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Preparatory meeting held on 14th April 2008 in Brussels
Preparatory meeting was focused on the organization of the autumn meeting in the Netherlands. The date of the working session is set at 15 until 17 October; venue to be decided. Workshop will be focused on the programmed enforcement in nature protection, especially in Natura 2000 sites and also CITES. The results of the working session should a.o. provide the GreenForce input to the further development of the Recommendation 2001/331/EC providing for minimum criteria for environmental inspections.
Expert meeting held on 3rd -6th September 2008 in Laufen (GE)
Workshop: From paper to practice
The meeting was attended by 41 participants from 19 Member States, Croatia, Serbia and the Commision. The workshop was held at Laufen in Bavaria. German and Austrian organizers prepared excursions with practical examples of management in Natura 2000 sites.
At the workshop were discussed minimum standards for management planning on Natura 2000 sites, transparency and participation, implementation of management plans from paper to practice, personal counterparts in Natura 2000 sites, conservation and restoration measures and financial instruments. First block of presentations gave an overview of the situation of Natura 2000 in GE, AT, NL, HU, LT. The presentations of the first thematic block showed transparent and participative ways of putting Natura 2000 management plans into practice. Practical examples of how land users and other stakeholders accomplish conservation and restoration measures by agreement were presented by representatives of GE, AT, NL, CZ, SP.
Participants discussed and analyzed the ingredients for success in engaging with stakeholders in three different working groups. Based on the experience of 21 countries the groups developed lists of key factors and indicators for a successful implementation of management plans. The third group generated a paper which underlined the significance of communication between the different participants for a successful implementation process.
Expert meeting held on 15th - 17th October 2008 in Garderen (NL)
Workshop: “Towards common guidelines for Greenforce”
The meeting was attended by 48 participants from 20 Member States, Croatia, Serbia and the Commision. The Netherlands organised an EU Workshop for enforcers and policymakers within the context of the Greenforce Network for Nature 2000 areas and the network for CITES enforcement (EWG).
The aims of the meeting were:
- To identify similarities, differences and gaps between Environmental Enforcement (Recommendation 2001/331/EC) and Green Enforcement;
- To present four European cases of Green enforcement similar to the framework of regulatory cycle used by Environmental Enforcement. Cases presented were: species, as for example birds of prey, spatial planning including compensation matters (Habitats Directive), CITES and Forestry;
- To find a basis for developing guidelines on European Minimum Criteria for Green Enforcement;
General conclusions from Garderen:
The meeting recognised that voluntary compliance allied to compliance promotion is always the preferred approach and first step in achieving Natura 2000 objectives. Enforcement is however necessary and a final step where voluntary compliance has failed to deliver, and these guidelines help to address these circumstances. There are also acute problems and situations where immediate action is required (e.g. immediate habitat and species destruction) Therefore, there is added value in having common voluntary guidelines in order to ensure effective and focused implementation and enforcement of Natura 2000 legislation. Such guidelines should focus on methodology, be of procedural nature and should contain key preventive and compliance promotion elements. Nevertheless, MS are responsible for formulating the enforcement and inspection plans.
The merits of such guidelines could be to ensure a level playing field amongst MS, to foster political will for enforcement, to provide practitioners with benchmarks and to ensure provision of adequate resources. These guidelines could strengthen Natura 2000 enforcement and may be of assistance in other areas of nature enforcement. The IMPEL project “Doing the right things” provide a very good starting point. They have proved to be useful for the MS that have already used them for enforcement of legislation. There is a need for compilation and exchange of good practice examples and experiences of MS, which should be incorporated into the guidelines.
Tools and channels for information exchange and communication between agencies and MS are needed.
4th Greenforce Plenary Meeting held on 3rd December 2008 in Brussels
Final reports from above mentioned meetings were discussed at the 4th Greenforce Plenary Meeting. Both reports were adopted by the participants. The Chairman emphasised the useful recommendations from these two meetings in relation to experience sharing on the management of forest NATURA 2000 sites, guidance elaboration as a possible tool to diminish infringement cases, and thanked the German, Austrian and Dutch members for their excellent organisation of the two meetings. The working plan for 2009 was approved.
More information about the Greenforce activities can be found on the web page of the network http://ec.europa.eu/environment/greenforce/index_en.htm
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Just look at the path on the sphere. Here it is in Google Earth:
The path on your map is strongly curved because your map uses a projection with lots of distortion. (The distortion grows without bound towards the poles and this path is getting close to the north pole.)
The distortion is necessary to explain the curvature of this geodesic on the map but the connection between them is subtle. More can be said that is at once useful, informative, and elegant. See whether you agree.
The OP's map uses a Mercator projection. Its salient qualities are that it is
Cylindrical: in particular, meridians are vertical lines on the map,
Conformal: any angle at which two paths cross on the earth will be correctly rendered on the map, and
Loxodromic: any route of constant bearing (on the earth) is rendered as a straight line segment on the map.
These properties make it easy to read some critical information directly off the map. In this context I am most interested in the angles made by any path with each of the meridians it crosses. (These are the bearings measured from the north.) For instance, the path depicted in the question starts in Canada, around 54 degrees latitude, making an angle of about 30 degrees with its meridian.
What we also need to know about a point at 54 degrees latitude is that it is closer to the earth's axis than points along the equator. In fact, it's cos(54) * R from the axis, where R is the earth's radius. (This is essentially the definition of the cosine. It helps to have some familiarity with cosines, so you understand how they behave, but you don't really need to know any other trigonometry at all. I promise. Well, one more thing: the sine of an angle is the cosine of its complement. E.g., sin(32 degrees) = cos(90-32) = cos(58).)
Finally, note that the earth is rotationally symmetric about its axis. This lets us invoke Clairaut's beautiful
Theorem (1743): On a path in any smooth surface of revolution, the product of the distance to the axis with the sine of the bearing is constant if and only if the path is locally geodesic.
Thus, since we are starting off at latitude 54 degrees at an angle of 30 degrees, the product in the theorem equals cos(54) * R * sin(30) = 0.294 * R.
How does this help? Well, consider what would happen if the path were to continue approximately straight on the map. Sooner or later it would rise to a latitude of 73 degrees. Using Clairaut's theorem we can solve for the bearing at this latitude:
cos(73) * R * sin(bearing) = 0.294 * R;
sin(bearing) = 0.294 / cos(73) = 1;
bearing = 90 degrees.
This says that by the time we reach a latitude of 73 degrees, we must be traveling due east! That is, the path, in order to be a geodesic, must curve so strongly that the initial bearing of 30 degrees (east of north) becomes 90 degrees (east of north).
(Of course I found the value 73 degrees by solving the equation cos(latitude) = cos(latitude) * sin(90) = cos(54) * sin(60). To do this yourself you would have to know that (a) sin(90) = 1 (because sin(90) = cos(90-90) = cos(0) = 1) and (b) most calculators and spreadsheets have a function to solve cosines; it's called ArcCos or inverse cosine. I hope you don't view this little detail as breaking my earlier promise about no more trig...)
After doing a few calculations like this you develop an intuition for what Clairaut's Theorem is saying. A path in a surface of revolution (like the earth) can be geodesic (locally shortest or "straight") only when (a) its bearing becomes more parallel to the meridians at points far from the axis and (b) its bearing gets more perpendicular to the meridians at points closer to the axis. Because there is a limit on how perpendicular one can get--90 degrees is it!--there is a limit to how close to the axis you can get. This constant adjustment of bearing (= angle to the meridian) and latitude (= distance to the axis) causes the apparent curvature of geodesics on most maps, especially on those using cylindrical projections, where the meridians and lines of latitude are rendered as vertical and horizontal lines, respectively.
Here are some easy implications of Clairaut's Theorem. See whether you can prove them all:
The equator must be a geodesic.
All meridians are geodesics.
No line of latitude, other than the equator (and the poles, if you want to include them), can be a geodesic. Not even a small part of a line of latitude can be geodesic.
Loxodromes (aka rhumb lines), which are lines of constant bearing, cannot be geodesics unless they are meridians or the equator. Not even a small part of such a loxodrome can be geodesic. In other words, if you sail or fly in a fixed compass direction, then--with a few obvious exceptions--your path is constantly curving!
Point 4 says if you fly from the Canadian Rockies at an initial bearing of 30 degrees east of north, you must appear, relative to north, to be constantly turning (to the right) in order to fly straight; you will never go north of 73 degrees latitude; and if you continue far enough, you will make it to Poland and will be headed roughly 150 degrees east of north when you get there. Of course the details--73 degrees and Poland and 150 degrees--are obtained only from the quantitative statement of Clairaut's Theorem: you can't usually figure out that sort of thing just using your intuitive idea of geodesics.
It is noteworthy that all these results hold on a general spheroid (a surface of revolution generated by an ellipse), not just on perfect spheres. With slight modifications they hold for tori (surfaces of bagels or truck tires) and many other interesting surfaces. (The sci fi author Larry Niven wrote a novel in which a small artificial torus-shaped world is featured. The link includes an image from the novel's cover depicting part of this world.)
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Chillul Tefila Bifarhesia, as well as halachicly challenged verbiage and dress, are external manifestations of a critical lack of personal yiras shomayim which has lethal consequences.
Rabbi Nissen Telushkin, zt”l (1881-1970), author of Taharas Mayim, believed Rabbi Miller’s thesis was unfairly scorned. Rabbi Telushkin maintained that the observance of the mitzvah of mikveh would have been far more widely observed in this country had rabbis not been so quick to condemn Rabbi Miller. In fact, Rabbi Telushkin has a rather lengthy treatment in his sefer of the New York City water system and makes mention of Rabbi Miller’s ideas as having some validity, referring to Rabbi Miller as a “gavra rabbah [great person] who dedicated his life to strengthening the observance of taharat hamishpachain this country.”
Do We Need More Mikvehs?
The Rema (Shulchan Aruch Choshen Mishpat 163:3), citing the Mahari Mintz (#7), requires the entire community to fund the building and maintenance of a public mikveh. This obligation pertains as well to those who do not use a mikveh themselves. The Chofetz Chaim in his Kuntress Ma’amorim (p.26) clearly states that building a mikveh (where there is none) takes priority over the building of a shul (where there is none), and precedes the purchase of a sefer Torah (where there is none).
Further, the Chazon Ish (Yorah Deah 1:23:5) calls for a mikveh to be maintained at the highest possible standards of aesthetics and cleanliness. Rav Moshe Feinstein, zt”l (Igros Moshe, Choshen Mishpat 1:42), finds that the obligation of building a mikveh applies when another mikveh is not within walking distance. This becomes incumbent when there is no mikveh within a two-mile radius (ibid. 1:40).
Mikvah U.S.A. is one of the leading organizations in the building of new mikvehs in the United States, participating in the building of kosher mikvehs in, among other locales, Ashland, Oregon; Bakersfield, California; East Denver, Colorado; Dayton, Ohio; Dunwoody, Georgia; Fairfield, Connecticut; Hillside, New Jersey; Irvine, California; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Port Washington, New York; Springfield, New Jersey; Stamford, Connecticut; and Yorba Linda, California.
And the organization has more than 100 additional applications for financial and design assistance in the building of mikvehs. Several of the projects are well underway. The organization, headquartered at 1461 42nd Street in Brooklyn, is led by Rabbi Yitzchok Bistritsky, Rabbi Shlomo Frand, Rabbi Yoel Israel, and Hershel Indig. Mrs. Shifra Grinblatt is the unheralded secretary and anchor of this organization.
Mikvah.org is a project of Taharas Hamishpacha International, presenting a deeper understanding of mikveh to families worldwide. Mikvah.org is dedicated to promoting and strengthening the observance of Taharas Hamishpacha, thus ensuring Jewish continuity. Mikvah.org is outstanding in encouraging and assisting in the building of mikvehs and reports extensively on mikvehs that were recently built, just completed, or presently under construction.
Mikvah.org publicizes many facets of mikveh and family sanctity. Its Internet directory of mikvehs around the globe is the most complete available; its wide range of stories, essays, and articles are absolutely inspiring; and the organization offers items that are sure to enhance the mikvehexperience. Their Taharas Hamishpacha International is a division of Chabad-Lubavitch.
Established in 1906, Beth Israel of Westport/Norwalk, Connecticut, is currently the epicenter of a population of more than 10,000 Jewish families. Led by Rabbi Yehoshua S. Hecht since 1984, the shul is a bastion of outreach. Rabbi Hecht is also the long-serving president of the Rabbinical Council of New England.
In 2007, Israeli Chief Rabbi Yonah Metzger encouraged the establishment of a community mikveh in Westport/Norwalk that would cater to the needs of today’s Jewish women, offering the opportunity of a deeply moving religious experience. Rabbi Metzger was introduced to this mikveh project – Mikveh Chana-Mei Leiba – at a special reception held by the Rabbinical Alliance of America at Congregation B’nai Israel of Linden Heights in Brooklyn.
The mikveh must be a gorgeous facility, a spa for the body as well as the soul. As such, the mikveh will serve as a powerful magnet drawing women to the fullness of Judaism, guaranteeing the purity of future generations.
The Westport/Norwalk area boasts beautiful homes and high-income families. One of the great spiritual leaders of Beth Israel was the much beloved Rabbi Israel Yavne, zt”l, who was responsible for the relocation of the synagogue from downtown South Norwalk to its present location in the beautiful tree-lined area of King Street on the Norwalk/Westport town line.
A functioning mikveh in the Norwalk area was originally built as early as 1875, but in 1955 the mikveh that was located in the basement of the old beautiful South Norwalk shul was filled in due to disuse and disinterest. Rabbi Hecht has assumed the mission of seeing the new mikveh materialize. In addition, his father, Rabbi Abraham B. Hecht, rabbi emeritus of Congregation Share Zion of Brooklyn and president of the Rabbinical Alliance of America, has contributed a substantial sum to hurry its development from planning to reality.
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Florida is famous for sparkling water. We have the beautiful Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico surrounding our coast. We have bays, lakes, canals and, of course, an incredible abundance of swimming pools in homes, resorts, apartment complexes and city parks.
The buzz is back as Camp Gan Israel Florida Overnight gears up for another fantastic summer, CGI Florida style. What makes CGI Florida so different from all the other overnight camps? It’s all in the details.
Leah Katz, a TeenZone camper at Oorah’s TheZone summer camp and an 11th grader at Midwood High School, read her winning essay about how TheZone changed her views on Judaism at the Jewish Heritage Awards Ceremony held at Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes’s office in April. The purpose of the Jewish Heritage Essay Contest is to acquaint public school students with Jewish history and customs and to help foster a deeper understanding of Jewish culture. The contest is open to students of all ethnic and religious backgrounds. Leah’s essay is reproduced in full below.
Moshe Sharett, the head of the Jewish Agency’s Political Department, visited Egypt in 1945. In Cairo he met a most remarkable young woman, a beautiful journalist who was the darling of Egyptian high society – from high-ranking military brass, to culture icons and Muslim sheikhs, to the court of King Faruk.
The two proceeded to talk about everyday things and surprisingly her mother-in-law did not find anything else to criticize. This occurred a few more times, with my client changing the topic every time by complimenting her mother-in-law or mentioning something positive about her.
There is always a lot of confusion surrounding sensory processing disorder – mainly because there are many different diagnoses that fall under the catch-all phrase sensory processing disorder (SPD). Among them are three specific subcategories:
The doctor had warned us that even if we did everything right and followed the protocol after the follicle was of the right size, there was no guarantee of success. Fertilization still had to occur, and just like couples do not necessarily become pregnant every month, we had no way to know if we were actually expecting for two full weeks.
The next chapter of the award-winning novel.
Jewish Press columnist Rebbetzin Esther Jungreis, founder and president of Hineni, the international Torah outreach organization, recently addressed an overflowing audience at the Beth Jacob Congregation of Irvine in southern California. Rebbetzin Jungreis’s address theme, “Making a Good Relationship Magical,” was apropos for the evening’s main mission: raising funds for the Irvine community’s mikveh.
You have probably been planning your marriage since you were about three. Let’s fast-forward to a big milestone– your twenty-fifth wedding anniversary. (Don’t worry, you don’t look a day over twenty one!) Now, would you appreciate your husband buying you a dozen roses that some florist recommended?
As I mentioned in my earlier articles about our family trip to Israel, our night flight went pretty smooth, thanks to my children’s willingness to sleep throughout the flight. I, on the other hand, didn’t sleep a wink and I wasn’t feeling too great by the time we landed. But we were finally in Israel, and just being in the beautifully renovated Ben Gurion airport and hearing all the Hebrew around us was exciting enough.
Printed from: http://www.jewishpress.com/sections/community/my-machberes/my-machberes-16/2012/05/09/
Scan this QR code to visit this page online:
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Happy New Year everyone. As I wrote a few months ago, 2013 will be the year of brilliant comets including C/2012 S1. If the predictions hold, the comet will be a binocular object in August and moving up to naked eye status by November when it peaks at month’s end. Astronomers estimate C/2012 S1 will outshine the full moon thus becoming the brightest comet in history and be seen during the day. Only time will tell and is still many months away. But for now, we have Comet C/2012 K5 (Linear) that was gliding through Ursa Major and is now moving quickly in Auriga. At magnitude 6.5, it should be an easy catch in any telescope. Let us not forget Comet 168P/Hergenrother that is well placed overhead and only a few arc minutes from the Andromeda Galaxy. At magnitude 11.3, this one might be a bit more difficult.
Anyone walking the dog or taking a stroll around supper time on a clear night will notice the wealth of bright stars in the eastern sky. By 8 p.m. the bright suns of Taurus, Auriga, Orion, Gemini, Canis Minor and Canis Major are all visible. The crisp wintery air magically allows them to shine even greater. Along with these mini beacons is the king of planets – Jupiter. In fact this planet is well placed between the Pleiades Cluster (M45) on its right and Aldebaran with the ‘V’ shaped Hyades cluster to its left. Here is a little example of perspective.
Although the sky appears as white dots on a black wall and all seem to be the same distance from us, they reside at different distances like cars in a shopping mall parking lot. For instance, Jupiter is a mere 49 light minutes from us while super-giant Aldebaran is just over 65 light years away. Meanwhile the Hyades Cluster is listed at 153 light years away and the Pleiades Cluster is close to 430 light years. So next time you are scanning or imaging these four objects, picture them in a distance scale. More on Jupiter later.
From Aldebaran, move some 15 degrees to the left till you come to the end of the bull’s left horn. At a distance of 420 light years, third magnitude Zeta Tauri is a class B2 blue subgiant star with a surface temperature of 22,000 Kelvin. It spins at an astonishing 330 kilometres per second or 115 times fast than our Sun. From here, move a little more than a degree north till you come across a faint patch of light. You are now looking at the smoky remains of a once living star, welcome to the Crab Nebula. This was the first entry on Charles Messier’s list of non cometary objects and is so catalogued as M1. Imagine you are back in the year 1054. An especially bright star some four times brighter than Venus appears and for 23 days was seen during daylight hours. The Crab is located some 6,500 light years away – a nice safe distance because the estimated energy of 400 million suns was released in the blast. As in most cases – a neutron star remains as the only After this mammoth explosion the remaining neutron star now measures 30 km across and spins at 30 times per second (movie ).
Using Aldebaran as a marker, move three and a half degrees to a bright scattered open star cluster registered as NGC 1647. It measures 45 arc minutes wide and is listed at magnitude 6.4 or just under naked eye visibility. This would be a great visual test from a dark sight when the moon is absent. Because of its size, this splash of ten stars is best seen in wide angle binoculars.
If you like to hunt down remote galaxies, numerous targets are set on the Taurus/Eridanus border with more below Orion’s shield. Epsilon Tauri is a bright 3.6 orange giant star 147 light years away with a spectral class K0. For a real challenge, locate the pair of interacting galaxies (NGC 1410/1409) on the southern border of Taurus. These two reside some 300 million light years away and are around the fifteenth magnitude range. In 2007 astronomers discovered one extrasolar planet orbiting this sun. Now move your scope one and third degrees west to NGC 1555 – aka Hind’s variable nebula. Here we are witnessing the early stages of a new star’s development still embedded in its molecular cloud.
Other than the moon when present, Jupiter rules the night till it sets at about 5 a.m. local time. The King of Planets is presently in retrograde motion and moving westward with the stars. This is the result of Earth moving faster as does a race car on the inside lap. Jupiter will become stationary on the 30th and then continue its usual easterly motion against the stars. Check the 2013 edition of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada’s Observer’s Handbook for numerous satellite and shadow timings. The gibbous moon brushes by Jupiter on the night of the 21st. Saturn is slowly distancing itself from the morning solar glare and is visible in the ESE around 3:30 a.m. local time at the beginning of the month and two hours early at month’s end.
The first meteor shower of the New Year will peak on the night of January 2 at 10 p.m. EST. Anywhere from 80 to 100 shooting stars can be seen in an hour during this peak but you will have a few hours of dark sky as the moon will rise at 12:39 a.m. local time. Speaking of moon, this month’s new moon occurs on the on the 11th at 2:14 p.m. EST while the full Wolf Moon occurs on the Jan 26 11:38 p.m.
Until next month, clear skies everyone.
Gary Boyle
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ATLANTA - A recent report that appeared on the evening news suggested a link between the administration of recommended childhood vaccines and the development of diabetes - and most likely resulted in an increase in calls to pediatricians' offices from panic-stricken parents.
According to the report on ABC World News Tonight routine childhood vaccines could increase or de crease a child's risk of developing juvenile onset diabetes, also known as diabetes type 1 or insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus, depending on when the vaccines were administered.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released a response taking issue with the televised report. The CDC report said that no evidence has established a link between vaccination and diabetes.
Frank DeStefano, MD, with the CDC Vaccine Safety and Development Activity, said there are clearly no verified findings to show that vaccines cause diabetes or increase the risk of developing diabetes in humans, the original research raising the hypothesis is questionable at best.
"There is no evidence to say that there is an increased risk of developing diabetes if immunizations are given at 2 months or older - even in the animal models," he said. "I don't know where that kind of reasoning came from or the idea to explore that there might be an increased risk."
The only evidence suggesting a possible increase in risk are studies by John B. Classen, MD. He suggested that if certain vaccines are given at birth, they may decrease the occurrence of diabetes. However, his research also indicated that the occurrence of diabetes increases if the initial vaccination is given after a child is 2 months old.
Classen started a company to commercialize his research findings, according to Robert T. Chen, MD, chief of Vaccine Safety and Development Activity at the National Immunization Program. DeStefano and others at the CDC question these findings because Classen's theory is based on animal experiments. In addition, he compared diabetes rates among countries with different immunization schedules, which may be comparing apples to oranges. Finally, many of the experiments used anthrax vaccine, which is rarely used in children. The comparisons between countries involved bacille Calmette-Guérin vaccine, which is rarely used in the United States, and smallpox vaccine, which is no longer used in this country.
"It's difficult to interpret those kinds of results because countries differ in a variety of factors besides their immunization schedules. Their genetic compositions differ, other environmental exposures are different and even adherence to the recommended schedule may not be complete," he said.
Classen has also noted a rise in diabetes among Finnish children younger than age 10 who received measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine. The rise was noted in 1983, and an MMR immunization program was launched in 1982. The rise in diabetes cases was not seen unvaccinated 10 to 14 year-olds.
A rise in diabetes was also seen in the United Kingdom in children 5 to 9 years in 1995 following a massive measles and rubella immunization program in that age group, according to Classen's data.
Classen's analysis of pertussis vaccine had similar results. He said that the incidence of diabetes in children younger than 5 years in Finland rose 64% after the pertussis vaccine was made more antigenic. His U.S. pertussis studies in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, found that diabetes incidence rates decreased during the pertussis scare of 1975-1979 and rose again following the scare.
Hepatitis B immunization began in New Zealand in 1989, followed by an increase in diabetes incidence, according to Classen's data. Almost all the immunizations occurred in children 6 weeks or older.
Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) vaccine is another vaccine implicated by Classen's group in their reports. Because Hib vaccine is never given at birth, DeStefano said the CDC is observing whether an increase in diabetes occurs following its administration, as implicated in Classen's study.
According to the CDC report, Classen's study conducted in Finland using Hib vaccine involved more than 100,000 children who randomly received either four doses of vaccine starting at 3 months of age or a single dose at 24 months of age.
During a 10-year follow-up, 205 children in the multiple-dose group developed diabetes, compared with 185 in the single-dose group. The results of the study are inconclusive because the exact number of children in each group is unknown.
Additional studies of a possible link between vaccines and diabetes are currently underway through the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the CDC.
The NIH is sponsoring an extensive review of the world's literature and on-going research on the subject. The NIH is also planning an international conference on infections (including immunizations) and diabetes.
DeStefano said the CDC is working with four health maintenance organizations for its study, which will use automated vaccination data as well as health care data and diabetes registries. Based on an initial analysis that looked at available computerized data sets, investigators determined that individual chart reviews were necessary to attain more details about vaccination information.
The issue first reached national prominence in January 1995 when the NIH convened a special meeting to review some of the data generated by Classen and to further explore the possibilities.
The consensus of the NIH panel was that no clear evidence existed to support a change in immunization policies or practices. The CDC agrees that the additional evidence since that time is not sufficient to change the NIH conclusion, DeStefano said.
For more information:
- Classen JB, Classen DC. Vaccines modulate type 1 diabetes. Diabetologia 1996;39:500-1.
- Classen DC, Classen JB. The timing of pediatric immunization and the risk of insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus. Infectious Diseases in Clinical Practice 1997;6:449-54
You can express your views on this article, or other relevant themes, in the Infectious Diseases in Children Specialty Forums.
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When you regularly make prints on your ink jet printer you will quickly discover that ink will run out sooner than you think and photo quality paper is much more expensive than office paper. There are alternatives however.
Just like in the old days, when you took your conventional film to a print service nearby, there are several shops or stores that offer digital print services.
You just take along your memory card, CD or diskette with images and have them printed on photo quality paper at reasonable cost. In fact this service is only marginally more expensive than having 35mm or APS pictures printed.
An alternative would be to send your images to one of several digital print services through the Internet. After downloading a small program on your computer, your images are uploaded straight from your hard disc to the digital print service of your choice.
They will process the order for you and your images can be collected at selected stores or sent to you through the mail.
This service is ideal if you want to have good quality prints made of your manipulated images or would like to have total control over how your images look. No more hassle with wasted paper and ink, and definitely cheaper in the long run.
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This is an Op-Ed by two fantastic Feminist Law Profs, and it is accessible here. Below is an excerpt:
The news that Sarah Palin’s unwed teenage daughter is pregnant highlights a surprising reality in today’s America: The ultra-conservative morality many associate with the red states is out of step with the reality of 21st century America. Today’s America rewards women who avoid teen pregnancy, study longer and marry later.
The ultra-conservative morality espoused in the Republican platform, on display this week at the GOP convention, emphasizes a “traditional understanding of marriage.” The platform seeks additional funding for abstinence education, which teaches abstinence until marriage as the responsible and expected standard of behavior,” pointing out that abstinence “is the only protection that is 100 percent effective against out-of-wedlock pregnancies.”
That’s the platform. The reality is that red states have higher teen pregnancy rates, more shotgun marriages and lower average ages of marriage and first births than blue states. Teenage girls in the red states are more likely than their blue-state sisters to have sex and get pregnant, marry early and get divorced, stop going to school and go to work and end up raising their children in poverty. …
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October 2nd, 2012
04:46 PM GMT
Editor's note: The Outlook series spotlights a country to give a deeper understanding of the business, industry and consumer trends that fuel its economy. While exploring the current challenges and opportunities facing a country's economic progress, Outlook also seeks to provide an insight into its future development.
Roughly the size Portugal, Taiwan has become the world’s 18th largest exporter, according to the CIA World Factbook, and has been transformed from an economy largely reliant on agriculture to a powerhouse in the manufacture of computers, microchips, semi-conductors and other IT equipment.
Taiwan has plenty of niche players - small and mid-size businesses – some globally renowned technology brands and an improving infrastructure. A high-speed rail link completed in 2007 connects the island’s northern tip to the southern port city of Zuoying in 90 minutes.
But with its main industries highly reliant on exports (mainland China, Hong Kong and the U.S. are its largest export destinations), it is vulnerable to economic "shocks" like the global recession that saw its economy shrink in 2009. Despite a 5.2% growth in GDP in 2011, according to the CIA World Factbook, its exports have fallen over the past six months.
It also faces fierce competition from its Asian neighbors, especially from its largest trading partner, mainland China.
From next week CNN debuts a week of programming that looks at Taiwan in depth. Can the “Asian tiger” still roar in the global economy?
Taiwan fast facts:
Population: 23.1 million
CNN’s Outlook series often carries sponsorship originating from the countries we feature. However CNN retains full editorial control over all of its reporting. Read more about CNN's sponsorship policies
From around the web
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Friday, December 10, 2010
Jack Warner and Stage Adaptations
The Man Who Came to Dinner is on as I write, an adaptation of a stage play that sticks as close to the original as a movie can get away with: though it "opens up" the play by adding some outdoor scenes or moving some scenes to different rooms in the house, it carries over large chunks of the play unchanged, and doesn't try that hard to disguise the fact that the whole play (like most stage comedies of the era) took place on a single set.
I'm not saying this to criticize the movie, just to make an observation about stage adaptations from this studio, Warner Brothers: it seems to me like when Jack Warner bought a play, he preferred to adapt it for the screen with as few changes as possible. At WB in the '40s, '50s and '60s, Broadway-to-Hollywood adaptations often included a relative minimum of changes to the structure or story of the original play, and frequently used people from the original production.
The same year as Dinner, WB also adapted James Thurber and Elliott Nugent's play The Male Animal. While this adaptation was tinkered with more than most (the ending was changed to something more upbeat), a lot of it is very faithful, and Warner hired the play's original writer and star, Elliott Nugent, to direct the film. The Voice of the Turtle, also based on a play that starred Nugent, has to do some rewrites because of censorship, but is still pretty recognizably a filmed play.
Then you have the '50s Warner productions that are almost like co-productions with the original Broadway production. It started with A Streetcar Named Desire: same director as the original, much of the same cast, with one principal role (Blanche) re-cast with a movie star. This pattern was used in the two George Abbott adaptations, The Pajama Game and Damn Yankees: everybody from the Broadway show except one star. (I hate to say it, but Pajama Game might be better off if more of the Broadway cast had been replaced. John Raitt and Carol Haney don't come off well on the screen.) When director Mervyn LeRoy came back to Warner Brothers, most of his work was on extremely stagey stage adaptations like Gypsy and Mary, Mary.
There are some WB stage adaptations that take bigger liberties. Arsenic and Old Lace makes some real changes to the play, probably because the director, Frank Capra, had more say over the script. But on the other hand, when Alfred Hitchcock made Rope and Dial M For Murder for Warners he didn't even bother including the obligatory outdoor scenes.
Other studios had a range of attitudes about how to adapt a play. MGM tended to be pretty faithful to stage plays (especially if George Cukor was directing) and less faithful to musicals. While over at Fox, wholesale rewriting was often the rule -- look at Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, which has almost nothing to do with the play. Compare Warner's My Fair Lady to Fox's The Sound of Music the following year. The former uses almost the same exact script as the original play, all of the same songs, and even similar sets and costumes. The Sound of Music, even before the director came onto the project, had been rewritten and re-shaped quite a bit.
That this was a Warner preference seems to be confirmed by his biggest project after he left his studio: He may have decided to re-cut 1776, but it was also his decision to do most of it on one set with most of the original Broadway cast.
I don't know if this preference for more-or-less faithful adaptations is addressed in any Warner biographies. It might just be part of his economy-mindedness: don't waste time adding things to a script that's already been successful, and don't build a lot of new sets or go outdoors more than necessary. When his lieutenant Hal Wallis went out on his own, he had an approach to stage adaptations that was a lot like Warner's (in Boeing Boeing and other such claustrophobic films based on successful plays), so it might be part of the whole studio's aesthetic.
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WOYLIE or BRUSH-TAILED BETTONG (Bettongia penicillata) ©Martin Harvey
The Woylie once inhabited more than 60% of the Australian mainland but now occurs only on less than 1%. It is strictly nocturnal and is not gregarious. During the day it rests in a well-made and hidden nest which consists of grass and shredded bark. It digs out food such as bulbs, tubers and fungi with its strong foreclaws. Its habitat includes chicken hutchs and scrubs as well as arid shrublands and grasslands.
The Woylie has an unusual diet for a mammal. Although it may eat bulbs, tubers, seeds, insects and resin, the bulk of its nutrients are derived from underground fungi, which can only be digested indirectly. In a portion of its stomach, the fungi are consumed by bacteria. These bacteria produce the nutrients that are digested in the rest of the stomach and small intestine.
Fact Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woylie
Other photos you may enjoy:
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She took a stand for justice by staying seated on a bus. Rosa Parks, the civil rights icon whose courageous act of resistance to racial segregation sparked the historic Montgomery bus boycott of 1955, was honored in Washington on Feb. 27 when a life-size statue of her was installed in the Capitol’s Statuary Hall.
The Parks statue is the first statue of a black woman to be included in the famous and frequently visited hall. The honor for her was both deserved and appropriate, as Black History Month was ending and Women’s History Month was beginning.
Parks, who died in 2005 at the sage age of 92, is sculpted in bronze as she looked on Dec. 1, 1955, when she refused to give up her seat to a white man on the racially segregated bus system in her Alabama city. Her act of civil disobedience sparked the year-long and ultimately successful boycott that catapulted a young local minister named Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. into a leadership role in the nascent freedom movement in the Jim Crow South.
During that time, white politicians, police, publishers and preachers — most of them conservative “Solid South” Democrats — used jails, beatings, murder and institutionalized oppression against Southern black people who sought such American freedoms as the right to vote and the right to protest against governments abusing citizens.
At the same time that her statue was unveiled in the Capitol, Republicans in the building were blustering through a budget battle against Democrats and, not far away, Republican-appointed conservative Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia was calling the landmark 1965 Voting Rights Act a “perpetuation of racial entitlement.”
Rosa Parks and the rest of the leaders and foot soldiers in the civil rights movement knew then and now that no matter which political party holds power, voting is a hard-won right, not an easy entitlement.
Calling her “slight of stature but mighty in courage,” President Barack Obama said at the statue’s unveiling that Parks “takes her rightful place among those who have shaped this nation’s course.” Indeed, throughout America’s history it often has been protesters and not presidents who have shaped the course of this nation by taking stands against injustice, repression, ignorance and war.
Helen Keller, like Parks, was an Alabaman whose likeness is included in Statuary Hall. Keller was an American socialist who championed leftist causes like the labor movement, women’s rights and opposition to World War I. Parks no doubt would agree with her fellow Alabama activist Helen Keller, who said, “Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing.” The long life of Rosa Parks definitely was a daring adventure.
Parks also might be both bemused and amused at the statues of such unreconstructed white supremacists as Mississippi’s Jefferson Davis and Georgia’s Alexander Stephens that are not far from her bronze image in Statuary Hall. Davis was the president of the Confederate States that fortunately lost a Civil War against the United States. Stephens, vice president of the Confederacy, showed his South’s true hateful hand when he said in 1861, “Our new government’s foundations are laid, its cornerstone rests, upon the great truth that the Negro is not equal to the white man, that slavery — subordination to the superior race — is his natural and normal condition.”
America began as a nation that sought to exterminate or impound its indigenous red people while profiting from the importation and enslavement of black people. The original sins of this mighty nation are genocide and racism. Rosa Parks earned her place in Statuary Hall by doing what she could to blot those stains from our banner.
In her 1994 book “Quiet Strength,” Parks was both passionate and prescient when she said, “I want to be remembered as a person who stood up to injustice, who wanted a better world for young people; and most of all, I want to be remembered as a person who wanted to be free and who wanted others to be free. And my fight will continue as long as people are oppressed ... My message to the world is that we must come together and live as one. There is only one world and yet we, as a people, have treated the world as if it were divided. We cannot allow the gains we have made to erode. Although we have a long way to go, I do believe we can achieve Dr. King’s dream of a better world.”
• Ed Tant has been an Athens columnist since 1974. His work also has appeared in The New York Times, The Progressive, Astronomy magazine and other publications.
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Acoustic Guitar Roots and Beyond will look at the acoustic guitar techniques shared by Americana, blues and folk-rock. Enrich, enliven and expand your guitar skills by exploring techniques such as alternate chord shapes, walking bass lines and bluesy riffs that move up and down the fretboard. Equally, extend your sound with a toolbox of strumming and picking rhythms, including the blues shuffle, boom-chick, and alternating bass. All techniques will be supported by handouts (TAB and chord charts) and taught through specific songs. This is a fun, hand’s-on workshop with lots of playing, jamming, and singing. It is ideally suited for guitarists who know how to play the basic 1st position chords (e.g. A, D, E, G, C, Am, Em, Dm). Bring an acoustic guitar, picks (if you use them), spare sets of strings and a capo. If you’re looking for new ideas to spice up your guitar playing or original compositions, and if you want to learn some new songs, riffs and chords, then Acoustic Guitar Roots And Beyond is for you!
This class is for players who know their basic guitar chords and not much else. We’ll get up the neck a bit, try out some tunings, fool around with rhythm, and learn some shortcuts and cheap tricks. Bring a capo and a favorite song or tune.
First time players will learn basic tuning and playing skills, while more advanced players will concentrate on developing accompaniments. Singing adds to the fun, but is not required of participants. The same techniques work for backing up instrumentals. We will have some dulcimers available to loan to students who request them in advance of camp.
The Blues, a major root of the American music tree, has been thriving and evolving for more than one hundred years. This course is an overview of guitar accompaniment as heard in a variety of blues genres, from the jug and string band players of the 20s and 30s, to the hard driving Mississippi “delta” blues, and from the rollicking blues of the Piedmont to the blues of Chicago, Texas and the West Coast. The emphasis will be on rhythms, phrasing, classic arrangements and techniques. We cover 100 years in five days so bring a cushion for your chair and an ice-bag for your fingers. They’re gonna heat up!!
Music in standard and TAB will be provided, and the use of recording devices is strongly encouraged. Most of the playing is in finger-style but you may adapt to a flatpick.
In this class, we will explore the elements of flatpicking from the basic down-up right hand delivery, to cross-picking, rhythm ideas and back-up guitar techniques. This class will strive for a relaxed atmosphere which will encourage a non-competitive and musical experience in order to show how much fun this very conversational style of guitar playing can be. Written materials will accompany the class.
Tuning the guitar, learning how to hold it, and strumming chords "in rhythm" is where this class will begin. Folks who have never played as well as beginning guitarists are welcome. We will cover playing to accompany songs as well as session tunes. Bass runs and dynamics will also be practiced. Before we are through we hope to get everyone to play a blues run or a rock and roll riff...enough to make you want to play more.
It's fun! The instrument is ideal for playing chords and easier than many instruments for learning to play melodic accompaniment. This class is for learning basic techniques on the right and left hands, learning tunes and songs 'by ear', basic session essentials and plenty of practice playing in rhythm. As the week progresses, the class will play traditional old-time tunes in several tunings (please bring a capo), look at tablature and try a basic finger pickin' pattern...ring, ring the banjo.
This class concentrates on providing a solid introduction and foundation to the aspiring blues fingerpicker. We’ll concentrate on techniques for developing monotonic, alternating and walking bass lines. We’ll explore how blues players move first position chord shapes up the neck in order add variety to your playing as well as to play in different keys. We’ll also explore how the “CAGED” system of chords can be applied to tradition styles of country blues. We will do all this while learning some key tunes of seminal blues guitarists of the past. All tunes will be in standard tuning. While everyone is welcome to come to the class, a solid knowledge of basic first position guitar chords would be most helpful. Also, since this is a fingerpicking class, the use of a thumb and fingerpicks and a steel string guitar is recommended.
This class is intended to introduce basic techniques, styles and approaches to the use of the harmonica in blues and folk music. Topics covered include holding the harmonica, playing in both first, second, and third positions, and harmonica maintenance. We will also explored special effects like bends, trills, fanning, tremolo, and throat pops. We will also address things like accompanying yourself on harmonica with other instruments, etc. Students are required to bring at least one diatonic (10 hole) harmonica in the key of C. Harmonicas will be available for purchase in the camp store.
Slide guitar—guitar played with a bottleneck or metal tube on one finger of the fretting hand—is one of the most compelling sounds to emerge from the bluesfields of the American south. This class is directed at advanced-intermediate and advanced students who would like to explore bottleneck playing. We’ll spend the week taking a deep, hands-on look at the subject, talking about tone, intonation, vibrato, right- and left-hand damping techniques, single-string and chord work, and other fundamentals. We’ll also look at different types of bottlenecks (glass, metal, ceramic), tunings, repertoire, and resources. Participants should bring a bottleneck or other tubular slide (or a selection thereof) and a recording device to class. Slides will be available for purchase in the camp store.
Being from the "loving-all-kinds-of-fiddling-styles" school, I would like to offer a class on the language of fiddle styles. What makes an Irish tune sound Irish? (and how do they make those neat ornamental sounds?), an old-time tune sound old timey? (rhythm with the bow, emphasis on the correct syllable), How do those Quebecois fiddlers do that thing with their feet and fiddle at the same time? All questions answered and new techniques taught to help you on your journey.
Filling in the Cracks is for any guitar players who do OK but want to spiff it up, for old folkies needing to lose bad habits, for more experienced players looking for a technical boost, or for any who have nothing else to do that period. We’ll get you to play just like yourself, only more so. Drop-ins welcome all week.
We will study and perform music from the string band traditions of rural America. Additionally Nova Scotia, Quebecois, Irish, New England, Scandinavian, African American, dance, and ballad traditions will also be explored with listening, practice, and performing components. Emphasis on ensemble intuition, playing by ear, and lifetime personal music making skills (transposition, harmonizing, etc.). Violin, guitar, banjo, mandolin, bass, accordion, concertina, penny whistle, flute, bodhran, harp, ukulele, or piano. All Welcome!
