one, Oldoinyo Lengai. This single volcano produces a thin, comparatively cool (500 c) lava composed of sodium carbonate. At least some of these volcanoes are water-soluble, so we can't even be sure how common they may have been in the past, or what formations they may have created. These carbonatite volcanoes are still an enigma, but extremely cool.
If I've forgotten anything important or interesting (or messed up the formatting of the tables!), /msg me and I'll do my best to add it in. Don't forget to follow the links, a lot of this stuff is noded in greater detail elsewhere.
Thanks to Auduster for his help. | <urn:uuid:508652e2-38a6-4152-8267-9714a1b05c9a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://everything2.com/title/Volcanic+rock | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00072-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.920189 | 1,408 | 4.1875 | 4 |
more intolerance from the tolerant left, this time among the ranks of school kids - learn ‘em young!
similar tolerance exhibited in the art world , no surprise there. a gay acquaintance argued that free speech doesn’t prevent consequences, and while i agree there, i pointed out that if the information of ‘no on 8′ donors was publicized and persecution and firings resulted, it is more than doubtful that gay activists would similarly defend such workplace reprisals.
the intimidation factor has been concentrated at protests by ‘no on 8′ activists held outside of California churches, including this one where a woman carrying a cross has it ripped out of her hand and trampled, while surrounded by an angry mob who reportedly spit on her.
and finally what does 70% of black Californians voting to keep marriage between a man and a woman say to the ubiquitous claim that this is a civil rights issue?
Many people at the time of the American founding would have preferred a world without slavery but nonetheless opposed abolition. Such people - Thomas Jefferson was one - reasoned that, given the world as it was, with slavery woven into the fabric of society just as it had often been throughout history, the economic consequences of abolition for society as a whole and for owners of plantations and other businesses that relied on slave labor would be dire. Many people who argued in this way were not monsters but honest and sincere, albeit profoundly mistaken. Some (though not Jefferson) showed their personal opposition to slavery by declining to own slaves themselves or freeing slaves whom they had purchased or inherited. They certainly didn’t think anyone should be forced to own slaves. Still, they maintained that slavery should remain a legally permitted option and be given constitutional protection.
Would we describe such people, not as pro-slavery, but as “pro-choice”? Of course we would not. It wouldn’t matter to us that they were “personally opposed” to slavery, or that they wished that slavery were “unnecessary,” or that they wouldn’t dream of forcing anyone to own slaves. We would hoot at the faux sophistication of a placard that said “Against slavery? Don’t own one.” We would observe that the fundamental divide is between people who believe that law and public power should permit slavery, and those who think that owning slaves is an unjust choice that should be prohibited.
keep reading Obama’s Abortion Extremism | <urn:uuid:ff4546e9-8eae-4596-a512-0aaefb80744e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://pilgrimoftheabsolute.com/category/shmolitics/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.978666 | 505 | 2.203125 | 2 |
San Francisco's plan to cut non-native trees sparks environmental clash
An intense battle is building in San Francisco's urban forest over a plan to cut down thousands of eucalyptus and other non-natives and replace them with natives such as oaks, coyote brush and ferns. Both sides are claiming biodiversity as the goal.
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Please enter your email | <urn:uuid:15719c7a-e34d-478e-b6b8-85098ad7a21e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.stateforesters.org/blog/san_franciscos_plan_cut_non_native_trees_sparks_environmental_clash | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00021-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.903189 | 81 | 1.890625 | 2 |
Using her own life experiences and involvement with Sunday school courses, Hearns explores biblical lessons ranging from obedience and respect to peer pressure and love.
In Hearns’ debut, devotionals meet self-help, and biblical events complement her rich personal story. Each chapter highlights a biblical figure who made a spiritually informed choice; often, that figure is a patriarch making an unsavory decision. This method helps flesh out the notion that, when it comes to morality, success or failure happens at the critical moment of choice. Thus, Solomon, though counted among the Bible’s wisest heroes, appears to be disobedient, while Paul, though he once persecuted Christians, later exemplifies obedience. Hearns contends that each decision carries its own potential rewards and consequences, so it behooves readers to consider how a decision might either enrich or harm their lives. As such, the core of her book becomes a simple question: “[W]ill God be proud of [my] decision…or…ashamed?” In Hearns’ view, a biblically informed inner voice could become the threshing floor on which “good” choices are weeded out from “bad” ones. An individual’s conscience, rather than an arbitrary list of do’s and don’ts, becomes the moral center, which should resonate with teens wary of merely being told what to do. The book’s introspective exercises may strike a chord with adult readers, too. Hearns maintains a refreshing theological balance in this project, though the book does occasionally toe a conservative religious line. For example, her admonishments against extramarital sex may prove a tough sell to some readers; she acknowledges as much, but she’s nonetheless insistent. Hearns fiercely denounces judgment of others, noting its alienating effects; instead, she encourages unwavering love for neighbors as part of a spiritual outlook that should have cross-denominational appeal.
Thoughtful, well-informed and sure to inspire. | <urn:uuid:6f6d77ba-a8a9-4974-9adc-7762f4cce84e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/jacqueline-hearns/the-christian-lifestyle-a-biblical-perspective-of-/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939625 | 423 | 2.140625 | 2 |
Lindley Estes writes about Spotsylvania County schools, King George County Schools and other issues of interest to the community.
You can also follow her on Twitter @SpotSchoolNews and on Facebook.
Dollars and Sense: Series on education spending in the region starts Sunday
Beginning Sunday, The Free Lance-Star will present a three-day series looking at spending on education throughout the Fredericksburg region called “Dollars and Sense.”
The Free Lance-Star’s education reporting team gathered a decade worth of spending data for the 10 jurisdictions that make up the region including the city of Fredericksburg, the town of Colonial Beach, and the counties of Stafford, Spotsylvania, Caroline, King George, Culpeper, Orange, Louisa and Westmoreland.
We focus on spending for instruction and administration. Below is a glimpse at what you can expect to find in the stories.
Sunday: Find out who is the biggest spender in the Fredericksburg region.
Monday: Learn how varying definitions of administration muddy the waters when divisions seek to streamline.
Tuesday: Read the debate between education experts about how to find the right balance for school spending. | <urn:uuid:edd66170-2832-4e36-a458-dad682c15734> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://news.fredericksburg.com/gettingschooled/2012/07/27/dollars-and-sense-series-on-education-spending-in-the-region-starts-sunday/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00071-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.923635 | 251 | 1.835938 | 2 |
Greg Nielson holds a solar cell test prototype with a microscale lens array fastened to it. Together, the cell and lens help create a concentrated photovoltaic unit that when commercialized will revolutionize the way solar energy is collected. | Photo courtesy of Sandia National Lab
Next Monday, June 11 at 2 p.m. EDT, four researchers in the fields of nanotechnology and particle physics will participate in #LabChat Office Hours: Science of the Very Fast and Very Small.
Argonne nanoscientist Elena Rozhkova will be tweeting from @Argonne. She and her team are studying ways to enlist nanoparticles to treat brain cancer. This nano-bio technology may eventually provide an alternative form of therapy that targets only cancer cells and does not affect normal living tissue. Ask her questions about building materials atom by atom, the role of nanotechnology in diagnostic and therapeutic technology, or ‘liquid armor.’ Dr. Rozhkova talks more about her field and discoveries in the Lab Breakthroughs video and Q&A: Nanomaterials Discoveries Lead to Possible Cancer Treatment.
Brookhaven National Lab physicist Paul Sorensen will be tweeting from @BrookhavenLab. He studies what the universe might have looked like in the first microseconds after its birth, helping us to understand why the physical world works the way it does. He and his team do this by ‘smashing atoms’ with the 2.4-mile Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC), a particle accelerator, and taking photos of it. Ask him questions about particle physics, really high-res 3D cameras (like the one he uses to snap shots of molecular explosions), and, of course, the beginning of the universe. He’s also a Presidential Early Career Award winner. Dr. Sorensen talks more about the RHIC in the Lab Breakthroughs video and Q&A: Exploring matter at the Dawn of Time.
Sandia National Lab semiconductor engineer Gregory Nielson and postdoctoral appointee Jose Luis Cruz-Campa will be tweeting from @SandiaLabs. The two engineers are responsible for the glitter-sized photovoltaic (PV) cells that could revolutionize solar energy collection at the commercial level, and also in consumer and military equipment. They are experts in the micro- and nano-fabrication, and microelectromechanical systems (MEMS). Ask them about the microsystems industry, how they are building devices one millimeter wide (a penny is 19 mm wide), and where they see their technology heading in the next 10 years. They discuss their discoveries at length in the Lab Breakthrough video and Q&A: Microelectronic Photovoltaics.
This Office Hours tweetchat is part of the Lab Breakthrough video series, which highlights the incredible technological feats accomplished in fundamental and applied research. Check out the Q&A’s with other Lab Breakthroughs researchers on the energy.gov topic page or see the full video series on the Lab Breakthrough YouTube playlist.
Can’t make it to the tweetchat? Use #labchat in a tweet anytime between now and Monday for researchers to address your questions or comments. The tweetchat will be moderated by @energy, so even if you don’t use Twitter, you can e-mail your questions. We’ll pass them along during the tweetchat. We will also pass along questions and comments posted on Facebook. | <urn:uuid:3c7d258d-ae4d-48bb-899a-98844a029955> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ocrwm.doe.gov/articles/labchat-science-very-fast-and-very-small-june-11-2-pm-edt | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00059-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.90376 | 722 | 2.59375 | 3 |
When Steve Jobs' friends, colleagues and even competitors wanted to share their memories and feelings about their loss, they turned to social networking sites.
Jobs, the co-founder of Apple and an industry luminary, died Wednesday at the age 56. The man who battled cancer for seven years was admired as a visionary whose technological innovations changed the face of personal computing, brought the iMac, the iPod, the iPhone and the iPad to consumers and made Apple a company with rock-star status.
As news of Jobs' death spread over the Internet Wednesday night in the US, users were quick to turn to social networks like Facebook and Twitter to share the news and to pay tribute. Traffic appeared to spike at Facebook, Twitter and Google + around 8 pm Wednesday. Twitter struggled briefly under the weight of the traffic, suffering a few of its "Fail Whales" messages but remaining online.
Massive surge in social network traffic
Online traffic-monitoring companies haven't yet analysed the surge in traffic to social sites.
High-tech leaders who worked alongside or competed with Jobs also turned to social media, sharing their feelings of loss with online friends and followers.
The other Steve in Apple's history, co-founder Steve Wozniak, made a post on Facebook, expressing his feelings and asking for time to deal with his grief.
"I am in shock and saddened," Wozniak wrote. "The phone is ringing constantly and I'm overwhelmed with email and there is only one of me. The bother of all this gets in the way of dealing with my own feelings, so please, I need time to myself."
He later added, "I do feel like I did when John Lennon was killed. Also JFK and Martin Luther King. Like Steve Jobs, they gave us hope."
Bill Gates, Microsoft 's chairman and Jobs' longtime rival and friend, also turned to Facebook to share his thoughts on Jobs.
Tributes from IT giants
"I'm truly saddened to learn of Steve Jobs' death," Gates wrote. "Steve and I first met nearly 30 years ago, and have been colleagues, competitors and friends over the course of more than half our lives. The world rarely sees someone who has had the profound impact Steve has had, the effects of which will be felt for many generations to come."
Larry Page co-founder and CEO of Google, posted his thoughts on Google+, the company's new social network, which is rivaling Facebook and Twitter.
"I am very, very sad to hear the news about Steve," Page wrote Wednesday night. "He was a great man with incredible achievements and amazing brilliance... He was very kind to reach out to me as I became CEO of Google and spend time offering his advice and knowledge even though he was not at all well. My thoughts and Google's are with his family and the whole Apple family."
Michael Dell, founder and CEO of Dell, also used Google+. "Today the world lost a visionary leader, the technology industry lost an iconic legend and I lost a friend and fellow founder," he wrote Wednesday night. "The legacy of Steve Jobs will be remembered for generations to come. My thoughts and prayers go out to his family and to the Apple team." | <urn:uuid:75b4c259-9211-4d13-99db-80087072699d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.computerworlduk.com/news/networking/3309242/tech-elite-share-jobs-tributes-on-facebook-google/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.979782 | 658 | 1.726563 | 2 |
To live, succeed and be happy in accordance to God's plans and purpose, is all hanging on the basic and important necessities that body, gift, talent and abilities will always need for their exploit.
No one on earth can be too spiritual or physically strong to do without these necessities. They are programmed by God as part of provision for human resource that God will always need for his work on earth to be fulfilled through us.
These basic necessities are fundamentals and basically important for any one to succeed and keep succeeding in life. However, their partial observance or excesses will create enough problems that will affect the spiritual, mental and physical performance of any one, no matter the spirituality or intellectual capacity, there will surely be limitation in exploit with relative limitation or excess of the folliwing in all the media of exploit in humanity!
In the management studies, some of these necessities are considered motivational. It will be better to set up questions with which we can approach their importance and effects:
What will happens if they are wrongly applied?
Why must they be given a moderate attention?
What if not attended to at all, any ill effect or rather will such act increase the efficiency of any man; so far he is a supper man?
What happen if attended to in excess?
If we can answer these questions in the light of God's words and wisdom, our nonchalant or extravagance attitude towards these necessities will be checked. The bulk of our expenses are flaming poverty because of the wrong approach to them and some are fainting despite the so-called extra ordinary Gifts, talents, spirituality and intellectual capability, becuase of in appropriate application of these.
These necessities are
God did creat a robotic human (man) who is capable of survival without food. It is a necessity to eat quality food. If you fail to eat with time, your health and life is threatened and your exploit may be cut short. We may now understand why Doctors or parents are worried when their patients or children have no appetite. In fact, there are some medications that cannot be administered to a patient who isn’t feeding at all or well. God has attached the smooth running of the body system to feeding on quality food; He made that provision in the beginning. That is the fuel the body needs to keep constant supply of the energy to any special ability, gift, talent and intellect needed. All these are found of exploring the strength of the physical soundness for their exploit. Though very important, yet its excess is a big crime capable of retarding your growth and exploit rather boost it.
The uncontrolled habit of eating every junk had eating so deep into the purse of many. They are so indiscipline that they have become unnecessarily over weight, an unnecessary burden to their carriage. It is a necessity to eat quality food to keep soul and body alive and healthy. Excess of this necessity is sinful. Jesus Christ affirmed the importance of this necessity in Mt 4:4-5 as well as confirmed that life does not entirely depend on food; it is only one of the basic necessities. We need to eat to stay healthy and alive.
Habit of eating every junk is an act of indiscipline. Do not measure enjoyment by what you eat but by what you stand to achieve for the purpose of why you do the eating. Eating quality food is not enjoyment but a necessity. However poor feeding is equally dangerous as over feeding.
Empty stomach sets the body on rebellion and over weight one will sell your valuable potentials and enslave you to your appetite. Both will make you inefficient despite the grace of your prowess.
Cloth is a necessity. You do not just jump into the street and nakedly walk about. Every sensible soul will know you need attention. It is abnormal to neglect one necessity at the expense of the other. I have seen men who spend so much on what they wear than on other necessities. I once observed a man who saved very large percentage of his earnings throughout the year to get one particular type of expensive attire for a yearly “show off” event. He had fed so rarely well that he looked so skinning and untidy in the bogus attire.
However, your presentation in life really determines your promotion. The way you package yourself determines your acceptance in some cases. God instituted dressing purposely to cover Man’s nakedness >“For Adam and his wife, the Lord God made tunics of skin and clothed them” Gen 3:21. God sense in common sense will endorse quality cloth, with all Godly moderation, neat and presentable to cover man’s nakedness. If you give yourself to excess in your dressing, it occupies some important portion God may want to dwell within you! Why must I put on cloth? You need this necessity to look presentable, responsible and reliable. You must be different from demons and fiends. It is one best way sensible people in the society judge your sanity; however God cares how you appear before Him and men. You can not afford to present your self any how in his presence He Cares if you give your self to excesses it occupies some important portion God may want to dwell.
God do have habitation and it is expected of His image to live in a place and not just any place; but your house is expected to provide you with comfort, such that is enough for you to have chance in time, opportunity to acquire materials and knowledge which you will relevantly feed into your potential to provide your purpose in life.
Your house member matters a lot in given you these and once these are not available, consultation may be hindered or subsequently reduce your value.
It does not matter the magnitude of your present house, it must fulfill these obligations: provide comfort necessary for all spiritual, physical, financial and social consultation for necessary increase in value and lastly must be the production center of whom you are created to be on earth. Sleep/Rest
Sleep is a necessity and to sleep is not a sin, if done in appropriate time and place. If you deny yourself of sleep for days or weeks, you may find yourself in the island of insanity. Sleep is as important as food. Sleep has refreshment therapy that even quality food cannot substitute. Sleep is a gift according to the Bible. “The sleep of a laboring man is sweet” sleep is a gift meant to revitalize your strength. But excessive sleeping habit is a character of indolent and fools, and it brings into abject poverty. Solomon’s advice is “Love not sleep”. The love of sleep makes a man mean! Though sleep is a necessity but do not make it a hobby
RelationshipLife is not for an isolated individual. You cannot survive and succeed alone. You will need one or more people to be where you anticipate. To keep good friends in life demands sacrifice. With every good friendship you can have confidence to font challenges of life. A good companion is more than the weapons in the whole state. In some cases, there are friends who are closer to you than your brothers; this relationship of mutual love is a catalyst that can get you going.
Though you cannot make it alone, you do not need everybody in life either, to attain your height. Any friendship that will make you compromise the words of God is not worth keeping; the only reward you will find there is “Magnificent Regret”. it is a necessity to be in Godly and healthy relationship, if life must be meaningful! But to be candid, you do not need every body in life but your responsibility is to all.
Money is a necessity. It is necessary and generally accepted medium of exchange. Money is a reward qualifying your labor. It is one of the values used in appreciating your labor, gift and skill. Money is a medium of transacting your endeavor in business and also a good store and measure of value in some cases. The Bible says money is a defense Ecc 7:12, in literary terms, it is understandable, and money is a defense. King Solomon also said “Money answers all things” that is within the sphere of it usefulness and accepted obligation, money is free for use within the world of transactions.
