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Neal Augenstein, wtop.com
WASHINGTON - It doesn't seem fair -- two status symbols that many of us have worked hard to attain make us more likely to die from a heart attack.
The Daily Mail reports a new Swedish study shows those who own both a car and a television are 27 percent more likely to suffer a heart attack than people who own neither.
The research shows employees in well-to-do countries -- like the U.S. -- who spend a lot of time behind a desk are also more likely to have diabetes and high blood pressure.
The study of more than 29,000 people in 52 countries suggests moderate exercise at work greatly reduces the risk of heart failure.
Researchers at Uppsala University Hospital in Sweden determined mild activity reduced the chance of heart problems by 13 percent, and 24 percent for moderate exercise.
Heavy physical labor does not reduce heart attack risk, researchers found.
To read more about this study, follow this link.
(Copyright 2012 by WTOP. All Rights Reserved.)
A Philadelphia bicyclist has teamed up with a cat for tandem rides.
Morgan Freeman can't stay awake during a TV interview. (Video)
A fallen police officer's daughter gets a swarm of support. (Photos)
She can sing, but can she act? Jewel takes on a famous role.
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Monday, July 30, 2012
A plan for owners of downtown San Diego office buildings to pay into an assessment fund, with the money going toward programs to retain and attract tenants, received an initial green light today from the City Council.
Firms that own at least 50,000 square feet in downtown San Diego would be charged 3.5 cents per square foot if the proposed two-year pilot program comes into existence. The entity, which would be part of an existing downtown property and business improvement district, would have a total budget of about $351,000 annually.
Among other things, the money would pay for programs to reduce homelessness and alleviate a shortage of parking. Those two complaints are the lead reasons why tenants leave downtown or don't lease there in the first place, according to a staff report.
"We know that because it's the urban core of the city, we have significant issues in downtown that we don't have in other parts of the city,'' said Councilman Kevin Faulconer, who represents the area.
Faulconer said a permanent homeless shelter set to open by the end of this year should ease the homeless problem. The money raised from the property owners could be used to fund a free or low-cost shuttle so commuters could park on the edge of downtown and catch a ride to work.
Recent figures show the downtown office space vacancy rate is just under 17 percent, around 3 percent higher than the city as a whole.
The property owners are set to vote on whether to assess themselves. A public hearing on whether to implement the district is tentatively scheduled for Sept. 25.
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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/news...a-village.htmlThe substance first washed up on the shores of Kivalina, about 625 miles northwest of Anchorage, on Wednesday. It covered most of the harbour, attracting crowds of bemused residents.
On Thursday residents found the orange matter floating on top of the rain buckets they use to collect drinking water.
By Friday, the orange substance in the harbour had dissipated or washed out to sea, and what was left on ground had dried to a powdery substance.
Samples of the orange matter were collected in canning jars and sent to a lab in Anchorage for analysis.
Until results are known, Kivalina's 374 residents will likely continue to wonder just what exactly happened in their village.
"Certainly at this point it's a mystery," said Emanuel Hignutt, a chemist with the state Department of Environmental Conservation lab in Anchorage. ...
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A Snowy Winter's SonnetA Snowy Winter's Sonnet7 months ago in Traditional Fixed Forms More Like This
Snowflakes slowly fell onto frozen ground
As the scenery turned into pure white
And snow decorated the scene without sound
Transforming land into a winter sight
Rooftops decked with glistening ice crystals
As wind blew, sending snow flying in air
Morning arrived with the sound of bird calls
As little kids rushed down stairs without care
Just to go outside to play in the snow
Sledding down the hill, building large snowman,
Having snowball fights outside in the cold
Adults shoveled snow and kids gave them a hand
For winter is here, let's give out a cheer
Enjoy the snow for now, for spring is near
To The Shoe-Box Under The BedDearest shoe-box under my bed-To The Shoe-Box Under The Bed1 year ago in Traditional Fixed Forms More Like This
White one, with flowers pink and red-
Lately, you've been dwelling in my head.
Dearest shoe-box filled with baubles,
It's true; your top still wobbles.
You're too full of memories and squabbles.
Dearest shoe-box of worn-out thoughts,
Let me open you up, re-connect the dots.
I'm sick of letting the memories rot.
Dearest shoe-box with a blanket inside,
Look at all the trinkets those folds can hide!
There's the photo I always kept at my side.
Dearest shoe-box with secrets old and worn,
I think it's time to mend my heart, still broken and torn.
It's time to let go of the hurt and scorn.
politicianspoliticians1 year ago in Free Verse More Like This
they'll not see any identity as wrong
they'll not see ANY fighting
[a natural corollary of identity]
they'll always posit it as good vs evil
with their being on the side of the good
they have information, technology, weapons thereof, colour of the skin, words...
power, in short
they do not face emptiness at 3 am,
or if they do,
their emptiness is as hollow as powerless pseudo- word-smiths/band-players/graffitists
though unlike the latter they do not clutch onto the straws of words,music,images
still, just as the pseudo-ones they manage paltry abstractions
and gloat and bloat
they masquerade as polit
KnB - [AoKise] Szafirowy kolczykAnime : Kuroko no BasketKnB - [AoKise] Szafirowy kolczyk1 month ago in Short Stories More Like This
Pairing : Aomine x Kise
Promienie światła wpadały przez uchylone okno, rozpraszając mrok w jakim pogrążona była mała sypialnia. Przesuwały się leniwie po błękitnej ścianie i sosnowych, prosto wykonanych meblach, wraz z upływem czasu docierając coraz bliżej dwuosobowego łóżka. Wspięły się po zagłówku i opadły na białą poduszkę, na której leżała moja głowa. Skrzywiłem się lekko i z niechęcią otworzy
For ShivvySweet and charming, energetic and kind, fun and caring, loving and beautiful.For Shivvy4 years ago in Philosophical More Like This
Her presense, that of an Angel. Her voice, a guiding light.
In everything she does she would try her best. Never giving up and hardworking.
Virtue above all else, supportive to the end. Understanding and forgiving.
Vivid and outstanding, she is exceptional in every way.
Youthful for eternity, Neither her grace or her charm will ever fade.
CherishHow long has it been, since I've first seen you? It felt like an eternity,Cherish4 years ago in Philosophical More Like This
If this is how it ends, I'd have no regrets...so I said.
I'll remember all the memories we had, you and I...be it sad or happy, I don't want to forget.
In our little spot, with a bench and a swing...we'd always be there, under the Sun smiling.
Hey, do you remember all this? Why are you saying it's raining? It's a bright sunny day!
I understand how you feel.. through that look on your face, and I know you understand mine.
Is it raining? I'm starting to feel it too, under this grand tree we take shelter under.
I wonder if we'll stay like this, or will we lose each
untitled.i cant speak anymoreuntitled.1 year ago in Traditional Fixed Forms More Like This
i cant speak anymore
my lipsve been burned
from own lies and words
from the shame ive earned
i found it myself
from my frail dialogues
inside my notebooks
from breaths between sobs
this is why
i cant have nice things
think before acting
attempts to be strongdear diary, dear friend,attempts to be strong1 year ago in Traditional Fixed Forms More Like This
dear listen or ten,
dear friends, dear mom,
dear person more strong,
dear lover, dear dad,
dear people who're mad,
dear politicians and lawyers,
dear cat in the foyer,
dear stranger on the street,
dear man i'll not meet,
dear everyone with a head,
dear body who's dead--
i have a problem, a problem or two,
i have a problem--i know i do.
i have a few things that i want to say,
i have a few feelings that get in the way.
i have a few thoughts that keep me awake,
i have a few memories that almost seem fake.
i have a few lies that've been told through the years,
i have a few smiles beneath salty tears.
My sunLet me burnMy sun1 year ago in Free Verse More Like This
Let me die
If that is what it takes
For you to fly
I can then smile
As you rise to new height's
Watching as you soar
And finally take flight
I don't like hurting you
Or seeing you in tears
It pains me to see it
And raises all my fear's
But all I can do
Is sit here and weep
The silent tears
That I alone keep
I wish I could turn
Time back to before
I hurt you so bad
After trying to close that door
But my heart has never stopped
Shedding tears for what I have done
Tear's that flow for you
My rising sun.
The TruthMany know me and sayThe Truth1 year ago in Free Verse More Like This
That they can see right through
Every mask I try to wear
Or anything I try to do
But what most don't realize
Is how much I keep deep down
Suppressing all that hurt's
Not letting it make a sound
I don't let anyone close
Not truly anyway
I keep them all at arm's length
And still I hope they will stay
It is not fair of me
It is not even right
For me to ask those around
To care when I hold such spite
I want to let people in
I want to feel them close
But where do I begin
I don't even know
All I know is how to hide
From everything that I feel
I think that in the shadows
Nothing that seeks me is real
panic of the manicshe screams in broad daylightpanic of the manic1 year ago in Free Verse More Like This
she screams in her silences
with no words at all
not a tear should fall;
not a feeling be wed
to any particular person
no person to blame,
no prisons to shame
no one to kill
but her own self
the murderous feelings
no one to bleed
but her own body
nothing to shrink
she's got the panic of the manic
untitledIt takes a villain to shatter bones,untitled1 year ago in Traditional Fixed Forms More Like This
it takes a saint to give hearts a home.
It takes a pessimist to ignore his life,
it takes an opportunist to get it right.
Then comes the optimist, who knows all is well,
and also the loner in her decaying shell.
(I'm finding that if you live life alone,
you become deprived of your lucid home--
of your dreams and your thoughts and your memories there,
all in your head and you don't know it's there.
All in your head and all in your brain;
it's one of those things that'll drive you insane.)
loyaltywhen you come calling, i answer youloyalty1 year ago in Free Verse More Like This
brown eyes eager
harmonious words swaying together
another child to believe
when you come calling, i answer you
carry home beauty, nature
hear songs before home-bound
eager eyes brown
keeping words together
untruth, you cleanse
when you come calling, i answer you
ScreamingYou don't have to have a reason to scream.Screaming1 year ago in Urban & Spoken Word More Like This
We realize this in the most inconvenient of times,
when anything becomes nothing
and anything is possible.
You don't have to have a reason to scream.
If you want to look sane, sure,
but who wants that anymore?
She caught her interest, many a time before,
the way she spoke,
the way she thought.
The way was was--
it was fascinating.
You don't have to have a reason to scream.
You just have to have a feeling,
which can be a reason.
But only animals put words to emotions,
So she sat in her room,
hands over head,
and let it out
so only the walls
and sky, w
Thanks for killing me.The night I died was a terrible night,Thanks for killing me.1 year ago in Traditional Fixed Forms More Like This
I didn't sleep well, and I couldn't sleep right
I tossed and turned and fell into thought,
I fell into regret and my heart grew taught
I would've said words to you, if I were alive.
I'm sure I'd thank you, if I didn't die
It really could've been a great display,
with words full of emotion and friendship's bouquet
If I hadn't have died, if I were not dead,
I'm sure maybe you'd feel right in the head
I'm sure that if you wouldn't leave me alone,
you'd see me as human and not a gravestone
You'd see me as a person with thoughts and a mind,
with feelings and emotions and a little more time
turn awayher eyes are cloudedturn away1 year ago in Free Verse More Like This
and we watch her sink down
we watch her sink,
like a weight in the water;
we watch her fall,
like a leaf from the trees
and we do nothing but hold each other,
hold each other in fear
that maybe this rang a truth
that we never wanted to hear
we watch her die,
shriveling up slowly
we almost don't notice
and the moment we turn our backs...
im a deadI dont care any moreim a dead1 year ago in Free Verse More Like This
because i dont feel anymore
and I dont feel anymore
Because you left me at the door
I wish i could feel the way i once did all those years ago
but the time has left me scared and wasted talking to you on this telephone
I want to cry like i used to
and i want to laugh like we always could
But here i sit alone
wondering what is and what never was
i cant feel the tingling in my heart from a young first love
and i cant feel the hatred that sprung from her blood
I cant feel the way i always wanted to
and i cant feel the way i should
Im not alright
but im perfectly fine
some say im crazy
but i would argue im su
when a dreamer diesdemonic symphonieswhen a dreamer dies1 year ago in Songs & Lyrics More Like This
i want them to call for me
with music louder than the wind
with wind that's louder than the rain
in her storm
and leave me,
leave me alone
all the things i've lost
all the things i've gained
all the weary thoughts
all the acts of shame
all the tears i shed and all the pointless lies
i guess that's what happens when i attempt to try
i'm not bittersweet
not in the least bit
leave me be
so i can recollect
yes, i'm on my way
into the suburbs
into the cities
into the places
that are secretly pretty
and leave me,
leave me alone
wordsevery time i blinkwords2 years ago in Free Verse More Like This
i hear noise
it blares in my ear
more obnoxiously, each time
we're going under)
i clutch my head
every now and then
in total dismay
it hurts me deeper than silence
(that's a lie--
silence is the reason
i can't stand the sounds)
sounds became familiar
and we called them "words"
we gave them meanings,
we gave them meanings
words for feelings
and words for thoughts
words for actions
and sometimes, sometimes
words for words
that's where we got confused, i suppose
the words for words
we sat and traded words
(back and forth
Not-Beauty and BeastI'm held in his keep,Not-Beauty and Beast2 years ago in Traditional Fixed Forms More Like This
with his bloodied, red fists.
He's got a plague
in which he insists
It started a short while
ago, back before dawn,
my mind still dead,
my life still withdrawn
It was hard to deal,
it was hard to breathe,
then he came 'long,
and on life--we teethe
We stood alone, but
not far apart, he
had his miles
had my old heart
The innocent died
within his changed grasp,
insanity set in,
his life hadn't last
I died that night,
and a few times again,
waiting his return,
so psycho's reign ends
SmileSmile like you mean it.Smile2 years ago in Traditional Fixed Forms More Like This
Smile like you need to smile.
As in get it out.
Smile like you gotta grin
or give a hearty shout
Sometimes you've gotta suck it up,
suck it up and see
that maybe everything going wrong
was always meant to be
We grow and we change,
we're different each day,
we're learning new words
and things we could say
We grow and change,
we're newer each time
we get out of place
to get into line
Smile like you mean it,
smile like you got to,
smile like you see it
through all the shit you've been through
Show me yourself,
don't bother to hide.
I already know you,
you gave me some time
Smile like you mean it,
I've got 'emI've got a problem and I've got a plan,I've got 'em2 years ago in Concrete Poetry More Like This
I can execute it as soon as I can
I've got a mind and I've got a heart,
both are destroyed, and it's far from art
I've got news and I've got shame,
sometimes "you" is all you can blame
I've got a dream and I'll leave on a whim,
even though my eyes are filled to the brim
I've got a smile, and I've got a frown.
I've shown you both--neither of them sound
I've got a life and I want it gone,
I guess I won't have to wait very long.
Ode to the little ashesOde to the little ashes4 years ago in Surrealism More Like This
3rd of august, 2009
If I'm going to be anything more than average, if anyone is going to remember me, then I need to go further, in art, in life, in everything! -Salvador Dalí
A calm, still night has befallen ears that bleed for patriotism,
on those that whistle for the birds that have stopped, on those
who scream for something they never had but dream of when
they do, like the ghostlimbs of freedom, love, reality. The
breathless surprise of an idea still rings and rings, dings, bangs,
and even gongs true when the right people raise their voices to
the truest reality of all, life.
Light in the DarknessLight in the Darkness5 years ago in Urban & Spoken Word More Like This
My body feels weak,
My feelings going numb.
All I have is a constant weep.
I can't even let out a happy hum.
I wish things had gone different.
I wish I didn't fall.
This darkness I'm in is indifferent
It runs me into a wall.
I need a light,
someone who's there for me.
I need someone bright
someone I can see.
They will be my light in this darkness.
they will be my hope.
They will help me clean this mess
and get out if this constant mope.
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|If you came to this page looking for a subject other than the current topic of Kota mbulu-ngulu figures, click below for the
"You Be the Judge" ARCHIVES"
|You Be the Judge...
Kota mbulu-ngulu figures
|A few words from me...
John Monroe wrote an essay that was published on www.tribalartforum.org that deals with authenticity regarding Igbo masks and
did a fantastic job with the article. (See a link to the article in my Educational Resources page on my site)
John Monroe stated the following in the beginning of his essay that captured my feelings exactly, he just said it better than I
could have, so I would like to quote him:
"For me, one of the most enjoyable aspects of getting to know African art is the process of "eye sharpening" that happens as
you learn more about the material. Knowledge and experience can open up whole new worlds - it's a matter of learning how to
see a particular kind of beauty that isn't readily accessible to someone accustomed to European art. When collectors and
dealers refer to this process of eye-training, they generally talk about learning to distinguish the "authentic" from the "fake," with
the presupposition that authenticity is also a marker of esthetic quality. From this perspective, if it's authentic, made by a
particular group for its own use, then it's beautiful; if it's fake, made for sale to visitors, then it's kitsch.
This assumption makes me uncomfortable. I prefer to leave open the possibility that there are some excellent pieces made for
sale to visitors, and that African creativity can flourish in the contemporary international marketplace just as it once flourished in
the narrower colonial one. When I'm deciding on a piece, my main concern is not "is this sculpture authentic," but rather "is this
At the same time, however, it's impossible to avoid the question of "authenticity" if you are interested in collecting fine pieces of
African art. This is true for both esthetic and financial reasons. First, the esthetic. In my experience, I've found that the pieces
African people have made for their own use generally tend to be finer and more subtle than those made for sale to visitors.
Second, the financial. Authentic pieces, for reasons I'll try to explain a bit, fetch far higher prices than pieces deemed to be
inauthentic. Therefore, knowing how to recognize authenticity is crucial to being an informed buyer."
I chose this topic of mbulu-ngulu figures for this You Be the Judge page because of a few factors:
1) I knew next to nothing about them and 2) I had never really been interested in them up until now and recently I have become
interested in them and have started to research them and learn about them.
Early on in my collecting I had seen several of these figures in galleries that I went to. They were high priced and seemed very
different to me than most of the other African Art I was being exposed to. I wasn’t attracted at all to the Kota figures aesthetically
and hadn’t given them a second thought until this year.
I have been studying them in books and auction catalogs and on the Internet in the past couple of months and in my mind I had
started to put together the styles of the ones that I liked the best and styles of the ones that I thought were outright copies and
of bad quality. The more I started to read about them the more interesting they became and the more appealing they became.
The thing that I had a challenge with is how do you tell if the one you may be interested in buying is a good one? An authentic
one? One of proper style and quality? Of course the first answer to these questions may be to start with a reputable dealer in
which you trust, but what if you do not have that option in the place where you live?
In my studies, I found the examples (below) in which I thought were copies and were bad copies at that. One example, the last
one, even mentioned that it was 40 years old and had been taken directly from a cemetery.
|Some bad examples (in my eye)
|It's hard for the average collector, in my opinion, to tell age of metal. It doesn't have the same type of wear pattern or patina that you would
see in a wooden object. It’s clear from some of the bad examples above that attempts were made to make the pieces look older than they
actually are. The mbulu-ngulu figures did have some areas of exposed wood and some of the figures I had come across looked to have wear
on the wooden areas and a lot were partially broken off. Some looked like they had old nails in them and some it was hard to tell. Some the
metal was shiny and some appeared to have signs of age.
I still wasn't fully understanding what made one cost $3,000 and another bring at auction $15,000 or $120,000 and upwards to over
$400,000! There didn't seem to be a lot of apparent age to the ones that were bringing high prices? Some of them didn't have great
provenance. What was it about them that made them special? Does it come down to provenance on these types of pieces??? They stopped
using these types of figures around or before 1930 and a lot of pieces that I saw in auction catalogs said they were purchased in the 70's but
didn't mention anything else about provenance?!? If I had the resources, and I knew that the figure I was purchasing was indeed very old and
authentic, then I guess I can see why someone would pay the high prices. After all, these figures are from a tradition that is now lost.
So, how do you tell if the figure you are interested in is authentic? There are many variations of these figures and I have tried to select a few
examples of many different styles for this page. Some are from private collections, some from galleries, some from major auction houses....
but I am leaving the information on all of the figures off of the page for now. I have painstakingly taken all of the images that were sent to me
and ones that I acquired and given them all the same playing field which is a black back ground. This way we can't tell which ones were
professionally photographed against a nice background and which ones were not.
I have also added a few new features to this page this time. I am not selecting a piece for discussion as I have in the past, but instead I am
putting several examples out there for people to look at and judge. I have also added some form elements to the page which will allow for
people to vote, if you will, if they think a piece is authentic, if it is a copy, or if they can not tell or are undecided. If you are going to vote on a
piece I would hope that you will also put comments in the comments section as to why you think the piece is good or why you think the piece
is bad. You can sign your name to the comments or you can remain completely anonymous. At the bottom of the page there is a button you
can use to submit all of your votes and comments at once (Please read the comments below the button).
In a few weeks I will compile all of the votes and all of the comments on the pieces and I will post them to this page with the respective
summary of votes and comments underneath each piece along with the history and information I have on each piece. This way, people can
go back and look at the results and see what the general consensus on each piece was and also see where the piece originated from. I am
hoping that when I compile all of the votes and comments that this page will become a good resource for people to go to and compare
different pieces and see what people have had to say about them.
**At the very bottom of the page I have listed a link to an extensive study that was done on the Kota figures. It is called “Reflections on the
funerary art of the Kota" by Gerard DeLorme. I was told about the study from African Antiques member Des Bovey and it's a fascinating
study! The only problem was that it was done in French. I have translated the entire study to English and re-created the page. If you have a
few hours....its an interesting read. It documents the history of the people, classifies the different styles of figures produced, talks about the
recent productions of these figures and much more. It's all you ever wanted to know about the Kota and much, much more.
I hope you enjoy this form of interaction!
|A little information...
|Hunters obamba photographed by E Anderson in the area of
Mossendjo, Congo in the Thirties.
|Text by: Robin Poynor (A History of Art in Africa)
Adjacent to the Fang in the Upper Ogowe River are of eastern Gabon and into the Congo Republic live the Kota
peoples. The Kota are actually a number of groups with common cultural traits. Their present position is due to their
movements under pressure from the Kwele peoples, who had been driven from their own territories between the 17th
and 19th centuries by the Fang. Kota subgroups such as the Shamaye, Hongwe, Obama, Mindumu, and Shake each
stayed more or less together as enteties during migrations over the past several centuries, but many others were
broken up and scattered. Although they share many cultural traits, the groups are by no means homogeneous. They
live in villages comprising two or more clans. Clans in turn compromise several lineages or family groups that trace
their descent from a common lineage ansestor. This is an important point related to their art, for like the Fang, the
Kota revere the relics of ancestors.
The Kota keep bones and other relics of extraordinary ancestors in baskets or bundles called "bwete". Bound into a
packet and lashed to the base of a carved figure, the bones formed a stable base that allowed the image to stand
more or less upright. The type of bundle varied according to location. The figures, called "mbulu-ngulu", like the
guardian figures on Fang nsek-bieri, served as protectors of the bundle.
|There are several types of mbulu-ngulu, and a number of sub styles can be identified. All are based upon the human
face, even though they are abstracted and refer to non-human spiritual forces. All are carved of wood, then have
copper sheeting or strips applied to the surfaces. This shinning material both attracts out attention and acts as a
shield, and it is possible that it was seen as being able to "throw back" evil forces. The style of the mbulu-ngulu
depicted above on the engraving has a number of variants. The forehead of the figure may complete the concavity of
the oval face, as in the figure above on the right, or it may bulge out in counter play, as in the figure on the left. The
facial features are summarily indicated. Here, disc-shaped eyes were created by applying metal bosses and the nose
os a slim pyramidal shape. The mouth is simply represented or left out entirely.
These stylistic features are also noticable on the mbulu-ngulu from the southern Kota in figure (10-35) below.
Emphasizing the plane on the face, it is almost two-dimensional in conception. A distinctly concave, oval face is framed
by a transverse, crescent-shaped crest above and two lateral wings that suggest a hairdo. Cylindrical pegs drop from
the wings, suggesting ear ornaments. Sheet metal in alternating segments of brass and copper form a cross-shape on
the face and completely covers the front of the crescent and the wings. A long, cylindrical neck connects the facial
configuration to an open lozenge, which can be read as the arms of the figure, but which was once used to lash the
mbulu-ngulu figure to its bwete bundle.
The smaller, very beautiful mbulu-ngulu in figure (10-36) below is a variation on the theme. The transverse crest is
much narrower than the crescent-shaped crest in figure (10-35). The lateral wings are curved, and there are no
eardrops, though holes in the wings may have held earrings. The face of the figure is convex rather than concave, with
a bulging forehead and eye sockets. Both sheet copper and sheet brass have been used to cover the form. A diadem
motif frames the forehead, picked out in copper. The circular, projecting eyers are unusual for Kota figures.
|Information and photos directly above were taken from the book "A History of Art in Africa", text by Robin Poynor
click on image to see larger version
|The authentic creation of this kind of reliquary guardian figures ceased around 1930 as a result of aggressive
proselytizing by Christian missionaries, the imposition of a new social organization centered on the Western-style
nuclear family, and indigenous movements aimed at destroying certain local religious practices. Consequently, many
of these sculptures were destroyed by burning or concealed by burial.
|Now to the examples...
The original purpose of this page was to have people look at a photograph of a figure, originally there was a
voting and comment box underneath each figure. People had the chance to vote if they thought the figure was
authentic, a copy, or not sure. There was also a box for them to put comments in.
I gave an end date for people to do this and then I took the voting boxes out of this page and I published the
results in the RESULTS PAGE (linked below). The results page gave some background on each figure and it
showed the votes and the comments. It was an interesting and interactive experiment.
Below are the examples, I have removed the large images from this page, but you can still click on the images to
see the full size versions of the photos. Please keep in mind that the photos are pretty large, but it will show you
You can view the results of the judging and comments in the RESULTS PAGE
|click on any image to see
full size version
|FIGURE # 1
|FIGURE # 2
|FIGURE # 3
|FIGURE # 4
|FIGURE # 5
|FIGURE # 6
|FIGURE # 7
|FIGURE # 8
|FIGURE # 9
|FIGURE # 10
|FIGURE # 11
|FIGURE # 12
|FIGURE # 13
|FIGURE # 14
|FIGURE # 15
|FIGURE # 16
|FIGURE # 17
|THE RESULTS HAVE FINALLY
Please CLICK HERE to go to RESULTS PAGE
|DUE TO POPULAR DEMAND
- I have added a PAGE 2 of Kota figures.
Please CLICK HERE to go to page 2 to see 5 additional figures
|You are visitor #
|Need to view this page in a different
language? Just click on a flag below to
automatically translate this page.
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Do Democrats really want a fight over transparency?
posted at 9:16 am on April 17, 2012 by Ed Morrissey
Democrats launched a new attack front yesterday against Mitt Romney, pulling together this two-minute clip of media reports on Romney’s taxes, wealth, and some off-the-cuff comments about bureaucratic consolidation made to a dinner fundraiser last week in order to argue that Romney is, er … super-secretive. Democrats want to make transparency their big issue for this fall, which tells you all you need to know about how their economic arguments will be received:
Really? The DNC wants to have a fight over transparency? Apparently, the RNC is ready for it, as they also launched a new web ad after watching yet another Obama administration official take the Fifth Amendment before Congress rather than testify on their participation in yet another scandal:
And how about in other areas of transparency — say, perhaps, the critical area of the Freedom of Information Act? Six weeks ago, Politico quoted Washington attorney Katherine Meyer, who has worked FOIA cases for over 30 years, and her assessment of the Obama administration:
“Obama is the sixth administration that’s been in office since I’ve been doing Freedom of Information Act work. … It’s kind of shocking to me to say this, but of the six, this administration is the worst on FOIA issues. The worst. There’s just no question about it,” said Katherine Meyer, a Washington lawyer who’s been filing FOIA cases since 1978. “This administration is raising one barrier after another. … It’s gotten to the point where I’m stunned — I’m really stunned.”
Meyer’s not the only person complaining, either:
Open-government advocates say some administration practices are actually undercutting Obama’s goal. Among their complaints:
• Administration lawyers are aggressively fighting FOIA requests at the agency level and in court — sometimes on Obama’s direct orders. They’ve also wielded anti-transparency arguments even bolder than those asserted by the Bush administration.
• The administration has embarked on an unprecedented wave of prosecutions of whistleblowers and alleged leakers — an effort many journalists believe is aimed at blocking national security-related stories. “There just seems to be a disconnect here. You want aggressive journalism abroad; you just don’t want it in the United States,” ABC News correspondent Jake Tapper told White House press secretary Jay Carney at a recent briefing for reporters.
• In one of those cases, the Justice Department is trying to force a New York Times reporter to identify his confidential sources and is arguing that he has no legal protection from doing so.
• Compliance with agencies’ open-government plans has been spotty, with confusing and inaccurate metrics sometimes used to assess progress. Some federal agencies are also throwing up new hurdles, such as more fees, in the path of those seeking records.
• The Office of Management and Budget has stalled for more than a year the proposals of the chief FOIA ombudsman’s office to improve governmentwide FOIA operations.
Let’s get back to tax returns to close the loop there. While the Democratic Party attacks Romney for only disclosing two years of his tax returns, how many has their chair released? None:
“This week millions of taxpaying Americans will fulfill their requirement of filing their tax returns by paying any and all taxes due to the federal government,” Harrington’s campaign writes. “Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz has been asking Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney to release his 2011 tax return even after Governor Romney released his 2010 tax return.”
“Congresswoman Wasserman Schultz’s request of Governor Romney to release his tax returns screams of hypocrisy, because to the best of our knowledge, Congresswoman Wasserman Schultz has never released a single tax return of her own. As a member of Congress, she is required to release a yearly ‘financial disclosure,’ this yearly disclosure is not a tax return.
“While asking for Governor Romney to release his past tax returns, and in keeping with the spirit of President Obama’s call for ‘full transparency,’ we ask Congressman Wasserman Schultz to release her own tax returns.”
There are no records of Wasserman Schultz having ever released her personal income tax returns, though, as the Harrington campaign states, members of Congress are required to disclose assets, holdings, and various other financial information.
At the end of the day, which kind of transparency will matter more to American voters — candidates who keep their returns private, or administration officials who take the Fifth and who have the worst record ever on FOIA compliance? If Democrats want this fight, Republicans will be happy to have it.
Breaking on Hot Air
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Santa's Mission has been growing by leaps and bounds every year. And that's not from roof top to roof top. It's from individual child to homeless shelter to hospital pediatric ward to women's shelter.
These Santas don't arrive in a sleigh powered by those eight hoofed creatures of the frozen North. But they do have an affiliation with chimneys.
These St. Nicks ride in big red vehicles with lights flashing and sirens wailing. These are the men and women of the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department and the Alexandria Fire Department who fulfill holiday wishes for children and adults alike.
By far the largest undertaking is that of the Fairfax County firefighters under the initiative and direction of Master Technician Willie F. Bailey, based at Woodlawn Station, Number 24, on Lukens Lane. This year they will provide more than 1,500 toys and gifts county-wide.
Last Tuesday morning the engine bays of the Woodlawn station began filling with gifts from donors throughout the area. In addition to the firefighters themselves, the gifts came from businesses and individuals in Alexandria and along the Route 1 corridor.
"The gifts are delivered to community centers, shelters, churches, and schools in fire trucks and personal vehicles," Bailey explained. "And this year we have counselors from various schools in the Mount Vernon area coming to pick up gifts for needy children in their schools."
BAILEY STARTED the program approximately seven years ago in conjunction with the Progressive Firefighters of Fairfax County, Local 2068. Then the department decided to join in. It has grown from 40 to 50 recipients to this year's total of gifts for more than 1,500, according to Bailey.
"I could not do this alone," Bailey admitted. "I have the support of not only my fellow firefighters but also many individuals and businesses throughout the Alexandria/Mount Vernon community."
Five of those supporters were present at the station that day unloading gifts. They represented three Old Town restaurants and St. Stephen's and St. Agnes School. For the latter, it was their first involvement with Bailey's holiday crusade.
"Willie came to the school several weeks ago and spoke about the program. This got our students really involved because they knew their donations would be going to children right in the area," said
Robert Weiman of St. Stephen's.
"The students collected toys and others contributed more than 17 boxes filled with both toys and clothing for both children and adults," he said. "When he told the students that as a firefighter he has been in many homes where children have no toys, it really made an impression."
Bailey can personally affiliate with that plight. Growing up in the Del Ray section of Alexandria, he holds the memory of receiving only one gift on Christmas morning.
As for business involvement, three Old Town restaurants — Chadwicks, Union Street Public House, and Stardust — are big supporters. "Willie came to me about four years ago to help out," said Brian Abel of Chadwicks. "When we got letters back from the kids thanking us, that solidified our support. Now we have a lot of our regular customers that also contribute," he said.
Clark Unger, Union Street Public House, helps with the shopping. "We've done the shopping over the past three weeks. We just go to Wal-Mart and empty the shelves," he said .
Bruce Witucki, also from Union Street, has been participating for about four years."We get some interesting looks and comments when we get to check-out," he confided. "One is 'you guys really like toys, don't you?'"
THIS WAS A first time experience for J.B. Samuel of Stardust Restaurant. "Now I'm addicted. Our customers brought in a couple of hundred toys. There were days I'd come to work and have to fill the van before I could start anything else."
Corporate contributions also pour in from Bearing Point, Inc., of McLean, Safeway, Inc., at Engleside Plaza, and Promax Management, Inc., according to Bailey. They have been involved for several years.
This year counselors came from area schools to pick up gifts for children and families on their list. Elementary schools getting gifts were Bucknell, Woodley Hills, Hybla Valley, Mount Eagle, Mount Vernon Woods, Washington Mills and Woodlawn.
"We are going to distribute these gifts to needy families in our school. Then they can decide how to present them to their children," said Shannon Jones, counselor, Bucknell Elementary School, "The Administration came up with the list based on need."
In addition to distributing to the schools, gifts will also go to Kennedy Shelter, Rising Home United Methodist Mission Church, Carpenter Shelter, Mund Luck, My Friends Place, and the community centers at Chantilly Mews, Gum Springs, and Reston Interfaith.