What does DADGAD stand for? Why do I need a partial capo? These are ways to get new sounds from our guitar! This week we’ll learn three open tunings and the basics of how to use partial capos. By the end of the week we’ll know how to play some simple songs – and maybe our own songs! - in open tunings and with a partial capo. Please bring a partial Esus capo. The one I would recommend is the Kyser - only because I think it might be cheaper than the Shubb. Capos will be available for purchase in the camp store
This class assumes that you have a little knowledge of the fretboard and can play some single note lines as a soloist. Fiddle tunes and fiddle tune variations are a plus but not a necessity as we work through more advanced techniques with ear training and written materials available as a guide to having fun and sounding good.
This class is for old-time banjo players who have a basic handle on the clawhammer style — the fundamental right-hand technique, maybe some drop-thumbing and the ability to play a basic repertoire of tunes up to speed. We’ll go from there to look at some classic techniques and tunes specific to southern old-time styles, including those of the Round Peak and Galax areas of Northwestern North Carolina and Southwestern Virginia. We’ll play in a few different tunings and focus on some great tunes. Students are urged to bring an audio recorder to class; videotaping will be allowed at the discretion of the instructor.
Sing for energy and sing for joy. We’ll sing great songs that are easy to learn, and the class will include plenty of vocal warm-ups and wake-ups. Everyone welcome. All levels.
Here's your opportunity to take your rightful place fearlessly in front of your peers and coworkers. In this interactive and participatory lab we'll transform fear (an acronym for "forgetting everything's all right") into excitement and embrace it as our ally, not see it as our obstacle. Certainly there are nuts and bolts and "how to's and "think agains" - we'll cover those - but what we'll really strive to do is help one another discover our unique strengths and how to make every performance moment count. Bring a song you know by heart, something you can sing a capella, your questions and concerns, a sense of humor, and anything else on topic that you'd like addressed.
In the recent resurgence and revival of old time music, mandolinists have overlooked a rich body of music that was once performed by African-Americans, great “new” material for the American mandolin repertoire. In these session we explore the music of the early string and jug band musicians and the mandolin blues of the post-war era. Exercises and arrangements will introduce the “blues” elements that shaped this music: melody and phrasing, seventh chord voicings and rhythms, as demonstrated in the music of Charlie McCoy, Vol Stevens, Howard Armstrong, Yank Rachell, Johnny Young and more. Music in standard and TAB will be provided, and the use of recording devices is strongly encouraged.
Songwriting is a very subjective and personal experience, and it's available to everyone. This all-levels class is geared especially towards those who are new to the craft but also to those who simply might like to access different perspectives from their own process by looking at songwriting through a different lens. On Day 1 we'll brainstorm compelling themes worth writing about, and as the week unfolds we'll examine and work with the different elements that make our songs click. We'll have fun in the process too. We'll also again use one session to completely co-write a custom-made song for a sick child and his/her family for the Songs of Love Foundation in New York...very meaningful and powerful.
Songwriting From The Roots is a workshop that looks at the key elements of blues and Americana songs. We’ll examine everything from the structure and the story of the song to the choice of chord voicing and melodies. We will learn timeless classics, like Weepin’ Willow Blues, First Time Ever I Saw Your Face, Don't Get Around Much Anymore, Walk The Line or Galveston, and then try our hand at writing our own songs “in the tradition.” Mindful of what’s come before but eager to infuse something new and modern and very much our own into the songs, this is a hand's on workshop. No previous songwriting experience necessary, and open to all who like to sing, each day we'll explore a different song and technique to jump-start our creativity.
As songwriters we often approach songwriting as such serious business! What if it was just a game? In this class we will remove our ego from the equation and just have fun with our songwriter muscles: we’ll do some song mash-ups, maybe a guided meditation or a co-write, maybe run a 3 legged race to the sappiest love song. Each day we’ll try a new game!
We will learn real world sound skills and wander through some "big picture" theory without getting too technical. Much of what makes good sound is really basic: beat back hums and buzzes, set up your stage well, monitor levels in the right places, have good communication with the stage. Class tips and hands-on experience will come in handy at festivals, coffee houses, and home recording. Class members will be asked to crew on stage and be at the mixer for the final student concerts.
Whether you want to sing Opera, Pop, Gospel, Musical Theater, Blues or Traditional Folk, your instrument is your voice, your body, your intelligence and your soul. Learn vocal technique through vocal exercise and breath management. Learn how to use breath energy to produce a free and effortless tone. Charles will share the tips and techniques that have kept him singing for forty years. You will reach into the depth of your own spirit to bring out the music that is unique to you.
Second section of Charles Williams Voice and Vocal Health class.
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Girls tend to get a bad rap around the world.
As this Jezebel post reminds us, people go to great, sometimes extreme, lengths in some countries to avoid giving birth to female babies.
However enlightened we may claim to be, Americans are not much better. The article that inspired the Jezebel piece is called A Case for Girls, written by Anya Kamenetz for the website Fast Company.
The essay cites a 2011 Gallup poll where 54 percent of American men polled reported preferring a boy child if they knew they were limited to one child. 26 percent had no preference, and 19 percent chose a girl.
Females polled were shown to have no preference. Why do you suppose that is?
Kamenetz, discusses the use of advertising campaigns in Asian countries to shape and shift social attitudes towards females. She uses the term “rebranding” as if females could be marketed as the new must-have commodity. (I’m putting words in her mouth here, but this is how I understand it.)
As Erin Gloria Ryan points out in her Jezebel post, we can talk all we want about the changes in society that have improved the life of women, but we would be missing something blatant.
In her words, which this mother of two girls can wholeheartedly relate to:
“Maybe whether people prefer to have a girl baby doesn’t depend on the merits of female children; maybe it depends on how parents think the world will receive their child. Most parents would love a girl just as much as they would love a little boy. But having a baby girl scares the shit out of some people. It scares the shit out of me.”
She elaborates, explaining that women are still the weaker sex when it comes to physical vulnerability. Each and every time a young woman leaves the house alone, a mother has reason to be worried for her physical safety. The fear of rape, assault, or unwanted pregnancy, with the whole world telling her what to do about it, is very real.
While I don’t deny that any mother of sons has her own set of worries, I can see, and feel, Ryan’s point here. She wraps up her post with another gem that spoke to me, so much so, I added my own words to it:
“If parents could be guaranteed that everyone else in the world would love a little girl as much her parents love her, (without her ever having to agree to being photographed scantily clad and in a sexually-suggestive pose) girls wouldn’t be such a tough sell.”
I always thought I would have at least one boy, a mini Ian perhaps. But I got two girls. I love, with a healthy sense of apprehension, raising girls. I have to imagine I would love raising boys equally as much. But, truth be told, I cannot imagine dealing with all that pee on the back of the toilet.
If you had only one child, which gender would you prefer? Does raising girls, or boys, scare you?
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No matter what we call the shared space between Mexico and the U.S., cross-border communities are different from others in their nations. The U.S. must remember that the prosperity of both countries depends on the well-being of our borderland "third nation."
After two decades of emphasis on high security of the U.S.-Mexico border, brute-force policies have left America with costs that are too high, and benefits that are too little. As immigration continues to permeate American political debate, alternative solutions must be explored.
There are no magic words to solve the problems of immigration in the US or drug-related violence in Mexico. Instead, I offer one incontrovertible conclusion regarding the borderlands: the Wall will not work. Here's why.
The Gang of 8's framework for immigration reform mostly deserves praise. It seeks to fill gaps in immigration enforcement, make the legal immigration system more responsive to U.S. economic and labor needs, and create a path to lawful permanent resident status.
I'll concede that there are aspects of border security -- smuggling of human beings, drugs, and arms -- that do demand immediate attention. However, we can't allow the economic and moral imperatives for broad-reaching immigration reform get lost in rhetoric around the border.
Obama did not apologize or backtrack on his position. I disagreed that building a wall -- no matter what size -- would deter immigrants from coming to the United States illegally. But I respected Obama for standing his ground.
Building on the lessons of the past five years, the United States should work with Mexico to implement the nonmilitary programs envisioned in the current Merida framework.
According to current U.S immigration policy, every non-citizen convicted of any charge among a long list of misdemeanor and felony offenses is automatically deported, even if the conviction is for a non-violent offense or one that occurred many years ago.
Much has changed on the U.S.-Mexico border over the last decade, but migrant crossing deaths have continued. From the perspective of the border, this still-unfolding tragedy looks like a good place to restart the trifling U.S. immigration debate.
From the Dustbowl Troubadour's own hard travelling through Tucson, AZ looking for work and food, Woody Guthrie was a friend to migrants and the oppressed.
Despite numerous reports showing a marked decrease in violence in the region, members of Congress continue to characterize the region as an out of control war zone.
Perhaps given the political aridness in Arizona of late, it's understandable that even a cloudy decision looks like a silver lining. Time will tell if it's a mirage or an actual oasis on the horizon...
No one would argue that immigration isn't a third rail issue for the GOP, the only more contentious issue for rank and file House Republicans is the environment. They have unilaterally opposed any movement on environmental legislation.
Border Patrol forces, still growing, have more than doubled in the years since 9/11. As the new uniformed soldiers of the Department of Homeland Security, close to 20,000 Border Patrol agents now occupy the U.S. Southwest.
Just a few blocks away is Arturo Rodriquez's La Caja, a converted warehouse where artists from Tijuana and around the world are beautifully exhibited, and where San Diegans and locals visit for food and wine with their art.
Cruelty on the U.S.-Mexico border is an inevitable handmaiden to a set of policies that create and enforce inequality and systematically dehumanize those on the losing end.
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This stone marks the resting place of two sisters. I took the photograph on a recent visit to St. Mary’s church at Conistone in Craven, Yorkshire, England.
Annie Sophia Spink was born about 1861 around the start of the American Civil War. Mary Jane Spink was born about 1865 in the same year that Lewis Carroll published Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.
According to the 1871 census both sisters were born at Burnsall in the Yorkshire Dales – although this changes over the years and is sometimes shown as Conistone. Their parents were Joseph Spink and Isabella Hannah Metcalfe who I spoke about last week in a Tombstone Tuesday post.
It took me a while to find Annie on the 1881 census until I tried a search under the name “Spinks” (with the addition of the “s”). She is working as a dressmaker and is shown as a visitor at the home of Mary Ann Jacques (widower) in Skipton.
Mary Jane was also living in Skipton in 1881 and working as a domestic servant.
Ten years later in 1891 both sisters are back home with their parents. Annie continues to work as a dressmaker but there is no occupation shown for Mary Jane.
The first census of the 20th century in 1901 has Annie staying at an address in the nearby village of Arncliffe with her cousin John Alderson. I have no information about John Alderson – he doesn’t appear in my family tree at all – I imagine he is from an ancestor I haven’t researched yet. Anyway, Annie continues to make her living as a dressmaker.
In the same census Mary Jane remains with her parents. Her occupation is just shown as “worker”.
Annie married John Webster Smith sometime in the second quarter of 1907 and the marriage is recorded in the Skipton registration district. I haven’t done any further research into Annie and John following their marriage.
Annie died at the age of 85 on 23rd March 1946.
Mary Jane remained a spinster all her life. She was also 85 when she died on 5th September 1950.
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The idea that you ultimately own your data is pretty fundamental to creating effective privacy legislation. If you’re the sovereign “owner” of your data, then everyone from the spooks to Facebook must come to you and seek your permission – and justify using it. But if you don’t “own” anything, then you have nothing to assert. If you don’t “own” your data, then you are the product.
But the idea of attaching ownership to digital things is bitterly fought. Google fights every attempt with the response that it “breaks the internet“. This fight against ownership and permissions is actually the bedrock of Utopian belief – that nobody can own, or deny, or exclude, or assert rights on digital things. And people who don’t take this nuttily dogmatic position are still fatalistic: they shrug, and conclude we shouldn’t try. This had led to the quite surreal spectacle of libertarians fighting furiously against property rights, and the rule of law.
But this is beginning to change.
As Mark Bide told us: “Privacy and copyright are two things nobody cares about unless it’s their own privacy, and their own copyright.”
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The loss of his son doesn't either chasten or soften Paul Dombey. After the funeral, he leaves young Florence alone with the servants in their gigantic, dreary house and takes to travelling about England with his charming new acquaintance, Major Bagstock. Major Bagstock is gruff, honest, straightforward, out-going, entirely devoted to Mr. Dombey—and on the make. In particular, he handily sets and springs a trap for the saddened but no less prideful and self-absorbed Dombey, which culminates in the latter's marriage to a beautiful young widow who boasts not a penny to her name. Bagstock and Edith Granger's mother, Mrs. Skewton, gleefully discuss the ease with which their mark has been lassoed:
'Shall we marry him to Edith Granger, Ma'am?' chuckled the Major, hoarsely.That these elderly former lovers do not scruple to take advantage of Dombey's weaknesses (which comprise primarily his unbending pride and confidence in his own worth, not to mention a desire to make another attempt at establishing the company under the banner of Dombey and Son) is not something shared by the fair face of their scheme, however. Edith chafes under the compulsion to marry a man whom she scorns, and shows more humanity in spite of her shockingly cold and proud demeanour than either Bagstock or Mrs. Skewton are capable of imagining. The predatory Mr. Carker the Manager comes across Edith in a private moment and observes her thus:
'Mysterious creature!' returned Cleopatra, bringing her fan to bear upon the Major's nose. 'How can we marry him?'
'Shall we marry him to Edith Granger, Ma'am, I say?' chuckled the Major again.
Mrs Skewton returned no answer in words, but smiled upon the Major with so much archness and vivacity, that that gallant officer considering himself challenged, would have imprinted a kiss on her exceedingly red lips, but for her interposing the fan with a very winning and juvenile dexterity. It might have been in modesty; it might have been in apprehension of some danger to their bloom.
'Dombey, Ma'am,' said the Major, 'is a great catch.'
'Oh, mercenary wretch!' cried Cleopatra, with a little shriek, 'I am shocked.'
'And Dombey, Ma'am,' pursued the Major, thrusting forward his head, and distending his eyes, 'is in earnest. Joseph says it; Bagstock knows it; J. B. keeps him to the mark. Leave Dombey to himself, Ma'am. Dombey is safe, Ma'am. Do as you have done; do no more; and trust to J. B. for the end.'
'You really think so, my dear Major?' returned Cleopatra, who had eyed him very cautiously, and very searchingly, in spite of her listless bearing.
'Sure of it, Ma'am,' rejoined the Major. 'Cleopatra the peerless, and her Antony Bagstock, will often speak of this, triumphantly, when sharing the elegance and wealth of Edith Dombey's establishment. Dombey's right-hand man, Ma'am,' said the Major, stopping abruptly in a chuckle, and becoming serious, 'has arrived.' (pp. 392-93)
It was that of a lady, elegantly dressed and very handsome, whose dark proud eyes were fixed upon the ground, and in whom some passion or struggle was raging. For as she sat looking down, she held a corner of her under lip within her mouth, her bosom heaved, her nostril quivered, her head trembled, indignant tears were on her cheek, and her foot was set upon the moss as though she would have crushed it into nothing. And yet almost the self-same glance that showed him this, showed him the self-same lady rising with a scornful air of weariness and lassitude, and turning away with nothing expressed in face or figure but careless beauty and imperious disdain.(p. 403 bottom)Her self-protective mask of aggressive disinterest in everything going on around her is so strong that it reasserts itself even in moments when she imagines herself to be alone. Yet, Edith bridles painfully under the necessity of her purchase at the hands of a man who is thus far shown himself to be incapable of thinking of human relations in anything other than transactional terms. She will marry Mr. Dombey and all his money but she never claims to relish the prospect; indeed, she never pretends to have even the tiniest interest in it, not even to Dombey. She sees herself as chattel, as does everyone else around her:
'Look at me,' she said, 'who have never known what it is to have an honest heart, and love. Look at me, taught to scheme and plot when children play; and married in my youth—an old age of design—to one for whom I had no feeling but indifference. Look at me, whom he left a widow, dying before his inheritance descended to him—a judgment on you! well deserved!—and tell me what has been my life for ten years since.'Edith is both trapped by circumstances and the means by which Dombey is trapped, though she never actively tries to further Major Bagstock's and Mrs. Skewton's plans. She coldly acquiesces because she is without options, she chafes against the untenable situation in which she finds herself, but never displays human kindness or tenderness; she seems as hardened as the prostitute she aligns herself with above. Yet, her first meeting with Florence Dombey shows that there is more to her than even she reckons herself:
'We have been making every effort to endeavour to secure to you a good establishment,' rejoined her mother. 'That has been your life. And now you have got it.'
'There is no slave in a market: there is no horse in a fair: so shown and offered and examined and paraded, Mother, as I have been, for ten shameful years,' cried Edith, with a burning brow, and the same bitter emphasis on the one word. 'Is it not so? Have I been made the bye-word of all kinds of men? Have fools, have profligates, have boys, have dotards, dangled after me, and one by one rejected me, and fallen off, because you were too plain with all your cunning: yes, and too true, with all those false pretences: until we have almost come to be notorious? The licence of look and touch,' she said, with flashing eyes, 'have I submitted to it, in half the places of resort upon the map of England? Have I been hawked and vended here and there, until the last grain of self-respect is dead within me, and I loathe myself? Has been my late childhood? I had none before. Do not tell me that I had, tonight of all nights in my life!' (pp. 417-18)
'Edith,' said Mr Dombey, 'this is my daughter Florence. Florence, this lady will soon be your Mama.'Florence hasn't been shown such regard and kindness since dear Walter sailed away on the ill-fated Son and Heir, since she last visited Sol Gills at The Wooden Midshipman, since her dear brother Paul died. She is so young, so kind, so gentle that she begins to revive her almost entirely deadened hopes of inspiring her father to love her, and of being happy within and part of a family, the moment Edith embraces her for the first time. And Edith is sincere. She truly empathizes with and cares for the neglected girl, and asks pointed and observant questions about her relationship with her father, questions which no one has ever before had the guts, wherewithal, or interest to put to Florence before.
Florence started, and looked up at the beautiful face in a conflict of emotions, among which the tears that name awakened, struggled for a moment with surprise, interest, admiration, and an indefinable sort of fear. Then she cried out, 'Oh, Papa, may you be happy! may you be very, very happy all your life!' and then fell weeping on the lady's bosom.
There was a short silence. The beautiful lady, who at first had seemed to hesitate whether or no she should advance to Florence, held her to her breast, and pressed the hand with which she clasped her, close about her waist, as if to reassure her and comfort her. Not one word passed the lady's lips. She bent her head down over Florence, and she kissed her on the cheek, but she said no word.
'Shall we go on through the rooms,' said Mr Dombey, 'and see how our workmen are doing? Pray allow me, my dear madam.'
He said this in offering his arm to Mrs Skewton, who had been looking at Florence through her glass, as though picturing to herself what she might be made, by the infusion—from her own copious storehouse, no doubt—of a little more Heart and Nature. Florence was still sobbing on the lady's breast, and holding to her, when Mr Dombey was heard to say from the Conservatory:
'Let us ask Edith. Dear me, where is she?'
'Edith, my dear!' cried Mrs Skewton, 'where are you? Looking for Mr Dombey somewhere, I know. We are here, my love.'
The beautiful lady released her hold of Florence, and pressing her lips once more upon her face, withdrew hurriedly, and joined them. Florence remained standing In the same place: happy, sorry, joyful, and in tears, she knew not how, or how long, but all at once: when her new Mama came back, and took her in her arms again.
'Florence,' said the lady, hurriedly, and looking into her face with great earnestness. 'You will not begin by hating me?'
'By hating you, Mama?' cried Florence, winding her arm round her neck, and returning the look.
'Hush! Begin by thinking well of me,' said the beautiful lady. 'Begin by believing that I will try to make you happy, and that I am prepared to love you, Florence. Good-bye. We shall meet again soon. Good-bye! Don't stay here, now.' (pp. 428-31)
Indeed, Edith is so strangely interested in and committed to caring for and protecting Florence that she threatens not to marry Dombey if her scheming and relentless mother doesn't promise to allow Florence to stay home alone while the new Dombeys honeymoon:
'Listen to me, mother,' .... 'You must remain alone here until I return.'Edith is hardened and resigned to her fate and doesn't give either her mother or her new husband any quarter, for she sees them as entirely complicit in her degradation; but her devotion to Florence is instantaneous and entire. Edith is, clearly, not as lost a soul as she imagines she is; she cannot see that she is a desperately needed good angel to Florence, who could perhaps serve the same function for her. Both are surrounded by the cruel, the corrupt, and the fatally selfish and somehow forge a bond based on something higher than mere transaction, something both more human and more humane. Which, of course, Dombey finds terribly threatening.
'Must remain alone here, Edith, until you return!' repeated her mother.
'Or in that name upon which I shall call to-morrow to witness what I do, so falsely: and so shamefully, I swear I will refuse the hand of this man in the church. If I do not, may I fall dead upon the pavement!'
The mother answered with a look of quick alarm, in no degree diminished by the look she met.
'It is enough,' said Edith, steadily, 'that we are what we are. I will have no youth and truth dragged down to my level. I will have no guileless nature undermined, corrupted, and perverted, to amuse the leisure of a world of mothers. You know my meaning. Florence must go home.'
'You are an idiot, Edith,' cried her angry mother. 'Do you expect there can ever be peace for you in that house, till she is married, and away?'
'Ask me, or ask yourself, if I ever expect peace in that house,' said her daughter, 'and you know the answer.
'And am I to be told to-night, after all my pains and labour, and when you are going, through me, to be rendered independent,' her mother almost shrieked in her passion, while her palsied head shook like a leaf, 'that there is corruption and contagion in me, and that I am not fit company for a girl! What are you, pray? What are you?'
'I have put the question to myself,' said Edith, ashy pale, and pointing to the window, 'more than once when I have been sitting there, and something in the faded likeness of my sex has wandered past outside; and God knows I have met with my reply. Oh mother, mother, if you had but left me to my natural heart when I too was a girl—a younger girl than Florence—how different I might have been!' (pp. 458-59)
Early in Dombey and Son, on a page I foolishly failed to make a note of, our narrator asserts that at some point the thunder will strike and Dombey will be cast down. But it hasn't happened yet. And the dark looks he wears while secretly watching the women in his life (during which he correctly notes that Edith cares only for Florence) suggest that others will suffer for his small and hard, but incredibly powerful, selfishness before he does.
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Legislation introducing restorative justice for victims of adult offenders in England and Wales announced
Oct 24, 2012
from Lizzie Nelson:
New legislation for restorative justice with adult offenders and their victims will be introduced through an amendment to the Crime and Courts Bill.
The new clauses will allow the Courts to defer at the pre-sentence stage in order for the victim and offender to be offered restorative justice at the earliest opportunity. This comes as part of the Government’s response to the Punishment and Reform; effective community sentences consultation, published today.
This is the biggest development for restorative justice in England and Wales since legislation introducing referral order panels to the youth justice system in 1999.
The Restorative Justice Council, with our partner organisations including the Prison Reform Trust and the Criminal Justice Alliance, has campaigned for legislation for over two years. Restorative justice at the pre-sentence stage formed half the cases in the Ministry of Justice/Shapland research. In addition to the well known findings in relation to victim benefits and reductions in re-offending, the research showed 72% of victims said that RJ came at ‘about the right time’, whilst 22% said they wished it had been offered to them sooner. The judiciary welcomed pre-sentence restorative justice as it provided them with additional information on which to base sentencing decisions.
A letter to The Times in April 2011 signed by 30 VIPs called for new legislation for pre-sentence restorative justice; hundreds of professionals and members of the public have also signed our online petition. Many RJC members joined the RJC in supporting the call for legislation through responding to the recent consultation. We are particularly grateful to members of the House of Lords who tirelessly put the case for legislation during debates on the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill.
The RJC will work closely with the Ministry of Justice, the Magistrates Association and the Sentencing Council to ensure the legislation is implemented and that the judiciary receive guidance about which cases should be deferred for RJ to be offered (primarily cases with a personal victim and the offender has pleaded guilty); and how to factor participation in RJ in at point of sentence, based on the precedents already set in case law and international experience.
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Sitting at the edge of a small desk inside a quiet Boulder courtroom one day last month, William Olive put on his reading glasses, hunched over and scribbled some notes on a legal pad.
Flanked by attorneys wearing dark suits, Olive came to court wearing a faded grey zip-up jacket. The 41-year-old father of five wears a thick black beard and long dark hair that sits well below his shoulders. His hands are callused, with dirt ringing his fingernails.
It's the weathered look of a man who spent the night sleeping outside -- which is exactly what landed him in court to begin with.
Olive, like hundreds of other homeless people living in Boulder each year, was caught sleeping in a public place.
But instead of taking the standard deal to perform 12 hours of community service, Olive has joined the ranks of more than 30 other homeless people who are standing up to the city's anti-camping law by fighting their tickets in court.
With the help of two Boulder defense attorneys -- and a group of law students who have taken up the mantle of the homeless' cause -- a growing number of people are fighting to shine a light on the city's controversial law, and perhaps convince city leaders to overturn it.
Since the challenges began late last year, Boulder Municipal Court has seen a huge spike in the number of camping trials -- a 250 percent increase from 2009 to 2010 -- even as the number of tickets issued actually decreased in 2010. And the number of camping trials is set to jump even
But City Attorney Tom Carr said he doesn't believe the challenges are affecting the court's capacity or the city's bottom line, and that critics should instead focus their efforts on lobbying city leaders who can change the law.
But, he added, "It doesn't seem like that's where the political will is yet."
A call to action
Since the early 1980s, Boulder has had a law on the books forbidding people from sleeping in public places, or on private property without permission. The idea, according to city officials, is to prevent people from living temporarily on public lands where there might not be adequate bathroom or trash facilities, and to preserve public parks for all users.
Thousands of people have been ticketed for violating the rule in the last 30 years, but the law went mostly unchallenged until late last year.
Driven by what some said is a lack of facilities for the homeless in Boulder, a group of about 60 homeless people rallied at a Boulder City Council meeting in January 2010. The group made a series of impassioned pleas for the council to put a moratorium on ticketing people for sleeping in parks for at least the rest of the winter.
The Boulder County chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union also got involved, sending a letter to the city leaders arguing that it's "cruel and unusual punishment to criminalize the status of being homeless."
Initially, the council seemed moved by the comments, and asked City Manager Jane Brautigam to draft language for a temporary hold on the law. But that changed just three days later, when the council met outside of the presence of the homeless protesters.
Mayor Susan Osborne said she felt "boxed in" by the protesters, and others agreed that they were perhaps hasty in acting on the law. Brautigam also recommended against a moratorium.
A few months later, the council took steps to strengthen the anti-camping law by removing a provision that allowed people to apply for a permit to camp in public places.
The reversal incensed some of the homeless who had advocated for a change in the law, sparking several more council appearances by homeless advocates and an act of civil disobedience in the form of a "sleep-in" protest on city property last May.
A look at the number of tickets issued in Boulder for illegal camping and those citations' outcomes:
2010: 348 tickets (192 convictions, 31 dismissed, 125 other sanctions*), 14 trials
2009: 508 tickets (341 convictions, 27 dismissed, 140 other sanctions*), 4 trials
2008: 402 tickets (280 convictions, 21 dismissed, 101 other sanctions*), 2 trials
2007: 319 tickets (216 convictions, 14 dismissed, 89 other sanctions*), 0 trials
*Warrant issued for failing to appear or resolved with plea bargain
Source: City of Boulder and Boulder Municipal Court
Boulder's camping law
The city code, listed under miscellaneous offenses, states that no person shall camp within a park, recreation area, open space or other city property -- or on private property without permission. The ordinance, which went into effect in 1980, provided an exception if someone receives a city permit. The City Council decided last year to remove the exception since it had never been used.
The city defines camping as to reside or dwell temporarily in a place, with shelter, and conduct activities of daily living, such as eating or sleeping. But the law exempts napping during the day or picnicking. Shelter, under the city's definitions, includes any cover or protection from the elements other than clothing.
A ticket for camping without a permit carries a fine of $100 or community service.
Source: City of Boulder
Measuring the impact
As a group of Boulder attorneys and University of Colorado law students fill the municipal court's docket with trials for people accused of violating the city's anti-camping law, here's a look at the time and money spent on the issue:
Jurors: Jurors are entitled to collect a jury fee for their service in municipal trials. Jurors are given $3 if they appear and are excused, and $6 if they appear and are chosen to serve on a jury. The total juror fees paid out average $92 for one trial. Jurors also are provided with lunch, which typically costs $33.
Prosecutors: The average cost of a municipal prosecutor for an eight-hour camping trail is $235. The court estimates that prosecutors logged more than 623 hours dealing with camping cases from January through March 3, representing more than $18,300 in prosecutor costs.
Municipal judge and bailiff: The salary of a municipal judge and a bailiff for one camping trial is $685.
Police witnesses: Most camping trials involve two hours of testimony from a Boulder police officer. The salary to cover their time is $43 if the officer is testifying during regular work hours, and $65 if the officer is being paid overtime.
Private witnesses: In most cases, prosecutors call witnesses to testify from places such as the Boulder Shelter for the Homeless or the Carriage House Community Table. These witnesses spend several hours away from their regular responsibilities to testify about sleeping options for homeless people.
Total cost: The total average cost of prosecuting one camping ticket is about $1,100. That means the total cost of prosecuting the 20 tickets that went to a trial from 2007 to 2010 is about $22,000.
Source: City of Boulder and Boulder Municipal Court
'No where else to go'
Olive said he wasn't thinking about protesting any laws when he dug into a pile of leaves off the Boulder Creek Path near Eben G. Fine Park and buried himself inside a sleeping bag on Nov. 28, 2010 -- he was just trying to escape the sting of the 23-degree night air.
"I didn't have nowhere else to go," said Olive, a soft-spoken man who was recently laid off from his job as a welder at a Boulder fabrication plant.
It's the second time in Olive's life that he's been homeless, he said, which has never been by choice.
A Boulder open space ranger spotted Olive's makeshift campsite while on patrol at about 6:55 a.m.
The ranger, Geoff Jasper, testified during the trial that Olive wasn't disturbing anyone, drinking or littering. But he was covered and appeared to be sleeping -- enough to issue Olive a ticket for camping illegally.
But instead of showing up in court and paying the $100 fine or being sentenced to community service, Olive decided to fight the ticket. He found friends -- and an attorney -- through the Legal Aid Criminal Defense Clinic at the University of Colorado.
'Just leave people alone'
It's rare that a homeless person in Boulder has the assistance of an attorney to fight a ticket.
While the indigent typically qualify for legal representation through a public defender, the municipal court does not provide that service in cases where a prosecutor isn't seeking jail time.
Since camping tickets carry a $100 fine or community service, the homeless who are ticketed almost never have legal help. But that began to change last year, after David Harrison, a Boulder defense attorney, started taking on camping cases for free.
"I began to think, maybe the public wasn't very sympathetic to the law," said Harrison, who is among the attorneys representing Olive. "It's something that's easy to get indignant about and upset about."
Some of his first clients -- David Madison and Mark Wray Sr. -- were convicted of illegal camping last summer. But the convictions teed-up Harrison for a host of appeals to Boulder District Court on behalf of homeless clients, on the basis that Boulder's anti-camping law is a violation of Eighth Amendment protections against cruel and unusual punishment.
"My position is, they should just leave people alone," Harrison said.
Two district court judges recently upheld the city's camping law as constitutional, but Harrison is holding out hope that one of the other pending appeals with other judges might turn out differently. If not, Harrison said he's considering appealing the cases to the Colorado Supreme Court.
In the meantime, Harrison is partnering with the Legal Aid clinic at CU, which has opened the door to helping more homeless campers with their legal cases.
The class, which relies on law students to provide free legal representation to people through the Boulder courts, has made taking on the city's anti-camping rule its main focus this year.
"They seemed like perfect cases for the clinic," said Ann England, a CU law professor and criminal defense attorney who leads the class and allows second- and third-year law students to practice under her license.
She said the city has an expectation that most people will simply plead guilty to a camping ticket. The class, she said, is trying to change that attitude as well as put political pressure on city leaders to change the law.
"We're trying to make a point that we believe the law should be repealed," England said, adding that it's not a good use of city funds to focus on prosecuting tickets that no one can pay anyway.
She said the Legal Aid clinic is slowly spreading its message by talking with prospective jurors about the issue.
"Regular people don't go to City Council," England said. "I think it's important that regular citizens come in and talk and think and worry about this issue."
Earlier this month, more than two dozen Boulder residents got the chance to become part of that debate as potential jurors in Olive's trial.
One by one, Municipal Judge Bruce Joss asked the prospective jurors how they feel about homeless people.
"It's pretty bad for these people, but there's no resources for them," Boulder resident Daniel Ilko said before being excused from the jury pool.
Elizabeth Kabrick, who also was excused, said she loves to camp and would have a tough time convicting someone of doing the same.
"The current way our society is structured does not care for all the people we have," she said. "My concern is we're going to be conducting a trial on whether something is right or wrong," instead of spending time solving the root issues of homelessness.
"What are we not doing in the city of Boulder that allowed this to happen?" she said. "That should be the question we should be asking."
At a previous trial, City Councilwoman Suzy Ageton was called as a prospective juror. She was excused from the trial since she helped craft the law in question.
Ageton declined to comment about the experience, but said during a recent City Council meeting that she believed jurors had a wide range of opinions about the camping law.
Challenging the law
So far, the Legal Aid students are finding success in the courtroom.
Of the eight camping cases that the students have taken to trial since they began taking them on late last year, they've won six and lost two. Dozens of other tickets have been dismissed before ever reaching trial because city prosecutors believed they couldn't prove their case. The clinic has filled the municipal court's docket with at least nine additional trials through May.
Some of the group's successes already have translated into change on the street.
In December, a Boulder municipal judge ruled that it's essentially OK to sleep in public places at night, as long as a person uses nothing but clothing to stay warm.
Sleeping outside in Boulder is legal, so long as a person doesn't use any other kind of shelter, including sleeping bags, blankets and mattresses. But the ruling clarified that Matthew LaCassagne, who was charged with camping illegally in the 900 block of Arapahoe Avenue, was not guilty because he used only a T-shirt to cover himself.
The students also have won cases based on the "choice of evils" defense, which is formed on the basis that some homeless people don't have any other choice but to sleep outside, and therefore must break the law to survive.
For that argument to work, however, the defendant must prove that there were no legal alternatives available, such as staying at the Boulder Shelter for the Homeless, warming centers or nearby national forest land.
Other homeless defendants have successfully challenged whether the city could prove they were sleeping on public property, another key element of the crime.
A different perspective
In her closing arguments to the five men and one woman who were selected for Olive's jury, Yona Porat, a second-year law student with the Legal Aid clinic, said that using an umbrella while drinking coffee in a city park meets the legal definition of camping under Boulder's law.
"It's literally laughable," she said.
As jurors began their deliberations, and Olive sat sipping a Coke bottle filled with water, Porat said she believes Boulder's law targets only the homeless.
"It literally is discriminating against a certain type of person," she said. "It's just stupid."
Kristen Marshall, a Boulder resident who volunteers to hand out blankets to the homeless through Boulder County Cares, said she's been captivated by the students' work and has sat through two recent trials.
She urged anyone who hasn't experienced homelessness to visit a camping trial.
"They should experience it and see it for themselves, and that might change their perspectives," Marshall said.
Michael Fitzgerald, 59, also came to watch and support Olive.
A Boulder jury convicted Fitzgerald in August of sleeping illegally in a parking lot beneath the St. Julian Hotel and Spa. His was the first appeal to be rejected by the district court.
"Why would you have an ordinance that says, 'Don't protect yourself from the chill and the cold or the rain and the snow?'" he said.
Fitzgerald said some people living on the streets are forced to sleep outside for lack of facilities. The Boulder homeless shelter allows each person to stay just 90 days each winter season, and warming centers only are open during dangerously cold nights.
"There's just so much room in a church basement and there's just so much room at a shelter," he said.
'My job is to seek justice'
City prosecutors, however, see the issue much differently.
Carr -- the Boulder city attorney who previously helped establish a Seattle law allowing the homeless to sleep in tents on private property -- said he believes the effort being put into challenging the camping rule is "misguided."
"Anytime you have somebody who is a true believer -- believes they're doing a cause, they're doing something good -- they think anybody who opposes them is evil," he said. "I would question whether (the Legal Aid clinic is) doing anything good, and whether they're actually helping the homeless.
"I think they may be, in fact, hurting people."
Carr said he believes that the trials are taking services away from the homeless. Every time the defense argues a person had nowhere else to go, for example, Carr said the city is forced to subpoena experts from the homeless shelter and warming centers to testify.
"These folks have needs," Carr said of the homeless. "Instead, we're using the courts to try and challenge one law. I don't know that it's doing any good for anybody."
Carr said the camping trials are not hurting the court, and that the cost to the city is negligible because prosecutors and judges get paid whether or not there is a trial.
The city did, however, recently hire an additional full-time prosecutor in part because of the high number of camping cases. That attorney also is assisting with other cases, including underage alcohol-possession cases that recently moved from the district court to the municipal level.
Carr said he believes the camping law is constitutional, as well as necessary.
"Boulder is a very popular destination," he said. "It would change if people could just come and camp here."
Janet Michaels, a city prosecutor who has handled a variety of camping cases, said it's simply the job of the city attorney to enforce the laws as they're written -- not to pass judgment on their merits.
"My job is not to get convictions, my job is to seek justice," she said.
She agreed with Carr that the energy being put into fighting the law could be better used.
"I would like to see the law students use their considerable resources and creativity to help the homeless get off the streets," she said.
The students, however, reject the notion that they're not helping people. Instead, they argue the city's law is what's hurting the homeless.
"I think that what's misguided is this law," said Porat, Olive's student attorney.
'A lot of animosity'
After less than an hour of deliberations, Olive looked on silently as the jurors walked back into the courtroom and handed the judge their verdict -- guilty.
But in a strange twist for a trial, most of the jurors stayed around after the verdict to talk with Olive's defense team. Some of them said they wrestled with their decision to convict Olive.
"The jury had a very hard time," said jury forewoman Garda Meyer, 71. "We didn't want to hurt anybody."
Gary Beaver, a 59-year-old mechanic, said the jurors had to follow the letter of the law -- even if they didn't like it.
"It was not easy," he said. "I think there was a lot of animosity about the law itself."
That hesitation is exactly what opponents of the law want to happen, whether it results in an acquittal or just a discussion about the issue.
Olive, for his part, wasn't angry or distraught over the loss of his case. But he was mindful of the movement that he's become a part of.
"The more people who learn about it, the more you would want to get it off (the books), or change it," he said.
Following his conviction, Olive said he now plans to stay on National Forest Service property just west of city limits -- one of the few legal alternatives for the homeless.
Contact Camera Staff Writer Heath Urie at 303-473-1328, or email@example.com.
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Fact Sheet on MoneySENSE (as at 23 June 2012)
- MoneySENSE is a national financial education programme launched by Mr. Lee Hsien Loong, then Deputy Prime Minister and Chairman of the MAS on 16 October 2003. MoneySENSE brings together industry and public sector initiatives to enhance the basic financial literacy of consumers.
- Since its launch in October 2003, MoneySENSE has published over 253 educational articles in the media, organised talks, seminars and workshops that have attracted over 93,000 participants as well as issued 29 consumer guides with a total circulation exceeding 2.2 million.
- MoneySENSE has also disseminated financial tips and messages in interesting ways such as a series of games at the inaugural MoneySENSE 2006 Roadshow which attracted over 89,000 visitors, organised a MoneySENSE-CPF inter-polytechnic financial education outreach that saw over 33,000 visitors, and subsequent roadshows at the Institute of Technical Education and various locations. In addition, MoneySENSE commissioned TV shows “Dollar and Sense” and “Mind Your Money” which saw over 1.1 million viewers, and various radio programmes with total listenership exceeding 1 million.
- The MoneySENSE programme covers 3 tiers of financial literacy:
- Tier I - Basic Money Management - which covers skills in budgeting and saving, and provides tips on the responsible use of credit;
- Tier II - Financial Planning - to equip Singaporeans with the skills and knowledge to plan for their long-term financial needs; and
- Tier III - Investment Know-How - which imparts knowledge about the different investment products and skills for investing.
- MoneySENSE is spearheaded by the public-sector Financial Education Steering Committee (FESC). The FESC provides strategic direction for the MoneySENSE financial education programme. It comprises representatives from the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Manpower, Ministry of Social and Family Development, Central Provident Fund Board, Monetary Authority of Singapore, National Library Board and People's Association.
- The FESC works closely with the MoneySENSE Industry Working Group (MIWG) to implement MoneySENSE programmes. The MIWG comprises the Association of Banks in Singapore, the Association of Financial Advisers (Singapore), the Consumers Association of Singapore, the Financial Planning Association of Singapore, the General Insurance Association of Singapore, the Insurance and Financial Practitioners Association of Singapore, the Investment Management Association of Singapore, the Life Insurance Association of Singapore and Singapore Exchange Ltd.
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Jeffrey Arterburn has devoted his career to fighting a deadly disease and shows no sign of slowing down. Christened a “rock star” by local media, Arterburn has set his sights on finding treatments for cancer.
Broadly impacting the fields of chemistry, biology and medicine, Arterburn’s research holds the promise of new anti-cancer drugs and cancer treatments.
Part of a multi-disciplinary team of scientists, Arterburn’s recent breakthrough opens avenues to diagnosing and treating the disease—and ultimately finding a cure.