However, money has limitation, that same limitation is transferred into the life of men that desperately seeks it. Though money is a necessity, its love is a route to all-evil. Money is limited. Money cannot solve all problems in the world. I guess you should take this as an assignment. However, it is a necessity in transaction. The love of this medium is dangerous and has led many into prisons, unimaginable crimes and sorrow and trouble of great magnitudes. Ecc.7: 12, says: For wisdom is a defense as money is a defense. But the excellence of knowledge is that wisdom gives life to those who have it.
To work in life is a necessity. God has attached the provision of life’s necessities to labor. There is a degree of favor attached to every labour. It is commanded in the scripture, if you will not work then you must not eat. We are made to possess gifts, talents and abilities so that we may convert them through our labour to favour, existence and fulfillment.
To work is a necessity and to earn a living is a necessity. The lazy man is a walking curse in the world that is been pivoted by labour. It is a necessity for every right thinking human being to work; it is rather better to locate the region of your gifts and abilities and make it the field of your cultivations however let there be moderation in all things.
Excess of Necessities
There is one weakness so common in man. We have the tendency to extrapolate our necessary actions to excesses or relax to drudgery. No necessity is designed to give you joy in its excess. Excess of every necessity is a sin. The sin of greed will always encourage excesses. The best counsel a man can receive from greed is the selfish accumulation of necessities in excess. A man’s joy is not attached to the abundance of what he has but the pleasing of the Lord and fulfillment of God’s purpose in life.
• To do the little where much is required is also very wrong.
• Every abnormal process will have abnormal production. It is very necessary to put our action to the test of sincerity and set gauge in our motives.
Obedience to the blessed will of the Almighty gives the joy. Learn to obediently and moderately apply the use of these necessities
Finally brethren, whatever things are true, Whatever things are pure, Whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is any thing praise worthy meditate on these things, the things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me these do, and the God of peace will be with you. Phi.4: 8
If you died today, are you absolutely certain that you would go to heaven? You can be! TRUST JESUS NOW | <urn:uuid:1a2d033e-3c5c-473f-a952-e6714c02aa29> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.faithwriters.com/article-details.php?id=43913 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961687 | 2,256 | 1.914063 | 2 |
This exhibition explores the evolution of courtly clothing from the
"Fashion Revolution" around 1330 to the flowering of the Renaissance
in France following the accession of King François I in 1515. During this
period, the modern notion of changing fashion was reborn. Because
few actual garments from the Middle Ages survive, we use the art of
this era — illuminated manuscripts and early printed books — to reveal
its evolving styles. Concentrating on France and Flanders, this show
also makes the occasional foray into England, Germany, and Holland.
In addition, the exhibition touches on the potential impact of
political unrest and social upheaval on the history of fashion during
one of the world's more calamitous eras. The vicissitudes of the
Hundred Years' War, the occupation of Paris by the English, and
the arrival of the Italian Renaissance in northern Europe, for example,
influenced clothing styles.
Also explored here are the ways in which artists used clothing
(garments actually worn) and costume (fantastic garments not actually
worn) to help contemporaneous viewers interpret a work of art. The
garments depicted were often encoded clues to the wearer's identity
and moral character.
This exhibition is generously underwritten by a gift in memory of Melvin R. Seiden and
by a grant from the Samuel H. Kress Foundation.
Major support is provided by The Coby Foundation, Ltd., with additional assistance from
the van Buren family in memory of Dr. Anne H. van Buren, and from the Janine Luke and
Melvin R. Seiden Fund for Exhibitions and Publications.
The Fashion Revolution Begins ca. 1330–35
The blue surcot worn by the groom in the left miniature is shorter than
before. While his skirt is still full, the bodice of his surcot is now tighter,
made possible by the invention of the set-in sleeve. His blue sleeves
terminate at the elbow in decorative extensions, revealing the red sleeves
of his kirtle. His chaperon rests on his shoulders. The bride and the three
princesses in the right miniature all wear the open-sided surcot over kirtles
with tight sleeves. Low, horizontal necklines reveal their bare necks and
the tops of their shoulders.
Instructions for Kings, in French
France, Paris(?) ca. 1330–35
180 x 125 mm
Purchased by Pierpont Morgan, 1911; MS M.456, fols. 55v–56r
The "Fashion Revolution" began around 1330 with the invention of the set-in sleeve. Earlier garments were T-shaped, with sleeves of a piece with the body or sewn on a flat seam. The new technique (still in use today) cut sleeves with rounded tops and gathered them along basted threads into armholes in the bodice. This new tailoring, combined with the use of multiple buttons, made possible a snugly fitted bodice and tight sleeves. While providing more freedom of movement, the new garment for men—the cote hardy—also revealed the shapes of the wearer's torso and arms. The "Fashion Revolution" gave birth to men's modern dress, creating an outfit that was sharply differentiated from the dress of women.
Women's fashions, however, were also affected. Tighter bodices and sleeves became popular, as did exposed necks and shoulders. The sides of the outer garment, the surcot, now sometimes featured seductively large, peek-a-boo openings.
Men—and some women—turned the chaperon (a hood with an attached cape and tail) into a fashion accessory that lasted over a hundred years. | <urn:uuid:778c7bb3-4167-45c2-b99c-3670db7a63b2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.themorgan.org/collections/works/IlluminatingFashion/manuscript.asp | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00053-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.941605 | 778 | 3.203125 | 3 |
A Pennsylvania state senator began seeking Senate support on Thursday to create a gun violence prevention task force in the wake of the deadly Connecticut elementary school shooting.
A memorandum issued by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Stewart Greenleaf, a Republican from Montgomery County, said his proposed resolution would allow the task force experts to examine issues surrounding gun violence.
Those include any proposals to strengthen firearms regulations, mental health laws and efforts to fight bullying.
Greenleaf said the Senate's Republican leadership supports the idea and that it made sense to create a task force to assess lawmakers' various proposals together and consolidate them into recommendations on how they could best respond.
Oak Dining Room Table,
in great condition, includes six high back
dining room chairs with blue cushions,
- asking $350 or best offer
Josephine, Altoona 946-3481
used but very good condition,
62" H x 72" W, 6 units, 2... | <urn:uuid:ac57da74-4b5e-42fb-bbeb-431ac617f12b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wrta.com/pages/15139110.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00074-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.935822 | 191 | 1.695313 | 2 |
Editor's note: Peter Bergen is CNN's national security analyst and a director at the New America Foundation, where Andrew Lebovich is a policy analyst.
(CNN) -- The credible but as yet unconfirmed reports that three men directed by al Qaeda have plans for an attack on the United States to coincide with the 10th anniversary of September 11 reminds us of the persistence of the threat from Islamist terrorists.
Yet our research indicates that al Qaeda and those motivated by its ideology are not the only sources of terrorism that the country faces and that terrorists across the ideological spectrum from those motivated by Osama bin Laden's ideology to neo-Nazis have managed to kill only 30 people in the United States since the attacks on Washington and New York a decade ago.
While each of those deaths is, or course, a tragedy, it is orders of magnitude smaller than the 15,000 Americans who are murdered every year.
Our study also found that Islamist terrorism has been no more deadly in the United States than other forms of domestic terrorism since September 11.
In the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, one of the fears of ordinary citizens and terrorism experts alike was that a new wave of terrorists would strike, some of them armed with chemical, biological, radiological or even nuclear materials.
Ten years later, we have yet to see an Islamist terrorist incident involving such weapons in the United States, and no Islamist militant in this country has made a documented attempt to even acquire such devices.
Yet this is not the case for other terrorists. Indeed, the record of the past decade suggests that if a chemical, biological or radiological attack were to take place in the United States, it is more likely that it would come not from a Islamist terrorist but from a right-wing extremist or anarchist.
In partnership with Syracuse University's Maxwell School of Public Policy, the New America Foundation has conducted a survey of terrorism incidents and cases in the United States since September 11 motivated by political ideologies other than the violent Islamism advocated by bin Laden.
Those ideologies span the spectrum from neo-Nazism and militant Christian fundamentalism to anarchism and violent environmentalism. In the 114 cases we examined, we found five instances of the successful or attempted development or purchase of biological, chemical or radiological weapons by violent extremists motivated by ideologies that have no relation to al Qaeda:
William Krar, a right-wing militia activist, together with his common-law wife, Judith Bruey, had stored enough chemicals to produce a quantity of hydrogen cyanide gas that could kill thousands, along with more than 100 weapons, nearly 100,000 rounds of ammunition and more than 100 pounds of explosives. They were arrested in 2003. Krar was eventually sentenced to more than 11 years in prison, while Bruey received nearly five years.
Anarchist and self-proclaimed "Dr. Chaos" Joseph Konopka was stockpiling dangerous chemicals, including sodium cyanide, when he was arrested by Chicago police in 2002. He is currently serving a 13-year sentence.
Microbiologist Bruce Ivins, an FBI investigation concluded, sent waves of panic throughout the country and killed five people when he sent letters filled with anthrax to politicians and journalists during fall 2001. Ivins committed suicide in 2008. (Some reports have cast doubt on Ivins' responsibility for the attacks, but the FBI remains firm in its conclusion that Ivins was responsible, based on the scientific and other evidence.)
White supremacist Demetrius van Crocker was arrested in 2004 after trying to purchase sarin nerve gas and C-4 explosive from an undercover government agent. His efforts to obtain the weapons earned him a 30-year prison sentence.
Another white supremacist, James Cummings, managed to acquire a supply of radiological materials from scientific research companies and may have been planning to build a "dirty" radiological bomb when his wife killed him after years of domestic abuse in 2008.
To be clear, the 114 cases of right-wing and left-wing terrorism we examined probably do not represent a complete survey of non-Islamist terrorist cases in the United States since September 11. While some of this case information is available from the FBI, as well as organizations that track right-wing radicalism such as the Southern Poverty Law Center, keeping track of these incidents is far more difficult than tracking incidents of Islamist terrorism.
That is because unlike Islamist terror cases, which are nearly all tried under anti-terrorism laws or statutes dealing with "material support" to terrorist groups, other domestic terrorism cases are often tried under an array of other statutes, from weapons and explosives violations, property destruction and arson to "seditious conspiracy" in the case of the anti-government Hutaree militia in Michigan.
Research on the subject is also hampered by the fact that many of these cases received only limited media attention, unlike the now 188 cases of Islamist terrorism that the New America Foundation and Syracuse's Maxwell School have found in the United States since September 11.
We sought to impose as clear a standard as we could for politically motivated violence across a broad spectrum of cases, ranging from environmental terrorism to white supremacist terrorism. We were careful to exclude cases in which insanity or mental deficiency may have had a significant impact, such as that of Jared Lee Loughner, who is accused of killing six people and seriously wounding Rep. Gabrielle Giffords in Arizona in January.
We also excluded cases of violence that appear not to have been premeditated, such as when Jerry Kane and his son Joseph, both steeped in anti-government ideology and armed with an assault rifle, killed two Arkansas police during a traffic stop in 2010 before they were shot dead themselves in an ensuing car chase.
On the other hand, we did include cases in which there was no defined plot but the individual involved had both extreme political views and had bought or constructed high-explosives and other offensive weapons. Officials said that was the case with Jeffrey Harbin, a neo-Nazi and border vigilante who was arrested this year in Arizona with a dozen powerful homemade grenades.
As in Islamist terrorism cases in the United States, right- and left-wing terrorists were not all young hotheads but instead had an average age of 36. But unlike the Islamist terrorism cases, which involved only 4% females, in other cases of domestic terrorism women were involved in 15 percent of the cases.
The right- and left-wing terrorists in our dataset are almost entirely native-born American citizens, and nearly all appear to be Caucasian.
But the political motivations behind their acts were diverse in ways that the participants themselves were not. Thirty-seven percent of cases involved anti-government extremism; 23% were motivated by environmental or pro-animal rights extremism; 17% involved white supremacist ideas or bias against particular ethnic groups; and 11% of cases were animated by religious bias or were acts committed on the basis of religious beliefs, including attacks against abortion doctors and providers.
At least fourteen people have been killed in right- and left-wing terrorism-related incidents over the past decade, while acts inspired by Islamist militant ideas killed 17 people (13 of them at Fort Hood, Texas, in 2009). The number of non-Islamist incidents that caused fatalities (eight) was also twice that of the Islamist cases (four).
And while in the Islamist terrorism cases firearms and explosives figured into around a third of the cases, more than half the cases of non-Islamist terrorism involved firearms or explosives.
Right- and left-wing terrorist incidents involved a broad array of targets; a third focused on government buildings or institutions; and 9% targeted police. Five percent of cases involved acts committed against abortion doctors or women's health clinics, and 11% targeted religious institutions: churches, mosques and synagogues. Another 16% of plots and attacks, many of them carried out by environmental extremists, targeted businesses or corporations.
There was also a slightly greater number of government informants and undercover agents in the right- and left-wing terrorism cases, relative to the Islamist terrorism cases. More than half of the right- and left-wing terrorism cases involved an informant or cooperating witness, and nearly 40% of those cases also involved an undercover government agent.
By contrast, in our survey of Islamist terrorism cases, a third involved an informant, while 11% involved a government agent (six cases involved both a government agent and an informant).
And in 18% of right- and left-wing terrorism cases -- compared with 22% in Islamist terrorism cases -- authorities were tipped off or assisted by family members or people within the same social or religious communities as the arrested individual.
The data indicate that federal and local authorities are just as aggressive in their use of informants and undercover agents with right- and left-wing terrorists as they are with Muslims extremists. And Muslims and non-Muslims alike are just as likely to cooperate with authorities when they see extremist acts going on, contrary to well-publicized claims from the head of the House Homeland Security Committee, Rep. Peter King, that Muslim community involvement in disrupting terrorism plots is uncommonly low.
The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the authors. | <urn:uuid:275d0e26-01b7-403e-90a8-013a25ca4e80> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://edition.cnn.com/2011/09/09/opinion/bergen-lebovich-us-terrorism-cases/index.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00045-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970351 | 1,855 | 2.0625 | 2 |
Public Papers - 1992 - June
Remarks on Signing the Proclamation Commemorating the 50th Anniversary of World War II
May I salute Secretary Card and General Powell; the Deputy Secretary of Veterans Affairs, Mr. Principi; the Deputy Secretary of Defense with us, Don Atwood; Secretary Larry Garrett; Secretary Rice; and Michael Stone of the Army; General Mundy, who's right over here; and then the Members of Congress who are with us today. I believe Senator Cranston was going to be here. Here he is, right over here; see you, Alan. And of course, Congressmen Montgomery, Stump, Myers, and who am I missing -- Senator, sorry. We have a distinguished group here to salute the occasion. And also Don Wilson is with us, the Archivist, and Albert McCluskey, a veteran of the Battle of Midway, other veterans here today, and members of civic and veterans service organizations, and also some other members of the Joint Chiefs, I see. May I salute General Kicklighter, the Executive Director, and members of the Department of Defense's World War II Commemoration Committee.
Welcome, all, to the White House and to this special observance of the 50th anniversary of an event which linked Americans' hearts and minds, the monumental struggle known as the Second World War. Overnight, World War II literally transformed America from a people at peace to a nation at war that would define the course of history for the rest of this century.
The attack on Pearl Harbor forced America to abandon isolationism and take up the mantle of leadership. World War II was fought for American soil and sovereignty. It was also fought to defend people who, hating war, sought only peace, people everywhere who yearn for freedom, then and now.
The year 1942 was crucial to our history. Americans came together. Each citizen sought ways to do his or her part. And factories designed to build the tools of peace produced the tools of war: ships, planes, tanks, ammunition, all crucial to the Allied effort. It wasn't easy, but we did it. We did it fast. We did the hard work of freedom.
I was 17 on December 7, 1941, and like so many here, not so many in this room but like some -- [laughter] -- enlisted on my 18th birthday as a Seaman Second Class. I do remember vividly the news from the early days, how it was grim. Guam was overrun, and the reports from the Pacific were rather scary; Bataan and Corregidor fell. Yet the Battle of the Coral Sea foiled Japanese plans to invade Port Moresby and New Guinea. And 50 years ago this week our forces began what may have been the greatest naval battle of all time. Midway turned the tide of World War II. And the inevitable Allied victory, you could feel it. It began to take shape.
Winston Churchill once said of World War II, ``There never was a war in all history easier to prevent.'' Today let us recall what the lion cried as a voice in the wilderness: ``No one ever walks away from appeasing an aggressor. He only crawls.''
Weakening our defenses during a time of peace is an open invitation to those with the potential to wage war. And as President, as long as I'm President, the military's commitment to defending freedom will be matched by our commitment to defending the military. Some say our victory in the cold war allows us to pull back to our own water's edge. And I say, just as America's vigilance helped us win that war, so a strong America can now help win the peace.
We seek a world where differences are solved peacefully, where the force of law really outlasts the use of force. Sacrifices made heroically 50 years ago have helped bring about a new and better world. And it's a world I thought of last December where, on the 50th anniversary of Pearl Harbor, Barbara and I looked at the sunken hull of the Arizona out there, the U.S.S. Arizona, tomb to more than a thousand great heroes, the greatest that any nation has ever known. There I thought of the wife whose best friend was her husband and the little boy whose brother, his idol, once vowed to take him fishing after the fighting stopped. I thought of the father whose son or daughter would now know him as a martyr but never as a dad. And I resolved once again we must never, ever let America's defenses down.
The men who died there in World War II would today, I am convinced, and I think I said it out there, be very, very proud of America: proud of what we have become as a Nation because of their service and sacrifice, proud of how their fate and faith still stir and shape us. So we honor them, and we remember them so that future generations will say of us what we do also: God bless this wondrous land, the United States of America.
World War II was a fight that we did not seek, against enemies that we didn't choose, for a cause that is first among all: the right of people everywhere to be free.
In that spirit, then, it is my honor to once again welcome all of you to the White House and to sign the proclamation designating the National Observance of the 50th Anniversary of World War II. And thank you all for coming.
[At this point, the President signed the proclamation.]