"We wrap the shelter gifts and deliver them," Bailey said. "One of our firefighters lives in Reston and we help him get the gifts out there."
IN ALEXANDRIA, Santa's express is directed by Firefighter Mike Chandler, Station 206, Seminary Road. "This all started with now retired Captain Paul Scaffido approximately 10 to 15 years ago," Chandler recalled.
"He suggested that instead of the firefighters exchanging gifts among ourselves, we pool our resources and buy gifts for the kids confined to the Alexandria Hospital pediatric ward over the holidays," he said.
"It has grown to collecting and distributing gifts to not only those kids but also to homeless shelters and the Women's Shelter,"
Chandler added. "We usually provide gifts for about 35 kids at the hospital and then a lot more to the shelters."
This year gifts are being sent to a child burn victim recuperating in a Boston, Mass., hospital. "She was burned in an apartment fire here this year and we took this opportunity to collect some toys for her this season which will be sent to her in Boston," Chandler said.
Gifts going to the Pediatric Ward are delivered by Santa arriving in an Alexandria fire truck. "The kids can either come out to the tree in the ward lobby area to get their gifts or, if they can't leave their bed, Santa brings the gifts to them personally," Chandler explained. That took place on Dec. 17.
Usually about six members of the department go to the hospital for the presentation — a captain, three firefighters, and two paramedics, according to Chandler. "This whole program has been made possible by the generosity of the people in the fire department and throughout the city," he said.
"There is one Realtor who is particularly generous. Last year that donation amounted to nine bags full of coats which accounted for nearly 100 garments," Chandler emphasized. "We split that up between the various homeless shelters and the Women's Shelter." Gifts are also donated to the ALIVE! Day Care Center.
"This year we raised between $1,200 and $1,300 to buy gifts. That's in addition to the donations of toys and gifts from within the department and community," Chandler said.
THE SHOPPING SPREE took place on the morning of Dec. 11, in KB Toys at Landmark Shopping Center. "The manager lets us come in early before the store opens and buy the toys we need. He also gives us a good discount.
"The shopping is done by four firefighters and two paramedics and takes about an hour and a half," Chandler said. All the personnel doing the shopping, who filled about nine large bags with goodies, are from Station 206, Chandler added.
Complimenting this effort, the Black Fire Service Professionals of Alexandria, Inc., along with Captain Thurston McClain, hosted its annual Christmas Party for needy children on Dec. 20, at the Hilton Mark Center. The age group encompassed those from toddler to 12.
The more than 100 children who attend this affair each year come from Alexandria's recreation centers and public housing. In addition to a luncheon of hot dogs, french fries, and Christmas cookies, each child receives a Christmas gift of either money or a toy, according to McClain.
At this time of the year "First Responder" takes on a whole new meaning. But, the mission remains the same — bring assistance, comfort, and a sense of security to those in need — physically and emotionally.
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The Australian Venom Research Unit (AVRU) is an internationally recognised interdisciplinary research unit focused on the problem of venomous injury in Australia and the Asia-Pacific. The AVRU was established by Associate Professor Struan Sutherland, formerly of CSL, on the 1st of July 1994 in the Department of Pharmacology at the University of Melbourne. This followed an announcement by CSL Ltd (the former Commonwealth Serum Laboratories) that after a 65 year period, its interest in venom and antivenom research was to cease. The announcement was made immediately prior to the launch of CSL Ltd on the Australian Stock Exchange in May 1994. As such the Unit builds on 70 years of expertise concerning venom and antivenom research and advocacy at CSL. CSL assisted in the establishment of the Unit and initial annual funding came from the Victorian Department of Human Services. Since 2002 the Unit has been mostly funded by the Australian Government through the Department of Health and Ageing as well as the Australia Research Council. The Australian Venom Research Unit aims to provide world-class expertise on the problem of Australia's venomous creatures, their toxins and the care of the envenomed patient. The specific objectives of the Unit are described below.
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Sunday, September 5, 2010
The Looming Obama Depression
The Looming Obama Depression
The longer President Obama refuses to acknowledge the direction of our nation's economy the greater the impact will be when the looming depression that awaits is named in his honor. For a leader who has had the advantages of an Ivy League education, he seems to be an excessively poor student of history. But in 120 days no one will be able to dispute that the economic mess the United States finds herself in belongs to anyone except President Barack Hussein Obama.
The basis of this reality is rooted in two truths that became quite pronounced this week. The first is that President Obama is ignoring the very real direction the nation is headed. The second is that he is purposefully ignoring the impact his looming historic tax increases will have. Both are contributing to the pessimism that overarches the morale and tone of the entrepreneurial framework of the future.
This week President Obama took to the White House press corps and by extension to the nation to claim that the nation saw job growth of 67,000 jobs in August. Even if this number was real it would be a pitifully tiny percent of the 14,885,000 who are both on unemployment (1 in 10 Americans) as well as those 23,768,000 who are underemployed (working but not earning enough for basic needs - 1 in 5 families).
The bigger problem for the president however is that the number isn't real. The fact is the nation saw 114,000 people added to the unemployment lines in August and the net jobs lost for the month sat at 54,000. In all the "summer of recovery"--as both President Obama and Vice President Biden pronounced it--saw 238,000 more jobs disappear. Telling the nation that his plans have taken the economy in the right direction, and implying that the nation is seeing a recovery in the area of employment is either willfully dishonest, or painfully, even treacherously naive. At the rate of this "recovery" another 317,333 workers could be sitting on the sidelines before the end of the year.
Additionally we are now on track to see the single largest collection of tax increases ever proposed take the Obama economy even further into the tank. In less than 120 days President Obama's plan to add a collective 18.6% to the federal tax burden will continue the economic downward spiral into record breaking depression-era territory. And remember he repeatedly said--on the campaign trail--that he should be elected expressly to prevent the nation's economy from complete deterioration.
Instead unemployment that was growing in the transition from Bush to Obama has exploded to double what it was under Bush. Even worse this means that while 14,885,000 Americans are claiming unemployment assistance, some 23,768,000 families are presently struggling through work that they have but are unable to meet their basic needs.
And about the time we are belting out Auld Lang Syne this holiday season, President Obama will raise all five income levels of tax categories between 3-5%.
Ironically the President will be raising the rate on the category that is home to seventy-five percent of all small businesses in America by the largest increase.
I call it ironic because it is the small business community in America that hires 2 out of every 3 new workers in America.
Eventually it all adds up.
The president is not pushed on this issue by the press. The president's team pretends that these realities do not exist. The president himself is willing to perpetuate the false notion that the stimulus package set up a "recovery summer" that in truth ended up in greater pain than it began with.
None of this takes into effect the additional costs that will be incurred by taxpayers when the full implementation of President Obama's control of one-sixth of the economy through the manipulation of how we receive health care benefits kicks in. And not that it has great likelihood of passing this year, but if by some miracle it did, the Obama tax penalties that would be incurred by every citizen in the nation under the proposed "Cap & Trade" legislation would add even greater misery to the growing pile.
All of these pending tax increases will be put into effect against well more than 95% of American tax-payers. Speaking of which that certainly contradicts his most famous campaign line.
In 1929 Irving Fisher observed that a number of trends led to the worst depression of our nation's history.
How many of these fit in today's scenario:
Debt liquidation and distress selling
Contraction of the money supply as bank loans are paid off
A fall in the level of asset prices
A still greater fall in the net worths of business, precipitating bankruptcies
A fall in profits
A reduction in output, in trade and in employment.
Pessimism and loss of confidence
Hoarding of money
A fall in nominal interest rates and a rise in deflation adjusted interest rates.
President Obama is ignoring and misrepresenting the rate of growth (or lack thereof) in the job numbers, and his economic team has laid the groundwork for the harshest attack on small businesses and every family in America that pays taxes effective January 1, 2011.
By every indicator this pundit can see, we are poised for tragedy... and I didn't get an Ivy League education!
Kevin McCullough is the nationally syndicated host of "Baldwin/McCullough Radio and columnist based in New York. He blogs at www.muscleheadrevolution.com. His second book "The Kind Of MAN Every Man SHOULD Be" is in stores now.
Posted by Brett at 11:12 PM
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Book Description: David Brown explores the ways in which the symbolic associations of the body and what we do with it have helped shape religious experience and continue to do so. A Church narrowly focused on Christ's body wracked in pain needs to be reminded that the body as beautiful and sexual has also played a crucial role not only in other religions but also in the history of Christianity itself. Dance was one way in which the connection was expressed. The irony is not that such a connection has gone but that it now exists almost wholly outside the Church. Much the same could be said about music more generally, and Brown writes excitingly about the spiritual potential of not just classical music but also pop, jazz, musicals, and opera. Like Brown's much-praised earlier volumes, God and Enchantment of Place, Tradition and Imagination, and Discipleship and Imagination, the present book will enlarge horizons and challenge the narrowness of much theological thinking.
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FONTANA, California, December 1, 2008 (ENS) - The roof of a distribution warehouse in Fontana is now covered with 33,700 advanced thin-film solar panels, making it the largest single rooftop solar photovoltaic array in California and the nation's largest solar installation program by a utility.
Southern California Edison unveiled the completed solar roof today as the first of its proposed 150 solar photovoltaic installations on Southern California commercial rooftops.
The $875 million project could eventually cover two square miles of existing commercial roofs with 250 million watts of peak generating capacity - equivalent to building several utility-scale solar power plants, the company said.
Ted Craver, Edison International chairman and CEO, said, "We are driving solar technology forward and identifying creative new ways to integrate solar power into the electricity grid. A program of this scale could transform solar generation, helping bring costs down and providing us with another important way to meet the environmental challenges of the future."
The 600,000 square foot Fontana distribution warehouse roof facility now generates enough power during peak output conditions to power 1,300 Inland Empire homes.
"Here in California, we are taking action to protect the environment by passing laws and setting standards and our companies and entrepreneurs are rising to the challenge," said Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who attended the unveiling of the solar rooftop facility in Fontana. "Projects like this one show the world you can protect the environment and also pump up the economy, and I am proud to say it is happening right here in California."
Southern California Edison officials today announced the location of their next solar installation site. The utility will begin construction soon atop a 458,000 square-foot industrial building in Chino, owned by the Multi-Employer Property Trust.
The solar panel supplier for the Fontana installation, First Solar of Tempe, Arizona, is also the winning bidder for the utility's second installation.
"This pilot program is sited in the high peak load areas and will provide efficiencies to the grid while creating hundreds of jobs in California," said John Carrington, First Solar executive vice president of global marketing and business development.
The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers is supporting the project through the expansion of its solar installation apprentice training program.
The program will provide a new generation source to areas where customer demand is rising. The solar modules will feed electricity back into the grid. They can be connected directly and quickly to the nearest neighborhood circuit while major new renewable energy transmission lines are being built.
And the output of solar panels generally matches peak customer demand - lower in the morning and evening, higher in the afternoon.
SCE's commercial rooftop project was prompted by advances in solar technology that reduce the cost of installed photovoltaic generation to half that of current similar installations.
The solar panels are made of materials that convert sunlight directly into electricity through a chemical process.
Thin semiconductor layers form an electric field, positive on one side and negative on the other side. When sunlight strikes the semiconductor, electrons are knocked loose from the atoms of the material, creating the current. Wires are attached to the positive and negative sides to carry the electricity from the solar cell to the device to be powered.
With its solar rooftop program, the utility hopes to fill a gap it has observed in current rooftop solar projects in the state - mid-range installations of one to two megawatts.
SCE's solar project also is designed to supplement the Go Solar California campaign, which provides incentives to encourage Californians to install solar projects by 2017.
The SCE program supports the state's Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006, which requires the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020, as well as complementing California's renewable portfolio standard, the goal that 20 percent of state's electricity be generated with renewable energy.
Last month Governor Schwarzenegger signed an executive order to streamline California's renewable energy project approval process and announced his plans to propose expansion of the state's renewable portfolio standard to 33 percent renewable power by 2020.
The utility received its first regulatory response to the commercial rooftop solar project on September 18, 2008, when the California Public Utilities Commission authorized the recording of costs for the first three installations while SCE awaits regulatory review and response to the entire project due in March 2009.
Copyright Environment News Service (ENS) 2008. All rights reserved.
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Archive for the ‘Creeds and Confessions’ Category
The Westminster Confession of Faith reads:
God from all eternity, did, by the most wise and holy counsel of His own will, freely, and unchangeably ordain whatsoever comes to pass; yet so, as thereby neither is God the author of sin, nor is violence offered to the will of the creatures; nor is the liberty or contingency of second causes taken away, but rather established.
We confess that God ordains or decrees everything, but in a way that establishes individual freedom and responsibility. At one level this is simply a mystery to us, but it is possible for us to go a little deeper. Authorship and artistry — or, as Tolkien puts it, sub-creation — have been for me a helpful analogy for God’s sovereignty over creation. It does not even occur to us to accuse Tolkien of tempting or causing Gollum to sin, or of any injustice or violence toward Gollum. Even recognizing Tolkien’s authorship, we do not doubt that Gollum did what he did of his own free will, or that he deserved his end. Philosophers call this compatibilist free will, but it just means that we do what we want to do. An author or artist’s decreeing or ordaining her work is categorically different from ordinary causation or compulsion within the world of the work itself. In fact, the author’s decrees are just what establishes and upholds a structure of causality and responsibility within the world of her work. Otherwise it would be utter chaos.
This also means that God’s very being and existence are categorically different from ours; to use the philosophical term, he is transcendent. This is perhaps the main reason that Anselm’s argument fails: we cannot induct our way outside of the story; we cannot build a ladder that jumps right off the page. We need God to reveal himself to us.
There are some fun ways to explore this creator-creature distinction in story and art. In simplest form, characters might speculate about or comically defy the author. Pushing the analogy to its limits, we end up with self-reference, a multiplicity of levels, and illusions. This gets us into the realm of what Douglas Hofstadter calls the “strange loop,” and as Hofstadter points out, Escher’s work is a great example of all this. But the analogy does break down: our stories are only shadows of reality, and Escher’s lizards and hands and birds only have the illusion of reality. Only God enters his creation in the flesh and allows it to act upon himself.
While talking with the men from my small group this week, it struck me that this analogy of sub-creation gives literary references to God a double or ironic meaning. When an unbelieving author’s characters rail against or reject God’s authority, they are in one sense railing against him, and so he is undermining his own argument. In his very attempt to boast in human autonomy, he reveals the absurdity of that rebellion. He cannot escape his dependence on and submission to God any more than his characters can escape their obvious dependence on and submission to him.
This gives us an alternate reading of the poem Invictus. Instead of seeing it as the poet’s raising his fist against God, we can equally see it as the character within the poem’s raising his own fist against the poet. In that light, the poem becomes childish and petty.
But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, “Why have you made me like this?”
The idea that we could transcend the boundary between ourselves and our author, or somehow cast off a dependence on him that is fundamental to our very existence, is absurd. Far better to humble our hearts and enjoy where he has set us.
Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good!
Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!
The analogy of authorship might prove instructive to us in other ways, too. The fact that God’s sovereignty is what establishes causality and responsibility rescues us from futile determinism. And seeing God as an author certainly emphasizes his power over his creation. It is a small thing for him to write of the weaving of his world in seven days, or of a world-wide flood rather than a regional flood: we don’t have to wring our hands over miracles that are hard for our creaturely minds to conceive. And as much as there may be degrees of fellowship with or separation from God, this also suggests that it is misguided to divide creation and our experience into the natural and the supernatural, secular and spiritual, nature and grace. Because of God’s intimate and personal involvement in his story, the overlap between the natural and supernatural is entire and complete. You cannot possibly escape God’s sovereignty, lordship, or grace. That in turn lays the foundation for a robust common grace.
Where shall I go from your Spirit?
Or where shall I flee from your presence?
Finally, this analogy also suggests that, while there is great value in a reductionist approach to understanding God’s world, there is comparatively greater value in seeking to understand God’s word and world holistically, to grasp the sweep of story and persons.
See also: Proof of the non-existence of God.
Yes, this does contradict the WCF quote on the face of it. See John Frame’s distinction between what you might call a proximate and an ultimate sense of authorship, which is what I’m getting at by distinguishing between decree/ordination and causation/compulsion.
Last November I posted a quote from John Loftness on parenting with faith in God and his promises for our children. But faith always has legs; “therefore how we act,” as Loftness says. I have three small children. What difference does it make that I know God is at work in them, that he has been at work from the very beginning?
- We teach them , to name Jesus as “our Lord” and to confess that “he died for our sins and pleads with God for us.”
- When we pray, we teach them to name God as “our Father” and to look to him for provision and forgiveness. And we rejoice in his forgiveness and provision! God is far more lavish even than Mommy and Daddy in his mercy and blessing.
- We teach and expect them to sing to our savior and king, at home and at church.
- We teach and expect them to walk in the fruit of the Spirit. With every bit of good fruit we see, we rejoice and encourage them that this is God at work in them.
- We teach and expect them to obey cheerfully. Repentance for sin and rejoicing in God’s forgiveness and acceptance are also a key part of this.
- Whether or not they participate in the Lord’s supper, we teach them to thank Jesus for cleansing them from sin with his blood, and for making them a part of God’s family.
Not that we have already obtained this!
Are we training our children to be little hypocrites? Absolutely not! Rather:
- Scripture gives us great confidence that the Holy Spirit is already at work in our children, and our task is one of fanning into flame.
- The Christian life is lifelong repentance and faith. While regeneration is absolutely necessary, it is likely in the case of our children that pinpointing it will be futile. The gardener diligently tends his garden before he can even see the sprouts; and as they grow, he tenderly cares for, trains and prunes them, without knowing whether they will survive, so that they may survive. In the same way, we train our children to walk in daily repentance, faith and obedience.
- Similarly, there is a reason that Proverbs 22:6 does not instruct us to lead our children to the way, but rather train them in the way. Christian nurture is not preparation for a future driver’s exam; it is a continuous going deeper. We love our savior and king; there is absolutely no question that he is our trustworthy savior and the king of the world; and faith, repentance and obedience are simply what it looks like to love him.
Our church practices credobaptism, and I’ve assembled this catechism to help ready my children for a pastoral interview. We’re also learning the apostle’s creed, below. Some influences are my pastors Phil Sasser and Daniel Baker, and also Chris Schlect and the Westminster-based catechism for young children. I’d be grateful for suggested improvements.
What is your sin?
Disobeying God’s word (1 John 3:4)
What is the penalty for your sin?
Death (Romans 6:23)
What is the gospel?
Jesus died for our sins, was buried, and was raised from the dead; just as God promised. (1 Cor 15)
Why does God love you?
He made me His child.
How do you know that God loves you?
He gave his son Jesus for me.
Who is Jesus?
He is God’s son, my maker, savior and king. He is my life and my treasure.
How is Jesus your Savior?
Jesus died in my place, so I am forgiven and adopted.
Where is Jesus now?
He rose from the dead and sits at our Father’s right hand.
How is Jesus your King?
He leads, provides, cares for and protects me.
Who is the Holy Spirit?
He is my helper.
How does he help you?
He gives me life, peace, comfort, and strength to become more like Jesus.
What is faith?
Resting on Jesus for my salvation (Psalm 62:5-8)
Why do you love God?
He is great and good, and he loves me.
What is repentance?
To be sorry for my sin, to hate it as God does, and to keep turning from it
Why do you obey God?
Because I love him
Church, now and then
Who are God’s people?
They make up his church.
What does his church do?
We display God’s greatness and beauty, and serve and care for one another.
What will become of God’s people?
God will keep us to the end.
What happens at the end?
Jesus will restore his creation and live with his people.
What is baptism?
Baptism is God’s marking out a person as his own.
What does your baptism signify?
I am cleansed from my sin by Jesus’s blood, and united to him in his death and resurrection.
Why do you want to be baptized?
Because I belong to Jesus
I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth.
And in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended to the dead. On the third day he rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven, where he sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. From there he will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Christian church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.
I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried; he descended to the dead. On the third day he rose again; he ascended into heaven, he is seated at the right hand of the Father, and he will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.
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George Washington's Leadership Lessons, by James Rees with Stephen Spignesi, John Wiley & Sons, $21.95.
The father of our country may have been born to lead. How he learned to lead is a tale of openness to experience, personal challenge and humanity.
His lessons apply today; here are some noteworthy ones:
Trust and honesty -- Washington realized that people only believed in and followed people they trusted and respected. Honesty is the foundation of trust. The rules apply to everyone but especially to the leader.
Communication -- Choose your words wisely. Washington penned more than 20,000 letters. He seldom assumed that anything in writing would remain private. With our proliferation of e-mail, no privacy can be expected. He was meticulous about spelling, grammar and punctuation, too.
Ambition -- You need it to lead. It allows you to challenge yourself. Ambition demands a diverse perspective on learning and a respect for the knowledge and opinions of others. It requires alliances that can only be built through networking. Washington was an accomplished fencer and dancer because these talents afforded him access to events attended by those in the "right" social circles. He used that access to share his knowledge and learn from others.
Good judgment -- Washington believed in informed decisions. He also believed diverse talent, not a group of "Yes Men," was the best source of information. Washington based decisions on what he believed to be right rather than expedient.
-- Jim Pawlak
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|Do you know the choices available for your child's education? How can you best support your child? Mesquite Library is hosting a free lectures series for the invested parent. Topics include: Options in Education Parents' Roles in Education Organizing Your Child's Schedule Technology Use for Children Join us at Mesquite Library on, January 30th, February 6th, February 13th , February 20th from 4:00-5:00 PM for this stimulating lecture series. Sponsored by Phoenix Public Library and Taylion Virtual Academy.
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Where can I find funding to help make my classroom, school, or program more accessible?
DO-IT's Northwest Alliance for Access to Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (AccessSTEM) provided funding to help make classrooms, schools, and programs more accessible for students with disabilities in the Northwest region of the United States.
K-12 educators from Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Alaska whose students participate in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) activities were eligible to apply for an AccessSTEM minigrant. The minigrant program provided funding to purchase adaptive materials, technology, and/or curriculum needed to fully include students with disabilities in STEM courses and programs. Additionally, educators could apply for funds to defray the costs of attending conferences and trainings to learn about assistive technology and teaching strategies that promote the full inclusion of students with disabilities in STEM courses.
The ultimate goal was for minigrants to promote the success of students with disabilities in STEM academic and career fields. For examples of minigrant projects that were funded, consult the DO-IT Knowledge Base articles Captain Strong Elementary: A Promising Practice in Engaging Students with Learning Differences and Classroom Performance System: A Promising Practice in Engaging All Students.
Last update or review: January 18, 2013
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The Discourses of Epictetus, tr. by P.E Matheson, , at sacred-texts.com
If a man, says Epictetus, objects to what is manifestly clear, it is not easy to find an argument against him, whereby one shall change his mind. And this is not because of his power, nor because of the weakness of him that is instructing him; but, when a man, worsted in argument, becomes hardened like a stone, how can one reason with him any more?
Now there are two ways in which a man may be thus hardened: one when his reasoning faculty is petrified, and the other when his moral sense is petrified, and he sets himself deliberately not to assent to manifest arguments, and not to abandon what conflicts with them. Now most of us fear the deadening of the body and would take all possible means to avoid such a calamity, yet we take no heed of the deadening of the mind and the spirit. When the mind itself is in such a state that a man can follow nothing and understand nothing, we do indeed think that he is in a bad condition; yet, if a man's sense of shame and self-respect is deadened, we even go so far as to call him 'a strong man'.
Do you comprehend that you are awake?
'No,' he says, 'no more than I comprehend it, when I seem to be awake in my dreams.'
Is there no difference then between the one sort of impression and the other?
Can I argue with him any longer? What fire or sword, I say, am I to bring to bear on him, to prove that his mind is deadened? He has sensation and pretends that he has not; he is worse than the dead. One man does not see the battle; he is ill off. This other sees it but stirs not, nor advances; his state is still more wretched. His sense of shame and self-respect is cut out of him, and his reasoning faculty, though not cut away, is brutalized. Am I to call this 'strength'? Heaven forbid, unless I call it 'strength' in those who sin against nature, that makes them do and say in public whatever occurs to their fancy.
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|♥- Mattie- ♥|
I'm the- princess,got to- love me!
|Barked: Fri Sep 4, '09 2:09pm PST |
|Origin and History and...Etiquette for the Bridal party
Responsibilities of the Mother of the Groom;
informal invitation to dinner about the engagement at a nice restaurant is always in order.
It is the responsibility of the groom's parents to host the rehearsal dinner. This can be as simple as a salad potluck with paper plates in the backyard or as elaborate as an exotic dinner with live entertainment in the finest restaurant
The first official duty of the mother of the groom, during the reception is to stand in the receiving line greeting guests and introducing her friends and family to the bride and her family.
Be familiar with the responsibilities of the Maid of Honor. You may want to have a conversation with the Maid of Honor to coordinate and avoid stepping on each others toes.
Responsibilities of the Mother of the Bride;
The Primary responsibility of the Mother of the Bride is to see that the bride's wishes are carried out the bride's way. It will be your responsibility to help the bride plan her wedding with her tastes in mind…not yours.
Help the bride select her wedding attire. Remember, this is not your wedding. If you find yourself talking the bride out of a gown she loves, you may be overreaching.
In the event that the Mother of the Groom does not contact you, you will make the first contact.
See that the guest lists are put together. The invitations must be ordered as soon as possible.
Choose your gown for the wedding day. Immediately tell the Mother of the Groom the colors and style so that she may begin looking for a complimentary gown.
Bride's mother who will first select a dress for her daughters wedding;A gown of complimentary color and similar styling is then chosen by the mother of the groom. She (groom's mother) must wear long if the bride's mother wears long or short if she wears short.
The Maid of Honor's (MOH) responsibilities include:
In North America, a wedding party might include several bridesmaids, but the maid of honor is the title and position held by the bride's chief attendant, typically her closest friend or sister.
Attending all prenuptial parties.
Help address invitations and announcements.
Entertain a party for the bride and groom…if possible. This could be a couple's shower.
Assist bride with going away clothes and luggage.
Be sure that bridesmaids are kept aware of their fitting appointments, rehearsal obligations and any special duties that the bride may wish for them to do.
Arrange with a florist for a supply of rose petals to shower on the bride and groom as they leave. If a flower girl is in the party, she is responsible to see that the child knows when and how to do this.
Assist bride with her train during ceremony and in the receiving line.
Hold the bride's wedding bouquet for the exchange of rings during the ceremony and hand it back just before the recessional.
In a double ring ceremony, carry the groom's ring until it is time to hand it to the minister.
Witness and sign the marriage certificate after the ceremony.
Stand in the receiving line. The traditional place to stand is at the groom's left side with her bridesmaids to her left.
Assist the bride when she is ready to change into here going away ensemble.
With the best man, help the couple depart.
The Best Man's responsibilities include:
The best man is the chief male assistant to the bridegroom at a wedding. The groom extends this honor to someone who is close to him, generally either a brother or his closest male friend.
Make absolutely sure that the groom has the marriage license with him.
Receive the minister's fee from the groom and give it to the minister privately following the ceremony.
Help the groom pack for his honeymoon.
Help the groom dress for the ceremony.
If a ring bearer is to be in the wedding, the Best Man is responsible to oversee the child and be sure he understands his duties.
Assist with luggage arrangements for both the bride and the groom so that everything will be ready for their departure.
Make sure car or travel arrangements are set and that the groom is carrying any necessary reservations, tickets, money and travelers checks.
The Best Man will want to ride to the church with the groom.
It is the Best Man's responsibility to make sure the ushers/Groomsman's are together and ready before the ceremony begins.
Be first at the reception in order to welcome the bride and groom.
The Best Man is responsible to make the first toast to the bride and groom at the wedding. The Best Man is also responsible to make the first toast at the rehearsal dinner.
The Best Man should act as a host, making introductions when necessary and helping to make the guests feel welcome.
The Best Man should dance at the reception with the bride, both mothers and as many of the bridal attendants and guest as possible.
Help the groom change into his travel clothes after the reception. Find out when the bride is ready to leave and with the maid/matron of honors, help the bride and groom depart.
Order flowers for the bride and groom's room at the first stop of the honeymoon trip.
Another responsibility of the Best Man may include the signing of the marriage certificate. This is not only a legal document but also a beautiful keepsake for the couple. Many times, the Best Man is not aware that his signature may be required and he may be off with the guests.
The Grooms men's responsibilities include:
The term groomsman is more common in the United States, and usher is more common in the UK. Usually the bridegroom selects his closest friends and/or relatives (brothers,cousins,etc) to serve as a groomsmen, and it is considered an honor to be selected. From his groomsmen, the groom usually chooses one to serve as best man. The duties of the groomsmen are to help guests find their places before the ceremony and to participate in the wedding ceremony.
The groom's close friends and relatives, the groomsmen, support him throughout the wedding planning process. Take your role as groomsman seriously -- after all, you're helping one of your best friends through what can be a very nerve-racking day. Plus, if you act like the levelheaded, responsible guy you are, you'll impress those single bridesmaids. Read on for a rundown of your duties.
Attending all pre-wedding festivities (engagement party, couple shower, bachelor party, rehearsal dinner). Perks: Free vittles and drinks.
Helping the best man plan the groom's bachelor party. Perks: Good food, drinks.
You'll conspire with the best man -- and the bridesmaids -- to decorate the honeymoon getaway car in style.
Before the ceremony, you may be asked to usher guests to their seats. At traditional Christian ceremonies, guests of the bride's family sit on the left, and guests of the groom's family sit on the right. At Jewish ceremonies, it's the opposite. When a couple arrives, take the woman's arm and escort her to her seat; her escort will follow you. Always seat the oldest woman first if several guests arrive together.
At the reception, you may be introduced with the bridesmaid you escorted during the recessional. You may also be asked to dance with bridesmaids or single female guests during the evening. Wow, how easy is this?
Responsibilities of the Bridesmaids:
The bridesmaids are members of the bride's wedding party in a wedding. A bridesmaid is typically a young woman, and often a close friend or sister. She attends to the bride on the day of a wedding or marriage ceremony. Traditionally, bridesmaids were chosen from unwed young women of marriageable age.
Responsibilities of the Flowergirls:
A flower girl is a participant in a wedding procession. Like ring bearers and page boys, flower girls are usually members of the bride's or groom's extended family, but may also be friends
There may be more than one flower girl, particularly if the bride has several young relatives to honor.
Typically, the flower girl walks in front of the bride during an entrance processional. She may spread flower petals on the floor before the bride or carry a bouquet of flowers or thornless roses.
Responsibilities of the Ring Bearer/Page Boy:
A page boy is a young male attendant at a wedding or cotillion. This type of wedding attendant is less common than it used to be, but is still a way of including young relatives or the children of relatives and friends in a wedding.
Traditionally, page boys carry the bride's train, especially if she is wearing a dress with a long train. Because of the difficulty of managing the train, page boys are generally no younger than age seven, with older boys being preferred for more complicated duties
The ringbearer as a separate role is a relatively modern innovation.
In a white wedding ceremony, the best man carries the rings.
Ring bearers are often nephews or young brothers ,although they can also be nieces or sisters and are generally in the same age range as flower girls,
|my page | msg me | gift me | become pals|
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The Powers of Display: Cinemas of Investigation, Demonstration and Illusion
Cinema and Media Studies Graduate Student Conference
The Department of Cinema and Media studies presents a two-day graduate conference on the subject of cinema's enduring struggle with truth and fakery, spectacle and deception. The Powers of Display: Cinemas of Investigation, Demonstration and Illusion will engage cinema’s enduring affinity for certain genres, subjects, and aesthetics that are dominated by the idea of display, particularly as this idea informs modes of spectatorship that pivot on curiosity, skepticism, detection, and a will to know how things work.
In light of the persistence of “display” as both a recurrent mode and subject in cinema and moving image media, this conference seeks to extend lines of thinking about cinema’s showing power by hosting presentations which explore the aesthetic surfaces of information, investigation and knowledge, and also deception, illusion and spectacle. The topics covered will range from (early) non-fiction and animation to special effects, perception and psychology in science films and techniques of investigation, and aesthetics of revelation; they will also raise questions about what kinds of knowledge and structures of belief the cinema can produce in its capacity as a technology of investigation, deception and demonstration. What kinds of cinema encourage curiosity or skepticism? What constitutes evidence on screen? What constitutes illusion? How have the visual conventions of cinematic “showing” evolved? What defines genres that have appealed to investigatory or incredulous spectators? How can cinema teach? How does it misinform? By organizing an array of historical and theoretical questions around cinema’s power to display, this conference aims to both distinguish cinema’s specificity, as well as account for the ways that cinematic aesthetics have been informed by and integrated into other forms of media and visual culture. Complete details available at the conference blog.
Keynote speaker Alison Griffiths (Baruch College and the Graduate Center, City University of New York) will give a talk on “Edison, Houdini, and the Electric Chair.” Griffiths is the author of Shivers Down Your Spine: Cinema, Museums, and the Immersive View (New York: Columbia University Press, 2008) and Wondrous Difference: Cinema, Anthropology, and Turn of the Century Visual Culture (New York: Columbia University Press, 2002)
Day one of the conference will conclude with an April Fools Day screening of Orson Welles’ F for Fake (1973, 35mm, 89 min).
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By Miles Doyle
Paul Carlucci, CBA ’69, stresses the importance of finding a mentor to succeed in the business world.
Photo by Chris Taggart
Traditional business practices have changed with the advent of online commerce and social media, according to the publisher of the New York Post. Still, the strategy for running a successful company remains essentially the same.
“Resiliency and interpersonal skills are right at the top,” said Paul Carlucci, CBA ’69, chairman and chief executive officer of News America Marketing. “In business you’ll do much, much better if you have interpersonal skills.”
Carlucci spoke on April 12 at the Lincoln Center campus as part of the Flaum Leadership Lecture Series.
“Leadership is still a process that requires warmth,” he said.
In his hour-long address, “Business Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow ... How to Be Successful in Corporate America,” Carlucci shared anecdotes from his four-decade career in publishing, which began in the sales department of the New York Daily News shortly after his graduation from Fordham.