- Identification of new synthetic drug leads for a novel estrogen-binding receptor associated with poor long-term survival rates in multiple cancer types.
- Internationally recognized program in synthetic biomedical chemistry.
- Principal investigator of the New Mexico IDeA Network for Biomedical Research.
- Development of synthetic nucleoside analogs that preferentially target viral replication.
Dr. Jeff Arterburn is the associate department head of the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. He is a Regent’s professor and holds a distinguished achievement professorship. Arterburn received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Colorado, Denver, and his Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Arizona. He was an American Cancer Society Postdoctoral Fellow at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology and the University of Washington.
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Six month old Josephine Trim at last year's Collector pumpkin festival. Photo: Marina Neil
Exceptional numbers of tragic road accidents once threatened to stain Collector with an enduring sadness, until people in this creative farming village north of Canberra took matters into their own hands.
They created a pumpkin festival, which has put a wide smile on the face of the town and its residents.
Up until the late 1990s, Collector bushfire brigade volunteers helped police and ambulance free people trapped in mangled cars along the Hume Highway.
Back then, a new dual carriageway lulled skiers heading for the Snowy Mountains into a false sense of safety, until they struck the old single-lane highway at Collector, often with deadly consequences. In one year the bushfire brigade members attended 13 fatalities.
Long-serving brigade member and sheep farmer Gary Poile remembers asking the police if the rural volunteers could set up a driver-survivor station at Rowes Lagoon near Collector.
As well as enticing drivers to take a break from behind the wheel, the driver-reviver station became a popular fundraiser for the Breadalbane Pony Club as well as local netballers and the Goulburn Rotary Club as well as various other community groups from places such as Sutton, who made hot food and drinks for the weary drivers. The groups would raise between $800 and $1000 on weekends.
''No one ever got rich out of it but it kept the ball running, it was quite healthy for them, one of those things that worked,'' Poile says.
''At Easter at Rowes Lagoon it was quite amazing, you'd have the kids out kicking footballs, you'd have as many as 1000 people going through the station in a day.''
After the dual carriageway was completed the driver-reviver station shifted south near Lake George. Accidents declined, although small crosses and floral tributes littered the road edges, reminding passers by of the road's grim toll.
In 2002 regional food producers Robbie Howard and Joyce Wilkie tapped into Collector's strong community spirit while sowing the seeds of a pumpkin festival, which has continued to grow ever since.
The festival is on again on Sunday, with fresh produce stalls, cooking judging, singing, dancing, pipes and drums bands and scarecrow building.
They're expecting a crowd of more than 5000 people.
Robbie Howard's daughter Kate is loathe to take any credit for starting the first festival in 2003, insisting her mum and Wilkie's imagination and hard work were the drivers. But in the spring of 2002 Kate and her husband James McKay attended a barbecue breakfast hosted by Poile and his volunteers and foodies to share their vision of a pumpkin festival.
On that crisp morning inside Collector Hall where packets of seeds and growing instructions sat on a trestle table in front of guests who included regional media, Kate and James recounted a working holiday in north west Italy where a winemaker, James' brother Alex McKay, had invited them to work on a vintage.
At Barolo, a town of 600 in the Piedmont region close to Bra, home of the Slow Food movement, the Collector couple picked grapes and explored surrounding villages within 10 minutes of one another.
''What we really reflected on was all these little towns had an annual festival of some kind, often of obscure origins,'' James says. ''There was a local town which had - you know Palio in Siena, the horse race around the main square - a local town Alba had a donkey version of that, going for 800 years.
''In Barolo they had a harvest festival. There was another town nearby called Piazzo, they had a really good pub that brewed its own beer. We used to go there, we drove into the hill town and saw on all the window ledges, all these wacky gourds and pumpkins. Turns out we had arrived on the day after their pumpkin festival.''
Kate says they didn't see the festival or how they planned it or what they did.
''But we saw all these differently shaped pumpkins, they were all over the window sills, fence posts and mail boxes and shop windows. You could tell it would have been something, we thought it looked great. You could see a lot of mashed pumpkins on the cobbled street, apparently they had a big lunch in the main street.''
Charmed by the massive variety of pumpkins, they returned to Collector thinking this was just the thing for a small village in search of a fresh cause.
Raised eyebrows at the suggestion of pumpkins didn't faze them.
''In a funny way, that's the best thing because there is no agenda driving it,'' James says. ''It's a fun, easy-to-grow vegetable that people can easily get involved in, and it has so many dimensions to it.''
He had no idea of the extent of the big pumpkin craze until champion grower Joe Medway of Goulburn called him. ''Suddenly we had this legend of the pumpkin community involved.''
Medway, now better known as ''Pumpkin Joe'', was a star of the 2002 barbecue breakfast. He shrugged off suggestions the drought would kill seedlings faster than you could spit, but admitted the big 'uns drank lots of water.
Poile is Collector's current festival president. He says pumpkins have positively branded the community, which is centred on farming, boutique wineries, an olive grove and the homes of commuters to Canberra and Goulburn.
''Compared to Dalton or Gunning, Collector has a different image, more creative, a little bit trendy almost. We don't take it too seriously, it's not like we grow pumpkins for a living here. It's not like Crookwell's potato festival. They grow potatoes there, we only do it because it's fun.''
Poile is speaking on his mobile phone looking at a mob of sheep, and says even though Collector and district produces many fine sheep, he could not face the thought of a sheep festival.
''I wouldn't want to celebrate the rotten things. I'm out at the moment trying to round up a mob of bloody sheep … drive you nuts.''
A few generations of his family are buried around the cemetery. ''Having a look at them in old photographs lined up in front of their houses, there's always a pumpkin sitting on the verandah roof. They all lived off the land in those days. You didn't have a truck-load of food coming in. So pumpkins and potatoes were something that were kept.''
In the festival's early days pumpkins grew to about 60 kilograms to 70 kilograms. Now gun growers are becoming more serious. Last year Ken Ryan of Goulburn staggered everyone when he turned up with a 420-kilogram monster.
He has a formidable rival in Lerida Estate winemaker Jim Lumbers. ''He won it two years ago and Ken came back and took the ribbon off him,'' Poile says.
''We think Jim might give Ken a run for his money this year. I was out at Lerida Estate and he has some pretty good pumpkins there. I think he is quietly confident he's right up there in the hunt.
''They all keep to themselves. Different media ring me and say, 'Can we talk to the pumpkin growers?' I say 'You can try, but they are a pretty secretive lot, they don't let on much.' ''
Ryan's giant pumpkin has caused organisers to rethink putting the monsters inside the hall. ''We are going to put them in a tent outside the hall because they're getting too heavy to get inside,'' Poile says.
Lumbers began growing Atlantic giant pumpkins four years ago and says it's all about size and nothing to do with taste. ''You could make pumpkin soup out of them, but they'd taste like warm water.''
In America they grow world record pumpkins weighing around 600 kilograms. The smaller ones in Australia are still enough to create rivalry, although Lumbers plays down his chances this year.
''Ken's got the edge on me. If it all goes well for him he'll have a bigger pumpkin. He's near Marulan on a patch of basalt soil, which would be very proficient. We don't put a lot of effort in, because we are working a winery and vineyard.''
Lerida's pumpkins grow on a nutrient-rich patch of earth soaked by waste water and bathed in eastern sunlight, which is so kind to the grapes at the winery.
Lumbers says really keen growers go through a more intense regime, starting their plants off on nitrogen fertiliser for good foliage growth, then changing to a more phosphate-dominated fertiliser to get good fruit set and fruit development. He says there's a bit of an art in pruning the vines to get the optimum number of leaves per pumpkin.
Fanatics thin out the vines, but by this stage Lumbers is too busy with the grapes. His big challenge this season has been excess rain. ''It has rotted the one that I really thought was going to win.''
James McKay says he is no longer on the committee, which has changed somewhat from its early days but has kept its vision of celebrating the village while involving everyone in the town. ''Even if they are not directly involved, they know how it works and make a contribution in their own way,'' he says.
The festival has donated $10,000 for rejuvenating the local oval, which will encourage sports events.
''Collector has had its ups and downs. I think we are on the way up. We had a terrible period when Lynwood Cafe closed down, the bridge closed, the shop shut and then the pub shut. Then suddenly over the last year-and-a-half the pub has re-opened, the bridge has been re-built, the shop's re-opened, there's another wave of energy and enthusiasm.''
As well as working in the information technology field, McKay runs Lynwood Preserves with Kate. ''I remember in those early years we had committee meetings where there were 25 people in the room, which is pretty good for a town of 200. The energy and vibrancy was great to be a part of, it still really is.''
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|HIV and Meds + person dating - person
Apr 11, 2003
Dear Dr. Remien,
I am currently in a relationship with an HIV- man. My viroload is low and I am not on any meds. My partner would like to further our sexual relationship and include anal sex. I realize that a condom should always be used and it is. But I am still afraid of infecting him. A friend recently told me that med lower the amount of HIV in your bloodstream and semen. This might be an added assurance in conjunction with safe sex to make sure he is not infected. It's this true?
Thank you for answering my question - I am stuck (for lack of a better word).
Response from Dr. Remien
A lot of people are wondering about how much the risk of transmission changes with lower viral load. I think the best research data we have at this time comes from studies of HIV serodiscordant couples in Africa (relatively large sample). It was shown that viral load of the HIV+ partner was a strong predictor of transmission within the couple. In other words, the lower the viral load, the less the risk of transmission. However, this was in a population that was not (for the most part) treated with antiretroviral medication. Thus, we do not know if we would see the same results in a population where viral load is lowered due to medical treatment. There may be something biologically different between a low viral load when the immune system is doing it on its own vs a low viral load when medications are used.
Also keep in mind, viral load is always fluctuating in people who are infected and the viral load that is measured in plasma (blood) is not always the same as the viral load of genital secretions (e.g., semen).
I am also glad to hear that you believe in consistently using condoms. Correct and consistent use of condoms is very effective in preventing transmission of HIV among HIV serodiscordant couples. Keep it up!
re: When both people are positive...
Boyfriend just told me
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The term general practitioner is common in Ireland, the United Kingdom, some other Commonwealth countries, and Bulgaria. In the English-speaking countries the word medical practitioner is largely reserved for certain other types of medical specialists, notably in internal medicine.
Family medicine, on the other hand, has evolved only recently in Brazil as a separate specialization of general practice. It is a concept which was adapted from several community health models in Europe, such as in Italy, but particularly the one which was created successfully in Cuba, and which was felt to be the most adequate to Brazilian reality. Around 10 years ago, the government recognized that primary health care in Brazil was poorly organized and fraught with many problems, including a lack of attractiveness to young physicians, so a different approach, the Family Health Program (Programa de Saúde da Família or PSF) was tried, initially with some failures, but later with increasing strength and coverage. By spending a great deal of money in order to move the program forward, the Ministry of Health expanded and reinforced the public health care system, called Unified Health System (Sistema Único de Saúde or SUS) by decentralizing its management to the states and municipalities, by demanding in the Federal Constitution that a minimum percentage of the municipal budget should be spent in free health care to the population, and by setting up a new, multidisciplinary, family health-based system, the PSF. It is essentially based on teams composed by one to four physicians (usually a GP, a gynecologist/obstetrician and a pediatrician), one to two dentists, several nurses and a number of so called Community Health Agents (Agentes Comunitários de Saúde or ACS), who are trained lay persons who visit and have close contact with the families covered in a specific geographical location by the PSF team, in order to carry out preventative, educational and epidemiological work. Specific intensive training programs and recruiting efforts were set up in the country in order to form the PSF teams, which currently involve about 3,000 municipalities, with more than 45,000 teams already in operation; so that it can be considered one of the largest family health programs in the world.
Family medical practitioners per se are still a rare specialty in Brazil, as the profession is generally shunning it (although economical incentive is no longer a valid reason, since medical practitioners who work in the PSF units are generally well paid in comparison to primary health care physicians in the public sector). A few years ago a Brazilian Society of Family and Community Medicine was founded and has lobbied to have its own specialty title and board of examiners, but it has so far remained relatively small.
There is very little private family medicine practice in Canada. Most FPs are remunerated via their Provincial government health plans, via a variety of payment mechanisms, including fee-for-service, salaried positions, and alternate payment plans. There is increasing interest in the latter as a means to promote best practices within a managed economic environment. As standard office practice has become less financially viable in recent years, many FPs now pursue areas of special interest. In rural areas, the majority of FPs still provide a broad, well-rounded scope of practice. Manpower inequities in rural areas are now being addressed with some innovative training and inducement mechanisms. An imbalance between physician manpower and a growing patient load has resulted in orphan patients who find it difficult to access primary care, but this is not unique to Canada. Family Medicine is recently recognized as a Medical Specialty in Canada. Family Physicians who pass the Certification exam, CCFP, become Specialist in Family Medicine.
All medical practitioners must hold a license to practice medicine in the US. The only requirement is that the physician be enrolled or have completed a year of training, more commonly called a rotating internship. The few licensed medical practitioners who do not complete 3 to 10 year residency, are legally allowed to practice medicine in the state where they are licensed.
The population of this type of medical practitioner is dwindling, however. Currently the United States Navy has many of these general practitioners, formally known as General Medical Officers, in active practice.
The US now holds a different definition for the term "general practitioner". The two terms “general practitioner” and “family medicine” doctor were synonymous prior to 1970. At that time both terms (if used within the US) referred to someone who completed medical school and the 1 year required internship and then worked as a general family doctor or as a hospitalist. Completion of a postgraduate specialty training program or residency in family medicine was at that time not a requirement.
A medical practitioner who specializes in “family medicine” must now complete a residency in family medicine, and must be eligible for board certification now required by most hospitals and health plans. It was not until the 1970s that family medicine (formerly known as family practice) was recognized as a specialty in the US.
Many licensed family medical practitioners in the United States after this change began to use the term "general practitioner" to refer to those practitioners who previously did not complete a family medicine residency. A family practitioner is licensed to practice strictly family medicine. Family medical practitioners after completing medical school must then complete three to four additional years of residency in family medicine. Three hundred hours of medical education within the prior six years is also required to be eligible to sit for the board certification exam.
Between 2003 and 2009 the board certification process is being changed in family medicine and all other American Specialty Boards to a continuous series of yearly competency tests on differing areas within the given specialty. The American Board of Family Medicine, as well as other specialty boards, is requiring additional participation in continuous learning and self-assessment to enhance clinical knowledge, expertise and skills. The Board has created a program called the "Maintenance of Certification Program for Family Physicians" (MC-FP) which will require family practitioners to continuously demonstrate proficiency in four areas of clinical practice: professionalism, self assessment/lifelong learning, cognitive expertise, and performance in practice.
Certificates of Added Qualifications (CAQs) in adolescent medicine, geriatric medicine, sports medicine, sleep medicine, and hospice and palliative medicine are available for those board-certified family physicians with additional residency training requirements.
There is currently a shortage of primary care physicians (and also other primary care providers) due to several factors, notably the lesser prestige associated with the young specialty, the lesser pay, and the increasingly frustrating practice environment. In the US Physicians are increasingly forced to do more administrative work, shoulder higher malpractice premiums due to highly profitable insurance monopolies that charge excessive premiums, thus spending less and less time with patient care due to the current payor model stressing patient volume vs. quality of care.
One can also opt to join the National Board of Examinations (NBE)'s fellowship for Family Medicine at any of the NBE designated and recognised Health care center or hospital and appear for qualifying exams for fellowship to the National Board on successful completion of which, one is awarded the "Diplomate of National Board" degree and title. Other than the practitioners discussed above, graduates of homeopathy, ayurveda, and unani courses from recognised medical colleges and institutions, duly registered with the respective state or national boards of these medical systems, can also practice as family practitioners.
In Pakistan, 5 years of MBBS is followed by one year of internship in different specialties. Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) then confers permanent registration, after which the candidate may choose to practice as a GP or opt for specialty training.
The first Family Medicine Training programme was approved by the College of Physicians and Surgeons, Pakistan (CPSP) in 1992 and initiated in 1993 by the Family Medicine Division of the Department of Community Health Sciences, Aga Khan University, Pakistan. In 1997, the Royal College of General Practitioners, UK, unconditionally approved the Programme for the MRCGP Examination and additionally declared it as amongst the top 10 programmes in UK.
Family Medicine residency training programme of Ziauddin University is approved for Fellowship in Family Medicine.
The following centres are providing training for Diploma of College of Physicians and Surgeons, Pakistan (DCPSP):
They have a role in the survey of epidemics, a legal role (constatation of traumas that can bring compensation, certificates for the practice of a sport, death certificate, certificate for hospitalisation without consent in case of mental incapacity), and a role in the emergency care (they can be called by the samu, the French EMS). They often go to a patient's home when the patient cannot come to the consulting room (especially in case of children or old people), and have to contribute to a night and week-end duty (although this was contested in a strike in 2002).
The studies consist of six years in the university (common to all medical specialties), and two years and a half as a junior practitioner (interne) :
This ends with a doctorate, a research work which usually consist of a statistical study of cases to propose a care strategy of a specific affection (in an epidemiological, diagnostic, or therapeutic point of view).
In The Netherlands, training consists of three years of specialization after completion of internships. In Belgium, one year of lectures and two years of residency are required.
Some of the specialist in family practice in Spain are forced to work in other countries (mainly UK, Portugal and France) due to lack of stable work.
Up until the year 2005, those wanting to become a General Practitioner of medicine had to do a minimum of the following postgraduate training:
At the end of the one year registrar post, the medical practitioner must pass an examination in order to be allowed to practice independently as a GP. This summative assessment consists of a video of two hours of consultations with patients, an audit cycle completed during their registrar year, a multiple choice questionnaire (MCQ), and a standardised assessment of competencies by their trainer. These changes have led to accusations of "dumbing down" from the British Medical Association.
Membership of the Royal College of General Practitioners was previously optional. However new trainee GP's from 2008 are now compulsorily required to complete the nMRCGP. They will not be allowed to practice without this postgraduate qualification. After passing the exam or assessment, they are awarded the specialist qualification of MRCGP – Member of the Royal College of General Practitioners. Previously qualified general practitioners (prior to 2008) are not required to hold the MRCGP, but it is considered desirable. In addition, many hold qualifications such as the DCH (Diploma in Child Health of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health) and/or the DRCOG (Diploma of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists) and/or the DGH (Diploma in Geriatric Medicine of the Royal College of Physicians. Some General Practitioners also hold the MRCP (Member of the Royal College of Physicians) or other specialist qualifications, but generally only if they had a hospital career, or a career in another speciality, before training in General Practice.
There are many arrangements under which general practitioners can work in the UK. While the main career aim is becoming a principal or partner in a GP surgery, many become salaried or non-principal GPs, work in hospitals in GP-led acute care units, or perform locum work. Whichever of these roles they fill the vast majority of GPs receive most of their income from the National Health Service (NHS). Principals and partners in GP surgeries are self-employed, but they have contractual arrangements with the NHS which give them considerable predictability of income.
The (MB ChB/BS) medical degree is entirely equivalent to the North American MD medical degree. Medical practitioners educated in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, and Great Britain have more ability to move between the countries than other national systems.
Visits to GP surgeries are free in all countries of the United Kingdom, but charges for prescription only medicine vary. Wales has already abolished all charges, and Scotland has embarked on a phased reduction in charges to be completed by 2011. In England, however, most adults of working age who are not on benefits have to pay a standard charge for prescription only medicine of £7.10 per item from April 2008.
Recent reforms to the NHS have included changing the GP contract. General practitioners are now not required to work unsociable hours, and get paid to some extent according to their performance, e.g. numbers of patients treated, what treatments were administered, and the health of their catchment area, through the Quality and Outcomes Framework. They are encouraged to prescribe medicines by their generic names. The IT system used for assessing their income based on these criteria is called QMAS. A GP can expect to earn about £70,000 a year without doing any overtime, although this figure is extremely variable. A 2006 report noted that some GPs were earning £250k per year, with the highest-paid on £300k for working alone across five islands in the Outer Hebrides. These potential earnings have been the subject of much criticism in the press for being excessive. However, a full time GP can now expect to earn around £110,000 before tax.
The NHS was criticised in the July 1997 Shipman inquiry for a lack of accountability. The report commented on "an NHS complaints system failing to detect issues of professional misconduct or criminal activity. However, as of 2008 public satisfaction with GPs is still extremely high in the UK.
The possible advent of polyclinics, as detailed in Professor Lord Darzi's report into the future of the NHS, led to growing fears in the medical profession that the government and the Department of Health were attempting to privatise GP services.
Following this a further year is spent as an Intern, rotating through medical and surgical specialities. In most, but not all instances, 6 months are spent in medicine and 6 months in surgery. Some interns can gain experience in general practice, psychiatry and other specialities. The successful completion of intern training leads to full registration with the Irish Medical Council.
Those medical practitioners wishing to pursue a career in General Practice must complete an approved training scheme. Previously completion of a training scheme was not mandatory to sit the MICGP exam (Member of the Irish College of General Practictioner) and practice as a GP in Ireland. Many doctors took up stand-alone SHO posts in the required specialities and then sat the exam without any vocational training. This route has now been abolished and vocational training is mandatory. Completion of vocational GP training in other jurisdictions (e.g. the UK) and completion of the MICGP or equivalent (e.g. MRCGP) is still possible, but anecdotal evidence would suggest Irish trained GPs are at a significant advantage when applying for Irish GP posts.
Entry to a General Practice Training Scheme is based on competitive interview. Most are of 4 years duration (one is 5 years). Generally the first 2 years are spent rotating through relevant specialities (medicine, paediatrics, obstetrics & gynaecology, psychiatry, accident & emergency, ENT etc.). Two years are then spent as a GP registrar in designated Training Practice. After successfully completing the MICGP exams, the new general practitioner is free to practice.
General practice in Ireland is a desirable career for many and competition for places on training schemes is intense. There has been mush criticism of the perceived under-supply of training places and efforts are made to increase places annually. Currently there are 12 schemes - Donegal, Sligo, Western (Galway, Mayo and Roscommon), Mid-Western (Limerick, Clare and Tipperary North Riding), Southern (Cork & Kerry), South-East (Waterford, Wexford, Kilkenny and Tipperary South Riding), Midlands (Offaly, Westmeath, Laois, Kildare), North-East (Louth, Meath, Monaghan, Cavan), Ballinasloe and 3 schemes based in Dublin.
Typically Irish GPs work exclusively with private (i.e. fee-for-service paying) patients or have a mix of public and private. So-called "public" patients are those who qualify for a medical card under the General Medical Services (or GMS) system. This is free health care, provided by the government and is means tested. Other groups such as those with specified chronic illnesses and the elderly are also entitled to a medical card. A medical card entitles the holder to free GP consultations, free medications and free hospital treatment. In order to treat medical card holders a GP must apply for and be granted a GMS list. Applications for such lists are competitive as they can be very lucurative for the GP and vacancies do not often arise.
GPs deal with the entire spectrum of medical ailments. They are well placed to implement preventative measures and to manage chronic illness. They also act as "gate-keepers" for the tertiary care system, providing referrals to specialist services when appropriate. Some GPs are employed by private agencies.
Delivery models of rural surgical services in British Columbia (1996-2005): Are general practitioner-surgeons still part of the picture?
Jun 01, 2008; Objective: To define the models of surgical service delivery in rural communities that rely solely on general practitioner...
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Mitt Romney apparently adopted a new tax strategy at some point this year.
The Republican presidential nominee has completed and released his official 2011 tax return, and his tax bill is lower than estimated on a preliminary return released eight months ago.
Here's how the numbers on Romney's final return compare with the numbers from his preliminary return, and from 2010:
Final 2011 return:
Adjusted gross income: $13,696,961
Total federal tax paid: $1,935,708
Effective federal tax rate: 14.1 percent
Preliminary 2011 return (released in January):
Adjusted gross income: $20,901,075
Total federal tax paid: $3,226,623
Effective rate: 15.4 percent
Final 2010 return:
Adjusted gross income: $21,646,507
Total tax paid: $3,009,766
Effective rate: 13.9 percent
So here's the mystery: Between January and October of this year, Romney's adjusted gross income for 2011 fell by $7.2 million. And it dropped by nearly $8 million compared with his AGI in 2010. His federal tax liability also fell, by similar proportions.
The most likely explanation is that Romney's accountants transferred income from Romney's personal return to one of the three trusts that also generate considerable income, almost all of it from investments. It will take a detailed examination of the 2010 and 2011 documents to figure out what changed, but here's a clue: Romney's campaign has begun to focus on the "personal" tax rate paid by Romney, rather than the tax rate that might be associated with the trusts and his total income from all sources.
This matters because Romney is subject to a very low tax rate as it is, since most of his earnings come from investments, which are taxed at a lower rate than wages. Romney hasn't released tax documents prior to 2010, but some tax experts think his overall tax rate could have been very close to zero during at least a couple of years, possibly because of capital losses suffered during the stock-market wipeout of 2008, which zeroed out earnings for many investors.
The Romney campaign now says that since 1990, "the lowest annual effective federal personal tax rate" Romney paid was 13.66 percent. In other words, the rate on what might be characterized as his personal income never fell below that threshold.
But that doesn't account for the three trusts, or other investment vehicles that may have existed prior to 2010. And it's unusual to limit the claim to "personal" taxes when Romney has acknowledged other types of income. So it's possible that the effective tax rate on the trusts was very low at some point—and maybe even zero, which would have indicated a net loss for the year.
Romney's personal return for 2011 shows significantly less investment income than his 2010 return. In 2011, for instance, Romney claimed $6.8 million in capital gains, down from $12.6 million in 2010. That alone helps explain why Romney's overall income and tax bill dropped. The stock market was flat in 2011, but other investment classes, such as bonds, did much better, so it's unlikely Romney lost money on his investments in 2011.
There's not necessarily anything unethical about Romney's tax strategy. Former IRS commissioner Fred Goldberg, a Romney supporter, issued a statement on Romney's behalf saying there's nothing in Romney's 2011 return that suggests unusual or evasive tactics. Romney is also a generous sponsor of charities, with more than $4 million in donations last year. That helps lower his tax bill significantly.
In a short email response to questions about the disparities on Romney's returns, the Romney campaign said only that "the Romneys' income can vary significantly from year to year, depending primarily on what investments are sold and how much they have appreciated or depreciated." The campaign also told several news outlets that Romney claimed fewer charitable deductions than allowed in 2011—basically leaving money on the table--in order to keep his personal tax rate above 13 percent. That's the minimum level Romney has consistently claimed that he pays. Still, he could claim the left-over amount as a deduction in future years.
Romney would dearly love to bury questions about his wealth and the taxes he pays, but the latest release may not accomplish that. The changes on his return between January and now raise fresh questions about Romney's complex tax strategy, and the new claims about the "personal" tax rate he has paid over the years suggest there's something else he's not revealing. Nobody likes taxes, but Mitt Romney has a more peculiar tax burden than most.
Rick Newman is the author of Rebounders: How Winners Pivot From Setback To Success. Follow him on Twitter: @rickjnewman.
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A ban on smoking in bars, restaurants and all public places has been approved by MSPs at Holyrood.
Scotland's smoking ban is due to come into effect in 2006
The Smoking, Health and Social Care (Scotland) Bill will come into force on 26 March 2006.
Health Minister Andy Kerr said the ban would help smokers give up and protect other people from passive smoking.
The ban was approved by 97 votes to 17 with only the Conservatives opposed. Their attempts to exempt theatre stages and specialist tobacco shops failed.
Employers failing to enforce the ban will face fines of up to £2,500 and those caught smoking could be hit with penalties of up to £1,000.
Smokers could be fined for lighting up in a pub, a restaurant, an office, a theatre, a bingo hall or even a public toilet.
Exemptions include prison cells and residential care centres.
Other measures in the bill include free eye and dental checks, a key Liberal Democrat demand, and authorised payments for those who contracted Hepatitis C from NHS blood products.
Mr Kerr said that it was the most important piece of public health legislation in a generation.
He said: "It shows how Scotland can lead the UK. A tribute to the success of devolution.
"We have been congratulated for going further than the measures that have been proposed for England, but Scotland's problem is far greater - higher numbers of smokers leading to higher risks for public health."
The minister added: "This is a proud day for many people and I am personally proud to be a part of it on this historic day in the Scottish Parliament."
The Scottish National Party health spokeswoman Shona Robison said: "To ban smoking in enclosed public places will have an immediate benefit for those who work in pubs, restaurants and other enclosed public places and those who visit those establishments.
"Importantly, it will also have a longer term benefit because it does
de-normalise cigarette smoking."
Conservative health spokeswoman Dr Nanette Milne told MSPs: "We are disappointed the executive has not taken a more reasoned approach."
She said there had been big advances in smoke-free provision in recent years.
And ventilation systems bring down smoke pollution to "acceptable" levels.
"If air quality can be shown to be acceptable, there is no reason why there should not be more exemptions for the smoking ban," she said.
And she told parliament: "We have serious concerns this legislation will lead to displacement of smoking to the home, with increased exposure of children to a smoke-filled atmosphere and a potential increase in home consumption of alcohol."
She said smoking was still legal and declared: "There has to be some choice for smokers as well as non-smokers."
But Nora Radcliffe, for the Liberal Democrats, hailed the bill with
"enthusiasm" and said it was a major delivery of her party's policy.
"The Scottish Liberal Democrats were the first party in Scotland to support a ban on smoking in public places," she said.
"The UK Government accepts they will eventually have to go for a
comprehensive ban rather than the messy compromise they are wrestling with."
The BMA in Scotland welcomed the Scottish Parliament's decision.
Chairman Dr Peter Terry said: "This landmark legislation benefits the health of each and every Scot, who will shortly be protected from the devastating effects of second hand tobacco smoke.
"We congratulate parliament for delivering the clear message that second hand tobacco smoke kills and that the entire population has the right to be protected from it."
Cancer Research UK added that the decision marked "an historic day for Scotland".
Chief Executive Professor Alex Markham said: "Scotland is leading the way in the UK by adopting smoke-free legislation that will protect thousands of workers.
"There is little doubt that making all workplaces and enclosed public places smoke free will bring about some of the most significant health improvements Scotland has seen in decades."
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What if time was tangible? Like a wad of cash? Or, new lipstick or grape chapstick? Or, your favorite Sharpie! You’d really pay attention to it, wouldn’t you? And, it would be kinda fun…plus you’d look and feel good, too. If you’re into money, make up, and markers.
You’d be able to manipulate it better (i.e., be more efficient). Work with it and not run away from it (i.e., procrastinate). You might even find that you have more time to share it (e.g., volunteer, hang out with friends, etc.).
Or, you might just keep more of it to yourself (e.g., exercise more, chill and do nothing, read your favorite book). Or, save some up in a Ziploc until you need it.
Time isn’t quite so cut and dry. Well, it can be very dry and boring. Pressured. Tense. Inconvenient. A royal pain. But, it’s like taxes, you have to deal with it. And, be pretty good at managing it (more often than not) to make everyone happy – your spouse, your boss, your cat, your children…you.
That last person is especially important. Because when that person is happy, everybody else is, too. So, if you’re struggling with time, figure out what the problem is.
1. Are you the person who always says yes to every project you’re offered?
2. Do you underestimate how long it will take you to really leave the house?
3. …or finish a particular task?
4. Are you the person that always refuses help?
5. Do you keep everything in your head because you know you’ll remember it all?
6. Do you dread doing certain tasks?
Please don’t go buy the latest planner, calendar, or app until you first figure out what’s off kilter. Because you’ll be wasting more time. You don’t want that, do you?
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Mary Ann Hatten White
Schoolteacher. Born: January 3, 1830, New York. Married: Allen White April 15, 1867. Died: May 6, 1924, Emporia, Kansas.
Mary Ann Hatten White was born to Thomas and Ann Kelly Hatten, in Oswego, New York, on January 3, 1830. After moving the family to New York, her parents died, leaving 16-year-old Mary to care for her younger siblings. She worked her way through Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois. Hatten moved to Kansas in 1864 and became a teacher in Council Grove. In her first teaching appointment, she invited an African American girl to her classroom and lost her job due to the Southern sympathizers.
She then met and married Dr. Allen White April 15, 1867. Together they had two sons, William Allen and Frederick Hatten, the latter dying at five months. The family moved to El Dorado, Kansas, in 1869. The Whites engaged in farming for a time, and from 1879 to 1881 operated their home as a hotel, called "The White House."
Mary died May 6, 1924, in Emporia.
Entry: White, Mary Ann Hatten
Author: Kansas Historical Society
Author information: The Kansas Historical Society is a state agency charged with actively safeguarding and sharing the state's history.
Date Created: April 2012
Date Modified: July 2012
The author of this article is solely responsible for its content.
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Why MMO Exploration is Unimportant & 4 Ways To Make it Meaningful
The biggest impediment to exploration in an MMO is questing and the emphasis on endgame content. While there are certainly some incentives to explore around – such as achievements or hidden chests with nice loot – the majority of players will stick to the linear path shown to them by the quest designers. This keeps them moving from area to area, but it also prevents them from getting to know a location and its inhabitants unless they are really dedicated. The stereotype of the cookie-cutter MMO NPC is in full force, and all the good lore writing won’t get players involved until they have a reason to be.
In order to get players interested in MMO lore, developers must present players with incentives to read quest text and get involved in NPC dialogue. Originally, these incentives were simply not knowing what was going on when you left to do the quest. This form of negative reinforcement is common – it’s the reason DRM is so popular, after all – but it doesn’t work, as negative reinforcement rarely does in the media world. Players just find ways around it, as evidenced by the popularity of QuestHelper and Atlas in World of Warcraft before Blizzard added their own quest guidance system and dungeon maps. If any game has features that take player control away instead of adding it, that is bad design. There is no argument there. I simply detest negative reinforcement.
Likewise, most questing involves leaving old areas whenever you hit a level cap and you stop gaining experience and goodies from the quests you are doing. This prevents you from experiencing the story in full in a lot of MMOs, especially older ones. While the most relevant story is always the endgame one, the events leading up to it are also important and interesting from a lore perspective. Without questing mechanics that reward players for sticking around low-level areas, the majority of your player base simply won’t know what is going on. Besides the need to kill the big bad guy, of course.
The absolute worst part of questing, however, is returning to the questgiver to get your reward. While this seems like such a standard part of the RPG experience, it’s one that drags down MMOs. When you want players to delve into your world, the absolute worst way to direct them is to force them to do round trips all the time. It artificially inflates the time you spend progressing to the next level, as you must work your way to and fro the guy who needs ten rat pelts.
While exploration isn’t absolutely terrible, it also suffers from the curse of linearity. Most areas are in a particular level range, which excludes players above or below this range. Unless the player has a reason to go back to a low-level zone (usually achievements or crafting materials), they won’t. Really, this is the crux of the entire problem of MMO exploration: There is no reason to do it at the appropriate time except for superficial awards you will end up outleveling in a day or two. When you are max level, visiting these old areas is simply a way to get achievements and gold, not experience new aspects of the game.
Finally, even if you find cool stuff in your exploration, it very rarely pertains to you or leads to something interesting. Sometimes it might be a chest of randomly-generated goodies, many of which will likely end up as vendor trash. Other times it might be a bit of lore that doesn’t really make you care more about your character or the NPCs you interact with, despite being directly relevant to your game. In all cases, there is nothing to make you more concerned with finding out more about the world.
All of these aspects end up dragging down the experience of a good MMO and make you feel like you are hitched to a rail. All you have to do is push the right buttons in the right order. Unlike PvP and crafting, though, there are a lot of MMOs that attempt to subvert the standard linear path towards the level cap. Thus we have a good collection of examples to draw inspiration from.
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Johnson county is located in east Iowa. Johnson county has 614.04 square miles of land area and 9.11 square miles of water area. As of 2010, the total Johnson county population is 130,882, which has grown 17.91% since 2000. The population growth rate is much higher than the state average rate of 4.10% and is much higher than the national average rate of 9.71%. Johnson county median household income is $51,380 in 2006-2010 and has grown by 28.26% since 2000. The income growth rate is higher than the state average rate of 21.52% and is higher than the national average rate of 19.17%. Johnson county median house value is $177,000 in 2006-2010 and has grown by 34.60% since 2000. The house value growth rate is lower than the state average rate of 49.58% and is lower than the national average rate of 50.42%. As a reference, the national Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation rate for the same period is 26.63%. On average, the public school district that covers Johnson county is much better than the state average in quality. The Johnson county area code is 319.
Hot Iowa Rankings
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|The Vanoise, the rugged massif rising up to the southeast of Albertville, and over to the Italian border is a superb area for skiing and Hiking. The dramatic range, whose highest peaks rise to altitudes in excess of 3500 metres, is roughly diamond-shaped, hemmed in by the valley of the Isère to the northeast, where Bourg-St-Maurice is the best base for exploration, and the Arc Valley in the southwest. The glacier-capped southeast quadrant of the Vanoise, where both of these great rivers have their source has been incorporated in the Parc National de la Vanoise, across which lonely and spectacular GR trails offer unparalleled opportunities for seasoned hikers. Easiest road access to the region is from Chambéry or Grenoble, although driving the winding and precipitous old highways from Annecy or Chamonix is an adventure in itself.|
Pages in section ‘Vanoise’: Isère valley, Tignes and Val d'Isère, Col de l'Iseran, Parc de la Vanoise.
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1001 Writing Projects for Kids A Paragraph-a-day Plan for Writing Success by Fred Cooper
Q. Why are kids today so lacking in writing skills?
A. Because they don’t write enough.
Q. Why don’t they write enough?
A. Because they can’t think of anything to write about!
Well Now They Can!
In this computer age, students have traded the pen for the mouse! Teachers often ask their students to answer multiple-choice questions on the computer screen rather than having them compose their thoughts and write answers in sentences and paragraphs.
Students need to practice writing every day. They should spend at least 15 minutes a day in creative writing. Yet, how often have you heard them say, “What can I write about?” This book makes that problem evaporate! It provides a complete variety of writing projects that challenges them to excel as they practice writing every day!
Only 15 minutes a day
Covers the 4 basic writing types: Narrative, Expository, Descriptive and Persuasive
Captivate readers, ace writing tests, and express yourself clearly—Marko the Pencil will show you how. His Writer’s Toolbox, packed with easy-to-implement strategies, will take your writing from mediocre to magnificent. Stories, essays, term papers, or standardized tests—whatever you write, Marko gives you proven strategies for getting remarkable results. This is the fun way to sharpen your writing skills.
Grades 4 & up.
Total running time: Approx. 70 minutes
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Job titles included in the medical industry include technicians, coders, interpreters, lab techs, scientists, secretaries, social workers, transcriptionists, nurses, chemists, equipment preparers, managers, doctors, dentists, and assistants. Employment in the medical industry is expected to fare very well - as staff change positions, localities, or move to other careers, many new positions become available. This coupled with advancing medical technology means new careers are always being added to the medical industry. Most entry-level positions do not require a college degree. Of those positions that do require education in the medical industry, they are the most educated people compared to most other industries.
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- Moments of Vision by Kenneth Clark
Murray, 191 pp, £9.50, October 1981, ISBN 0 7195 3860 2
Something, as Clark himself has acknowledged, is wrong with Civilisation: with the television series and the book which made him a household name. It is not that it contains a number of gross oversimplifications, of which the most astonishing is the observation that Leonardo thought of women ‘solely as reproductive mechanisms’. Nor is it that there is also an occasional failure of the historical imagination: the women on the Romanesque font of Winchester Cathedral certainly do look ugly and nasty to us, but this is not evidence that ‘women were thought of as squat, bad-tempered viragos’. That, however, is a parenthetical lapse and far less grave than the anachronistic and sentimental idea, entertained by the supposedly tough-minded John Berger in his television series, that Frans Hals intended his late group portraits to expose the true horror of bourgeois society.
Civilisation certainly extends our sympathies; it may deepen our understanding of European history; but it avoids challenging contemporary complacency – it is too affable. It encourages admiration more often than criticism (which is certainly not the case with Berger’s sermons): but in doing so it fails to convey how alien much of our civilisation is to us. Genuinely at ease with the classics on our shelves and with the old masters in our museums, Clark can convince us that they really are our ‘inheritance’. Eventually he permits himself to be presented as an embodiment of his subject. At the request of his producer he ends with a creed. ‘I hold a number of beliefs that have been repudiated by the liveliest intellects of our time,’ he declares, and then follow the bland, indeed, as he admits, banal words: ‘I believe that order is better than chaos, creation better than destruction,’ and so on. Since then, he has inflicted a good deal of additional damage to his reputation, not least by the fragmentary reflections which he supplied last year to an anthology of pictures entitled Feminine Beauty. Moments of Vision should do something to repair the damage. It also makes quite clear that television encouraged a tendency that already existed in his work.
Moments of Vision consists ‘chiefly’ of ‘scripts of lectures’ and you eventually discover, on the page before the index, that one of these was delivered in 1954, another in 1962, and others in 1970, 1972 and 1977. One of the five pieces for which the publishers do not supply a date appeared in more elaborate form in Encounter in 1963. There are clues in some of the others which suggest that they were composed anywhere between five and twenty years ago. The book is not illustrated, but this is not to be regretted because the observations on literature – on the flexibility of Gibbon’s style, or on the possible unconscious associations of snapdragons for Cardinal Newman, for example – are sharper and more particular than are those on the visual arts. Some of the pieces are brilliant. Others are quite unworthy. The editing leaves much to be desired.