Well, the deed is done. Thank you all very much for being with us.
Note: The President spoke at 11:30 a.m. in the Roosevelt Room at the White House. The proclamation is listed in Appendix E at the end of this volume. | <urn:uuid:70d31b8d-5ef6-489c-8b28-7778f091cc2f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://bushlibrary.tamu.edu/research/public_papers.php?id=4390&year=1992&month=6 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00048-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965709 | 1,188 | 1.617188 | 2 |
“…the life which I now life in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God…” (Galatians 2:20).
Faith is all around us. People have faith in so many different things: faith that a friend will be true, faith that your job is taking you on a certain career path, faith that the chair you are sitting on is going to hold you up! Faith is simply believing in something. But there are different kinds, or levels, of faith. There’s a difference between having faith in God and having the faith of God. When you open your heart to the God kind of faith, you’re actually allowing Him to believe through you. The God kind of faith will cause you to believe for things when you don’t even know how they’ll happen. And it probably won’t make sense in your mind, but you have to allow your spirit to rise higher than your thinking. Don’t talk yourself out of believing. Don’t focus on all the reasons why not, instead allow God’s faith to rise up within you. Meditate on His Word that says, you can do all things through Christ and you are strong in the Lord and the power of His might. As you allow God’s faith to flow through you, He’ll take you places you’ve never dreamed. You will rise higher and higher and live the abundant life the Lord has for you! | <urn:uuid:d4724828-e50a-4a7d-b14a-85c986fa3ad7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://lisacsm.tumblr.com/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945657 | 308 | 1.515625 | 2 |
Effects of Feeding GMO Potatoes To Rats (Pt. 1) (by DebunkerSam)
‘Dr. Arpad Pusztai discusses his research on the effects of feeding GMO potatoes to rats.’
‘Genetically modified foods are getting a lot of press these days, especially in California where Proposition 37, the labeling of GMO foods, will be on the November 6th Election Day ballot. Why is the GMO industry so upset about having GM foods labeled? Could it be if consumers knew what GMOs are capable of doing not only to the environment but also to the human body, they would not purchase them, as happened in many countries, especially the European Union?
Would you believe that the United States is the only industrialized country in the world that does not permit the labeling of GMOs for either fresh or processed foods? However, 14 states have legislation introduced regarding GMO labeling that seems to be going nowhere fast. In 2005 Alaska passed a biotech seafood labeling law.
Alaskan Governor Frank Murkowski recently signed into law Senate Bill 25 which is the United States’ first law for labeling genetically engineered food.
Interestingly, Michael Hansen, a senior scientist with Consumers Union says, “If companies say genetic engineering is fine, then OK let’s label it and let the consumers make their own decisions.” So what are the biotechs afraid of?
Scientific facts? Being caught with fudged science, especially since the recent 2-year rat study, performed by Professor Giles-Eric Seralini, PhD, at the independent research facility CRIIGEN in France, was published in Food and Chemical Technology. Photographs of tumor-laden rats from that CRIIGEN study can be viewed at http://sustainablepulse.com/2012/09/19/criigen-study-links-gm-maize-roundup-premature-death-cancer/.’
‘A recent study published in the Journal of Toxicology in Vitro has found that, even at very low levels, Monsanto’s herbicide formula Roundup destroys testosterone and ultimately leads to male infertility. The findings add to the more than 25 other diseases known to be linked to Roundup, which include DNA damage, birth defects, liver dysfunction, and cancer.
For their study, Emilie Clair and her colleagues from the Universite de Caen Basse-Normandie Institute of Biology in France tested the effects of glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup, on testicular cells from rats. Ranging in dilution from one part per million (ppm) to 10,000 ppm, which accounts for varying exposure levels in real life situations, each of the tests revealed undeniable cell toxicity caused by Roundup.
Interestingly, the findings revealed that even at one ppm, Roundup was responsible for causing severe endocrine disruption that reduced testosterone levels by 35 percent. And a one ppm exposure level is considered to be extremely low, and much lower than typical exposure levels in everyday environmental situations.
At higher exposure levels, Roundup was shown to induce testicular cell death in a little as one hour, and typically no later than 48 hours after exposure. And this is only acute toxicity, as the study did not analyze the long-term effects of continual and repeated exposure to Roundup, which has already been shown to seep into rivers and groundwater supplies.’
‘The one man who may be responsible for more food related illnesses and deaths than anyone in history, Michael R. Taylor, has just been promoted from US Food Safety Czar to Senior Advisor to the Commissioner of the FDA, a position which would enable the giant biotech company Monsanto to silently and legally feed cancer causing vegetables to every living person who is not 100% strictly organic.
President Obama has appointed the former Monsanto Vice President and lobbyist Michael R. Taylor to the throne. This is the same man who was Food Safety Czar for the FDA when Genetically Modified Organisms were allowed into the US food supply without undergoing a single test to determine their safety or risks. This is like putting a terrorist in charge of the world’s food supply. What will the cancer numbers look like in 2016?
The GMO nightmare all started with the Dan Quayle led FDA/GMO marriage. Under George Bush Senior’s Administration from 1989 to 1993, Dan Quayle single-handedly catapulted GMO’s into existence through FDA’s anti-consumer right-to-know policy, which stated that GMO foods did not have to be labeled or safety tested. Yes, you read that correctly: There is no safety testing required whatsoever to take some Agent Orange pesticide and genetically mutate the seeds of vegetables in a chemical laboratory so that nothing on planet earth will eat the plant that grows from the ground except for all the humans who have no idea what happened.’
Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/034847_Michael_Taylor_Monsanto_FDA.html#ixzz1lEnywF6e
‘A recent study conducted by a German university found very high concentrations of glyphosate, a carcinogenic chemical found in herbicides like Monsanto’s Roundup, in all urine samples tested.
The amount of glyphosate found in the urine was staggering, with each sample containing concentrations at 5- to 20-fold the limit established for drinking water.
This is just one more piece of evidence that herbicides are, at the very least, being sprayed out of control.
Glyphosate in Monsanto’s Roundup Impacting Global Health
This news comes only one month after it was found that glyphosate, contained in Monsanto’s Roundup, is contaminating the groundwater in the areas in which it is used. What does this mean?’
‘A recent study has found that Monsanto’s Roundup pesticide may be responsible for causing infertility. After reviewing the many already well-documented negative impacts Roundup has on the environment and living creatures, it is no surprise to add yet another item to the list.’
‘Bisphenol A (BPA) is a widely used chemical substance. This chemical exists in nearly every plastic container, is used as lining for metal cans, and can even be found on receipts, toilet paper and worldwide currency.
BPA leaches from its container into whatever it happens to contain. If you microwave a TV dinner for example, the chemical content of the plastic container would find its way into the food you are going to eat. Likewise, when bottled water or a soft drink is manufactured and shelved, BPA leaches into the liquid over the time it takes to be purchased and consumed.’ | <urn:uuid:5820d91c-06d7-46a0-95c2-7232948c4b71> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://anti-propaganda.tumblr.com/tagged/infertility | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00025-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951124 | 1,369 | 2.046875 | 2 |
Antitrust and the Costs of Movement
Herbert J. Hovenkamp
University of Iowa - College of Law
August 19, 2012
Antitrust Law Journal, Vol. 78, No. 1, 2012
University of Iowa Legal Studies Research Paper No. 12-21
Antitrust is rightfully concerned about the structure of markets as well as the bargaining that occurs in them. As a result, the absolute cost of redeploying resources can be just as important as the transaction costs of arranging for their movement. This paper examines several broad themes in antitrust, considering the role of various assumptions about the costs of getting resources moved toward superior positions and the ability of the antitrust system to facilitate this movement. Part II very briefly examines structuralism as a theory underlying antitrust enforcement, particularly its assumptions about the difficulty and costs of moving resources. Harvard School structuralism assumed that the costs of moving resources from lower value to higher value uses was high and often precluded competition from emerging. At the other extreme, the Chicago School assumed that resource movement was nearly cost free and that long-term monopoly was rarely sustainable as a result. Transaction cost economics then emerged as a welcome and unifying compromise.
Part III turns to barriers to entry or rival expansion, looking particularly at the differing definitions provided by Harvard and Chicago School economists and showing why the Harvard definition is superior for antitrust purposes today. That may not have been true in the 1960s when proposals for various forms of “no fault” monopolization were under serious consideration. Part IV discusses antitrust’s two principal tests for welfare, total welfare and consumer welfare, and shows how they are related to our assumptions about the costs of movement. Consumer welfare tests generally reflect significant doubt that surpluses that accrue to producers from economies or otherwise will be passed on to consumers.
Part V turns to practices, arguing first that we need to rethink current antitrust doctrine about refusal to deal in dominated networks, which are networks that both dominate the markets in which they operate and are themselves dominated by a single firm. Although their advantages are many, one important effect of networks is to magnify the costs of resource movement. Next this paper examines some problems of vertical integration and product complementarity, as well as the contributions that transaction cost analysis can provide in cases involving asset specificity and the possibility of double marginalization. We also examine some specific problems of pricing and vertical control, looking in particular at the wide range of theoretical attacks on and defenses of so-called loyalty discounts and bundled discounts. In particular, it faults policy making based on models with restrictive and sometimes idiosyncratic assumptions and untested conclusions.
Number of Pages in PDF File: 39
Keywords: Antitrust, Competition, Pricing, Bundled Discounts, Loyalty Discounts, Entry Barriers, Structuralism, Transaction Costs, Neo-ChicagoAccepted Paper Series
Date posted: September 21, 2010 ; Last revised: October 10, 2012
© 2013 Social Science Electronic Publishing, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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Red Cross urges residents to prepare for potential high winds, flooding
November 21, 2011 · 5:45 PM
SEATTLE, Nov. 21 — With high winds, heavy rain and potential flooding predicted this week for the Puget Sound area, the American Red Cross reminds residents to prepare.
· Move or secure lawn furniture, outdoor decorations or ornaments, trash cans, hanging plants and anything else that can be picked up by wind and become a projectile.
· During the storm, draw blinds and shades over windows. If windows break due to objects blown by the wind, the shades will prevent glass from shattering into your home.
· Wind storms may lead to power outages. Prepare accordingly:
-- Assemble essential supplies, including a flashlight, batteries, portable radio, at least one gallon of water per person per day and a small supply of food. For more information about building or purchasing a disaster kit, visit www.seattleredcross.org.
-- Do not run a generator inside a home or garage. If you use a generator, connect the equipment you want to power directly to the outlets on the generator. Do not connect a generator to a home's electrical system.
-- Never use charcoal or gas grills as an indoor heating or cooking source.
-- Only use a flashlight for emergency lighting. Due to the extreme risk of fire, do not use candles during a power outage.
-- Turn off electrical equipment you were using when the power went out. Leave one light on so you know when the power comes back on.
-- Keep refrigerator and freezer doors closed as much as possible. First use perishable food from the refrigerator. An unopened refrigerator will keep foods cold for about 4 hours.
· Be prepared to evacuate at a moment’s notice. When a flood or flash flood warning is issued for your area, head for higher ground and stay there.
· Eighty-percent people who die as a result of flooding are in vehicles. If you come upon a barricade, turn around and go another way. If you come upon flood waters, do not drive through them; the road could be washed out underneath. If you are caught on a flooded road and waters are rising rapidly around you, get out of the car quickly and move to higher ground. Most cars can be swept away by less than two feet of moving water.
· If you are driving and your car stalls, abandon your vehicle and head to higher ground.
· Stay away from floodwaters. If you come upon a flowing stream where water is above your ankles, stop, turn around and go another way. Six inches of swiftly moving water can sweep you off of your feet.
· Be aware of flood hazards. Floods can roll boulders, tear out trees, destroy buildings and bridges, and scour out new channels. Flood waters can reach heights of 10 to 20 feet and often carry a deadly cargo of debris. Flood-producing rains can also trigger catastrophic debris slides.
For more safety tips and information on flooding please visit www.seattleredcross.org or www.redcrosswashington.org. | <urn:uuid:925a585c-23ee-4320-b69b-20bb06e8f31a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.portorchardindependent.com/news/134293953.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.912779 | 638 | 2.34375 | 2 |
In a quiet square behind the Torre Gombito in Bergamo’s Città Alta (upper town) you will see a long marble trough that provides an interesting glimpse into 19th century life.
Piazza Luigi Angelini, which is off Via Mario Lupo on the left, used to be the site of il Lavatoio, Bergamo’s public wash tub.
Now that it has been cleaned and restored, you can see details such as the drain to prevent the water overflowing and the small channel that collected splashes from the washing.
Il Lavatoio was well built from Zandobbio marble and protected with a cast iron canopy. It was constructed on the orders of the Commune di Bergamo to provide inhabitants of the Città Alta with laundering facilities, to compensate them for the lack of running water in their houses.
The tub came into use in 1891, when the square must have become a lively hub where the women of the Città Alta enjoyed meeting up and exchanging gossip while they did their washing.
Il Lavatoio continued to be used well into the 1950s.
Now that everyone does their washing indoors, Piazza Luigi Angelini has become a very peaceful place, coming to life only on the occasional Sunday when an antiques market is held there. | <urn:uuid:0b9ada71-1e1c-49c2-bc63-df032f751e43> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bestofbergamo.com/2010/09/tub-was-once-hub-of-bergamos-citta-alta.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00052-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964382 | 275 | 2.203125 | 2 |
Shetlopedia - The Shetland Encyclopaedia
Revision as of 11:12, 23 January 2012 by Pett
- Happyhansel School, Shetland's first school, was founded.
- George Douglas, 13th Earl of Morton, became MP for Orkney and Shetland.
- The Love, a vessel registered in Lerwick is recorded as having wrecked at an unidentified location in the vicinity of Shetland.
- The Dutch Ost India ship Rijnenburg, a flute, (618 ton), built in 1704, was wrecked on a reef in Shetland.
- The Stadt Drontheim, laden with a mixed cargo of copper, fish and pewter plates, of The Netherlands, from Trondheim, Norway and for Amsterdam, The Netherlands wrecked at "Noss" on or before this date. Thought most likely to have been the Isle of Noss. | <urn:uuid:b13a6ae6-925f-4fb1-bc8e-1d54148f3b46> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://shetlopedia.com/index.php?title=1713&oldid=104386 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00060-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953873 | 195 | 2.125 | 2 |
In my latest column in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, I argue that Pres. Obama’s “You didn’t build that” sneer is way off-base. Here’s the conclusion:
Among the kinds of infrastructure that have, in fact, been supplied successfully by private businesses are city streets, highways, sewage systems, formal education, policing, money and commercial law. Government provision of such infrastructure, therefore, cannot be read as evidence that government’s role on this front is necessary.
If government failed to build highways to connect, say, Atlanta to Pittsburgh, private firms almost certainly would. (It’s easy to collect tolls from drivers who use highways.) And likewise for nearly any other pair of cities in America. So in what way is any actual, government-built highway necessary for any private entrepreneur’s economic success? None — if (as is likely) private enterprise would have done what government instead did by crowding out private efforts.
Moreover, if — as is likely again — privately built highways would be of higher quality and cost less to build and maintain than government highways, then there is even less merit to Obama’s “you didn’t build that” sneer. If privately built highways would be superior to government-built highways, then government’s crowding out of private efforts that otherwise would have built highways imposes a cost on the many businesses (and consumers) that rely upon highways for their economic success.
Far from being grateful to government for its highways, entrepreneurs should demand reimbursement from officials who led the government’s highway-building efforts. | <urn:uuid:3d62e050-bfb2-425b-adb3-9c947d63d459> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://cafehayek.com/2012/08/government-built-infrastructure-isnt-uniquely-important.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00059-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964633 | 338 | 1.84375 | 2 |
December 16, 2003 10:11 AM PST
Study: Mobile use spreading into the home
The study, released Tuesday, found that the spillover is increasing the use of mobile technology, as companies re-position business applications and services for the home. The mobile device users surveyed by IDC said 36 percent of their personal calls from home are made from a cell phone and their monthly expenditure on mobile phone service is higher than spending on either broadband, cable or satellite TV, or landline phone services.
The report said cellular device users also tend to be early adopters of new technologies and products, such as wireless service and flat-screen TV sets. The study is based on a recent survey of the 2,074 consumers and business people who make up IDC's Mobile Advisory Council.
Recent studies of American consumers have found that technology users are willing to shun traditional means of communication, such as landline telephony, in favor of wireless and Internet services. More people are beginning to use technologies such as Wi-Fi at home, rather than in offices or public places.
"Consumers who have adopted mobile solutions either within or outside of the home represent a unique segment to market next-generation technology and services to," said a statement from Randy Giusto, IDC's vice president of personal technologies and services. "The home is considered the next big thing, and understanding the usage patterns and buying intentions of consumers who are mobile is key to tapping a red-hot market segment."
The IDC survey found that a Wi-Fi connection is the most popular way for mobile consumers to connect to the Net. They use it largely for e-mail, news and Web surfing. In addition, 32 percent of respondents said they would prefer not to use instant messaging on their cellular device. | <urn:uuid:96684385-9249-410a-9524-8cf956098f06> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://news.cnet.com/Study-Mobile-use-spreading-into-the-home/2100-1039_3-5125669.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964093 | 363 | 2.078125 | 2 |
As I write this, news emerges that Hana Shalabi has ended her 44-day hunger strike, only to be deported to Gaza. Hana is one of hundreds of Palestinians who were kidnapped and placed in Israeli prison with no charge and no trial.
Nelson Mandela’s famous saying is fitting: “Only free people can negotiate.”
J Street’s official vision of an ethnocratic Israel and demilitarized Palestinian Bantustans can only be accomplished by upholding the status quo of legally implemented racial discrimination and further ethnic cleansing. J Street’s approach is akin to the “white moderate” that MLK refers to in his Letter From A Birmingham Jail.
A just solution to any conflict is not in the “middle-ground” when the situation involves such drastic inequalities in power and privilege. In Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), we are pro-justice before anything else, and justice by nature includes all people.
The crime of apartheid: “inhumane acts committed for the purpose of establishing and maintaining domination by one racial group of persons over any other racial group of persons and systematically oppressing them.”