Drawing on his personal experiences, he mapped out for the audience of approximately 75 Fordham students, administrators and guests what he considers the five most effective and efficient business practices.
“At News America, we purposely avoided coming up with a mission statement,” said Carlucci, who joined Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation, the parent company of the New York Post and News America Marketing, as executive vice president in 1991.
“We came up with five operating principles for what we felt were the best ways to run a company,” he said. They include:
• effective communications;
• full disclosure;
• maximize the business;
• inclusive management; and
• human resource development.
“Human resource development is probably the thing we believe in the most and probably led us to the most success,” he said.
Carlucci also recommended calling on the “bad guys,” or the people with a reputation for being difficult business partners.
“Once you build on that relationship,” he explained, “they will always come to you and tell you everything you need to know about the industry and your competitors, because you’ll more than likely be the only one reaching out to them.”
He also stressed the importance of finding a mentor, someone “pure of heart” who “gets an absolute kick out of your success.”
Among the welcome changes to the way people do business today, he said, is the mellowing of the executive class.
He told a story about a CEO who once went out of his way during a board meeting to berate two heavyset employees with an offensive, expletive-ridden rant.
“That conduct and that style obviously can’t work in today’s business world,” he said. “It has changed so radically, but that story is truly the essence of my background. It really happened. It happened all the time.”
Like many of his generation, Carlucci said he adopted the business discipline of his superiors but left behind their politically incorrect traits.
“Loyalty is a two-way street. If you’re there for your employees, you can build leaders in your organization,” he said.
Sponsored by Sander Flaum, the Flaum Leadership Lecture Series provides Fordham University’s Graduate School of Business Administration students with opportunities to connect with notable leaders from the world of business.
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The miller moth, which is a mature army cutworm, is a common pest in Colorado.
These moths are usually gray or brown with two characteristic light spots on each wing. They can be extremely annoying when they get into homes and cars, but they do not breed indoors or eat clothing, and generally die within a few days.
These pests overwinter as larvae in the soil, primarily in alfalfa and wheat fields in eastern Colorado. In the spring, caterpillars emerge to feed and complete their life cycle. Moths emerge in May or June, with the majority emerging during a very short period.
They migrate to higher elevations in the mountains to find food, crossing heavily populated areas of the state. If moths get to the mountains, they usually stay there until late summer or early fall when they return to the eastern portion of the state. Fall migrations are smaller and less frequently observed than the spring migration.
Experts believe that miller moths get distracted from their normal flight pattern by light at night in urban areas -- porch lights, security flood lights and street lamps.
insecticides are not effective at controlling these pests. The best controls are to seal any openings in the home, reduce the amount of lights at night and guard doors as people come and go to prevent moth entrance.
Once inside a home, moths can be controlled with a fly swatter or vacuum cleaner. Keeping a light suspended over a bucket of water during the night also can trap moths. You may also wait for the insects to die on their own in a few days.
Remember that these insects are a nuisance, but pose no danger to humans, plants, clothing and fabric.
For more information, see the following Colorado State Extension fact sheet(s).
Do you have a question? Try Ask an Expert!
Updated Friday, April 19, 2013
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For one more week, Terri Reardon can continue to call herself Canadian. But, after next Wednesday, July 23rd, she will raise her hand to swear her allegiance to her adopted country.
It's been a long journey.
Terri met Sean when he was at Texas Tech, and she was on a work visa as a nurse. When she married him, she had resident status, but not citizenship. Ten years and two young sons later, she decided that it was time she be able to participate fully as a citizen in the country that she now proudly calls home.
Of course, since the government is in charge of processing requests for citizenship, first there was the paperwork. LOTS of paperwork. And photos. And some more paperwork.
And then, lots of waiting.
When you hear on the news reports about the delay in becoming a United States citizen, it can seem pretty far removed from your own life. However, when you're waiting to do it yourself or it's someone close to you, only then does the slow progress of bureaucracy become painfully clear.
Finally there came the studying.
You see, unlike the majority of us who became citizens because our parents were, and their grandparents were, Terri actually had to take a test. About our government. And she had to pass.
So you have to learn about the branches of government. Memorize how many states, senators, representatives, supreme court justices... Trivial information; but, important to know if you're going to sit in front of an examiner and prove that you REALLY want to be an American.
She studied books, videos, the internet. She quizzed her friends. Probably the most amusing moment came about a month ago when Terri's mom and aunt came to visit from Canada and I walked in while they were helping her study. Three Canadians discussing U.S. government and civics, and at a level that most of us would fail miserably since we haven't looked closely at all that information since we were in school.
But she did pass. With flying colors!
We all got excited hoping that maybe her swearing in would be on July 4th. But, that didn't quite happen. It's going to be on July 23rd.
Entirely by coincidence, that's Sean's birthday. I don't really think he's expecting any other gift from her this year, since her present to him will be that she can finally be completely equal as a legal U.S. citizen. No restrictions. No cards to carry. No worries when they travel out of the U.S.
There are plenty of other folks I've known over the years that have gone through this same process. I'm always proud of them, and always pleased that they love their adopted country enough that they want to make it their true home.
So, next Wednesday, you'll understand why I'm hoofing it to San Antonio as soon as we get the paper out on the street. I'll watch Terri stand with all the others that have gone through the arduous process, and I'll watch them raise their hands together as they renounce their birthplaces and embrace their new birthright.
And I'll be so proud of her. And you better believe that in the July 30th paper, we will have a picture of Terri Reardon, American citizen, with her family.
We should all have to work as hard to earn what we so often take for granted.
It’s all just my opinion, but it’s what I wish would happen.
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Chiropractic and lifestyle intervention: The sum is greater than the parts
by James L. Chestnut, DC
Chronic illness is the single greatest threat to our health, to our quality and quantity of life, to our economy, and to our standard of living. The social and economic burden of chronic illness is unsustainable and is bankrupting individuals, corporations, and governments.
A full 80% of the adult population in industrial society has already developed chronic illness. 80% of all health care spending goes to palliate patients with chronic illness. By 2017, spending on chronic illness will reach $4.3 trillion in the US alone - that's $12 billion per day, $500 million per hour, and more than $8 million dollars per minute. The US is NOT an outlier. On a per capita basis, these figures are now representative of nearly every industrial nation around the world, including Australia.
The evidence is unequivocal. Chronic illness is a lifestyle issue. Lifestyle is the cause of chronic illness and lifestyle is the only evidence-based solution for the prevention of, and recovery from, chronic illness.
Outside of acute trauma, lifestyle is the leading causal factor for every patient within the scope of chiropractic practice, including those with chronic back pain, neck pain, and headaches. Lifestyle is also the leading determining factor in how well our patients respond to intervention, their pain levels, and their ability to heal. In fact, there's nothing within the scope of chiropractic practice that isn't greatly influenced by our patients' lifestyle choices.
The evidence is clear. Anatomical evaluation of patients is NOT predictive of their symptoms, the type of care they will respond to, or their prognosis. Lifestyle habits, including psychosocial factors, have much greater predictive value than anatomical diagnostic tools such as x-ray, MRI, or orthopedic tests.
The knowledge and ability to educate and empower patients regarding healthy lifestyle change is the skill set that's most needed, and will be most sought after by individuals, governments, insurance companies, and corporations in the 21st century. Research indicates that lifestyle change is both exponentially more effective and less expensive than medical treatment when it comes to chronic illness.
I leave you with quotes from an article that was published by Hyman et al. in Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine in Nov/Dec 2010:
"If we train and pay for doctors to learn how to help patients address the real causes of disease with lifestyle and not just treat disease risk factors, simply the effects of poor lifestyle choices, with medications and surgery, we can save almost $1.9 trillion over 10 years for just 5 major diseases: heart disease, diabetes, "pre-diabetes” or metabolic syndrome, and prostate and breast cancer.”
"Personalized lifestyle medicine is a high science, high touch, low tech, low-cost treatment that is more effective for the top 5 chronic diseases than our current approaches. Yet it is not taught in medical schools, practiced by physicians or delivered in hospitals or healthcare settings.”
The sad reality is that lifestyle science and lifestyle intervention are not taught in chiropractic, medical, or any other health care provider educational programs. It was for this reason that I developed the Wellness Lifestyle Post-Graduate Certification Program for the International Chiropractors Association. We can all be proud that chiropractic was the first profession to create such a program and we have the ONLY certified lifestyle practitioners in the world (at least as far as we know).
For more information on how wellness lifestyle intervention is the most evidence-based, and the most viable solution for 21st century health care, please see my latest book "The Wellness & Prevention Paradigm” available at www.wellnessandprevention.com.
(Chair of the International Chiropractors Association [ICA] Council on Wellness Lifestyle Science, James L. Chestnut, B.Ed., M.Sc., DC, CCWP, is also developer and lead instructor for the association's post-graduate Wellness Lifestyle Certification Program, and board member of its Committee on Postgraduate Education. Additionally, Dr. Chestnut is president and head of research and product development of Innate Choice Wellness Nutrition, president and head of program development of Eat Well Move Well Think Well Lifestyle Corp, and developer of Licensed Innate Lifestyle Program.)
© 2012 The Chiropractic Journal Website maintained by
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Even though I still use a RiscPC as a second computer, I am quite happy to keep it running ROS4. I honestly do not see the need for a version of ROS5 that runs on it. It would be better if the people who are going to take advantage of the shared source intiative devote their programming and engineering skills to moving the OS forward. Multicore processors appear to me to be the way silicon technology is moving, with the appearance of a dual-core XScale from Intel last year, wouldn't it be better if attention was focused on making RISC OS use similar and no doubt faster chips that will appear in the future.
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Prototype affordable Braille display in development A low-cost computer-controlled Braille board has been prototyped by a RISC OS-using university student. Undergraduate Edward Rogers hopes to sell his completed units for as little as 200 quid each to schools and families to allow more blind children to continue learning Braille. And he said he wanted to launch his venture using RISC OS-powered kit before offering a package for other platforms. 10 comments, latest by epokh on 27/6/09 12:49PM. Published: 22 Nov 2008
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SOMETIMES THE SURVIVAL OF ancient skills hangs by a frail thread, springing to new life through the passions of one person whose vision inspires a surge of creativity. Such was the case with Bill Willis, Memphis-born and a longtime fixture of the sacred yet seamy quarter of Sidi Bel Abbes near the heart of the Marrakech medina. Morocco had almost forgotten its indigenous architectural and design history, until Willis's fresh eye came along to rejoice in its contrast of grand sobriety, rainbow palette and subtle variations on ancient Islamic themes. His disciples are legion, and echoes of his lively vision can still be found everywhere in his adopted country.
Willis had arrived in Morocco in the mid-1960s after an adventurous decade that took him from the Stella Adler school in New York to England, then to Rome, where he opened an antique shop near the Spanish Steps that dazzled for a moment. Wildly handsome in a green-eyed shock-haired Irish fashion, Willis was orphaned before he turned 20 and blew his inheritance on a jaunt to Europe sampling every hedonistic rapture he could discover before his self-imposed exile to Tangier in 1966. In the following spring, his newly married friends, Talitha and J. Paul Getty Jr., arrived from Rome and swept him off to Marrakech—virgin territory for all of them.
Photo: At Home in Marrakech
Together they explored a city very different from the throbbing hub it is today. Only a few years earlier the power of France in Morocco had waned, and King Mohammed had returned to rule. The city was small, dilapidated—everything was for sale. The old palaces and riads of the medina were being abandoned by their owners for French villas in Gueliz—the suburb that consul general Hubert Lyautey had conceived of 40 years earlier. As the comforts of the modern world proved more seductive than their tumbling family palaces, their former courts and painted rooms were gradually invaded by rats, snakes and pigeons.
“In 1967, Talitha and Paul Getty arrived from Rome and swept Willis off to Marrkech—virgin territory for all of them.”
THE INCOMPARABLE BEAUTY OF of the city's setting, with great palm groves to the north and the curtain of snow-capped High Atlas to the south, ravished the three friends as they searched for a holiday retreat. They eventually settled on the Palais du Zahir in the quarter of Sidi Mimoun, near the city's rosy southern ramparts, purchased from its exiled French owner for about 10 thousand dollars. Willis, who had already decorated the Gettys' apartment in Rome, was commissioned to reawaken this sleeping beauty.
He felt instantly at home in Marrakech, exploring its dusty alleys, unearthing subtle evidence of its ancient culture and discovering craftsmen still working with skills harking back to its medieval past. One maalem (or master craftsman), in particular, opened many doors for the decorator: Ma'alem Houman, who was skilled in the brickwork and tadelakt (a glazed plaster mixed with pigment and soap) that Willis brought out of the hammam (or bathhouse) and into Moorish interiors. Houman would introduce Willis to masters of other crafts, including zellige (glazed tile mosaic), gebs (carved and incised white plaster) and mashrabiya (intricately carved cedar for pierced screens). Not all were local. For centuries, silver-bearded turbaned craftsmen from Fez and Meknes had been coming to work in the ancient mosques and palaces of Marrakech, instructing sloe-eyed youths in their arts.
Willis soon discovered Jean Gallotti and Albert Laprade's Le Jardin et la Maison Arabes au Maroc, a magnificent book featuring Lucien Vogel's photographs of the finest work from the '20s and line drawings clarifying, with great precision, the techniques used—naming, for example, each tiny shape that creates the great sunburst of zellige. The Gettys' palace, with its four courtyards, ancient harem and great green-glazed garden court, still retained much of its 19th-century grandeur, as well as decorative traces from the '20s and '30s. Thus, learning a new design language, Willis worked his spell, knitting everything together with confidence, subtlety and gaiety.
The Gettys' place sprung to life as Gore Vidal, Marianne Faithful, Michelangelo Antonioni, Dado Ruspoli, the Rolling Stones and Lords Warwick and Lichfield visited to bask in its sudden refreshment. Others, simultaneously drawn to this city of the plain, were soon lured by Willis and the Gettys from their medina hideaways to Sidi Mimoun, enticed not only by the charms of its inhabitants, but by the grace, wit and sparkle of Willis's décor, which became swiftly legendary. Among the very first were Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé, who sensed instantly that here was an artist of exceptional gifts and imagination. They were to become his most constant, loyal, supportive and creative clients—mentors and friends as well—working with him for over 40 years as they transformed their own kingdom around the Jardin Majorelle.
Saint Laurent and Bergé had discovered their rundown corner of paradise soon after their arrival. The painter Jacques Majorelle had lived in Marrakech for more than 40 years until his death in 1962. Like his father, he was interested in decoration, but his great skill and passion was gardening, and here he created a garden with noble collections of palms, bamboo and cacti.
“Saint Laurent sensed instantly that Willis was an artist of exceptional gifts and imagination.”
At first they bought Dar es Saada, a modest, neglected house next door to Majorelle's garden where Willis helped them make a holiday retreat with rooms for guests—simple, elegant, cool and welcoming. Later, in the early '80s, they bought the much larger Villa Oasis—Majorelle's own house—and, with Willis editing, enriching and echoing earlier work, created the richly wrought pleasure dome that became their home (Dar es Saada was converted to a guesthouse). From the marbled central hall, with its raised platform for musicians, rooms flow: on the right, the wondrous library and bedroom; on the left, the salon vert—its ceiling green and white; the salon bleu, with its shimmering fireplace and paintings by F.L. Schmied and Boutet de Monvel; a small dining room with bold flowering panels and a deep-scarlet steeply beamed ceiling; and out to the garden and the green-roofed pavilion that seems to float above the pools of water lilies.
Everywhere the rich repertory of Moorish decoration is celebrated, using a surprising palette that at times echoes the freshness and gaiety of the surrounding garden; at other times—as in the ravishing library—applies more sombre, mysterious, crepuscular tones. Many people contributed to this astonishing creation—Jacques Grange to the furnishing; Messieurs Dominique and Filloucat, both of Marrakech, to the woodwork and the painting, respectively—but it was always Willis who interpreted, with boundless verve and imagination, the yearnings of his more fastidious, most favored and like-minded clients. This secret, beautiful world, consisting of two private houses and the public Jardin Majorelle, has been saved from extinction by the Foundation Jardin Majorelle, run by garden designer Madison Cox, Bergé's longtime friend and restorer of their gardens.
“Everywhere the rich repertory of Moorish decoration is celebrated, using a surprising palette that at times echoes the freshness and gaiety of the surrounding garden.”
WILLIS WAS CAPABLE OF working in many veins. In his own home—a fragment of a medina palace, its great room with a high-painted dome overlooking a desolate graveyard—his use of marble and zellige was spare. Elegantly detailed brickwork, tadelakt and painted wood boldly articulating the architecture were his private pleasures. He lived among fragments of antiquity and talismanic objects from primitive cultures, creating a setting for him alone—not especially comfortable for visitors, although he was an exemplary host, serving delicious food rather later in the day than most. Early in his Marrakech career, he built a little jewel of a house at Sidi Mimoun—all brick, at once graceful and robust. If you follow the western wall of the king's new palace, just past the Gettys' house (which is now owned by Bernard-Henri Lévy and his wife, Arielle Dombasle), there it is, unchanged, at least outwardly. The interior was exquisite, and hopefully remains so.
Willis was not enthusiastic about the concept of "progress." He found it coarsening, unappealing and preferred the city as he remembered it. So, as life rolled on, he spent more time at home listening to opera and watching tennis. He was not grieved that so many of his ideas had been hijacked by far less gifted architects and soi-disant designers, nor did he trumpet the truth that so much happening in modern Moroccan architecture and decoration had once flowed from his pen and his head of wild curls. Time and Jack Daniels took their toll, and he left home less and less. His interment in Marrakech's Christian cemetery (where he lies in the company of old drinking companions) was attended by several dignified Moroccan men representing the guilds of the city's craftsmen and builders. They came to show their respect and to honor the memory of someone who came from far away and made an extraordinary contribution to their work and livelihood.
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Jonas A. Barish, one of the worlds leading scholars of Shakespeare, English drama, Ben Jonson and antitheatrical prejudice, died April 1 at Oaklands Kaiser Hospital of respiratory complications from pneumonia. He was 76. He had been a member of the English department from 1954 until his retirement in 1991.
Barish first came to scholarly eminence through his work on Shakespeares contemporary, Ben Jonson. His book Ben Jonson and the Language of Prose Comedy (1960) was a landmark in the interpretation of Jonsons plays and the analysis of 17th-century prose style.
Barish edited Shakespeares Alls Well That Ends Well and wrote numerous scholarly articles on Jonson, Shakespeare and other Elizabethan and Jacobean playwrights.
His most remarkable scholarly and critical work is a long study of The Antitheatrical Prejudice (1981), on the history of hostility to theater expressed in drama and literary theory, in several languages, from Platos time to the present. It received the American Theatre Associations Barnard Hewitt Award for outstanding research in theater history.
Barish was a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and received two Fulbright fellowships and two senior fellowships from the National Endowment for the Humanities. At Berkeley he was awarded two of campuss highest honors faculty research lecturer and the Berkeley Citation.
Barish was born in 1922 in New York City. He received his BA from Harvard in 1942 and served in the U.S. Army in Europe from 1942 to 1945. He returned to Harvard for his MA (1947) and PhD (1953) in English literature. Before joining the Berkeley faculty, he taught English at Yale.
Barish is survived by his wife, the former Mildred Seaquist, whom he married in 1964; two daughters Judith of San Francisco and Rachel of Ann Arbor, Mich.; and a sister, Grace Pologe of Teaneck, N.J.
Donations in Barishs memory, payable to the Regents of the University of California, may be sent to the Department of English for the Jonas A. Barish Memorial Fund.
Copyright 1998, The Regents of the University of California.
Produced and maintained by the Office of Public Affairs at UC Berkeley.
Comments? E-mail email@example.com.
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Lockheed Martin-Built Astra 1L Satellite Ready For Launch
NEWTOWN, Pa., 01-MAY-07 -- The ASTRA 1L broadcasting satellite, designed and built by Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] for SES ASTRA, an SES company (Euronext Paris and Luxembourg Stock Exchange: SESG), is ready for launch Thursday aboard an Ariane 5-ECA launch vehicle provided by Arianespace. ASTRA 1L, which is scheduled to launch at 6:29 p.m. EST, will be located at orbital location 19.2 degrees East.
ASTRA-1L will carry 29 active Ku band transponders used to provide distribution of direct-to-home broadcast services across Europe as well as a 2-transponder Ka band payload for interactive applications. ASTRA 1L is expected to provide 15 years of design life and will ensure further fleet optimization by allowing the release of ASTRA 2C from its current location of 19.2 degrees East. Furthermore, it will reinforce SES ASTRA’s inter satellite back-up concept.
ASTRA 1L is the 15th A2100 series spacecraft designed, built and launched for SES companies by Lockheed Martin. Lockheed Martin is currently building AMC-14 for SES AMERICOM, which is scheduled to be launched in December 2007. ASTRA 1L also marks the first of five A2100 launches this year.
The Lockheed Martin A2100 geosynchronous spacecraft series is designed to meet a wide variety of telecommunications needs including Ka-band broadband and broadcast services, fixed satellite services in C-band and Ku-band, high-power direct broadcast services using the Ku-band frequency spectrum and mobile satellite services using UHF, L-band, and S-band payloads.
The A2100's modular design features a reduction in parts, simplified construction, increased on-orbit reliability and reduced weight and cost.
The A2100 spacecraft’s design accommodates a large range of communication payloads as demonstrated by the 30 spacecraft successfully flown to date. This design modularity also enables the A2100 spacecraft to be configured for missions other than communication. The A2100 design is currently being adapted for geostationary earth orbit (GEO)-based earth observing missions and is currently the baselined platform for Lockheed Martin’s Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite Series-R (GOES-R) proposal.
About SES ASTRA
SES ASTRA is the leading Direct-to-Home (DTH) satellite system in Europe, delivering services to more than 109 million DTH and cable households. The ASTRA satellite fleet currently comprises 12 satellites, transmitting 1,864 analogue and digital television and radio channels. SES ASTRA also provides satellite-based multimedia, internet and telecommunication services to enterprises, governments and their agencies. With 26 High Definition (HD) channels available via its satellites today, ASTRA is also the most important HDTV broadcasting platform in Europe. ASTRA's prime orbital positions are 19.2° East, 28.2° East, and 23.5° East.
SES ASTRA is an SES company (Euronext Paris and Luxembourg Stock Exchange: SESG). SES owns three market-leading satellite operators, SES ASTRA in Europe, SES AMERICOM in North America, and SES NEW SKIES, which provide global coverage and connectivity. The Company also holds strategic participations in SES Sirius in Europe, Ciel in Canada and Quetzsat in Mexico. SES provides outstanding satellite communications solutions via a fleet of 36 satellites in 25 orbital positions around the globe. Additional information on SES is available at: www.ses.com.
About Lockheed Martin
Lockheed Martin Commercial Space Systems is a unit of Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company. Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company, a major operating unit of Lockheed Martin Corporation, designs, develops, tests, manufactures and operates a full spectrum of advanced-technology systems for national security, civil and commercial customers. Chief products include human space flight systems; a full range of remote sensing, navigation, meteorological and communications satellites and instruments; space observatories and interplanetary spacecraft; laser radar; fleet ballistic missiles; and missile defense systems.
Headquartered in Bethesda, Md., Lockheed Martin employs about 140,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services. The corporation reported 2006 sales of $39.6 billion.
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March 25th, 2012
12:01 PM ET
Popcorn isn't just low in calories and high in fiber. Turns out the popular snack is chock full of antioxidants, too.
Per serving, plain popcorn contains nearly twice as many polyphenols as the average fruit, according to the preliminary results of a laboratory analysis presented today at the annual meeting of the American Chemical Society.
Polyphenols, a type of plant-based chemical found in foods ranging from vegetables to chocolate, help neutralize the harmful substances known as free radicals and are thought to protect against heart disease and other health problems.
"Nobody had paid much attention to popcorn as a source of anything other than fiber," says lead researcher Joe Vinson, Ph.D., a professor of chemistry at the University of Scranton, in Pennsylvania, which funded the study. "Popcorn has more antioxidants in total than other snack foods that you can consume, and it also has quite a bit of fiber."
Vinson and his colleagues analyzed four brands of commercially available popcorn. After grinding kernels (both popped and unpopped) into a fine powder, they separated out the polyphenols by adding a pair of solvents - a process that roughly mimics what happens in the stomach as food is digested, Vinson says.
A single serving of popcorn - about two tablespoons of unpopped kernels - contained up to 300 milligrams of polyphenols, the researchers found. By contrast, the average polyphenol content of fruit is about 160 milligrams per serving, while a single serving of sweet corn contains 114 milligrams.
Some types of polyphenols are pigments, and in fruit the biggest concentrations tend to be found in the skin and seeds. Similarly, the hull or outer skin of the corn kernel - the stuff that gets stuck in your teeth when you're munching away - was the richest polyphenol source.
"That's where the antioxidants are, that's where the fiber is," Vinson says. "You shouldn't throw that out."
The findings don't mean that popcorn should replace apples and oranges in your diet, of course.
"Popcorn is no substitute for fruit," says Michael G. Coco, an undergraduate chemistry student at the university who participated in the study. "Fruits have other vitamins and minerals that popcorn does not contain."
However, the findings do suggest that popcorn is a healthy alternative to snacks such as chips and crackers. In addition to the polyphenols and low calorie content, popcorn is 100% whole grain, Vinson and Coco point out. Eating more whole grains has been linked to a lower risk of heart disease, diabetes, and certain types of cancer.
"This is great news in terms of getting other whole grains in your diet," says Carolyn Brown, a registered dietitian and nutritionist at FoodTrainers, in New York City. "We're always trying to diversify. Everyone's kind of stuck in this wheat rut."
But popcorn isn't always healthy, Brown adds. Movie-theater popcorn drenched in butter is the opposite of a health food, she says, and some microwave and pre-popped varieties contain artificial or less-than-healthy ingredients - such as partially hydrogenated oils - that shoppers should be mindful of.
"Not all popcorn is created equal, and you can get some nasty stuff in there, especially with the microwave popcorn."
The healthiest way to prepare popcorn is to use plain kernels in a stove-top popper (such as a Whirley Top) or air-popper, Brown says. Adding a little olive oil or butter is fine, she adds, and popcorn can also be jazzed up with a sprinkling of low- or no-calorie flavorings such as parmesan cheese or chili pepper.
The American Chemical Society is a professional organization for chemists and scientists. Unlike the research published in scientific journals, Vinson's findings have not been thoroughly vetted by other experts in the field.
Copyright Health Magazine 2011
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Mormonism and science/Death before the Fall
|Adam and Eve:|
|FAIR Wiki Topical Guide|
|FAIR web site|
|FARMS web site|
This page is based on an answer to a question submitted to the FAIR web site, or a frequently asked question.
The Church teaches that there was no death prior to the fall of Adam, and that after the Fall that Adam and Eve became mortal and subject to death. Does LDS doctrine hold that there was no death on the entire earth before the Fall of Adam?
Some LDS leaders have interpreted LDS scripture to teach that there was no death prior to the Fall of Adam for all plants and animals. Others have seen pre-Fall death of plants and/or animals as compatible with LDS doctrine, with the doctrine of "no death" applying only to Adam and Eve within the garden, and not the wider physical creation.
There is no official doctrine on the matter, and members in good standing have held both positions.
What does the Church teach on this subject?
The Book of Mormon prophet Lehi taught that
if Adam had not transgressed he would not have fallen, but he would have remained in the garden of Eden. And all things which were created must have remained in the same state in which they were after they were created; and they must have remained forever, and had no end. (2 Nephi 2:22)
Because this is the only scripture that indicates this, it is difficult to interpret the meaning of "all things." Does it mean "all things in the garden", or "all things on the entire earth", or something else?
Current Church manuals take a cautionary approach to interpreting this verse by considering only how it affected Adam and Eve. For example, from 2010 Gospel Principles manual, page 28:
When Adam and Eve were placed in the Garden of Eden, they were not yet mortal. In this state, “they would have had no children” (2 Nephi 2:23). There was no death. They had physical life because their spirits were housed in physical bodies made from the dust of the earth (see Moses 6:59; Abraham 5:7). They had spiritual life because they were in the presence of God. They had not yet made a choice between good and evil.
Adam and Eve were not yet mortal. In this state, "they would have had no children" (2 Nephi 2:23). The statement "there was no death" applies to the Garden of Eden, which is what the paragraph is describing. There is no statement in the manual that there had been no death anywhere in the entire world. There has been a difference of opinion among Church leaders on the extent to which immortality affected God's creations before the Fall.
Was there no death on the entire earth before the Fall?
There is overwhelming archaeological evidence of death having occurred on the earth for many millions of years. For example, oil deposits are formed from the decomposed remains of ancient plants and animals. This is where Church teachings appear to contradict science, since many Latter-day Saint leaders and Church manuals have taught that there was no physical death on the entire earth prior to the fall of Adam. For example, this view is taught in the LDS Bible Dictionary:
Latter-day revelation teaches that there was no death on this earth for any forms of life before the fall of Adam. Indeed, death entered the world as a direct result of the fall (2 Nephi 2:22; Moses 6:48).
This interpretation has been shared by many Church authors, including President Joseph Fielding Smith and Elder Bruce R. McConkie. Consequently, the concept of no death before the Fall on the entire earth has made its way into many Church instructional manuals.
Is the concept of no death before the fall on the entire earth Church doctrine?
The important point to remember is that the question of the scope of "death before the Fall" does not affect our salvation, and is simply an academic exercise. That being said, some LDS authors have not seen the scriptures cited by the Bible Dictionary as referring to all periods of time and all situations prior to the Fall, but merely describe the effect of the Fall upon humanity when Adam and Eve were put out of the Garden. Note that the current Gospel Doctrine manual does not explicitly mention the "entire earth," but simply states that there was "no death" prior to the Fall. The Bible Dictionary stance is not the only one which leaders of the Church have advanced.
Bible Dictionary editor Elder McConkie pointed out—the Bible Dictionary is neither infallible, nor an arbiter of Church doctrine:
[As for the] "Joseph Smith Translation items, the chapter headings, Topical Guide, Bible Dictionary, footnotes, the Gazeteer, and the maps. None of these are perfect; they do not of themselves determine doctrine; there have been and undoubtedly now are mistakes in them. Cross-references, for instance, do not establish and never were intended to prove that parallel passages so much as pertain to the same subject. They are aids and helps only."
The Bible Dictionary itself also cautions against assuming that its contents reflect "an official or revealed endorsement by the Church of the doctrinal, historical, cultural, and other matters set forth."
One must also not overlook an earlier debate on the issue of "pre-Adamites" between Elder Brigham H. Roberts of the Seventy and then-Elder Joseph Fielding Smith was brought to an end at the instruction of the First Presidency. Part of the debate centered around whether there was death prior to the Fall. At the request of the First Presidency, Elder James E. Talmage gave a talk in the tabernacle, entitled "The Earth and Man." In it, he spoke of fossilized animals and plants and said:
These lived and died, age after age, while the earth was yet unfit for human habitation.
With the approval of the First Presidency, this address was published in the Deseret News, as a Church pamphlet, and later in The Instructor. Clearly, then, a universal lack of death prior to the fall is not a necessary belief within the Church, since leaders and members have held both positions.
Elder Talmage's position was made quite clear in a letter he wrote in response to a question about these matters:
I cannot agree with your conception that there was no death of plants and animals anywhere upon this earth prior to the transgression of Adam, unless we assume that the history of Adam and Eve dates back many hundreds of thousands of years. The trouble with some theologians—even including many of our own good people—is that they undertake to fix the date of Adam's transgression as being approximately 4000 years before Christ and therefore about 5932 years ago. If Adam was placed upon the earth only that comparatively short time ago the rocks clearly demonstrated that life and death have been in existence and operative in this earth for ages prior to that time.
The First Presidency eventually instructed the general authorities:
Both parties [i.e., Elders Smith and Roberts] make the scripture and the statements of men who have been prominent in the affairs of the Church the basis of their contention; neither has produced definite proof in support of his views… Upon the fundamental doctrines of the Church we are all agreed. Our mission is to bear the message of the restored Gospel to the people of the world. Leave geology, biology, archaeology and anthropology, no one of which has to do with the salvation of the souls of mankind, to scientific research, while we magnify our calling in the realm of the Church. We can see no advantage to be gained by a continuation of the discussion to which reference is here made, but on the contrary are certain that it would lead to confusion, division and misunderstanding if carried further. Upon one thing we should all be able to agree namely, that presidents Joseph F. Smith, John Winder and Anthon Lund were right when they said: "Adam is the primal parent of our race.
Reflecting on this episode, Elder Talmage wrote in his diary:
...Involved in this question is that of the beginning of life upon the earth, and as to whether there was death either of animal or plant before the fall of Adam, on which proposition Elder Smith was very pronounced in denial and Elder Roberts equally forceful in the affirmative. As to whether Preadamite races existed upon the earth there has been much discussion among some of our people of late. The decision reached by the First Presidency, and announced to this morning's assembly, was in answer to a specific question that obviously the doctrine of the existence of races of human beings upon the earth prior to the fall of Adam was not a doctrine of the Church; and, further, that the conception embodied in the belief of many to the effect that there were no such Preadamite races, and that there was no death upon the earth prior to Adam's fall is likewise declared to be no doctrine of the Church. I think the decision of the First Presidency is a wise one in the premises. This is one of the many things upon which we cannot preach with assurance and dogmatic assertions on either side are likely to do harm rather than good.
The Church does not take an official position on this issue
This is one of many issues about which the Church has no official position. As President J. Reuben Clark taught under assignment from the First Presidency:
- Here we must have in mind—must know—that only the President of the Church, the Presiding High Priest, is sustained as Prophet, Seer, and Revelator for the Church, and he alone has the right to receive revelations for the Church, either new or amendatory, or to give authoritative interpretations of scriptures that shall be binding on the Church....
- When any man, except the President of the Church, undertakes to proclaim one unsettled doctrine, as among two or more doctrines in dispute, as the settled doctrine of the Church, we may know that he is not "moved upon by the Holy Ghost," unless he is acting under the direction and by the authority of the President.
- Of these things we may have a confident assurance without chance for doubt or quibbling.