‘The Work of Bernard Berenson’ adds to some of the comic anecdotes which have already appeared in Clark’s autobiography a judicious assessment of Berenson’s achievement. But it seems to consist of two similar essays which have got muddled up: a number of points are made twice and a description of how ‘one could almost see’ the connoisseur’s ‘frail little body reacting physically to the tactile values or the space composition of the works before him’ is repeated word for word a dozen pages later. It is even more disturbing to find whole chunks of ‘The Blot and the Diagram’ reappearing almost unchanged in ‘Art and Society’
To the latter lecture Clark refers in his Preface. Left to himself, he claims, he would never have had the ‘effrontery’ to write on such a subject. But Ruskin’s influence may be felt in almost all Clark’s writings – and, incidentally, the service that he has performed in persuading people to reread Ruskin far outweighs the disservice of proposing, as he did in his anthology Ruskin Today, that this should be done in bits and pieces. The example of Ruskin obviously encouraged Clark to think about the subject of this lecture. In the course of it he regards his own reputation with a distaste which reminds one of the elderly Ruskin reviewing the enormous success of his own early writing on art: ‘We must not be bamboozled by the claim that more people listen to “good” music or visit picture galleries; nor even by the fact that a few of us have tricked the unsuspecting viewer into looking at old pictures on television.’ And yet, despite other dark passages, he concludes as usual with a cheering, if not a cheerful note. Clark is, in fact, as reluctant as Ruskin was keen to make his audience feel thoroughly uncomfortable.
‘Here in The Blot and the Diagram’, written at least five years before Civilisation, Clark reviews those ‘events in the history of art’ which he considers ‘go far beyond the interaction of styles and which evidently reflect a change in the whole condition of the human spirit’. ‘Such an event took place towards the end of the fifth century, when the Hellenistic-Roman style gradually became what we call Byzantine; and again in the early 13th century, when the Gothic Cathedrals shot up out of the ground.’ The colloquial hyperbole is designed to help his audience feel comfortable at this altitude. The more educated amongst them may also take it as a reassuring wink – of course he could qualify these generalisations in a reputable academic manner. What follows is more worrying: ‘In each case the historian might produce a series of examples to prove that the change was inevitable. But actually it was nothing of the sort; it was wholly unpredictable and was part of a complete spiritual revolution.’ The effect of this is to suggest that it is pointless to try to explain changes in the way people think, dream and feel (for I suppose that is what a ‘condition of the human spirit’ amounts to). Moreover the point is not properly argued: much that was unpredictable is in retrospect acknowledged to have been inevitable.
What happened to art in the late fifth century, and why, were among the problems which most preoccupied Bernard Berenson when Clark came to stay with him at I Tatti in the 1920s. Clark, however, was there to help with the revision of The Drawings of the Florentine Painters and the Lists. The ‘game of saying who painted what was being played all round me and seemed to me to be the only game worth playing’, Clark wrote in his autobiography. And yet no enthusiasm is communicated by his account of the absurdity of the game as it was then played by its greatest exponent, with all those curling photographs pasted down by Mrs Berenson and continuously being misplaced by ‘staring virgins’. It must certainly have soon become as clear to Clark as it was to Berenson that the revision of the famous lists was not as exhilarating as their original compilation, for, as he puts it here in ‘The Work of Bernard Berenson’, ‘instead of being a sharp weapon used to assault an inert mass of tradition’, they themselves now constituted the inert mass. Berenson was already bitterly regretting that he had abandoned, for the game, or rather the ‘science’ (and the business), of attribution, his early interest in ‘philosophic criticism and appreciation’ and he seems to have urged Clark not to make the same mistake. Thus we may detect Berenson’s influence, not only in Clark’s early and admirable scholarly work on Leonardo’s drawings in the Thirties, but in the fact that he abandoned such work and came to disparage it – likening it, in a radio interview, to knitting. Berenson’s influence becomes clearer when Clark has proved his independence and entertained less mixed feelings towards his mentor.
The Nude, published in 1956, is not only Clark’s best book, but one of the finest books on the visual arts written in English. Into it one may feel that much of the best German writing on the history of art during the previous half-century has flowed. No one who had not studied Wölfflin could have made the startling comparison between the torso of the Apollo of Piombino and Perrault’s facade of the Louvre. And when Clark traces the transmigration of forms, the way that the poses of nereids on Roman sarcophagi, for example, were ‘resolved into plastic ideas so simple that a modest artisan could use them almost as easily as if he were carrying an alphabet’ and thus turned up in decorative art all over, and even beyond, the Western world, we may think of Riegl tracing the evolution of plant ornament of the same period. The account of the reinfusion of feeling into the poses of ancient art during the Renaissance owes much to Warburg. But the most pervasive influence is that of Berenson, to whom the book is dedicated. Some of it was written at I Tatti, and when Clark looked again at antique sculpture in Rome it was in Berenson’s company.
One limitation, very striking to the modern reader of Berenson, which Clark, despite his love of Rembrandt, seems never to have transcended is his underestimation of narrative in painting. Berenson called this ‘illustration’, which suggested a subordination to literature; others called it ‘anecdote’, which sounded trivial. Clark has not gone as far as Roger Fry, who considered that the superior way of looking at Raphael’s Transfiguration was to forget that it represented anything, so that one could engage more easily in the ‘pure contemplation of the spatial relations of plastic volumes’. He has never written about representational art as if it was entirely abstract. But he does seem to consider that narrative is of secondary importance even in such a painting. In the lecture on ‘Provincialism’ in this volume, Hogarth’s ‘lively and circumstantial manner of telling stories’ is described as a means of ‘escape’ from the central tradition of European painting: ‘When there is a story to tell, the pressure of style can be relaxed.’ Clark concedes that Giotto and Raphael ‘tell stories’. He should concede that it was for this that they were chiefly praised by their contemporaries, and all their admirers until the close of the last century. Nor was the attention to narrative less important for Titian, Rubens or Poussin than it was for Hogarth. It might, moreover, be argued that it was precisely when there was a story to tell that the ‘pressure of style’ was least relaxed.
When the young Berenson disparaged ‘illustration’, he was certainly influenced by the priorities of contemporary artists, whether or not he was as familiar as Clark proposes with the achievements of Degas and Cézanne. A huge rift soon developed between most of the great connoisseurs of old master painting and the lovers of modern art, but in The Nude and Landscape into Art Clark, although studying art forms which had, to put it mildly, a dubious future, wrote with confidence and under standing of the work of major living artists. However, in Civilisation he confesses himself ‘baffled’ by ‘what is taking place today’ and he makes hardly any mention of 20th-century art. Once or twice in Moments of Vision he ponders the improbability of a revival of representational art in his lifetime. Such a revival has, in fact, been in full swing for several years now. There is even a strong renewal of interest in the nude, although it must occur to anyone who reads Clark’s book on the subject that modern nudes need something to do.
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This is an excerpt from EERE Network News, a weekly electronic newsletter.
DOE to Award $2.5 Million to 18 Tribes for Efficiency, Renewable Energy
DOE announced on June 14th that it plans to award nearly $2.5 million to 18 Native American tribes to advance the use of renewable energy and energy efficient technologies on tribal lands. The tribes will investigate energy audits, energy efficiency improvements, and a wide range of renewable energy technologies, including biomass, geothermal, solar, and wind energy. Notable projects include plans to tap geothermal energy resources on the Citizen Potawatomi Nation tribal lands in central Oklahoma, efforts to evaluate wind power development in the Aleutian Islands of Alaska, and plans to install utility-scale wind power plants on tribal lands of the Hualapai and Hopi in Arizona. See the DOE press release, or go directly to the full list of projects (PDF 9 KB). Download Adobe Reader.
The grants are being awarded through DOE's Tribal Energy Program, which promotes tribal energy self-sufficiency and fosters employment and economic development on tribal lands in the United States. As part of the program's effort to promote energy self-sufficiency, it has created a new Web site called "A Guide to Tribal Energy Development." See the new Tribal Energy Development Web site.
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Use this guide to find the pearl that is right for you by educating yourself on the quality and value of the cultured pearls that Blue Nile offers.
What is a Cultured Pearl?
Natural pearls are so rare to find in nature that most pearls sold today are cultured. To create a cultured pearl, a tiny bead is implanted into the oyster and gradually over time the oyster coats the bead in many layers of natural minerals and proteins. These layers are referred to as nacre (Nay-Ker.) It is the nacre that gives pearls their beautiful luster and color.
Choosing the Right Pearl
At Blue Nile we offer a variety of Freshwater, South Sea, and Tahitian cultured pearls. In addition, we offer two collections of Akoya cultured pearls. Our pearl jewelry is available in a variety of different styles including studs, fashion earrings, strands, necklaces, pendants and bracelets. In addition, we offer our pearls in varying price ranges so that you can find the perfect pearl for your style and budget.
While industry wide there is no standardized grading for pearls, Blue Nile ensures that each pearl meets our high quality standards. At Blue Nile you will find education related to each pearl type we offer and encourage you to learn more about the differing qualities in each.
The general color of a pearl is also called the body color. Typical pearl colors are white, cream, yellow, pink, silver, or black. A pearl can also have a hint of secondary color, or overtone, which is seen when light reflects off the pearl surface. For example, a pearl strand may appear white, but when examined more closely, a pink overtone may become apparent.
Pearls produce an intense, deep shine called luster. This effect is created when light reflects off the many layers of tiny calcium carbonate crystals that compose the pearl. This substance is called nacre. When selecting a pearl, consider that the larger the pearl, the more nacre it has, so it will also exhibit even more luster. Compare a 5mm Freshwater cultured pearl with a 10mm South Sea cultured pearl and the difference in the amount of nacre is obvious. The difference in luster is as clearly visible as the difference in the pearl sizes.
At Blue Nile, we offer the highest quality, rarest pearl shape round. Shapes that are not spherical or even symmetrical are considered lower quality. Akoya, Tahitian, and South Sea pearls found in jewelry have a tendency to be the roundest, while Freshwater pearls can be oval or slightly off-round.
As a mollusk creates a pearl, the layers of nacre do not always adhere smoothly. Sometimes spots and bubbles can appear in the layering process. Pearls with the smoothest surfaces are the highest-quality, most sought-after pearls. At Blue Nile, to offer you a range of prices, we offer pearls with a range of surface qualities.
The size of the pearl greatly depends on the type of pearl. Freshwater pearls range in size from about 3.0-7.0mm, Akoya pearls range from about 6.0-8.5mm, and South Sea and Tahitian pearls can reach sizes as large as 13mm.
When cared for properly, pearls can last a lifetime. The best way to care for pearls is to wear them often as the body's natural oils keep pearls lustrous. However, it's important to keep them away from household chemicals including perfume, makeup and hairspray. Chemicals found in these common products can dull the luster of your pearls. It is recommended that you put your pearls on last when getting ready and make them the first thing you take off when you come home. Before putting your pearls away, wipe them with a soft cloth and store them separate from other jewelry to avoid scratching their tender surfaces.
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Nintendo of America
From Zelda Wiki, the Zelda encyclopedia
Nintendo of America, Incorporated is the North American branch of the Nintendo Co. Ltd headquarters in the Japanese city of Kyoto. It is responsible for operations in the western hemisphere and the facilitating the 40% of American households where Nintendo game consoles reside. Its president and chief operating officer is Reginald "Reggie" Fils-Aime.
It was established in 1980 as a wholly owned subsidiary in New York. Two years later, they moved to the city of Seattle with a total capital of $600,000. NoA headquarters is now established in 4600 150th Ave NE Redmond, Washington and has realized a significant growth since its entry to North America. It has distribution centers in Atlanta, Georgia (Nintendo Atlanta) and North Bend, Washington (Nintendo North Bend).
Nintendo of America is also know for its timeline mistakes, which were later corrected by developers.
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The health care crisis in the United States is getting worse with no visible end. The popular anger over unattainable or unaffordable health care has been diverted away from corporations by crafty politicians, always seeking to exploit a social disaster for their benefactors. Instead of making health care more affordable for the average person, politicians have successfully switched the messaging. Now, the purpose behind “reform” is to make health care less costly for governments and employers, at the expense of patients and workers.
This was the essence behind Obama’s health care reform. And although Republicans exploited the “individual mandate” in Obamacare to gain populist credentials, they wholeheartedly agree with the deeper philosophy of the plan, which aspires to control health care costs — for corporations and governments — by providing less health care services to those who need it. This agreement to “ration” health care aligns the two parties over the coming cuts to Medicare in Obama’s bi-partisan “Super Congress,” while also binding the two parties’ approach to health care on a state and business level.
Most workers now understand that there is a difference between apparently having health care and actually having health care: if you are technically “insured” but cannot afford doctor visits due to high deductibles and co-pays, you really aren’t insured.
This fact, applied to Medicare, has startling consequences. The New England Journal of Medicine found that, “For every 100 people enrolled in plans that raised co-pays, there were 20 fewer doctor visits, 2 additional hospital admissions and 13 more days spent in the hospital…”
When co-pays and deductibles are raised, people simply stop going to the doctor and use the emergency room as needed.
This dynamic pleased politicians because less Medicare money was being spent on doctors’ visits, but they were upset that hospital stays were more frequent. The answer? Stop paying Medicare payments to hospitals if they re-admit a patient after 30 days, a policy sure to “reduce costs.” And it worked! This aspect of Obama’s Affordable Health Care Act gives hospitals financial incentives not to admit patients and, according to Bloomberg, is a major reason that Medicare costs have dropped significantly in the past year:
“Historically, nearly 20 percent of Medicare patients have been readmitted to a hospital within 30 days of being discharged… The Affordable Care Act included, among other remedies, a modest penalty for hospitals with high readmission rates.”
The problem here is that re-admissions are usually medically necessary. According to a study by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, only one out of ten hospital re-admissions were preventable. Hospitals are thus encouraged to deny hospital stays to those who need it, something they’ve already started. According to Case Management Monthly, hospital social workers have noticed this disturbing trend accelerate: “Several case managers have recently received readmission denial letters…they are surprised because the readmissions in question were actually appropriate and medically necessary.”
Cost saving ideas like these are at the heart of Obama’s health care plan — which included massive cuts to Medicare — and further cuts to Medicare can be expected in his Super Congress. Even if the bi-partisan Super Congress is unable to agree to make massive cuts to social programs, cuts to Medicare will be automatically “triggered.” Obama tells us not to worry because the triggered Medicare cuts will affect only providers — hospitals and doctors — not patients, as if the two could be so easily separated. The above example of denied hospital re-admissions is also a case where providers were targeted for cuts but patients were the most affected.
Another way that politicians are saving health care money is by slashing Medicaid, the shared federal-state health care program that serves low-income populations. The states’ budget crises are quickly debilitating this already under-funded program, reducing availability and quality of health care for those low income people who qualify for the program. USA Today reports:
“With a shortage of doctors…[ Medicaid] patients have little choice but to use hospital emergency rooms for more routine care.”
Higher income workers across the country are also seeing their health care rapidly deteriorate. The shoddy health insurance that includes high deductibles and co-pays are standard to most non-union workers who’ve suffered under this pseudo insurance for years. But even these plans are being shelved. Two studies recently show that employers plan to quit offering health care plans altogether: a survey by Towers Watson showed that one out of ten companies plan to eliminate health care coverage by 2014; while a different study by the McKinsey Company showed that, by 2014, 30 percent of companies will drop their health coverage for workers.
Much of this is due again to, Obama’s Affordable Health Care act: companies were encouraged and given an excuse to drop their health care coverage because everyone would be mandated to buy their own shoddy coverage. Politicians recognized that high health care costs were hurting corporate profits, and they were determined to do something about it.
For those companies with a unionized workforce, Obama’s health care plan took special aim, taxing companies extra that offered so-called Cadillac insurance — coverage that was actually quality health insurance. But no more. This Cadillac tax doesn’t kick in till 2018, but employers are working now to make their health care plans skinny enough to avoid the tax; unions everywhere are being forced to make major concessions in the realm of health care, paying higher monthly premiums, deductibles, and other out-of-pocket costs.
Another trend in the attack on health care for employees involves the implementation of Health Engagement Models (sometimes called Health Promotion Model). This super-invasive insurance plan forces all workers to undergo a health “assessment,” and based on the results (weight, blood pressure, etc.) and health habits, workers will be forced to follow recommendations of a health “coach.” Not following the coach’s orders will result in monthly fines, as will refusing assessments or continuing to smoke or other bad habits. Plans like this are becoming popular among corporate leaders since they openly discriminate against workers who are overweight, or are older, or who smoke, and thus drive down the cost of health care of the employer. This form of plan combined with the above higher costs are quickly turning the once-quality health insurance of union workers into its opposite.
The above trends in health care are not likely to be reversed anytime soon. Some union leaders are arguing for these concessions using outworn logic, assuming that the economic crisis will soon be over, enabling unions to again demand better wages and benefits. No respected mainstream economist believes this. The current recession is expected to be longer and deeper than any since the Great Depression. Labor unions need to adjust their expectations to the facts and revise their tactics based on the changing economic landscape.
This also applies to working people in general, who cannot simply wait for jobs to be created or wages and benefits to regain their past value. Health care is a key component to a worker’s standard of living, and it is now unreasonable to expect any progressive health care reform from the Democrats or Republicans. The above policies have not improved health care, though they have decreased the cost of health care for corporations and governments, since patients are paying more for fewer services. The above policies have also not increased the number of workers with health insurance. In fact, the number of people without health care continues to grow every year, the most recent figure stands at over 52 million! Obama’s plan to force people to buy crappy insurance they couldn’t afford to actually use — if the law survives the Supreme Court — will do nothing of substance to help.
The above health care policies are the natural result of a health care system based on the principles of private profit. Corporate profits demand that companies provide the least amount of health care services at a minimal cost. From this vantage point, health care is a commodity that is bought by those who can afford it, instead of it being the human right of every person, as the U.N. Universal Declaration of Human Rights asserts. Europe has already proved that a nationwide, single payer system is vastly superior when it comes to quality, cost, availability, and results.
The single payer system did not come into existence from the benevolence of kind governments, but from the demands of people in the street. Organized workers must fight to maintain their benefits; unorganized workers must organize to fight for better insurance; and older workers/retirees must fight to maintain and expand Medicare. The logical end to such struggles would be to demand a Medicare For All system, financed by taxing the wealthy and corporations.
Shamus Cooke is a social service worker, trade unionist and writer for Workers Action (www.workerscompass.org)
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Since the western world is captivated, at least for now, by C. S. Lewis, and given the fact that tomorrow (December 9, 2005) the film version of “The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe” is being released nationwide, I thought it might be good to say something about what I consider to be Lewis’s greatest theological discovery. I can’t say whether Lewis would rank it number one, but I suspect he might.
Lewis was extremely puzzled, even agitated, by the recurring demand by Christians that we all “praise God”. That was bad enough. What made it even worse is that God himself called for praise of God himself. This was almost more than Lewis could stomach. What kind of “God” is it who incessantly demands that his people tell him how great he is?
Lewis describes his struggle and how he worked through it in an extraordinary passage from the essay, “The Problem of Praise in the Psalms” (found in Reflections on the Psalms [New York: Harcourt, Brace and World, 1958], pp. 90-98). Although I’m not widely read in Lewis, of what I have read this is undoubtedly the most important thing he ever wrote. To keep my comments distinct from those of Lewis, mine are in brackets preceded by my name.
"[Lewis] We all despise the man who demands continued assurance of his own virtue, intelligence or delightfulness; we despise still more the crowd of people round every dictator, every millionaire, every celebrity, who gratify that demand. Thus a picture, at once ludicrous and horrible, both of God and His worshippers, threatened to appear in my mind. The Psalms were especially troublesome in this way – ‘Praise the Lord,' 'O praise the Lord with me,' 'Praise Him.' . . . Worse still was the statement put into God's own mouth, 'whoso offereth me thanks and praise, he honoureth me' (50:23). It was hideously like saying, 'What I most want is to be told that I am good and great.' . . . It was extremely distressing. It made one think what one least wanted to think. Gratitude to God, reverence to Him, obedience to Him, I thought I could understand; not this perpetual eulogy. . . .”
[Storms: I suspect this strikes us as problematic, as it did Lewis, because we want to think that God is preeminently concerned with us, not himself. We want a God who is man-centered, not God-centered. Worse still, we can’t fathom how God could possibly love us the way we think he should if he is so unapologetically obsessed with the praise and glory of his own name. How can God love ME if all his infinite energy is expended in the love of HIMSELF? Part of Lewis’s problem, as he himself confesses, was that he did not see that . . .]
“[Lewis] it is in the process of being worshipped that God communicates His presence to men. It is not of course the only way. But for many people at many times the 'fair beauty of the Lord' is revealed chiefly or only while they worship Him together. Even in Judaism the essence of the sacrifice was not really that men gave bulls and goats to God, but that by their so doing God gave Himself to men; in the central act of our own worship of course this is far clearer – there it is manifestly, even physically, God who gives and we who receive. The miserable idea that God should in any sense need, or crave for, our worship like a vain woman wanting compliments, or a vain author presenting his new books to people who never met or heard him, is implicitly answered by the words, 'If I be hungry I will not tell thee' (50:12). Even if such an absurd Deity could be conceived, He would hardly come to us, the lowest of rational creatures, to gratify His appetite. I don't want my dog to bark approval of my books.”
[Storms: Lewis is addressing, somewhat indirectly, the question: How, or better yet, Why do you worship a God who needs nothing? If God is altogether self-sufficient and cannot be served by human hands as if he needed anything (Acts 17:24-25; Romans 11:33-36), least of all glory, why does he command our worship and praise of him? Lewis continues.]
“[Lewis] But the most obvious fact about praise – whether of God or anything – strangely escaped me. I thought of it in terms of compliment, approval, or the giving of honour. I had never noticed that all enjoyment spontaneously overflows into praise unless . . . shyness or the fear of boring others is deliberately brought in to check it. The world rings with praise – lovers praising their mistresses [Romeo praising Juliet and vice versa], readers their favourite poet, walkers praising the countryside, players praising their favourite game – praise of weather, wines, dishes, actors, motors, horses, colleges, countries, historical personages, children, flowers, mountains, rare stamps, rare beetles, even sometimes politicians or scholars. . . . Except where intolerably adverse circumstances interfere, praise almost seems to be inner health made audible. . . . I had not noticed either that just as men spontaneously praise whatever they value, so they spontaneously urge us to join them in praising it: 'Isn't she lovely? Wasn't it glorious? Don't you think that magnificent?' The Psalmists in telling everyone to praise God are doing what all men do when they speak of what they care about. My whole, more general, difficulty about the praise of God depended on my absurdly denying to us, as regards the supremely Valuable, what we delight to do, what indeed we can't help doing, about everything else we value.”
[Storms: What Lewis is touching on here is how the love of God for sinners like you and me is ultimately made manifest. God desires our greatest good. But what greater good is there in the universe than God himself? So, if God is truly to love us, he must give us himself. But merely giving us of himself is only the first step in the expression of his affection for sinners. He must work to elicit from our hearts rapturous praise and superlative delight because, as Lewis said, “all enjoyment spontaneously overflows into praise.” That’s the way God made us. We can’t help but praise and rejoice in what we most enjoy. The enjoyment itself is stunted and hindered if it is never expressed in joyful celebration. Here’s how Lewis explained it.]
“[Lewis] I think we delight to praise what we enjoy because the praise not merely expresses but completes the enjoyment; it is its appointed consummation. It is not out of compliment that lovers keep on telling one another how beautiful they are; the delight is incomplete till it is expressed. It is frustrating to have discovered a new author and not to be able to tell anyone how good he is; to come suddenly, at the turn of the road, upon some mountain valley of unexpected grandeur and then to have to keep silent because the people with you care for it no more than for a tin can in the ditch; to hear a good joke and find no one to share it with. . . .
If it were possible for a created soul fully . . . to 'appreciate', that is to love and delight in, the worthiest object of all, and simultaneously at every moment to give this delight perfect expression, then that soul would be in supreme beatitude. . . . To see what the doctrine really means, we must suppose ourselves to be in perfect love with God – drunk with, drowned in, dissolved by, that delight which, far from remaining pent up within ourselves as incommunicable, hence hardly tolerable, bliss, flows out from us incessantly again in effortless and perfect expression, our joy is no more separable from the praise in which it liberates and utters itself than the brightness a mirror receives is separable from the brightness it sheds. The Scotch catechism says that man's chief end is 'to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.' But we shall then know that these are the same thing. Fully to enjoy is to glorify. In commanding us to glorify Him, God is inviting us to enjoy Him.”
[Storms: If you can, go back and read it again. It’s not the sort of statement one can fully digest at one sitting. Permit me to summarize.
God’s pursuit of my praise of him is not weak self-seeking but the epitome of self-giving love! If my satisfaction in him is incomplete until expressed in praise of him for satisfying me with himself (note well: with HIMSELF, not his gifts or blessings, but the intrinsic beauty and splendor of God as God), then God’s effort to elicit my worship (what Lewis before thought was inexcusable selfishness) is both the most loving thing he could possibly do for me and the most glorifying thing he could possibly do for himself. For in my gladness in him (not his gifts) is his glory in me.
If that was hard to digest, try this.
If God is to love my wife, Ann, optimally, he must bestow or impart the best gift he has, the greatest prize, the most precious treasure, the most exalted and worthy thing within his power to give. That gift, of course, is himself. Nothing in the universe is as beautiful and captivating and satisfying as God!
So, if God loves her he will give himself to her and then work in her soul to awaken her to his beauty and all-sufficiency. In other words, he will strive by all manner and means to intensify and expand and enlarge her joy in him. All of which is to say, and I owe this thought to John Piper, that God’s love for Ann is seen not in him making much of her, but in him graciously enabling her to enjoy making much of him forever.
So God comes to Ann and says: “Here I am in all my glory: incomparable, infinite, immeasurable, unsurpassed. See me! Be satisfied with me! Enjoy me! Celebrate who I am! Experience the height and depth and width and breadth of savoring and relishing me!”
Does that sound like God pursuing his own glory? Yes. But it also sounds like God loving my wife perfectly and passionately. The only way it is not real love is if there is something for Ann better than God: something more beautiful than God that he can show her, something more pleasing and satisfying than God with which he can fill her heart, something more glorious and majestic than God with which she can occupy herself for eternity. But there is no such thing! Anywhere! Ever!]
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I’m watching Izzy clean out her school bag. I actually had to move far enough away so that I wouldn’t start scooping up papers, smoothing them out and reorganizing her folders. Izzy’s plan for organizing her homework works 68% of the time according to her last report card. Her method of organization is three folders in a big binder. One folder is called, ‘Stuff.” The next folder is called, ‘Important Stuff.” The final folder is labeled ‘Paper.’ I would probably try organizing things by subject, but Izzy likes her system.
She’s done tidying her schoolbag. After putting it near the front door, she smiled and told me how happy she feels to have her bag all cleaned out. Seventh grade has been interesting so far. There’s more writing, more homework and the kids are getting grades for the first time. It was disappointing for Izzy to realize she didn’t get an A from her main teacher because she hadn’t handed in all of her homework. Izzy completed all of the homework assignments, but somehow she misplaced 32% of them.
In my work at the teen center, I ran into these kids all the time. They did their homework. I helped them with it. I’d watch them put it in their backpacks. Somehow it disappeared after that, never to be seen again. It’s a mysterious phenomenon.
I watch Izzy type up her essays. Her beautiful, competent hands seem more complete with chipped black nail polish. They hover over the keyboard, going back and forth smoothing out sentences, finding the correct spelling. Izzy’s rhythm is a confident one. But the question begs asking, ‘Where have those missing assignments gone? How is it you didn’t have them to hand in?’
I think the cleaned out folders and schoolbag are a good start. Izzy took the initiative to complete these tasks. Under orders, she wouldn’t have smiled at the end of a job well done. And I wouldn’t have such a sweet moment to record. Seventh grade has been interesting so far largely because Izzy’s motivation has increased. I can almost sit and watch her growing into her competent and caring adult self.
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This activity has multiple uses. Students get a handful of beans with predetermined sounds written on them. You can use this for any sound or sound combination. Laminate the directions and put them at the center for students to use over and over again. This is not just a one time activity but can be used for weeks.
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CC-MAIN-2013-20
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http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Phonics-Spill-the-Beans-73353
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Due to spam and off-topic content, these forums are being phased out and replaced with new great books forums. Please join us!
Posted by Bryen on July 21, 19100 at 08:32:55:
In Reply to: Longfellow - Evangeline posted by Kathy on April 21, 19100 at 04:45:06:
I have a copy too ,that is very old with a old paper and looks to be ink written. is it Evangeline and other poems? that is the name of mine. if u have any info on it let me knoe ,please thank you ..
: I have a very old copy of Longfellows Evangeline. The paper appears hand pressed and the words appear to be printed with a "cruel" printing technique - it appears to be ink and not type. There is not a published date that I can see - though I know that it was published in 1847.
: The outside of the book is leater - and unfortunetly damaged by a fire (albeit not extensivsly). There is a pen and ink drawing of Longfellow on the inside cover and what appears to be a signature written ON THE PAGE in what appears to be ink.
: I am wondering the value of this book. It does not appear to have been circulated and was given to me by a great grandmother of a friend who told me that she had gotten the book from her grandfather!!
: Any info?? Please email me at firstname.lastname@example.org
Post a Followup
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CC-MAIN-2013-20
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http://killdevilhill.com/usedbookschat/messages2/779.html
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The war in the Pacific was essentially a maritime war.
It was on the sea that Japan depended for materials to sustain her; via the sea she launched her aggressions, and the first attack was intended to destroy the nucleus of the U.S. Fleet at Pearl Harbor. The vital core of the American military effort was the contest for control of the seas, from which all the other operations-at sea, amphibious, on land, or in the air- branched and received their support.
As the Japanese drove south to seize territory in the Philippines, Southeast Asia and Indonesia, the few United States and Allied warships available offered valiant resistance against overwhelming odds. A carrier task force closed Japan and launched Army aircraft on first strike against the home islands. It was carrier actions in the Battle of the Coral Sea which caused the Japanese invasion force to turn back from its goals of Port Moresby and southeast New Guinea.
A month later the decisive Battle of Midway provided the turning point in the war. In the amphibious assault and defense of Guadalcanal, at sea and ashore, the advance of Japan into the South Pacific was halted. Step-by-step amphibious operations were launched from the South Pacific Area and westward through the mid-Pacific by Admiral Nimitz, and northward from the Southwest Pacific by joint forces under General MacArthur.
New concepts and techniques in mobile logistic support and underway replenishment made a high tempo of sustained operations possible. U.S. submarines took a heavy toll of Japan's warships and devastated the merchant marine, thereby servering her lifeline.
The capture of the Marianas, and later Iwo Jima, provided fixed bases for air attacks against Japan, and the Fifth Fleet drastically reduced the power of Japanese aviation in the Battle of the Philippine Sea. Operations around Leyte destroyed much of the remaining enemy surface fleet as the recapture of the Philippines began.
At Okinawa the fleet faced and survived the fanatic attacks of Kamikazes. The isolation of Japan from the sea was made essentially complete by an intense mining campaign, and the final attacks on the remnants of the Japanese fleet.
The end came quickly after the atomic attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Japan surrendered on board USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay, 2 September 1945. The situation in China and other areas required that the U.S. Navy continue to operate in the Far East.
8 Silver and 3 Bronze Stars
1. Pearl Harbor-Midway
2. Wake Island
3. Philippine Islands operation
4. Netherlands East Indies engagements
5. Pacific raids (1942)
6. Coral Sea
8. Guadalcanal-Tulagi landings
9. Capture and defense of Guadalcanal
10. Makin raid
11. Eastern Solomons
12. Buin-Faisi-Tonolai raid
13. Cape Esperance
14. Santa Cruz Islands
15. Guadalcanal (Third Savo)
17. Eastern New Guinea operation
18. Rennel Island
19. Consolidation of Solomon Islands
20. Aleutians operation
21. New Georgia Group operation
22. Bismarck Archipelago operation
23. Pacific raids (1943)
24. Treasury-Bougainville operation
25. Gilbert Islands operation
26. Marshall Islands operation
27. Asiatic-Pacific raids (1944)
28. Western New Guinea operations
29. Marianas operation
30. Western Caroline Islands operation
31. Leyte operation
32. Luzon operation
33. Iwo Jima operation
34. Okinawa Gunto operation
35. Third Fleet operations against Japan
36. Kurile Islands operation
37. Borneo operations
38. Tinian capture and occupation
39. Consolidation of the Southern Philippines
40. Hollandia operation
41. Manila Bay-Bicol operations
42. Escort, antisubmarine, armed guard and special operations
43. Submarine War Patrols (Pacific)
12 December 2000
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Early Childhood and Elementary Grades
The Shadow Box Theatre (SBT) offers a comprehensive program of workshops for students, teachers, and parents based on our musical puppet theatre productions for children:
With any of our programs or with an integrated selection, you will open the door to a child's imagination though theatre arts. Our workshops provide students with a creative pathway to language and literacy and support content areas and curriculum standards. And when combined with musical puppet performances at our theatre or in school, and our storybooks and audio and video based on our shows, SBT programs build upon each other to offer the multiple experiences that deepen and broaden student learning.
To further support student learning, click to see Our Professional Development and Parent Engagement Workshops. Our workshops equip teachers with the skills for applying our techniques in their classrooms, and support parents in becoming active partners in their children's education.
SBT is fully registered with the NYC Department of Education as an arts-in-education provider in the public schools. (We serve many private schools, and after-school programs as well.
Department of Education Contract/Vendor Numbers:
Theatre Vendor # SHA009
THEATRE ARTS CLASSROOM WORKSHOPS
Puppetry in the Classroom: At SBT, our Arts Education program grew naturally out of our role as a preeminent provider of musical puppet theatre for children. Whether you need short-term enrichment or a school residency program, our workshops for early childhood and elementary grades in Interactive Storytelling Through Puppetry and Theatre Arts make stories come to life through acting, creative movement and rhythm, play-making and creating and performing with puppets: finger, glove, rod, string, found objects and shadow puppets. These theatre techniques lead directly to understanding the elements of stories. Along the way students build vocabulary, oral language, listening, speaking, problem-solving and analysis skills
SBT's arts infusion program can be integrated with your language arts and/or social studies curricula. In initial planning meetings with teachers, we will develop creative arts curriculum units around the themes and readings selected for class study, or from SBT's own exciting selection of storybooks based on our Musical Puppet Theatre productions of world folks tales and holiday stories..
In a residency, we work with classroom teachers to produce integrated lessons plans that support the language skills that are being introduced. Our teaching artists use a variety of theatre techniques, including theatre games and dramatic improvisations, puppetry, dance, music and movement. Students learn about basic dramatic elements and story structure as they dramatize SBT's own stories from its musical puppet theatre repertoire; existing curriculum material; or create original stories -- using the body, voice and imagination to communicate ideas, emotions and events.
Book a single morning of workshops in your school -- or up to a year-long residency. Workshops are designed to meet New York State Learning Standards and the guidelines for the NYC Dept. of Education's Blueprint for Teaching and Learning in Theatre. Our experienced roster of teaching artists reach out to all children in the class, gifted to special ed, and make sure that EVERY child feels included. Children LOVE our workshop leaders!
Meet The Author Workshop ( A new addition to our workshop program!):
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT WORKSHOPS
SBT's professional development workshops equip teachers with the techniques, skills and assurance to apply the techniques of storytelling with puppetry and theatre arts in their classrooms. Hands-on sessions for small groups (up to 20 teachers per workshop.) SBT teaching artists take a "learning by doing" approach, showing teachers how to effectively use the creative arts in the classroom, and providing teachers with arts skills and concepts that they can integrate into the core curriculum to enrich the academic learning experience. An example of our subjects: "From the Page to the Stage" (how to adapt a story to a play that the class can perform).
Title IIA Staff Development: SBT offers workshops through the federally funded program Title IIA Staff Development for Private School Teachers and Principals. These workshops are designed for teachers to incorporate the arts, including puppetry, into their curriculum. A FREE SBT musical puppet show (maximum 30 tickets) is included for your class in this workshop program.
PARENT ENGAGEMENT WORKSHOPS
In these workshops, parents and their children enact stories together via activities based on theatre techniques, such as theatre games and improvisations, creative movement and rhythm, puppet and mask making. "Storytelling with Puppetry and Theatre Arts" support parents in becoming active partners in their children's education.
This approach is particularly helpful for English language learners, as it offers a variety of non-language ways to understand and express ideas and emotions, while building vocabulary and supporting reading and language skills. The workshop activities encourage and empower parents who may have recently arrived in the U.S. with little English and are unfamiliar with and perhaps, intimidated by school structure and social expectations. The workshop experience helps break down these barriers and makes school a welcoming experience by fostering a convivial atmosphere for parent, child, school and community interaction, and identifies the school as a resource that can make a positive impact on their lives.
AFTER-SCHOOL PROGRAMS in Public Schools and Neighborhood Community Centers
SBT brings its theatre arts education workshops to after-school program sites for creative and fun-filled theatre-based activities! Choose "Interactive Storytelling with Puppets" or "Exploring the World of Puppetry". Your children will discover the art of puppet-making and performing...learn to create original stories for puppets and people...explore children's literature through puppetry and theatre arts. Enhance the workshops with an SBT musical puppet show at your site or our theatre.
Staff Development: SBT can also train your after-school staff in our techniques to enhance your program. Our workshops comply with NYC Child Care Training Regulations and count toward required NYC Dept. of Health (SACC) training hours.
- "The Workshops...produced lessons that motivated, involved and delighted all the children. Even the shyest children were eager to participate!...Each child felt successful." - Workshop Semester, P.S. 213, Brooklyn
-"Everyone involved was so enthusiastic. The children, teachers and parents benefited greatly from this experience." - Universal Pre-K Specialist, C.S.D. 21
A Partial List of Schools We Have Worked With:
Public School Programs: Manhattan: P.S. 36, P.S. 75, P.S. 138, P.S. 528, Bronx: *PS 138 C.S. 47, P.S. 23, P.S. 23 Annex, P.S. 25, P.S. 119, P.S. 156, I.S. 151, Queens: P.S. 7, P.S. 62, P.S. 80, PS. 123, P.S. 148, P.S. 183, P.S. 199, B'klyn: C.S.D. 18, P.S. 31, P.S. 106, P.S. 157, P.S. 170, P.S. 233, P.S. 290, P.S. 297, M.S. 88, District 75 (city-wide): P 53, P 141, P 141@I.S. 2, P 141@J.H.S. 35, P 141@Montague H.S.
Other Sites: Brooklyn Children's Museum, Child Study Centers of Brooklyn and Staten Island, Children's Museum of Manhattan, Brooklyn Public Library, Battery Park Day Nursery, The Child School, Holy Trinity Community School, Our Lady of Angels School, Our Savior Lutheran School, St. Bernard's School, Riverdale YM/YWHA, Williamsburg Y Head Start *The After School Corporation (TASC)
Sponsors and Partners: SBT provides arts education services through the NYC Dept. of Education; the Center for Arts Education "parents as Arts partners" program; Title IIA Professional Development for Non Public Schools. SBT partnerships include after-school, extended day and school-age youth development, and parent engagement programs through the Partnership for After School Education (PASE), and the NYC Dept. of Youth and Community Development.
PRICES and OTHER INFORMATION: For more information, prices, and a plan tailored to your needs, please call Marlyn Baum, Arts Education Director, at SBT, (212) 724-0677, or send an email to firstname.lastname@example.org.
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Cameco Corporation (CCJ) is one of the world's largest uranium producers. It is also the world's largest publicly traded uranium company. Cameco operates several mines across North America and one in Kazakhstan.
Twelve months on, the fallout from the Fukushima disaster (nuclear and financial) has subsided and the uranium sector has started to see some positive signs once again. The number of reactors globally is expected to increase in coming years, and Japan is even seriously considering reopening some if not all of its reactors.
Since our last update Cameco has consolidated further and the technicals are in favour of a buy - of note is the tantalizingly low RSI at 23.8.
Intuitively the fortunes of Cameco are directly tied to the price of uranium and this remains their biggest determinant of profitability. Over the last 20 years, reactors have consumed far more uranium than what was produced each year by mines. The shortfall was made up by inventories and secondary supplies that are being drawn down. Global demand for uranium is expected to rise 3% annually until 2019, driving the need for increases in supply.
There are concerns surrounding Japan's next action. If their plants re-open, demand for uranium picks up. What is of greater concern is the plants do not open, and Japan decides to pursue alternative forms of energy, then we face the possibility of their uranium reserves being sold to the detriment of mining companies.
The other large player in this market is China, where there are 27 nuclear reactors under construction, 11 of which will be completed in the next 3 years. China's nuclear capacity is expected to rise by a factor of nearly 8, before 2020 - if this were to occur China would produce almost as much nuclear energy as the United States (currently the largest producer) does now.
India is also expanding their nuclear energy base with 7 reactors currently under construction. Provided the U.S.-India Civil Nuclear Agreement is passed, capacity is expected to skyrocket 9 fold by 2020 to a level around half that of China's 2020 forecast.
Cameco has a market capitalization of $7.8 billion, a 52 week low of $16.59 and a high of $31.25. Average volume of shares traded is 2.9 million, and being the world's largest uranium company, liquidity is of no concern.
The 2012 first quarter results will be released on the 1st of May. The average analyst estimate of EPS for the quarter is $0.27. Generally when earnings fail to meet the general consensus, stocks sell off. Considering the average quarterly EPS last year was $0.28 (1 cent higher than what is forecast for this coming quarter), the forecast for the first quarter could be considered achievable and hence the probability of not meeting the forecast is low.
We see Cameco's growth opportunities as very healthy. With a current PE ratio of 18, if forecast growth in the nuclear energy sector is realized, then a significant capital gain is likely. For those interested in profiting from a short term bounce, a few well thought out options could be the way to trade this stock
Cameco trades on the NYSE under CCJ and the TSX under CCO. For disclosure purposes we do not own any Cameco shares.
Disclosure: I have no positions in any stocks mentioned, and no plans to initiate any positions within the next 72 hours.