Racial discrimination: “any distinction, exclusion, restriction, or preference based on race, color, descent, or national or ethnic origin that has the purpose or effect of nullifying or impairing the recognition, enjoyment or exercise, on an equal footing, of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural or any other field of public life.”
That said, apartheid is a reality both inside and outside the Green Line. Israel has over 30 laws that discriminate against its Palestinian Arab citizens. I refer you to Sefer Ha-Chukkim or a convenient list of apartheid laws at IsraeliCivilRights.org.
As for Israel’s policies in the Occupied Territories, we must ask: What kind of democracy controls the water, land, ports, borders, electricity, airspace, building permits/rights, movement, airwaves, zoning laws, tenant laws, agriculture laws and economic imports/exports of millions of people who don’t have the right to vote in it?
Like South African anti-apartheid activists, Palestinian civil society has called for boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) against Israeli institutions complicit with Israel’s unjust policies, until Israel complies with three basic demands: equal rights for Palestinian Arab citizens of Israel, support for the right of return for refugees and an end to the Occupation. These are all basic human rights, and none of these goals contradict the human rights of Israelis.
It comes as no surprise that many South African anti-apartheid activists are now leading in the new struggle against Israeli apartheid, as seen in their IAW and their landmark successes in supporting the Palestinians’ call to BDS. At a recent BDS conference, we were excited to watch a video greeting by Desmond Tutu in which he reiterated his support for BDS and his opposition to apartheid.
Meanwhile, the United States continues to single out Israel as the only foreign state to receive virtually unconditional support, and hundreds of Palestinians remain in Israeli prisons without charge or trial.
While J Street and others may have the privilege to sit and “dialogue” about solutions, it’s not a game of Diplomacy or another classroom exercise for Hana or for the millions of Palestinian Arabs who aren’t allowed back home solely because they weren’t born into the right ethnicity according to Israel. Such Palestinians and their narrative are left out of the conversation and cannot be expected to sit around and wait for us privileged Americans to finish our own dialogues first.
The facts are all there, and now is the time for action through such nonviolent tactics as BDS. We invite the many well-intentioned members of J Street (and anyone else interested) to join us in advocating for equal rights and justice for all.
AU SJP’s Research Director
Class of 2013, CAS | <urn:uuid:be54ebe9-cb5d-4ea0-82c0-691f32d31cc5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.theeagleonline.com/opinion/story/au-sjp-responds-to-j-street-letter/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942995 | 828 | 2 | 2 |
Pledge forms with donations for “Reading Rocks!” have been submitted and garnered $35,000 in proceeds for the Wilton Education Foundation. The event is an initiative created to encourage children in kindergarten through fifth grade to have fun reading while raising money in the process.
Currently, 1,100 students are working to complete their reading commitments and doing so in creative ways. This show of support includes two-thirds of the children at Miller-Driscoll School and half the students at Cider Mill School.
“They are making time for extra reading, above and beyond their homework,” said Julie Steckel, a foundation board member and coordinator of “Reading Rocks!”
“The program encourages the students to choose their own reading goals. They can be read to, read independently or read to someone else — anything goes.”
Incentives were offered at each school by grade and house based on the percentage of involvement. First graders came out on top so they will get an extra recess.
Nod Hill at Cider Mill won a homework-free day. After the reading part of the program is complete, a participating student in each grade in Miller-Driscoll and each house in Cider Mill will be randomly awarded a Kindle E-Reader. The students also celebrated “Dress Like a Rock Star Day.”
Ms. Steckel visited both schools and said it was “fantastic” to hear students “shouting about” Reading Rocks! with enthusiasm.
“If that message resonates with even one child, then this program is a success, regardless of the money we raise,” she said.
The Wilton Education Foundation thanked the Greer, Fleitz and Stroup families for sponsoring the program.
“We passionately believe that reading, writing and speaking well are crucial life skills,” a spokesperson for the families said. | <urn:uuid:b1acb6b3-b6f1-4081-86cc-3097c407ef4e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wiltonbulletin.com/3765/students-raise-35000-through-reading-rocks/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00023-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959555 | 400 | 1.6875 | 2 |
|This page uses content from Wikipedia. The original article was at Ricochet. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with Tron Wiki, the text of Wikipedia is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.|
Ricochet is a multiplayer mod of the popular first-person shooter Half-Life. It was developed by Valve Corporation and originally released on November 1, 2000. It is an official mod, and is available through Steam for purchase; however, it is free for those who purchased the retail version of Half-Life prior to the release of Steam.
Ricochet is a deathmatch game notable for its apparent simplicity, inspired by arcade games and platform games (including the movie, Tron and the arcade game, Discs of Tron) in both concept and design. Players jump between neon-lit platforms suspended above an abyss, and shoot disks at one another, trying to push the opponent off the platform and into the depths.
There are also horizontal barriers which the disks can bounce off (hence the name Ricochet); a direct hit resulting in a fall scores 1 point, a single-bounced hit scores 2 points, double-bounced 3 points, and so on. Ricochet also features an alternative attack (done by the alternate fire key) which cuts off the head of your opponent. The decapitation attack (as it is called) uses all three of the discs, but recharges all of them at once quickly.
|Arcade game series|
|TRON | Discs Of TRON|
|Console game series|
| TRON Deadly Discs | TRON Maze-A-Tron |
TRON Solar Sailer | Adventures Of TRON
TRON 2.0 | GameBoy Advance: TRON 2.0: Killer App, Xbox: TRON 2.0: Killer App
TRON: Evolution | TRON: Evolution - Battle Grids
|Kingdom Hearts II | Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance | Ricochet| | <urn:uuid:68cb6f36-bc3a-44f1-beaa-9c175ba972f3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://tron.wikia.com/wiki/Ricochet?direction=prev&oldid=24464 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.917986 | 414 | 1.585938 | 2 |
By Jillian Martin, Editorial Intern
Photos: AMY RADER PHOTOGRAPHER
Last month, Teen Voices participated in NEDAwareness week, held by the National Eating Disorder Association. At the same time, the Mother Caroline Academy and Education Center mentor program held a self-esteem-building event featuring “Confidence Coach” Kathleen Hassan. The school’s gymnasium was packed with middle-school students, their parents, and their mentors and Beyonce’s girl power single “Run The World (Girls),” which kicked off the event.
“There are girls in this room who feel like they’re not good enough,” Hassan began. “Some are starving themselves. Some would do anything to fit in.”
At this event, Hassan inspired the audience, teaching them where their power comes from—not from putting others down to build yourself up, and not from the media, which sexualizes women and portrays an unattainable image of perfection.
According to Hassan, 85 percent of women and girls have felt worse about themselves after looking at a fashion magazine and 86 percent of self-talk (thoughts) is negative. This happens because, to their detriment, many women and girls today tend to seek their worthiness and confidence from outside forces.
As a healthier model, Hassan teaches girls to get their power from within, instead of from the media, by choosing love over fear. She said, “Thoughts become things… wanted or not.” We emit energy with our thoughts; if they are negative, we will attract negative people and situations, and the energies will feed off each other, becoming more and more negative. On the flip side, if we emit positive and powerful energies, we attract powerful and positive people.
Negative images and energies infiltrate the thoughts of all young girls, but Hassan said we all have an emotional guide system that gives us the tools to “recalculate” those thoughts to something positive.
Hassan taught the audience two strategies to recalculate and achieve. Give them a try so that you, too, can feel confident and worthy and choose love over fear.
The first, Hassan calls a “body prayer.” She called four girls with big dreams to the stage to help out. The first girl was “dream,” and she laid her head in her hands. The next was “believe,” and she held her hands over her heart. The third was “receive,” and she held her hands out open to take in the positive energies. The final girl was “achieve,” and she flexed her arms, showing strength. Within minutes, Hassan had the entire auditorium dreaming, believing, receiving, and achieving.
The second strategy is the use of affirmations. Hassan suggested that everyone pick one affirmation from the list that she showed (these short sayings were accompanied by inspiring photos and the melodic voice of Bruno Mars singing “You’re amazing, just the way you are”) and repeat it every day for a month, as it takes a month to create a new habit. Here are just a few of the affirmations:
- I choose LOVE over FEAR
- I am fit, strong, and healthy
- Peace begins with me
- Happiness is a choice
- I am strong
Readmore about NEDAwareness week and Teen Voices’ Artist of the Month Contest and vote on the March art—March’s theme was “Beauty is More than Skin Deep.” Learnmore about Mother Caroline’s adult education, shining star, and mentoring programs, including events and how to get involved. | <urn:uuid:1cb6590e-7be5-4b07-997c-bb8f03ca522f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://teenvoicesmagazine.wordpress.com/2012/04/09/run-the-world-kathleen-hassan-shows-on-womens-power-source/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964637 | 778 | 2.015625 | 2 |
text from the Faber website:
It was as a poet that Samuel Beckett launched himself in the little reviews of 1930s Paris, and as a poet that he ended his career.
The Collected Poems is the most complete edition of Beckett’s poetry and verse translations ever to be published, as well as the first critical edition. It establishes a significant new canon, and the commentary draws on a wide range of published sources, manuscripts and Beckett’s extensive correspondence.
The notes place each poem in context, detailing the history and circumstances of its composition; they indicate significant variants and help explain obscure turns of phrase and allusions (frequently sourced to Beckett’s notebooks); they also identify resonances between poems and across Beckett’s work as a whole. The commentary is written in a lively and engaging style and is intended equally for the general reader, the student of modernism and the Beckett specialist.
The Collected Poems is now at The Society Club, along with other select editions .. | <urn:uuid:a3ab7a45-7f16-4fd9-b1fb-337c6779d2cb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://thesocietyclubsoho.wordpress.com/2012/07/22/beckett/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00048-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962107 | 213 | 2 | 2 |
|SUBSCRIBE TO MONEY|
Stocks by size, value and sector
Not sure what a small cap is or why you should care? Read on.
There are thousands of stocks to choose from, so investors usually like to put stocks into different categories: size, style and sector.
A company's size refers to its market capitalization, which is the current share price times the total number of shares outstanding. It's how much investors think the whole company is worth.
XYZ Corp., for example, may have 2 billion shares outstanding, and a stock price of $10. So the company's total market capitalization is $20 billion. (Technically, if you had an extra $20 billion lying around, you could buy each share of stock, and own the whole company.)
Is $20 billion a lot or a little? No official rules govern these distinctions, but below are some useful guidelines for assessing size.
Large-cap companies tend to be established and stable, but because of their size, they have lower growth potential than small caps.
Over the long run, small-cap stocks have tended to rise at a faster pace. It's much easier to expand revenues and earnings quickly when you start at, say, $10 million than $10 billion. When profitability rises, stock prices follow.
There is a trade-off, though. With less developed management structures, small caps are more likely to run into troubles as they grow -- expanding into new areas and beefing up staff are examples of potential pitfalls. Of course, even corporate titans get into trouble.
A "growth" company is one that is expanding at an above-average rate, much as tech companies did in the 1990s.
Catch a successful growth stock early on, and the ride can be spectacular. But again, the greater the potential, the bigger the risk. Growth stocks race higher when times are good, but as soon as growth slows, those stocks tank.
The opposite of growth is "value." There is no one definition of a value stock, but in general, it trades at a lower-than-average earnings multiple than the overall market. Maybe the company has messed up, causing the stock to plummet -- a value investor might think the underlying business is still sound and its true worth not reflected in the depressed stock price.
A "cyclical" company makes something that isn't in constant demand throughout the business cycle. For example, steel makers see sales rise when the economy heats up, spurring builders to put up new skyscrapers and consumers to buy new cars.
But when the economy slows, their sales lag too. Cyclical stocks bounce around a lot as investors try to guess when the next upturn and downturn will come.
Standard & Poor's breaks stocks into 10 sectors and dozens of industries. Generally speaking, different sectors are affected by different things. So at any given time, some are doing well while others are not.
In most cases, finance, health care and technology tend to be the fastest growing sectors, while consumer staples and utilities offer stability with moderate growth. The other sectors tend to be cyclical, expanding quickly in good times and contracting during recessions. | <urn:uuid:8f630312-44be-4def-a117-e061e903e244> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://money.cnn.com/magazines/moneymag/money101/lesson5/index3.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00071-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957464 | 657 | 2.5 | 2 |
Your iPad comes pre-loaded with a handful of applications (handily called "apps" for short) including YouTube, Safari and iBooks.
Some Apps are available for free download, but most must be purchased. Each app has an individual icon that is loaded on your iPad after you have purchased it. To access and use the app you simply touch on its icon and your iPad will open up the app for you.
The variety of apps ranges from current books and periodicals, to interactive games to educational content (topics range from communication assistance, astronomy, archeology, to medicine, etc.) to gadget-like products, such as an app to turn your iPad into a bar code scanner.
How Much Do Apps Cost?
As of 2012, about 500,000 apps are available for use for the iPhone.
Most, if not all, of these can be accessed on your iPad as well. Approximately 150,000 apps are specifically designed for the iPad and make use of its larger screen. Some of the apps in the App Store are free, many cost less than $5.
Special education and communication apps can cost tens or even hundreds of dollars.
How Do You Buy an App?
In order to manage your apps, you will need to download iTunes to your computer and set up an iTunes account.
Apple computer guarantees that you will not need to purchase an app more than once—even as you upgrade computers, iPads, iPhones, etc. the apps you have purchased will remain in your iTunes account.
The App Store makes it easy to purchase new apps by keeping your credit card information on file. Alternatively, you can purchase iTunes gift cards (available at local pharmacies and grocery stores) and use it like a debit card for purchasing new apps. You will need regular access to a computer (Mac or PC) that can be connected to your iPad or iPhone to access periodic software upgrades from Apple. | <urn:uuid:13639d2f-bf12-47bf-960f-c4c97b5421e0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wonderbaby.org/articles/whats-an-app | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00053-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94762 | 389 | 2.1875 | 2 |
traffic scheme AGS ignored
we received an email that contains a traffic plan for the AGS. the email says this was developed by a group of professionals on design and safety – architects and engineers and was submitted to the multi-stakeholder committee for consideration.
this traffic scheme is very different from the one that is being implemented now which means this was not at all adapted by the committee.
Design and Safety Philosophy : Separate Pedestrian and Vehicular Traffic
The safety of the Children is the paramount consideration to the design of any Traffic Scheme for schools. The best way to achieve this is to follow the tried and tested standard of separating pedestrian streams with that of vehicular flows to minimize if not to totally eradicate accidents of Ateneo’s students—the children of the main stakeholders of Ateneo de Manila University.
1. Enlarged / Lengthened Waiting Areas.
The Waiting Areas (may be covered later) for fetching and dropping off students shall be lengthened by about 6 times the existing lengths. This shall discourage drivers from fetching and dropping off students in the middle of the road which may lead to another accident.
2. Central Waiting Area.
Pedestrian and Vehicular Streams should not cross as much as possible, therefore, a core shall be created making use of the Blue Eagle Gym, Irwin Theater and the Inner Driveway serviced by 2 Road Loops. The Inner driveway shall be used as a Holding Area where students can play safely in a gated (fenced) environment while waiting for their fetchers.
The Central Pedestrian / Waiting Area (where the current faculty parking is located) shall be connected to the Inner Driveway via the existing covered walkway from the Cafeteria or the existing open walkway (usually reserved for teachers only) through the Inner Driveway Courtyard where the statues of the Holy Family are located. From this Central Pedestrian / Waiting Area, students shall branch out to the Blue Eagle Gym, Irwin Theater and the Pedestrian /Waiting Area outside the Inner Driveway.
1. Gate 1 Entry.
From Gate 1, drivers proceed to Road Loop 1 and may drop off or fetch students along the lengths of Pedestrian / Waiting Areas A & B. They then exit through the Collector Road toward Gate 2-B or park their vehicles in the Parking Lots.
2. Gates 2 and 3 Entries.
From Gate 2, drivers proceed via Mastersons Drive to Road Loop 2 and may drop off or fetch students along the lengths of Pedestrian / Waiting Areas D & E. They then exit through Gate 2-B or Gate 3 or park their vehicles in the Parking Lots.
Drivers entering Gates 2 or 3 may also access Road Loop 1 via the Collector Road and may drop off or fetch students along the lengths of Pedestrian / Waiting Areas A & B. They then exit through the Collector Road toward Gate 2-B or park their vehicles in the Parking Lots.
3. School Bus.
School Buses may enter Gate 1, proceed to Road Loop 1 to drop off students along the lengths of Pedestrian / Waiting Areas A & B. They then proceed to the School Bus Parking via the Collector Road.
School Buses may also enter Gates 2 & 3, proceed to Road Loop 2 to drop off students along the lengths of Pedestrian / Waiting Areas D & E. They then proceed to the School Bus Parking via Mastersons Drive. Students are fetched by School Buses in their respective School Bus Parking slots along the lengths of Pedestrian / Waiting Areas C-1 & C-2 around the Blue Eagle Gym. Students walk to Pedestrian / Waiting Areas C-1 & C-2 without crossing roads / streets.
4. Faculty Parking.
Faculty Parking behind the Blue Eagle Gym and Parking of Administrators at the Inner Driveway shall be relocated to the rear of the Cafeteria where they walk through existing Covered Walkways at the side of the Cafeteria.
5. Fetchers’ Parking.
Existing parking for the general public shall remain. Access to these areas shall be via manned Pedestrian Crossings through Pedestrian / Waiting Areas D and C-1. | <urn:uuid:e8f18204-2ae1-4029-aa4c-f66b1c65f2eb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://wawam.wordpress.com/the-traffic-plan-ags-ignored/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00024-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.93467 | 872 | 1.679688 | 2 |
Mining The Past
by Paul Lloyd
Sun 9th Sep 2012
On the 25th June 1915 a coroner’s Inquest was convened in the Market Hall, Aspatria, Cumbria. The hearing had been arranged to investigate the deaths of seven colliers who had been labouring in Brayton Domain, No 4 Pit, Aspatria, when on the 26th of April 1915 an explosion occurred that led to the men suffering horrific burns and, over a period of weeks, eventual death.