- —J. Reuben Clark, Jr., "Church Leaders and the Scriptures," [original title "When Are the Writings or Sermons of Church Leaders Entitled to the Claim of Scripture?"] Immortality and Eternal Life: Reflections from the Writings and Messages of President J. Reuben Clark, Jr., Vol, 2, (1969-70): 221; address to Seminary and Institute Teachers, BYU (7 July 1954); reproduced in Church News (31 July 1954); also reprinted in Dialogue 12/2 (Summer 1979): 68–81.
Harold B. Lee was emphatic that only one person can speak for the Church:
- All over the Church you're being asked this: "What does the Church think about this or that?" Have you ever heard anybody ask that question? "What does the Church think about the civil rights legislation?" "What do they think about the war?" "What do they think about drinking Coca-Cola or Sanka coffee?" Did you ever hear that? "What do they think about the Democratic Party or ticket or the Republican ticket?" Did you ever hear that? "How should we vote in this forthcoming election?" Now, with most all of those questions, if you answer them, you're going to be in trouble. Most all of them. Now, it's the smart man that will say, "There's only one man in this church that speaks for the Church, and I'm not that one man."
- I think nothing could get you into deep water quicker than to answer people on these things, when they say, "What does the Church think?" and you want to be smart, so you try to answer what the Church's policy is. Well, you're not the one to make the policies for the Church. You just remember what the Apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthians. He said, "For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified" (1 Corinthians 2:2). Well now, as teachers of our youth, you're not supposed to know anything except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. On that subject you're expected to be an expert. You're expected to know your subject. You're expected to have a testimony. And in that you'll have great strength. If the President of the Church has not declared the position of the Church, then you shouldn't go shopping for the answer. (Harold B. Lee, Teachings of Harold B. Lee (Salt Lake City, Utah: Bookcraft, 1996), 445. GospeLink (requires subscrip.))
This was recently reiterated by the First Presidency (who now approves all statements published on the Church's official website):
- Not every statement made by a Church leader, past or present, necessarily constitutes doctrine. A single statement made by a single leader on a single occasion often represents a personal, though well-considered, opinion, but is not meant to be officially binding for the whole Church. With divine inspiration, the First Presidency...and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles...counsel together to establish doctrine that is consistently proclaimed in official Church publications. This doctrine resides in the four “standard works” of scripture (the Holy Bible, the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants and the Pearl of Great Price), official declarations and proclamations, and the Articles of Faith. Isolated statements are often taken out of context, leaving their original meaning distorted.
- —LDS Newsroom, "Approaching Mormon Doctrine," lds.org (4 May 2007) off-site]
In response to a letter "received at the office of the First Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints" in 1912, Charles W. Penrose of the First Presidency wrote:
- Question 14: Do you believe that the President of the Church, when speaking to the Church in his official capacity is infallible?
- Answer: We do not believe in the infallibility of man. When God reveals anything it is truth, and truth is infallible. No President of the Church has claimed infallibility. — Charles W. Penrose, "Peculiar Questions Briefly Answered," Improvement Era 15 no. 11 (September 1912).
- [note] LDS KJV, Bible Dictionary, "Death,", 655. off-site direct off-site
- [note] For a representative sample of the non-official statements made by Elder McConkie and others from a variety of perspectives, see here.
- [note] Bruce R. McConkie, cited in Mark McConkie (editor), Doctrines of the Restoration: Sermons and Writings of Bruce R. McConkie (Salt Lake City, Utah: Bookcraft, 1989), 289–290 (emphasis added). ISBN 0884946444. ISBN 978-0884946441.
- [note] LDS KJV, Bible Dictionary, "Introduction,", 599. off-site
- [note] James E. Talmage, "The Earth and Man," Address in the Tabernacle, (9 August 1931); originally published in the Deseret News, 21 Nov 1931; subsequently published as a pamphlet by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1931; later published in The Instructor, 100:12 (December 1965) :474–477; continued in The Instructor 101:1 (January 1966): 9–15. FAIRWiki link
- [note] Talmage to Heber Timothy, 28 Jan. 1932, Talmage Papers; cited in Richard Sherlock, "A Turbulent Spectrum: Mormon Responses to the Darwinist Legacy," Journal of Mormon History 4:? (1975): 45–69.
- [note] First Presidency, Memorandum to General Authorities, April 1931, 6–7.
- [note] James Edward Talmage, Personal Journal (7 April 1931) 29:42, Archives and Manuscripts, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah (emphasis added).
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Thanks to all who read and follow this debate, and special thanks to the four officials and my opponent, for their time and effort.
"It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded not by religionists, but by Christians; not on religions, but on the Gospel of Jesus Christ." ~ Patrick Henry
"As the government of the United States of America is not in any sense founded on the Christian religion" . ~ Treaty of Tripoli
Both of the above historic statements can’t be right. The fact is, neither of them are right. The foundings of the US are somewhere in between those two statements. The first century of US existence showed that selected Christian principles would establish US prosperity, not as completely secular nor completely Christian, but as a Godly republic marked by religious pluralism. In the thread from the religion forum that sparked this debate, I made these statements.
The resolution “All basic principles in the U.S. constitution are Christian in nature” is not an extreme claim. If the basic principles in the US founding are all Christian in nature, it doesn’t necessarily mean that it contains all Christian principles that exist, any more than a bucket full of water does not contain all water that exists.Was the U.S. founded on Christianity? NO
Does the U.S Constitution establish a Christian nation? NO
Is the U.S. a nation that was founded on Christian principles? YES
When it comes to human activity, Christianity is about two things
A) Love the Lord thy God
B) Love thy neighbor as thyself
While these can and do often relate to each other, they don’t necessarily always relate to each other. Man does not apply them proportionately. It can be said that a few European kings of the 17th and 18th century did a much better job of loving God than they did their fellow man, and of course many atheists often love their neighbors as themselves. . So there is no automatic correlation between how man relates to God, and how he relates to his fellow man.
While the US was not founded ON a common ethnicity, language, or religion that could be taken for granted as a source of identity, it was founded BY a common people. The following paragraph of Federalist paper number 2 makes that clear;
http://www.foundingfathers.info/fede...pers/fed02.htmWith equal pleasure I have as often taken notice that Providence has been pleased to give this one connected country to one united people--a people descended from the same ancestors, speaking the same language, professing the same religion, attached to the same principles of government, very similar in their manners and customs, and who, by their joint counsels, arms, and efforts, fighting side by side throughout a long and bloody war, have nobly established general liberty and independence.
Again, it’s important to note that while the US founding principles weren’t RESTRICTED TO a common people, they were FOUNDED BY a common people. This Christian principle of unselfishness, of not restricting their countrys’ founding on only themselves, is largely what has made the U.S. Constitution unique, and successful.
Though they were a common people, the founders were a diverse group when it came to beliefs concerning “Love the Lord thy God” – any adherence to a particular set of religious doctrines. They despised religious tyranny, yet greatly valued the virtue and morality of “Love thy neighbor as thyself” – virtue and morality that much, if not most of the Bible taught them. Thomas Jefferson edited his own Bible, cutting out subjects and references to faith, enough to convince many that he was not a Christian. If he didn’t believe strongly in the parts of the Bible that he left in, the virtue and morality of Christianity, he wouldn’t have gone to the trouble to do this editing job of his.
Considering Jeffersons Bible, George Washingtons thanksgiving proclamation, James Madisons Presbyterian upbringing, John Jays devout Christianity, and countless other facts and quotes about them and all the other founding fathers, it’s not surprising that the Bible was by far their most referred to source for how to structure this democratic – republican form of government that has survived longer than any other;
http://home.flash.net/~gregball/godly_am.htmThe University of Houston political science professors set out to determine the origins and influences on our Constitution. They collected 15000 writings, condensed them down into 3154 significant and important writings. The task took them 10 years. The 3 men quoted most often are: Blackstone 12 times, Montesquieu 4 times, and John Locke 16 times. The book most often quoted from lathe Bible. with 34% direct references. and 00% secondary references. Deuteronomy was the most often quoted book of the Bible.
The Constitution and the Bill of Rights are brief, but the detailed analysis of ideals of justice, the general welfare, and the rights of individuals are contained in what largely led up to them, the Federalist Papers. An overall summary of the Federalist Papers is that the primary political motive of man is selfish, and that men – whether acting individually or collectively – are selfish and only imperfectly rational. Isaiah 33; 22 says “For the Lord is our judge; the Lord is our lawgiver; the Lord is our king…” - it’s no coincidence that the constitution contains three separate divisions for; judging (Supreme court and inferior courts), lawgiving (Congress) and king (president) The checks and balances, the separation of powers, that are much of what the Constitution is about, is patterned after the Christian doctrine that men are sinners, and that the only possibility of good government lay in mans capacity to devise several political institutions that would police each other.
Jeremiah 17; 9 says “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure, who can understand it?” Romans 3; 23 says “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”. Only two Biblical examples of many – one Old Testament and one New Testament – that show men to be imperfect.
The concept of freedom and liberty are found throughout the Bible. Starting with Deuteronomy (mentioned above as the most referenced book of the Bible by the founders), we see the concept of settling new land, (chapter 1;8) not being afraid of any man, (chapter 1;17) and in chapter 4; 6 “observing [decrees and laws] carefully, for this will show your wisdom and understanding to the nations, who will hear about all these decrees and say, “Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people”.
From Leviticus 25; 10, “Consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants.
2nd Corinthians 3; 17 “ Now the Lord is the spirit, and where the spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.
Freedom not only to LIVE free, but to REJECT the word of the Lord. Jeremiah 6; 19 “they have rejected”, 8; 9 “….”since they have rejected the word of the Lord”. Mark 7; 8 “..you have let go of the commands of God…”
It makes perfect sense that Godly men would use Christian guidelines and history to establish a country of religious freedom, without mentioning Christianity, or restricting people any more than God did, in terms of allowing the freedom to disobey any one Christian denomination, or all of Christianity, if their intent was to avoid religious tyranny. Avoiding religious tyranny, or any tyranny, was one of their greatest passions, in the formation of a new government. It was inspired by their argument with the British government – the argument about first principles. They questioned exactly where power came from, and who defined rights between kings and subjects. The opposition to the idea that ruling power stair-stepped from any god, to a king or monarch, and then to common people, was the one thing that united the founding fathers, in spite of whatever differences may have existed in their personal beliefs. Thomas Jeffersons immortal words about unalienable rights coming from our creator as written in the Declaration of Independence were a common bond among them, there are simply no records of detailed opposition to it, among themselves or of that eras public-at-large, claims that rights originate anywhere else.
This link gives an overall look of the religious beliefs of most notable U.S. founders. While deism was not an organized religion, it can be applied to some founders, in varying ways. George Washington was considered a “Christian deist” by many historians, while Thomas Paine was a non-Christian deist. As the founders, and most people today, consider religion to be a personal matter, attaching the Deist label to many founders is speculative at best. It probably fit Jefferson and Franklin well, but to apply it to Madison and Washington is very questionable. Not one founder was clearly established as an atheist – not one.
Considering the founders common background as described in Federalist #2, and considering their documented Biblical references, there is no question that their concept of a creator never included all creators ever devised by all previous world religions, or all those devised today, “mother natures”, “spaghetti monsters” and the like. The conception of a Creator was then, and is now, specific only to a tiny handful of the world religions. The conception of the creator described by Jefferson, Madison, and others, and applied to their vision of individual freedom, their vision of mans selfish nature etc, narrows it to only two - Judaism and its offspring, Christianity. The general Christian background of the majority of founders is made clear by the reference in Article One, Section Seven of the Constitution. When setting standards for how laws are passed – setting time limits for interaction between president and congress, the following statement appears;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Article...s_ConstitutionIf any bill shall not be returned by the President within ten days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have been presented to him…….
The “Sundays excepted” statement clearly shows basic Christian thought in lawmaking, and general government activity.
The most notable thing about the Jewish-Christian conception of the relation between the Creator and his human subjects is that, without government interference, it allows for three things at once: the freedom of the individual conscience; second, a freedom ordered to law and social unity; and, third, a comfortable pluralism, in which diverse communities live in unity, with the free exercise of conscience. This is an original conception, a new idea for government without precedent on the face of the earth. And it proved itself very well for the next 150 years. In the first 100 years particularly, there were several US Supreme Court decisions that made all the more clear that opposition to established religion is not opposition to religion in general. Separation of church and state, IS an opposition to religion in general, as it is being defined today. It does exist in a constitution, but not the U.S. constitution. It’s found in the Soviet Constitution, article 52.
http://members.tripod.com/Sludge/ussr.htm(2) In the USSR, the church is separated from the state, and the school from the church.
The socialism, communism, and redistribution of wealth of that constitution are not Christian principles. No mention of “Sunday” in the USSR Constitution.
As prompted by my opponent, I’ll probably go into more detail about 19th century court decisions, and of course “separation of church and state” as this debate progresses.
As time marches further and further away from the founding of the U.S., differences of opinion seem to grow about the intent of the framers, particularly in the last 60 years – Christian principles vs. secularism. Time does not change actual history. As this debate moves along, I’ll continue to represent actual history, and show clear correlation between Christian principles and the U.S. Constitution.
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Shariah law, often referred to as “Islamic Law,” is in actuality a legal doctrine based on the Quran and Hadiths (sayings and acts of Mohammed), but one which goes far beyond what Westerners would regard as religious matters or routine legal matters.
Shariah has in fact been introduced into U.S. civil court cases in many states, mostly in the area of family law.
Shariah covers all aspects of life, including criminal law, domestic law, statecraft and warfare (Jihad). Shariah encompasses personal ethics and legal issues, religion and state governance, this world and the afterlife. Shariah is said to enforce the will of Allah, as opposed to the will of humans. Shariah regulates belief, speech and religious practice, criminal and legal matters, and other fields including finance and war. There is no such thing as a separate secular authority or secular law under doctrinal Shariah, since religion and state are not distinct, but are one.
Shariah is the strict, exclusive law of the land or basis of that law in Saudi Arabia, Iran and Sudan. It is also enforced in Taliban-controlled areas of Afghanistan and Pakistan, as well as enclaves around the world controlled by violent Jihadist organizations. In other nations, Shariah is either a parallel legal system or partly integrated into the legal systems of the other Islamic-majority nations, such as Egypt and Morocco. Some pro-Shariah groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood also support democratic elections as long as they result in governments, constitutions, legal systems and societies based on Shariah.
Shariah mandates violent Jihad as a religious obligation. Violent Jihad’s purpose against non-Muslims or former Muslims is to establish Islam’s rule worldwide. The establishment of Shariah rule is a stated goal of Al Qaeda, the Taliban, Hezbollah, HAMAS, Al Shabaab, Abu Sayaf, Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jemaah Islamiya and other Jihadist known or designated terrorist organizations, as well as the Muslim Brotherhood.
In the United States of America, Shariah doctrine is encountered in family law cases (see examples of fifty such cases from 23 states at the Shariah in American Courts study conducted by the Center for Security Policy); in Shariah-compliant accommodations that may result in discrimination against non-Muslims; and in Shariah-Compliant Finance on Wall Street and in the U.S. government.
Shariah law, as an example of foreign law, may result in the violation, in the specific matter at issue, of a liberty guaranteed by the Constitution of the United States or the public policies of the state in question. Such violations would include but not be limited to infringements on due process, freedom of religion, speech, or press, equal protection, and any right of privacy or marriage as specifically defined by the constitution of the state.
The Center for Security Policy’s general counsel, David Yerushalmi, is interviewed by the New York Times about the American Public Policy Alliance and “American Laws for American Courts.”
The American Public Policy Alliance (APPA), a non-partisan advocacy organization dedicated to protecting U.S. constitutional rights, safeguarding U.S. sovereignty and promoting government transparency and accountability, is working with legislators nationwide on policies and initiatives.
Visit the FAQ page on American Laws for American Courts for clarification on the issues and rebuttal on common objections.
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So West Nile Virus is transmitted to us to humans by mosquitoes so everything we can do to avoid contact with mosquitoes to avoid being bitten as a good thing. First. A lot of the Biden takes place in... See More
So West Nile Virus is transmitted to us to humans by mosquitoes so everything we can do to avoid contact with mosquitoes to avoid being bitten as a good thing. First. A lot of the Biden takes place in and around your home so go around the outside your home check to see if there's any standing water. -- check out gutters for example places like that and then get rid of that water -- the mosquitoes can breed there. And then of course insect repellent mosquito repellent is very important. Could've gone especially if you're going out in the morning or late in the afternoon because that's when he disliked -- And try. What's hot out but try if you're going out -- those hours long sleeve shirts and long trousers or slacks for the ladies. Anything you can do to avoid getting bitten by those mosquitoes. West Nile will calls an illness with fever. And it's often associated with aches and pains and feeling poorly. And that will take you to the doctor fortunately. Most people don't get. What we called encephalitis or that -- invasive form of the disease only 1% of people to that. But they -- to older so in particular. Older people need to take extra special care in avoiding. -- getting bitten by mosquitoes. Now if you're in west Nile area and do develop fever for sure call your doctor go to the emergency -- let -- check you out. Because if you have the more severe form of the disease. Of course he'll be hospitalized. And -- -- you -- -- supportive care necessary. Why your body fights off the infection. And you get better.
This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.
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Essential tremor is a progressive neurological disorder and the most common of the movement disorders.
The suspected cause is abnormal activity of brain cells.
About 1 million people in the United States suffer from essential tremor with the average age of onset about 45. About 30 percent of people with essential tremor have a family member with the symptoms. It can affect people of all ages.
Essential Tremor Symptoms
Tremor is the only symptom and typically occurs in the limbs, head, trunk or voice. Both sides of the body are affected. Stress or anxiety can make the tremor worse.
Usually, there is a difference between the tremor of a Parkinson’s disease patient and that of an essential tremor patient. In Parkinson’s, the tremor may be reduced in the afflicted body part when it is in use. With essential tremor, the tremor may increase.
Essential Tremor Treatment
Medication is often prescribed to help restore the proper balance of chemicals in the body in people who have movement disorders.
The main goal of treatment is to keep movements as normal as possible with the smallest amount of medication, since many medications can cause side effects.
Cases that do not respond to medication may require surgery, often aimed at interrupting abnormal movements. Various available procedures may be used during surgery to optimize the benefit as different targets are tested.
One procedure is pallidotomy, a computer-assisted neurosurgery, aimed at reducing tremor, rigidity and other symptoms by destroying the areas of the brain that caused these symptoms.
Another option is thalamotomy, which involves making a lesion in the thalamus, the area of the brain that is the source of tremor. Both procedures are irreversible and may have permanent side effects.
In 1997, stereotactic insertion of a deep brain stimulator into the thalmus was introduced as a procedure for treating Parkinson’s disease and essential tremor. The advantage of this type of operation is that instead of destroying overactive cells that cause the symptoms, it temporarily disables them by firing rapid pulses of electricity between 4 electrodes at the tip of the lead.
The lead is permanently implanted and connected to a pacemaker controller installed beneath the skin of the chest.
An alternative to making a lesion with an electrode is to use highly focused radiation.
Two types of devices can be used to deliver stereotactic radiosurgery, namely the Gamma Knife® and the LINAC-Scalpel. Lesioning procedures tend to be preferred for younger patients because it eliminates the need for numerous battery changes or hardware in the body. Also, brains of younger people seem to have more plasticity and less chance of a new neurologic deficit.
With tardive dyskinesia, the first step of treatment may be to discontinue or alter the neuroleptic drug.
In the cases of dystonia and dyskinesia, other treatments such as injections of botulinum toxin may be the most desirable therapy. The drug weakens certain muscles and lasts several months.
Therapies may be necessary to help patients with language and movement.
Research of Movement Disorders
Research aimed at finding the sources of movement disorders and improved treatments and therapies fall into many categories.
One method under investigation includes fetal cell transplants to reconstitute damaged pathways.
Deep brain stimulators are under investigation for control of these movement disorders and for other conditions, such as multiple sclerosis, severe stroke or brain injury.
In addition, gene studies continue to help with the diagnosis and treatment of all movement disorders.
Also, drugs that greatly reduce the risk of movement disorders such as tardive dyskinesia, acute dystonia or drug-induced Parkinsonism are being used and studied.
Wake Forest Baptist Approach
The treatment of movement disorders at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center is a collaborative effort between the Departments of Neurology and Neurosurgery.
Quality of life is further enhanced by the participation of physical, occupational and speech therapists and members of the Otolaryngology Department, who have special expertise in speech and swallowing difficulties.
Surgical treatments including pallidotomy, thalamotomy and thalamic or subthalamic deep brain stimulators are a special area of expertise of the Movement Disorders Unit.
Advanced image-guidance combining magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), computed tomography (CT) and microelectrode recording are available to optimize these procedures. Members of the unit also have expertise in botulinum toxin injections to treat movement disorders.
Gamma Knife Center is used to treat tremor, dyskinesia and Parkinson’s disease, as well as for research. The Gamma Knife is a type of stereotactic radiosurgery in which radiation is used with pinpoint accuracy.
Learn more about essential tremor in our Health Encyclopedia.
Request an appointment online today to receive more information about your personal health and learn how Wake Forest can help.
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Network booting with Linux - PXE
Oct 07, 2011, 19:02 (0 Talkback[s])
(Other stories by Rares Aioanei)
[ Thanks to LinuxCareer.com for this link.
"1.1. PXE: PXE (pronounced "pixie") stands for Preboot eXecution
Environment and was introduced by Intel and Systemsoft in 1999. In
short, it's a capability most modern network cards and BIOSes have
that enables the system to boot from LAN, just like it would boot
from hard disk or CD-ROM. The PXE support must be present in the
NIC's firmware which, if set up accordingly in the BIOS, will get
an IP address from the PXE server and download the necessary boot
images. In order for an IP address to be available, the server must
offer DHCP. After an IP address is leased, the TFTP server (which
can be the same box as the DHCP server) hands out the necessary
files to the client, so it can boot them after loading. That's the
whole idea, so enough talk, let's get to work, shall we?"
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Wed, Nov 16, 2005 at 1:56:55 pm
According to France’s Employment Minister, one of the causes of the French intifada is polygamy.
Polygamy among immigrants is one cause of the rioting that has plagued France for the past two weeks, according to Gerard Larcher, the Employment Minister.
M Larcher was quoted as saying that large, polygamous families sometimes led to antisocial behaviour by youths who did not have a father figure in the home, making employers more cautious of hiring staff from ethnic minorities.
There are fears that M Larcher’s comments could further fuel the debate about the cause of the unrest and possibly outrage Muslim and anti-racism groups. Polygamy is banned in France, but an estimated 30,000 mainly African families have more than one wife.
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Can we stick a fork in the “glucose-as-willpower-fuel” model?Published 1 October, 2012
A new paper is now available by Martin Hagger and Nikos Chatzisarantis (hereafter H&C) entitled, “The Sweet Taste of Success: The Presence of Glucose in the Oral Cavity Moderates the Depletion of Self-Control Resources,” published online in Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin. The paper addresses the idea that the reason that people can’t exert “self-control” – resisting tempting cookies, persisting on solving unsolvable anagrams, and so forth – is that their brain has insufficient glucose left. One line of evidence (Gailliot et al., 2007) marshaled in favor of this account is that people’s performance on such tasks has been shown to improve after subjects drank a sugary beverage. The interpretation of this evidence, however, runs afoul of an important confound. People who consume a sugary beverage have not only had their supply of glucose increased; they have also experienced the reward associated with the sweet taste in their mouth from the sugary drink. Is it the glucose, or the rewarding sensation of sweetness?
To explore this possibility, Molden et al. they ran some experiments to try to distinguish between these two possibilities in a paper published earlier this year in Psychological Science, which I discussed back in February. Here’s how they motivated the work:
Carbohydrate mouth-rinses activate dopaminergic pathways in the striatum–a region of the brain associated with responses to reward (Kringelbach, 2004)–whereas artificially-sweetened non-carbohydrate mouth-rinses do not (Chambers et al., 2009). Thus, the sensing of carbohydrates in the mouth appears to signal the possibility of reward (i.e., the future availability of additional energy), which could motivate rather than fuel physical effort.
Molden et al demonstrated, first, that when glucose was measured more accurately than in prior work, performing a self-control task did not, in fact, reduce the levels of circulating glucose. This is bad for the part of the theory that says that self-control tasks differentially reduces peripheral glucose. Second, in two experiments, drawing on findings in the exercise literature that showed that rinsing with a sugar solution improved cycling performance, they showed that subjects who swished but didn’t drink the beverage showed the same improvement. These data imply that it’s the reward rather than the glucose that’s causing the gains in performance.
The new paper by H&C adds additional data using the same technique. They report five studies, all of which follow along roughly the same lines. In Studies 2 and 3, for instance, subjects first performed a task that is purported to sap “self-control resources,” and then performed a task that requires self-control, either solving anagrams (Study 2) or drinking an unpleasant beverage (Study 3). Subjects rinsed with (but did not swallow) either a glucose beverage or a placebo between the two sets of tasks. Subjects who rinsed with the glucose drink spent more time on the anagrams and drank more of the unpleasant beverage than those who swished with the placebo drink, reproducing the prior Molden et al results. They conclude in their general discussion (p. 10):
Our findings provide an alternative explanation that not only provides a suggested mechanism independent of glucose metabolism but also accounts for the increasing body of research that has shown significant improvements in self control as a result of oral glucose supplementation (e.g., DeWall et al., 2008; Dvorak & Simons, 2009; Gailliot et al., 2007; Masicampo & Baumeister, 2008). As ingestion of a glucose solution in previous supplementation studies means that it will be present in the oral cavity, albeit for a short period of time, it is also likely to lead to the sensing of the glucose in the oral cavity and facilitation of self-control performance through a central mechanism.
Adding these five experiments to the prior work by Molden et al. – not to mention other reasons to be skeptical of the idea in the first place (see below) – might contribute to what I think will be the decline and ultimate disappearance of this idea in the literature. Two additional points. First, the sample sizes in the five reported studies are small. In Studies 2 and 3, for instance, the sample sizes are 32 and 34 respectively, so the individual cell sizes in the two conditions must have been modest. In addition to the usual worries about small sample sizes, this made me think of Ulrich Schimmack’s recent paper in Psychological Methods, which also went after the Glucose-as-Resource work, but on statistical grounds, which concluded that “from a statistical point of view, Bem’s (2011) evidence for ESP is more credible than Gailliot et al.’s (2007) evidence for a role of blood-glucose in self-regulation” (p. 9). Anyway, I find it puzzling that these cell sizes aren’t larger.
Second, and this is more of a sociology of science note, even though H&C’s studies are conceptually the same as Molden et al.’s, the latter paper is, surprisingly, not reviewed or even cited. This is a puzzling omission, given how close the two sets of studies are, and especially given how important credit for priority is to the first author, Hagger. Close followers of the blog might recall that when I discussed the Molden et al. work, Hagger posted the following comment, claiming priority and advising me that “It would be worthwhile citing this in order to ensure that your literature review is as comprehensive as possible.” Here is the comment in full:
I wonder if you are familiar, Dr. Kurzban, with our review published in Health Psychology Review [Hagger, M. S., Wood, C., Stiff, C., & Chatzisarantis, N. L. D. (2009). The strength model of self-regulation failure and health-related behavior. Health Psychology Review, 3(2), 208-238. doi: 10.1080/17437190903414387] that supercedes the one you published in Evolutionary Psychology that suggests this possibility. In the review, we state explicitly: “While Galliot et al.’s (2007a, 2009) series of studies provides consistent evidence for glucose supply as a mechanism for self-control resource use and depletion, there may also be a central mechanism controlling self-control resource depletion. As a consequence, supplementation with a carbohydrate mouth rinse may moderate the ego-depletion effect.” We elaborate on this further citing the same exercise physiology research that you did. It would be worthwhile citing this in order to ensure that your literature review is as comprehensive as possible and that you are not ignorant of the fact that other researchers may have also had this idea and, in fact, published it before you. Of course, people arriving at ideas in parallel to (or slightly in front of) others should never be a hinderance to publication, it happens all the time, and it is important academics are open minded about parallel submissions of similar work submitted to journals and give them fair opportunity to be published.
My point here isn’t about the issue of parallel submissions, and it seems to me that many journals, for better or worse, prefer to publish only the first instance of a new idea – which is why scientists get so irked when they are scooped – but it seems to me that it’s unfortunate that H&C didn’t ensure that their literature review was as comprehensive as possible. The record should, in my view, reflect the close connection between these two sets of studies.
So, to return to the question in the title, should this new evidence, taken together with prior data, put a punctuation mark on the glucose-as-willpower-fuel model? In my view, it certainly should, and its demise is overdue. The new data should be understood in the context of other difficulties the model faces. First, the math makes no sense. The number of calories burned by a self control task compared to a similar but slightly different task could have been guessed to have been trivially small from what is already known about brain metabolism. Second, the glucose-as-willpower model is the wrong sort of explanation, similar, as I’ve argued before, to locating the cause of a slow computer application to a low battery. The right explanation for effects in this literature is, ultimately, going to have to be a computational explanation.
H&C adroitly recall Baumeister et al.’s (1998) remark that it is “implausible that ego depletion would have no physiological aspect or correlates at all” (p. 1263). If the glucose-as-willpower model is wrong, then advocates of the more general willpower-as-a-resource model should be worried that there is no good candidate for the “physiological aspect” of the resource.
Is it time to stick a fork in the willpower-as-resource model as well? I think so. Still, there is an interesting phenomenon to be explained; why do the tasks in this literature evoke the unpleasant phenomenology of “effort.” For those attending the Society for Personality and Social Psychology conference in January in New Orleans, I’ll present an alternative interpretation of mental fatigue in the evolutionary psychology preconference.
Gailliot, M. T., Baumeister, R. F., DeWall, C. N., Maner, J. K., Plant, E. A., Tice, D. M., Schmeichel, B. J. (2007). Self-control relies on glucose as a limited energy source: Willpower is more than a metaphor. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 92(2), 325-336.
Hagger, M. & Chatzisarantis, N. (in press) The Sweet Taste of Success: The Presence of Glucose in the Oral Cavity Moderates the Depletion of Self-Control Resources. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin.
Schimmack, U. (2012). The Ironic Effect of Significant Results on the Credibility of Multiple-Study Articles. Psychological Methods. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1037/a0029487
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.- The English translation of Pope John Paul II’s latest book, entitled "Rise, Let Us Be on Our Way," has hit the bookstores. The much awaited translation comes two months after it’s original publication in Italian as “Alzatevi, andiamo!” and is also available as an audiobook and in a large-print edition.
The book is filled with Pope John Paul II's personal recollections of his life and his thoughts on issues facing the world now. It covers the period from 1958, when he was called from a canoeing trip to be told he was named a bishop of Krakow, to his election as the first Polish Pope in 1978.
"Rise, Let Us Be on Our Way," has also been described a call to action. In it, the Pope discusses the strength of mercy, the importance of harmony between faith, reason and the heart, and the necessity of encouraging children to pray. He also discusses the priestly celibacy and his passion for theatre.
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From The Mason Historiographiki
Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin. American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer. New York: Vintage Books, 2005. pp 718. $ 17.95. Paper: ISBN 0375726268
J. Robert Oppenheimer was born into a wealthy Jewish-German immigrant family on April 22, 1904. To any outside observer, Oppenheimer had a very privileged childhood. His parents were secular in their religion, and stressed civic obligation over doctrine. He began his studies at the Ethnic Cultural Society School, a school dedicated to a traditional Liberal Arts education. The school taught that his wealth and education was to be used for the betterment of society. Even in grammar school his keen intellect was recognized and it was not long before he was being referred to as a prodigy. He had a thirst for knowledge of all types. Language, art, and poetry were favorites. His true love, however, was science. Though he had not settled for certain on Physics as his field, his teachers recalled that he excelled in science.
There is little doubt that Oppenheimer was a disturbed individual long before he was involved in making the world’s most destructive weapon. He enrolled in Harvard in 1922 after spending time in high altitude desert of New Mexico to recover from a lung infection (he was a chain smoker throughout his life). The mountains surrounding Santa Fe would play a major role in his life. It was during his tenure at Harvard that friends began to notice erratic and sometimes frightening behavior. He was aloof and seemed unable to connect with anyone on a social plane. Oppenheimer excelled academically and was admitted to Graduate standing because of his independent studies. The portrait painted by Brid and Sherwin of Oppenheimer during these years is one of a deeply troubled and possibly mentally unstable man. There was even an instance where Oppenheimer appears to have poisoned an apple in order to a kill a professor (nothing every came of the event).
After graduating from Harvard, Oppenheimer traveled to Europe to study. There he worked under some of the greatest physicists in the world. It is ironic that a man who would later design a bomb to destroy parts of Germany found comfort and happiness at the University of Gottingen. He was still a nuisance to fellow students and came across as conceded, but his psyche seems to have leveled out. In 1927, he returned to the United States and took a position at the California Institute of Technology. His academic work spoke for itself. Oppenheimer was a genius. There was, however, the question of his politics. Oppenheimer stressed later that he was never very political. Bird and Sherwin discount this statement. His early training at the Ethnic Cultural Society School stayed with him, and seemed to always take an interest in society. He was, according to Bird and Sherwin, a Leftist New Dealer. He mingled in social circles that included members of the Communist Party, and donated money through the party to support the liberal Spanish government in its fight against fascism. His younger brother Frank and wife Kitty, were also members of the Communist Party for a short period. Hitler’s anti-Semitism also appalled him and helped motivate him to join the war effort.
Despite Oppenheimer’s relationship with the Left, he was tapped to head the experimental laboratory at Los Alamos. The army knew of his relationships with former and possibly current party members but still granted him a security clearance. By all accounts, he transformed himself into an able and outgoing manager. Colleagues would later claim that it was Oppenheimer’s ability to inspire and manage that made the Atomic Bomb a possibility. His actual work on the project was limited, but he will forever be remembered as that “father of that atomic bomb.” After the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Oppenheimer began to have second thoughts about his work. Thrust into the limelight as the most prominent scientist of his generation, Oppenheimer took the stance that the awesome power he helped unleash needed to be restrained. He, along with the majority of other scientists on the project, originally joined out of fear that Nazi Germany would develop a bomb before the United States. Bombing a virtually defeated Japanese enemy was a different story. Oppenheimer turned quickly to pacifism. He eschewed the development of a “super” H-bomb, arguing that there was no military justification for the development of such a destructive weapon. He played an active role in the development of the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) and was a frequent visitor to Washington.