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CC-MAIN-2013-20
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http://seekingalpha.com/article/494551-cameco-corporation-worth-another-look
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en
| 0.964888
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Allworx Phone Systems
Voice-over-IP (VOIP) is a technology that allows phone service over your data network, eliminating the need for separate phone and data lines. VOIP provides more functionally and security, and location independence than a regular phone line for less. If you have questions, feel free to contact us.
Many companies are taking advantage of the internet to carry their voice and data communications. Many service providers offer Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) service as one method for reducing communication costs. A key technology that makes it possible to carry voice and data traffic on the same connection is Session Initiation Protocol (SIP).
The Allworx family of products is designed from the ground up to utilize SIP so that you have the option of leveraging VoIP whenever it enables cost savings for your business.
Our system will work with almost any SIP device you choose. Think of it as a “pure” SIP phone system. We designed it using SIP from end to end, which means costs are lower—we don’t have to convert SIP trunks to another protocol and then back again to communicate with our SIP phones. The Allworx system works flawlessly with nearly every variety of SIP provider.
As one of the first “pure” SIP-based phone system providers, our experience runs deep. Allworx understands how to make your migration simple and painless. Some competitors claim that their support of SIP is simple, but their implementation can be the opposite.
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CC-MAIN-2013-20
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http://www.futurenetworking.com/allworx
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en
| 0.941487
| 320
| 1.5
| 2
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Under this rubric, using the smart meter, the utility, with the consumer’s permission, will be able to curtail non essential electrical loads as needed, benefitting the customer with less electric consumption and a smaller electric bill while helping the utility by reducing the need to construct expensive new peak generating capacity or to purchase power off the grid at costly peak rates. Despite considerable corporate marketing efforts and some positive publicity, smart meters have nevertheless experienced consumer resistance, due in part to skepticism of utility motives, ratepayer equity issues, privacy concerns and also what may be a libertarian streak among homeowners who don’t like the idea of a utility telling them when they can do their laundry. Furthermore, the build out of smart meter enabled service areas will at best, take as much as a decade, and even then likely leave out sizeable sectors of residential consumers.
Given this situation, should consumers and other stakeholders with an interest in DR simply bide their time until the smart meter and its associated home management system arrive? Not necessarily. There are other promising routes to residential energy efficiency and demand management. Electric utilities might wish otherwise, but today with multiple communication and control techniques now available, residential electric energy management systems aren’t restricted to pathways running exclusively through the electric meter, such as the smart meter systems described.
We believe DR makes sense, but it also has to put consumers, not the utility, foremost. As an alternative to utility directed demand response, we envision a consumer driven home energy management system. Based on increasingly popular and proven wireless communication protocols, cheap sensors and microcontrollers, such a system could connect and control key residential loads without resort to communications via the electric meter and the utility. Every residential electric consumer in the country can benefit. E2C2 LLC is developing such a solution, known as EnViz. The diagram explains it.
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CC-MAIN-2013-20
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http://e2c2inc.com/blog1/archives/tag/demand-response
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en
| 0.938156
| 374
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| 2
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First off, to all of those mocking my reference to “rapper” Will Smith’s Big Willie Style, I’ve got one thing to say: No love for the haters…. (Mad cause I got floor seats at the Lakers)……. ((See me on the fifty yard line with the Raiders))…
So… the Gender Equality Committee hosted its November meeting tonight during which we featured The National Geographic special China’s Lost Girls (as well as pizza and soda). According to Nicholas Kristof of The New York Times, over 100 million women and girls are “missing” in the world due to the prioritization of boys over girls in certain countries. Given that, by 2020, there will be 30-to-40 million more males ages 19 and younger than their female counterparts in China, China represents a microcosm of this global “missing girl” phenomenon. China’s Lost Girls details the etiology and ramifications of this unfortunate gender-based imbalance, which is compounded by the country’s “one child” policy.
Luckily for our committee, MSPP professor Dr. Jill Bloom agreed to attend to offer her insight and overall, facilitate post-film discussion. Dr. Bloom, who teaches some social-justice-oriented courses such as Diversity, Gender Theory, and Women’s Psychology, is well-versed in issues concerning the global sex-trafficking phenomenon, a major sociocultural piece contributing to the “loss” of documented females in the world today. Her insight enriched the discussion, which revolved around numerous topics and questions: what are the pressures that Chinese families, particularly women, face when choosing to give up their daughters?; how do we facilitate females’ upward mobility in such countries (ie. microfinancing initiatives)?; given that so many female orphan babies are adopted to “white” American families, how is their sense of identity shaped by both their “white” upbringings and their recognition of their Chinese heritage?
If you’re interested, you can watch China’s Lost Girls on Netflix. If you’re interested in learning more about this overall global “missing girl” crisis, I recommend reading Nicholas Kristof’s Half the Sky. Again, big thanks to our amazing Dr. Jill Bloom and to all of those who attended tonight’s meeting! Hope to see you at the next meeting.
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According to Stedmans Medical Dictionary, a vitamin is 'one of a group of organic substances, present in minute amounts in natural foodstuffs, that are essential to normal metabolism.' As defined, vitamins are present in very small quantities in most foods and it is this fact that leads to the manufacture of vitamin supplements for pets and people. Not only are vitamins naturally present in only small amounts, they are also essential for life.
The importance of vitamins has been known for only a short time, however, their actual effects were demonstrated long ago. Around 400 B.C., the father of modern medicine, Hippocrates, first advocated using liver to cure night blindness. We now know that the essential component of the liver was vitamin A and it was the lack of vitamin A that caused the night blindness. Beriberi, the once feared paralytic disease of humans, was found to be curable by feeding unpolished rice. It is now known that the unpolished rice was rich in the Vitamin B1 - thiamine. Low thiamine levels were the real cause of beriberi and a simple diet change could cure the paralysis.
The primary vitamins are normally identified as vitamin A, D, E, K, C, and B complex. Of these, A, D, E, and K are the fat soluble vitamins. Vitamins C and B complex are water soluble vitamins. The fat soluble vitamins are commonly stored in special fat storage cells called lipocytes, whereas, the water soluble vitamins are not stored within the body except in small amounts. It is for this reason that the fat soluble vitamins pose the biggest threat if oversupplemented. They are stored and build up within the body.
Fat soluble vitamins
The first fat soluble vitamin to be discovered was Vitamin A. Vitamin A is found in several forms such as retinol, retinaldehyde, retinoic acid, and in the liver storage form, retinyl palmitate. If fed in amounts exceeding the capacity of the liver, Vitamin A 'floats' freely in the bloodstream and can possibly create toxicities.
The main source of Vitamin A is the yellow pigment found in plants. This pigment is called carotene. When fed to dogs, carotene is easily converted by the intestinal cells into the usable Vitamin A. Not so in cats.
Cats have a greatly reduced ability to convert plant pigment (Beta Carotene) to Vitamin A. Because of this, cats must be fed Vitamin A already in the liver storage form as retinyl palmitate. This fact is very important in the proper formulation of supplements. Too often, pet owners are only concerned with the amounts of Vitamin A, when in reality, the type of the vitamin is the most important factor. For this reason, beware of off-brand vitamin tablets or foodstuffs. Quality is more important than quantity.
Vitamin A is one of the two vitamins in which oversupplementation can have negative effects. However, we have never seen a case of oversupplementation causing toxicosis, and in dogs, toxicity has been demonstrated only under experimental conditions. Toxic doses of Vitamin A could produce muscle weakness and bone abnormalities. Realistically, oversupplementation or toxicity is virtually impossible unless mega-doses are given for long periods of time (months to years).
Vitamin D is also known as 'the sunshine vitamin.' Ultraviolet radiation from the sun is important to convert Vitamin D precursors into the active D form. This conversion takes place in the outer skin layers. In dogs and cats, however, this conversion is inefficient, and supplemental Vitamin D must be available in the diet. It is usually supplied in the form of synthetic Vitamin D.
Vitamin D plays a major role in regulating the calcium and phosphorous levels within the bloodstream. Vitamin D stimulates the kidney conservation of calcium and therefore helps the body to retain it. Because of its interplay with calcium, Vitamin D is extremely important in bone formation and nerve and muscle control.
Deficiencies of Vitamin D were very prevalent in the past, but only occasionally surface today. Low levels of Vitamin D will cause a bone demineralization referred to as rickets. Again, supplementation is highly advised in both kittens and puppies and to a lesser extent in adults.
Vitamin D toxicities, as with Vitamin A, are extremely rare. An animal fed Vitamin D in excess could have abnormal amounts of calcium deposited within the heart, various muscles, and other soft tissues. This is rare and we have never heard of it happening in real life situations. Suffice it to say that Vitamin D plays a major role in skeletal growth, muscle control, and nerve functions. Deficiencies are fairly common and toxicities are rarely, if ever, present.
Vitamin E is the third of the fat soluble vitamins. Foods rich in Vitamin E include plant oils such as safflower and wheat germ. As with the other fat soluble vitamins, Vitamin E is also highly concentrated in meats such as liver and fat. All of the functions of Vitamin E are not known, but it plays a role in the formation of cell membranes, cell respiration, and in the metabolism of fats. It is an antioxidant and protects various hormones from oxidation.
Deficiencies of Vitamin E will cause cell damage and death in skeletal muscle, heart, testes, liver, and nerves. It is essential in keeping the cells of these organs alive and functioning. Vitamin E deficiencies have been well documented in both cats and dogs. The 'Brown Bowel Syndrome' is the condition usually used to describe a cat or dog suffering from inadequate Vitamin E. These animals have affected bowels which ulcerate, hemorrhage, and degenerate. In addition, the cells of the eyes and testes can also be affected.
In cats, especially those fed all fish diets which are naturally low in Vitamin E, there is a syndrome called 'Yellow Fat Disease.' We mentioned earlier that Vitamin E was essential for normal fat metabolism, hence the name 'Yellow Fat Disease' in deficient cats.
There is no experimental evidence to support the popular belief that Vitamin E in excess will help increase the stamina in breeding cats or dogs. Vitamin E is occasionally supplemented for this reason, but it is ineffective.
There are no known Vitamin E toxicities in the cat and dog. Fed even at huge levels, no interruption of bodily functions has been demonstrated. Recommendations on the daily dose are highly variable depending on the source. Further research is necessary to discover other possible functions of Vitamin E.
Vitamin K is the last of the fat soluble vitamins. From a nutritional standpoint, it is important, but its understanding is of prime significance in the treatment of one of the most common toxicities encountered in animals - rat and mouse poisoning.
The discovery of Vitamin K by Henrik Dam in 1929, won him the Nobel Prize. Vitamin K exists in three forms. Vitamin K1 is found in green plants; Vitamin K2 is high in fish meal and can be synthesized by the bacteria in the intestine; Vitamin K3, also known as menadione, is a synthetic precursor of the others. Vitamin K3 is the form most utilized as a supplement. Since the bacteria in the intestine can manufacture Vitamin K it is not needed in high levels in food supplements.
Vitamin K is essential for normal blood functions. Without Vitamin K, blood cannot clot. Most rat and mouse poisons (e.g.; Warfarin, D-Con) kill rats and mice by eliminating their ability to clot blood, hence, the rodents internally hemorrhage to death. Contained within the poison is the active ingredient coumarin or a derivative. It is the coumarin that binds to and depletes the body of active vitamin K. Without Vitamin K, the blood cannot clot and the rodents die. Unfortunately, cats and dogs also enjoy rat and mouse poison. The results are the same. The pet will begin hemorrhaging, usually within the intestinal tract. If the amount ingested is large (1 packet), then death may follow. If you suspect a pet has ingested this poison, induce vomiting at once and call your veterinarian. Veterinary treatment will be the administration of Vitamin K1, either as an injectable or tablet. If instituted early, the patient's life can generally be saved.
The actual dietary requirement for Vitamin K is unclear. Since bacteria within the intestines manufacture Vitamin K, the exact amounts produced are unknown. Dietary Vitamin K is found in green leafy plants and vegetables.
Vitamin K deficiencies in pets have not been documented except in instances of Warfarin toxicosis (rat poison). Likewise, Vitamin K toxicity due to oversupplementation has not been reported in animals.
Of the four fat soluble vitamins, only A and D seem to have a potential toxicity, and this only experimentally. We do not believe that in today's foods and supplements it would be possible to have a vitamin toxicosis. Well demonstrated, however, are the disorders relating to a lack of these vitamins. They are absolutely essential to life. Also understood is the fact that growing animals have much greater requirements than adults. In addition, influences such as lactation, pregnancy, and exercise will all increase the need.
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The Red Cross also has steps people can take to prevent the spread
of the flu virus during what the Centers for Disease Control says is
the worst influenza outbreak in several years in the United States.
For most people, the flu makes them feel very sick, but they
generally get better in about a week. However, young children,
people over age 65, pregnant women and people with chronic medical
conditions may develop serious complications from the flu, including
dehydration, pneumonia and worsening of medical conditions like
heart disease, diabetes or asthma.
The American Red Cross has a few tips to help you stay healthy
Get your flu shot
as soon as it is available for the best chance of protection. A
flu vaccine is available in the U.S. every year.
good health habits to maintain your body's resistance to
[to top of second column]
For more information about
flu prevention, visit
[Text from file received from
American Red Cross, Illinois
Capital Area Chapter]
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In this day and age of satellite television, home video game systems, iPods and other toys that entertain and often isolate us, it is sometimes difficult to recall that not too long ago, there was a time when there were no expensive electronic toys to keep us occupied. The older I get, the more I wax nostalgic for those days of old and, increasingly, I find myself trying to minimize my use modern distractions so that I can relax, whether that is with a good book or a game of backgammon or cribbage. Even though playing with SplatMaster shotguns are incredibly fun, a board game can fulfill my need for the days of old.
I am doing my best to involve my family in my exploration of what I consider to be 19th century pastimes. Just this past week, I have found a willing audience for three consecutive nights while I read Dickens’ A Christmas Carol aloud. The lyrical quality of Dickens’ prose is far and away more satisfying and inspiring than anything we could have found on television and it was a wonderful shared experience for us. The experience was even more special because I was able to read a version of Dickens’ Christmas tale which my parents had given me more than thirty years ago.
As we ease into the leisure days of summer, there are a lot of wonderful outdoor activities which are inexpensive and can bring your family closer together. Whether you are throwing a football, shooting baskets or just taking an evening stroll, getting outdoors does not cost any money and offers a host of inexpensive recreational activities. Indeed, for the more adventurous among us, America’s National Parks are throwing open their doors for free for a few weekends this summer so you can consider a weekend of discovering the America that is right in your own back yard — wherever you live.
For those afternoons and evenings when you cannot go outside, or choose not to go outside, here are a few games that I remember from my childhood and which were popular in the USA and Europe until quite recently. You and your family and friends might want to consider:
Play Charades: My children loved to play charades when they were young and they still do, even though they are older. Charades can best be played by 4 or more people and can offer hours of fun. Pop some popcorn or bake some cookies and spend an evening relaxing with a game of charades. You will be entertained for hours and you will learn a lot about the people with whom you are playing.
Play Backgammon, Chess, Cribbage and Checkers: Backgammon has always been the game of choice when I have had time to relax with my Dad. It is an ancient game and it remains as stimulating today as it was in ancient times when it was invented. I used to play cribbage with my mother and Chinese checkers with my grandmother. I had a great aunt who was a champion Scrabble player and I still play Scrabble with my kids today. Whatever game you like to play, chances are good that you have a game board lying around at home. If not, you can find inexpensive game boards at any toy store. Whether you are with one friend or a group of family or friends, a game night is easy to organize and won’t cost you much. Just remember, you are never too old to play.
Stage a Play: Have you ever considered joining a local community theater, or just staging a play at home with your children? You do not need lots of expensive props. You just need to find a play that you want to perform and assign roles among all of your participants. Children, in particular, can lose themselves for hours in learning their lines. After you have spent the days or weeks necessary to prepare for your production, you can invite family and friends to see the show and make an evening of the show and party to follow.
Learn to Dance: Have you always wanted to learn to dance? Are you a fan of Dancing with the Stars? Whatever motives you may have, learning to dance does not require expensive lessons. It just requires a basic knowledge of the steps and then a lot of time and practice. You can find dancing instruction on-line and then just plan a night or two (or more) each week when you can dance with your partner at home.
Form a Chorus: Do you love to sing? If you do, you may be surprised to learn that you have friends who sing as well. It costs nothing to form a chorale group. Whether you are singing merely for fun, or to prepare for Christmas caroling, or for any other reason, a song on your lips will lift your heart and spirit without lightening your wallet.
What other “olde tyme” recreations have we lost in our modern age? What do you miss about your childhood recreations? What other family fun can we find in the pages of history?
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Sometimes you wish government bureaucrats would just stop and think. It's been clear for a while now that the State Department favors the approval of the Keystone XL pipeline. But one would think that they'd like to at least preserve the appearance that they were conducting a thorough and unbiased review of the pipeline’s environmental impacts.
Apparently that wasn't a particular concern, because the department allowed TransCanada, the pipeline operator, to participate in the selection of the company conducting the environmental review. Perhaps less than surprisingly, Transcanada recommended Cardno Entrix, which considers TransCanada a "major client," to do the job.
Now maybe the pipeline really will have "limited adverse environmental affects," as Cardno Entrix reported. But is anyone really inclined to believe them, knowing that they've gotten scads of business from TransCanada?
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Canfield, Benet of
Around 1609-10 André Duval put in the hands of Vincent de Paul the work La Règle de Perfection (The Rule of Perfection) by Benet of Canfield. Vincent was to be strongly influenced by this work in his dealings with and attitude towards André Duval, and in his own language and spirituality concerning the Will of God and Providence.
Benet of Canfield was born William Fitch in 1562, in the Essex village of Little Canfield about 56 kilometres northeast of London. He was the third of four sons of his father's (William Fitch) second marriage. He had three brothers Thomas, William (another William who died in infancy) and Francis. Around 1579 he began his studies in London, firstly at New Inn, one of the eight Inns of Chancery, and then at Middle Temple, one of the four Inns of Court. At the Middle Temple, it would have been expected that his studies would take about seven years. In regard to his religious persuasion, Fitch was a Protestant (Anglican), but he also came into contact with Calvinism at the Temple Church. In 1585, over a period of eight days, as a result of reading The First book of Christian Exercises appertaining to Resolution by Robert Parsons SJ, several religious experiences, and many conversations which his friends, he became a Catholic.
In 1587, he joined the Capuchin Order in France where the Catholic Religion was freely practiced. He took his vows in the Capuchins in 1586 and was given the religious name of Benoît de Canfeld. Benoît is of course the French form of Benedict, but in English he actually used the older form Benet. From this time on, he was known as Benet of Canfield. After finishing his novitiate (with all sorts of mystical experiences on the way) he completed his theological studies in Italy. In 1599, he returned to England as a priest, thereby being guilty of treason, and for which he was immediately imprisoned. He remained imprisoned until 1602 or 1603, when as result of the efforts of Henry IV (France) he was released by order of Queen Elizabeth I and banished to France. He was Guardian of the Convent and Master of Novices at Rouen in 1608, and became well known in the French Court. He died in Paris in 1611.
The Rule of Perfection
By 1592, Benet had put his work The Rule of Perfection (The Spiritual Life reduced to a single point, the Will of God) into writing. This was done while he was in Italy. He himself says that he was personally practising what he wrote from the time of his entry into the Capuchins in 1587. The Rule of Perfection was divided into Parts I, II, and III, which appeared at various times in both approved and unapproved editions and manuscripts. Parts I and II were also published in English, and there were editions in Latin and French. A letter of approbation printed at he beginning of The Rule of Perfection is signed by a number of doctors of the Sorbonne, including André Duval. Fr André Dodin CM (RIP) concludes that André Duval introduced Vincent de Paul to The Rule as soon as the 1609 edition came out.
Vincent de Paul and The Rule of Perfection
As indicated above, The Rule of Perfection is divided into three major parts. Part I deals with the Exterior Will of God. It is for 'Beginners' in the way of perfection, and focuses on the active life, that is the ascetic rather than the contemplative aspect of spiritual life. This involves mortification, rooting out defects, the practice of virtues, discursive prayer and ejaculatory prayer. For Benet of Canfield, the necessity of these means is known from the law of God or from reason, that is, the exterior will of God.
Part II of The Rule of Perfection deals with what Benet of Canfield calls the Interior Will of God, and is intended for those who have made some progress in the spiritual life. The Interior Will of God is the 'divine pleasure' known to us by interior knowledge in contemplation.
Part III treats of the the Essential Will of God for those well advanced in the way of perfection. It concerns the Supereminent Life - that is the Divine Essence in so far as it can be known by human beings in an immediate and continual way without any image supplied by the senses, and comes from God's grace. God empties the soul of all shapes and images and gives it a new capability for seeing spiritual things.
We know that the Will of God, which was the focus of the three parts of The Rule of Perfection, was an essential part of Vincent de Paul's spirituality. This is clearly shown in the Common Rules of the Congregation of the Mission, and in Vincent's letters and conferences.
The practice of certain virtues as in Part I of The Rule of Perfection was also part of Vincent's Way and is in the Common Rules. Vincent chose the virtues of Meekness, Humility, Simplicity, Mortification and Zeal for Souls as his stepping stones in developing the Christian life.
Trying to eradicate defects in one's life is part of the Vincentian Way, and this is in Part I of The Rule of Perfection. Examen (of conscience) was one of Vincent's active ways of working at this.
The Spiritual Exercises or activities that Vincentians were and are encouraged to carry out in order to live an 'ascetic' life are laid out in the Common Rules of the Congregation of the Mission. Part I of The Rule of Perfection speaks of the activities that one should engage in in order to develop the spiritual life.
Finally, there is Vincent's attitude to Providence in general, and the avoidance of 'treading on the heels of Providence', a phrase well known to members of the Congregation of the Mission. This particular phrase, using the French enjambement - encroaching on, occurs only in Part III of Benet of Canfield's work, and only in a faulty version of Part III which was appended to Parts I and II in 1609. The faulty version of Part III was replaced in the following year by the authorised version which did not contain the particular phrase. This is the evidence that André Dodin CM used to conclude that Vincent de Paul may have had access to The Rule of Perfection as early as 1609.
A number of Vincentian writers, including André Dodin CM (RIP) and José-Maria Román CM (RIP) have maintained that Benet of Canfield's The Rule of Perfection was the work that most influenced Vincent de Paul's thinking on, and practice of, spirituality.
BOOKS AND PERIODICALS
Brousse, Jacques, The Lives of Ange de Joyeuse and Benet Canfield. (London: Sheed & Ward, 1959).
Davitt CM, Thomas, "An Introduction to Benet of Canfield", Colloque, 16 (1987): 268-282
Orcibal, Jean (Ed), "Benoît de Canfield - La Règle de Perfection, The Rule of Perfection", Sciences Religieuses, LXXXIII (Paris: Presses Universitaires de France, 1982)
English Ancestors of the Fitches of Colonial Connecticut, Fitch Family History and Genealogy
William Benedict Fytch, New Advent Catholic Encyclopedia,
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Arts and Design Division
The Arts and Design Division seeks to educate the total artist. An art
curriculum based on a liberal arts core provides a foundation in the
visual arts, new ways of seeing, and a grounding in fundamental art
techniques. Courses are designed to promote:
- the awareness, appreciation and responsiveness to all forms of
art, traditional as well as emerging art forms
- the development of a unique creative expression that reflects
one's individual experience, perceptions, concepts
- critical judgment to understand the various styles of esthetic taste
- the ability to use the language of art as a means of communication
Art faculty are practicing artists and the ratio of faculty to students,
overall, is about 1:14, translating into more individual attention.
Students in the Arts and Design Division are encouraged
to apply for the prestigious Layton
Art Scholarship. Application deadlines for both new and continuing students are in January and February.
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I wanted narrative to be a picture of distances ringed in purple.
Then I wanted it to be electronic fields exempt from sentiment.
Then I wanted it to be the patient elaboration of my senses.
The boldly original Canadian poet Lisa Robertson has received high praise for the uncompromising intelligence and style of her poetry. In R’s Boat, she brings us to the crossroads of poetry, theory, the body, and cultural criticism. These poems bring fresh vehemence to Robertson’s ongoing examination of the changing shape of feminism, the male-dominated philosophical tradition, the daily forms of discourse, and the possibilities of language itself.
Praise for Lisa Robertson's The Men:
“In The Men, as in much of her work, Robertson makes intellect seductive; only her poetry could turn swooning into a critical gesture.”-Village Voice
“Robertson writes both from within and against the tradition-splitting, seeding, and suturing the cracks in each ideational edifice. . . . Her occupations with past forms lead not to a backward-looking poetry but forward to a fresh field of inquiry, an imaginatively created utopia.”-Boston Review
Of Mechanics in Rousseau’s Thought
Lisa Robertson is the author of The Apothecary; XEclogue; Debbie: An Epic, nominated for the Governor General's Award in 1998; The Weather, awarded the Relit Poetry Prize; Occasional Work and Seven Walks from the Office for Soft Architecture, a Village Voice top book of 2004; Rousseau's Boat, which won the bp Nichol Chapbook Award; and Lisa Robertson's Magenta Soul Whip.
Finalist for the 2010 Believer Poetry Award, Believer Magazine
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Treatment with chemotherapy and bevacizumab, an anticancer drug, is associated with a greater risk of blood clots in patients arteries compared with treatment with chemotherapy only, according to a study published online August 7 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
The combination of chemotherapy and bevacizumab has been shown to increase survival in patients with metastatic colorectal and nonsmall-cell lung cancer, but some previous studies suggest these patients are at an increased risk for blood clots in their arteries.
Frank Scappaticci, M.D., Ph.D., of Genentech, Inc. in South San Francisco, Calif., and colleagues analyzed data from five randomized controlled trials that included 1,745 patients with metastatic colorectal, breast, or nonsmall-cell lung cancer.
Among patients treated with the combination therapy, 3.8 percent experienced blood clots in their arteries, compared with 1.7 percent of patients on chemotherapy alone. There was no statistically significant difference in the incidence of blood clots in veins. Risk factors for blood clots in both arteries and veins included previous blood clots and older age (65 or older.)
The clinical benefit associated with bevacizumab therapy was maintained for all subgroups. Although death from [a blood clot in the artery] was uncommon, we did not capture functional disabilities from these events, and the risk factorsidentified in this study should be considered when making treatment decisions for individual patients, the authors write.
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- 83% from 3 reviews
- +48 (22) 6211031
- +48 (22) 6228559
- National Museum
- Al. Jerozolimskie 3
The exterior of the National Museum may not be the most inspirational, but there's plenty to make up for that within. Here you'll find everything from Ancient Egyptian scrolls to ornate European furniture from the Renaissance. Naturally there are plenty of Polish gems, whether it be eighteenth century aristos outfits, or art-deco furniture. The gallery also has an extensive collection of Polish painting. The most fruitful era was c. 1850-1930, with stars such as Michalowski, Wyspianski, Podkowinski and Witkacy. Well worth investigating.
Feel like sharing?
Harris from United States Reply
Good museum and good display of medieval armor inside and tanks and guns and planes outside. Good paintings inside.
David from United Kingdom Reply
I absolutely love this museum for all the Polish paintings on the top floors. Paintings of Polish hunting scenes, of snow, of sledges, hunting dogs, horses and giant pictures depicting historic battles. There are paintings from the communist period, including my favourite "Thanking the tractor driver" and other paintings celebrating a worker in a fish factory who was the most productive at gutting the fish in the factory. I will go there many times more. There is also an excellent outside display of communist period tanks, aircraft and artillery that you can walk around.
Michal from Slovak Republic Reply
quite big and impressing but not as good as warsaw rising museum
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Today's Tweet of the Day comes from David Wessel (@davidmwessel), the Wall Street Journal's economics editor. It speaks for itself. But it doesn't necessarily tell the whole story. The U.S. government may be financing 36% of its spending. But how much is that financing costing?
The yield on the 10-year treasury has been falling for quite some time, recently dipping below 2 percent before recovering, but still hovering well below 3 percent. In other words, the government can borrow as much as it wants for practically nothing.
When you have to finance 36 cents on every dollar you spend, this is a position you want to be in. Worldwide, people still think the USA is safe place to stash their cash.
Say hello to the Standard and Poor’s backlash. The rating agency, which downgraded the U.S. sovereign debt from AAA to AA+ on August 5, is now reaping what it sowed. Dan Indiviglio’s thoughts, from the Atlantic:
Apparently, it isn't so fun to get downgraded. Earlier this month, Standard and Poor's downgraded the U.S., which caused a domino effect and pushed down the ratings of bonds issued by other entities implicitly guaranteed by the U.S like some municipalities. The retaliation appears to have begun.
This week, we're learning that some of those local governments are dropping the agency from the group it pays to rate its debt. Meanwhile, the U.S. Justice Department is reportedly investigating S&P for its mortgage bond rating mistakes. Yet S&P rejected a proposal that would have changed the ratings market framework in a way that might have prevented bond issuer retaliation. The agency may only have itself to blame for its situation.
Among those local governments is Los Angeles, which will no longer be paying S&P to rate its investment fund and it’s major exposure to U.S. Treasuries, now that S&P has rated the fund AAf rather than AAAf.
This is occurring in the context of “super downgrades” of municipal bond ratings by all the major agencies: S&P, Moody’s, and Fitch. So, have the ratings agencies proven themselves to be capricious, reactive, and...well, incompetent, given their track record to putting lipstick on subprime mortgage securities before the financial crisis? Or are the doing the good work of good men?
Some of these questions will remain unanswered. But LA was right to can S&P. Why?
- It’s all about yield. Take a look at the yield on the 10-year T-note: it’s currently at a 50-year low of 2.08 -- down 50 basis points since the August 5 S&P downgrade. The U.S.A. should get downgraded more often! What that yield says is that prospects for the future of the U.S. economy aren’t very good -- if they were, money would be chasing riskier returns in the stock market and elsewhere. But a flight to quality has shown that U.S. debt is still the safest haven there is. Local investment funds would be...how can I put this? Idiotic? to reduce their demand for that debt. As the very entertaining James Altucher argues at MarketWatch: “Debt ratings” of the most highly liquid bonds on the planet should be determined by one thing only: Yield (in the absence of other information about our ability to default). That makes U.S. bonds the safest AAAAA+ bonds in the world.
- S&P was providing window-dressing. The only reasons LA was paying S&P to rate its fund was because it wanted to be able to reassure anyone exposed to the fund that its investments were ironclad. If you were concerned on that point, you could simply look at how much of the $7 billion -- $5.6 billion -- was tied in Treasuries. Boom! Rock-bottom risk there. Or...you could have considered how much L.A. was paying S&P to perform this completely perfunctory rating: a very perfunctory $16,000.
- Investments aren’t debt. Los Angeles is retaining S&P -- as well as Moody’s and Fitch -- to rate its bonds. S&P should be thankful that municipalities even consider this worthwhile and just don’t mount a campaign to get bond investors to concentrate on a yield range as a true measure of whether city is a good bet (see above). But there’s still a distinction to be made. LA gets to decide how much risk it wants to take on with its own investments. But the market makes a call regarding the debt that the city issues. S&P and the other agencies, it could be argued, perform some kind of service to municipal-bond investors by giving them a mechanism by which to quantify risk that isn’t subject to daily fluctuations. That’s in LA’s interest.
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As Taiwan prepares to go to the polls on Saturday, almost three decades of democracy may have rubbed the shine off some of its novelty – and instability.
Today, as Taiwan prepared to go to the polls for tomorrow's ultra-tight presidential election, police kept a watchful eye on a handful of antigovernment protesters staked out in front of the ruling party’s cavernous 2012 campaign headquarters in anticipation of a news conference by the president.
It past elections, it was common for angry street demonstrations to swell above 100,000 people ahead of votes in Taiwan, which was under authoritarian until the late 1980s.
But the 2012 campaign is calmer than those in the past, despite the tight race. After four presidential races and local elections somewhere on the island almost every year, the Taiwanese have gotten used to the democratic process.
“It's certainly more sedate than in previous years,” says Michael Turton, an American-born politics blogger based in central Taiwan. “We're in our third decade of real elections. They are normal, not novelties.”
East Asia's top 5 island disputes: What about Taiwan?
Before the presidential race in 2004, a bullet grazed incumbent Chen Shui-bian, who went on to win. In 2010, a gunman shot and wounded the son of former-vice president Lien Chan at a city council campaign event near Taipei. Another man was killed.
But now the banners, the protest, and the news conference have become common features of Taiwan’s vibrant democracy. They can be seen all year, any year. And this week they were a mere blip on Taipei’s broader landscape of traffic snarls, lunch-hour lines at dumpling shacks, and folks running errands before the Lunar New Year holiday begins on Jan. 23.
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I’ve been to our local county fair twice this week with my daughter. Frankly, she goes for the carnival rides, but I make sure our visits involve at least a few trips to the barns so she can learn a bit about cattle, pigs, chickens, turkeys, etc., while were there. This year, a very nice young man invited her into his pigs’ pen for some one-on-one time with the animals. She thought it was a lot of fun, and I was thrilled that she got some experience with a species that is completely foreign to most "city kids."
Then, on the following day I received an e-mail regarding an outbreak of swine flu primarily in people who have had contact with pigs while attending agricultural fairs … arrg! Here’s some of the information from the official CDC Health Advisory.
Multiple infections with variant* influenza A (H3N2v) viruses have been identified in 3 states in recent weeks. From July 12 through August 3, 2012, 16 cases of H3N2v were reported and confirmed by CDC. This virus was first detected in humans in July 2011. It has also been isolated in U.S. swine in many U.S. states. Since July 12, 2011, there have been 29 cases of H3N2v virus infection, including the 16 cases occurring in the last three weeks. All 29 cases were infected with H3N2v viruses that contain the matrix (M) gene from the influenza A (H1N1)pdm09 virus. This M gene may confer increased transmissibility to and among humans, compared to other variant influenza viruses. All cases have been laboratory-confirmed at CDC. Each of the 16 cases identified since July 12, 2012, reported contact with swine prior to illness onset; in 15 cases, contact occurred while attending or exhibiting swine at an agricultural fair. While the viruses identified in these cases are genetically nearly identical, separate swine exposure events in each state were associated with human infections. There is no indication that the cases in different states are epidemiologically related.
Clinical characteristics of the 16 H3N2v recent cases have been generally consistent with signs and symptoms of seasonal influenza, and have included fever, cough, pharyngitis, myalgia, and headache. No hospitalizations or deaths have occurred among the 16 confirmed cases since July 2012. Public health and agriculture officials are investigating the extent of disease among humans and swine, and additional cases are likely to be identified as the investigation continues.
Novel influenza A virus infection has been a nationally notifiable condition in the United States since 2007. Since that time, human infection with animal-origin influenza viruses has been rare, with ≤6 cases reported each year, until 2011 when 14 cases were identified. While most of the cases are thought to have been infected as a result of close contact with swine, limited human-to-human transmission of this virus was identified in some cases in 2011. Therefore, enhanced influenza surveillance is indicated, especially in regions and states with confirmed H3N2v cases.
Interim Recommendations for the Public
- Persons who are at high risk for influenza complications (e.g., underlying chronic medical conditions such as asthma, diabetes, heart disease, or neurological conditions, or who are pregnant or younger than 5 years, older than 65 years of age or have weakened immune systems) should consider avoiding exposure to pigs and swine barns this summer, especially if ill pigs have been identified.
- Persons engaging in activities that may involve swine contact, such as attending agricultural events or exhibiting swine, should wash their hands frequently with soap and running water before and after exposure to animals; avoid eating or drinking in animal areas; and avoid close contact with animals that look or act ill.
- Patients who experience influenza-like symptoms following direct or close contact with pigs and who seek medical care should inform their health care provider about the exposure.
- Patients with influenza-like illness who are at high risk for influenza complications (e.g., underlying chronic medical conditions such as asthma, diabetes, heart disease, or neurological conditions, or who are pregnant or younger than 5 years, older than 65 years of age or have weakened immune systems) should see their health care provider promptly to determine if treatment with antiviral medications is warranted.
I still encourage everyone to get out and enjoy their local agricultural fairs, especially those of you who have kids. Fairs are a great way to learn about an essential part of our community that is often taken for granted. Just stay informed about the outbreak and follow the CDC recommendations to keep yourself and your loved ones safe.
Dr. Jennifer Coates
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The making of The Elements for iPad
Popular Science takes an in-depth look into the makings of The Elements: A Visual Exploration for the iPad, the app that's had many reviewers nearly swooning with giddy geek pleasure. The article is written by the original book's author and Wolfram Research's co-founder, Theodore Gray, who described the experience as the chance to create something that "Harry Potter might check out of Hogwarts' library."
The article is a fantastic read and is definitely worth checking out, especially if you have any interest in getting into media publication for the iPad, and how to design dynamic pages that Photoshop nor InDesign simply can't pull off. They took a library of nearly 350,000 images shot for the original book, combined it with a page layout tool constructed from scratch with Mathematica and added a runtime application code to turn those pages (processed on the fastest 8-core Mac Pro out there) into a beautiful iPad book that is truly worthy of Hogwarts.
In addition to the Popular Science interview, check out the above video that debuted on Gray's YouTube channel for the book for an additional look at the book.
Popular Science takes an in-depth look into the makings of The Elements: A Visual Exploration for the iPad, the app that's had many...
Deals of the Daymore deals
Software Updatesmore updates
- Agile Partners releases Lick of the Day 2.0
- Microsoft Office for Mac 2011 Update 14.3.4
- Pixelmator 2.2 available with over 100 new features and improvements
- DabKick for iPhone lets you share photos, watch videos and now listen to music in real-time
- Google Now added to search app on iPhone, iPad
- GateGuru for iPhone has been updated and greatly improved
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Martin Luther did not condemn pilgramages as much as serveral other practices but his loathing of pilgramages is quite clear in his writings. As with many things in the reformation, Luther's earlier writings moderatly condemn the practice and then his comments tend to become more severe as the reformation matured.
Early in the reformation, Luther attributed pligramages to primarily an indicaor of 'bordom' and 'lack of responsability' to one's own church and family:
Those who make pilgrimages do so for many reasons, very seldom for legitimate ones. The first reason for making pilgrimages is the most common of all, namely, the curiosity to see and hear strange and unknown things. This levity proceeds from a loathing for and boredom with the worship services, which have been neglected in the pilgrims’ own church. Otherwise one would find incomparably better indulgences at home than in all the other places put together. Furthermore, he would be closer to Christ and the saints if he were not so foolish as to prefer sticks and stones to the poor and his neighbors whom he should serve out of love. And he would be closer to Christ also if he were to provide for his own family. (Luther's Works Volume 31.198)
Later, Luther thought the desire to go on pilgramags might indicate which kingdom you belonged to, God's or the Devil's. Luther thought those who had real faith would give themsleves up to God, However there were some great errors in evaluating yourself to determine if you have given your life to God and the first error implicates the idea of a 'pilgrimage':
The first is committed by those who run hither and yon for the purpose of becoming righteous, of entering God’s kingdom, and of being saved. The one runs to Rome, the other to St. James; one builds a chapel, another donates this, still another one that. However, they refuse to face the true issue, that is, they will not give their inmost self to God and thus become his kingdom. They perform many outward works which glitter very nicely, but inwardly they remain full of malice, anger, hatred, pride, impatience, unchastity, etc.
It is against them that Christ spoke when he was asked when the kingdom of God was coming, “The kingdom of God does not come with outward signs or appearances; for behold, the kingdom of God is within you” [Luke 17:20–21]. Christ also says in Matthew 24 [:23–24], “If anyone says to you, ‘Lo, here it is!’ or ‘There it is!’ do not believe it.
Those whom God has commanded a man to keep in body and soul he leaves behind, and wants to serve God in some place or another, something that was never commanded. No bishop forbids and no preacher rebukes such a perverse practice. In fact, in the interests of their own covetousness the clergy endorse such practices. Every day they think up more and more pilgrimages, canonizations of saints, and indulgence fairs. May God have mercy on such blindness! (Luther's Works Volume 44.86, 1520)
As is usual with Luther, as the reformation progressed we find his blasts against the practice more severe. He personally ties in pilgrimages together with the practice of those travellers visiting prostitutes, meeting up for 'sex'. It is not clear if the 'getting together' for 'sex' in reference to the Pope is also bound together Luther's claim of practiced sodomy among clergy, or not: (See this post for Sodomy references).
“Every false religion is contaminated by libidinous desires. Just keep an eye on sex. What were pilgrimages [under the papacy] but opportunities to get together? What does the pope do now but besmirch himself unceasingly with lust? In order that they might satisfy lust the more, well-situated places, beautiful fountains, trees, hills, and rivers were sought out for pilgrimages.
“The heathen held marriage in more honor than the pope and the Turk. The pope hates it; the Turk despises it. It is the devil’s custom to hate the works of the Lord. He’s hostile to whatever God holds dear—the church, marriage, government. He’d like to have whoredom and uncleanness, for if he does, he knows very well that people will no longer trouble themselves about God.” (Luther's Works Volume 54.422, 1542)
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The Cleveland Memory Project Marks a 10-Year Milestone
The Cleveland Memory Project celebrates its tenth annivesary this year and to mark this milestone, we offer a glimpse back to the project's inception and the people who made it possible:
The Cleveland Memory Project was launched in 2002 after the Cleveland State University Library purchased a license for the CONTENTdm image database from Washington State University to organize and present its growing collection of digitized local history images. Needing an introductory page and place for the search and browse functions to be accessed, the Library decided to centralize all its local history web efforts there and named it The Cleveland Memory Project.