The seven men came from Lawson Street and Springkell in Aspatria and the nearby village of Harristown, as it was then known. These street names, and the houses still standing, testify to the effect that coal mining had on the area. Lawson Street was named after Sir Wilfred Lawson, the radical MP for Cockermouth, under whose land the coal was won. Harristown, a pit village, was named after the Harris family - mine owners and proud enough of their role to name the back to back one up one down, waterless pit houses after themselves.
The miners who died:
Thomas Little (29) (single) Spingkell, Aspatria. Died 3rd April 1915;
Robert Lightfoot (20) (single) of Harriston. Died 28th April 1915;
Henry Wilkinson (32) (single) Lawson Street, Aspatria. Died 29th April 1915;
Paul Rayson (25) (single) Harriston. Died 3rd May 1915;
Thomas Birney (64) (married) Harriston. Died 2nd May 1915;
James Wilkinson (59) (married) Lawson Street Aspatria. Died 21st May 1915;
Joseph Rumney (51) (married) Harriston. Died 5th June 1915.
From this brief inventory, questions arise about the fate of the families left behind, children without provision, questions of poverty and social benevolence. Were the families compensated? What happened to them? Were they able to remain in their homes? The other fearful aspect of this accident is the time line of suffering; it took Joseph Rumney five weeks to die. Before the advent of the NHS how would he have been cared for? Dying from burns in 1915 less than 100 years ago, would have been a hard business, nursed by family at home while communal life went on around.
Another significant factor here is that of the common occurrence of death.
Deaths in the pit in the coalfield areas were inglorious everyday affairs, something to be contrasted with the glorious death of those fighting on the Western Front in 1915. However both share common features: the industrial production of death, death waged primarily against the working class, death in the service of capital, and death seemingly unstoppable until ultimate exhaustion. In Cumbria there are many memorials to those who died in the first and second world wars but few to those who died in the class war fought in the underworld of industrial production, where often the fatalities were diachronically higher for towns like Aspatria.
The account of the hearing makes interesting reading. The accident had occurred when a shot (explosion) was fired into an area of the mine that contained gas.
Testament from different witnesses indicates that it was unknown for gas to be found in this particular part of No 4 Pit. It would appear that there was an overhanging rock in the wall of the pit which was considered to be too dangerous to dig under, so the decision was made to use an explosive charge.
Shots had been fired prior to the firing of the fatal shot but the shot firer was apparently unaware of this. The pit deputy stated that he had tested for gas in the area and found none. It was also stated that the exact number of men working below ground at that time was unclear. There is a brief exchange between the pit deputy and a Mr Sharp. The deputy affirmed that additional cost would be associated with hewing down the overhang as opposed to blasting it down – extended labour time that would have to be paid for – but this had no bearing on the decision to use Stowite to take down the rock. Mr Elliot commented that: they did not consider the question of pay when safety was concerned. Rumney was allowed to fire a shot through the rock into a goaf (the worked out area of the mine) and this triggered the explosion.
Messer’s Hillary and Askew strenuously asserted that there was no gas in the goaf and if there had been it might have accumulated in the rock above the goaf. They all affirmed that the goaf did not contain gas but that the shot firer should have checked this before the fired the fatal shot.
Mr Lightfoot, representing the owners of the pit, commented on the use of Stowite. Referring to the question of permitted explosives, their use depends on the provision of the order. When there was no indication of danger from the presence of inflammable gases, they could use explosives not classed or permitted. In this case, gas had not been found in three months.
Mr Askew, manager and agent of Brayton collieries, commented that they had tried several explosives, and were trying to get a satisfactory one. They had had two explosives that caused injury. The only one due to gas was the case of a man who burned himself in lighting a shot 12 or more years ago. Another man was also burned but it was not clear whether it was due to gas or the blowing out of the powder.
Mr Askew remarkably confirmed that contrary to a lot of the evidence that went before, the pit had a history of fatal gas related explosions. He finally said that No 4 was a wet pit throughout in attempt perhaps to safeguard his own career.
The coroner observed that the shot should never have been fired under the circumstances,
despite the fact that the pit deputy and others affirmed that there was no gas.
Perhaps more accurately he should have said ‘as a result of the consequences’.
The coroner located the blame with Rumney, the shot firer, and in part with the deputy. In respect of Stowite, he stated that Mr Askew had interrupted the Order – directions of the use of explosives – to use any explosive. Mr Atter the coroner for West Cumberland finally girds his loins to pronounce that in the future there could be no question but that they would only have to use permitted explosives.
In his concluding remarks, the coroner levelled some of the blame at the pit deputy – middle management in its usual role of soaking up the opprobrium – before saying that it was unpleasant to say anything about a man who was gone, referring to Rumney the short fire.
The jury found a verdict of death caused by burning from explosion and recommended that shot should only be fired into tested areas. They were silent about the use of Stowite and no doubt Mr Askew, manager and agent of Brayton collieries, and the pit owners themselves adjusted the belts of their trousers and slept a little more comfortably, save in the knowledge that they were without admonishment or any portion of blame.
In summary, the Stowite explosive the shot firer used in the dust and darkness was unlicensed and sold by the colliery company. By the representatives own words, Stowite should not have been used, or for that matter sold, to the colliers to use in the mine. This is the first cause of this tragedy. Stowite, sold no doubt for profit, was unlicensed and extremely volatile in such conditions. The pit had a history of gas. Those who sold the explosive should have been culpable for the results of their actions.
There was indeed gas in that part of the pit. The order should have gone out to hew down the rocky overhang but it was never issued, probably due to the additional costs of buying labour time to undertake the work.
No-one had bothered keeping a record of the number of men working underground, a remarkable admission, and conveniently the coroner effectively blamed the dead shot firer. This was a time before the Health and Safety at Work Act, and the labour movement had yet to bring all its muscle to bear on the issue of safety at work. Today we take it for granted that an employer has a duty of care towards its employees but it wasn’t always like this and the gains have been hard won and need to be maintained. True, the standards of 1915 may be different to ours but the value placed on human life must surely have been the same.
The powerful were in a position to protect their own interests, to shape the narrative, and define the problem and the solution in a manner that best suited them. The pit manger and the owners, at one end of the hierarchy, are protected by occupational structure and the illusive application of the law. These are the repeated lessons from history that can often appear absurdly senseless when the facts are lived through by those who truly understand them. Ideology flounders in the reality test but then it can always rely on the use of power alone to undermine the burgeoning insurrection of truth.
The men who turned up in the pit in the days after the explosion would have their own understanding of what went wrong and who was to blame but no one would listen.
There is an account of the inquest available in a link from the Durham Mining Museum website http://www.dmm.org.uk/mindex.htmtohttp://www.rumneys.co.uk/braytondomain/index.htm . | <urn:uuid:63075e58-172c-42dc-b021-b42861dfab76> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://londonprogressivejournal.com/article/view/1254/mining-the-past | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.983128 | 1,984 | 2.0625 | 2 |
Which are the newest approach to pinpoint sewer line problems? If you're just like the traditional homeowner, you probably usually do not. Ask your friends or read articles that are in the Internet and you may realize the amount of households are becoming helped out with their problems by hiring plumbers or experts that use sewer camera inspection technologies.
If the business or home establishment is experiencing problems due to sewage backups and slow drains, sewer camera inspection can really help you locate the problem and commence the repair. All you need to do would be to contact professionals that readily make use of this process. Because of the latest sewer repair technologies, they are able to easily and efficiently locate your sewer problems. Nowadays, many households hate the standard ways in repairing damages because they convey a lot of inconveniences. Furthermore traditional plumbers must discover your yard or driveways that induce further damage to your house and landscapes; they also repair or replace your sewer lines in a way that continues to be prone of future leaks.
When compared to traditional sewer line diagnostics and repair, which most treasure-finding process needs to be done manually and destructively, sewer camera inspection discovers all the conditions that your lines have for example cracks due to tree roots, faulty installations, or total chaos on your sewer system. The sewer camera inspection can be done utilizing a flexible wire with a tiny, water-proof camera by the end. Using this state-of-the-art technology, the sewer expert can pinpoint any damage on your sewer lines. They are going to just insert the sewer camera on either ends from the pipes. The truth is, there is certainly point to ruin your ground or landscapes because not every your sewer lines must be dug up. Besides sewer camera inspection produce little annoyance in your household, in addition, it speeds the whole repair job.
When the problem is located using sewer camera inspection, the damaged pipes could be replaced utilizing a trench-less pipe replacement. This sort of repair will be the least invasive and many affordable way to replace your damaged and broken pipes. This technique uses pipe bursting, the existing, original sewer line is used like a guide plus a new pipe that is pulled with the existing line employing a high strength cable splitting the present pipe apart replacing it with a brand new seamless polyethylene pipe, supplying you with a brand new, more long-lasting sewers in the same location the location where the damaged lines where. This method does not require the whole property being dug up does not destroy existing landscaping it only requires digging a little hole at each and every end with the piping to be replaced costing you less on landscape and driveway repairs.
If you are understand that newest technologies and methodologies in repair, you've got given your hair a decisive decision what to do to avoid further sewer line problems to your residence or business. Like all other problem, the sooner you assess it, the earlier you get it solved. So, find a sewer line professional that readily utilizes a sewer camera inspection as soon as possible-do not merely stumble. | <urn:uuid:8dee5051-3e84-4aa7-9515-a2d10766ebed> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://borescope1.angelfire.com/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.937679 | 608 | 1.648438 | 2 |
Turkey ‘sends missile batteries to Syria border’
Turkey has sent missile batteries, tanks and troops to the border with Syria as a “security corridor”, almost a week after the Syrian downing of a Turkish military jet, media reports said Thursday.
There was no official confirmation of the military moves, which came after Turkey warned branded its former ally as a “clear and imminent threat” following Friday’s attack over the Mediterranean.
About 30 military vehicles accompanied by a truck towing missile batteries left a base in the southeastern province of Hatay for the border, about 50 kilometres (30 miles) away, the Milliyet newspaper reported.
Footage aired on state-run TRT showed dozens of military vehicles loaded with army personnel, reportedly on the move for the volatile border, in a convoy that included low altitude air defence systems and anti-aircraft guns.
Taraf newspaper, citing unnamed sources, said the deployments represented the establishment of a “de facto security corridor” on Turkish soil.
The moves follow the downing of a Turkish Phantom F-4 jet by Syrian fire over the eastern Mediterranean on Friday in what Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said was a “heinous attack”.
Erdogan vowed Tuesday that any hostile Syrian movement towards the border would be “treated as a military target,” hinting at a harsher retaliation for any future border violations.
Turkey has described Syria as a “a clear and imminent threat” but Erdogan said Wednesday that Ankara had no intention of attacking its neighbour.
In a separate deployment, several trucks loaded with armoured tanks were sent to the frontier in the province of Sanliurfa after a Kurdish rebel flag was hoisted in a Syrian village just across the border, provincial media said.
The flag, which reportedly belonged to a Syrian wing of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) was taken down early Thursday, the Anatolia news agency said, citing local witnesses.
Turkish officials have frequently accused Syria of aiding the PKK after Ankara’s ties with Damascus broke down, saying many recent attacks targeting Turkish security forces were carried out by rebels infiltrating from Syria.
Turkish media have interpreted the mass deployments both as a means to intimidate Kurdish rebels, whose activities have increased in recent months, and as a strategy to challenge Syria, which shares a 910-kilometre border with Turkey.
Turkey’s powerful army has not confirmed the deployments, but earlier dismissed reports that it was “on alert” after the downing of the jet, whose two crew members are still missing.
Erdogan was once a friend and ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad but relations have broken down since the revolt erupted in Syria last year, sending more than 33,000 refugees across the border into Turkey. | <urn:uuid:bbd2ff86-75cd-41df-bbd0-7695de361439> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://en.starafrica.com/news/turkey-sends-missile-batteries-to-syria-240073.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00038-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969893 | 579 | 1.507813 | 2 |
How Forest Carbon Markets Fared in 2009 ClimateBiz.com
Author: Greener World Media
The Copenhagen Accord may have disappointed many of us, but it also yielded agreement on the need to develop financing mechanisms for reducing greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD). For REDD to work, however, investors will have to be on board - and for that to happen, the forestry markets will have to become more transparent and trustworthy.
To promote that transparency and trustworthiness, Ecosystem Marketplace spent the past year speaking with more than 100 market participants -- 65 of whom develop forest protection and restoration projects, primarily in rainforest nations, and 37 of whom act as intermediaries. These participants accounted for 230 projects generating credits across 40 countries over the past 20 years.
The result is "State of the Forest Carbon Markets 2009: Taking Root & Branching Out" (pdf), which has been released with support from the World Bank BioCarbon Fund, Biological Capital, Ecosystem Restoration Associates and Baker McKenzie, as well as funding from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation, the United Kingdom's Department for International Development and the Surdna Foundation.
Rapid Growth and Recent Change
Respondents documented the impact of carbon finance on more than two million hectares of forests over the past 20 years. That impact has resulted in the capture of nearly 70 million tonnes of carbon (MtCO2) in trees -- although the bulk of this can be attributed to one massive project in the early 1990s that captured 47 MtCO2.
The findings also indicate substantial shifts in growth patterns over the past three years, during which these markets have matured substantially.
From 2007 through the first half of 2009 alone, forest carbon markets have funneled roughly $100 million into forestry conservation projects around the world, transacting 20.8 million MtCO2 in the process. In dollar terms, this period represents 67 percent of the market value of all forest carbon offsets, due to higher volumes and prices associated with emerging interest in the voluntary carbon markets overall, along with maturing standards and infrastructure.
During this same period, the dominant source of forest carbon credits in the developing world appears to have shifted from Latin America to Africa, although globally North America appears to have been the top region for sourcing carbon credits in 2008, generating 42 percent of the volume transacted that year, followed by Africa and Latin America with 26 percent and 21 percent respectively.
The survey results signal robust and growing belief in the ability of ecosystem markets to help reverse climate change. These findings were compiled before the December Copenhagen Accord, which explicitly stated the need to develop mechanisms that will reward sustainable land-use practices that capture carbon in trees.
Prices on the Rise
Overall, prices for forest carbon credits ranged from $0.65/ tCO2 to more than $50/ tCO2. Over time, the volume-weighted average price was $7.88/ tCO2. The compliance markets have commanded the highest prices overall, with a volume-weighted price average of $10.24/ tCO2 over time, followed by the voluntary OTC market at $8.44/ tCO2 and the CCX at $3.03/ tCO2.
In 2008, the voluntary OTC market took the lead at $7.12/ tCO2, but was surpassed in June, 2009, by the compliance market, which had reached the highest volume-weighted price average across markets and over time at $12.31/ tCO2.
OTC Still King
OTC projects made up 90 percent of the total number of projects, with an additional 6 percent under the Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX). Only 4 percent of projects transacting credits (including ex-ante sales) were from regulated markets; half of these were from NSW GGAS and half from Kyoto-related afforestation/reforestation projects. The total historical market value tracked through the first half of 2009 was $149.2 million, of which $137.6 million arose from the voluntary market and $11.6 million from the regulated market.
Steve Zwick is managing editor of the Ecosystem Marketplace. | <urn:uuid:0ba643fe-de9b-4e5e-86f0-828415f56188> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://planetark.org/enviro-news/item/56406 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946502 | 870 | 2.140625 | 2 |
If you read and enjoyed Ian Fleming's original 1959 "Moonraker" Bond novel and watched Albert R. Broccoli's 1979 Film but were left wondering why the original was so different, well here's the answer....
Fleming's original novel was re-written by Christopher Wood to bring it twenty years on into the late 1970's (the age of the Boeing 747, NASA's Space Shuttle and clever, emancipated and empowered women), and his book, "James Bond and Moonraker", is the screen-play of the Broccoli film written down as a very readable novel. It pays homage to Fleming's original and is actually great fun as well as being surprisingly descriptive and exciting
His plot differs to Fleming's original plot in that a space shuttle is stolen en-route to London so that M sends Bond (Roger Moore) out to apologise to the shuttle creator, billionaire Hugo Drax (Michael Lonsdale).
As he visits Drax's plush historic estate several attempts are made on Bond's life and he subsequently meets Dr. Holly Goodhead (Lois Chiles) the NASA Shuttle scientist. Together they investigate the evil Drax who is plotting to destroy the world's population so that he can repopulate the planet in his image (in true 1970's genetics-mutation-style!)
Predictably, the chase takes Bond all over the world - London, California, Brazil, the Amazon Jungle and, finally, to Drax's huge space-metroplois over the Earth (in a Shuttle and wearing the Space-Suit featured on the cover of the book).
Not to be outdone, the evil Drax, hires an old adversary of Bond to take care of this inconvenience - the steel-toothed killer - Jaws (Richard Kiel).
All in all, a very clever adaptation of Fleming's Moonraker by Christopher Wood and is recommended reading if only to complete your Bond collection. | <urn:uuid:5e2b2d6f-717c-48bf-9517-dac9e3638720> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.amazon.co.uk/James-Bond-Moonraker-Film-Script-Adaptation/dp/0586050345 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00029-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948225 | 396 | 1.882813 | 2 |
New Report Shows Wage Recovery Across the Board — Dollars and Sense
In a possible sign of further economic recovery, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that wages are making a steady recovery across the board, with a great number of companies now offering higher paying jobs.
After the job market cratered before our very eyes in 2008, seemingly the only jobs available were menial positions in bars, fast food restaurants and retail outlets, paying a median wage of about $9 per hour. However, just two years later, statistics show that more jobs in places like factories, hospitals and professional technical services are emerging, with median wages over $16 per hour, giving some Americans a chance to better themselves once more.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, many hospital workers are now earning about $23 an hour, while some registered nurses are bringing in nearly $32 an hour. That is comparable to some professional positions, such as accountants and lawyers in the technical services field, which averages $28 an hour.
Technology appears to be where the real money is, with software developers earning a median wage of $43 an hour. Interestingly, this wage is predicted to go up even further, as many companies say that it is difficult to find people at the right skill level to perform the required tasks.