By almost every account, Oppenheimer had a magnetic personality and an ability to charm just about anyone. He did have enemies though. His positions on atomic regulation were not popular with everyone. Lewis Strauss, a proponent of the H-bomb, never liked Oppenheimer and appears to have made it his mission to destroy Oppenheimer. After years of lobbying and constant surveillance of Oppenheimer, Strauss successfully convinced enough politicians that Oppenheimer’s pacifism and past relations with the Communist Party made him unfit to have access to top-secret intelligence. In 1953, the father of the atomic bomb was asked to resign his position as adviser to the AEC. Refusing to step down, Oppenheimer chose instead to subject himself to a hearing. Although not on trial it was clear that Oppenheimer was being judged. Even though the “charges” brought against him stemmed primarily from issues that the army had already looked into, Oppenheimer was fighting an uphill battle. He had no access to the FBI’s thousands of pages on his activities, and because it was not a court of law, all sorts of flimsy evidence was allowed. In the end, the hearing voted to strip Oppenheimer of his security clearance.
The hearings took their toll on Oppenheimer. Though pressured by friends and even Einstein to simply turn his back on the country, Oppenheimer refused. He simply “loved the country to damn much.” In 1963, President Lyndon Johnson awarded Oppenheimer the Fermi Prize—a symbolic gesture acknowledging that he had been treated unjustly. J. Robert Oppenheimer died in 1967 from throat cancer.
David Houpt, Fall 2008
Though not a direct victim of the work of Senator McCarthy, J. Robert Oppenheimer was nonetheless one of the most prominent casualty of McCarthyism. Bird and Sherwin are clearly under the belief that he was the victim of an unjust witch-hunt. As the title of the book suggests, Bird and Sherwin see Oppenheimer’s life as an almost Shakespearean tragedy. He went from being on the cover of Time Magazine and the most celebrated scientist to a security risk in a matter of years. It is truly amazing that a man who contributed so much to the war effort could be so publicly and unfairly treated.
Oppenheimer’s life is a great example of the extent of the 1950s Red Scare. Bird and Sherwin make it clear that it was not uncommon for intellectuals in the 1930s to flirt with Communism. In many instances it seems almost impossible to tell the difference between a Left New Dealer and a Communist. There are events in Oppenheimer’s life that raise questions, but Bird and Sherwin appear to have done a thorough job at researching the available evidence and come to the conclusion that he was never involved in any subversive activities. He was guilty of not being forthcoming with names in the early 1940s (an effort to protect friends and possibly his brother), but this is hardly justification for labeling him a security risk. He was dedicated and loyal to the United States to the day he died.
It is interesting that throughout Oppenheimer’s life, it was often his female companions that were more closely aligned with the Communist Party. Kitty, his wife, was a widow of a Communist who died fighting in Spain. She never denied her politics, but insisted that she had left the party by the time Oppenheimer was involved in Los Alamos. Oppenheimer also seems to have had a long-term relationship with another Communist Party member who would later kill herself. T
Although I know very little about physics and nothing about nuclear physics, Bird and Sherwin were able to convey the extent to which Oppenheimer influenced the field without getting bogged down in complex explanations. The book is designed for a popular audience, and is written with an eye towards that dramatic. Often times this can cause a book to come across superficial but American Prometheus is engaging and thought provoking. There is a nice mixture of narrative and quotation, leading the reader to the conclusion that Bird and Sherwin have mastered the evidence. The end notes are a tour-de-force and demonstrate how much time went into researching the book. Although the authors clearly fall on the side that Oppenheimer was mistreated, they successfully present this position as an accurate portrayal of events.
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By William Tucker on 4.6.12 @ 6:10AM
As a faithful tool of the environmentalists, the president betrays his main constituents.
There is a fundamental contradiction in the philosophy of President Obama that he is going to have to resolve before the electorate hangs him out to dry in the coming presidential campaign.
As the first African-American President, Barack Obama has come to embody the hopes of other groups that felt excluded from American society -- Hispanics, women, gays and lesbians, the handicapped and so on. There is an openly articulated strategy among his supporters that these out-groups can be forged into some grand coalition -- along with young people, pensioners and government employees -- to outvote the only group that does not seem to respond to the President's ministrations -- white men employed in the private sector.
But there is a problem with this strategy. In climbing through the ranks of academia and the liberal political world, the President has found himself welcomed at every level by people who saw in him the qualities of leadership that could represent their case. But in making this ascent through academia, he has imbibed the reigning ideology of this world -- environmentalism. Although the President may not recognize it, environmentalism works in direct opposition to the groups he purports to sponsor -- the poor, the disenfranchised, the unemployed, and so forth.
When stripped of its homilies about the beauties of the nature and virtues of a "sustainable" economy, environmentalism is basically an ideology for the protection of privilege. It works in favor of those who feel satisfied with current levels of consumption and against those who are trying to achieve greater levels of prosperity. As Michael Schellenberger and Ted Nordhaus expressed it in their landmark essay, "The Death of Environmentalism":
Environmentalists… aim to short-circuit democratic values by establishing Nature… as the ultimate authority that human societies must obey. And they insist that humanity's future is a zero-sum proposition -- that there is only so much prosperity, material comfort and modernity to go around. If too many people desire such things, we will all be ruined. We, of course, meaning those of us who have already achieved prosperity, material comfort and modernity.
Environmentalists make a living going around stirring up local opposition to all manner of development -- drilling for oil, harvesting forests, building power plants. The premise is always that this is the "wrong place" for such development and that whatever needs to be done is better taken care of somewhere else. What never gets noticed is that environmentalists are also doing the same thing in the next valley and the one after that and the sum of all this is that nothing gets done. They urge people to "think globally, act locally," but what this means in practice is professing some grand support for a "sustainable" economy built on "renewable" technologies while opposing the same things at the local level.
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http://www.conservativeunderground.com/forum505/showthread.php?48494-The-Contradictions-of-Obamaism&mode=hybrid
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Kodak Film has announced that it will stop producing and processing Kodachrome film. To those who may wonder why this is geographic news the answer is a painful one. Kodachrome film is the color film that made National Geographic famous. The color images from 1937 up until the digital age were all done with Kodachrome.
The baroque era of National Geographic Magazine began with their color photographs. Before, in the classical era, the magazine has superb articles with black and white images. But Kodachrome gave the magazine color and an extra enriching feeling. The famous images of the 1930s, 40s, and 50s had a slightly off-feeling that made the photographs works of art. I always felt this "offness" was a plus. Editor Melville Grosvenor felt the same way; he order photographs to include red objects like shirts to add a sharp color contrast to images.
National Geographic magazine is marking the end of Kodachrome with a short news story and a new exhibit at the museum in Washington, D.C. in the United States. I plan to visit and remember the feeling the first time I explored the world through old National Geographic photos.
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Right to Water
The Human Right to Water at the UN
The UN General Assembly voted on the right to water and sanitation resolution on July 28, 2010. 122 states voted for the resolution and 41 abstained, including the U.S. No state voted against the resolution. While the resolution is not legally binding, it is a huge step in the right direction. Our network of allies has been fighting for over 10 years toward legally binding recognition of the human right to water at the UN– we are clearly on our way!
- Read more about the victory in our press release.
- Read the press release about the UN Resolution.
- Read our fact sheet, Yes We Can: Why Obama Must Put Human Rights First and Support the Right to Water
About the Right to Water
We believe that water is a common resource to which we all have an equal right and a responsibility to protect. So does the United Nations.
In 2002, the United Nations Economic and Social Council adopted water as a right to ensure fair and non-discriminatory access to safe drinking water.
However, the right to water is violated daily: According to the World Health Organization an estimated 1.7 billion people still lack access to clean water and 2.3 billion people suffer from water-borne diseases each year.
Water-borne diseases occur due to the inability to provide clean water, but increasingly due to the unaffordable pricing of water. Pre-paid water meters are installed in poor areas to ensure profitable supply and services are cut-off if citizens fall behind on their payments.
Privatization of water has only exacerbated the problem. So what does the right to water mean?
We are working with allies around the world to enshrine the human right to water in an international treaty.
To find out more, check out these publications:
- Why We Need an International Water Convention
- Key Principles for an International Treaty on the Right to Water
- Water = Life: How Privatization Undermines the Human Right to Water
Countries Recognizing the Right to Water
- 1994, Panama: A constitutional amendment recognized the State‚ responsibility to guarantee water for adequate development;
- 1995, Ethiopia: “[P]olicies shall aim to provide all Ethiopians access to [..] clean water;”
- 1995, Uganda: The State is obliged to fulfill fundamental rights to social justice and economic development including clean and safe water;
- 1996, Gambia: “The State shall endeavour to facilitate equal access to clean and safe water;”
- 1996, South Africa: “Everyone has the right to have access to sufficient food and water;”
- 2004, Uruguay: Uruguayans approved a constitutional amendment by popular vote guaranteeing the right to water
- 2005, Colombia: Article 366 establishes the state’s obligation to satisfy unmet needs in health, education, and water.
- 2005, DRC: Article 48 establishes a citizen’s right to drinking water.
- 2008, Ecuador: Section one establishes the right to water.
Countries working towards recognizing the right to water: Belgium, France, Guatemala, and Kenya.
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Garden Waste Collection Service
This convenient collection service will help you
compost your garden waste
Home composting is the best way to deal with your garden waste
but when the growing season really gets going you
might need a little extra help.
The garden waste collection service is:
- convenient and easy to use
- saves time and effort
- eco-friendly; composting on your behalf
Subscribing to the garden waste collection service means that
you can put all your compostable garden waste in a special 240
litre brown wheelie bin, including lawn cuttings, hedge
clippings, leaves, dead flowers, old plants and as many weeds as
you can dig up!
Every fortnight we will collect the compostable waste from you,
leaving your garden looking as lovely as you intended it to
The 2013/14 collection service started on Monday
25th February 2013, however you can sign up to the
service at any point in the year and pay a reduced rate
depending on the number of collections that are left in the year
(minimum fee of £30 to cover equipment and administration).
You can sign up to the service by calling the Worcestershire HUB on 01684
862151 please have your debit or credit card ready to
make payment over the phone.
Please note: Payments must be made upfront
and in full, one off collections are not available.
| Yes Please
|| No Thanks
|Hedge and shrub clippings
|Leaves, twigs and bark
|Small plants, cut flowers and weeds
||Tree stumps/branches over 10cm (4") in diameter
For more information please click on the links
Here's how to book...
Call the Worcestershire HUB on
Please have your credit or debit card ready to make payment when
- At a Customer Service Centre with Cash or Debit/Credit
Pop in with your preferred means of payment to one of our Customer
Service Centres in:
- Malvern Library, Graham Road, Malvern
- Upton Library, School Lane, Upton
- The Library, Teme Street, Tenbury
We believe the service offers excellent value for money and
although other Local Authorities offer a similar service for a
lower cost we feel that it is not fair to subsidise the costs
of this service with council tax monies. Many of
our residents will not be able to take advantage of this
service as they do not have a big garden or produce any garden
waste at all. It would not be right to take money away
from other services that everyone benefits
from (such as Street Cleansing) in order to fund a
service which can only benefit a
select few. So, in short, the reason the service costs
£60 per year is because this is what it costs to operate the
service, the full cost of this service is paid for by those who use
it and you can't get fairer than that.
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Thousand Oaks, CA (Vocus/PRWEB) February 08, 2011
Mobicip.com, the leading Internet safety and parental control service for mobile devices like the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad, now offers a YouTube filter for parents and educators to ensure their children’s safety when they access videos on the popular site. The YouTube filter is a feature of the Mobicip Safe Browser app, which is available for download from the Apple App Store.
The Internet is evolving quickly and user-generated content is taking prime of place, especially on YouTube. Keeping children safe is a challenge when the content is updated dynamically and inappropriate videos can be displayed or accessed by chance. It is neither sufficient nor fair to shield YouTube completely from young users. Mobicip’s intelligent real-time analysis engine now has the ability to separate and analyze YouTube content dynamically and block only the objectionable ones for a specified age-level. This is accomplished with no noticeable slowdown or impact on the performance of the mobile device since Mobicip is a cloud-based Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solution.
“At Mobicip, we review customer feedback constantly and try to identify common themes,” says Suren Ramasubbu, co-founder and CEO of Mobicip.com and a father of two. “While Mobicip has always filtered YouTube, it was being filtered just like a regular website. Parents and educators want to block only objectionable videos and not the entire YouTube site or the entire page that contains one bad video. A true YouTube filter is a huge challenge because it can be done only by analyzing the videos dynamically, and that is Mobicip’s distinct advantage,” says Ramasubbu. “A YouTube filter was highly sought after by Mobicip's users, and we are happy to make it available for parents and educators as yet another tool to keep children safe online.”
Visit the Mobicip blog or Mobicip YouTube Channel to learn How To Setup YouTube Filtering Using Mobicip.
Mobicip’s Safe Browser app is available on the iPhone App Store, and the Premium subscription can be purchased at Mobicip.com. The full press release is available at Mobicip.com/press.
About Mobicip’s Web Filtering and Dynamic Parental Control Software
Mobicip is the most popular content filtering solution available on the App Store. The best-selling Mobicip Safe Browser app has been consistently rated among top paid apps, downloaded and used by tens of thousands of parents and several K-12 schools and school districts in the US, and was recently recognized by the 2010 Parents’ Choice Awards as a Top Mobile App. Mobicip's dynamic content filtering includes a new YouTube filter for parents and educators to ensure their children’s Internet safety while they are on one of the most popular sites on the web. In addition to enabling online learning by supporting iOS-based devices, Mobicip partners with schools like Comal ISD to create custom app solutions that further enable online learning. Learn more at Mobicip.com.
|
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|
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1800 16 11 09
Want some help?
Does this page need updating?
What to expect when accessing records about you.
Other Find & Connect resources
Glossary Term Out of Home Care
- Glossary Term and Type of 'care'
'Out-of-home care' is the term used by the Department of Human Services in Victoria to describe when a child or young person is placed in care away from their parents.
In the vast majority of cases, the placement of a child or young person into out of home care takes place following child protection intervention and in accordance with an order granted by the Children's
Out-of-home care includes two main types of care: residential care and home-based care.
Residential care is provided by paid staff employed by a community service organisation (CSO). Residential care properties usually house
three or four people at a time and these are generally, though not always, adolescents.
Home-based care is provided by people in their own homes. Home-based care includes foster care, kinship care and permanent care. A number of CSOs across the state are
funded by the Department of Human Services to deliver home-based care.
- Department of Human Services, The Home-based Care Handbook, September 2007, http://www.cyf.vic.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0020/17129/phome-based-care-handbook-revised-2007.pdf. Details
Sources used to compile this entry: Department of Human Services, The Home-based Care Handbook, September 2007, http://www.cyf.vic.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0020/17129/phome-based-care-handbook-revised-2007.pdf.
Prepared by: Cate O'Neill
Created: 19 May 2009, Last modified: 28 October 2011
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Fight Club Questions
- If Project Mayhem succeeded, how would a post-Project Mayhem society differ from the pre-Project Mayhem society?
- Can Project Mayhem be stopped, or has it progressed beyond the point of no return?
- Tyler believes that people cannot live unless they first hit bottom. Do you agree?
- Which characters in the novel "hit bottom" and how? Does it give them a renewed appreciation for life?
- What is our narrator really fighting against?
- There are only two female characters in the novel. How do they contribute to the novel's themes? Why aren't there more female perspectives in the novel?
- If you've seen the movie, compare the two endings. Why do you think the film changed the ending? Which is more effective?
- Would you join a fight club? Would you join Project Mayhem?
Next Page: Characters
Previous Page: Quotes
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In this food tutorial learn a simple recipe for making a Creole sauce.
Tags:creole sauce recipe,chefrobertkhoury,cooking tips,creole recipe,creole sauce,How to Cook,how to make creole sauce,sauce recipe
Grab video code:
How to Make a Creole Sauce
Now, that it’s sweated up very nicely, we’re going to give a little kick to it. You can use red wide or white wine. I just have a bottle of white open but I will prefer red since it is tomato. I am going to put quarter of cup of white wine, that is how you do this and then here is what we are going to do, take a little sweet— delicious!. So, this is only called onion and pepper with tomato, tomatoes with onion and pepper. And you can make this any way you want, where when you used to work a mile an hour, you have to follow tradition. So, this is what I enjoy doing.
I like to put wine in a quite a bit of things, but that wine reduced and we are going to add one pint of the one mile an sauce to that, and just bring it to one quick simmer and it is done. Why? Again, it is a finished sauce that we are using. You can do many things with that tomato sauce. You can use the tomato to make something or mile an hour sauce and even take the tomato sauce like tomato basil. There is a lot of fresh basil and minced it up and just add the tomato sauce at end and serve it. You want to cook some vegetables, a million one thing you can do with the tomato sauce.
Okay, let us reduce them up. See, we do not want it to burn. Now to that, we are going to add the one pint of already warmed up and this way, the fact that is warm, you do not have to wait. The flavors of the peppers and onions only take a couple of minute to get into the sauce and then most likely, this is a great sauce to use now. If you are going to sauté shrimps and the n just add this in the end, or want a piece of fish and have this or I am do with it, stock on the waste and I am going to cook a piece of fish and add more crumbs and that is going to be my dinner for tonight. It looks good and taste good. I will have a lot more hot sauce to this.
Follow this recipe like this, you will go crazy. It is fantastic! I love it! And I am going to add like couple of teaspoons out of hot sauce to this and go about making my dinner.
|
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For Immediate Release
Monday, February 4, 2013
Contact: Office of Autism Research Coordination/NIH
Phone: (301) 443-6040
2012 IACC Strategic Plan Update Focuses on Recent Advances and Emerging Opportunities in Autism Research
The Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee (IACC) has released its Strategic Plan for Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) Research – 2012 Update. The 2012 Strategic Plan Update provides an update on recent developments in each of the seven critical research areas outlined in the 2011 IACC Strategic Plan for ASD Research, including screening and diagnosis, the underlying biology of ASD, risk factors, treatments and interventions, services, lifespan issues, and surveillance and infrastructure. The IACC Strategic Plan, first issued in 2009 and updated in 2010 and 2011, provides a set of recommendations to guide Federal autism research efforts and serves as a basis for partnerships with other agencies and private organizations involved in ASD research and services.
The new Strategic Plan Update highlights a number of recent research advances and important opportunities that have emerged. For example, the Update draws attention to the latest U.S. and international prevalence numbers; new research on co-occurring conditions; the first reports of brain activity change correlated with positive behavioral changes; an increase in data sharing among researchers with public and private funding; an advanced understanding of the neural circuitry underlying ASD; and new research highlighting services needs across the lifespan.
IACC Chairman and NIMH Director Dr. Thomas Insel said, "It is clear from the 2012 Strategic Plan Update that recent investments in ASD research and increasing coordination in the community are paying off—the volume of research is almost overwhelming, and new insights into areas such as brain circuitry, behavioral neuroscience, intervention approaches, genetics, immunology, environmental risk factors, and services needs are creating opportunities to really change outcomes."
In addition to research advances highlighted in the Strategic Plan, important research gaps are also noted, including the continuing need to improve monitoring to accurately measure ASD prevalence; the need to investigate the impact of anticipated changes to ASD diagnostic criteria in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-5 (DSM-5); renewed focus on studying environmental risk factors for ASD as well as gene-environment interactions; the diagnosis and prevalence of ASD in adults; lack of interventions for adolescents and adults; and the need for brain tissue donations for research.
At its first meeting in July 2012, the new IACC created a plan for developing a 2012 update on progress made in research areas described in the IACC Strategic Plan. IACC members convened approximately 40 external content experts for each of the research areas in the Strategic Plan to identify new advances, opportunities, and gaps in the field that emerged between January 2011 and December 2012. In addition, the Committee received input from many members of the public who sent in ideas or provided written recommendations for consideration.
In the 2012 IACC Strategic Plan Update, the IACC has endeavored to summarize the key trends and groundbreaking new insights from the past 2 years that are likely to change and shape the direction of ASD research. In order to gain a more complete picture of the autism research landscape over the past 2 years, this update should be paired with two other IACC publications, the 2010 Autism Spectrum Disorder Research Portfolio Analysis Report and the 2011 Summary of Advances in Autism Spectrum Disorder Research, which describe public and private U.S. ASD research funding in 2010 and specific ASD research publications from 2011 that the Committee deemed to have significantly advanced the field. The IACC hopes that, together, these documents will provide a useful overview for the community of the state of autism research as of December 2012 and serve as a guide for future research efforts to understand ASD, develop effective interventions, and improve the quality of life for people with ASD and their families.
The IACC is a Federal advisory committee that was created by Congress in an effort to accelerate progress in ASD research and services. The IACC works to improve coordination and communication across the Federal government and work in partnership with the autism community. The Committee is composed of officials from many different Federal agencies involved in autism research and services, as well as people with ASD, parents, advocates, and other members of the autism community. The documents and recommendations produced by the IACC reflect the views of the Committee as an independent advisory body and the expertise of the members of the Committee, but do not represent the views, official statements, policies or positions of the Federal government. For more information on the IACC, please visit: www.iacc.hhs.gov.
|
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are on the rise again
, blanketing Tumblr, Twitter and much of the Switched team chatroom. Some sites offer GIF-making tools, but most, at best, do little more than take multiple screencaps of a video, leaving you with a five-frame result that's not going to get you any Internet cred. Amazingly, there still isn't a dedicated app for making amazing works like these
, so you'll have to get your hands a little dirty. We've spent far too much time perfecting our process, which involves YouTube downloads, Photoshop and QuickTime -- but it works.
1. Download the Video
We're going to assume you're starting with a YouTube video as your source, but the essential step here is downloading the video you want to cut up to your desktop. Some YouTube videos offer a download button, but for most, you'll probably need to grab a file downloading extension for your browser. We recommend Easy YouTube Downloader
(Chrome) and Video DownloadHelper
(Firefox). Legally, you're on your own.
2. Convert to .MOV
Photoshop is finicky when it comes to file formats, so you're going to have to convert the FLV or m4v file format you downloaded from YouTube into a .MOV file. The cheap and easy way is to open your video in the latest version of QuickTime on OS X, select File > Save As
and export in the 'Movie' format.
3. Import to Photoshop
We've tested this on multiple computers and versions of Photoshop, and the process works for most versions of CS3 and above. Go to File > Import
and select Video Frames to Layers
. Select the video you grabbed from YouTube, and Photoshop will prompt you to import your footage. If your movie is very short (i.e., under five seconds), just go ahead and import From Beginning to End
, and make sure you've got 'Make Frame Animation' selected. For longer videos, use Selected Range Only
, and select the duration of video you want Photoshop to grab by holding down Shift and sliding across the video timeline. Just go for the general length; you can crop tighter in the next step.
4. Tweak the GIF
The video frames to layers tool imports every frame of your video into a different layer in Photoshop, which means a two or three second video will leave you with hundreds of frames. After importing, the Animation window should appear (Window > Animation
will bring it up if it doesn't), revealing every layer as its own separate frame. Just like editing in iMovie or other video editing apps, just find the beginning and end of the action and delete all the other frames. Depending on what you're going for, this may be only 10 frames
or it may number in the hundreds
Once you're satisfied with your creation, follow these steps to export:
1. In the animation window, make sure you've set the dropdown to 'Forever'
2. Select File > Save for Web & Devices
3. Under export settings, set filetype to GIF.
4. Save, upload to your favorite image host and enjoy:
6. Optimizing Your Images
Animated GIF files are known to bring even modern day browsers to a screeching halt with their large file size. The quickest way to cut things down is to crop and resize; an 800x600 GIF may look great, but will probably result in a giant file unless it contains only a few frames. Cropping or resizing your image to 300 or 400 pixels will help, and you can also trim the fat by dialing back Colors and bumping up Lossiness (in the 'Save for Web' dialogue). If you're having trouble keeping the size down, you can also set Photoshop to only import every other (or every third, fourth, etc...) frame -- this speeds up the animation, but that's not necessarily a bad thing
. Unless it's an absolutely amazing piece of video, try to keep everything under 500K.
Of course, total GIF mastery involves ripping video and adding animated 'Deal With It
, but that's another guide entirely.
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|
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|
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|
STEUBENVILLE - Area communities are marking "Freedom from Workplace Bullies Week" with proclamations reflecting the need to protect men and women from abusive work environments.
City councilmembers in Steubenville, Toronto and Weirton have all issued proclamations in honor or Freedom from Workplace Bullies Week, which runs today through Saturday.
Mayors in all three communities point to the need to promote the social and economic well-being of all employees and citizens, noting that individual well-being "depends upon the existence of healthy and productive employees working in safe and abuse-free environments." They cite studies and surveys that "have documented the stress-related health consequences for individuals caused by exposure to abusive work environments," and said protections should apply across the board, regardless of race, color, gender, ethnicity, age or disability.
John Smurda, state coordinator for the effort to get a healthy workplace bill passed in Ohio, said bullying is defined as "a systematic campaign of interpersonal destruction that jeopardizes your health, your career and your job."
While it's a non-physical, non-homicidal form of violence, he said studies show it has emotional and stress-related consequences.
"With all these problems going on, people don't realize what bullying is or what workplace bullying is. We're trying to to get a bill introduced in Columbus to fill in loopholes in current laws," Smurda said.
Workplace bullies may insult other employees, undermine a co-workers work product, create a hostile work environment or consistently draw attention to someone else's flaws, ignore their suggestions or otherwise humiliate that person in front of others.
Since 2003, 21 states - including West Virginia - have adopted a healthy workplace bill, which defines an abusive work environment, establishes requirements for proof of health harm by licensed health or mental health professionals and protects conscientious employers from vicarious liability risk when internal correction and prevention mechanisms are in effect.
It also gives employers the ability to terminate or sanction offenders, requires those accused of workplace bullying to obtain their own attorney and plugs gaps in current state and federal civil rights protections.
For workers, it provides an avenue for seeking legal redress for untenable situations at work, allowing victims to sue their tormentor individually. It holds employers accountable, and compels them to prevent and correct future instances.
It does not involve state agencies in enforcing any of its provisions, nor do states which adopt the measure incur additional costs.
|
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|
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The Economic Collapse
July 20, 2012
You may not think that you eat much corn, but the truth is that it is in most of the things that we buy at the grocery store. In fact, corn is found in about 74 percent of the products we buy in the supermarket and it is used in more than 3,500 ways.
Americans consume approximately one-third of all the corn grown in the world each year, and we export massive amounts of corn to the rest of the world. Unfortunately, thanks to the drought of 2012 farmers are watching their corn die right in front of their eyes all over the United States.
The following is from a Washington Post article that was posted on Thursday….
Nearly 40 percent of the corn crop was in poor-to-very-poor condition as of Sunday, according to the U.S. Agriculture Department. That compared with just 11 percent a year ago.
“The crop, if you look going south from Illinois and Indiana, is damaged and a lot of it is damaged hopelessly and beyond repair now,” said Sterling Smith, a Citibank Institutional Client Group vice president who specializes in commodities.
About 30 percent of the soybean crop was in poor-to-very-poor condition, which compared with 10 percent a year ago.
Conditions for both crops are expected to worsen in Monday’s agriculture agency report.
More than half of the country is experiencing drought conditions right now, and this is devastating both ranchers and farmers. Right now, ranchers all over the western United States are slaughtering their herds early as feed prices rise. It is being projected that the price of meat will rise substantially later this year.
The following is from a recent MSNBC article….
For example, you may want to make room in your freezer for meat because prices for beef and pork are expected to drop in the next few months as farmers slaughter herds to deal with the high cost of grains that are used as livestock feed, said Shawn Hackett of the agricultural commodities firm Hackett Financial Advisors in Boynton Beach, Fla. But, he added, everything from milk to salad dressing is going to cost more in the near term, and eventually the meat deals will evaporate as demand outstrips supply.
So there may be some deals on meat in the short-term as all of these animals are slaughtered, but in the long-term we can expect prices to go up quite a bit.
But it isn’t as if food is not already expensive enough. The price of food rose much faster than the overall rate of inflation last year.
If prices rose that fast last year, what will those statistics look like at the end of this year if this drought continues?
Sadly, America is not alone. According to Bloomberg, the U.S. is not the only place that is having problems with crops right now….
Dry weather in the U.S., as well as the Black Sea region; a poor start to the Indian monsoon and the possibility of emerging El Nino conditions suggest agricultural products may rally, Barclays said in a report e-mailed yesterday.
And all of this is very bad news for a world that is really struggling to feed itself.
In many countries around the globe, the poor spend up to 75 percent of their incomes on food. Just a 10 percent increase in the price of basic food staples can be absolutely devastating for impoverished families that are living right on the edge.
You may not have ever known what it is like to wonder where your next meal is going to come from, but in many areas around the world that is a daily reality for many families.
Just check out what is happening in Yemen….
Crying and staring at his distended belly, 6-year-old Warood cannot walk on his spindly legs.
“We become so familiar with sickness,” said his mother, who according to social norms here does not give her name to outsiders.
She says she has watched two of her children die. “I have to decide: Do I buy rice or medicine?”
The United Nations estimates that 267,000 Yemeni children are facing life-threatening levels of malnutrition. In the Middle East’s poorest country hunger has doubled since 2009. More than 10 million people — 44% of the population — do not have enough food to eat, according to the United Nation’s World Food Program.
In the United States, we aren’t going to see starvation even if nearly the entire corn crop fails. Our grocery bills might be more painful, but there is still going to be plenty of food for everyone.
In other areas of the world, a bad year for global crops can mean the difference between life and death.
Sadly, it is being projected that the current drought in the United States will last well into August at least.
But even when this current drought ends, our problems will not be over. The truth is that we are facing a very severe long-term water crisis in the western United States.
Just check out the following facts from foodandwaterwatch.org….
-California has a 20-year supply of freshwater left
-New Mexico has only a ten-year supply of freshwater left
-The U.S. interior west is probably the driest it has been in 500 years, according to the National Academy of Sciences and the U.S. Geological Survey
-Lake Mead, the vast reservoir of the Colorado River, has a 50 percent chance of running dry by 2021
The 1,450 mile long Colorado River is probably the most important body of water in the southwestern United States.
Unfortunately, the Colorado River is rapidly dying.
The following is from a recent article by Jonathan Waterman about how the once might Colorado River is running dry…
Fifty miles from the sea, 1.5 miles south of the Mexican border, I saw a river evaporate into a scum of phosphates and discarded water bottles. This dirty water sent me home with feet so badly infected that I couldn’t walk for a week. And a delta once renowned for its wildlife and wetlands is now all but part of the surrounding and parched Sonoran Desert. According to Mexican scientists whom I met with, the river has not flowed to the sea since 1998. If the Endangered Species Act had any teeth in Mexico, we might have a chance to save the giant sea bass (totoaba), clams, the Sea of Cortez shrimp fishery that depends upon freshwater returns, and dozens of bird species.
So let this stand as an open invitation to the former Secretary of the Interior and all water buffalos who insist upon telling us that there is no scarcity of water here or in the Mexican Delta. Leave the sprinklered green lawns outside the Aspen conferences, come with me, and I’ll show you a Colorado River running dry from its headwaters to the sea. It is polluted and compromised by industry and agriculture. It is overallocated, drought stricken, and soon to suffer greatly from population growth. If other leaders in our administration continue the whitewash, the scarcity of knowledge and lack of conservation measures will cripple a western civilization built upon water. “You can either do it in crisis mode,” Pat Mulroy said at this conference, “or you can start educating now.”
People need to wake up because we have some very serious water issues in this country.
In the heartland of America, farmers pump water from a massive underground lake known as the Ogallala Aquifer to irrigate their fields.
The problem is that the Ogallala Aquifer is rapidly being pumped dry.
According to the U.S. Geological Survey, “a volume equivalent to two-thirds of the water in Lake Erie” has been permanently drained from the Ogallala Aquifer since 1940.
Once upon a time, the Ogallala Aquifer had an average depth of about 240 feet.
Today, the average depth of the Ogallala Aquifer is just 80 feet, and in some parts of Texas the water is totally gone.
Right now, the Ogallala Aquifer is being drained at a rate of approximately 800 gallons per minute.
Once that water is gone it will not be replaced.
So what will the “breadbasket of America” do then?
Most Americans do not realize this, but we are facing some major, major water problems.
Let us pray that this current drought ends and let us pray that everyone around the world will have enough to eat.
But even if we get through this year okay by some miracle, that doesn’t mean that our problems are over.
This article was posted: Friday, July 20, 2012 at 12:43 pm
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The Fort Lee Film Commission-produced musical “Mack & Mabel” celebrates the centennial of the founding of Keystone Studio in Fort Lee in 1912. With three performances starting this Friday, the production will incorporate film projection with live stage performances by student actors from Fort Lee High School under the direction of Drama teacher Jodi Etra.
Executive director Tom Meyers of the Fort Lee Film Commission said the diversity of the student actors, as well as the use of extremely rare archival film footage, make the production unique and exciting.
“Our high school students are from many diverse backgrounds, and this diversity is such a positive force in Fort Lee,” Meyers said. “To have this cast of young people tell a story about what happened here in Fort Lee 100 years ago is amazing. Add to the fact that we are premiering a previously lost film shot here in Fort Lee as one of Keystone Studio's first films in 1912 is even more amazing.”
Film archivist Paul Gierucki, who is in the process of restoring a lot of Keystone Studio films to be screened on TCM in August, supplied the Film Commission with a DVD copy and permission to use one of the first Keystone films produced in Fort Lee in 1912, A Grocery Clerk's Romance, according to Meyers.
“That silent film hasn’t been seen—as far as we know—publically since about 1912,” Meyers said. “So we want to make sure that we do it for the first time on Friday.”