Those local history web efforts date back to 1996, when Bill Barrow, then Project Archivist on the Cleveland Union Terminal Collection, learned html coding and started creating web sites for the Cleveland Union Terminal Collection, the Cleveland Press Collection and others. Another such site was the Cleveland Digital Library, created to provide links to both digital content about greater Cleveland history on the web and to the home pages of local institutions dealing with history. Shortly thereafter, University Archivist Bill Becker started the Yesterday's Lakewood site, the first and largest of our community-collaboration sites.
By late 2000, it was apparent that the Library's electronic local history efforts needed a new approach. The practice of creating separate html pages that combined text with embedded images was proving too awkward, especially when changes were needed across the site. The late Professor Walter Leedy, who was then allowing the Library to digitize his substantial postcard collection, urged us to obtain a database for serving up the images.
Library Systems Head Bruce Jeppesen investigated the possibilities and recommended CONTENTdm as being both affordable and flexible enough to export the data elsewhere, should it prove insufficient. He also recommended obtaining the domain names ClevelandMemory.org, -.com and -.net. The Library's Management Team, in particular, Library Director Glenda Thornton and Collection and Database Management Head, Henry York, approved the Cleveland Memory project on November 27, 2000.
The Library obtained a CONTENTdm license in 2001. Working together the Library's Coordinator of Information Access and Organization, Michael Boock, web designer Donna Stewart, Database Maintenance Supervisor Joanne Cornelius, Systems programmer Russ Rucky and others, created the architecture for the new site and launched it in April 2002. Those early months and years saw Cleveland Memory go from a few dozen visitors a day to the thousands currently accessing our digital collections, but those early days were exciting. — Bill Barrow, Special Collections Librarian, Michael Schwartz Library
Cleveland Memory Rewind: 1982 - The Cleveland Press Calls It Quits
Thirty years ago on June 17, 1982 The Cleveland Press, Cleveland's only surviving afternoon daily newspaper, stopped its presses for good. Founded by Edward W. Scripps as the Penny Press in 1878, it started out as a small, 4-page afternoon daily, and under the editorial leadership of Louis B. Seltzer, who helmed The Press from 1928 to 1966, it became one of the country's most influential newspapers.
During the second half of the 1960s, The Press' readership began to decline, a fate shared by other large afternoon dailies, and it lost its lead to the Plain Dealer in 1968. In 1980 Cleveland businessman Joseph Cole bought the paper from Scripps-Howard and tried to breathe new life into it, but the sharp economic recession in the Cleveland area was too much to overcome. On June 17, 1982, Cole announced the closing of The Cleveland Press and, with the appearance of the final edition later that afternoon, Cleveland became a one newspaper town.
Though The Cleveland Press plant at East 9th and Lakeside was torn down in 1983 to make way for the North Point Building, The Press' editorial library or "morgue" found a new home in 1984 when Joseph E. Cole donated it to the Michael Schwartz Library at Cleveland State University. The approximately half a million 8x10 black and white photographs and one million news clippings that comprise "The Cleveland Press Collection" can be found in the library's Special Collections. More than 8,000 photos and documents from the collection are also available online via The Cleveland Memory Project.
More about the Cleveland Press:
Showing posts from June 2012 only. Click here for other dates.
Michael Schwartz Library
Cleveland State University
We bring people & information together.
2121 Euclid Avenue
Cleveland, Ohio 44115-2214
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New Hate Crimes Bill Unconstitutional and Threat to Religious Freedom?
By: Jim Kouri, CPP
Wednesday night, while President Barack Obama held his televised press conference marking his first 100 days in office, the federal hate crimes bill passed in the House of Representatives by a vote of 249 to 175.
But not everyone believes this piece of legislation is a great idea. They are cautioning many supporters that such a law is a two-edged sword and may have unintended consequences that includes misuse by overzealous and politically motivated prosecutors.
During a discussion of HR 1913, the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009, opponents of the proposed law offered compelling arguments for scrapping the bill.
For example, Federal Bureau of Investigation statistics contained in the Bureau’s annual Uniform Crime Report showed that the number of so-called hate crimes has actually declined over the last 10 years. Also, the last UCR released by the FBI revealed that of the approximately 17,000 homicides that occurred in the U.S., only 9 of the murders were determined to be motivated by bias.
Some of the provisions contained in HR 1913 include:
· Federalization of crimes that already are being effectively prosecuted by our States and local governments.
· The forcing of law enforcement officials and prosecutors to gather evidence of the offender’s thoughts and words, regardless of the criminality of his actions.
· Blurring the line between violent belief, which is constitutionally protected, and violent action, which is not.
“This new law opens the door to suspects being questioned about their thoughts rather than their actions. Are we going to start interrogating people about what they are or were thinking?” asks a New York City detective who opposes the law.
“We already have a hate crime law in our state Penal Code. What are the feds doing getting involved in state crimes?” said the veteran cop on condition of anonymity.
During a discussion of the new law, US Congressman Paul Broun of Georgia voiced his opposition to HR 1913 and explained why he voted against it.
“Regardless of its motivation, I believe that every violent crime is appalling. Furthermore, I believe that all people should be equally protected by law from violence, no matter who they are,” said Broun, who is also a licensed physician.
“In addition to posing a litany of constitutional problems, today’s legislation alarmingly overturns the cornerstone of equality in our justice system by placing a higher value on one life over another. In no way could I support a bill that more harshly punishes criminals who kill a homosexual, transvestite or transsexual than criminals who kill a police officer, a member of the military, a child, or a senior citizen. I believe that all victims should have equal worth in the eyes of the law,” said Rep. Broun.
Rep.Virginia Foxx of North Carolina said that a federal hate law would preempt the Tenth Amendment which delegates most law enforcement to the states. She said the claim that Matt Sheppard was murdered because he was a homosexual was a “hoax;” he was killed, she said as the victim of a robbery. Sheppard’s murderers did not know he was gay at the time of the robbery.
Supporters of the law complain that laws for dealing with hate or bias crimes differ from state to state and that this new law will codify the definition of a hate crime. They believe that the federal government will be able to utilize the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009 in order to force local officials to protect gays, minorities and others as “protected groups.”
While opponents support the prosecution of criminals to the full extent of the law, they believe the police power is traditionally mandated to the states by the US Constitution. Murder, rape, assault and other felonies are crimes for individual states to adjudicate, according to several police commanders, some of whom said their politically motivated superiors support HR 1913.
“This unconstitutional hate crimes bill also raises the possibility that religious leaders or members of religious groups could become the subject of a criminal investigation focusing on a suspect’s religious beliefs, membership in religious organizations and any statements made by a suspect,” said Congressman Paul Broun.
“Religious leaders and others who express their constitutionally protected beliefs should not be silenced out of fear of prosecution,†he said,
The US Senate has a similar version of the bill and will no doubt vote soon on their own hate crimes legislation.
Jim Kouri, CPP is currently fifth vice-president of the National Association of Chiefs of Police and he’s a staff writer for the New Media Alliance (thenma.org). In addition, he’s the former blog editor for the House Conservatives Fund’s weblog. Recently, the editors at Examiner.com appointed him as their Law Enforcement Examiner. Kouri also serves as political advisor for Emmy and Golden Globe winning actor Michael Moriarty.
He’s former chief at a New York City housing project in Washington Heights nicknamed “Crack City” by reporters covering the drug war in the 1980s. In addition, he served as director of public safety at a New Jersey university and director of security for several major organizations. He’s also served on the National Drug Task Force and trained police and security officers throughout the country. Kouri writes for many police and security magazines including Chief of Police, Police Times, The Narc Officer and others. He’s a news writer for NewswithViews.com and PHXnews.com. He’s also a columnist for AmericanDailyReview.Com, MensNewsDaily.Com, MichNews.Com, and he’s syndicated by AXcessNews.Com. He’s appeared as on-air commentator for over 300 TV and radio news and talk shows including Oprah, McLaughlin Report, CNN Headline News, MTV, Fox News, etc. If you wish to receive Kouri’s emailed law enforcement and intelligence reports, write to him at COPmagazine@aol.com. Simply write “Free Subscription” on the subject line.
Jim Kouri, CPP is currently fifth vice-president of the National Association of Chiefs of Police and he's a columnist for The Examiner (examiner.com) and New Media Alliance (thenma.org). In addition, he's a blogger for the Cheyenne, Wyoming Fox News Radio affiliate KGAB (www.kgab.com). Kouri also serves as political advisor for Emmy and Golden Globe winning actor Michael Moriarty. He's former chief at a New York City housing project in Washington Heights nicknamed "Crack City" by reporters covering the drug war in the 1980s. In addition, he served as director of public safety at a New Jersey university and director of security for several major organizations. He's also served on the National Drug Task Force and trained police and security officers throughout the country. Kouri writes for many police and security magazines including Chief of Police, Police Times, The Narc Officer and others. He's a news writer and columnist for AmericanDaily.Com, MensNewsDaily.Com, MichNews.Com, and he's syndicated by AXcessNews.Com. Kouri appears regularly as on-air commentator for over 100 TV and radio news and talk shows including Fox News Channel, Oprah, McLaughlin Report, CNN Headline News, MTV, etc. To subscribe to Kouri's newsletter write to COPmagazine@aol.com and write "Subscription" on the subject line.
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Augmented Reality Goes Niche, 3D Printing Gets Real and the Future of Creation Gets Granular
“Tea. Earl Grey. Hot.” For any Trekkie fan, these simple words have become iconic in their own special way. We know the moment Picard finished this demand, the Replicator – the upgraded version of the 23rd Century Food Synthesizer seen on the original Star Trek – would create, out of “thin air” a streamlined, handle-less cup of steaming Earl Grey tea. We have all fantasized over such a machine and recent advances in neo-manufacturing are bringing us closer to the day when we too can bark an order at a machine and be delivered 2 dozen chicken wings, half hot, half teriyaki with blue cheese dressing and a cold beer… or, whatever it is you might enjoy. Joking aside, this movement revolving around on-demand “product” isn’t really about food & beverage at all, at least not yet.
Augmented Reality is Growing Up!
We were waiting, and waiting… and yes waiting for these moments. When AR (Augmented Reality) would show true value in the marketplace and move beyond some cute digital animation against a physical Starbucks cup and into something of very real value. In the last several weeks alone, a few fantastic examples of where Augmented Reality is really heading have shown up and the good news is, AR has finally gone niche.
As an extreme example, this recent Technology Review article (published by MIT) showcases an Augmented Reality helmet designed for, ready for this, welding. And not just any kind of welding, but rather Tungsten gas welding that causes significant challenges to preciseness due to the amazingly bright brights, and incredibly dark, darks created during the welding process with this specific element. Pretty remarkable and amazingly niche.
In a slightly less super-niche way but certainly more commercially mainstream, NConnex, through a nifty augmented reality iPad application, allows you to visualize how a new piece of furniture will exactly fit into your actual living room. Here is a neat video showcasing the technology and the unique way they are also utilizing Microsoft’s Kinect platform to easily generate a 3D model of any piece of furniture.Fast forward to around the 3 minute mark to see the application in action.
Both examples show us that Augmented Reality is finally going niche, and often in technology, it’s in the niche where value is born.
3D Printing Gets Real and Does Good
3D Printing, also known as Additive Manufacturing, is a very exciting frontier. Much like Augmented Reality, the possibilities of 3D Printing are really starting to shine as creative ways to use this on-demand manufacturing process are beginning to impact human lives in very big ways. It’s important to note, we’re not downplaying the creative aspects of creating a Yoda head out of thin air, (Fun, that is), as those are the types of projects that gain wide appeal and bring the technology to the masses. But when compared to the below video and how 3D Printing has literally changed this little girl’s life, well, it becomes obvious where new value creation can come from in the arena of 3D Printing technologies.
Programmable Sand: The Future of On-Demand Creation?
Imagine a fresh new crack showing up in the foundation of something important, such as a bridge. Now imagine a “magic” material that is sprayed on the crack that is comprised of what are essentially tiny robots that can communicate with one another and collectively, take the shape of the newly formed crack, filling the space, remedying what would otherwise be a potential danger. Is this very far off? Perhaps, but it’s the experimentation of this type of on-demand creation that is already underway that should get you excited.
MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory has been working on this wonder material they dub programmable sand, which is comprised of small ‘robot pebbles’ that have the ability to communicate with another in order to effectively take any shape. The challenge is of course the size of these mini-computer pebbles and just how granular scientists will be able to make them in order to attain ever increasingly accurate copies of the object they are attempting to replicate. Think of it this way: Currently, the replicas they are able to create look like something out of Atari 2600, perhaps as “smooth” as NES 8-Bit. Where do the scientists envision this going? Well, it would look a whole lot more like…
Whether Augmented Reality, 3D Printing or these remarkable programmable pebbles, the future of on-demand creation and manufacturing is quite bright. And even though all three either blend the digital/physical realm, or exist solely in the physical world, it’s important to realize it will be the software and algorithms on the digital side of the equation that will ultimately bring all of this value creation to life.
Technology, Open Innovation, the Future: Subscribe to the TopCoder Blog
image credits: greendestinations.blogspot.com, hemispheresmagazine.com, carolcofilms.com
video credits: youtube.com
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Small Business Graduates Prepared to Launch New Venturesby News Bureau on
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo., Sept. 4, 2012 -- Several new small businesses will open or expand in southeast Missouri in the next few months because of the help of an award-winning, nationally-recognized program that recently completed in Poplar Bluff, Mo.
Eighteen aspiring entrepreneurs graduated from the Operation JumpStart (OJS) small business training program with assistance from certified facilitators and guest speakers.
In addition, the Douglas C. Greene Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CIE) and the Small Business Technology Development Center at Southeast Missouri State University and the University of Missouri Extension provided professional business coaches to work one-on-one with the participants throughout the six-week course. The participants learned to develop the components of a successful business feasibility plan and have the opportunity to submit their feasibility plans in late August in competition for start-up grants or micro-loans through ACCION Delta, a new micro-lender in Missouri, part of the larger organization ACCION Texas, and from Justine PETERSON, a credit-building agency based out of St. Louis.
The class was facilitated by Steve Halter, Poplar Bluff Chamber of Commerce director. He was instrumental is facilitating and mentoring the OJS participants.
“The class this summer brought a whole new level of enthusiasm,” Halter said. “The students really were passionate and energized about their ideas and about all of the important information the guest speakers provided.”
“The JumpStart class was a great opportunity at the perfect time for me,” said graduate Donna Boeving of Poplar Bluff. “I had so much to learn, and the books and materials provided were very clear as we worked through every single step of a business plan. There was so much help offered by Steve and all the speakers who came to talk to us over the six-week period.”
Boeving added, “Steve is not only friendly and a great community leader, he had tremendous knowledge on business and networking and was able to articulate it so well. Having been through this program, I have a much better idea of how to prepare for our business in the future.”
Operation JumpStart has been instrumental in assisting more than 650 individuals who have started or expanded more than 250 small businesses in Missouri, Tennessee and Illinois. The Operation JumpStart program in Polar Bluff was funded in part by the USDA through a program called Rural Business Enterprise Grant (RBEG). The RBEG program provides grants for rural projects that finance and facilitate development of small and emerging rural businesses, according to USDA.
The CIE is one of the most comprehensive entrepreneurship-focused university centers in the Midwest, offering a wide array of academic and outreach programs and services, including innovation development and research, entrepreneurship education, training and mentorship, and business incubation and development services. The CIE supports Southeast Missouri State University’s strategic priority to accelerate entrepreneurial growth and development that improves the quality of lives, communities and businesses in southeast Missouri and the Southeast region. For more information about Operation JumpStart and other services available from the CIE, please contact the CIE at (573) 651-2929 or visit www.semo.edu/cie.
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President Obama recently proposed increasing the generosity of the US research and development (R&D) tax credit system and making it a permanent feature of the US tax code. This was justified by the idea that more R&D would lead to growth, not just worldwide but particularly in the US.
But such a bold statement raises some fundamental questions:
- Does the location of R&D matter?
- Will a firm be more productive if it locates in one region rather than another?
- Do R&D spillovers, the benefit to firms other than the company spending its money on R&D, decline with distance and, if so, how quickly?
The answers are important for a number of reasons, most notably for understanding regional growth. If geographic spillovers are confined to narrow geographic markets, growth rates will diverge, poor regions will get poorer, and rich ones will get richer.
Few doubt that, in the long run, new and better products and processes are stronger determinants of firm growth than growth in demand for existing products. Given the importance of this issue, it is not surprising that economists have long studied the link between a firm's R&D and its productivity. Equally important, if not more so, is the fact that not only does a firm's own research affect its productivity, but there are also significant spillovers from the R&D efforts of other firms. This idea, which is at the heart of modern growth theory, dates at least as far back as the 1960s (e.g. Schmookler 1966) and attempts were made to quantify it in the 1970s (e.g. Terleckyj, 1974). Our research provides an added twist to the hunt for R&D spillovers, focusing on geography.
We limit attention to studies that are based on a production function framework as laid out in Griliches (1979). In that framework, output is produced by conventional inputs and is augmented by a multiplicative term that represents knowledge capital or productivity. Productivity is, in turn, a function of own knowledge and the spillover pool, which consists of a weighted average of other firms' knowledge. Finally, each firm's knowledge is augmented by R&D expenditures and depleted by depreciation.
To work out who benefits from R&D spillovers we have to figure out which firms are close "neighbours". This boils down to working out some distance "weights" – the bigger the weight the closer you are, and thus the more likely you are to benefit from a neighbour's research. Those weights thus play two roles: they determine both the set of firms that contribute to the spillover pool and the relative importance of the firms within that set. For example, in the geographic context, one might limit attention to firms that are in the same state and weight those firms by their geographic distance from the firm doing the R&D.
There are, however, factors other than geography that affect R&D spillovers. For example, firms that produce similar products might benefit from the efforts of product market rivals (horizontal spillovers) and firms that perform R&D in similar technology classes might benefit from each other’s efforts (technological spillovers). Moreover, the factors or links between R&D and productivity are not independent. For example, firms in the same geographic region might perform R&D in similar technology classes, as is the case for Silicon Valley. This means that if we were to assess only one channel, it is possible that the relationship obtained would be spurious and due entirely to the omission of a common causal factor. One remedy for this problem is to include multiple sets of weights and multiple spillover pools, one for each channel considered.
A flavour of the current evidence
Geographic links have perhaps been studied most in the trade literature. That literature uses aggregate data by country or industry and measures closeness by whether firms are in the same country (Eaton and Kortum 1999), by geographic distance between countries (Eaton and Kortum 1996), or by an exponential function of that distance (Keller 2002). In general, researchers have found that R&D performed at home is significantly more productive than that undertaken abroad.
Domestic markets have also been studied by, e.g., Adams and Jaffe (1996) and Orlando (2004). Each uses firm data and a binary distance measure (for example, A and B are close if A’s headquarters is under 50 miles from B’s headquarters). The results that they obtain are mixed, with one weak and one strong relationship. Both Adams and Jaffe and Orlando assess horizontal and geographic channels simultaneously. Interestingly, they come to different conclusions, with Adams and Jaffe favouring geographic spillovers, and Orlando favouring horizontal spillovers.
Our new evidence on geographic spillovers
In a recent paper (Lychagin et al. 2010), we assess all three channels simultaneously. Although we focus on geographic spillovers, we control for technological and horizontal channels (following Bloom et al. 2010).
Specifically, whereas earlier studies have used distance between headquarters, we postulate that inventors are more apt to be sources of spillovers than top management. We therefore build a distribution of each firm's inventor locations from patent data. From that we construct a measure of match between two firms' geographic locational distributions, which we multiply by a function of the distance between each pair of locations. Finally, we estimate the distance function semi-parametrically, which is much more flexible than has been done in previous studies.
Although for many small firms the locations of headquarters and research labs are highly correlated, many large firms have several labs in different locations. In Figure 1, the triangle is the location of Eaton Corporation’s headquarters, whereas the dark circles indicate the locations of its inventors. It is clear from this that only taking the headquarters into account could severely underestimate the importance of inventors learning from neighbouring inventors.
We find that:
- Locations of researchers are more important than locations of headquarters but both have explanatory power.
- The effects of R&D do fall with distance.
- Geographic R&D markets are very local.
- Although the effects of technological and geographical proximity are strong in all specifications, horizontal proximity does not matter much for total factor productivity.
Figure 1. Eaton Corporation; An example of the location of corporate headquarters and the distribution of inventors
Notes: The triangle is the headquarters. The centre of a red dot corresponds to a county where Eaton has some iventors; the size of the red dot is proportional to the number of inventors. Grey dots indicate US counties.
Location, location, location
We conclude that location does matter. There is a strong link between R&D and growth through knowledge "spilling over" between firms – this means that research will generally be under-provided by the market. But this process has an important geographic element – having your inventors close to where the R&D is occurring means that you benefit a lot more from the new ideas. This is why local policymakers like to attract R&D facilities into their areas, but it is also why regional convergence, if it occurs, is often so slow.
Our findings are complementary to those of Greenstone et al. (2010) who find that locating a large new plant in a region increases the productivity of other plants in that region. Moreover, our research provides one explanation for the findings of Wilson (2008), who documents that local policymakers invest substantial sums in the form of tax incentives to attract R&D labs to their regions.
Adams, James D, and Adam B Jaffe (1996), “Bounding the Effects of R&D: An Investigation Using Matched Establishment-Firm Data”, The RAND Journal of Economics, 27(4):700–721.
Bloom, Nick, Mark Schankerman, and John Van Reenen (2010), “Technology Spillovers and Product Market rivalry”, LSE/Stanford mimeo, revised version of Centre for Economic Performance Discussion Paper No. 675
Eaton, Jonathan and Samuel Kortum (1996), “Trade in Ideas Patenting and Productivity in OECD”, Journal of International Economics, 40(3-4):251-278.
Eaton, Jonathan and Samuel Kortum (1999), “International Technology Diffusion: Theory and Measurement”, International Economic Review, 40(3):537-570.
Greenstone, Michael, Richard Hornbeck, and Enrico Moretti (2010), “Identifying Agglomeration Spillovers: Evidence from Winners and Losers of Large Plant Openings”, Forthcoming in The Journal of Political Economy.
Griliches, Zvi (1979), “Issues in Assessing the Contribution of Research and Development to Productivity Growth”, The Bell Journal of Economics, 10(1):92¬¬-116.
Keller, Wolfgang (2002), “Geographic Localization of International Technology Diffusion”, American Economic Review, 92(1):120-142.
Lychagin, Sergey, Joris Pinkse, Margaret Slade, and John Van Reenen (2010), “Spillovers in Space: Does Geography Matter?”, CEPR Working Paper 7929.
Orlando, Michael J (2004), “Measuring Spillovers from Industrial R&D: On the Importance of Geographic and Technological Proximity”, The RAND Journal of Economics, 35(4):777-786.
Schmookler, Jacob (1966), Invention and Economic Growth, Harvard University Press.
Terleckyj, Nestor (1974), Effects of R&D on the Productivity Growth of Industries, National Planning Association.
Wilson, Daniel J (2009), “Beggar thy Neighbor? The In-State, Out-of-State and Aggregate Effects of R&D Tax Credits”, The Review of Economics and Statistics, 91(2):431-436.
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Rodney King, ffigwr allweddol yn L.A. terfysgoedd, yn farw yn 47
wreiddiol gan: Detroit Free Press
gyhoeddi: 17 Mehefin 2012
Rodney King, y modurwr du y mae eu 1991 videotaped beating by Los Angeles police officers was the touchstone for one of the most destructive race riots in the nation’s history, wedi marw, his publicist said today. King was 47. His death was confirmed to the Associated Press by Suzanne Wickham of Harper Collins, who published King’s 2012 book ‘The Riot Within .My Journey from Rebellion to Redemption.’
Mae'r 1992 terfysgoedd, set off by the acquittals of the officers, lasted three days and left 55 people dead, mwy na 2,000 injured and swaths of Los Angeles on fire. At the height of the violence, King pleaded on television: “Can we all get along?”
King was stopped for speeding on a darkened street on March 3, 1991. Four Los Angeles police officers hit him more than 50 times with their batons, kicked him and shot him with stun guns.
A man who had quietly stepped outside his home to observe the commotion videotaped most of it and turned a copy over to a TV station. It was played over and over for the following year, inflaming racial tensions across the country.
Darllenwch yr adroddiad llawn >
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In one sense the Supreme Court’s opinion today in Lawrence v. Texas, asserting the existence of a constitutional right to homosexual sodomy, was utterly predictable. Thirty years ago the liberal constitutional scholar John Hart Ely wrote a classic law review article (“The Wages of Crying Wolf”) condemning the jurisprudence of Roe v. Wade, and Lawrence is in a sense only a few steps further down the jurisprudential arc that will end, as Justice Scalia notes in dissent, in the constitutional right to homosexual marriage, prostitution, bigamy, and adult incest.
In another sense that is worthy of note, however, it is an amazing disgrace. The United States alone in the world is a country founded on the proposition that all men are created equal and are endowed by their Creator with the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness and that government is instituted among men to secure these rights. These rights exist under what the Declaration of Indepence — the first of the organic laws of the United States — refers to as the laws of nature and Nature’s God.
Among the founders, sodomy was universally condemned as a crime against nature. It was illegal in each of the thirteen states existing at the time the Constitution was ratified and the Bill of Rights was adopted. In Thomas Jefferson’s Virginia, it was a crime punishable by death. When Jefferson wrote an amendment to the criminal code lessening the penalty for sodomy, he nevertheless classed it as a crime with rape, polygamy, and incest.
Today the Supreme Court declares that homosexual sodomy constitutes “a form of liberty of the person in both its spatial and more transcendent dimensions.” Justice Kennedy, the author of this nauseating palaver, is obviously so in love with what he thinks is his own eloquent rhetoric that he fails to notice his laughable double entendre. What is not funny, however, is the destruction of the recognition of the laws of nature and nature’s God on which our true rights depend. The Supreme Court’s opinion today is an act of political destruction that should be recognized as such.
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There’re plenty of software updates this week. First up was for Snow Leopard which is updated to Mac OS X 10.6.2, which contains quite a number of fixes (58, apparently) including an important one that involves data loss. Then, the Safari web browser itself, whose updates are distributed separately from Mac OS X, was updated to version 4.0.4. It fixes some security vulnerabilities, and improves performance and stability. Finally, there is also the update to Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac with version 12.2.3, which fixes stability and security issues.
That’s all happened in just half a week. It could have been worse, had it been some other operating system, and it’s not really all that bothersome if you consider that many of the updates happen automatically. “Automatically”, however, could typically be any time in a one week window, since automatic checks are often configured to happen at weekly intervals. Furthermore, that’s all assuming that you are using your computer and it is connected to the Internet at reasonable broadband speeds.
It’s just one computer, or just one device. Yet there are so many updates to talk about. Sometimes I’d think life would be so much easier had all the software been sufficiently tightly integrated so that users just need to know of one update. Perhaps moving all the apps to the web (or the “Internet”) will make this easier. You’d still need some basic operating system, a web browser, and device drivers to take care of, but I suppose this would be much easier to manage.
Update (13 Nov 2009): To add to the update week is WordPress 2.8.6, released today.
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All members of the Teacher Education Division(TED), the Council for Exceptional Children, are eligible to be active within the Caucus. Events and activities, however, will be of particular interest to TED members in small programs at public and/or private institutions of higher education. For clarification purposes, a small program is defined as a program that employs seven or fewer full-time faculty members and does not have a doctoral program.
Each year the Caucus will have at least two general meetings. These meetings will be held in conjunction with the annual TED Conference and the national Convention of the Council for Exceptional Children. Special meetings may be convened upon a unanimous decision be the officers of the caucus. All members attending meetings will constitute a quorum and Roberts Rules of Order will be followed.
The Small Special Education Program Caucus shall be served by four officers: A Chairperson, an Associate Chairperson, a Secretary, and a Treasurer.
Chairperson: The primary duties of the Chairperson will be to coordinate and preside at all Caucus meetings. He/She will also represent the Caucus on the TED Executive Committee and at meetings which are concerned with special education personnel preparation and shall appoint members to needed ad hoc task forces. The Chairperson will serve a one (1) year term.
Associate Chairperson: The Associate Chairperson shall preside at Caucus meetings in the absence of the Chairperson and shall perform other assigned duties. At the end of his/her term of office the Associate Chairperson will automatically assume the office of Chairperson. The term of office for the Associate Chairperson shall be one (1) year.
Secretary: The primary duties of the Secretary will be to record and maintain all minutes of Caucus meetings and to conduct official correspondence. In the absence of the chairperson and the Associate Chairperson, the Secretary will preside at Caucus meetings. The term of office for the Secretary will be two (2) years, alternating with the office of Treasurer.
Treasurer: the primary duties of the Treasurer will be to manage incoming moneys to the organization, to pay bill in a timely manner, and to maintain a current balance of the Caucus. The Treasurer will report at each meeting of the Caucus regarding its financial status. The term of office for the treasurer will be two (2)years, alternating with the office of Secretary.
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Sometime in the spring of 2004, the Chinese authorities (a necessarily vague description) began to lose confidence in Beijing’s booming trade in Western architecture. In May, The Times claimed Koolhaas’ CCTV tower was definitely deceased. It was, the newspaper reported, the personal decision of the new premier Wen Jiabao, demonstrating his authority by repudiating the previous regime’s obsession with mega-developments. Then Herzog & de Meuron’s Olympic stadium was put on hold, along with Paul Andreu’s National Grand Theatre, which had long been the subject of fierce debate. By early September, half of the venues for the Olympics were scrapped or under threat. Then as a symbolic move against foreign architects, a new regulation was passed requiring them to enter joint ventures with local firms before they take on Chinese projects. Finally, in mid-September, a conservative design by Gerkan, Marg & Partner and the China Academy of Building Research was chosen for the National Museum of China redevelopment. It beat more radical submissions by Herzog & de Meuron, Foster + Partners, the Cox Group and OMA. The halted or overlooked projects seemed destined to join unbuilt Chinese gems by Zaha Hadid, Toyo Ito, and countless others.
There were many reasons for the temporary loss of faith in imported architecture, but the most immediate was the Beijing connection. Before, cosmopolitan architectural experiment was a Shanghai thing; now with the Olympics it was moving into the nation’s more conservative capital. While President Jiang Zemin thought new architecture would complement the architecture of the state, the new regime of Hu Jintao and Wen seemed less sure.
That’s why the gentle bubble-like form of Andreu’s National Theatre, and not the mad zig-zag of Koolhaas’ CCTV tower, was really ground zero for the backlash of 2004. The theatre, promised since the 50s, was being built opposite (and a little to the left) of the Forbidden City’s gates, and next door to the Great Hall of the People. The theatre’s titanium and glass dome is forty-six metres tall, exactly the height of the Great Hall (the design rules stipulated it be no higher), and from its upper levels the residences of government officials, tucked in leafy pockets away from Changan Avenue, can be seen by the public for the first time.
Within this context, Andreu’s design asserts its own claim to monumentality. Elliptical in plan and section, it seats an opera house, a concert hall and two theatres beneath a single shell. A complex steel structure of 148 radial trusses, cut and welded together by thousands of workers, allows the structure to be both massive and transparent, its 22 000 tonne shell held up without internal supports. Like curtains pulled back coyly for a performance, the titanium dome is cut in two by a glass ribbon, one hundred metres wide at the base tapering to a mere sliver over the roof. To make the glass ribbon as uncluttered as possible, diagonal bracing was ruled out, replaced by light horizontal tubes. The building is encircled and sanctified by a lake, and to enter it, one must walk through a glazed tunnel beneath the waters. “I was always attached to the idea that you don’t enter an opera house as you might push open the door of a supermarket,’’ explained Andreu. “You need time to enter the world of opera.”
So close to the Forbidden Palace, the development inevitably drew comparisons with traditional Chinese aesthetics, few of them favourable. “Andreu has no idea of Chinese culture,” said one critic, Chinese-Canadian architect Alfred Peng. “His proposal is extremely incongruous with the surroundings.’’ The building wasn’t built with feng shui in mind, and some claim the underwater entrance carries connotations of entombment.
In truth, Andreu lost the symbolism battle early on. Most landmark Chinese buildings organically generate an affectionate, symbolic nickname. Herzog & de Meuron’s Olympic stadium is a “bird’s nest”, Norman Foster’s Beijing Airport a “dragon” - both with positive associations, making these perhaps more radical designs easier to digest. But Andreu’s Theatre was always “the egg”. That might have been complimentary - indeed, an egg floating in a lake resembles the beginnings of the universe as imagined by ancient Chinese cosmology - but instead it carried the unfortunate connotation of something that has been laid. Controlling the symbolism in the Chinese architecture market - especially for abstracted contemporary architecture - is important but difficult. Kohn Pedersen Fox tried it for their still-to-be-completed Shanghai World Financial Centre, commissioned by a Tokyo-based builder: the tower’s squared peak with a circle cut-out resembled, they claimed, Chinese mythological representations of earth and sky, but Shanghai authorities said it reminded them of Japan’s rising-sun flag. Only when KPF changed the circle to a trapezoid could construction continue.
But the biggest PR (not to mention personal) disaster for Andreu was the collapse of his Terminal 2E building at Charles de Gaulle Airport, killing four, including two Chinese tourists. It happened just as Wen was apparently turning against CCTV in early 2004, and it acted as a lighting rod for all the pent-up anger and concern about foreign architecture in China. Critics claimed the elliptical form of Terminal 2E, which proved to be overstressed and weakened by puncturing, resembled a smaller model for the National Grand Theatre shell. The Chinese authorities immediately halted construction to double-check the models. A panel of 100 Chinese engineers questioned the theatre’s French engineering team for a week.
As Andreu correctly points out, there was nothing formally radical about Terminal 2E’s elliptical design, one of dozens of airport structures around the world that bear his name and his reputation. What went wrong with the design, according to a report released in 2005, was a lack of detailed analysis of the design models, combined with a construction process that cut corners to save time. One problem may have been that the state-owned Aéroports de Paris, who Andreu worked for, acted as architect, engineer, construction manager and client, a closed loop without independent oversight. Andreu has since left ADP and set up practice on his own.
After Andreu’s theatre once again proved its credentials, construction resumed. Along with CCTV, it survived the panic - indeed, its gala opening looms. The finished building will represent an extraordinary engineering feat. It set Beijing’s widest and deepest foundations to date, cutting through the water table to a depth of 32.5 metres. 28,000 cubic metres of water were pumped out of the hole every day while water-resistant concrete formed the submerged foundations. The below-ground spaces will hold theatres and support facilities. Above, the 213 metre long, 144 metre wide lobby, clad warmly in mahogany timber stripes, will form a succession of streets, plazas and lounges. The opera house will be at its centre, finished with opaque gilt metal mesh, with the concert hall and theatre on either side. Cavernous spaces done with a lightness of touch, slowly revealing their hidden depths: this is the streamlined, futurist world of airport architecture taken to the opera. Instead of being ushered onto a jet, we are being ushered into a theatre. It is, Andreu hopes, his masterpiece, and he has edicated nearly a decade to its fulfillment.
So how does Andreu feel about its troubled reception? “To have unanimity on such a project is impossible,’’ he told the New York Times. “I expect quite a number of people in China will say they don’t like it. But a creation is bound to be something that disturbs. If it is just a reproduction, it is handicraft. My purpose is to do something original. I can only hope that it disturbs in a positive way." +
Top. Paul Andreu’s National Grand heatre in Beijing, overlooked by the Great Hall of the People. Bitterly contested, the theatre came close to remaining a mere rendering..
Second. Emerging out of the tunnel into the light, some of the theatre’s first visitors.
Third. A rendering of the National Grand Theatre at night. The dome hovering over water extends Andreu’s earlier design for the Osaka Maritime Museum.
Bottom. A dining area overlooking the gauzy opera theatre.
Images Courtesy and Copyright of Paul Andreu, Cristal, Bernard Dragon, Hervé Langlais, ZXYZ.
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Build a solid foundation in science, formulation and product development—find out more!
Most Popular in:
Eco Attributes Reinvent the Ethnic Hair Care Segment
By: Elle Morris
Posted: July 6, 2011
Editor's note: The following excerpt was taken from the June issue of GCI magazine, a sister publication of Cosmetics & Toiletries magazine. A full text version can be found by visiting http://www.gcimagazine.com/marketstrends/segments/hair/123352713.html.
The global multicultural marketplace is an increasingly competitive environment for beauty brands, and a swirl of ethnic hair care products from both new and seasoned manufacturers have launched in recent years with a common theme: natural positioning. While the beauty market at large has seen a rush of products with organic claims, the ethnic hair care segment seems to have been particularly affected by this trend. Hair care brands in this segment are also now exercising a more multicultural approach, quietly moving away from ethnic-specific messaging in an attempt to appeal to a wide range of skin tones and hair textures that constitute the ethnic population.
Ingredients Lead the Way
Ingredients continue to drive innovation, offering a point of differentiation at the shelf for natural and organic brand extensions, and ethnic consumers are more likely to identify with ingredients they traditionally trust to be safe and effective. In North America, Brazil and Europe, shea butter is a notable favorite at both mass and prestige, and recent product launches leverage the widespread recognition of shea butter’s moisturizing and healing properties through packaging, brand identity and advertising. Other common ingredients include aloe, honey, olive oil, coconut oil and avocado, as well as heritage remedies such as African herbs, naturally occurring minerals and even lava clay. In the prestige category, Estée Lauder’s Ojon, sold throughout North America and Europe, features “naturally derived ingredients from the world’s rain forests.” In Asia, new hair care formulations use traditional ingredients associated with health and wellness, such as ginseng extract, pearl protein, aloe, algae and white flower, which can be found in both Kao’s Asience Deep Nourishing line and the LaFang’s Active Amino Acid collection. Procter & Gamble has also extended the Rejoice product line with Eva, a new Asian hair care line that features traditional Chinese herbal ingredients.
Within many cultures, traditions and beauty rituals associated with hair care are passed down through generations. In the African-American community, a vast number of women straighten their hair, a practice that often begins in childhood. As comedian Chris Rock captures through interviews with his own children in the documentary Good Hair, at very young ages, black women exhibit “hair envy” and are often willing to go to extreme measures (i.e. chemical relaxers and weaves) to achieve straight hair. The chemicals used to straighten hair, often lye or alkaline creams, can permanently damage the follicle, and ethnic women commonly report thinning hair and baldness as early as their late teens and early 20s. These harmful side effects intensify the demand for organic or natural alternatives within the ethnic segment, including hair care products for children that are quickly becoming popular within the U.S. and Europe. Namaste Laboratories recently introduced Olive Oil Girls Built-in Protection Plus, an organic relaxer for children ages 10 and older with four-color instructions and a hair checklist, and boutique brands such as Carol’s Daughter and Curls also offer organic hair care product collections developed specifically for kids and babies.
Elle Morris is the vice president and general manager of LPK Beauty, overseeing its general business management and serving as chief customer officer. She provides strategic oversight on businesses in the categories of hair care, feminine care and beauty. Morris has worked with partners in North America, Latin America, Asia and Europe to develop an understanding of beauty’s power across cultures.
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Lena, a singing toy plastic lobster bought in America, wiggled her red claws and sang louder then Ole, the singing lobster from Sweden. But it was only due to Ole’s need for new batteries. The origins of the lobsters, which served as mascots for the Scandinavian Midsummer Festival on Sunday, were representative of the dual heritage of the society’s members.
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I must preface this post with the fact that I am actually English, but since trying to learn another language I realise I fall short with a lot of the grammatical terms that are being explained to me.
So far I've been using wikipedia but it constantly switches between the word progressive and continuous and says perfective when it means perfect and its blowing my mind so I was wondering if anyone could lay it out to me.
Okay so I'm learning Russian and unlike Russians who use the normal "Present Tense" to say what they are doing currently (i.e. Я ем - literally; "I eat" however translates to "I am eating") I have come to learn that we use the present participle (I am eating). So in English what are the technical names for these two uses;
I am eating (now/fish/cheese/rapidly)
I eat (everyday/fish/cheese)
In my mind I can of course imagine when I would use them but have no way of describing why. I might say I eat for a living... but I am eating now so I can't answer the phone. I just want justification for the use of the participle rather than the flat out verb like other languages use, do we have something that other languages don't?
Also I am getting mixed messages on this topic, as far as I know, English does not use Perfective and Imperfective aspect such as Russian language however we have something called "THE PERFECT" which can be formed by using the past participle... apparently. Anyone care to give me help with that?
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Curiosity rover made near-perfect landing
Nasa engineers say they are thrilled at just how well the Curiosity Mars rover landing system worked.
They have now had a few days to examine data transmitted from the vehicle as it made its historic touchdown on Monday (GMT).
The analysis indicates that all events in the entry, descent and landing (EDL) sequence occurred at, or very close to, their predicted times.
Curiosity put down just 2.4km from the targeted point on the planet's surface.
This was on the flat floor of Gale Crater, a deep depression on Mars' equator.
Most of the data recorded by Curiosity's onboard inertial sensors has yet to be downlinked to Earth, but even the small fraction of information that is in the possession of engineers has allowed them to reconstruct the key moments of the landing sequence.
"Right now we've only got about 1MB of data - that's less than a camera phone picture," explained Allen Chen, the EDL operations lead at Nasa's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL).
"That's the data that was sent back via [the satellites] Mars Odyssey and Mars Reconnaissance Oribter (MRO) on the landing night.
"That 1MB of data was intended to help us figure out what happened in case we failed. All the events that we saw during EDL happened within five to 10 seconds of the expectations. This was a very nominal EDL - very few surprises, everything went well," he told BBC News.
The time from touching the top of the atmosphere to touching the surface was seven minutes and 12 seconds - very close to a round "seven minutes of terror", which was the phrase used to describe the difficulties of EDL.
Curiosity's protective capsule entered the top of the atmosphere moving at Mach 24 (24 times the speed of sound), and took 3.5 minutes to slow to Mach 2 and get ready to deploy its parachute.