But what if you are one of the 4.4 million Americans without a college degree? Well, blue-collar jobs in the manufacturing industry are starting to make a comeback, with some of the better ones paying nearly $25 an hour. | <urn:uuid:d3eb7b64-b104-4f3d-b90d-4b6a489bb5af> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://q1065.fm/new-report-shows-wage-recovery-across-the-board-dollars-and-sense/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00040-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958897 | 308 | 1.929688 | 2 |
Write What You Know
Having read reams of online slush, I have labored through numerous manuscripts that give the lie to the principle of Write What You Know. IMHO, it leads to a lot of writing about mundane daily routines, what might be called the workplace novel, or perhaps, the house spouse novel, that could not be more atrocious as literary fiction. I cannot tell you how many novels I have glanced at that begin with waking up in the morning and getting breakfast together, or arriving at work and greeting ones’ office suite mates, or greeting one’s patients in a dentist’s office. It makes the authors sound like they don’t know what to write about, and who would want to read it? Yet hundreds of writers do it. They all sound pretty much the same, and their manuscripts will be round filed by end of paragraph one.
A much better idea is to write what you can imagine, using knowledge of matters that interest you to enliven and inform your fiction, and researching what you need to know to make it believable to others. Unless there is some particular drama occurring in the home or the workplace that is universally interesting and pertinent to the story line, I believe it is best to refrain from writing about the events of ones day. Follow the principle that every word you write should be germane to the theme, the story, or the character development and you will avoid this common mistake.
Correction: Know What You Write. Don’t Write What You Know.
Another principle that needs discarding is that art, in general, and writing in particular, is self-expression. I prefer to think of creativity as a process of self-abstraction. Looking at the etymology, what do these words tell us? To abstract is to draw away, implying a process of reaching within and drawing away certain selected gems, or so one would hope. To express oneself is to press out, and what is it that we tend to press out? I rest my case.
Correction: Abstract Yourself, Don’t Express Yourself. | <urn:uuid:da38a05d-211d-4eee-a9b8-e29cd2ecc44b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://bonalibro.us/blog/the-craft-of-writing/the-great-canards-of-creative-writing/ | 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 | 0.963649 | 429 | 2.109375 | 2 |
William P. Peterson
Journal of Statistics Education Volume 11, Number 1 (2003), www.amstat.org/publications/jse/v11n1/peterson.html
Copyright © 2003 by the American Statistical Association, all rights reserved. This text may be freely shared among individuals, but it may not be republished in any medium without express written consent.
by Carey Goldberg, Boston Globe, October 28, 2002, p. A1.
A recent study suggests that societal prejudice against the elderly is especially deep-seated, even among elders themselves. According to the article:
Over the last several years, using a novel test that employs a rapid succession of faces or names to study attitudes, psychologists found that unconscious prejudice against the elderly among all age groups is even more widespread than unconscious racism. Among tens of thousands of people tested, more than 80 percent associated old faces with negative words such as "failure" or "agony," while similar bias against African-Americans showed up in only about 70 percent of white and Asian test-takers.The test referred to here is known as the Implicit Association Test (IAT). It was developed by Anthony G. Greenwald, a University of Washington psychologist. The test involves sorting two series of words and pictures. The words represent good or bad qualities, and the pictures show young or old faces. In the first series, you must decide classify each item as being either "old or bad" or "young or good." In the second series, you must classify items as "young or bad" or "old or good." People generally take longer on the second series. The difference is construed as an indirect measure of prejudice against the elderly.
Most surprisingly, the researchers found that the old people among the research subjects - more than 10,000 of them - were every bit as biased against other old people as young people were.
The easiest way to understand this process is to try the online demonstration of the IAT for yourself. In fact, the study itself was based on a voluntary response sample of over 130,000 Internet users (10,000 of whom were elderly). While acknowledging that such a sample is not representative, the researchers noted that it would be difficult for respondents to fake their attitudes in this format. For more discussion of this approach, you can download a pdf version of the paper "Harvesting Implicit Group Attitudes and Beliefs from a Demonstration Web Site."
The Globe article concludes with a wry quote from Wallace Madsen, the author of Old is not a Dirty Word, who says "Growing old in this country is a crime. When you grow old, these idiot sociologists just keep sticking you in buses and taking you to see the fall colors."
by William J. Broad, New York Times, December 18, 2002, p. A 16.
How is the US military progressing with its proposed missile interceptor
technology? It seems to depend on how you keep score. Lt. Gen. Ronald T.
Kadish of the United States Air Force is the head of the Pentagon's Missile Defense Agency.
In a report to Congress last June, he reported an 88% success rate for the
prototype system, based on 25 tests which included both long-range and
short-range interceptors. The Times article quotes him as saying
This high rate of endgame success shows the feasibility of missile defense.
The availability of technologies to protect the nation should not be in
The online article from Arms Control Today argues that this is an overly optimistic assessment. The "endgame" refers to what happens after a missile has successfully launched and has begun seeking its target. Missiles that fail earlier in their flight are not being counted in the Pentagon figures. The authors write:
Endgame success rate is irrelevant: There is no reason to consider the endgame success rate rather than the overall success rate because quality control errors can and have occurred in all phases of the tests. Taking into account failures that occur both prior to and during the endgame, the overall success rate for midcourse systems drops to only 41 percent (11 of 27).
The problem of racial profiling by police in stopping and searching vehicles has been a topic of national debate for several years now. Massachusetts decided to conduct its own study, which looked at all 764,065 traffic tickets issued from April 2001 to November 2002 by 367 police departments in the state. The Globe obtained the data under the state's open-information law, and maintains a Web page devoted to the investigation. Along with archived stories from the paper, the site presents numerous charts and data graphics.
The data show that minorities are ticketed and searched at disproportionate rates. Blacks make up 4.6% of the state's population, but got 10.0% of the traffic tickets; Hispanics make up 5.6% of the population, but got 9.6% of the tickets. Overall, one stop in 60 results in a vehicle search. However, for blacks and Hispanics, the rate is one in 40. Because a primary goal of the searches is to find illegal drugs, it is interesting to look at the "hit rate"; that is, the percentage of searches that actually lead to drug charges. It turns out that the hit rate is higher for whites than for minorities, which makes the difference in search rates even harder to explain.
The second article observes that because "you can get a ticket when you are out of town ... the race of people ticketed can't be compared directly with a town's racial mix." Therefore, one part of the Globe analysis focused on tickets written by town police to their own residents. The results are presented in the first article, which notes that in 45 communities the black residents' share of the tickets is at least four times their proportion of the population.
In 2000, Governor Parris Glendening of Maryland launched an investigation of whether the death penalty was being fairly imposed in his state. The newly issued report from that study considers 6000 capital cases from the past two decades. Overall, the findings were consistent with previous studies in other states, which have found that the race of the victim is the crucial factor in determining whether prosecutors seek the death penalty. Specifically, the Maryland study found that the death penalty was sought more often in cases of blacks killing whites than in cases when blacks killed other blacks or when the killer was white. Race of the defendant did not appear to be a factor.
University of Maryland Professor Raymond Paternoster, who directed the study, cited the following dramatic illustration of the problem: "Baltimore County and Baltimore City are contiguous. But defendants in Baltimore County are 26 times more likely to get the death penalty. In social science, you don't find many things that huge." Baltimore County had one of the highest rates of death sentencing in the state; it also had one of the highest proportions of cases involving white victims and black defendants.
Maryland currently has 13 prisoners on death row, eight of whom are black. All 13 were convicted of killing whites. However, since the 1978 reinstatement of the death penalty, 55 percent of the cases where prosecutors could have sought the death penalty involved non-white victims.
by David Arnold, Boston Globe, January 21, 2003, p. C2.
When a recent poll asked 400 teenagers to pick the invention that they could not live without, the toothbrush came out on top. This sounds surprising until you read further and learn that the poll only provided five choices. Here they are, with the percentage of respondents rating them tops given in parentheses: the toothbrush (34%), the automobile (31%), the personal computer (16%), the cell phone (10%), and the microwave (7%).
The poll was conducted by the Lemelson-MIT Foundation, whose mission is to encourage inventors. The foundation has conducted annual polls for the last eight years on various aspects of inventing. You can read more on their press release Web page. For example, this year's poll was given to a sample 1000 adults as well. Among the adults, the top two responses were the toothbrush (42%) and the automobile (37%).
Last year's poll asked respondents to rank the top inventions of the 20th century, again from a list of five. The teens chose the personal computer (32%), the pacemaker (26%), wireless communications (18%), water purification (14%), and television (10%). The adults chose the pacemaker (34%), the personal computer (26%), television (15%), wireless communications (14%), and water purification (11%). The accompanying press release on the Web site quotes program director Merton Flemings as saying "The generational differences are quite striking. Teen preference for mobile devices over television - the opposite of their parents - is an interesting indicator of lifestyle changes ahead."
by John Allen Paulos, ABCNEWS.com, January 5, 2003.
by John Allen Paulos, ABCNEWS.com, February 2, 2003.
These are two installments from Paulos' online "Who's Counting" column, both of which concern privacy in the information age.
The "Future World" article describes a Pentagon surveillance program called Total Information Awareness (TIA), which is headed by retired admiral John Poindexter. (As Paulos reminds us, Poindexter is infamous for his role in the Iran-contra affair during the Reagan presidency.) The program is designed to use computer information gathering and data mining techniques to identify and thwart potential terrorists. Paulos describes the goals as "detect, classify, ID, track, understand, pre-empt," and notes the eerie parallels with the recent movie Minority Report. In the movie, however, the information about future crimes was provided by psychics. The TIA program would presumably be invading citizens' privacy by examining credit card records, telephone calls and Internet transactions.
The fact is that most people are not terrorists. Paulos points out that even if the system had a 99% success rate at both identifying true terrorists and clearing honest citizens, there would still be an enormous problem with false positives. To illustrate, he assumes a population of 300 million people of whom 1,000 are future terrorists. Then the system will correctly identify 990 future terrorists which is pretty good. However, it will also identify 1% of the other 299,999,000 people or 2,999,990 who are not terrorists as terrorists, leading "the system to swoop down on 2,999,990 innocent people as well as on the 990 guilty ones, apprehending them all."
The "Private Clicks" article describes a new stategy for online customers who object to marketing surveys that request their age, income, or other personal information. The traditional approach, he says, has been simply to lie. Now two IBM researchers have developed a program that would let customers enter their true data. The computer would then add random noise before reporting the information to businesses. For example, a random number between 0 and 20 could be added to or subtracted from the age field before sending it on. Bayesian statistical techniques would still allow the businesses to make the inferences they need. Paulos compares this with the randomized response approach to asking sensitive questions.
The Times story describes the methods of probabilistic risk assessment in applications that include hurricane forecasting, nuclear safety, and system analyses for the space shuttle. In the mid-1990s, NASA estimated the risk of catastrophic failure for the shuttle as 1 in 145 missions. At that time, the the shuttle's main engines were identified as the principal source of concern. The article reports that prior to the 1986 Challenger disaster, NASA had not shown much interest in probabilistic risk assessment.
The Post article echoes this view of NASA. It notes that three years after the 1-in-145 estimate, a number of safety improvements had been made, and the estimate was decreased to 1-in-245. But the article is still critical of NASA's response to safety concerns, noting that many proposed improvements have gone unfunded. It quotes Theofanis G. Theofanus, of the Center for Risk Studies and safety at the University of California at Santa Barbara, as saying "Once you have done your risk assessment, money becomes a factor, so you decide what is an acceptable risk. There is at least a nominal understanding between the people who perpetrate the risk [NASA] and the people on the receiving end [the astronauts]. You take your chance."
The Times article discusses a number of other risk assessment scenarios. For example, it devotes considerable attention to estimation of hurricane damage. Continuing advances in computing power have made it possible to perform thousands of simulation runs using historical data to predict future patterns of storms in terms of frequency, intensity, and path. Detlef Steiner, a mathematician at the Clarendon Insurance Group in New York, says that the most likely scenario for any given year would represent $50 million in liability for his company. He adds that "Every 100 years we might have $600 million. A thousand-year event might cost us a billion. But remember, a thousand-year event hasn't happened. A thousand-year event tells you Florida is gone."
The article explains that estimating hurricane damage is considerably easier than modeling the reliability of a complicated system like the space shuttle or a nuclear plant. Insurers can focus on final outcomes, while engineers must try to identify - and hopefully eliminate - the potential causes of failures. Assessing the threat of terrorism is seen as being more complicated still, because of the human factor. Hemant Shah, of the risk modeling firm RMS, explains that "hurricanes do not try to strike your weak points. In the case of terrorism ... you're modeling an adversary in the context of conflict."
by Carla Hall, Los Angeles Times, February 18, 2003, Section 1, p. 1.
Given the large sums of money spent on health care in the US, we would naturally like to believe that additional resources translate into better care. But a large study of Medicare patients, recently published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, indicates that this is not always the case.
The study included almost one million patients in 306 cities and counties (identified as "hospital referring regions") across the country. Average Medicare spending during the last six months of life was used to compare regions, after adjusting for demographic variables and variations in Medicare pricing. Los Angeles ranked third with an average spending of of $15,479 during the last six months of life. Manhattan was second at $16,333; Miami was first, at $17,564.
In regions where spending was high, patients with serious conditions did indeed get more treatment. In the aggregate, however, these patients were not found to have a longer life expectancy, nor did they experience better quality of life. The researchers estimate that Medicare outlays could be reduced by 30% without negative effects on health, but cautioned that any such reductions would need to be made judiciously rather than through across-the-board cuts.
The story was featured on National Public Radio's "All Things Considered." NPR has a Web page where you can listen to the audio file from the broadcast, and also follow links to related references. Of particular interest is an editorial from the Annals of Internal Medicine that explains how the study used "small area variation" as the best available alternative to a true randomized experiment.
William P. Peterson
Department of Mathematics and Computer Science
Middlebury, VT 05753-6145
Volume 11 (2003) | Archive | Index | Data Archive | Information Service | Editorial Board | Guidelines for Authors | Guidelines for Data Contributors | Home Page | Contact JSE | ASA Publications | <urn:uuid:6b65ab8b-ae87-4d91-b173-a749166c9c69> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.amstat.org/publications/jse/v11n1/peterson.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00051-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957364 | 3,202 | 3.296875 | 3 |
Front Page Titles (by Subject) CHAP. III.: The 6 first mention'd Points are proved out of the 20 Suppositions or Assertions next before-going. ( vizt ) - The Economic Writings of Sir William Petty, vol. 2
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CHAP. III.: The 6 first mention'd Points are proved out of the 20 Suppositions or Assertions next before-going. ( vizt ) - Sir William Petty, The Economic Writings of Sir William Petty, vol. 2
The Economic Writings of Sir William Petty, together with The Observations upon Bills of Mortality, more probably by Captain John Graunt, ed. Charles Henry Hull (Cambridge University Press, 1899), 2 vols.
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The 6 first mention'd Points are proved out of the 20 Suppositions or Assertions next before-going. (vizt)
AS to the first Point or Advantage: Which is that, granting the Catholicks in Ireland are to all others as 8 to one, or rather as 1157 Thousand to 143 Thousand, the whole People being 1300 Thousand Souls: We say that when a Million are Transported out of Ireland into England, the Proportions now and then are, and will be, as in the Table following. vizt
So as the Non-Catholicks left in Ireland will be as now about of the whole, or ⅛ of the Catholicks; And in England, after the Transportations of a Million, the Catholicks will be 915 Thousand, and the others 7185 Thousand; which differs little from the above-mention'd Proportions in Ireland. And having thus made this great Transplantation in Paper and Conceit, it remains to shew by what Means or Methods the same may be really executed.
I forbear to say that the Conquerors of ancient Times and even now in the Oriental Countreys, do execute their Conquest, by Carrying away Captives into their own Countreys, and not by Maintaining great Armies, in the Conquer'd Countreys, to keep the Conquer'd Party in Subjection, which Overplus of Number and Reputation will doe at home, especially, when the Conquerors have Land enough, to employ all the Hands both of their Conquering and Captive Subjects. Nor do we insist upon an Act of Parliament in Ireland, to force a Million of People to Remove out of their Native Countrey; or an Act of Parliament in England to force them hither: Which may be interpreted, in a Case between Catholicks and others, to be a Breach of the Liberty of Conscience lately granted by his Majestie1 . Wherefore, we shall rather shew, That it will be the Profit, Pleasure, and Security of both Nations and Religions to Agree herein. In Order whereunto we shall consider the Present Inhabitants of Ireland, not as old Irish, or such as lived there about 516 Years ago, when the English first medled in that Matter; Nor as those that have been added since, and who went into Ireland between the first Invasion and the Change of Religion; Nor as the English who went thither between the said Change, and the Year 1641, or between 1641 and 1660; Much less, into Protestants and Papists, and such who speak English, and such who despise it.
But rather consider them
1° As such as live upon the King's Pay.
2° As owners of Lands and Freeholds.
3° As Tenants and Lessees to the Lands of others.
4° As Workmen and Labourers.
As to the first, the King may command them to Dwell and Reside where he pleases.
As for Land-Owners, the King is able, and it would be his Profit, to buy a great Part of them out, at the present-full-Market-Rate. But without Compulsion. If the propounded Transplantation will raise the Prices from the present 10 Years Purchase or less, to about 20 as in England; And if the possess'd Landlords, not selling their Lands in Ireland, should make more Benefit of the said Lands and Stocks, by putting them under the new Method of Plantation, whilst themselves do withal become Farmers in England, for the Equivalent to their own Estates in Ireland.
As for the Tenants, Farmers, and Lessees now in Ireland, they may well remove into England to be Farmers there, to1 live in a more cultivated Countrey, and in more Elegant Company, and Variety of Entertainments; and where the Landlords of England shall see Cause to Lett them good Bargains and bid them Welcom.
And as for Labourers, it is manifest they live in Ireland cheaper than in England but by ⅓ Part; whereas their ordinary Wages is near double in England. But how these Tempting Profits shall arise, is the next Point of this Discourse.
James II.'s Declaration of Indulgence had been issued 4 April, 1687.