He said Film Commission member Marc Perez of Sirk Productions in New York City put the footage together, and that it will screen above the stage prior to the entrances of the student actors.
“We gave [Perez] all the footage and the idea of trying to sync it to the actual score of ‘Mack & Mabel’ actually worked really well so it’s going to be fun,” Meyers said. “In addition to that, there’s going to be footage seen throughout the live portion because that clip reel will just open up before the kids come onstage. After that, once the kids come onstage, there will be certain scenes where they’ll be performing, and in the background, we have a large screen where there will be this archival footage that’s synced to what they’re doing onstage.”
He said all of the footage audiences will see during the production at the high school auditorium was all shot by pioneering filmmaker Mack Sennett’s Keystone Studio in Fort Lee.
“It’ll make some sense because whatever they’re singing about, the films will reflect that,” Meyers said.
Productions of “Mack & Mabel” are Friday, May 18, at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday, May 19, at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. at the Fort Lee High School auditorium. Tickets are $10 at the door with all proceeds benefiting high school Drama Department programs, according to Meyers.
Members of the Fort Lee Film Commission will be selling tickets in the vestibule of the auditorium starting at 6:30 p.m. on Friday and at 1 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. on Saturday.
Meyers said volunteers are still needed to help sell tickets.
“In addition to raising money, we have to be physically there to handle ticket sales on the day of the performance and the evening of the performances,” he said. “We could use as many volunteers as we can get.”
For more information or to volunteer, contact the Fort Lee Film Commission at 201-693-2763.
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Famed Owatonna tannery back in business
- Article by: DOUG SMITH
- Star Tribune
- December 18, 2012 - 8:25 PM
A famed 108-year-old Owatonna tannery is back in business.
And thousands of hides sent to the company by hunters last year no longer are in limbo.
"We're working on the backlog, and some of those hides are coming out right now,'' said Lanny Uber, whose family ran Uber Tanning Co. for six generations. He sold it in 2006, but the new owner ran into financial problems and closed the business last summer, filing for personal bankruptcy.
Thousands of hides have been in storage since then, to the dismay of hunters from Minnesota and around the nation who feared they would be lost or ruined.
Uber completed a deal in October to buy the company from a local bank and is rehiring workers at two Owatonna facilities -- a tannery and a manufacturing plant -- and completing orders to tan the hides and produce custom gloves, jackets, vests and accessories.
Uber is operating under the name Century Leather Products and isn't sure yet if he'll revert to the familiar family name. He said it will take months to complete the work.
"Quite a few people have been calling and inquiring,'' he said. "They primarily ask if their hides are still here.''
Uber said he is able to look up items in the company records and give customers an approximate completion date.
"People have been very supportive,'' he said.
Uber said he has no doubt the business can be successful again -- it had been since Adolph Uber settled in Owatonna in 1904 and opened a tannery. The Uber family business has roots going back to 18th-century Prussia.
Lanny Uber said he's getting plenty of new work from hunters this fall.
"I'm not worried about that,'' he said.
The bigger problem is trying to do two years' worth of hides in one year. "We've got quite a backlog,'' he said. About 700 hunters had paid up front for their orders.
Uber was one of the only companies where a hunter could send in a hide and get the same one back as a finished leather product.
"On a good year, the tannery would run upwards of 20,000 deer hides a year; at least half of those would be custom hides [from individuals],'' Uber said.
"People are definitely happy,'' he said. Many hunters told Uber the hides they sent the company had sentimental value.
"It was maybe someone's first deer, or someone's last deer,'' Uber said.
Customers who had hides at the bankrupt company should contact Uber at 507-451-0762. He has yet to replace the old firm's website, but plans to eventually.
"We just haven't had time,'' he said.
© 2013 Star Tribune
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By Renee Rusler, Park Ranger
It was October 1836. At Fort Vancouver, Narcissa Whitman and Eliza Spalding waited for their husbands. The men had left them there while they went to locate sites for the two new mission stations. Eliza was the first to be reunited with her husband when Henry Spalding returned to retrieve them. The three would now travel up the Columbia River to Fort Walla Walla where they would join Marcus Whitman. Narcissa wrote her mother a detailed account of the voyage:
“We left Vancouver Thursday noon Nov 3rd in two boats. Mr McLeod myself & baggage in one & Mr and Mrs S [Spalding] in the other…It rained some that afternoon, also on the fourth & fifth. Sixth it rained all day, nearly, & the wind was very strong, but in our favour, so that we kept our sail up most of the day. Our boat was well covered with an oil cloth. I succeeded in keeping myself dry by wrapping well in my cloak & getting under the oil cloth…I roll’d my bed & blankets in my India Rubber cloak which preserved them quite well from the rain, so that nights I slept warm & comfortably as ever.”
“On the morning of the Seventh we arrived at the Cascades made the portage & breakfasted had considerable rain. The men towed the boats up the falls on the opposite side of the river. The water was very low & made it exceeding difficult for them to drag the boats up in the midst of the rocks, & noise of the foaming waters. Sometimes they were obliged to lift the boats over the rocks, at others go round them to the entire destruction of the gum upon them which prevents them from leaking. It was nearly night before all was safely over the difficult passage & our boats gumed ready for launching.”
“8th [Tues.] breakfasted just below the Dalls, past them without unloading the boats. This was done by attaching a strong rope of considerable length to the Stern of the boat two men only remaining in it to guide & keep it clear of the rocks, while the remainder & as many Indians as can be obtained draw it along with the rope, walking upon the edge of the rocks above the frightful precipice. The little Dalls just above these the current is exceeding strong & rapid & full of whirlpools…I remained in the boat being quite fatigued with my walk past the other Dalls. It is a terrific sight, & a frightful place to be in, to be drawn along in such a narrow channel between such high craggy perpendicular bluffs …Many times the rope would catch against the rocks & oblige some one to creep carefully over the horrible precipice to unloose it much to the danger of his life… Many boats have been dashed to pieces at these places & more than a hundred lives lost.”
“Thursday we made the portage of the Chutes & were all day about it. While on land had several heavy showers. Friday also was another soaking wet day, the night too. This was dreary enough. Saturday was much more pleasant no rain. We arrived at Walla W [Fort Walla Walla] early Sab [Sabbath] Morning in health with all our effects preserved to us mercifully.”
Marcus arrived a few days later. This marked the end of the missionaries’ travels together. Each couple would now continue on to their own mission station.
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There are two forms of empathy / telepathy: One, which works on a "passive" basis, and another, working on an "active" basis. "Passive" empathy, as I call it, would be the actual "empathy", i.e. the receiving of emotion(s). I call it "passive", because it works just like that. It's like something happens, and you notice it automatically. Think of it as this: whenever there is a sound in your vicinity that you are able to hear, you hear it. You listen to it with your ears, and it works automatically.
The same goes for empathy / telepathy. It is like another organ of your body is used to receive the information. (Most probably it is the pituitary gland.) In the actual text I'm going to describe that a little more in detail (however, I cannot "scientifically" confirm, if it is the pituitary gland indeed). The "active" empathy (or telepathy) is done by actively using your will to try to "feel" another entity / thing etc. (i.e. a human, an ET, an animal, a situation etc. ). This is, as I see it, what is done when doing Remote Viewing, what is done when sending thoughts, and so on. You do not automatically do it, except when creating an emotion.
Think of it as willfully taking an object with your hand, for example (= i.e., you have a part of your body, which you have to use through your own will to exert an action). "Active" empathy would, for example, be the type of empathy as a psychiatrist would see "empathy", that is, trying to imagine what another human might think of / feel in a certain situation etc..
Now, to the concept of "telepathy": Telepathy, as I see it, occurs in many ways. In terms of sending and receiving other peoples' thoughts, it can occur automatically in conjunction with "passive" empathy. The receiver does not need to be in a mentally relaxed state. However, a relaxed mind certainly helps to discern between the various types of "felt" information. An example: Somebody is angry with you, because he thinks you have done something foolish. In that case, you can feel the emotion of "anger", and there are also, sporadically, words seeming to "flow" into your mind, like, for example, "idiot" or "fool" or whole phrases, like "what a fool" etc..
Now, two things can be true, according to what I know about it (and others told me about it when asked):
In "passive" empathy, the emotions or - I don't quite know how to phrase it - "data" seem to have to be linked to yourself in a way. One can, for example, not only feel other people's emotions, but also certain premonitions, like an impending danger, and so on. Whenever a person creates an emotion, for example someone getting afraid, and it is linked to another person in a way, the other person can (automatically) receive it. (Example: Someone threatening another one with a letter etc. . ) Otherwise, the second person could "actively look for" the first person's emotions, to see if he / she is afraid, if the second person has a "bad feeling" about the first, but the feeling being not the actual fear of the first person, but rather the situation linked to one's own consciousness. (Not really good explained, I know - the actual text should make it clearer. )
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Rick Bayless's Mexican Kitchen: Capturing the Vibrant Flavors of a World-Class Cuisineby Rick Bayless
Synopses & Reviews
BURSTING WITH BOLD, COMPLEX FLAVORS, Mexican cooking has the kind of gusto we want in food today. Until now, American home cooks have had few authorities to translate the heart of this world-class cuisine to everyday cooking.
In this book of more than 150 recipes, award-winning chef, author and teacher Rick bayless provides the inspiration and guidance that home cooks have needed. With a blend of passion, patience, clarity and humor, he unerringly finds his way into the very soul of Mexican cuisine, from essential recipes and explorations of Mexico's many chiles to quick-to-prepare everyday dishes and pull-out-the-stops celebration fare.
Bayless begins the journey by introducing us to the building blocks of Mexican cooking. With infectious enthusiasm and an entertaining voice, he outlines 16 essential preparations-deeply flavored tomato sauces and tangy tomatillo salsas, rich chile pastes and indispensable handmade tortillas.
Fascinating cultural background and practical cooking tips help readers to understand these preparations and make them their own. Each recipe explains which steps can be completed in advance to make final preparation easier, and each provides a list of the dishes in later chapters that are built around these basics. And with each essential recipe, Bayless includes several "Simple Ideas from My American Home"-quick, familiar recipes with innovative Mexican accents, such as Baked Ham with Yucatecan Flavors, Spicy Chicken Salad, Ancho-Broiled Salmon and Very, Very Good Chili.
Throughout, the intrepid Bayless brings chiles into focus, revealing that Mexican cooks use these pods for flavor, richness, color and, yes, sometimes for heat. He details the simple techniques for getting the best out of every chile-from the rich, smoky chipotle to the incendiary but fruity habanero.
Then, in more than 135 recipes that follow, Bayless guides us through a wide range of richly flavored regional Mexican dishes, combining down-home appeal and convivial informality with simple culinary elegance. It's all here: starters like Classic Seviche Tostadas or Chorizo-Stuffed Ancho Chiles; soups like Slow-Simmered Fava Bean Soup or Rustic Ranch-Style Soup; casual tortilla-based preparations like Achiote-Roasted Pork Tacos or Street-Style Red Chile Enchiladas; vegetable delights like Smoky Braised Mexican Pumpkin, or Green Poblano Rice; even a whole chapter on classic fiesta food (from Oaxacan Black Mole with Braised Chicken, Smoky Peanut Mole with Grilled Quail and Great Big Tamal Roll with Chard with the incomparable Juchitan-Style Black Bean Tamales); and ending with a selection of luscious desserts like Modern Mexican Chocolate Flan with KahIua and Yucatecan-Style Fresh Coconut Pie. To quickly expand your Mexican repertoire even further, each of these recipes is accompanied by suggestions for variations and improvisations.
There is no greater authority on Mexican cooking than Rick Bayless, and no one can teach it better. In his skillful hands, the wonderful flavors of Mexico will enter your kitchen and your daily cooking routine without losing any of their depth or timeless appeal.
"This definitive collection from Chicago chef and James Beard Award winner Bayless...proves comprehensively that the best Mexican food requires — and amply rewards — dedication and, often, time." Publishers Weekly
"A serious guide to an often underestimated cuisine, this is important as both a reference and a cookbook." Library Journal
"Mexican cuisine could not possibly find a more eager and informed advocate than Chicago restaurateur Bayless." Booklist
Capturing the vibrant flavors of authentic Mexican cooking, this cookbook features more than 200 recipes within the reach of even the most amateur cook. All the instructions are contained within each recipe, with no cross referencing. of color photos.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 428) and index.
About the Author
RICK BAYLESS, one of America's foremost practitioners of Mexican cooking, earned an unprecedented
honor in 1995 when he was named Chef of the Year by both the James Beard Foundation and the International Association of Culinary Professionals. He and his wife, Deann Groen Bayless, own and operate the highly acclaimed restaurants Frontera Grill and Topolobampo, both in Chicago.
What Our Readers Are Saying
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Other books you might like
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Graphic Design Programs at Ontario Colleges
What to expect from a career as a Graphic Designer
Graphic design programs at Ontario colleges give you the opportunity to combine creativity with advancing technology. But being a graphic designer means more than having a sense for what looks good – whether you’re interested in traditional or web graphic design, you need excellent business, communication and interpersonal skills to stay on top of projects and work effectively with clients.
If you’re interested in channeling your artistic skills into a practical, in-demand career as a graphic designer, here’s what you need to know. More
Graphic Design Courses
Graphic design programs at Ontario colleges give students overall training, from traditional print to online and interactive design and multimedia training. Core courses such as page layout, typography, sketching and photography will be built on with classes teaching digital applications to give students fundamental skills of practice and experience with leading technologies and graphic design software.
Courses in brand identity, professional practices and material management will help students manage their projects and learn to interact with clients in a professional and productive manner. Project-based assignments and work placements offered by many institutions will help students develop a feel for working in the field.
General Graphic Design Program Requirements
Requirements for a graphic design program include an Ontario Secondary School Diploma (OSSD) or equivalent, which includes a grade 12 English credit. A senior mathematics course may also be required.
Students may be asked to submit a portfolio of their work in the Visual Arts field for revision. Recommended (but not mandatory) courses and experience include:
- Media or Visual Arts
- Computer competency
- Yearbook committee or photography club
Graphic Designer Jobs and Salaries
Graphic design employment is applicable to any number of businesses – marketing and graphic design go hand-in-hand for any business with a message to promote. Opportunities exist within organizations, or you can operate independently as a consultant or freelance graphic designer.
The average graphic design wage is around $21 an hour, but may be a little lower when you first enter the industry. Many positions in companies or firms have hourly wages of roughly $30 an hour, while working as a freelancer can be even more lucrative with hourly rates from $35 to $50 or more.
Ontario Colleges Offering Graphic Design Programs
Use the left-column navigation to refine your search by College, Program Availability, Program Start Date and more, or see the table below for a complete list of graphic design programs at Ontario colleges. Less
|Program Title||College||Campus||Availability||Program Length||Start Date||Website|
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RFID and data: Here’s what’s next
Let’s lift a glass of California Zinfandel and drink a toast to the Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology that made it possible. First, there were RFID chips, attached to every grapevine, connected with ultra wide-band and WiMAX that allows the tiny radio transmitters to broadcast over the 30-mile radius of the Napa Valley vineyards. Gartner fellow Tom Austin envisions a scenario where the chips on the vines will broadcast information on irrigation and climate conditions to a Web application so that grape growing can be micro-managed via a computer network.
Once the Zinfandel grapes are harvested, crushed and made into wine, RFID chips and sensors will monitor the movement and temperature of every bottle to ensure optimum conditions throughout the supply chain. This is the type of pervasive sensor network envisioned by Gartner, and one that is being actively pursued by key suppliers like Oracle Corp., Redwood Shores, Calif., where Jon Chorley, senior director of development, is working to move it from concept to reality.
How ubiquitous can RFID become in our daily lives? Suppose the Zinfandel you drank in this toast interacts negatively with your prescription medication. Gartner’s Austin offers a scenario where you are rushed to the hospital, and the nurses and doctors in the ER are able to read data from an RFID chip on your person to determine exactly what medications you are on, which may help them to save your life.
While RFID is starting out as a way for Wal-Mart to further optimize its supply-chain management, Austin sees the tiny radio transmitters invading every aspect of our business and personal lives by 2014. So in the time it takes to age a fine wine, the Zinfandel scenario may not be so far-fetched.
Of course, RFID technology is not there quite yet. At its core, RFID is just another source of data that has to be integrated into enterprise systems to become valuable information. While some users are beginning to tackle the middleware challenges, at the moment, useful implementations are barely more than a gleam in the Wal-Mart smiley-face cartoon character’s eye.
Meta on RFID stages
Gene Alvarez, vice president at Stamford, Conn.-based Meta Group, is a little more cautious in his predictions than Gartner. He believes the RFID revolution may unfold as an evolution with its full impact coming late in this decade, which does not exactly contradict Gartner’s 10-year scenario, but is a little more conservative.
In Alvarez’s view there will be three levels of progressive RFID adoption.
First will come the early adopters, or “leading enterprises” as Alvarez refers to them, including Wal-Mart and its suppliers, which are currently testing RFID tags and readers in pilot projects. But even these pioneering organizations will only put the technology into limited products -- “perhaps a few key stores” -- between 2004 and 2006, Alvarez said. Next come “cutting-edge enterprises,” which Alvarez characterizes as companies like Target that are being driven into RFID by market pressures.
Finally, there are the aptly termed “trailing-edge enterprises,” in which Alvarez includes small- to medium-sized businesses waiting to see how the big boys do with their pilot projects. These followers move to adopt the technology in 2007-2008, he predicts.
But whether analysts are blue sky or conservative in their view of the technology’s impact, the major software vendors -- IBM, Microsoft, Oracle, Sun, Sybase and Tibco -- are getting ready to support RFID. The major players all appear to believe that RFID may be the next big technology innovation.
RFID a middleware problem
When all of the futuristic, high-tech stuff is stripped away from RFID, it is simply another source of data that must be integrated into enterprise systems.
At IBM, the view is that RFID will require middleware, such as MQSeries, because once the tiny radios record data, that data will need to interact with back-end ERP, warehouse, supply-chain and financial systems.
“From an IBM perspective, the overall business problem that is defined by RFID is, in fact, a system integration problem,” said Rainer Kerth, RFID lead architect for the IBM Software Group. “At a very high level, it’s about taking new data from devices that haven’t been considered in the past, which would be RFID readers, and feeding the data into existing IT systems. That is where systems integration comes in. You need to make the new data sources compatible with the existing applications.”
Kerth points out that there is very little business value to having an RFID system that simply reads data and then transmits it into a database. The amount of data and the size of such a database could be enormous because those tiny transmitters can potentially stream out endless data. With Gartner’s vision of a sensor network, there would not only be data on the location of a pallet, but possibly every variation in temperature and humidity, plus every movement that could jar or damage a product.
“You would amass data to a significant extent,” Kerth said, “but the only value you get out of the data is when you actually relate it back to existing apps.”
Reducing or eliminating the “manual activities” is a key area where IBM and others see RFID’s value-add for supply-chain systems. Workers would no longer have to go over pallets or individual products on shelves with a bar-code reader to find out what was where. Nor would information from a warehouse need to be keyed in to the supply-chain or inventory management system. RFID has the potential to broadcast that information directly into those systems.
But, as Kerth notes, “all of the above is very much a middleware challenge.”
As he outlines IBM’s approach to RFID, the focus is on middleware working with existing enterprise systems to provide them with automatic updates of information that currently are done by warehouse workers and others.
“The key challenge IBM has promised to tackle for our customers is to bridge between the new technology -- which is RFID -- and the old technology --which are order management systems, warehouse management systems, inventory systems and supply-chain optimization systems,” said Kerth. “From our perspective, the core challenge in RFID is middleware and applying that middleware in such a way that you can transparently connect the new data to the old applications.”
How it works: RFID application
IBM is not alone among vendors planning to adapt current middleware products to handle the new technology. Bedford, Mass.-based Sonic Software is working with what it describes as a “large consumer goods manufacturer” to integrate RFID information into enterprise systems with its enterprise service bus product, Sonic ESB.
This is an RFID app where the future is now. Retailers are looking to enhance old EDI processes for handling purchase orders and advance ship notices with RFID data made available through a Web services app. This would allow the retailer to verify that the products listed on the advance ship notice are on the pallet that arrives at the warehouse, said Hub Vandervoort, vice president of professional services at Sonic.
“This potentially will provide savings beyond just eliminating labor costs,” Vandervoort said. With current systems, discrepancies between what a retailer ordered and what arrived on the pallet can take 30 to 60 days to resolve. With RFID feeding data instantly into a Web services application that both the manufacturer and the retailer can access, discrepancies could be resolved immediately.
Since time is money and cash credit received today is better than cash credit received 60 days from now, it is not hard to understand why retailers like Wal-Mart are pushing for RFID adoption.
That is also why Sonic’s manufacturing customer is pushing the envelope to get the integration and Web services application completed.
“The back-end systems at this manufacturer are largely legacy systems,” Vandervoort said. “When they were built they didn’t know about RFID or Web services. And yet they house the information about what went onto the pallet. So it ties together the ERP, inventory and warehouse management systems. The pallet from this manufacturer may contain multiple products. The Sonic bus will allow that one Web services call to scan this pallet of a mixed bag of products and to hit multiple back-end inventory and warehouse management systems.”
Oracle on RFID as sensor-based
While some software vendors are applying existing middleware and integration products to the RFID problem, Oracle is looking at the broader sensor-based computing network.
“Our key differentiator when we talk about RFID is that we see it in the broader spectrum of sensor-based computing,” said Oracle’s Chorley. “RFID is one kind of sensor, basically one that can pick up identification of a product. But other sensors can pick up temperature, moisture and motion. All of those things are relevant.”
The sensor network provides potential cost savings for retailers that go beyond just reducing labor costs and getting quick refunds for deficient shipments. In Chorley’s view, the sensor network has big-time ROI written all over it.
For example, monitoring temperature and humidity during shipment of perishables from beer to bananas would provide an assured level of quality control. Motion detectors would record “drops,” which would explain why a shipment of eggs, for example, was unacceptable. Initially, this technology would allow retailers to identify and reject or get refunds for products that had been exposed to high temperatures or other ruinous conditions. Of course, getting the sensors to work with existing and new apps takes us back to RFID as an integration problem.
But there is still time to work on this problem, as 2014 remains Gartner’s target date for RFID and sensor network ubiquity.
Chorley acknowledges that Oracle, along with its customers and rival vendors, is still in the early stages. “Most of the customers we’re talking to are still in the pilot stage,” he said.
Advice for starting pilot projects
For developers starting pilot RFID projects, Chorley and Meta Group’s Alvarez offer this advice.
First, developers working in any part of the supply chain, from manufacturing to shipping to wholesale and retail, “need to get [their] feet wet,” Chorley said.
“It’s going to take some time to understand the technology and work out the kinks,” he said. “But I’d be cautious of overpromising immediate benefits. There’s a learning curve here. Your costs are relatively high for the tags and associated readers.”
Meta’s Alvarez cautions firms to beware of the costs, since RFID hardware is expensive, especially the battery-powered transmitters that can broadcast the most meaningful data. He also said that IT departments need to assess how the new RFID applications impact the overall network infrastructure.
Reflecting the big picture view of the technology’s potential, Chorley said, “you should think about RFID as part of a broader strategy. You should think about it in terms of your overall information architecture. How does RFID fit into that? You need to be able to incorporate the data that RFID is going to generate and leverage that and make use of it.”
Redesigning business processes will mean looking at the information currently being recorded manually when a box is moved, which can now be automated by using RFID, Chorley explained. But that will go beyond being a technology problem to become a corporate human resources issue, as it will change the jobs that warehouse managers and workers are currently doing.
A work in progress
Despite Gartner’s predictions, there is no way of knowing how or even if the RFID and sensor network technology will impact business. Until the applications move beyond their current pilot phases, there are few real-world examples beyond the oft-repeated Mobil Speedpass, which uses RFID technology to help drivers whiz through the process of buying gasoline on credit.
Consumer groups are wary of what RFID may do to privacy, since individual buying habits may be tracked in detail beyond anything possible today. Gartner analysts simply say that the concept of privacy that consumers and society have now is simply being made irrelevant by the steady march of technological innovation.
Meta gives the privacy issue a more traditional approach, with Alvarez urging IT departments to have someone in the RFID project seriously consider the privacy impacts. He also ominously warns that RFID has the potential to open the way for a new form of high-tech corporate espionage with unmarked vans filled with receiving equipment being able to track a competitor’s inventory by parking outside a warehouse.
In the end, nobody can know what 2014 will look like until we get there. But RFID and its attendant technology appear to have the potential to bring about big changes.
Please see the following related story: “DoD improves logistics through
by Lana Gates
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Measuring Economic Competitiveness of Magharib Countries Export Commodities
Issam A.W. Mohamed
Al-Neelain University - Department of Economics
July 25, 2012
The geographic structure of the Magharib countries necessitates its political and economic partnership. However, there were many hindrances that curtailed further mutual benefits in the past decades. That minimized its economic cooperation in many ways. The emergence of the WTO adds to questions of the best method that can activate the Magharib Union. On the long run, it is possible that joining the WTO can help to produce positive results on their economic potentials and trade competitiveness if they can improve their commodities and service quality and reach the international recommended levels. Moreover, if they can overcome inter and intra organizational disputes and coordinate the Magharib partnership by curing structural failures that can help to have better utilization of their countries' potentials. That will better their ranks in the international competitiveness standards. Tunisia ranked 40, Morocco 73. Algeria 83, Libya 88 while Mauritania was 127 in the report 0f 2010. That necessities certain collective strategies for their economic and trade policies. The paper compares that with Malaysia as a benchmark and then attempts to improvise a competition measurement to the Magharib countries economies.
Note: Downloadable document is in Arabic.
Number of Pages in PDF File: 25
Keywords: Magharib Economic Partnership, Trade Union, Strategic Planning, Cooperation, Competitveness Measurement
JEL Classification: A00, A10, A11, A12, A13, A14, F00, F1, F2, F10, F19working papers series
Date posted: July 26, 2012
© 2013 Social Science Electronic Publishing, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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November 4, 2010
By Jim Talent
After their big election gains, congressional Republicans must now commit to getting the federal budget under control. Unfortunately, some have advocated cutting the defense budget as part of the solution. Reducing defense spending now would be a dangerous mistake.
It’s important for conservatives to get this issue right. To that end, here are a few observations.
First, the framers of the U.S. Constitution envisioned national defense as the priority obligation of the federal government. The first power granted to the president in Article 2 is “Commander-in-Chief of the Armies and Navies of the United States, and of the Militias of the Several States.” Of the 17 powers granted to Congress in Article 1, six relate specifically to defense, and the Constitution grants Congress the full range of authorities necessary to establish the defense of the nation (as it was then understood).
The other powers granted to Congress are permissive in nature; Congress can choose to exercise them or not. But the federal government is constitutionally obligated to defend the nation. Article 4, Section 4 states that the “United States shall guarantee to every State a republican form of government and shall protect each of them against invasion.”
That means, for those who take the Constitution seriously, that national defense is a higher priority than other areas of federal activity. While other parts of the federal budget may be presumptively suspect, spending on the national defense is not.
Second, every category of international risk facing the United States is demonstrably growing. Islamist extremists remain a formidable threat. They are fighting to reconstitute their safe havens in Afghanistan and to acquire weapons of mass destruction for use against the United States. The Commission on the Prevention of Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferation and Terrorism — a bipartisan panel with the status of the 9/11 Commission — found unanimously that terrorists would “more likely than not” develop and use a weapon of mass destruction against a Western city by 2013. The director of national intelligence publicly agreed with that dire assessment.
Nuclear technology and weaponry advances are cascading through rogue and failing states around the world. Pakistan — an unsteady partner facing an existential threat from terrorists — has a substantial and growing nuclear arsenal. The U.S. must be diligent in ensuring that those nuclear assets stay out of the hands of terrorists. Both North Korea and Iran are steadily increasing the range, payload, and accuracy of their ballistic missiles. No one seriously believes that the Iranians will voluntarily stop their nuclear program or that the West (except perhaps the Israelis) will use force to stop them.
Finally, the last few years have seen the rise of aggressive “peer competitors” who are developing the military capacity to challenge the vital national interests of the United States. China, for example, is rearming at a rate far ahead of American intelligence predictions.
According to most reports, China has the most sophisticated cyber-warfare capability in the world. The Chinese already boast an arsenal of advanced fighters and missiles able to deny the U.S. Navy access to the Taiwan Strait. They are building as many as five submarines per year and have established a modern submarine base on the island of Hainan. They have announced plans to build destroyers with the explicit purpose of developing a credible blue-water navy.
Meanwhile, American military strength ebbs. The military is approximately 40 percent smaller than it was when Desert Storm was fought in 1991, and the Pentagon’s inventory of “platforms” — primarily ships, aircraft, and tracked vehicles — is old, less and less reliable, and increasingly out of date technologically. The Navy has fewer ships than at any time since 1916. The Air Force is as small as it was before Pearl Harbor. The Army needs to replace its inventory of combat vehicles.
In short, the military faces a crisis in modernization that can no longer be ignored. Earlier this year, Congress created a blue-ribbon independent panel to review the Pentagon’s strategic plans. Chaired by former defense secretary Bill Perry and former national-security adviser Stephen Hadley, the panel included members from across the political and ideological spectrum. It concluded that the military was headed for a “train wreck” unless the basic inventories of the services were recapitalized. The panel endorsed various reform measures to achieve savings in current programs, but it also determined that, even if those savings could be achieved, “a substantial additional investment, beginning right away and sustained through the long term,” would be necessary to meet the crucial modernization needs.
Fortunately, it is well within the government’s capacity — even in these difficult budgetary times — to find the necessary funding. Congress could reverse the decline in military capability simply by capturing the unspent portion of the stimulus package and spending it judiciously on modernization over the next five years. As the panel report demonstrated, it is possible to marshal a strong bipartisan consensus for such an effort.
The problem is not budgetary. The problem is getting our government leaders to focus on the vital connections between strength, prosperity, and freedom. The best and cheapest way to protect American security is to sustain American power at a level that reduces risk, encourages global economic growth, and deters the wars that cost America so much in lives and treasure.
As Ronald Reagan was fond of saying, “Of the four wars that happened in my lifetime, none occurred because America was too strong.”
Jim Talent is a distinguished fellow at the Heritage Foundation.
First appeared in National Review Online
Protect America Initiative of the Leadership for America Campaign
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Biochemist Dr. Anita Corbett to Present Seminar for Rhodes Community
Publication Date: 9/25/2008
On September 29, the Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Program will host a seminar by Dr. Anita Corbett of Emory University about her groundbreaking work on the regulation of protein movement through the nuclear pore complex. This work includes studying processes related to human diseases such as cancer and muscular dystrophy.
The Rhodes community is invited to meet Corbett at a reception in the Frazier Jelke Biology Library beginning at 4 p.m. The seminar begins at 4:15 p.m. in Frazier Jelke B.
Corbett is an associate professor in the Department of Biochemistry at Emory. She holds degrees from Colgate University and Vanderbilt University. Her postdoctoral work at Dana Farber Cancer Institute/Harvard Medical School examined nuclear protein import mechanisms.
For more information, contact Dr. Mary Miller at (901) 843-3556.
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Wednesday, October 22, 2003; Page A28
The complete article is currently (3/24/04) available
on the Washington Post website at-- http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A61891-2003Oct21?language=printer [found through a Google search by article title]
LATE MONDAY AFTERNOON, the House was poised to vote on an energy bill purported
to be 1,700 pages long. No Democrats, and few Republicans, had read the bill. A dispute among House
and Senate negotiators on a tax issue delayed the vote, but it is expected in a few days. Before then it might be worth thinking
about how this legislation came into existence -- and what that story says about the deeper problems of the legislative process
The House and Senate each passed versions of this bill. But the final version has
been written by a House-Senate conference committee that formally excluded Democrats. Although many of the issues addressed
in the bill have been discussed in the hundreds of hours Congress has spent debating energy in the past two years (or even,
in the case of the electricity provisions, the past decade), some of the final language will never have appeared anywhere
in public. ....
Yet whatever the final contents of this mystery bill, it cannot, once the conference
has signed off on it, be amended. ...
© 2003 The Washington Post Company
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| 0.931893
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Facts about Private Equity
Private equity (PE) is a critical source of financing for companies in emerging market economies, making possible positive development outcomes while simultaneously providing investors with the opportunity to achieve superior financial returns.
The term private equity encompasses growth capital, venture capital, leveraged buyouts and mezzanine investments. PE funds greatly improve access to the funding that innovative small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) require to grow their businesses, leading to positive impacts such as employment, tax payments and increased service availability.
Given the core facets of the PE model – active ownership, often of minority stakes, in private businesses seeking not only capital but also enhanced governance or more professionalized management, over a period of several years – private equity investors seek clarity and consistency around securities law and minority investor protections, as well as fair and equivalent treatment for all providers of capital regardless of mode of investment or country of origin.
What Industry Leaders Have to Say About Private Equity
Lars Thunell, Executive Vice President and CEO of the International Finance Corporation (IFC), discusses the positive correlation between financial returns and development impact in private equity investing:
Jeff Leonard, EMPEA Chairman and President & CEO of Global Environment Fund (GEF), demonstrates the importance of improving internal inefficiencies while focusing on revenue growth for value creation:
In addition to our own resources, EMPEA welcomes suggestions and submissions of content for consideration from both members and non-members. If you have an industry resource you would like to share with a targeted audience of EM PE professionals, please submit the information to Holly Freedman at email@example.com.
An explanatory video from Privcap's David Snow about the fundamentals of the private equity industry.
A presentation outlining the growth-oriented PE opportunities from the International Finance Corporation (IFC).
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Being a parent is an incredibly difficult job, even when a child is seemingly happy and healthy. When a child battles a serious mental or physical illness or addiction, the job can be nearly impossible. Drug addiction can take hold of anyone, and it’s so hard to get rid of. For those parents who struggle through kids with addiction, it’s important to handle it right, because your child’s life might depend on it.
The key is to go deeper than the addiction itself. It’s one thing to remove the drugs from the hand of your child, but if they aren’t over the problem that is triggering the addiction, then the addiction will continue. It’s important as a parent to figure out where the stress and need to take drugs comes from.