Most of the energy of entry was dissipated in the form of heat as the front shield pushed up against the Martian air.
"We pulled a little over 11 Earth gs (gravitational force). So if you were a human riding onboard, it would have been a bit of a rough ride. But, fortunately, Curiosity is made of some pretty sturdy stuff and she handled that just fine," said EDL team member Gavin Mendock from Nasa's Johnson Space Center.
Step by step: How the Curiosity rover landed on MarsContinue reading the main story
The best data on just how well the parachute performed is probably the picture of the canopy acquired by the overflying MRO satellite.
EDL time event occurrence
- Atmospheric entry - 05:24:33.8
- Parachute deploy - 05:28:53.0
- Heatshield separation - 05:29:12.7
- Skycrane separation: 05:31:26.7
- Touchdown: 05:31:45.4
Times for signal reception at Earth on Monday 6 August (GMT)
This extraordinary image shows the chute gently lowering the rover, which by that stage was still tucked away inside the backshell of its capsule.
"It's got its inflated shape perfectly," said Devin Kipp, another EDL team member from JPL.
"You can see the dark area at the top which is the vent that allows some air to escape. The shape is exactly what we expected to see. And you don't see any apparent damage. There are no holes visible; there's no tearing visible."
The final phase of EDL saw the rover drop out of the backshell and ride its rocket-powered crane to the ground.
After spooling Curiosity to the surface on nylon cables, this crane then retreated to the rear of the vehicle and crashed at the safe distance of 600m.
Remarkably, the engineers think they can see the dust plume from this impact in low-resolution pictures taken by Curiosity just 40 seconds after touchdown.
The plume appears as a smudge in the thumbnail images, explained Steve Sell, the JPL team member responsible for the powered flight phase of the rover's descent.
"The evidence we have that this is something that we've caused is the fact that the same camera took another image 45 minutes later - that artefact is not there. And we do know the artefact is real because it appears in multiple hazcam images from the rear of the rover," he said.
Curiosity - Mars Science Laboratory
- Mission goal is to determine whether Mars has ever had the conditions to support life
- Project costed at $2.5bn; will see initial surface operations lasting two Earth years
- Onboard plutonium generators will deliver heat and electricity for at least 14 years
- 75kg science payload more than 10 times as massive as those of earlier US Mars rovers
- Equipped with tools to brush and drill into rocks, to scoop up, sort and sieve samples
- Variety of analytical techniques to discern chemistry in rocks, soil and atmosphere
- Will try to make first definitive identification of organic (carbon-rich) compounds
- Even carries a laser to zap rocks; beam will identify atomic elements in rocks
Curiosity had a slight error (250m) in its understanding of where it was as it entered the atmosphere, but two main reasons are being given for why it overshot the bulls-eye by 2.4km.
One is errors that arose as a result of a late steering manoeuvre by the capsule intended to correct the course of the descent. This banking manoeuvre lifted the vehicle slightly and sent it long. The second is suspected to be tail winds which pushed Curiosity further down range than expected.
Nonetheless, there is huge satisfaction that the landing system performed as well as it did, and there is high confidence that given the opportunity again, the accuracy of landing could be improved still further.
"We flew this right down the middle. It's absolutely incredible to have worked on a plan for so many years and then just see everything happen exactly as it should," said Steve Sell.
- Engineers define an ellipse in which they can confidently land
- Successive landings have become ever more accurate
- Viking's ellipse was 300km across - wider than Gale Crater itself
- Phoenix (100km by 20km) could not confidently fit in Gale
- Curiosity's landing system allowed it to target the crater floor
- The rover's projected landing ellipse was just 7km by 20km
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Home > The maritime sectors > French shipping companies
French shipping companies
A relatively new fleet and a full and diversified range of services
In 2012, there were around a hundred French shipping companies operating 900 vessels, 581 of which under the French flag.
10 million passengers are carried every year.
A significant asset of the French shipping industry with an average age of 8 years, the fleet is one of the newest and most diversified in the world. French shipping companies operate in all sectors: goods transport, passenger transport, vehicle transport, oceanographic research, offshore activities and services, assistance and salvage.
Modern and reactive, the French fleet is the one best able to adapt to market conditions. French shipping companies give high priority to safety and the environment, and work continuously to improve the operating conditions of their ships.
By specialising in diverse areas, French shipping companies cover the whole range of sea transport. They also have a well-trained officer core who also take part in initiatives aimed at improving their working conditions.
From coasting to ocean-going voyages throughout the world, French shipping companies can transport all types of cargo.
The officer core who also take part in initiatives aimed at improving their working conditions, in par ticular through associations such as ACOMM (Merchant Navy Captain and Officer’s Association.
Armateurs de France is a professional organisation that represents 47 French maritime transport and service companies.
• Protect and further the interests of French shipping companies,
The main areas of activity of shipowners :
In container ships, apart from the giant CMA-CGM (see below), several companies operate, among them: Marfret (see below).
A French group making history, third in the world in container transport.
• Turnover of 14.9 billion US$ in 2011.
A family owned SME, Marfret operates as both a sea carrier and shipowner. The company employs 150 people and has a turnover of 170 million euros. With its 5 regular lines, Marfret has a strong territorial presence in three main geographical areas:
Europe and the Mediterranean, America and the Caribbean, South East Asia and the South Pacific .
A leader in offshore oil and gas marine services:
Bourbon meets the requirements of the most demanding clients in the oil and gas industry. Its commitment to build a modern fleet, to man vessels with qualified crews and to offer the most cost-effective solutions on the market are compensated by the trust and loyalty of its clients.
Bourbon works hard every day to provide the safest and most reliable range of offshore marine services with integrated support for offshore exploration, development and production. Through its Activities Marine Services and Subsea Services, both in deepwater and shallow water offshore, the group provides its clients with highly experimented, trained and qualified personnel who are committed to the success of the most sophisticated projects
Marine Services owns a fleet of 418 vessels (*), among which 70 deepwater offshore support vessels, 91 shallow water offshore support vessels and 257 personnel transport vessels.
Bourbon Subsea Services owns a fleet (*) of 18 IMR vessels and 12 ROVs (remotely operated vehicles).
Key figures & 2011 income:
• 1.008 billion euros, including 792.9 million euros for Marine Services and 172.8 million euros for Bourbon Subsea Services,
• 8,600 employees worldwide,
• 436 operating vessels,
• present in 27 countries
Jifmar Offshore Services
JIFMAR Offshore Services is the leading French company offering turn-key maritime solutions.
Operating a modern fleet of vessels with highly qualified personnel, JIFMAR provides assistance to:
• offshore wind farm operators,
• marine construction & engineering firms,
• offshore oil & gas community,
• the defense community
JIFMAR provides offshore terminal management integrated Inspection-Maintenance-Repair (IMR) services combining project management, project engineering, workboats, multipurpose vessels, personnel transfer vessels, state-of-the-art ROV’s, and specialized tools and protocols to increase productivity and safety when working at sea above and below water.
VDC Offshore specializes in workboat and crewboats chartering and the achievement of any types of mission at sea. VDC Offshore provides watch dog services on behalf of the French Navy, but also survey campaigns for offshore industries and differents other missions like personnel transfer, goods transfer or support in maritime works. VDC Offshore is located at Cherbourg and Lorient and can operate on all the French coast and in the both sides of the Channel.
Thomas Services Maritimes
Shipowner TSM operates service vessels in marine renewable energy, offshore and deep-sea towage and harbour towage.
TSM’s current fleet consists of 15 tugs stationed at different points on the Channel and Atlantic coasts.
TSM is an experienced operator and works closely with its customers during their projects using its specialised vessels especially in the following fields:
• transport and personnel transfer to offshore wind farms,
• barge and platform towage,
• vessel assistance
V.Navy a ship-owner, born from V.Ships group (the world leading provider of maritime services), has two main business units :
Solid bulk transport is especially well represented by Louis Dreyfus Armateurs
ABCRM was created in 2009 in order to offer sea and river transport services. It is the exclusive representative of the shipowning company SMO – a company based in Nantes which has been providing services to industry for over 24 years and which became a shipowner in 2004. SMO has invested in premium quality vessels and this investment is ongoing in order to comply with its clients’ needs. The fleet operated by ABCRM is comprised at the moment of 4 vessels: André Michel 1, Laguêpe, Frelon and AM Larafale.
3 vessels are operated on the Rhone-Mediterranean trade. AM Larafale is operated in the Bay of Biscay and around the Iberian peninsula. They transport all types of products: bulk, general cargo, project cargos.
Its office at Port-Saint-Louis du Rhone is in charge of the operation of the above vessels and ship agency for their calls on the Rhone river.
ABCRM also acts as shipbrokers in order to enable its clients use of their knowledge and their extensive network.
The company also organizes river transports on all inland waterways
Agence Maritime de l’Ouest
Founded in 1912 in Paimpol in Brittany, the company was specialized in short sea transport. Gradually, it has expanded its activities and is now acting as ship owner, ship manager, operator, ship broker, stevedore and freight forwarder. Conventional and dry bulk transport, project cargo, towing and marine projects is the core business of the company, which has subsidiaries in Hamburg and Rotterdam. Moreover, it has three joint ventures in conventional chartering, heavy lifting and towing sectors.
Compagnie Armoricaine de Navigation
Compagnie Armoricaine de Navigation (CAN) is a sand-dredging operation, a subsidiary of the Roullier group. CAN operates two sand dredgers, "Côtes de Bretagne" and "Côtes d’Armor", registered in Paimpol.
They extract marine calcium amendments and siliceous materials from proprietary and third-party deposits along the coasts of northern Brittany and the Atlantic Ocean. These two ships also operate on maritime projects such as re-sanding beaches and hydraulic embanking.
Dragages - Transports et Travaux Maritimes
DTM, together with its subsidiaries SDO and Sablimaris, is a sand dredging ship owner that specializes in extraction, transportation, treatment and sale of marine aggregates. DTM operates along the French West Atlantic coast between La Rochelle and Brest.
DTM operates two trailing suction hopper vessels that supply the four sand terminals of Sablimaris and his clients GSM and LAFARGE. Gaining sand at sea requires accurate and extensive preliminary studies undertaken by specialist consultants. This activity is part of the sustainable management of the sand resources and is organized within the frame of tough regulations and formal administrative authorization procedures.
Louis Dreyfus Armateurs
Louis Dreyfus Armateurs group (LDA) is a worldwide praised specialist of dry bulk transportation and logistics. With a 30 units fleet and modern logistics assets (floating cranes, barges and tugs), LDA offers a wide range of services, including port management, to all customers in the bulk logistics supply chain. Renowned offshore port operator, LDA group is the best partner for logistic innovation worldwide.
Louis Dreyfus Armateurs group also focuses in various technological partnerships with important industry specialists: submarine cable-laying with ALCATEL-LUCENT, offshore seismic research with CGGVERITAS, aircraft components sea transportation with AIRBUS…
Also, through its subsidiaries FAIRMOUNT MARINE, specializing in deep sea towing, semi-submersible barges operations, salvage, ... and LD TravOcean, an expert of underwater and landfall operations, LDA group offers significant offshore services, especially in the field of renewable marine energies.
Finally, through its subsidiary LD Lines, Louis Dreyfus Armateurs group is actively pioneering the "Motorway of the Sea" concept, becoming a major player for Ro-Ro freight and regular passenger services in Europe.
French shipping companies are present in liquid bulk transport with more than 60 tankers carrying raw and refined bulk cargoes. Among shipping companies specialising in petroleum products, chemicals or liquefied gas are :
The group also operates two ro-ro barges designed to carry oversized components for the Airbus A380 on the Garonne River.
In addition, with five depots situated on the Atlantic coast, the group has a significant presence in the oil storage market.
Socatra group is also prominent player in the river leisure cruise business in Paris (Vedettes de Paris).
Maersk Tankers France SAS (Ex Broström Tankers SAS)
The fleet is mainly composed of high quality tankers Handy et Medium range and one VLCC.
The mission of Maersk Tankers is to offer to the oil and chemical industry competitive and safe transports.
industry. Its expertise has been built up over more than fifty years of activity in this sector.
Pioneer in the use of innovative technology in the highly specialized field of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) shipping, Gazocean is in charge of the crew and technical management of a fleet of last generation of LNG Carriers.
Based on its operational experience, Gazocean can offer consultancy, expertise and training services for shipping businesses.
These shipping companies compete actively in a rapidly expanding global shipping market carrying goods for the most demanding international companies including Total.
French shipping companies include large ferry operators. Brittany Ferries (see below), Corsica Ferries and SNCM are the largest.
On 3 August 2012, the French ferry fleet of around one million gross tonnes was comprised of:
Specialized in passenger and freight transportation, Brittany Ferries operates from France, Great Britain, Ireland and Spain.
• 2,550,000 passengers, 800,000 cars and 191,000 freight vehicles have been carried in 2011,
• € 369.9 million total turnover,
• 9 vessels,
• 2,500 employees – full-time equivalents, 70% sea-goers, all French Nationals.
The addition to the fleet of the vessels, Mont St- Michel (2002), Pont-Aven (2004), Normandie Express (2005), Cotentin (freight only) (2007), Armorique (2009) and Cap Finistère (2010), increased the Company’s capacity significantly
Compagnie du Ponant
For over 20 years now, Compagnie du Ponant has embodied the art of Yacht Cruises, combining a sophisticated à la française lifestyle on board with exploration and discovery.
Four small capacity ships with fully bilingual crew are composing the fleet of the Company.
• le Ponant, majestic three-mast with 32 staterooms,
• le Boréal, l’Austral, and le Soléal, yachts with 132 staterooms and suites.
Dreams locations off the beaten track, new cultures and close encounters with the wonders of Nature – these are the privileges on offer thanks to the small size and technical capabilities of the vessels belonging to Compagnie du Ponant.
Oceanographic Research vessels
GENAVIR is a Group of Economic Interest (GEI), and a company ISO9001 and ISM certified. Research vessels managed by GENAVIR are ISPS certified. GENAVIR missions are :
• To collect, certify and deliver scientific datas by operating research vessels, oceanographic equipments and underwater vehicles.
• To achieve maintenance of research vessels, oceanographic equipments and underwater vehicles (including Nautile submarine) according to rules and regulations.
• To act as shipowner of managed research vessels.
Members of the GEI are french scientific institutes (IFREMER, IRD, CNRS, IRSTEA) and a shipowner (BOURBON Offshore Surf).
GENAVIR is currently operating ten research vessels
(Pourquoi Pas?, Atalante, Thalassa, Alis, etc.), scientific equipments (as Heavy Seismic System, Autonomous corer PENFELD), submarine vehicles and equipments (Nautile, AUV, ROV, etc.) which belong to IFREMER and IRD. Fleet can be operated on all oceans except Artic and Antartic areas. GENAVIR employs 210 permanent french seamens, 85 engineers and technicians, 30 support employees.
GENAVIR is located at:
• Brest (29) where is the head office. The departments in charge of research vessels and scientific equipments are located on the same site.
• La Seyne sur Mer (83) where is the department in charge of submarine equipements (including Nautile).haut de page
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"Anyone who has proclaimed violence his method inexorably must choose lying
as his principle."
- Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
When Bush decided, prior to Sept. 11, to attack
Iraq, he committed himself to lies and deceit. As his British co-conspirators
realized, only victory could save them from the consequences.
On June 27, General George Casey, U.S. commander of the "multinational
coalition" in Iraq, told morning TV audiences that the conflict in Iraq
"will not be settled on the battlefield." On June 26, Defense Secretary
Donald Rumsfeld told TV audiences that "coalition forces, foreign forces
are not going to repress that insurgency." The insurgency, Rumsfeld said,
might "go on five, six, eight, 10, 12 years."
These admissions give the lie to Vice President Cheney's claim that the
insurgency is in "its last throes."
Would Congress have let Bush invade Iraq if Congress had known that it would
not be a three-week war but a 12-year war?
What kind of fantastic lie or gross incompetence caused a 12-year war to be
marketed as a three-week war?
How can any people, no matter how deceived and deluded, support a government
capable of such miscalculation or deceit?
Would the Washington Post and the New York Times have been such
willing conduits of neoconservative propaganda against Iraq if anyone on either
paper had enough education to realize the catastrophe that hubris was creating?
What if either paper had possessed enough of a reporter's skepticism to ask
General Casey's and Secretary Rumsfeld's remarks make it clear that the Defense
Department has given up the prospect of military victory: The situation in Iraq,
Gen. Casey said, "will ultimately be settled by negotiation and inclusion
in the political process." Rumsfeld says the U.S. troops are being killed
and maimed in order to "create an environment that the Iraqi people and
the Iraqi security forces can win against that insurgency."
After three years of fighting, Rumsfeld still doesn't understand that
the Iraqi people are the insurgency. Is Rumsfeld still clinging to the myth
that the insurgency is an outside element injected into Iraq?
When will the moronic Bush administration realize that it is creating the environment
in which the insurgency is prevailing?
Many readers write to me that Bush and his neocon crazies are Israel's
patsies. An equally good case can be made that Bush and his crazy neocons are
Osama bin Laden's agents. In a recent speech at the American University
in Cairo, Egypt, Secretary of State Condi Rice repudiated America's 60-year-old
policy of Middle East stability and declared: "Now, we are taking a different
Rice, being completely ignorant of the Middle East, believes that the path
to democracy is through instability. But, of course, instability is exactly
what bin Laden wants. The instability that the Bush administration is creating
will unseat our puppets in Egypt, Pakistan, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia. Bin Laden
intends to pick up the pieces.
The Bush administration has squandered America's diplomatic, economic,
and military power and is heading for defeat in Iraq, Afghanistan, and throughout
the Middle East. Bush's invasion of Iraq is fast becoming one of the greatest
strategic blunders in history.
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Customer relationship management: A content analysis of issues and best practices
This dissertation is a study of customer relationship management theory and practice. Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is a business strategy whereby companies build strong relationships with existing and prospective customers with the goal of increasing organizational profitability. It is also a learning process involving managing change in processes, people, and technology. CRM implementation and its ramifications are also not completely understood as evidenced by the high number of failures in CRM implementation in organizations and the resulting disappointments. ^ The goal of this dissertation is to study emerging issues and trends in CRM, including the effect of computer software and the accompanying new management processes on organizations, and the dynamics of the alignment of marketing, sales and services, and all other functions responsible for delivering customers a satisfying experience. ^ In order to understand CRM better a content analysis of more than a hundred articles and documents from academic and industry sources was undertaken using a new methodological twist to the traditional method. An Internet domain name (http://crm.fiu.edu) was created for the purpose of this research by uploading an initial one hundred plus abstracts of articles and documents onto it to form a knowledge database. Once the database was formed a search engine was developed to enable the search of abstracts using relevant CRM keywords to reveal emergent dominant CRM topics. The ultimate aim of this website is to serve as an information hub for CRM research, as well as a search engine where interested parties can enter CRM-relevant keywords or phrases to access abstracts, as well as submit abstracts to enrich the knowledge hub. ^ Research questions were investigated and answered by content analyzing the interpretation and discussion of dominant CRM topics and then amalgamating the findings. This was supported by comparisons within and across individual, paired, and sets-of-three occurrences of CRM keywords in the article abstracts. ^ Results show that there is a lack of holistic thinking and discussion of CRM in both academics and industry which is required to understand how the people, process, and technology in CRM impact each other to affect successful implementation. Industry has to get their heads around CRM and holistically understand how these important dimensions affect each other. Only then will organizational learning occur, and overtime result in superior processes leading to strong profitable customer relationships and a hard to imitate competitive advantage. ^
Business Administration, General|Business Administration, Marketing|Business Administration, Management
"Customer relationship management: A content analysis of issues and best practices"
(January 1, 2006).
ProQuest ETD Collection for FIU.
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Helping others while experiencing the adventure of travel?
Crossing cultural boundaries to see the world from another perspective?
Then Tri-S may be just the thing you're looking for!
What is Tri-S?
Study... Become a world citizen and help bridge cultural divides by learning about other peoples and their customs.
Serve... Help build schools and church buildings. Conduct seminars, teach vacation bible school, or nurse the sick. Minister through song, athletics and more!
Share... Make a difference in someone's life by giving of yourself, your time and your resources.
What programs does Tri-S offer?
Work camps and service projects
Group members provide the manual labor necessary to complete projects such as building or painting. Housing and meals are simple, and some facilities may be primitive. You and your group work alongside members of the the host culture and are expected to, among other things, help prepare food and clean up. Group members often have the opportunity to sing or share during worship services.
The primary objective is to increase your cultural knowledge and understanding. You and your group may, among other things, study a society's customs, language, history, geography or fine arts.
What's included in the price?
What's not included in the price?
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Object Model help files for CorelDRAW 9 suite
As you might know, CorelDRAW 9 contains Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) included in the package. Visual Basic is standard automation tool widely used worldwide. There are a lot of advantages of VBA. First of all, it supports hierarchical object model structure, i.e. there are a lot of different objects, each of them controlling certain part of application. For example, Application object is responsible for general application-related actions (for instance, the number of open documents, making the application window visible, shutting down the application and so on). Document object controls each document open in the application. Accessing different properties and methods of the document object, you can save, export or print the document, get its name, set different ruler units, etc). There are a lot of other objects like Page, Layer, Shape, etc... You don't need to preselect an object before changing its properties. You can access them randomly now. This feature only speeds up the script execution greatly...
Everything is great except ... there's no documentation supplied so far. I don't think we should blame Corel for that, though. The decision to include VBA with CorelDRAW 9 was made only about 3 months prior to releasing the product. Therefore, engineers even didn't have a chance to finish object model for the application (the work on it continues and later builds/revisions will have more objects and methods), not saying about documenting what is done. I believe that when the object model will be finalized, the documentation will be released too. Till then, we should rely on Object Browser in VBA that lists all objects and properties with short (one line) descriptions of them. Unfortunately it is not too comfortable to look for help in VBA's Object Browser. That's why I created a small utility that generates a Help file from a Type Library. (Type Library is a file which contains a description of all objects, their properties and methods. In fact, it is the Type Library file which is browsed by VBA's Object Browser). I think reading help file is much easier. But don't expect it to contain more information than included in the type library itself. The utility also puts some "template" data like a placeholder text for adding examples of usage, description of return values of functions and so on...
So, if you need the help reference for object models of CorelDRAW 9 and Corel PHOTO-PAINT 9, just download the files below and enjoy! Any feedback is welcome!
Copyright © 2000 by Alex Vakulenko. All rights reserved.
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Use uncertainty as a driver
Confronted with two options, most people think that the most important thing to do is to make a choice between them. In design (software or otherwise), it is not. The presence of two options is an indicator that you need to consider uncertainty in the design. Use the uncertainty as a driver to determine where you can defer commitment to details and where you can partition and abstract to reduce the significance of design decisions. If you hardwire the first thing that comes to mind you're more likely to be stuck with it, so that incidental decisions become significant and the softness of the software is reduced.
One of the simplest and most constructive definitions of architecture comes from Grady Booch: "All architecture is design but not all design is architecture. Architecture represents the significant design decisions that shape a system, where significant is measured by cost of change." What follows from this is that an effective architecture is one that generally reduces the significance of design decisions. An ineffective architecture will amplify significance.
When a design decision can reasonably go one of two ways, an architect needs to take a step back. Instead of trying to decide between options A and B, the question becomes "How do I design so that the choice between A and B is less significant?" The most interesting thing is not actually the choice between A and B, but the fact that there is a choice between A and B (and that the appropriate choice is not necessarily obvious or stable).
An architect may need to go in circles before becoming dizzy and recognizing the dichotomy. Standing at whiteboard (energetically) debating options with a colleague? Umming and ahhing in front of some code, deadlocked over whether to try one implementation or another? When a new requirement or a clarification of a requirement has cast doubt on the wisdom of a current implementation, that's uncertainty. Respond by figuring out what separation or encapsulation would isolate that decision from the code that ultimately depends on it. Without this sensibility the alternative response is often rambling code that, like a nervous interviewee, babbles away trying to compensate for uncertainty with a multitude of speculative and general options. Or, where a response is made with arbitrary but unjustified confidence, a wrong turn is taken at speed and without looking back.
There is often pressure to make a decision for decision's sake. This is where options thinking can help. Where there is uncertainty over different paths a system's development might take, make the decision not to make a decision. Defer the actual decision until a decision can be made more responsibly, based on actual knowledge, but not so late that it is not possible to take advantage of the knowledge.
Architecture and process are interwoven, which is a key reason that architects should favor development lifecycles and architectural approaches that are empirical and elicit feedback, using uncertainty constructively to divide up both the system and the schedule.
(Edited RMH 2008-05-28, re-edited KH 2008-07-02, edited-again 2008-07-12)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3
Back to 97 Things Every Software Architect Should Know home page
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Drug seminar reveals surprising statsPublished 4:25pm Wednesday, November 21, 2012
It is called crocodile. It is a drug born in Russia that literally causes the user’s skin to rot, sometimes to the bone, and it has made its way to Escambia County Alabama.
Crocodile, and many other illegal narcotics being used in the county were the reason for a drug education seminar held Thursday, Nov. 15 at First Presbyterian Church.
Illegal narcotics have become a major issue all over the United States, but in Escambia County officials are banding together in an effort to halt drug use and drug related crimes through community education.
Officials including Circuit Judge Burt Rice, District, Juvenile and Family Court Judge David Jordan, County Drug Court Director Denise Carlee, Atmore Public Safety Director Glenn Carlee and 21st Judicial Task Force Agent Scott Walden gathered the Church for the first of what the group is hoping will be many drug education seminars to come.
Rice told the crowd the seminar was the result of an increase in drug-related charges coming through the county court system – something he said he feels can be slowed by educating the community on what to look for in people who may be participating in the drug culture.
“We see it everyday through the court system and law enforcement,” Rice said. “There are certain things that we see that we wanted to share.”
Rice said dealing with the drug problems through the court system is a reactive measure, adding it will take a proactive effort to curb the issue.
“Most of what we are doing is reacting to people who have problems,” Rice said. “This awareness get together is to try and be able to maybe be a little proactive and to be able to speak to some of the issues that are out there.”
Rice said people need to realize that addiction touches everyone in some way or another.
“There is nobody in this room right now that doesn’t know somebody who is addicted or involved in some respect with drugs and needs some help,” he said. “We all are interacting with that.”
Rice, who is a member of First Presbyterian, said the church was chosen as the venue for the seminar because the group feels churches are the backbone of local communities.
“We appreciate the church,” Rice said. “There is a program called First Presbyterian Cares, but we’ve got churches just around the corner and all over the town that care.”
Rice said Jordan each spoke briefly about the state of drug activity in Escambia County. Each man focused on a major point of concern – the activity is dramatically increasing.
“Today, I sat on the bench and I had what’s called arraignment,” Rice said. “My docket today had 223 cases. Out of those 223 cases, 146 were drug charges. An additional 35 was theft charges probably to support the drug habit. That’s 181 cases out of 223 that appeared in front of me today. That’s 81.1 percent. And that’s just from the last three months.”
Jordan said, while the problem is rampant among all age groups, a heavy portion of offenders are juveniles.
“We don’t have any good news,” Jordan said. “We have information. If I can say something that you can take and pass on to a relative or a neighbor its worth it. We can’t save them all, but we’re going to save anybody we can.”
Jordan said some of the juveniles who pass through his court have stories that can only be described as scary.
“The numbers are staggering,” Jordan said. “There’s so much usage and there’s so much destruction.”
Following a presentation from Carlee and Walden outlining the different problem narcotics and how to identify the warning signs of usage, Rice said there is still hope to stop the growing epidemic.
“With God’s grace we can stop this,” he said.
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Kings Park high school junior, Marisa Catapano is the recipient of the 2012 Dartmouth College Book Award.
The book presented to Marisa is Theodor SUESS Geisel, a biography of Theodor Geisel, Dartmouth class of 1925, written by Dartmouth professor Donald E. Pease.
The award is presented to juniors who are in the top five percent of the class and who have demonstrated intellectual leadership and have made a positive contribution to the extracurricular life of their school.
Catapano is a member of the Peer Support and Students Against Destructive Decisions organizations and a member of the National Honor Society. Catapano is also a member of the French National Honor Society where she tutors and is a singer in the A cappella group, Park Swing.
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JON MITCHELL: New Bedford: A fishing port like no other
September 30, 2012 -- New Bedford is a fishing port like no other.
Earlier this month, we were named the nation's highest grossing fishing port for the 12th year in a row, and no other port in the country can match our authenticity and history. New Bedford is the real deal.
But at few times in our history has our fishing industry been more threatened. Just a few weeks ago the federal government proposed fishing quotas for next season that would reduce the groundfish catch by 45 to 73 percent.
If implemented, these cuts would be ruinous for New Bedford. Annual groundfish landings in New Bedford are worth $20 million. The scallop industry, which could be severely undermined by groundfish reductions, is worth $400 million. Together the two fisheries account for nearly $1.3 billion in annual economic activity in Greater New Bedford.
Given these numbers, the forecasted cuts would deal a devastating economic blow to New Bedford, permanently eliminating hundreds, if not thousands of jobs on shore and at sea. The cuts would trigger severe social dislocation, with fishing families losing their income streams, homes and identities.
The forecasted cuts and their consequences would be painful enough for New Bedford if the underlying science was beyond debate, but they are unacceptable in light of the growing lack of confidence in the stock assessments, both among fishermen and scientists.
Fishermen have repeatedly told the federal government, thus far to little avail, that the underlying surveys are conducted with the wrong types of vessels and gear and are therefore inaccurate. In addition, over the summer scientists raised serious questions about the model used for the Georges Bank yellowtail flounder stock assessment. Months earlier, the 2011 Gulf of Maine cod assessment, which showed a dramatic negative change from the 2008 assessment, was called into question.
And when the 2011 Groundfish Stock Assessment Updates were conducted, significant unexplained discrepancies (19 to 67 percent deviations) in the estimate of stock biomass were noted for seven stocks. The economic and social stakes for New Bedford are too high to permit severe cuts based on uncertain science.
We must work hard on two other fronts to ensure that fishermen can keep fishing.
Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard Times
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Many Americans associate the celebration of American independence with July 4th, but in Brooklyn, some festivities are reserved for August. That's the anniverssary of the decisive Battle of Brooklyn, in which troops led by General Washington fought the British. Ironically, the patriots lost this battle, but in so doing, helped win the war, thanks to the ferocity of their resistance, which enabled Washington to escape.
August in Brooklyn: Commemoration of a Key Revolutionary War Battle
The following are events of interest to Revolutionary War buffs. Some are open year-round, others commemorate the Battle of Brooklyn.
The exhibit area of the historic Old Stone House is open on weekends only, but don't miss it. There's a small, focused display that shows precisely where and how the Battle of Brooklyn occurred. During the August commemoration of the Battle of Brooklyn, the Old Stone House plays an important role in organizing special events.
Where: Washington Park, on 3rd St at 5th Ave, Park Slope Brooklyn (718) 768.3195
Visit any time. There's a Battle of Brooklyn Exhibit at Harbor Defense Museum showing arms and uniforms similar to those of soldiers who fought in the Battle of Brooklyn. Outside tours overlooking the Narrows where a contingent of British forces landed are available daily. Valid Photo ID is required. Museum Hours: Sat. 10 a.m. – 2 p.m., Mon.-Fri. 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Where: Fort Hamilton Army Base, Fort Hamilton Parkway and 101st Street, Bay Ridge. (718) 630-4349. http:/www.harbordefensemuseum.com.
The Brooklyn Historical Society runs a robust program of exhibits and also has a full fledged research facility, with a wealth of information about the Revolutionary War in Brooklyn, NY.
Who fought the Battle of Brooklyn, anyway? Interestingly, the Maryland 400 play an important role in the story of this Revolutionary War saga. Join in the Revolutionary War's Battle of Brooklyn special events in late August, including a walk from an American Legion post in Park Slope to the historic Old Stone House.
Lovely Prospect Park, a second home to cyclists, runners, soccer players, thousands of children, concert-goers and many others, is also an important historic site dating back to the Battle of Brooklyn. Take a tour with the NY Urban Park Rangers to discover where battles were fought, and to locate historical markers in the park (they're easy to miss). This tour is held in late August as part of the Battle of Brooklyn educational events.
Brooklyn, today home to about 2.5 million people, consisted of mostly wooded areas and a few farms back in 1776. You can tour Evergreen Cemetery to learn about Battle of Brooklyn events that occurred here. Held during the Battle of Brooklyn anniversary week events in late August.
Today a Superfund site, and the butt of many a joke about dead bodies a'floatin', the Gowanus Canal played some role in the fateful and bloody Battle of Brooklyn. Today, if you arrive early, you can get a seat in a canoe for a guided tour of the Revolutionary War history of the always-colorful Gowanus canal. This history-oriented tour, organized by a local group named the Gowanus Dredgers, is held in conjunction with the week-long educational events commemorating the Battle of Brooklyn in August.
Located in the neighborhood of Fort Greene, Fort Greene Park's singular monument bears the grim-sounding name of Prison Ships Martyrs Memorial. And, indeed, the imposing Stanford White-designed memorial commemorates the terrible fate of those who had the ill fate to be imprisoned, in desperate conditions, on ships anchored off of the coast of Brooklyn. According to the NYC Parks Department historical signs, "over 11,500 men and women died of overcrowding, contaminated water, starvation, and disease aboard the ships, and their bodies were hastily buried along the shore."
Learn about the story behind this monument, historic Fort Putnam that once occupied some of this park land, and the role of the prisoners in the Revolutionary War during the week-long educational events marking the anniversary of the Battle of Brooklyn.
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Introducing the Report by the Secretary-General on International Trade and Development (A/63/324) of 25 August 2008
Ladies and Gentlemen:
It is an honor for me to introduce the Secretary-General´s Report on "International Trade and Development": in document A/63/324.
Since this report was prepared in August the world economy and the developing countries have had to weather a number of crises and we are now on the threshold of what may be a relatively prolonged slowdown, if not a recession. This has major implications for international trade and development, for the development prospects of developing countries, particularly LDCs, and for the timely attainment of internationally-agreed upon development goals including MDGs.
Aspiration Year of Development - 2008
In terms of the international communities´ focus, this year has been termed in the UN as a year dedicated to development. This is manifested in the successful conclusion of the UNCTAD XII Conference in Accra last April, the High-Level Event on the MDGs last September, and the FFD Review Conference scheduled for the end of this month. However, these events have and will have to not only take stock of, but also address the multiple challenges that have made more daunting the task of using trade as an engine for development and poverty reduction, as well as fashioning enabling international cooperation and policies.
Prelude of Buoyant Growth
As the Secretary-General´s report highlights, the trade and development crisis and reversals encountered in 2008 had come after a sustained period of buoyant growth in world output and trade. Developing countries led the expansion, growing at a robust rate of 7.3 per cent compared to 2.5 per cent for developed countries. World merchandise exports expanded by 14.4 per cent, developing countries merchandise exports grew by 15.2 per cent and their share in world merchandise exports increased to 37.5 per cent. What was noteworthy was that all developing regions, including Africa and the LDCs, shared in this buoyant growth in trade and export earnings. Developing countries, including African countries and the LDCs also received record levels of FDI-some $471 billion in 2007-in the extractive, manufacturing and services sectors.
Trade thus became a major source of development finance and, in many developing countries, accounted for more than 50% of GDP. Some developing countries including China and India, as well as energy and other commodity-exporters, have been able to accumulate substantial reserves. More and more developing countries have been able to mobilize resources generated by trade to raise incomes, reduce poverty, create full and productive employment and foster gender welfare and equity.
The Accra Accord of UNCTAD XII heralded the emergence of some developing countries as regional and global dynamos of trade and investment. The emergence of an alternative engine powering trade, development and the second wave of globalization is on the horizon. It has provided a new vitality to South-South trade, investment and economic cooperation.
Adverse Impact of the Triple Crisis
Against this positive background, the food, fuel and financial crises have posed a threat of reversing hard-won development gains from trade and negatively impacting productive and infrastructure capacities and the attainment of the MDGs. What has been a matter of particular concern is the perverse interaction among the food, fuel and financial crises and the resulting adverse impact on trade and development of developing countries. The global food crisis, caused by price hikes and shortages in some key commodities such as wheat, maize, rice, soy beans, has already worsened poverty, hunger and health conditions in many developing countries particularly net-food importing ones and the LDCs. High energy and commodity prices while bringing windfall gains to producers, have raised transport and other input costs and contracted the production of goods and services in many parts of the world. This has also contributed to the food crisis by increasing prices of inputs and infrastructure, like fertilizers, irrigation and transportation.
Another contributory factor to high food and energy prices was speculation. It amplified price variations, as portfolio investments shifted to food and fuel markets in search of higher returns. Now with a full-blown financial meltdown and the exit of those investors from these markets, we see a fall in food and oil prices even though the fundamental imbalance between supply and demand in both food and oil remains as do the challenges to food and energy security (ref: UNCTAD´s reports on the Food Crisis and the report on the Energy Crisis which elaborates on the challenges and opportunities for trade and development).
Implications of the Financial Crisis
As the global financial system is experiencing what UNCTAD has termed "the crisis of a century," finance, which is the lifeblood of economic transactions and of global trade and investment, is being squeezed with negative repercussions for economic growth. The liquidity shortages, credit crunch, loss of investor confidence and exchange rate misalignments have affected real economies in developing countries and countries with economies in transition, raising the specter of a prolonged global economic recession. These conditions have tangibly shaken the economic dynamism of the South and put its trade-related growth at risk exposing it to new vulnerabilities and shocks. Although these are early days, anecdotal evidence and trends that UNCTAD is monitoring indicates the fall of consumption and demand in developed countries as well as in the "regional and global dynamos of the South." This will have an effect on production and exports of commodities, manufactures, and services of most developing countries. FDI to developing countries is also expected to come down. The OECD recently estimated a fall of 40% in 2008, though this figure may be a bit high.
It has also become clear that there can be no real decoupling of developing countries from the crisis in the developed countries´ financial markets. However, it is apparent that developing countries will be affected in different ways depending on the degree of their exposure to financial markets, their international trade and investment linkages, their current account positions, their economic structures and their institutional solidity. Those with large foreign exchange reserves, large and well-regulated domestic markets, diversified economies and budget and current account surpluses will fare the best.
Commodity-Dependent Countries Impacted
Nearly ninety developing countries depend on exports of one or two commodities for their export earnings. The decline and gyrations in prices and in commodity export volumes across all commodity sectors that has been the trend in the last few months will hit these countries on account of the double impact of lower demand and declining prices for raw materials. Areas affected will encompass: agricultural commodities, including food and beverages, forestry and horticultural products, and marine products, many of which are new and dynamically growing sectors of international trade. Minerals and metals have also been similarly affected as well as oil and gas. Much of the lowered demand is also on account of the stalling or contraction of related manufacturing and service sectors for which these are inputs.
Manufacturing Sector Impacted
A number of manufacturing sectors in which developing countries have extant and potential comparative advantage are becoming affected as demand from U.S. and Europe stagnates and other developing countries´ engines are not able to pick up the slack. This will not only affect Asian manufacturing and exporting hubs, but it is also likely to affect developing countries in Africa and Latin America and the Caribbean directly or indirectly in terms of their exports of raw material and their intermediate products.
The fall in demand as well as the credit market squeeze is liable to be transmitted from developed countries to developing countries through TNC-driven global production sharing schemes and networks in key manufacturing sectors. The credit crunch might also affect the dynamic SMEs sector of developing countries which accounts for a significant and growing share in their production and exports. This is particularly true of the textiles and clothing and the automotive sectors which are experiencing a slow down.
For many developing countries, especially for LDCs, SVEs, and small-island developing states, textile and garment production and exports are particularly sensitive. In the case of the auto sector, it has been experiencing difficulties on account of the high energy prices, emission controls, climate change-related considerations, as well as the drying up of auto financing. As auto makers in developed countries cut production, close factories or stop new investments, OEM and other suppliers of auto parts from developing countries and transition economies will increasingly feel the negative impact. Machinery (agricultural, textiles, construction) and machine tools, petrochemicals, electricals and electronic goods, computer and ICT equipment, steel and steel products and toys and leisure equipment are among other industrial exports of developing countries that would be affected.
Services Sector Impacted
Apart from the contagion with regard to financial services, where the impact on developing countries has been proportionate to the degree of exposure to the epicenter, investment, both domestic and foreign, in infrastructure services, including transport, construction, energy and telecommunications is likely to be constrained. Some telling evidence of how the financial crisis is reverberating in the trade and transport sector is the fact that the freight orders and freight costs have dramatically fallen in the last several weeks (ref: Review of Maritime Transport 2008-UNCTAD). Simultaneously shipbuilding orders and investment in ports have fallen. Tourism services on which many developing and least-developed countries are dependent have felt the immediate impact. There are signs that IT-enabled services exports (Mode 1 of GATS) and the temporary movement of workers from developing countries, to deliver a range of services in developed and other developing countries (Mode 4 of GATS), are getting affected. The latter is evidenced by the shrinking of remittances noticed in the last few months from U.S. and Europe to some Latin American countries.
Tension Between Liberalization and Protectionism
Successive waves of autonomous and multilateral trade liberalization under the WTO, as well as RTAs and BTAs, on a North-South and South-South basis have resulted in an unprecedented reduction in tariff barriers. For example, between 2000 and 2005, the percentage of developed countries´ imports from developing countries admitted duty-free increased from 63 to 76 per cent and from 75 to 72 per cent in the case of LDCs. On the other hand, non-tariff measures, particularly government and private standards, have proliferated restricting the market access and entry of developing countries´ exports of goods and services. The food, fuel and financial crisis, economic uncertainties and policy-related insecurities, as well as climate change-related measures are already generating a plethora of import and export restrictions as well as protectionist stances. These need to be monitored, disciplined and countered.