‘to’ inserted by Petty. | <urn:uuid:e790dccd-ebb2-412a-8fda-bd79d279b65b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://oll.libertyfund.org/?option=com_staticxt&staticfile=show.php%3Ftitle=1680&chapter=30781&layout=html&Itemid=27 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.93935 | 1,196 | 1.664063 | 2 |
Let’s face it. 3D printing is cool stuff. Being able to create your own models for various purposes like gifts or even desktop decorations is a pretty enticing concept. It’s yet to take off in a practical and accessible form, but that isn’t stopping developers from riding the wave and creating some cool stuff. That’s what a team of developers based out of Johannesburg has done with Paint3D. The application promises to let you create and print your own 3D designs straight from your Android-powered device!
The application isn’t available to the general public as of yet, but it surely demonstrates some really cool and futuristic capabilities. Hit the YouTube video after the break for a better idea of what Paint3D does and how it does it. | <urn:uuid:0388821e-f8c9-43ff-9de8-b8eb0739b071> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.talkandroid.com/95781-3d-printing-from-your-android-device-should-soon-be-possible-via-paint3d-app/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00057-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.931436 | 162 | 1.648438 | 2 |
I rather like monarchy. I like the pomp and ceremony. I like the sense of continuity. (The Papacy, the Japanese monarchy, the English monarchy and the Danish monarchy are the oldest political institutions on the planet; the English coronation ceremony has elements that date back to Anglo-Saxon times.) I like monarchy’s capacity to separate the power from the glory. I am well aware of precisely how dubious the antecedents of monarchies are (and the older, the more dubious). But, then, the antecedents of an awful lot of non-monarchies are fairly dubious too.
In Morocco …
In the Islamic Middle East, for example, the better places to live are the monarchies. (Well, not Saudi Arabia, but that is a bit of a special case, it being a jihadi state which happens to be a monarchy.) Journalist Michael Totten’s recent piece on constitutional progress in Morocco is a useful reminder of the value of monarchy.
… nineteen-person judicial council that drafted a new constitution that was ratified in 2011. …
Of the nineteen people on the judicial council, five were women, one was Jewish, one was from the Sahara, one was from the Islamic ulema, one came from the magistracy, five were professors of constitutional law, and the rest were professors of political science. A handful were prisoners during the lead years of Hassan II. …
The second committee—the one made up of representatives from the trade unions and political parties—was not as liberal as the king’s hand-picked committee.
A Muslim Middle Eastern state with a Jew on the committee drafting the constitution. Where more than a quarter are women. The contrast with, say, Egypt, which did some constitution writing recently, is striking.
The Alaouite dynasty first ruled a unified Morocco in the late C17th. Claiming descent from the Prophet, the dynasty has a lot of history behind it. It also has anti-colonialism credentials, since the current King’s grandfather, Mohammad V, led resistance to the French (and spent a few years in exile as a result). Credentials currently being put to good use:
Nadia Bernoussi, the law professor who helped draft the new constitution, grumbled a bit about how some foreigners see Morocco’s democratic reforms as a sham.
“Well,” I said. “The king wasn’t elected.”
She was taken aback by my bluntness, and I felt slightly rude saying it, but it’s true and every single Westerner in the world who looks at Morocco’s political system notices that and takes it into account. It is the most salient feature of her country’s government from our point of view.
“It’s true that the king isn’t elected,” she said, “but he has a different kind of legitimacy. He has national, historic, and Islamic legitimacy.”
This isn’t the sort of political sentiment Americans like me can relate to, but I did hear something I could understand and appreciate easily. When I asked uncovered Moroccan women if they fear the Islamists, they all said they did not. (In Tunisia and Egypt the uncovered women I know absolutely fear the Islamists.) But even the feminists in Morocco aren’t afraid of the Islamists. And when I asked why, all of them said “because of the king.”
While Islamists come in various shades, the most problematic, the fundamentalists, are modernists; folk who reject the inheritance of the past in favour of current conceptions, who believe the new is always better than the old. In their insistence in going back to the original “pure” Islam the fundamentalists reject all the painful process of learning that has occurred since. Traditional Islam is, in fact, their enemy. As one can see on display in the Timbuktu cultural vandalism from the Mali islamists or the cultural vandalism in Mecca under the al-Saud. Which is why the Saudi monarchy does not fit the pattern of the other monarchies, because it is so tied in with Wahhabi fundamentalism. It is a modernist, not a traditionalist, monarchy. (What the Taliban did in Afghanistan, what the Islamists have been doing in northern Mali and what the al-Saud have imposed in their realm have considerable similarities.)
The traditions in Morocco do incorporate a process of learning:
Morocco is still in many ways a conservative Muslim society, but the traditions it is conserving aren’t the same as they are everywhere else in the region. The country has a strong moderate Sufi current, and the religion as practiced and understood there has long been influenced by ideas from Sub-Saharan Africa and from Europe, which is only eleven miles away. Plenty of uncovered women are out and about in the streets. I didn’t see a single woman with her face covered the entire time I was there. Female genital mutilation, with an incidence rate somewhere between 78-97 percent in Egypt, doesn’t even exist in Morocco.
A process of learning that now includes democratisation. As Fatima Zahra Mansouri, the elected mayor of Marrakesh told Totten:
“We had the French protectorate period,” she continued, “but after independence we built our own institutions. And now we are building democracy. Democracy isn’t something that’s just declared. It has to be built. We have the separation of powers. And we will never tolerate radical Islam because our traditions here have been moderate for ten centuries. Look, Morocco is stable. We have a secular system. We have strong institutions and a growing economy. We are known as the door to Africa. We have so much cultural diversity here and I think we can turn into a model of human development. You have to live here to fully appreciate it. We can’t adopt a Western style of government yet, but we can strike a balance between who and what we are and what we will have to become.”
With the king providing a sense of continuity.
And in Syria …
The King has a view on the Syrian troubles, and is happy to publicly express it at a conference in Marrakech:
A messenger from His Majesty King Mohammed VI of Morocco hands me a pamphlet with a statement from the palace written in four languages. Helpful! Something for me to work with. The King of Morocco isn’t impressed with Bashar al-Assad. Doesn’t think he’s a reformer. Doesn’t think he’s a crucial part of the peace process. Of the war there he says, “This particularly serious and tragic situation is calling out to the conscience of mankind, given the ever-growing numbers of dead and wounded, tortured citizens, displaced persons and refugees. The numbers are set to increase dramatically if there is no resolute international reaction, especially as the Syrian regime has threatened to resort to weapons of mass destruction.”
Morocco is urging the United Nations Security Council to support a regime-change. That’s my phrase, not the king’s, but that’s what he’s saying. “I therefore call upon Security Council member states…to support the transfer of power in Syria for the establishment of a democratic multi-party system in which all representatives and components of the Syrian people would be involved.”
Meanwhile, the Bahraini monarchy appointed a Jewish woman as its ambassador to the US. Clever, really, but not an option any Islamic republic is likely to take up. But a traditional monarchy has, well, traditional credentials and so more room to manuoevre in such matters.
A much more dubious distinction for the Kingdom of Bahrain is that it was the only monarchy troubled by the Arab Spring. The problem not being poverty as much as Sunni domination of a Shia majority plus corruption and the frustrated aspirations to a more open politics that go with sectarian autocracy.
Free elections have chosen new governments in Iraq, Tunisia, Egypt, and Libya. When it comes, the fall of the Assad regime in Syria will mean elections there, too. The fake republics of the Arab world are going or gone, except for Algeria—where the army rules behind the façade of a “civilian” president. The Algerian military elites are known as le pouvoir, the power, in a system that Mubarak would have viewed as perfectly appropriate. There are elections, but everyone understands they are not sérieux.
Adam Garfinkle makes a similar point in explaining the loneliness of the Algerian regime, as the last “progressive” secularist military regime left standing in the Muslim Middle East, apart from the decaying al-Assad regime in Syria.
The contrast with the brutal way the Algerian republic dealt with (if that is the phrase) its Islamists winning an election and how the Hashemite monarchy of Jordan dealt with the same is stark, to say the least.
There are deceased monarchies in the Middle East–Libya, Egypt, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Yemen. But the post-monarchy experiences in those countries have not been happy ones. They were also mostly relatively recent dynasties and, in the case of Egypt and Iraq, foreign ones. (The one longstanding dynasty, Yemen, took a civil war with significant foreign intervention to dislodge.) The failure of those monarchies provide salutary lessons for sitting monarchs while what followed the fall of said monarchs should give pause to their subjects. The Sultan of Oman, for example, seems to be very comfortable with a free press as accurate news about the Middle East makes the Sultan’s liberal and prosperous rule look pretty good by comparison. In the Sultan’s Wikipedia entry, the section on his personal life begins:
Qaboos bin Said is an avid fan and promoter of classical music.
After a brief, childless marriage to a cousin, the Sultan has remained unmarried. Can we read the code? It is a feature of hereditary rule that it places folk of various sexualities on thrones by dint of the genetic and congenital diversity of humans. As well as, of course, (where it is not barred) women. Something, until very recently, republics were not much good at and monarchies remain well ahead in.
Vagaries and benefits of inheritance
Monarchy means inherited office, and rules of inheritance have their vagaries. The Kingdom of Hanover had semi-Salic law. This blocked Queen Victoria ascending to its throne. This meant that its monarchy was separated from the British monarchy upon her accession in 1837. Her uncle Ernest Augustus took the Hanoverian throne, taking an autocratic view of monarchy which was continued by his son George V. In 1866, the Hanoverian Parliament wanted to accede to the Prussian demand for unarmed neutrality in the Austro-Prussian conflict. George refused, Prussia invaded and abolished the Hanoverian monarchy, absorbing Hanover into the Kingdom of Prussia. If Hanover had remained in personal union with the Crown of the United Kingdom that would have, to say the least, complicated Bismarck‘s drive to unify non-Habsburg Germany.
But inherited office also means long time horizons. Though subject to normal human failings, the long time horizons of monarchy is one of its distinct advantages. As economist Mancur Olson pointed out that, the longer the time horizon of the ruler, the more their interests tended to converge with those of their subjects. One tends to be somewhat more careful and accommodating the longer you and your children are going to be living with the consequences of your decisions. Of the three major Axis powers, the two monarchies (the Kingdom of Italy and the Empire of Japan) found it easier to exit from fighting precisely because they were monarchies; there was someone with sufficient authority to say enough!. Nazi Germany had to wait until Hitler was dead (and assassination proved to be a less reliable alternative).
Not that long time horizons are enough in themselves. The Kim Family Regime (now in its third generation of rulers) seems to have gained rigidity, rather than flexibility, from its hereditary succession. But it is very much a modernist regime with the rulers more Theocrats-in-Chief than anything like a traditional monarchy (some analysts class the ruling ideology, Juche, as a religion, since it has an eternal President and now an eternal Secretary-General). The trouble with ruling in the name of eternal persons is you are rather confined by their precedents and, in such a completely totalitarian society, said precedents are all-pervasive. Creating a very strange, tyrannical and oppressive society.
The more traditional “the King/Queen is dead, long live the King/Queen” says “it’s all yours now”. Indeed, a judicious “being your own person” can be a great way to relieve certain stresses. This has a long history. The idea of getting the merchants to elect delegates to be consulted on matters fiscal goes back to Alfonso IX of Leon in the late C12th early C13th and involved explaining that the previous ruler (his Dad) had screwed up the finances, so … An idea that seems to have spread to England a bit later. Wrapping change in the aura of tradition is something monarchy can do particularly effectively. This balancing of continuity and change is precisely what the Moroccan monarchy is currently engaged in. The utility of monarchy as a social anchor is not lightly to be cast aside.
The Dynasts’ War
The Great War of 1914-1919 was by far monarchy’s greatest failure. Calling it ‘World War One’ is a foolish title, it was by no means the first world war. Consider the War of the Austrian Succession and Macaulay‘s evocative words about Frederick the Great:
In order that he might rob a neighbour whom he had promised to defend, black men fought on the coast of Coromandel and red men scalped each other by the great lakes of North America.
It was much more the Dynasts’ War because it was so much driven by the fears of the Hohenzollern, Habsburg and Romanov regimes about the implications of demotic politics–democracy and nationalism. All ruled realms whose borders were defined by nothing other than which territories the dynasties had managed to acquire and hold–so conflicted with the claims of nationalism–and sought to hold off democratic threats to their authority (or to the privileges of those who hid behind monarchial authority).
But all three monarchies paid for their gross failure by being overthrown and, in the case of the one “bloody-handed tyrant” of the three, Tsar Nicholas II, being killed along with his family. Shot in a cellar in the sort of gangster-execution one would expect from the ideological gangsters who succeeded him. And, who, of course, were far worse than he. As has often proved to be the case. (They were also, btw, far worse economic managers; the Soviet economy never achieved the growth rates managed by the Russian Empire under Nicholas, one of the more unimpressive Tsars.)
Comfort in continuity
Monarchies, like all else, are subject to selection pressures. Which brings us back to those long time horizons. Separating the power and the glory, wrapping change in the aura of tradition, providing the comfort of continuity, providing a social anchor. These are not small benefits. The British monarchy even provides a sort of quiet internationalism in spreading itself around so many realms.
And the role of monarchy in an evolved political system can be remarkably hard to unpick, if you do not want to make things worse. As the attempts to turn the Australian monarchy into a republic discovered.
In 1969, an opinion poll found 18% support for republicanism in the UK. In 2007, an opinion poll found 18% support for republicanism in the UK, a stable result only briefly (and mildly) disturbed by the outpouring over the death of Diana, Princess of Wales. There is much more good sense in that than many too-clever folk seem to grasp.
Yes, I rather like monarchy. | <urn:uuid:1551f5db-9477-4c04-8df6-60fa88e1ed9f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://skepticlawyer.com.au/2013/01/25/some-words-in-favour-of-monarchy/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00048-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962914 | 3,385 | 1.921875 | 2 |
I’m bemused by North American’s attitude when it comes to the environment. All this selfish, narrow-minded and ignorant garbage about new cars, big screen TVs and steak on the barbeque is deplorable. When are we going to wake up, take responsibility and recognize the problems we cause?
This past year, the Earth was rocked by a wave of natural disasters that were greatly intensified by climate change. These included mass heat waves across the globe, droughts in Russia and flooding in Pakistan, China and Australia – the list goes on. There were 950 natural disasters recorded, well over the decade’s average of 785, and the second-worst year since 1980. Of course, disasters like earthquakes and tsunamis are out of our hands, but with our planet’s rising temperature, other disasters are being amplified and wildlife is at risk. Who cares, right? Read more | <urn:uuid:c548843c-f2fb-40d8-95b0-ba98cabac98a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.citylifemagazine.ca/tag/tsunami | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00050-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963574 | 189 | 1.679688 | 2 |
1775 - He was born on the 10th day of February this year in London. He studied at Christ's Hospital where he formed a lifelong friendship with Samuel Taylor Coleridge. When he was twenty years old, Lamb suffered a period of insanity.
1796 – He contributed four sonnets to Coleridge's Poems on Various Subjects.
1798 - This was followed by Blank Verse this year.
1802 – He wrote Pride's Cure.
1807 – He wrote Tales from Shakespeare in collaboration with his sister.
1808 – He wrote the valuable retellings of classic works for children The Adventures of Ulysses. He worked for the East India Company in London for 33 years but managed to contribute articles to several journals and newspapers including the London Magazine, The Morning Chronicle, The Morning Post and The Quarterly Review.
1834 – He died on the 27th day December this year.
Page last updated: 1:52pm, 17
- "Boys are capital fellows in their own way, among their mates; but they are unwholesome companions for grown people."
- "Tis the privilege of friendship to talk nonsense, and have her nonsense respected."
- "Credulity is the man's weakness, but the child's strength." | <urn:uuid:a4b9bc2c-97a7-43c1-aef6-63984027af6d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.s9.com/Biography/Lamb-Charles | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00047-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.977941 | 264 | 2.78125 | 3 |
Steven Chu's Europe gas quote haunts President Obama
"As he has consistently said, Secretary Chu understands how much high global oil prices can affect families at the gas pump,” DOE spokeswoman Jen Stutsman said Tuesday. She said long-term relief will come from strategies like the administration’s drive for higher fuel-efficiency standards in vehicles, which will slash oil consumption and “save families $1.7 trillion at the pump.”
DOE didn’t reply to a question about what Chu intended by his remarks in 2008.Continue Reading
In describing Chu’s remarks three months after the fact, in December 2008, the Journal reported that he “has called for gradually ramping up gasoline taxes over 15 years to coax consumers into buying more-efficient cars and living in neighborhoods closer to work.” But the article said Obama dismissed one strategy for raising the price — a hike in the federal gasoline tax — on the grounds that it would put "additional burdens on American families right now.”
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, White House press secretary Jay Carney said Obama isn’t the cause of the rising prices and understands the pain they cause Americans.
“The fact is that the president is very aware of the impact that the global price of oil has on families and this is not something that this administration discovered, or rediscovered every spring, as some politicians do,” Carney said.
Experts have said that the price of oil, a global commodity, largely rises and falls based on forces such as unrest in the Middle East, demand by countries like China and activity in U.S. factories.
The monthly average retail gasoline price hit a modern-era peak of $4.26 a gallon in inflation-adjusted dollars in June 2008 — the summer of “drill, baby, drill” — before plummeting to $1.80 in the next six months during the financial collapse, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. The EIA predicts that prices will rise to as high as $3.64 a gallon this spring, while some pundits say they could hit $4 a gallon or higher.
This article first appeared on POLITICO Pro at 5:46 p.m. on February 21, 2012. | <urn:uuid:385b08bd-2b71-4214-a5dd-ba73ec49529d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0212/73138_Page2.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00062-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959782 | 467 | 1.695313 | 2 |
07 Mar 2011
Malware scam attacks websitesAccording to Mail Online, a recent malware scam have have affected tens of thousands of computers through malicious advertisements.
The scam involves several high-profile websites, including Autotrader, Vue and the London Stock Exchange. The advertisements caused fake virus warning pop-ups that, if clicked, would ask the user for payment to remove the fake virus.
According to reports, it’s believed only companies running PCs were affected by the malware. The London Stock Exchange shut down its website, while advertising company Unanimis spent three hours removing the malware.