The reasons kids get caught up with drugs and alcohol are plentiful. There are kids out there who are being bullied at school. Some kids are just suffering from a low self-esteem, while others are doing it from a chemical depression issue. There are any number of reasons a child might be resorting to hurting themselves in this manner. As a parent, you must remove the obvious threats to your child’s well-being.
While it’s ok to remove the child from a school if the bullying is strong enough, but the child needs the help of professionals and those trained to treat their addiction. Without the right help, a child will fall back into the same patterns and addiction. The good news is there is plenty of help available to those afflicted by addiction. Online resources such as TheCyn.com is a great way to find the help required. Being a parent is a tough job, but it’s made easier with the help of others. Don’t waste a second getting your child the help needed.
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HISTORY OF MUSIC CALGARY
In 2008, Calgary played host to the Juno Awards for the first time. The overwhelming positive response to the awards, and events leading up to them, demonstrated that the city had long since moved to another level in its cultural appetite. From those events came the idea of Juno legacy and the continuity of the “Music Lives Here” brand.
Beginning on September 30, 2008 a series of meetings/discussions involving a vast cross section of Calgary’s professional music community took place regarding the legacy concept. Topics covered included: vision, advocacy, education, audience building and funding. These environmental scans coupled with outside consultation gave rise to the decision to create an independent association focused solely on Calgary’s professional music community.
In February 2009, an initial Board of Directors was appointed to oversee the creation of the new association and the first board meetings began in March of 2009. By April the association had become a non-profit corporation under the Government of Alberta Registries act complete with bylaws, articles of association and a mandate.
MUSIC CALGARY’S MANDATE
To further the development of professional Calgary musicians and the Calgary music community and foster greater exposure nationally and internationally;
To promote and create programs advancing the educational and economic viability of the Calgary music community / industry;
To provide direction in professional development and training;
To represent the Calgary music industry’s interests to government and private sectors.
Welcome to Music Calgary; an organization dedicated to fostering dialogue and support amongst professionals in the Calgary music community.
Price Waterhouse Cooper “Global Entertainment and Media Outlook”
- Projected 2008 global recorded music sales: $33.4 Billion dollar
- $3.5 billion dollars spent on cultural related products by Albertans*
- In 2005, Calgary ranked 3rd overall in cultural spending with an average $997.00 per person (21% higher than the national average)*
- The 2008 Juno Awards had a $7.9 million dollar impact on the Calgary economy ($3.4 million to the rest of Alberta)**
** statistics from Calgary Economic Development
*** statistics from Calgary Arts Development Association
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Two days ago, the Internet Services Unit (ISU) at King Abdul-Aziz City for Science and Technology (KACST), the governing body of the internet in Saudi Arabia, have blocked Blogger, denying users inside the country accessing their blogs. They have also blocked photos from the popular photo hosting service Flickr. Users still can log on to the site, but photos are no longer visible.
During the past two years, ISU have blocked the domain BlogSpot.com, where blogs that use Blogger are hosted for free, several times, but then unblocked it. The same thing happened with Flickr, too.
Update 1: Reporters Without Borders today called on the Internet Services Unit (ISU), the agency that manages Web filtering in Saudi Arabia, to explain why the weblog creation and hosting service blogger.com has been made inaccessible since 3 October, preventing Saudi bloggers from updating their blogs.
Update 2: According to Ibrahim Owais and Farah, Blogger.com is back in Business at Saudi Arabia. Ibrahim mentions that flickr.com, megaupload.com, livejournal.com and the list goes on, are still blocked.
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FREDERICKTOWN — Professional magician Bill Maxwell combined prestidigitation with entomology to delight Fredericktown elementary students and their teachers during an interactive, multimedia “ed-fun-cational” program at the school on Friday.
In the persona of Dr. Insecta, Maxwell introduced the children to some of the largest insects in the world, the first one being a Madagascar cockroach over 3 inches long. When the pupils reacted with screams — of delight, or maybe fright — Dr. Insecta told them, “There’s no reason to scream. It won’t do any good, because most insects can’t hear.”
The students assisted Dr. Insecta in naming the bug’s body parts, and discovered it has six legs and four wings. Pupil Nicole Groseclose volunteered to hold the giant cockroach, then one of the teachers, somewhat unwillingly, caused it to make a hissing noise as Dr. Insecta held it. She jumped back, startled at the sound it made, and the audience jumped, then laughed, along with her.
The next creature was “magically” created from powder of arachnid. That was a rose tarantula named Morticia; Morticia helped demonstrate the difference between arachnids and cockroaches. Student Street McCullough “wore” Morticia on his shirt for a time as Dr. Insecta described her features, and informed the students that tarantulas can live over 20 years in captivity.
A sketch done with two students and non-realistic artificial lady bugs showcased Maxwell’s sleight-of-hand skills, and things turned serious again when an emperor scorpion named Darth Vader appeared.
Pointing out Darth Vader’s characteristics, Dr. Insecta said she was so named due to her shiny black appearance. He said there are more than 1,300 different types of scorpions, but only about 26 species are venomous. Seemingly on cue, Darth Vader then produced two small beads of venom.
Dr. Insecta next asked the pupils to point out their favorite teacher. Four staff members so nominated were front and center as Dr. Insecta talked about insects as good sources of protein which are consumed by 75 percent of the world’s population. With a lot of encouragement from the students, the four teachers sampled the cooked, desiccated and cheese-flavored meal worms.
To conclude the program, Dr. Insecta turned pupil Emma Hawkins into an insect, and left the students with this bit of trivia: For every one person on this earth, there are 200 million insects.
As they left the gymnasium, the kindergartners talked about the show. They said it was very fun, but, “when the boy holded [sic] the spider, it was horrifying.” Most of the students said they really enjoyed watching the teachers eat bugs.
In addition to the educational show about insects, Maxwell also does standard magic shows; presents one called the Funny Side of Thought, which explores the magic of the mind; and performs as Captain Maxwell, the world’s first magic pirate. For more information visit amazingmaxwell.com.
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The amazing cardboard bike project
For the ultimate in affordable green transportation, how about a bicycle made of recycled cardboard? I’m not sure I’m ready to take it on my favorite, let-it-fly descent down (Montgomery County, Maryland’s) MacArthur Boulevard but, heck, maybe I could. Israeli designer and bike enthusiast Izhar Gafni says his invention is strong enough to support a rider weighing up to 140 kilos, or a little over 300 pounds (and up to 485 pounds, according to a recent article).
“Gafni’s bicycle redefines the idea of green transportation in every way, being environmentally friendly from early stages of production all the way through creation of the final product. The bicycles are made out of recycled and used cardboard.
“The primary use, like any bicycle, is to prevent pollution while encouraging physical activity and exercise. In an interview with Newsgeek, Gafni said that the production cost for his recycled bicycles is around $9-12 each, and he estimates it could be sold to a consumer for $60 to 90, depending on what parts they choose to add.”
The key to making a paper product strong, apparently, is lots of folding. The finished bike is coated with resin and painted in what looks to me to be a tribute to Italian manufacturer Bianchi’s classic “celeste” green color. Check out the whole story in the video:
- Where the bike commuters are, mapped & analyzed (August 10, 2012)
- Bike lanes 2.0: now or soon in a city near you (June 4, 2012)
- The rousing success of DC's Capital Bikeshare (April 26, 2011)
- Bikes I have enjoyed photographing (November 12, 2010)
- Hi, I’m Kaid, proud to be an 'avid cyclist' (March 26, 2010)
- Happy CYCLING holidays (more fun photos) (December 22, 2009)
Move your cursor over the images for credit information.
Kaid Benfield writes about community, development, and the environment, here and in the national media. For more posts, see his blog's home page.
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If you're looking for a Wisconsin cheese, you'll have a hard time finding one that's more “Wisconsin” than Colby cheese. In fact, saying “Wisconsin Colby cheese” is almost redundant. Colby cheese is the Wisconsin cheese. Their histories are so intertwined that without one another, we probably wouldn't be able to recognize them. At the very least, they would both look very different!
Colby cheese got its start in Colby, Wisconsin, which is a small town about 40 miles west of Wausau, Wisconsin, right off of state highway 29. Of course, back in the 1870s the state highway wasn't there. There wasn't a lot in Colby, actually, but the town did have one thing: the Steinwand family cheese factory. That's where Colby cheese was first made by Joseph Steinwand. This is also where Joseph decided that “Colby” was a more appetizing name than “Steinwand” for a cheese, allowing “sound businessman” to be added to his list of accomplishments.
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By Daniel Wagner, AP Business Writer
WASHINGTON Despite signs the financial system has stabilized, banks remain threatened by billions of dollars of bad loans on their balance sheets, and more could fail if the economy worsens, a congressional watchdog panel says.
Ten months into the federal rescue program, the troubled assets "remain a substantial danger to the financial system," the report says. "Financial stability remains at risk if the underlying problem of toxic assets remains unresolved."
In its latest assessment of the $700 billion financial system bailout, the Congressional Oversight Panel (COP) warns that banks still hold many risky loans of uncertain value. If unemployment rises sharply or the commercial real estate market collapses — as many economists fear — the banking system could again lose its footing, the panel says in a report to be released Tuesday.
"The financial system (remains) vulnerable to the crisis conditions that (the bailout) was meant to fix," the panel wrote in a draft copy of Tuesday's report.
The Congressional Oversight Panel was created as part of the Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP. It is designed to provide an additional layer of oversight, beyond the Special Inspector General for the TARP and regular audits by the Government Accountability Office.
The report says many of the Obama administration's financial stability efforts are working — including infusions of capital for banks, heightened scrutiny of capital ratios, "stress-testing" of large financial firms. It also points to a public-private investment plan designed to buy up bad assets that has yet to get off the ground.
But with banks still holding the assets at the heart of the crisis, they remain vulnerable, the panel says.
"These steps have ... allowed the banks to take significant losses while building reserves," the panel wrote in the draft report. "Nonetheless, financial stability remains at risk if the underlying problem of toxic assets remains unresolved."
Small banks are especially vulnerable, the report says. The troubled assets weighing on their balance sheets generally are in the form of complete loans, as opposed to the mortgage-backed securities formed from bundles of numerous loans. The Treasury Department's main program for buying up bad assets currently targets those securities and not so-called "whole" loans.
In addition, the report says, regional and smaller banks hold greater numbers of commercial real estate loans, "which pose a potential threat of high defaults." It said the adequacy of small banks' capital cushions against losses hasn't been tested by the government, which performed "stress tests" in May only on the 19 biggest U.S. banks — including Bank of America, Capital One Financial , Citigroup , GMAC, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo.
Owners of shopping malls, hotels and offices have been defaulting on their loans at an alarming rate, and the commercial real estate market isn't expected to hit bottom for three more years, industry experts have said. Delinquency rates on commercial loans have doubled the past year to 7% as more companies downsize and retailers close, according to the Federal Reserve.
The commercial real estate market's fortunes are tied closely to the economy, especially unemployment, which registered 9.4% last month. As people lose their jobs, or have their hours reduced, they cut spending, which hurts retailers, and they take fewer trips, affecting hotels and other travel-related businesses.
The oversight panel has issued a series of reports on the government's financial bailout programs, raising questions about their management and oversight. It is headed by Harvard Law School professor Elizabeth Warren. The other members are Republican Rep. Jeb Hensarling; Richard Neiman, superintendent of banks at the New York State Banking Department; Damon Silvers, associate counsel at the AFL-CIO; and former Republican Sen. John Sununu of New Hampshire.
The new report was adopted by the panel 4-1 Monday with Hensarling voting against it.
AP Business Writer Marcy Gordon contributed to this report.
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Guidelines: You share in the USA TODAY community, so please keep your comments smart and civil. Don't attack other readers personally, and keep your language decent. Use the "Report Abuse" button to make a difference. Read more.
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The People’s Report, a Teleduction/Hearts and Minds film production, reveals the in-depth details about the prolific violence and apathy in Wilmington, will be shown at the Delaware Center for Contemporary Arts next week on Wednesday, May 29, 2013 at 3:30 pm.
Doubling as a research project and film, The People’s Report, includes data collected by Payne and 15 Wilmington residents (21 to 48 years old) from Southbridge and the East Side that Payne trained to participate in the project. Payne and these community recruits created a survey, conducted more than 500 interviews, and analyzed their findings. His process, called participatory action research (PAR), involves using members of the target population, as part of the research team.
“We equipped them all with a skill set,” Payne told radio station WDDE. “They received two months of training, the same as doctoral students get, and they were paid $17 an hour.” Payne, who grew up in Harlem and Englewood, N.J., told WDDE that the PAR approach is effective because “the people in the community that is being studied are also experts.” Their lives are invested in the communities and so they are vigorously motivated to gather information and ultimately, to help implement change.
The opening of the film gives an overview of what’s to come, as these words are shown on the screen:
“Wilmington, Delaware is a small city of 73,000 people.”
“Its violent crime rate per capita is among the worst in the nation.”
“In 2010 a team of 15 researchers, part of a Participatory Action Research project took to the streets, armed with cameras and clipboards to find out why.”
Here are some of the gripping questions PAR survey asks:
-- How many times have you yourself actually been shot with a gun? -- How many times have you heard about someone else getting shot with a gun? -- Have you ever had a relative killed with a gun?A majority of the survey respondents reported losing at least one family member (55 percent) and/or at least one friend (59 percent) to gun violence. About 25 percent indicated that they had been attacked or stabbed with a knife at least once, and another 20 percent reported that they had been shot at least once.
The survey also found that 44 percent of the respondents did not have a high school diploma, 64 percent total (70 percent of the men), were unemployed, and 64 percent lived in low-income housing.
We also learn from the film that for the first time in three years, a male student from South Bridge graduated from high school.
“The loss of jobs and quality school opportunities is predicative of physical violence,” Payne says. “We are advocating for Wilmington and the state of Delaware to find innovative ways bring more high quality jobs and better educational opportunities to these communities.”
But Payne hopes that the intervention in the lives of the PAR team members and the issues that the film raises will help to turn things around in Wilmington.
“The PAR team is required to organize an action agenda to compliment the data analysis,” Payne said. In other words, the PAR team is expected to formulate ways to make their communities better.
If you plan to be in the Wilmington area on Wednesday, May 29 — Go see this film!
Click here for more information about The People’s Report, directed by Sharon Baker and produced by Daniel Collins.
Go here to register to see The People’s Report and attend the lecture following the film.
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AUSTIN (AP) - About 200 Texas schools did not meet federal improvement standards for the second year in a row. Now those schools must now offer parents the option to transfer their children to another campus -- at the school's expense.
The campuses, mostly high schools and charter schools, must mail parents a letter by today to explain their options. The 2001 federal No Child Left Behind Act says schools that receive federal Title One funds are required to show "adequate yearly progress," or A-Y-P. Schools and districts that failed to meet A-Y-P must prepare a school improvement plan that outlines how they will improve their education programs.
Among the schools now required to prepare an improvement plan are:
-- Austin's Johnston and Reagan high schools
-- Turner High School in Carrollton
-- Fort Worth's Carter-Riverside and Polytechnic high schools
-- Houston's Lee High School
-- Lubbock's Estacado High School
-- and several Eagle Academy charter campuses.
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Saving, Trade, and the Confidence Fairy
The last-minute negotiations over the debt ceiling have brought the economic pundits out in force. In the midst of a terrible recession, the contrast between Austrian and Keynesian analysis is striking. The Austrians recommend the virtues of saving and investment, while Keynesians preach the opposite. Things are so topsy-turvy that in this article, I'm actually going to defend President Obama from Paul Krugman's barbs.
Krugman Pounces on Obama
In a blog post earlier this week, Krugman first quoted from President Obama's press conference on the budget negotiations:
I do think that if the country as a whole sees Washington act responsibly, compromises being made, the deficit and debt being dealt with for 10, 15, 20 years, that that will help with businesses feeling more confident about aggressively investing in this country, foreign investors saying America has got its act together and are willing to invest. And so it can have a positive impact in overall growth and employment.
Seems like boilerplate rhetoric. Who could object to the president of the United States explaining that there are bad consequences for economic growth if investors perceive the country as a banana republic, or (what is equivalent) that there are good consequences if investors think the long-term fiscal crisis has been solved? The only reason to complain is that these platitudes are phony; the Republican and Democratic "statesmen" in Washington will at best engineer a short-term fix that allows us to limp along until the next emergency arises in a few months.
Ah, but Nobel laureate Paul Krugman is a clever writer, and he can come up with reasons to complain about Obama's statement:
OK, so that's the confidence fairy at the beginning. But the "foreign investors" thing is actually worse.
Think about it: U.S. interest rates are low; there's no crowding out going on; we are NOT suffering from a shortage of saving.
So if foreign investors decide they love us, what does it do? It drives up the value of the dollar, which reduces exports, which leads to fewer jobs.
Does this sound familiar? It's closely related to the reasons Chinese accumulation of dollar reserves unambiguously hurts the U.S. economy when we're in a liquidity trap. And what we just learned is that the White House still doesn't get it.
In this short passage, Krugman not only contradicts basic Austrian analysis, but in his treatment of foreigners he even bungles Keynesian analysis. I'll deal with each issue separately.
The Confidence Fairy
Krugman's mocking reference to a "confidence fairy" is a running gag on his blog. In Krugman's view, the obvious problem with the world economy today is insufficient aggregate demand. Businesses aren't hiring workers or investing in their operations because sales are so weak. But because of a debt overhang in the private sector, total spending from consumers and businesses will be depressed for some time. That's why it's up to the government to fill the gap through extensive deficit spending.
But many policymakers and analysts draw back from Krugman's recommendations. They think that major governments already tried massive "stimulus" efforts, and that the world economy is still stuck in a rut. Contrary to Krugman, these advocates of "austerity" recommend reining in deficits and even propose cutting government spending. In order to explain why fiscal austerity should actually promote economic recovery, austerity proponents often claim that fixing the government's long-term budget outlook will restore confidence. Krugman thinks this is a nonsensical theory for which there is no evidence, hence his running joke about the "confidence fairy."
Here we see the huge gulf between Austrian and Keynesian analysis. According to the Austrians, a recession was inevitable because real capital resources were misallocated during the housing-bubble years. The massive government and Fed interventions since then have only served to delay the economy's adaptation to the new realities.
Because everyone — including Krugman — admits that Americans in both the private sector and the government were consuming too much during the housing-boom years, the Austrians naturally conclude that the solution is to increase savings and live within our means. That goes not only for households, but for the government, too. There is nothing magical about government spending. In fact, resources allocated via the political process are much less likely to satisfy consumer preferences than resources allocated via market processes.
On the specific issue of the confidence fairy, Krugman is in a bit of a pickle. For one thing, it's hard to see how the austerity talk of "confidence" is any less rigorous than John Maynard Keynes's famous discussion of "animal spirits" when it comes to explaining business investment.
Even more troubling for Krugman is that he himself admits that private investors have been acting on the (alleged) myths of the anti-Keynesian economists. During his talk on Keynes, Krugman alludes to an investment bank making an apology for its erroneous predictions on interest rates (where the bad prediction was due to ignoring Krugman's analysis). Several times, Krugman has criticized Pimco's Bill Gross for saying that interest rates will rise because of the end of QE2, and Krugman often ridicules Peter Schiff and others for warning clients of hyperinflation. More generally — and I don't remember if Krugman himself has done this — progressives have mocked the ads for gold pushed on conservative talk radio.
Krugman et al. can't have it both ways. It can't be the case that the world is (a) full of imbeciles who lose boatloads of their clients' money because they listened to a Chicago School or Austrian economist give advice, while (b) investors aren't influenced by their fears over Obama and Bernanke's policies. Krugman and the other Keynesians need to pick one story and run with it.
Furthermore, the "explanation" that the problem with the economy is a lack of spending was exploded long ago by J.B. Say. Although there are some subtleties in the analysis, I would still put the classical wisdom of Say's law up against the elegant mathematical models coming out of Princeton any day.
This is the present context for the dispute: Right now we have very low private business investment, high unemployment, low consumer spending, and low growth rates in total output. The Austrian proposal is to take off the shackles on entrepreneurs and to stop interfering with price signals in the capital markets so that the "real" problems with the economy can be fixed. Once that happens, businesses will begin hiring again, unemployment will drop, real output will grow, and spending will take care of itself.
The Keynesians deny that there is any "real" structural problem at all. This comes from their aggregated view of the economy, in which the structure of production can't get distorted as it can in the Austrian theory. Instead, someone like Paul Krugman sees the same amount of tractors, real estate, and skilled workers on the eve of the bust as he does on the day after, so he can't understand why "real GDP" should fall at all. The economy must not be living up to its potential if it isn't cranking out stuff as fast as it (apparently) was at the peak of the housing bubble. Krugman's model literally can't handle the possibility that the economy was in an unsustainable position during the bubble, and that Bernanke's policies have only made things worse.
Is Foreign Investment Harmful?
As I mentioned in the beginning of the article, when Krugman turned his attention away from the confidence fairy and focused on foreign investors, he actually repudiated even standard Keynesian analysis. Recall that Obama had argued that foreign investment in the United States would help our economy. To this, Krugman replied, "So if foreign investors decide they love us, what does it do? It drives up the value of the dollar, which reduces exports, which leads to fewer jobs."
Hold on a second. Krugman has told us repeatedly that the problem with the world economy right now is that some people want to save more than others want to invest. (Specifically, the market-clearing interest rate "wants" to be negative, but alas that's impossible, and hence we're stuck with a glut of savings.) This is why Krugman thinks that it would help the United States if China stopped buying so much Treasury debt.
But Obama (or rather, his speechwriters) presumably weren't talking just about foreign investors buying IOUs from Uncle Sam. If someone is thinking about setting up, say, a car factory in another country, he will hesitate if that country is running the printing press like mad, or if it might have to jack up income tax rates in a few years because of mushrooming debt. But in that uncertainty, if the political leaders of the country agree to long-term budget cuts and so forth, then the investor might bite the bullet and spend the funds.
To repeat, this is exactly what Keynesians say needs to happen in order for the economic recovery to become self-fulfilling and for the government to gracefully leave the scene. Private investment needs to expand. But Krugman is so hostile to the idea that "right-wing" policy measures might achieve this outcome that he went so far as to rail against foreign investment per se in the United States.
Even on Keynesian terms, foreign investment in the United States would be a good thing, at least if it directly contributed to higher expenditures. For example, if a Japanese investor wanted to build a car factory in South Carolina, he would first need to sell yen for US dollars. That would indeed push up the value of the dollar, and hurt US net exports (other things equal). But so what? Unemployment would still go down and US wage income would go up as the Japanese investor used his newly acquired dollars to hire American workers to build the new factory and to begin operations.
To see the big picture, we can drop money for the moment. Suppose the Japanese investor literally sent clothes, food, and other goodies across the ocean to previously unemployed US workers. In exchange for these items, the US workers would assemble the new factory on behalf of the Japanese man. In this scenario, it's true that US imports would have risen, thus making the dreaded "trade deficit" worse. But the previously unemployed workers who now had earned some food, clothes, etc., would probably not see the problem with a change in the trade statistics.
Austrians have a commonsense approach to booms and busts. After a period of massive overconsumption and malinvestment, the proper remedy is for households to save and businesses to invest in lines indicated by the proper market rate of interest. In contrast, the Keynesians as led by Paul Krugman excoriate savings and even occasionally throw out the investment baby with the bathwater too.
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A federal court in Binghamton, New York, has permanently barred tax protester Robert Schulz and his two organizations, We the People Foundation for Constitutional Education Inc., and We the People Congress Inc., from promoting a tax fraud scheme.
Schulz is one of the most prominent leaders of the anti-government tax protest movement in the United States.
Schulz allegedly used the two entities to promote a nationwide tax fraud scheme called the "Tax Termination Package" to employers and employees, resulting in a loss of over $4 million to the U.S. Treasury. According to the government, the Tax Termination Package included We the People forms, which the defendants would fraudulently tell clients could be used to replace IRS forms, and to legally stop federal tax withholding.
The civil injunction order against Schulz, of Queensbury, New York, was handed down on August 9, 2007.
The court noted that Schulz based the scheme on commonly used tax protest arguments about federal tax law which have repeatedly been rejected by courts across the country. The U.S. District Judge found that Schulz "knew or had reason to know" that his statements were untrue.
The court ordered Schulz to give a copy of the court order to every client who had access to the tax scheme materials and to provide the Justice Department with a list of the names, addresses, telephone numbers, and Social Security numbers of all the individuals and businesses to whom Schulz and his organizations distributed the tax scheme materials.
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Access to our client Portal.
Access to our Customer Portal.
What is Microsoft LINQ all about?LINQ is the short form for Language Integrated Query. In other words, LINQ is an integral part of the Visual Basic programming language that allows the programmer to perform queries and do other operations on the data sources. One of the many types of these data sources is the XML code. The user defined tags of the XML code are used as fields of database. For example, if a user enters a movie title, then a query is performed and it is formatted into LINQ. This formatted query then seeks the movie by matching the given title and returns the name of the actors from the matching movie title.LINQ is an important component of the Microsoft .NET framework. This adds querying capacities to the various .NET programming languages. Microsoft LINQ has a set of method definitions and names. These are known as the Standard Sequence Operators or Standard Query Operators. Besides, LINQ also maintains a set of translation rules which range from the query expressions to expressions like lambda, method names and the anonymous types. These are very useful. For example, these can be used for projecting data and filtering them in enumerable class, arrays, XLINQ or XML, third party data sources and relational database.The Query Expressions also prove very useful in rendering the arbitrary computations readable and constructing the monadic parsers or event handlers. Microsoft released LINQ on November 19, 2007 as an integral part of the .NET Framework 3.5. Many of LINQ’s new concepts were first tested in the C? research project of Microsoft. To sum it up all, LINQ or Language Integrated Query has proved to be very handy as retrieving data has become much easier, be it from XML, collections or databases. Thanks to its in-built tools! It has proved to be greatly time saving especially for the XML. One big example is the search feed which is used by Twitter.
Your email address will not be published.
USA Web Solutions has helped save 18 city blocks of rainforest through its partnership with the Arbor Day Foundation
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It has been two months since the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform demanded Attorney General Eric Holder provide the Fast and Furious documents and the administration continues to stonewall. If there is nothing to hide then turn the documents over.
The Day's editorial treatment of the matter was shameful. One American border agent murdered, together with countless others and The Day called it a folly, "Fast, furious follies," (June 22). The Day never hesitates to assert freedom of information demands on almost every subject but on this they have no interest. Why did the president wait so long to claim executive privilege? Is he getting nervous?
Why didn't the attorney general give the documents to the congressional committee months ago? Is he getting nervous? Is there any good reason for not turning over the papers?
The editorial claimed that Fast and Furious barely registered on the relevance meter for most Americans. Did The Day ask the parents of the slain border agent what it meant to them?
A political cartoon June 24 made a joke of Fast and Furious, comparing it to car racing. What a dishonor to those who died.
Does anyone wonder what The Day would have done if this happened under a Republican administration?
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Audubon California has announced that Morro Coast Audubon and Redwood Region Audubon will receive grants totalling $10,000 in the 2010 California State Parks grant funding program for chapters.
The program was inaugurated in 2009 following the sale by Audubon of the McVicar property in Clear Lake to California State Parks. The funds received from the sale were placed in an Audubon California endowment for annual grant funding for partnership projects between California chapters of Audubon and California State Parks staff to restore habitat, monitor populations of birds, or reach out to a new conservation constituency in California State Parks, with preference for projects in Important Bird Areas or that help a species of bird that is at risk. The inaudugural grant was awarded to Sequoia Audubon for a partnership project with Ano Nuevo State Park to restore habitat on Cascade Creek to benefit riparian species especially Common Yellowthroat.
Morro Coast Audubon will partner with Morro Bay State Park in monitoring succession of habitat from field to coastal sage scrub by monitoring the species of birds that migrate to the habitat using a MAPS monitoring program. The chapter will receive $2500 and will match with $2500 in chapter funds to launch the project.
Redwood Region Audubon will receive $7500 to partner with Humboldt Bay State Park to restore potential breeding habitat for Western Snowy Plover, and attempt to attract to the birds to the habitat.
The next request for proposals for the next round of California State Parks grants will be issued in late spring 2010, and will be posted on the Grant Opportunities page of the Chapter Network site here
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The way I see it, cloud computing is not about “internal versus external” services; nor is it a shroud for outsourcing, service bureaus or time-sharing. Cloud computing is a model for enabling convenient, on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources (e.g., networks, servers, storage, applications, and services) that can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort or service provider interaction1.
The reason that cloud computing sometimes manifests itself as outsourcing is simply that many organizations are too rigid, inflexible, and sluggish in responding to IT service requests. When this happens, internal consumers of IT services go looking to the public cloud offerings for on-demand services. So it isn’t really about in-house versus out-of-house service; it is speed to market for internal constituencies that drives the debate. To answer this challenge, internal IT organizations will need to develop a strategy that meets the expectations of their user-base: A well-thought-out transformation strategy to an IT service-utility model that provides speed, agility and control and assimilates the core principals of cloud computing.
The basic premise is that cloud computing has the ability to create the illusion of infinite capacity with consistent service level performance characteristics regardless of scale. Cloud services are on-demand and able to scale up or scale down with near-instant availability. Users pay “by-the-drink,” turning the tap on and off as quickly as needed and with minimal (or even zero) up-front investment cost for technology. The service-utility model provides the abstraction-layer for all of the technological components of cloud computing.
The notion of computing-as-a-utility service has been around for about as long as computing itself and it is now being realized through the convergence of a number of new and existing technologies, i.e. increased high-speed bandwidth; distributed
peer-to-peer architecture; the virtualization of private networks, servers and storage; and the packaging of computing resources as a metered service. The cloud-strategy is an elastic, co-located virtual container environment that offers ubiquitous access of IT services, applications, and information from any access point.
The deployment of cloud services is a growing challenge within the information technology industry today. Services offered through the public cloud appear to be cheap and reliable alternatives to internally delivered IT services. The marketing rhetoric could lead one to believe that cloud-services are as cheap and easy as downloading an app to your iPhone. Unprepared organizations that struggle with the economic value of their services are sitting ducks to these economic claims of well-armed public cloud vendors. It is obvious that public cloud service providers are going to continue to grow – therefore, every IT organization must be prepared to address the public cloud challenge.
There are several cloud computing deployment models:
- Private cloud – The cloud infrastructure is operated solely for one organization. It may be managed by the organization or a third party and may exist on premises or off premises.
- Community cloud – The cloud infrastructure is shared by several organizations and supports a specific community that has shared concerns (e.g., mission, security requirements, policy, and compliance considerations). It may be managed by the organization or a third party and may exist on premises or off premises.
- Public cloud – The cloud infrastructure is made available to the general public or a large industry group and is owned by an organization selling cloud services.
- Hybrid cloud – The cloud infrastructure is a composition of two or more clouds (private, community, or public) that remain unique entities but are bound together by standardized or proprietary technology that enables data and application portability (e.g., cloud bursting for load-balancing between clouds).
Benefits of Cloud Computing
A basic tenet of cloud computing is that the services can be turned on or off as quickly as needed and there is a dedicated team of professionals making sure the service provided is safe and available on a 24 × 7 basis. Best of all, the pay-as-you-go approach to it is economical as you aren’t paying for resources you don’t currently need. There is a low initial investment to get started, additional investment is incurred only as usage increases, and operating costs decrease as usage decreases. This way, cash flows better matches the consumption of resources.
Buying public cloud services might appear similar to buying other utilities; however, it is without the “benefit” of regulating authorities such as “utility boards” that objectively monitor or regulate prices. Public cloud vendors that are tied to tight pricing covenants and fail to realize margin objectives might resort to reduced service levels to achieve their profitability goals. Public cloud vendors tout lower operating costs due to the inherent economies of scale, but there is no overriding incentive to pass back any economies to customers. After all, a vendor has to recover its sales and marketing expenses, as well as maintain a profit margin. In reality, profit motive will always rule.
Except for economies of scale that a public cloud vendor might be able to achieve, every IT organization has the same opportunity as a public cloud vendor to realize lower costs and provide the same cloud service. The primary areas of opportunity for cost reductions are: decreased costs through increased efficiencies, decreased costs through increased environmental standardization, and decreased costs through application re-engineering for improved operability. The cost reductions realized from these three areas should certainly exceed the price for service from a public cloud vendor since an internal service organization does not carry a margin.
Even if the financial benefits of moving to the public cloud are considerable; not everything should be public, nor should it reside in the public cloud. Speed, flexibility, and access are important, but security and control of competitive information is critical. Private clouds are owned and managed by an organization and restricted to particular users. Private cloud services still create the illusion of infinite capacity, consistent service levels and the ability to scale up or scale down. Users will be able to provision their own services with the additional option of maintaining control and security over their information.
One thing is certain: Cloud computing is here to stay. The benefits of cloud computing are significant, and it’s important to develop and implement a cloud strategy. There is too much on the line to dismiss the benefits, or to allow users to blindly dive in without a careful examination. CI
1Cloud computing is a paradigm shift for IT services, however, and every organization needs to develop a cloud strategy.
Dennis Wenk is the Advisory Solution Architect – Private Cloud for EMC Consulting.
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Dual dependence upon alcohol and illicit drugs
ABSTRACT – Aims: The study investigates severity of alcohol dependence among drug misusers. Specifically, it investigates the inter-relationship of alcohol and drug dependence and associations with alcohol consumption, drug consumption and substance-related problems.
Design, setting, participants: The sample comprised 735 people seeking treatment for drug misuse problems, who were current (last 90 days) drinkers.
Measurements: Data were collected by structured face-to-face interviews. Dependence upon illicit drugs and upon alcohol was measured by the Severity of Dependence Scale (SDS).
Findings: Three groups of drinkers were identified: non-alcohol-dependent drug misusers (63%); low-dependence (19%); and high-dependence (18%). Many drug misusers were drinking excessively and alcohol dependence was related to patterns of alcohol and drug consumption. High-dependence drinkers were more likely to drink extra-strength beer; they were less frequent users of heroin and crack cocaine but more frequent users of benzodiazepines, amphetamines and cocaine powder; they reported more psychological and physical health problems. The SDS was found to have good reliability and validity as a measure of alcohol dependence. SDS scores for alcohol and drug dependence were unrelated.