A number of lessons can be distilled from this experience in looking ahead at strategic trade and development policies:
Trade expansion as an engine of growth and development remains valid. It is an enabling tool for employment generation and poverty reduction. Countries should be vigilant against relapsing into unilateralism and protectionism.
- The multilateral trading system must be maintained and strengthened. Despite the WTO Doha round of trade negotiations having suffered an unfortunate setback, every effort should be made to conclude the round and deliver a freer, fairer and more development-oriented trading system. The Doha Round of multilateral trade negotiations has provided unique opportunities to reform and rebalance the existing system of trade by further opening markets for developing countries´ exports in agriculture, manufactures and services; slashing farm subsidies including on cotton, that distort world agricultural trade; modernizing and ensuring fairness and equity in trade rules; and mobilizing support for competitive supply capacity and trade-related infrastructure building through Aid for Trade and other support mechanisms. Although the multilateral trading system alone cannot solve all developmental challenges, it does make an important, necessary contribution in the medium to long-term to addressing such challenges.
- The setback in the WTO Doha round should be seen as temporary and every effort must be deployed by WTO members at an earliest opportunity, to reengage in the negotiations and deliver the development promise of the Round. The multilateral trading system should be upheld as the cornerstone of the global trade governance and as a bulwark against emerging protectionist sentiments and trade disputes. The proliferating RTAs and BTAs should, in turn, complement the multilateral trading system and also uphold development.
- The recent crises have underlined what UNCTAD has been advocating for many years--that there is a need for global governance and rules of the game in financial and monetary systems as well. The governing structures and processes in the financial and monetary areas should be informed by the full participation of developing countries in agenda setting, decision-making and rulemaking, in the true spirit of inclusive multilateralism. The UN has an important role in making this change happen.
- Global economic interdependence which has been an article of faith with UNCTAD since its inception has been, yet again, affirmed. It therefore calls for greater coherence in policy-making as between national, regional, and international levels, between developed and developing countries and among them, as well as among trade, financial, monetary, technological, and development cooperation policies, as affirmed in the Accra Accord.
There is even greater need to work towards a more effective global partnership for development, especially in the context of MDG 8. The food, fuel and financial crises, as well as the climate change response requirements, call for enhanced ODA, debt relief, and transfer of technology to developing countries so that they can build economic resilience and resume their trade and development progress.
- In this regard also, anti-recessionary measures and stimulus packages being developed need not only be directed at stimulating developed-countries´ consumption and production, but also at improving the purchasing power of the poor in developing countries and raising their productive capacity. This will provide an exponential source of demand, production and trade growth, for the benefit of all.
Finally, in this hour of multiple economic crises, let me recall what Mahatma Gandhi had said in 1924, "Indeed one´s faith in one´s plans and one´s methods is truly tested when the horizon before one is the bleakest." On this historic day for the US and the world, it is a good reflection on how this could well be a defining moment or a switching moment for reexamining past methods and evolving new positive sum trade and development paradigms.
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China will cut the maximum retail prices of 95 cancer, immunology and blood-related drugs by about 17 percent to try to reduce the growing number of chronic, ageing-related diseases in the country and make healthcare more affordable.
Healthcare is viewed as a flashpoint of social unrest in China and the central government has been trying for the past decade to revamp the lumbering public healthcare system to make it more accessible.
In the country of over 1.3 billion people, 260 million are diagnosed with some form of chronic, long-term illnesses, which now account for 85 percent of China's death figures.
China's National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) said in a statement posted on its website the reductions would begin on October 8.
The reductions are expected to eat into margins of drug manufacturers and distributors, but companies with diversified drug portfolios will be less affected, said Jason Mann, head Barclay's research unit on China healthcare and pharmaceuticals.
"The NDRC has reduced the maximum retail prices, but in many cases these drugs will sell for less than the maximum price due to market forces, so it sounds a bit more scary for the manufacturer than it really is," Mann said.
However, companies that may be impacted are oncology-focused Jiangsu Hengrui Medicine Co Ltd, and U.S.-listed 3SBio Inc which makes drugs for cancer, inflammation, kidney and infectious diseases, Mann added.
"Because most Chinese drug companies are fairly diversified, they will have some exposure, but it will be limited," he said.
@ 2012 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.
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Thousands of shut-in New Yorkers Thursday received a gift of holiday cheer delivered straight to their doors – compliments of Citymeals-on-Wheels and city firefighters. NY1’s Tara Lynn Wagner filed the following report.
Santa was not the only guy making deliveries on Christmas Eve.
Three New York City firefighters knocked on doors across East Harlem, helping bring holiday meals and human contact to thousands of senior citizens, many of them too frail to venture outside.
Citymeals-on-Wheels Executive Director Marcia Stein says the organization delivers over two-million meals a year, but during the holidays, the visit is especially important.
“Holidays can be an especially lonely time if you are sitting by yourself and remembering all the people that used to be there around the table, around the tree,” she said. “Today's there is going to be a firefighter at the door with a present, with some flowers.”
In addition to a hot helping of lasagna, the seniors were also handed holiday cards, handmade by thousands of city school children.
“They're beautiful,” said food recipient Leola Cooper. “I appreciate it.”
“What a blessing that you take time out to come see us,” said meal recipient Mamie Kibler Williams. “It's really a blessing and I'm grateful. We're grateful to you.”
Stein says the greetings are a special touch that help make to the season bright well into the new year.
“I see these cards, snowmen and Christmas trees and greetings, loving words, up on refrigerators all over town when I go to visit our elderly neighbors,” she said.
While the recipients clearly appreciate the food and friendly faces, the firefighters say they too are grateful to be able to share the holiday with someone who might otherwise have spent it hungry or alone.
“Just seeing the smiles on their faces up there is great and they do greatly appreciate it,” said firefighter John Sullivan of Engine 54, Ladder 43.
“I just get the joy and satisfaction of giving back to the community which I serve,” said firefighter Aswad Hutchins of Engine 53, Ladder 43. “That's what I get, just a humbling experience.”
The cost of providing one meal for a homebound senior is just $6.42. Those who would like to make a donation, 100 percent of which goes directly to the cost of food, should visit the organization’s website at CityMeals.org.
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“Tonight is a particular honor for me because, let’s face it, my presence on this stage is pretty unlikely.” Four years ago, at the Democratic National Convention in Boston, Barack Obama gave a speech in which he laid out his ideas of America, the promises and possibilities that had brought him to his “unlikely” state. As Frontline rehearses in tonight’s Dreams of Obama, these ideas are both familiar and thrilling. Obama’s soaring rhetoric, derided by his opponents during the long presidential campaign, is here again extolled, even as the documentary considers that extolling process.
Another reflection on the phenomenon of Obama, Dreams offers well-known accolades and occasionally bland over-explanation (Obama biographer David Mendell compares Obama to a great athlete, recalls that on that night in Boston, Obama told him, “I’m LeBron, baby,” then notes that LeBron is a star basketball player). As its biographical material on Obama is drawn largely from a previous Frontline (The Choice), remarks by interviewees here are not surprising so much as they are coalesced. Again, the Obama story includes basic points: he was born to a mother from Kansas and a father from Kenya, he learned from an early age to negotiate “dual identities” and work between communities, and he spent childhood years in Hawaii and Indonesia.
At Harvard he was elected the first black president of the Harvard Law Review, an achievement that showcased his emerging political skills (Classmate Christine Spurell remembers that he was “able to communicate so well with [white students], even spend social time with them.” Offering her analysis of his ability and inclinations, she adds, “I don’t think he was agenda-driven. I think he genuinely thought, ‘Some of these guys are nice, all of them are smart, some of them are funny, all of them have something to say.’”)
In Chicago, Obama further honed these skills. As the New Yorker‘s Ryan Lizza puts it, “The sort of icon-like image that Obama has attained in this country sometimes blinds us to the fact that he wasn’t born on stage in 2004, but he had to rise through the ranks of machine politics in Chicago to get where he is. And that’s made him an incredibly effective politician.” According to Dreams, this effectiveness results from multiple forces, from Obama’s self-confidence to sustained mentoring by wise elders like Tom Daschle to smart, thoughtful planning of each campaign. His one loss, to Bubby Rush in 2000, raised what would become a recurring question concerning Obama’s roots and identity, that is, “Was he black enough?” Following this episode, the up-and-comer joined with David Axelrod, who observes, “He had a political story to tell,” one that worked across race lines.
The focus on Obama’s embodiment and representation of such transformational concepts is not news. Dreams spends little time on the recent presidential campaigns, both for the party’s nomination (that is, the battles with Hillary and Bill Clinton) and then for the office itself, running against John McCain. It does mention Jeremiah Wright, both as the pastor at Trinity and the “fiery” figure in those many YouTubed video clips. The New York Times’ Janny Scott notes that Obama’s success is premised on his not appearing as an “angry black man,” which meant he had to distance himself from Wright and other previous-generation black public figures, a feat accomplished in part by the Race Speech he gave at Philadelphia’s Constitution Center. The Washington Post‘s Dan Balz explains (again), “The goal was to elevate out of that moment into something broader.”
The speech also demonstrated Obama’s “groundedness,” Balz continues, his tendency not to panic or act impulsively: “He is not a politician that is given to great highs and great lows.” This temperament served him especially well when the U.S. economic crisis emerged late in the campaign. Dreams shows the usual clips here, McCain suspending his campaign and Obama insisting the first presidential debate go forward. Viewing his behavior during these weeks, the documentary asserts, “Voters had come to believe that Obama was plausibly presidential.” This belief seems supported during Obama’s victory speech in Grant Park on 4 November. As Balz says, “You have to go back in history a long, long time with as much trouble to deal with as Barack Obama,” the president-elect appears composed and somber, waving to his audience and then accepting the responsibility that his popularity imposes and signifies.
The “dreams of Obama” are partly his and partly his admirers’, functions of his much-repeated story, his political ambitions and achievements, as well as the desires of his many and diverse supporters: “This is our moment, this is our time,” he says, reaction shots of the crowd showing them tearful and excited. While it’s not precisely hagiographic, Dreams of Obama is less interested in analyzing this historic campaign than recording its key moments. As future analyses consider how the campaign managed its moments—its expectations, images, and missteps—they might also consider how such moments were deemed key as they occurred.
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Few saw this coming a month ago.
The national average price of gasoline last month fell 15 cents, or 3.9%, to $3.63 a gallon, the first drop in March in 10 years, according to the Automobile Association of America. Prices are 29 cents lower from where they were at this time a year ago.
“It is very unusual for gas prices to decline in early spring like we have seen this year,” AAA spokesman Avery Ash said in a statement. “An increase in refinery production and lower oil prices in early March have combined to provide rare falling prices for motorists in comparison to recent years.”
Evidence is mounting that rising gasoline prices are already crimping the American consumer. Now, they could pose a problem for the stock market, as well.
Gas prices have jumped about 50 cents in the past month alone, pushing the national average to $3.78 a gallon, according to auto club AAA. Some parts of the country are getting hit harder than others; California drivers, for instance, are paying well above $4 a gallon.
In a note to clients, Dan Greenhaus, chief global strategist at New York brokerage firm BTIG, pointed out the $3.75-$4.00 range for gas prices has proven to be problematic for stocks in the past. As the chart shows, the latest increase in gas prices resembles what took place in 2008, the springs of 2011 and 2012 and last fall.
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The national average pump price of regular gasoline fell 9.2 cents a gallon last week to $3.248 a gallon today, the lowest price since December 2011, AAA Daily Fuel Gauge reports.
Prices have fallen each day this month on rising supplies and are down 16% since mid-September.
AAA spokesman Michael Green says Missouri posts the lowest price in the country, at $2.955, while in Hawaii, the nation’s highest price is $3.979. That makes today the first day since Jan. 1 that prices were below $4.00 a gallon in all 50 states.
The price drop comes as AAA forecasts 1.3% rise in number of Americans traveling by car during year-end holidays, to 84.4 million.
For more MarketBeat and other streaming markets coverage from The Wall Street Journal, point your mobile browser to wsj.com/marketspulse.
Hurricane Sandy is providing a fresh lesson in how refinery outages can push up gasoline prices. Not that a fresh lesson is needed after months of such problems.
Phillips 66 said Monday it has temporarily shut down its 238,000 barrels-per-day Bayway Refinery in Linden, N.J., “as a precaution,” with the storm bearing down on the coast. Other refineries in the region are also facing tough decisions about their operations.
Gasoline futures were up 3.5% in recent trading this morning, after rising nearly 4% late last week as Sandy approached.
Fires and explosions from California to Venezuela have already damaged refineries that feed the U.S. market, helping push up prices at the pump despite the end of the summer driving season. In fact, prices had just started to recede. The national average retail price for regular gasoline fell 13.2 cents to $3.687 last Monday compared to the week prior, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
But if the current rise in gasoline futures is any guide — and since futures basically represent the wholesale price that makes sense — the recent decline at the pump may not last.
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Gasoline can be a crude economic indicator, but pump prices are headed down, which could give consumers a boost.
The average gasoline price on Monday — $3.665 per gallon — was 12 cents lower than a week prior, according to the drivers’ organization AAA. The decline is the steepest one-week drop since Dec. 2008, AAA says.
Back then, the national economy was in something like free fall amid the financial crisis. The current decline, by contrast, has more to do with a pullback after refinery problems in various regions left scarcer supplies, which caused prices to rise even after the end of the summer driving season.
U.S. drivers saw prices at the pump rise 5.1% in July, the largest increase for the month in more than a dozen years. On top of oil speculators and geopolitical tensions, ethanol also played a role this time.
According to AAA, national average gasoline prices rose 17 cents a gallon over the course of July, to $3.50. About four to five cents of the increase were due to higher ethanol prices, making it “a serious contributing factor,” says Avery Ash, AAA’s spokesperson.
Almost all the gasoline that’s used in the U.S. has a 10% blend of ethanol in it, and most ethanol is produced from corn. As corn raced to a record high amid hot, dry weather, ethanol prices soared, up 17% in July.
Just like the change in crude oil prices, when the underlying price of ethanol changes, it goes all the way through to the price at the pump. For every 10 cents the price of ethanol changes, the price of gasoline is going to change by one cent.
July’s increase reversed a steady decline at the pump since March, and represented the biggest price increase for July going back to at least 2000, when AAA’s records began. Except for ethanol, higher crude oil price and increased gasoline demand during the summer driving season contributed to the rest of price increase.
Traditionally, ethanol has been a small part of the overall gasoline price, helping keep it down as ethanol is generally cheaper than gasoline blendstock for oxygenate blending, or BOB. Record corn prices this year have upended this small additive. Ethanol prices gained 37.9 cents during last month.
Gas prices fell in the past week for the 13th straight week, something that hasn’t happened since a 15-week streak that ended in December 2008:
Dow Jones’ Jerry DiColo reported:
The national average price of retail diesel fuel fell 3 cents to $3.648 a gallon in the week ended Monday, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said.
Prices are the lowest price since Feb. 21, 2011, and are 20 cents below a year ago.
Diesel dropped for a 12th straight week, falling 50 cents since early April in the longest losing streak since a 14-week decline ending in early January 2009.
The price of related front-month heating oil futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange remains near the lowest levels this year amid sharp falls in crude-oil prices and slumping demand for fuel.
On Monday, heating oil futures fell 3.4 cents to settle at $2.6759 a gallon.
The latest price puts retail diesel at 23.4% below the record high level of $4.764 a gallon hit on July 14, 2008. Back then, diesel carried a premium to a year earlier of $1.875 a gallon as crude oil prices soared to record highs near $150 a barrel.
Prices fell in all regions, led by a 7.4 cent decline in the Rocky Mountain region.
AAA Daily Fuel Gauge reported Monday an average diesel price of $3.652 a gallon, down from $3.709 a week ago. The price was down from $3.909 a month ago and the year-ago level of $3.897 a gallon.
The Journal’s Liam Pleven, who pointed out the trend to us, noted that gas prices have generally been on an upward trend since that 2008 streak. Don’t forget either, that in the summer of 2008, crude-oil prices had their historical spike. So consumers haven’t had much relief; well, really no relief.
Besides, analysts think the slide will end soon.
So, yes, the decline is welcome. But it’ll take a lot more than even this streak before gas prices aren’t a weight around the consumer’s neck.
You’ve certainly noticed by now that gas prices at the pump have been going down. This is the kind of thing that the eternal optimists always seize upon as a justification for their never-ending “everything’s getting better” calls.
If the consumer was resilient at $4 (and the consumer, no matter how battered, is always resilient to this crowd) imagine the spending spree they’ll go on at $3!
There are a few problems with this. For one, thing, the national average is down about only 40 cents a gallon. Maybe that $10 or $20 you’ve been putting into the tank is getting you a bit more gas, but it’s not enough to make a real change in any of your spending plans.
Much of this is tied in to the global economic slowdown (the one the everthing’s-A-OK crowd thinks the U.S. is “decoupled” from, but that’s another story) and consumer demand for stuff. China’s been a huge commodity hog; any slowdown there will have an outsized effect.
You may possibly, hopefully, notice prices overall falling. As our old friend and colleague Brendan Conway at Barron’s points out, the S&P’s broad commodity index is down 22%, tumbling into bear market territory. Crude’s down 28% since its February high. Corn’s down about 17%. Gold’s down 12%.
You wouldn’t usually confuse the U.S. Energy Information Administration with the Beach Boys, but the government says conditions are improving for drivers hoping for an endless summer.
The EIA slashed its forecast Tuesday for average gasoline prices during the summer driving period, which runs from April to September. Instead of the $3.95-per-gallon estimate it put out in April, the EIA now expects prices to average just $3.79 during the period.
As it happens, the new forecast is exactly the same price the EIA said motorists were paying on Monday. That report marked the fifth consecutive decline in the week-by-week report about retail gasoline prices, and it has eased fears that prices nationwide will push above the $4 average mark soon, as some had expected just a few months ago.
The great 2012 stock rally has hit a speed bump: China.
Worries over China’s economy are knocking stocks around the world. An executive from Australia’s mining giant BHP Billiton warned demand for iron ore from China will flatten as the world’s second-biggest economy slows.
Couple that with an announcement from China that it will raise domestic gasoline and diesel prices for the second time this year and investors have reverted to risk-off mode.
The Dow is down 78 points minutes after the opening bell, while the S&P 500 is down 9 points an the tech-heavy Nasdaq Comp is down 22 points. The action follows broad declines in overseas markets; the Stoxx Europe 600 is down 1%, while China’s Shanghai Composite shed 1.4% and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.4%.
“Growth slowdown concerns in China are the main catalyst for the global equity market weakness,” writes Peter Boockvar, managing director at Miller Tabak.
Crude-oil prices remain well above $100 a barrel, gas prices are on the rise and economists worry surging energy costs could undermine the economic recovery.
That said, the stock market has shown relatively few signs of giving up this year’s sharp gains.
“The U.S. equity market usually as a whole reacts negatively to oil supply shocks,” says Adam Parker, chief U.S. equity strategist at Morgan Stanley. “While we haven’t had a ‘shock’ yet, we have been surprised by the stock market’s ebullience year-to-date.”
Parker, one of the most bearish strategists on the Street, isn’t confident stocks will be able to maintain their resiliance if gas prices keep rising. The average price of gasoline is up nearly 50 cents this year and recently jumped to $3.79 a gallon.
Rising gas prices could hinder consumer spending and halt any momentum the economy has recently been building. Prices hit $4 this time last year amid Middle East turmoil and many say it contributed to the economy’s summer doldrums.
Skeptics are concerned a similar script is replaying one year later.
Brace yourselves, $4 a gallon gas is coming soon.
Crude oil is up for a seventh straight session, with prices topping $109 a barrel on the Nymex as worries about Iran remain front and center.
Oil prices are at their highest level in nine months as the stand-off with Iran continues. The fear is Iran will continue halting exports to European nations, which is causing prices to spike.
Many investors also fret about being short this market, especially if the situation with Iran gets worse before it gets better.
Rising oil is also pulling gasoline prices higher, which is having a direct impact on consumers’ wallets. National gas prices are approaching the $4/gallon threshold.
MarketBeat colleague Dan Strumpf breaks down the broader implications of rising gas prices:
What would really bring on a dollar crash? – Menzie Chinn
Toying with the debt ceiling is suicidal for the GOP – Andrew Leonard
Despite rhetoric, cutting oil subsidies would have little effect on gas prices — ProPublica
The psychological roots of over-consumption – The Oil Drum
MarketBeat looks under the hood of Wall Street each day, finding market-moving news, analyzing trends and highlighting noteworthy commentary from the best blogs and research. MarketBeat is updated frequently throughout the day, helping investors stay on top of what’s happening in the markets. Lead writers Paul Vigna and Steven Russolillo spearhead the MarketBeat team, with contributions from other Journal reporters and editors. Have a comment? Write to firstname.lastname@example.org or email@example.com.
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Crochet pattern book teaches new technique
Learn to Crochet with Glass introduces a new technique for embedding glass stones into crochet work. The book demonstrates the technique with color photos and step-by-step instructions to create 17 different designs. The designs are made using Kreinik fine metallic thread, size 3 and size 10 crochet cotton thread and bulky-weight yarn.
The book sells for $8.95 and is available from the Annie's catalog, accessible online at AnniesAttic.com.
Connie Ellison is the editor of Learn to Crochet with Glass. She is the crochet product development director for DRG's Annie's Attic-brand products and has been with the company since 1979. She oversees all crochet pattern leaflets and crochet hardcover books, in addition to merchandising the Annie's Attic direct mail catalog crochet products. Ellison is an active member of the Crochet Guild of America.
Annie's Attic publishes a wide variety of high-quality needlecraft publications and craft patterns known for instructional accuracy and creative photography. Every book includes a stitch guide and a list of needlecraft abbreviations for added ease in creating each project.
Information about Annie's books, magazines, kit continuities and catalog items is available from the company website at DRGnetwork.com.
DRG (DRGnetwork.com) is part of the third-generation Muselman family business headquartered in Berne, Ind., near Fort Wayne. It is comprised of two divisions: Annie's and Strategic Fulfillment Group (SFG).
Annie's (Annies-Publishing.com) is well known to crafters and nostalgia buffs for its print and digital magazines, pattern books and other related products, sold primarily via mail, websites and catalogs.
SFG (StrategicFulfillment.com) provides state-of-the-art fulfillment and database marketing services out of a 140,000-square-foot facility in East Texas.
The Muselman business began in 1925 with the founding of Economy Printing Concern in Berne. EP Graphics, as it is known today, is still owned by the Muselman family. It specializes in high-quality, four-color web printing for catalogs and magazines.
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Telemedicine Starts with the Doctor's Voice
"Believe me, you could put every patient on amoxicillin, which costs about a buck, and doesn't work on anybody, or you can really thoughtfully try and treat them. And if these individuals weren't signed up with telemedicine, they wouldn't get care, because they wouldn't have a place to go.""
Some consults are triage-like in nature, with Gordon simply giving advice. A fuller consult allows him to both advise patients and prescribe medications, although "not controlled substances, no Level 2, but anything below that," he says.
Gordon recounts the time a teenager's mom called, concerned about an outbreak of mono that had gone through her 16-year-old son's volleyball team. The son was showing symptoms of what could have been mono. He advised her to take her son in for an in-person checkup to rule out other serious possibilities such as a ruptured spleen.
"That was a very good call by that lady to call us, and it changed the whole way she was going to approach it, because she wasn't going to take him to the pediatrician," Gordon says. "She thought it was just completely and totally unnecessary. That's where we kind of are making the difference, because we're able to direct patients in the direction they need to go."
Talking to Gordon, I got a palpable sense of the highly disruptive nature of such simple telemedicine to the existing way healthcare is practiced in this country. Gordon presumes the woman has good hospitals where she lives, but for whatever reason, she chooses to call this service instead. And even though the doctor could not see the boy or his mother, it was an absolutely respectful relationship between doctor and patient.
I ask Gordon if he thinks it's a healthier experience than going to one of those pop-up retail urgent care clinics.
"While most of them are staffed by nurse practitioners and physician assistants who are very good, it's very sterile and not warm," he says. "I'll be perfectly honest with you, the physician extenders are as disinterested as a general practitioner in the office trying to see 35 patients in a day.
"At least on the telephone, for whatever period of time that a consult takes place, both people are focusing on each other, and it's just very rare. I came of age in a different time. By the time I got out of medical school, the whole practice and orientation emphasis had changed, and it just gets worse every day in that regard."
Today's business models of patient-as-consumer or doctor-as-marketer just creates different levels of entry and different barriers, and it really doesn't serve the patient as well, Gordon says.
- Primary Care Docs Average More Hospital Revenue Than Specialists
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Navigating your health plan to get the most out of your benefits can be a challenge -the administrative hurdles alone can sometimes be daunting.
But for international travelers there’s a little known trapdoor that can open large gaps in healthcare coverage that quickly spiral beyond your control, exposing world travelers to significant financial risk.
Traveling or residing outside the U.S. for six months or more often means that one of the key benefits of a health insurance plan-coverage of pre-existing conditions-is in jeopardy when you return home. How so? If you’re not hip to HIPAA, you wouldn’t know – the catch is in the fine print of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996.
Unless you are enrolled in a well-designed international health insurance program, you can be caught up in technicalities that subject you to a 12-month waiting period for a pre-existing condition when you return home and re-enroll in a domestic group health plan. Even if you purchased another plan to fill the gap, HIPAA rules permit the group plan to institute the waiting period. That’s bad news if you have developed a serious medical condition in the meantime.
Doesn’t sound fair? Well, it’s all perfectly legal. The waiting period can be reduced or eliminated if the time you spent in your alternative health plan is viewed as “creditable coverage” and applied as an offset. But that decision is made unilaterally by the health plan.
What’s the answer? Staying healthy certainly helps. But if you want to do more than cross your fingers (and that is what this is all about) do your homework before heading out of the country, like this smart person did (at least we think she’s smart… she chose our product).
If you are employed and posted abroad, ask your employer to enroll you in an international plan that provides seamless eligibility no matter how much time you spend abroad. If group coverage is not an option, choosing the right individual plan can help you avoid similar, even larger gaps in coverage.
Most individual international plans on the market are constructed and administered to minimize coverage for pre-existing conditions. They typically feature exclusions or very low benefit limits for conditions that were treated over the past two years. To your peril, they also define pre-existing conditions much more broadly than U.S. plans, and they don’t recognize the group plan you may be leaving as “creditable coverage.” Check to see if the individual plan you are considering is filed with U.S. state insurance regulators as an “admitted” plan (HTH products are).
Lastly, ask about what happens to your eligibility when you return home. Will the plan continue to offer benefits after your assignment ends? Many plans discontinue benefits after six months at home; others will cover you all the way up to age 84. This is a critical issue: you clearly don’t want to be left out in the cold as uninsurable.
The last thing you need when going abroad or coming home is to trip over technicalities and fall through a trapdoor . Be a savvy health insurance buyer. Ask the right questions and don’t leave anything to chance.
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If the print dialog box does not automatically appear, open the file menu and choose Print.
Article published January 14, 2013
Do you feel the flu shot is important and why?
“Yes. Any type of antibodies is better than nothing.”
“It is. My whole family has gotten it.”
“No. I've never had one, but as I'm getting older I've thought about it.”
“If you’re healthy and take care of yourself, the flu shot is not necessary. It only protects against a certain strain.
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On Saturday, January 12, 2013, militant homosexual demonstrators gathered in Trieste (Italy) in front of the archbishop’s residence to protest the alleged “racism” and “homophobia” of the leader of the Catholic Archdiocese.
They had picked the wrong target.
Before his appointment to the See of
Trieste in October 2009, Archbishop Giampaolo Crepaldi had served as
Secretary of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace.
position he fought against racism and collaborated with an international
group of prominent legal scholars to rewrite the Holy See’s document
condemning racism. He even led a Delegation of the Holy See to the
United Nations for a special session on racism.
The editor of the Trieste weekly newspaper, Vita Nuova,
interviewed Abp. Crepaldi about the incident, and the interview was
reprinted in other Italian publications.
An English translation of
selected questions and answers from that interview follows.
Your Grace, where were you last Saturday during the demonstration organized by Arcigay in front of the Archbishop’s Residence?
Confined to my quarters....
First I was in the Chapel praying Evening Prayer, and then I went back
to reading a voluminous book by Rodney Stark, a great American
sociologist, entitled The Triumph of Christianity, which
analyzes, among other things, the many persecutions suffered by
Christians during two thousand years of history.
The book demonstrates,
with a wealth of information, that in the end the persecutors pass away
and the Christians go on, because the persecutions purify them and make
them stronger. It is a book that I recommend.
The one on Saturday was a demonstration against you...
Yes, based on the false and very serious accusation that yours truly is intolerant and racist. [...]
The question revolves around homophobia...
No, sir, the question is a different one, precisely the one mentioned by
the organizers of the demonstration: to use homophobia as a pretext so
as to gain acceptance for the right to same-sex marriage. Everyone
understood that. [...]
We have to consider two aspects, both of them very delicate. First. The
ultimate objective of these campaigns is to undermine one of the
foundations of civilization, the concept of the family based on the
marriage between a man and a woman, by equating it with other forms of
And the second?
To criminalize homophobia, so that anyone who declares publicly—as the
Catholic Church always has done—that the only true family is one founded
on the marriage of a man and a woman would be declared homophobic,
intolerant and racist, and therefore would be subject to criminal
prosecution.... This insidious project, devised by progressives and
libertarians, will muzzle everybody, depriving them of freedom. It is
paradoxical that the Church that gave the world the highest concept of
the incomparable value of the human person and taught the duty of
respect, equality and fraternity, should be described as a racist,
This is one of the oddities of history.
However, my friends in Vienna at the Observatory on Intolerance and
Discrimination against Christians in Europe, whom I call on now and then
for an opinion or to monitor the situation in Trieste, tell me that a
large-scale “gender persecution” against Christianity has begun and that
it will be very severe. There will be the militants, some who seek a
compromise, some who betray, there will be the faithful and there will
also be martyrs. [...]
The President of the Province [of Trieste, Maria Teresa Bassa Poropat,] declared that there is a “need for an open Church”.
That was a rather inappropriate request on the part of an institutional
Authority who has always been admired for her moderation and ability to
stay at her post. To the President of the Province I say that the only
thing that the Church must do is to be faithful to the requests of
Jesus, her Spouse and her Lord. Let Him suffice.
And what do you say about the Mayor?
Mayor Cosolini ... stated that “the critique [of the demonstration] by
the diocese was legitimate”: a serious, responsible and balanced
But a municipal Magistrate participated in the demonstration...
It was reported to me that there were two Magistrates. I hope that they
don’t use the line that they were there in their personal capacity....
Personally I maintain that their participation was disturbing and that
it was a black mark on democracy and on the honor of the city’s
A Municipal Council is at the service of the welfare of
everyone and in its work must respect the rights of all. [...] I do not
know whether homophobia—which I obviously and strongly condemn—is so
widespread in Trieste, and I cannot say whether the zeal of our civil
institutions in this matter is appropriate.
What the facts demonstrate
is that recently in Trieste a case of Christianophobia has been
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Prayer: Asking for more than healing
Speaking of prayer (story below), in "Do we have a prayer?" in The American Spectator, editor Quin Hillyer reflects on politicial activists and prayer:
Most of us have known people, too, who swear, absolutely swear, that they are alive today after some dread illness only because the prayers of others got them through. But then we wonder about those like Snow who did not survive, and none of it makes sense. Do prayers work? How? Why? And when they don't seem to, at least not by our understanding, why not?He notes,
... we know that prayer doesn't necessarily bring comfort, or at least not "comfort" in the way the world usually understands it. Prayer does not bring comfort in the sense of ease or luxury or softness.Ah ... word study urgently needed here: "Comfort" originally meant "strengthen" (the "com" part = with, and the "fort" part = strength). Later, "comfort" came to mean "ease" or "soothe." That created much misunderstanding around the idea that prayer "comforts" people.
Here is my view as a Catholic Christian: I have myself benefited from several healings that could only be attributed to the power of prayer, however understood. I would encourage anyone to pray, even if they are not a religious believer. Just say, "I know I am not a good person, but this feels too hard for me to bear. If You are out there, help me, please, at least to understand what is happening to me."
The main role of prayer is to put us in touch with God's view of our situation. We benefit from prayer to the extent that it does that. We benefit little from prayer if we view it as a way to make God do what we want.
In that case, even if we seem to get what we want for now, we will not grow into the people we should be. And there will come a time when we don't get what we want, and we also did not learn anything that would help us see the bigger picture. So we stop praying, and stop growing spiritually. Which is very sad because healing is only one of the benefits of prayer.
We are all going to die someday, which means that all healings are temporary. So I would say, by all means ask for healing, but don't stop there. Ask for insight too, for the day when healings come to an end.
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Why International Women’s Day bugs me
If ever a person needed (more) proof that we’re living in a patriarchy, I posit that International Women’s Day is the final argument.
Doesn’t it seem odd that women, at least half of the human population, are given a special day of recognition? Can you imagine a day that honored the achievements of men? What about a Men’s History month?
From a local newspaper article about a IWD parade: “We celebrate all of our accomplishments from early on until now and teach all of our young girls to know how important it is to feel you can do anything you want”
Yeah well, it’s more important to actually make it possible. And you know what else? If a girl could truly do whatever she wanted to do, if she could ever be anything more to the world than just a girl, she wouldn’t need a freaking parade to convince her of it.
Again, imagine a special day once a year where boys are rah-rahed into believing that when they grow up they can do great things just like other men have done. I mean, it’s kind of a given, right? Just as it should be for girls, yes?
Personally, I would rather be acknowledged as a fully realized human being on a daily basis than “celebrated” once a year. The patriarchy will be dead when there no longer exists a need to recognize with parades and banners that the billions of people with vaginas are human too.
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A Powerful Financial Tool
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How do they work?
The amount an institution will lend depends on equity in your home and your other credit characteristics. Often they will lend up to an amount so the total debt against your home (including first mortgage and other loans with your home as collateral) is less than 80% of the current value of your home. Interest rates are usually variable and tied to a published index, such as the prime rate. Check out the rate details - Be wary of institutions that offer low initial "teaser" rates and then raise the rates shortly thereafter.
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Beware of the risks
Be careful and make a wise decision for your situation and finances. Even though there are many attractive benefits, these types of loans are like all loans - you pay interest and it must be paid off. Loan documents can be confusing - read and understand all the details before signing. Do not let a quick, easy application and approval process sidetrack you from doing your proper due diligence.
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Editor's note: There's been quite a bit of controversy over architect Frank Gehry's proposed design for a memorial for Dwight D. Eisenhower. As the architect of the newly re-opened Weisman Art Museum, I thought you might want to know what else he's up to. The below article comes from Brett Zongker of the Associated Press.
Renowned architect Frank Gehry explained his ambitious design for a future Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial to architecture colleagues Tuesday night, saying criticism of the
sweeping scale of his project honoring the 34th president has mostly been fair.
A rendering of Frank Gehry's proposed memorial for Dwight D. Eisenhower, as it was presented in March, 2010.
Image from Gehry Partners
Famous for his striking structures with undulating exteriors, Gehry said his design is evolving for his first project in Washington. He explained his concept to the editor of Architectural Record and others at the Corcoran Gallery of Art.
The design draws on Eisenhower's homecoming speech after World War II when the war hero spoke of a barefoot boy from Kansas who went on to fame in Europe. The design would include large metal tapestries depicting trees, grain silos and "Ike's" home in Kansas. Those tapestries and huge columns designed to uphold them have drawn criticism from some quarters.
"The people are asking good questions," Gehry said of his concept. He added that the project is undergoing a complex but "very intelligent" approval process required for national memorials.
The memorial also would include a landscaped park with other features marking Eisenhower's presidency and war years. It would be built just off the National Mall among buildings linked to Eisenhower's legacy, including the National Air and Space Museum
and the U.S. Education Department.
Organizers hope to complete the memorial in 2015 at a cost of $90 million to $110 million.
Susan Eisenhower, the president's granddaughter, recently issued a statement to The Washington Post on behalf of her family, saying they have concerns about the "concept for the memorial, as well as the scope and scale." It did not note any specific objections.
"We feel that now is the time to get these elements right - before any final design approvals are given and before any ground is broken," the statement read.
Eisenhower's grandchildren have requested a meeting with Gehry and officials from the Eisenhower Memorial Commission. David Eisenhower, the president's grandson, is a member of the commission.
"We're clearly going to make them happy," Gehry told The Associated Press after his remarks Tuesday night.
The grandchildren may have a certain image of their grandfather that they want to share, he said.
Dan Feil, executive architect for the project, said the memorial group is arranging a meeting with the family.
"They need to be involved, and we're trying to do that," Feil said, adding that it won't necessarily affect the memorial's timeline.
The 80-foot-tall columns measuring 11 feet in diameter that would hold up the memorial's tapestries have been the main point of contention. One member of the National Capital Planning Commission called them "gargantuan."
Gehry's selection of Kansas imagery for the tapestries also has been questioned.
Architect John Hart, who represents Maryland on the commission, has said earlier that he didn't see enough of Eisenhower in the design. "I'm not seeing the celebration of the man ... in the depiction of a rural landscape," he said.
Gehry said Tuesday evening that his idea was to build a tapestry that tells a story as tapestries have been used in generations past. The architect said he traveled as far away as Japan to learn how to accomplish that. "And I didn't have a plan B," Gehry told
His goal, he said, is to capture the story of "Ike."
"He was a very modest guy - but tough," Gehry said. "And he did great things for this country. I didn't know it when he was president."
During the design competition for the memorial, Gehry began reading everything Eisenhower, and "I really got to know the guy," he said.
After leading the Allied forces in Europe in World War II, Eisenhower went back to Abilene, Kan., a place that he loved and that formed his character, Gehry added.
"He didn't beat his chest and say `I won the war,"' Gehry noted.
The design will evolve before a Dec. 1 meeting of the commission when organizers plan to seek preliminary approval of Gehry's design.
Gehry said he has already made changes from criticism he's heard. But he disagrees with those who believe he should focus more on war because Eisenhower would want it to be modest, not "overblown," Gehry said.
Another federal panel, the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts, has commented favorably on Gehry's design and supported the concept.
The memorial would follow a monument to the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., which on Sunday became the first memorial honoring a black leader to be dedicated on the National Mall. The Eisenhower Memorial would be the first to a president since the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial opened in 1997.
Minnesota troubador Bob Dylan is causing a stir in the New York gallery scene.
Evidently his paintings, now on display at the Gogosian Gallery, were billed as "painted from life" from his travels in Asia, when really they should have been billed as "painted from Life magazine." His paintings are almost exact copies of old photographs, some of which are in the public domain, some not.
On the left, Bob Dylan's painting "Opium"; on the right a photograph by Léon Busy, taken in Vietnam in 1915.
Images from Gogosian Gallery and Musee Albert Kahn, respectively, via ARTINFO
The evidence is overwhelming - click here to see a slideshow of the paintings next to the photographs at ArtInfo - and it's also not the first time Dylan's been accused of plagiarism, according to NPR reporter Joel Rose:
A song from his 2001 album, Love and Theft, lifted these lines from the Junichi Saga novel Confessions of a Yakuza:
My old man, he's like some feudal lord
He's got more lives than a cat
I've never seen him quarrel with my mother even once
Things come alive or they fall flat
Dylan was also caught borrowing quotes and anecdotes from Mark Twain, Marcel Proust, Jack London and a host of other sources in his memoir, Chronicles: Volume One.
Fans and critics largely defended him in those cases, but this time even some longtime Dylan watchers are dismayed
Michael Gray, a blogger and author of the Bob Dylan Encyclopedia, says he's disappointed about what Dylan has presented as his own work.
"Lots of people paint from photographs," he says. "But ... the entire composition, the exact composition of a painting -- Dylan has copied that. That just seems to me to betray a lack of ideas, a lack of originality about the whole thing."
Neither Dylan nor the Gagosian would grant interviews for this story, and the gallery no longer claims that the show is based solely on Dylan's travels in Asia.
What do you think? Is Dylan using the show as an opportunity to put on a performance, and challenge our ideas of what's original? Or is he simply making money off of other people's images?(3 Comments)
Editor's note: If you've been following this blog in the past two days, you know that there are architects and preservationists currently protesting the redesign process of Peavey Plaza. Here's the latest from MPR's Brandt Williams on today's unveiling of the proposed redesign.
A partial view of Peavey Plaza at it appears today in downtown Minneapolis.
MPR Photo/Brandt Williams
Minneapolis city officials today unveiled the design for the renovation of Peavey Plaza. The 40-year-old plaza, which is adjacent to Orchestra Hall downtown, needs repairs and updates. Mayor RT Rybak says the new plaza will comply with laws that require accessibility and sustainability. He says the renovation will get rid of the steep stairways, and will feature a fountain that won't waste thousands of gallons of water.
We've learned that we can do fountains that are much shallower, that have the same impact, but are much more sustainable. Those of us who remember back during a drought about 15, or so years ago, when this was turned off, know that those droughts in the new world are going to happen more. So sustainability needs to be part of this work as well.
Peavey Plaza as it might appear, looking north, winter
Artist rendering courtesy of Oslund & Associates
Architect Tom Oslund says the new plaza fountain will be easy to drain, in order to make room for more seating for events.
The idea of a public plaza and how it is used, designed and programmed are far more sophisticated and complex today than they were when Peavey was conceived.
View of Peavey Plaza looking south, summer
Artist rendering courtesy of Oslund & Associates
The price tag for the renovation is estimated at between 8 and 10 million dollars. City officials say most of the money will come from private sources. An open house later today at Orchestra Hall will show the public the new design for the Peavey Plaza renovation.
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