“The adverts they chose to modify were not being widely distributed,” said David Nelson, operations and IT director of Unanimis, told the BBC. “This, coupled with the attack taking place on a Sunday evening, limited how many people fell victim. We have to count ourselves lucky in some respects.”
The Computer Security Institute recently released its year-long survey regarding computer crime and security. Of those surveyed, 45.6 percent reported they had been attacked at least once in the past year. Malware remains the most common attack, according to the report. | <urn:uuid:e0a033d6-1efc-4d7a-af74-8ed70fe666bb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bitdefender.com/security/malware-scam-attacks-websites.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959463 | 243 | 2.453125 | 2 |
The screen gets turned off during a phone call when the proximity sensor is covered. This is done to avoid accidental touch screen actions when you are in a call.
If the screen gets turned off immediately when dialing a number or receiving a call, check that the proximity sensor area at the upper front of the screen is not covered by any kind of protective film or tape.
You can take the following steps to check the issue. If the screen keeps turned off, the protector may not be of the right size and will block the sensor on the upper part of the front side. Then either remove the protector or cut off the plastic from the blocking area. | <urn:uuid:2383b053-012b-49a6-9f23-cbf2a7f43679> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nokia.com/ie-en/support/product/lumia800/troubleshooting/?action=singleFAQ&caseid=FA139001_en_US | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00043-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.920882 | 132 | 1.851563 | 2 |
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image by Dave Martucci, 25 February 2012
- indicates flag is known.
- indicates it is reported that there is no known flag.
Municipal flags in Washington County:
In December 1989, in an act to celebrate the 200th anniversary of Washington
County, Maine, the County Commissioners adopted a design by Bo Thott of the Town
of Cutler as the official County Flag. This act was the culmination of a design
contest that had been initiated more than a year earlier which had garnered 59
The design is a white flag bearing a coat-of-arms not based on the County Seal. It consists of a royal blue shield which bears a green pine tree and, in white outlined in black, the head of a moose, the head of an eagle, and a haddock. The tree is centered near the top of the shield with the moose to its left (as observed), the eagle to the right and the haddock below. Above the shield, for the crest, is a yellow rising sun. Below the shield is a yellow ribbon, edged in black, bearing the inscription in black letters "WASHINGTON COUNTY-MAINE".
Thott stated the emblems were chosen as follows: the pine tree represents the forestry and logging workers, the haddock represents the diversified marine fisheries industry while the moose and the eagle represent the wildlife associated with the county. The sun represents the fact that Washington County is the Eastern-most county of the United States.
In 1990 the commissioners appropriated $2,500 to have flags made by the Tri-State Flag Company of Lewiston, Maine which cost $56.32 each for 51 copies, including the gold fringe and pole hemming.
The "Bangor Daily News" on Thursday, 9 January 1992, Page 1, announced Commissioners Thomas Brennan, Robert Gillis, and Chairman Preston Smith would each visit the Washington County municipalities in their respective districts to distribute the 3x5 foot flags. Shortly after the announcement of the distribution, the County Commission came under fire by members of the public and the "Bangor Daily News" (Thursday 16 January 1992, Page 14) for spending this money in the face of severe economic distress that was being experienced by taxpayers county-wide. County Clerk Evangeline T. Hussey responded to the news editorial in the "Bangor Daily News" on Tuesday 21 January 1992 (Page 14) and defended the action.
It is not known if the flags were ever distributed to the municipalities but photographs of the County Commissioners in recent years clearly show this flag in their meeting room.
Dave Martucci, 25 February 2012 | <urn:uuid:d9384d09-6410-4409-9025-1365ee6539dd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.crwflags.com/FOTW/flags/us-me-ws.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00057-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955274 | 592 | 1.9375 | 2 |
NEVER TOLERATE TYRANNY!....Conservative voices from the GRASSROOTS.
This pamphlet is a "Must Read" as well as a "Must Share".
I bought 20 copies and gave them to family members, friends and especially to my grandkids.
Our children are being taught that the Founders were white, racist slave owners and wrote the Constitution accordingly. One of the parts of the Constitution these people use to illustrate their 'point' is the 3/5 clause, in which SLAVES [it does not say 'blacks'] would be counted as 3/5 of one person. The reason this was done was not to diminish the 'personhood' of the slaves but because the number of Congressional Representatives per state was determined by the census of each state. The Abololisionists in the North did not want the slaves to count at all while the slave owners in the south wanted them to count as a 'whole person' each. This had nothing to do with the humanity or dignity of the slaves but with the number of Representatives in Congress. If a vote came up [as surely it would] to abolish slavery, the numbers afforded by having slaves counted as one person each would have given the South an enormous advantage over the Abolisionists and it would have delayed the end of slavery in America.
There are so many parts of our history that are omitted by the liberals who have commandeered not only the classrooms but the content of the text books.
The MOST vital role we can play in our childrens' and grandchildrens' lives is to tell them the TRUTH about the history of this "Land Called America". Not just by telling them what we know but by encouraging them to look on their own and find that truth. As Glenn Beck says "Question with boldness, even the EXISTANCE of God".
When we search for truth it has more meaning when we find it.
Wayne's pamphlet is incredible and it left me wanting to know more and so I started digging and it is a delight to understand what made this Country the magnificant place and way of life she is!
Thank you, again, Wayne. You have blessed so many with your words and wisdom.
God Bless you and those you love, | <urn:uuid:5bd7a7bd-99cc-4bf8-899d-f6d07808ca28> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://tpartyus2010.ning.com/forum/topics/a-land-called-america-by?page=1&commentId=3180617%3AComment%3A56774&x=1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.977989 | 467 | 1.546875 | 2 |
“Horace Mann’s concerns were not with providing schooling but with making schooling an effective instrument for social reform,” notes education historian Charles L. Glenn Jr. in the May 2003 issue of School Reform News. “The issue with Horace Mann wasn’t having public schools, it was having the state control public schools. It’s a fundamental difference.”
Glenn—author of The Myth of the Common School, The Ambiguous Embrace: Government and Faith-based Schools and Social Agencies, and, Finding the Right Balance: Freedom, Autonomy and Accountability in Education—offers lessons from history and advice for private schools today. “I think schools that are very clear about what it is they stand for have a very good chance of maintaining their distinctive identity,” says Glenn. “It really depends on what the school does, not on what the government does.”
Page 1 of the May issue reports Colorado’s March 31 approval of a voucher program for students in roughly a dozen poorly performing districts in the state. Governor Bill Owens issued a statement praising the bill and saying he would sign the measure.
Page 1 also reports DC parents’ support for school choice, including President George W. Bush’s Choice Incentive Fund for the District of Columbia; and the difficulties Florida will have funding a voter-approved mandate to reduce class sizes in the state. Lexington Institute analyst Robert Holland notes Florida may have “one way to comply without drastic spending cuts or a tax hike: expanded school choice.”
A four-page Friedman Report profiles Cornelius “Con” Chapman, co-founder of the Coalition for Parental Choice in Massachusetts, and highlights school choice-related legislative activity in Arizona, California, Connecticut, DC, Louisiana, Michigan, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Utah, and Vermont. (Managing Editor Clowes welcomes reports from your state; his email address is email@example.com.)
Also in this issue: special education reform; the progress of school choice in 2002; lessons from Sweden’s voucher program; regulation of private schools; and the importance of parental involvement.
Newspaper Articles in this Issue
No matching newspaper articles | <urn:uuid:7ff589fd-f7ba-4b4c-9dbf-8403a4a11ca1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://heartland.org/newspaper/may-2003-school-reform-news | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00029-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950128 | 470 | 2.046875 | 2 |
WHO and Belgium: a network of experts in a segmented context
Deprived of legal constraints, the WHO seems to exist in Belgium through a network of actors that relay information among the various actors in the sector. This small interknowledge community manages to collaborate at various levels according to the current climate and moments which open up – or not – the doors of the ministerial cabinets. Dependent on relations with the competent ministers, this network is also led by heterogeneous dynamics according to which community they belong. Founded by uniting members of philosophical and different linguistic communities, they nevertheless manage to affect actors at numerous levels. Since they hold a variety of positions at a national and international level but also in local projects, they can also be the relays of knowledge produced and distributed by the WHO. If these actors try to keep the reforms on the political agenda, they just can do so by informing the sector and without being too prescriptive or constraining. Presenting themselves as facilitators and providing expertise when asked for, their strategy is the one of interessement.
Indeed, Belgium is structured into different philosophical and linguistic communities. The distribution of competences is relatively complex and can have consequences in terms of acceptance and implementation of international knowledge. In facts, these particularities participate in the act of functioning through compromise – the “Belgian compromise” – which is related to the consociative model of democracy. Indeed, decision-making in Belgium in terms of health as in other sectors, is never or rarely unilateral but the result of negotiations with many stakeholders and the theme of deinstitutionalization is very sensitive.
WHO performing in Belgium
At first view, the Helsinki process may seem to have had a considerable effect on the Belgian policy considering the number of references to the action plan among the official documents defining the major policy orientations in the sector. More troubling was the decision to create a pilot project putting into operation a care network – a recommendation that was part of the Helsinki action plan – taken in 2005, a few weeks after the WHO conference. The general policy note of the minister presenting the project refers to the WHO and its 2001 report in the introduction. Reference is also made to numerous others. However, an attaché to the minister’s cabinet points out: “But the Belgian reports are not a reaction to European reports…”; and when asking if a specific policy was elaborated in response to the Helsinki’s Declaration, the answer is unanimous: “As far as I know, nothing!”.
Following Helsinki, the Minister of Health, ordered the WHO Collaborating Centre, via his public administration, FPS Health, to carry out a feasibility study of the implementation of the plan in Belgium. The work was conducted by a multidisciplinary team including psychiatrists, psychologists and sociologists, and organized into two major parts. The first one consisted of an inventory of all the actions carried out in Belgium by all levels of power in the field of mental health. The second part consisted of a series of “validation seminars” whose confirmed objective was to reach a consensus, on the basis of the results of the first part, among a panel of experts, practitioners, and heads from various regions and structures, on the strengths and weaknesses of mental health policies in Belgium.
This activity of discussion and the cycle of validation, as other examples, shed lights upon another phenomenon. The Declaration of Helsinki does not constitute a clear guide for action. While it creates the adherence of the majority of actors, they nevertheless do not grasp the direct usefulness or exact reach of it. These norms have to be discussed, negotiated, tested, and related to the local context. In one word, they have to be appropriated and translated by the actors. Appraised from a situated rationality, the WHO recommendations do not seem to provide univocal action guidelines but rather a form of support, a resource for the search for “possible worlds” or for legitimization.
Conclusion: WHO performing through loops of translation
If Helsinki has not led to a specific policy in Belgium, this does not mean that these standards have not been effective. Indeed, the analysis of the relations between Belgium and the WHO suggest that we should move away from a hierarchical political model with a “top-down” influence. Providing resources for the definition of new policies and a certain legitimacy to maintain these issues on the agenda, the resulting influence seems to occur through far more sinuous and slow routes, requiring an intense activity of translation into local contexts. The WHO’s various recommendations only seem to exist as being retranslated into the present stakes On the other hand, the European Union seems to provide less cognitive resources than pressures for change.
We must therefore take an interest in these local projects, which reappropriate these recommendations through associations or external actors. Whether they are therapeutic projects, users’ associations or pressure groups, the analysis of this reappropriation and the dynamics which convey the information to more global positions through advisory organs or assessment mechanisms, is likely to enrich our understanding of the role of knowledge in the reconfigurations of public action. The study of these “strange loops” will thus fall under the scope of a perspective that takes into account the role played by all the “stakeholders” without, however, focusing on the political elites alone and the highest spheres of the State in accordance with the approach in terms of public action.
VRANCKEN Didier, SCHOENAERS Frédéric & CERFONTAINE Gaëtan, The WHO in Belgium: cross-level networking, KNOWandPOL Report. | <urn:uuid:371a3dff-eb5e-4030-8f04-44a0a33e2a3a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.knowandpol.eu/The-WHO-in-Belgium-cross-level.html?rub_id= | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00054-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952791 | 1,149 | 2.15625 | 2 |
Publication Type: Conference Paper
Source: Pedestrian and Evacuation Dynamics PED (2012)
When evacuating a high-rise building, two streams of evacuees meet at the landings: those who are already descending the stairs and those who are about to enter the staircase through the landing door. In this article, merging of these streams is studied with agent-based simulations using both queuing model and cellular automata.
The queuing model has a first in first out (FIFO) queue on each floor for agents who are about to enter the staircase. The landing has sufficiently space for the agents to enter according to the merging priority. The number of agents in the landing is limited by a maximum density and the flow is limited by a maximum flow, which depends on the width of staircase. In addition, the landing door width on each floor limits the flow of entering agents.
The cellular automata models movements of the agents in detail. This model does not use any fixed merging priorities but the joining is a result of simulated interactions between the agents and the building.
An evacuation of a high-rise building is simulated with both the queuing model and the cellular automata model. For the queuing model, the following merging priorities are used:
1) Stream in the staircase has a priority: agents waiting at the floors have to wait until the staircase is empty;
2) Stream from the floors has priority: agents in the staircase have to wait until the floor is empty;
3) Both streams have equal priority.
The merging priority does not have much effect to total building egress time. In the first case, the upper floors are evacuated more quickly than in the other two cases. The merging priority affects to the queuing and waiting times on the floors. Results of the cellular automata model are compared to queuing model with different merging priorities. Similar agent characteristics are used, but in the cellular automata model, the shapes and sizes of landings are varied. The effect of the landing shape to the merging priority is compared. | <urn:uuid:df0edfdc-01e0-41f9-a3dd-c7b025a5dec2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.evacmod.net/?q=node/2874 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00054-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948604 | 421 | 2.3125 | 2 |
One question is why this trend has occurred. The FT points to a combination of low-hanging fruit that has been plucked and increasing costs of drug development.
To some observers, that reflects the end of the mid to late 20th century golden era for drug discovery, when first-generation medicines such as antibiotics and beta-blockers to treat high blood pressure transformed healthcare. At the same time, regulatory demands to prove safety and efficacy have grown firmer. The result is larger and more costly clinical trials, and high failure rates for experimental drugs.Others point to flawed innovation policies in industry and governments:
“The markets treat drug companies as though research and development spending destroys value,” says Jack Scannell, an analyst at Bernstein Research. “People have stopped distinguishing the good from the bad. All those which performed well returned cash to shareholders. Unless the industry can articulate what the problem is, I don’t expect that to change.”The Wall Street Journal points to different approaches to and understandings of the role of innovation in drug development:
Mr [Andrew] Baum [of Morgan Stanley] argues that the solution for drug companies is to share the risks of research with others. That means reducing in-house investment in research, and instead partnering and licensing experimental medicines from smaller companies after some of the early failures have been eliminated.
Chas Bountra of Oxford university calls for a more radical partnership combining industry and academic research. “What we are trying to do is just too difficult,” he says. “No one organisation can do it, so we have to pool resources and expertise.” He suggests removing intellectual property rights until a drug is in mid-stage testing in humans, which would make academics more willing to co-operate because they could publish their results freely. The sharing of data would enable companies to avoid duplicating work.
Patrick Vallance, senior vice-president for discovery at GSK, is cautious about deferring patents until so late, arguing that drug companies need to be able to protect their intellectual property in order to fund expensive late-stage development. But he too is experimenting with ways to co-operate more closely with academics over longer periods.
He is also championing the “externalisation” of the company’s pipeline, with biotech and university partners accounting for half the total. GSK has earmarked £50m to support fledgling British companies, many “wrapped around” the group’s sites. One such example is Convergence, a spin-out from a GSK lab researching pain relief.
The challenge is for academia and biotech companies to fill the research gap. Mr Ratcliffe argues that after a lull in 2009 and 2010, private capital is returning to the sector – as demonstrated by a particular buzz at JPMorgan’s new year biotech conference in California.
Big pharmaceutical companies are scrambling to find ways to overcome the loss of tens of billions of dollars in revenue as patents on top-selling drugs run out. Many sound similar notes about encouraging entrepreneurialism in their ranks, making smart deals and capitalizing on emerging-market growth, But their actual plans are often quite different—and each carries significant risks.To what extent can approached to innovation influence the trend line in the graph above? I don't think that anyone really knows the answer. The different approaches being taken by Merck and Pfizer, for instance, represent a real world policy experiment:
Novartis AG, for instance, is so convinced that diversification is the best course that the company has a considerable business selling low-priced generics. Meantime, Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. has decided to concentrate on innovative medicines, shedding so many nonpharmaceutical units that it' has become midsize. GlaxoSmithKline PLC is still investing in research, but like Pfizer it has narrowed the range of disease areas in which it's seeking new treatments.
Underlying the divergence is a deep-seated philosophical dispute over the merits of the heavy investment that companies must make to discover new drugs. By most estimates, bringing a new molecule to market costs drug makers more than $1 billion. Industry officials have been engaged in a vigorous debate over whether the investment is worth it, or whether they should leave it to others whose work they can acquire or license after a demonstration of strong potential.
The contrast between Merck and Pfizer reflects the very different personal approaches of their CEOs. An accountant by training, Mr. Read has held various business positions during a three-decade career at Pfizer. The 57-year-old cited torcetrapib, a cholesterol medicine that the company spent more than $800 million developing but then pulled due to safety concerns, as an example of the kind of wasteful spending Pfizer would avoid.The outcomes will be worth following.
"We're going to have metrics," Mr. Read said. He wants Pfizer to stop "always investing on hope rather than strong signals and the quality of the science, the quality of the medicine."
Mr. Frazier, 56, a Harvard-educated lawyer who joined Merck in 1994 from private practice, said the company was sticking by its own troubled heart drug, vorapaxar. Mr. Frazier said he wanted to see all of the data from the trials before rushing to judgment. "We believe in the innovation approach," he said. | <urn:uuid:83a7c9b0-cde9-41a5-adc9-b10ad49868de> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://rogerpielkejr.blogspot.com/2011/02/innovation-in-drug-development-inverse.html?showComment=1297350045577&m=0 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00053-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957356 | 1,111 | 2.234375 | 2 |