Conclusions: Alcohol use is an important and under-rated problem in the treatment of drug misusers. A comprehensive assessment of alcohol use among drug misusers should include separate assessments of alcohol consumption, alcohol-related problems and severity of alcohol dependence.
Research; Gossop, Michael; Marsden, John; Stewart, Duncan. Dual dependence: assessment of dependence upon alcohol and illicit drugs, and the relationship of alcohol dependence among drug misusers to patterns of drinking, illicit drug use and health problems. Addiction; Volume 97(2), February 2002, p 169-178.
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by Ian Dunlop, cross-post from Club of Rome News
Of the many “Elephants in the Room” in the climate change debate, none are larger than the potential release to atmosphere of carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane contained in the Arctic permafrost. Preliminary findings from the latest research, discussed at the American Geophysical Union’s annual conference in San Francisco in December 2011, highlighted the extreme risks that humanity is now exposed to from global warming.
The Arctic has been warming 2-3 times faster than the global average, one consequence being that the volume of Arctic sea ice has reduced dramatically, by around 80% in summer since 1979, far faster than expected. If current trends continue, the Arctic may be sea-ice-free in summer by around 2015, and all year by around 2030. This would likely lead to further positive warming feedback as the ice albedo effect diminishes, accelerating melt of the Greenland ice sheet, ultimately contributing several metres of sea level rise.
CO2 and methane release in the Arctic has been observed for some time, but the latest findings suggest this may be accelerating rapidly. The AGU discussion prompted a flurry of scientific commentary on the implications – whether the acceleration is real, whether the cause is anthropogenic or natural, whether the release mechanism might be abrupt or gradual. It is too early to understand the full implications. The complete scientific analysis of the latest evidence will be available later this year, but the preliminary findings should be a wake-up call to us all.
In risk management terms, these observations emphasise, as never before, the need for emergency action to reduce human carbon emissions. If permafrost thawing is allowed to accelerate, we may have little means of stopping it. Over time, this would be catastrophic, probably leading to global mean temperature increasing well over 4 degrees C compared to pre-industrial levels, with a global carrying capacity of 1 billion people rather than the current 7 billion.
Our inaction today may well be guaranteeing such an outcome, which is why emergency action is needed now. This highlights the total inadequacy and empty rhetoric of the so-called “ Platform for Enhanced Action” agreed at the Durban UNFCCC Climate Conference last December. Waiting to negotiate an agreement by 2015, for implementation from 2020, meaning it will have little effect for years afterwards, when human emissions are at an all-time high accelerating faster than ever, the permafrost thaw is most likely accelerating rapidly and none of the supposed technological fixes for human emissions, such as carbon capture and storage, are working, is nothing less than suicidal.
"Waiting to negotiate an agreement by 2015, for implementation from 2020, meaning it will have little effect for years afterwards, when human emissions are at an all-time high accelerating faster than ever, the permafrost thaw is most likely accelerating rapidly and none of the supposed technological fixes for human emissions, such as carbon capture and storage, are working, is nothing less than suicidal."
Conventional politics is incapable of handling this issue. Leadership is totally lacking within the political and corporate worlds; global and national institutions are failing here, as they are failing to address the financial crisis – on both counts economic growth is the problem, not the solution. The priority for 2012 must be to develop new mechanisms which, with community support, go around conventional politics and vested interests. Climate change is now a far bigger risk than any financial crisis and yet the real effort devoted to managing it is miniscule in comparison.
Ian Dunlop was formerly an international oil, gas and coal industry executive. He chaired the Australian Coal Association in 1987-88, chaired the Australian Greenhouse Office Experts Group on Emissions Trading from 1998-2000 and was CEO of the Australian Institute of Company Directors from 1997-2001. He is Chairman of Safe Climate Australia, a Member of the Club of Rome and Fellow of the Centre for Policy Development.
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Although Anton von Webern was born in Vienna
(December 3, 1883) he grew up in the country. He returned to the capital for his musical training, which included studies in music theory with Guido Adler.
As his dissertation he published an edition of early sixteenth-century liturgical chants. Webern, who was a student of Arnold Schönberg, is considered the father of ”serial”, systematically deconstructed music. His reductionist, but by no means unemotional compositions are miniature masterpieces. Webern composed cantatas, lieder, choral music, pieces for piano, as well as orchestral and chamber music, and also held a series of lectures entitled ”The Path to New Music”.
On September 15, 1945, Anton von Webern was shot and killed by mistake in Mittersill in Salzburg province by a soldier of the American occupation forces in a raid intended to capture his son-in-law, who was involved in cigarette smuggling.
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Carefully exaggerated proportioned characteristics of subjects, both animals and humans, carved in the round.
Carving where wood is removed by using a power tool.
Carving where wood is removed from a flat piece of wood leaving a raised form exposed.
Everyone loves the holidays. Now you can learn to carve one of the best caricatures of all time - Santa Claus
wonder how the pros paint and finish their carvings. Well wonder no
more. Find out detailed techniques for finishing your carvings.
A carving style that incorporated geometric shapes by removing small chips of wood leaving behind a pattern.
Realistic carvings of all types of winged creatures.
Carvings of fish and other aquatic creatures.
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Even though many experts are claiming that Iran is years away from a nuclear bomb, that's not going to matter much. This isn't economic forecasting. This is war. The worst case estimate will win (particularly when dealing with nuclear terrorism). One year is the worst case estimate if the Israeli claim of a secret program is to be believed (see below). That will become the timetable.
Downside risks of a conventional attack on Iran will not be overriding factors either. Regional chaos -- including everything from conventional war, oil disruption, and global terror attacks -- all pale in comparison to a terrorist nuclear detonation on US or Israeli territory. Only the latter is considered an existential threat and it will not be left as an open ended question, particularly by those in power today.
From the The Sunday Times (UK). The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) admitted on Friday that it was alarmed by “gaps” in its knowledge about Iran’s centrifuge programme and the role of the Iranian military in undeclared nuclear work. An Israeli source said Mossad had evidence of hidden uranium enrichment sites in Iran “which can short-cut their timetable in the race for their first bomb”.
Dagan, a stocky former commando who was injured in the 1967 six-day war, was sent to Washington by Olmert, the victor of last month’s Israeli elections, to prepare the way for his own visit to the White House on May 23. The Mossad boss is thought to have held meetings with counterparts at the CIA, the Pentagon and national security council. “Dagan is not given to small talk and niceties,” said an Israeli intelligence source, who believes he told the Americans: “This is what we know and this is what we’ll do if you continue to do nothing.”
Iran’s top nuclear negotiator, Ali Larijani, vowed last week that Iran’s nuclear programme would go underground if attacked. But many intelligence experts believe it is already operating a parallel uranium enrichment programme concealed from IAEA inspections. “When I read the recent (intelligence) reports regarding Iran, I saw a monster in the making,” said Dr Yuval Steinitz, chairman of the Israeli parliament’s foreign and defence committee, who oversees Mossad’s activities in Iran.Steinitz fears the Islamic republic might be only a year away from developing a bomb, although the Iranians claim to be pursuing a peaceful nuclear energy programme. “There is only one option that is worse than military action against Iran and that is to sit and do nothing,” Steinitz said.
Here's a Washington Post story on the problems of insuring people that live in high risk areas. Like with the health system, I get more confused the deeper I dive into this problem.
From what I can tell, from this article and others like it, is that the simple explanation is that housing prices in high risk areas are going up fast, while the risk to those homes is also increasing. Given that the risks can be estimated and the cost of the homes is known, the answer should be easy. Of course, it's not. These home owners, apparently, aren't being forced to factor in the true cost of insurance coverage into the carry cost of the home. Of course, as always, the rest of us are being asked to subsidize their desire to live in high risk areas.
In an address to the Shura council, Saudi Arabia’s appointed legislature, the Chinese leader promised to work with Riyadh and other Arab governments on securing peace in the region. “Under these current circumstances, China is ready to work with Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries to support peace and growth in the Middle East and build a harmonious world that enjoys constant peace and prosperity.” The Chinese leader told his hosts that the West should not “hurl false accusations against the internal affairs of other countries, let alone blame a specific civilisation, people or religion for causing problems and conflicts in the world”. He received a standing ovation.
With my father and his father, life at middle age was tough but it had a knowable trajectory. You could expect to work on the same thing, with some minor variation, for the rest of your life. In contrast, I've already switched or combined focus eight times -- pilot, analyst, entrepreneur, COO, CEO, CTO, author, and consultant -- with lots of variation within those areas.
The good part about this is that it keeps life interesting and fun. It is also a hedge against the future. The bad part is that it is impossible to plan long term. There isn't any known trajectory other than the expectation of more change. I suspect lots of other people are running into the same problem.
This inability to plan has forced me to look at things on the macro-scale in a different way than my predecessors. I don't feel tied to my surroundings. One reason is that I am now globally competitive. I can sell my services on a global stage. Another reason is that I am not getting any help. In fact, I've found the environment where I live in increasingly more of a hinderance than a benefit (your mileage will vary).Where does this rootlessness end up? I'm not sure. I can tell you that the first place that does make it easier, I am there in a heartbeat.
Dvorak wrote an very interesting article on how Microsoft's push to dominate the browser market with Internet Explorer was the company's greatest blunder (I have a vested interest in this, since I was at the heart of the browser wars back in 1995/96/97). His analysis hinges on two facts: 1) Microsoft's bundling of the browser caused anti-trust activity and 2) the company is spending billions fighting spyware (which is distracting it from its core mission). While agree that the impact of owning the browser has been a disaster (both financial and legal/perceptiion), it is a bit more complicated than this.
At the time Microsoft made its decision (1996), it wasn't in a position to know how the Web would play out. Their browser strategy provided a means to gain control the pace of development. That worked. As a hedge against failure, this was a necessary thing. Also, a static browser (Microsoft stopped development) allowed the Web to develop functionality against a static target (an unchanging browser). This turned out to be a good thing too.
However, things began to become unhinged in the early part of the new century. The Web wanted to move the browser forward and Microsoft wasn't moving it forward (due to anti-trust fears, an inability to capitalize on improvements, and bias against the browser). The rise of spyware should have been a good sign as well as new developments that should have been incorporated quickly (Weblog publishing, RSS, search, P2P, and tons of other social software) into the browser but couldn't (partly due to anti-trust issues).At this juncture, it's clear that Dvorak's recommendation for correcting the problem (investing/granting funds to Opera/Firefox) is right on target. It's time to open this portion of the ecosystem up to a diverse set of development tracks. Microsoft isn't the best company in the world for dealing with browser exploits (nor should it be) nor the one that should be innovating on new feature functionality. It's slowing down ecosystem growth.
Microsoft's strategy should be to lock down IE to the basics (for security reasons) -- by reducing functionality as much as possible. At the same time it should be investing in and bundling alternatives into the O/S. Also, in a radical step, it may want to open source IE's code to invite clones and potentially a couple of partners that they could invest in that would move this fight against spyware forward.If this strategy was followed, in three years we would have three to four major players with 30-40% market share (in total). Those companies that provided functionality plus security would be able to charge corporate customers for the subscription. Those that incorporated lots of functionality would be able to pursue the shareware model (like Opera, with for fee upgrades for unimpeded usage). The open source companies would be a mix of the two and some might be able to charge for timely updates and controlled versioning (like Redhat).
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178. Blow Thy Music Through My Shattered Reed
Thou Master Piper, blow Thy music through the broken reed of all religions, and bring forth Thy one theme of truth. Dress that divine theme with many golden robes of the richness of Thy Spirit.
And O, Master Piper, gather together, from the highways and byways of expression, all incomplete songs of hearts that seek attunement with Thee, and let them flow into the joy of completeness, through the love-played flute of life!
For those familiar shrill-soft notes of Thine, I listened every day in this silence-tuned radio-mind of mine. I tried to tune in for Thee, from so far, far away, and at first many noises of restlessness shot through my silence, but, after a few fine, careful touches of concentration, Thou didst fly on the wings of space — and suddenly I heard Thee singing a silent chorus of all earth’s goodness and the nobility of all hearts.
179. Heal My Nerves and Install in Me a New Set of Telephonic Nerves
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For Immediate Release
August 28, 2007
Record number of Illinois students take AP tests; minority participation increases across the board
Participation by Black, Puerto Rican students up by more than 30 percent
SPRINGFIELD – A record number of Illinois high school students took Advanced Placement (AP) tests in 2006-2007, according to a report released today by the College Board. More than 55,000 public and non-public juniors and seniors took AP tests – a 9.9 percent increase over 2006. In addition, the state also saw a significant increase in all minority groups taking AP classes.
"I'm excited to see that more high school students are challenging themselves by taking advanced courses. It's a positive step in the right direction to see such an increase in minority participation," said State Superintendent of Education Christopher Koch. "These are rigorous courses that will prepare our students for postsecondary work."
In addition to the record number of students taking the AP tests, there was a 7.9 percent increase in the number of tests being scored high enough to receive college credit. An individual student may take more than one test and the number of tests taken increased by more than 10,000 in 2007 to 98,000. AP classes and tests are taken by high school students, often for dual credit with higher education institutions.
Overall, African-American and Puerto Rican participation in AP tests was up more than 30 percent. The number of students taking AP tests identifying themselves as black increased by 32.6% to 7,479 and the number of students identifying themselves as Puerto Rican increased by 34.3% to 857. English Literature & Composition, History of the United States and Mathematics Calculus AB were the most popular AP tests.
The AP results were released by the College Board, along with the annual SAT results which once again increased statewide as Illinois students outperformed their counterparts across the nation. Illinois' composite math score of 611 was 96 points higher than the national average and two points higher than last year. In the reading section, Illinois students averaged at 594, or 92 points higher than the national average and five points higher than last year.
Since 1997, Illinois' reading scores have increased 32 points – from 562 to a high of 594. The state's mathematics scores have also jumped 33 points from 578 in 1997.
While the SAT is not taken by as many high school students as the ACT it is another measure that shows how well Illinois students are being prepared for postsecondary education.
The SAT Reasoning Test is a measure of the critical thinking skills that students need for academic success in postsecondary education. It assesses how well students analyze and solve problems. The test is typically taken by high school juniors and seniors. Each SAT test is scored on an 800-point scale.
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- Try not to feel stressed in
picking up all the crops when they are ready for harvest. The crops will
never go bad and you can pick them up on your own pace. Water is a
necessity when they are growing; if you don't give them ample water they
- After you successfully grow
your first crop, visit the market and put it up for sale. At this time,
you can set the price as high as you want and the customer will buy it.
As soon as your crop is sold, visit the shop. The two most important
upgrades to buy first are the five box stacker and the water jug
- When time is running out
and the day is about to end, immediately harvest some crops. You then
need to visit the market and sell them. Doing this each day will allow
you to gain more profits.
- Try not to plant crops in a
continuous line. Allow spacing after a line of four or five crops. Then
when you unlocked the sprinkler upgrade, you can properly place it
between the rows.
- Paying attention to the
demand level of the crops is another important aspect of the game. You
will need to adjust your pricing based on the demand levels at a certain
time. Here are some pricing guidelines to follow during different demand
Extremely low: $2
Very low: $3-4
Below average: $5
Above average: $8-9
Very high: $12-13
Extremely high: $14-15
- When you adjust your
pricing and begin to start selling your crops, you can continue
harvesting. The crops will continue to sell in the background and it
will save valuable time for the day.
- In the later stages, try to
put as many cows as possible in a fenced area. Cows produce a bottle of
milk in around two minutes. The game will auto collect the milk for you.
If you have four cows, you will have thirty two bottles of milk per day.
- The highest grade in the
game an "A+". In order to achieve this you have to max out all
the meters (knowledge, wealth, popularity, and health) and acquire all
the trophies. Here are the breakdowns of each meter:
To improve your knowledge during the game, buy the store keepers items
as soon as possible, have a good variety of flowers and crops, and buy
as many books as possible throughout the game.
Every animal and crop should be on your farm. You need to continue to
buy all new shop items and obtain all awards. Your cash on hand should
be over $1000.
This meter is based on sales of the last ten days. You need to sell
about twenty five boxes of crops for ten straight days. Popularity also
depends on how you are noticed in Aliceville. Try donating money to
charity when asked, and have articles written in the newspaper.
Although the health meter won't affect Alice's pace of work, it will
affect the customers at the market. The customers will buy more crops if
Alice is healthy.
ALERT - CHEAT CODES
If the game is still driving
you crazy, here are some cheat codes that will make the game easier. Simply
type these codes at any time during the course of the game:
Goodtime - Market demand will
Rain - Plants no longer require
Greenfinger - Plants grow very
Fund - Gives you $100 each time
you enter this code
Shopper - All items will be
unlocked in the shop
To deactivate cheat codes
"rain" and "greenfinger," simply retype the code. The
rain cheat code will wear off around three days.
If you happen to have some tips for this
game, feel free to
submit them and they will be published here. Please click the following link to be taken to the cheats submission form.
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Learn to Sing Rossini's Petite Messe Solennelle, Rehearse your SATB Voice Part
ChoraLine voice part rehearsal CDs and MP3 files are learning tools, specifically created to help choral singers memorise their vocal line and practise between choir rehearsals.
You can use the MP3 file straight from your computer and also put onto your ipod/MP3 player if you wish. If you are new to downloading an MP3 file please click here for tips and a step-by-step guide.
Whichever is most convenient for you, there is ChoraLine rehearsal CD or MP3 file. The examples above are a CD for the Soprano voice part for Handel's Messiah and the Bass part for Bach's Magnificat as an MP3 file on an ipod.
The advantages of learning your voice part using a ChoraLine recording are:
- A narrator guides you with verbal signposts (using bar numbers and rehearsal letters) to ensure you don't get lost and to 'cue' your entry
- There is also a track listing (on the back of the CD cover or within the MP3 zip file) which lists the bar numbers and rehearsal letters, you can follow exactly where you are on the ChoraLine recording and in the vocal score
- Hear and assimilate the music so it becomes second nature to sing
- The vocal score becomes so much easier to follow for those of us who are not so proficient at sight reading
- Rehearse in time with the music and learn at your own pace
- Use the balance control on your stereo (or the graphic equaliser on your computer) to enhance or diminish your voice part. Have your vocal line quite loud to start with and when you feel you know your part, test yourself by turning it right down
- Focus on challenging sections by going over and over specific parts of a movement
- Use as a 'pitch cue' for vocal entry
- Practice hitting the notes until you are perfect
- Far more enjoyable than unaccompanied note-bashing
- Be prepared, having learnt your part in advance of rehearsal
- Sing with more confidence and experience a higher level of achievement
We are always delighted to receive letters and emails from singers saying how useful they have found ChoraLine and also suggestion on new pieces to produce. We are currently working on Verdi's 4 Sacred Pieces (which is very complex as it has 16 voice parts in the last movement) and Purcell's Dido and Aeneas which has been requested by three different choral societies:
|Press PLAY to watch our story||Free PDF Download
ChoraLine Guide Book 1:
HOW TO LEARN YOUR VOICE PART
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Consider the first sentence of Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) RFC 4272 published in 2006 and be afraid, be very afraid. It reads “Border Gateway Protocol 4 (BGP-4), along with a host of other infrastructure protocols designed before the Internet environment became perilous, was originally designed with little consideration for protection of the information it carries. “ Or consider this statement from the February 2003 US Department of Homeland Security’s The National Strategy to Secure Cyberspace “Of the many routing protocols in use within the Internet, the Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) is at greatest risk of being the target of attacks designed to disrupt or degrade service on a large scale.” So in the 8 years since DHS highlighted the risks in BGP and called for it to be replaced by a secure version how much progress has been made in addressing this problem? Close to zero. There has been a lot of talk, and in 2009 (6 years after the report) DHS finally started funding research into securing BGP. But practical progress, zero.
BGP isn’t the only internet protocol that has security problems. While few users have even head of BGP, many have at least seen the initials DNS (for Domain Name System). DNS is what takes internet names (e.g., www.mydomain.com) and translates them into addresses (e.g., 192.168.0.1) so you can actually access them. Imagine if you typed www.mybank.com into your browser and instead of actually going to the web page for your bank you went to a phishing site that stole your bank account password? All too easy if DNS is compromised. The lack of security in DNS was recognized in 1990, but it took 20 years before the rollout of DNS Security Extensions (DNSSEC) started to gather steam. It will be a few more years until DNS has been fully secured.
I could go on, but I think I’ve already made the point. The Internet is a house of cards that could collapse any time.
So, what’s the problem here? For one thing, the Internet was never supposed to be a mass market success. If you go back to the early 90s the Internet was an academic environment and most technologists predicted that interconnected commercial utilities (e.g., AOL, or Microsoft’s original MSN) would become the mainstream network solutions. Even many of those who believed in the Internet thought that a commercialized parallel to the academic network would emerge rather than having the existing academic network just opened up to the public. (For full disclosure, in 1993 I expected that a parallel commercial Internet would appear, with utilities as islands within that network each offering a community experience that the typical end-user found more comfortable than just being thrust into the wilds of the network.) So what really happened? The “Academic Internet” was opened to the public and was adopted so quickly that it overwhelmed all alternative solutions. The industry was forced to “go with the flow”, and that included living with a set of protocols that hadn’t been designed for the potential hostilities that the having all the worlds communications and commerce traveling over the network might attract.
So if the existing Internet protocols aren’t secure, and we’ve known that for quite some time, why don’t we fix them more quickly? Quite simply, because we are more afraid of disrupting the Internet than we are of the security risks. Just think about SPAM for a minute. How frustrated are you when mail you really want to receive ends up in your Junk folder? Now imagine that we fixed the SMTP protocol so that only fully authenticated mail was ever delivered to you. That would eliminate a lot of SPAM, but at the same time there would be a period of perhaps years in which even more mail you really want would either not be delivered at all or would end up in your Junk folder. That would happen because not every email server and client would (or could) upgrade at the same time. So instead we have some extensions that make it easier for anti-SPAM filters to recognize valid email but we haven’t made a real dent in SPAM. Now take that another step. Imagine a rollout of a secure BGP in which some ISPs were actually unable to connect to the Internet until they upgraded to “Secure BGP”. We can’t just flip a giant switch and instantaneously get all the ISPs on these new protocols at the same time. It can take years to roll them out. To put this in a more concrete perspective, imagine a small ISP covering a midwest town in the US. What if they didn’t have the money to buy new “Secure BGP” compatible routers or the manpower to perform the transition? What happens when we declare January 1, 2012 “Secure BGP” flip-the-switch day? They probably go out of business and leave that town with no Internet access at all.
There is another factor here. While we know that these protocols aren’t secure, they haven’t actually been compromised. We have had ISPs accidentally misconfigure routers in a way that the BGP weaknesses allowed to cause a major Internet outage. But we haven’t had someone intentionally exploit BGP’s problems to misroute Internet traffic. On the other hand, the reason that DNSSEC rollout is accelerating is that we have had security researchers actually demonstrate the ability to exploit flaws in DNS.
So in the absence of actual disasters, and with a desire to avoid disrupting the Internet experience, the industry simply does nothing. That is a little too harsh, but it is all to close to the truth. We will wait until something bad happens, potentially very bad, before we get serious about fixing the Internet protocols.
What constitutes very bad? Well of course we could have some “hackers” decide to exploit BGPs weaknesses for commercial gain. But I think a more likely scenario is a cyberwarfare one. The weaknesses in BGP and the other Internet protocols are well-known. I would think that every nation that has a cyberwarfare operation has figured out how they could disrupt these protocols in practice. And they are just sitting on those techniques until they need them. Yes, even a minor player like Libya might have the capability to disrupt or steal information transmitted over the Internet and could decide to do so in response to the UN-approved no fly zone. Nations like North Korea and Iran almost certainly have this capability. It is sad that we’ll likely wait until one of them demonstrates it before we get serious about fixing the Internet protocols.
One doesn’t have to wait for an attack on Internet protocols to see how slow we are being in response to the Cyberwarfare threat. DHS’ 2003 strategy also called for securing SCADA (supervisory control and data acquisition) systems. The big news in 2010 was Stuxnet, a worm that targets these systems. Most believe it was created by government entities specifically to target Iranian nuclear facilities. I guess in this case many of us are happy that their were vulnerabilities that could be exploited. But Iran uses generally available commercial equipment, which means that many other facilities in many industries around the world could be similarly attacked. I wonder if suppliers and users of the systems targeted by Stuxnet, and similar systems from other suppliers, are rushing to secure them? Keeping in mind that it is 8 years since DHS called for them to be secured, how many more years will it take for the vast majority of these systems to actually be secured?
The bottom line here is that we keep making the wrong cost/benefit tradeoff in security. We tolerate bad security in the name of better user experience, lack of customer disruption, etc. until something really bad happens. We need to swap our priorities and make preventing really bad things from happening more important than preserving the status quo. There are tradeoffs to be made here for sure (e.g., UAC in Windows 7 vs UAC in Windows Vista), but the bottom line is having a secure system has to come first. And we need to get our existing systems and protocols into a more secure state ASAP.
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When I heard that Caleb Glover, an Alabama 3- year-old, had been banned last summer from an RV park swimming pool for being HIV-positive, I was enraged. It was 2007! How many decades of HIV-positive people swimming safely with others would it take for people to understand that there is no risk of infecting anyone else in the water?
Watching Caleb’s adoptive parents tell their story on Good Morning America was like watching the Ryan White story all over again. Ryan was diagnosed with AIDS at 13 and became internationally famous for fighting fellow students, their parents and the school administration—who all wanted to expel him. Wrestling with the Glover outrage, I tried to convince myself that we shouldn’t blame people who don’t understand the facts about HIV for trying to “protect” themselves. After all, it took me 10 years to become comfortable with HIV. I don’t expect people encountering HIV for the first time to be immediately at ease. But this was outright discrimination—and I wanted to race down to Alabama and give the people who hadn’t bothered to learn the facts about HIV transmission a crash course.
That’s exactly what activists from the Campaign to Ends AIDS did. Rallying at the RV park, they helped the folks in Alabama get their AIDS facts straight. When Charles King, mastermind of the Campaign to End AIDS, carried Caleb into the water, several vacationers jumped into the pool and joined them in solidarity. The spectacle of HIV-negative people who had never met a positive person bobbing around among activists wearing hiv positive T-shirts was a sight for my very sore eyes.
People armed with the medical facts about HIV can get their heads around it—and their arms around us. Take Silvia and Dick Glover, Caleb’s adoptive parents. They discovered his HIV status when they took their new baby to the hospital to be treated for an abscess and pneumonia. It never occurred to Silvia and Dick not to keep Caleb. Unfazed, the Glovers asked their church to pray for him. Soon after, some children were not allowed to play with him. It was the first of many times that the Glovers would encounter AIDS stigma.
Our other cover boy, Jack Mackenroth, has swum upstream for other reasons. A swimmer since youth, and open about his positive status, he has never been banned from the pool, let alone ostracized for being HIV positive. In fact, he was put on a national reality TV show (Project Runway) despite—or perhaps even because of—his HIV status. But when he developed a staph infection, unrelated to HIV, and had to leave the show because he was immediately contagious to other people, it seemed a strange irony. A show that had no problem embracing Jack and his HIV had to watch him depart when he developed an entirely different condition.
Mackenroth then dedicated himself to serve, like Caleb, as an educational example, showing people not only that HIV-positive people aren’t dangerous to others, but that they can be pictures of health—even when recovering from other serious diseases.
Bridging gaps of generation, race and background, these two Aquamen are proof that education and awareness can banish discrimination. But the fact that they and so many others living with HIV must continually take a stand against misperception speaks to a flood of ignorance that must be dammed, once and for all.
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The concept of "retrofit" has typically been defined broadly. While the term is frequently used as a label describing various exhaust emissions control devices such as the DOCs and particulate filters previously outlined, it can also encompass a broader range of options to reduce emissions, including re-powering, rebuilding and in some instances replacing existing equipment.
Rebuild: Engines face normal wear and tear and need to be rebuilt
to operate efficiently returning to the manufacturer's original specifications. During the course of a rebuild, equipment
owners may choose to install new engine components that improve both the fuel
economy and emissions profile. In fact,
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rules outline emission requirements
on rebuilt engines to insure emissions reductions.
Refuel: Since 2008, the use of Ultra Low Sulfur Diesel fuel (ULSD) has been mandated in the U.S. The use of ULSD greatly reduces sulfur dioxide, a key component in smog, and also allows for the operation of other emission control technologies.
Repower: Replacing an older engine with a new diesel engine that meets the most current EPA emissions criteria will greatly reduce emissions.
Replace: In certain instances, the most cost effective strategy to reduce emissions may be to replace the vehicle or equipment.
Retrofit: The installation of various emission control technologies may also improve emissions from older diesel engines. The mandated use of ULSD has paved the way for many emission control technologies to reduce criteria pollutant emissions from older diesel engines.
Particulate filters are capable of capturing up to 95 percent of particulate matter, or soot.
Exhaust gas recirculation recirculates a portion of engine exhaust back into the engine diluting the oxygen content of the fuel-air mixture. EGR technology significantly reduces both NOx and Particulate Matter.
Selective Catalyst Reduction (SCR) is an advanced active emissions control technology system that injects a liquid-reductant agent, known as Diesel Exhaust Fluid (DEF,) through a special catalyst into the exhaust stream of a diesel engine. The DEF sets off a chemical reaction that converts nitrogen oxides into nitrogen, water and tiny amounts of carbon dioxide (CO2), natural components of the air we breathe, which is then expelled through the vehicle tailpipe.
Read more about SCR.
Oxidation Catalysts are similar to converters installed on light duty vehicles. Exhaust travels through a honeycomb like structure that attracts fine particles. Diesel oxidation catalysts are capable of eliminating Particulate Matter by 20- 50 percent.
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Discussions about eggcorns and related topics
You are not logged in.
Registrations are temporarily closed as we're receiving a steady stream of registration spam.
Anyone who wishes to register, please email me at chris dot waigl at gmail dot com with the desired username and a valid email address, and I will register you manually.
Thanks for your understanding.
Chris -- 2011-03-08
Consider this strawman example:
Google hits on Sept 12, 2006
“Clairvoyant” means having an extrasensory ability to see things not present or to predict the future. The base “clair” is French from the Latin “clarus” meaning “clear.” So, there really isn’t any major departure from the etymology when one constructs “CLEARvoyant.” And, so, should we consider “Clearvoyant” an eggcorn?
My gut instinct is that “CLEARvoyant” and other such-constructed words are not an eggcorns. (Another recent example is “QUARRELous” which shares a common etymological base with “Querelous.”) In some of these constructions, the language seemed to have morphed from Latin to French (or another Romance language) and stayed put until a recent (albeit unknowing) attempt to drag in the English equivalent. And, since we are dealing strictly in terms of linguistic equivalents, there doesn’t seem to be any FRESH IMAGERY (or contextual reinterpretation) taking place. So, again, I think these constructs lack what is required to qualify as eggcorns.
Now having said that, I’ll be the first to admit that this is simply my own opinion. I sure wish a linguistics expert would chime in on this issue and clarify things.
Non-Expert Speaks: I was another voice in that QUERULOUS discussion. I agree with you, and with your reasoning that CLAIRVOYANT/CLEARVOYANT is a mistake that does not merit eggcorn status. It is different from QUERULOUS/QUARRELOUS, though:
Both the CLAIR and the VOYANT are French, I believe. But the QUERUL is old-timely Latin-based English, and it has a perfectly valid, current English suffix, OUS. So… QUARRELOUS (in my peculiar ear) is an okay (not fantastic, but okay) update for QUERULOUS, but… CLEARVOYANT is just a misunderstanding of a good,current word that we borrowed from France.
[This post showed up with unwanted cross-outs. Where do those cross-outs come from? If you see words crossed out above, please read the words. This is a big STET.]
Last edited by Tom Neely (2006-09-13 15:05:00)
Tom—about those cross-outs:
The Forum uses the Textile markup language (basically a series of HTML shortcuts), and sometimes you can give commands in Textile without meaning to. I suspect that your earlier version of the post had dashes around chunks of text. Textile interprets dashes immediately around a word as the command for “cross out these words.” For instance, if I write, – cross out – with a space between the words and the dashes, it’ll show up as just – cross out -. But if I get rid of the spaces between the dashes and the words, it’ll look like this:
cross out. The cross-out command can occasionally be helpful – if for instance you want to show something you “almost” wrote.
There’s a concise discussion of Textile commands with examples here: http://textism.com/tools/textile/
It’s worth looking at because it also shows how to produce italics, underlining, block quotations, etc.
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The Easyline+ Project: Evaluation of a User Interface Developed to Enhance Independent Living of Elderly and Disabled people
This paper reports the usability evaluation of interfaces developed to enable elderly and disabled people interact remotely with kitchen appliances in the home to enhance their independent living. A number of evaluation exercises were undertaken throughout the project’s development, including user-participative workshops and focus groups. This paper focuses on the summative usability evaluation exercise, which comprised a laboratory-based study in a simulated home environment, with a view to determining the appropriateness of employing this approach with potentially vulnerable participants. The study involved 27 participants interacting with the user interface. Their behaviour was observed and recorded, and their interaction with the system was analysed. They were also given a post-session questionnaire, where their opinions of the usability of the interface were solicited. The results of the usability testing were positive, and insight has been gained into how products of this nature can be further improved. The experience of conducting laboratory-based studies with vulnerable users was positive and led to propose in this paper a set of guidelines for future work in evaluating usability for work in this domain.
Computer and Systems Architecture | Computer Engineering | Digital Communications and Networking | Hardware Systems | Systems and Communications
Picking, R., Robinet, A., McGinn, J., Grout, V., Casas, R. & Blasco, R. (2012)“The Easyline+ Project: Evaluation of a User Interface Developed to Enhance Independent Living of Elderly and Disabled people”. International Journal of Universal Access in the Information Society, Volume 11, Number 2, pp. 99-112
Digital Commons Citation
Picking, Rich; Robinet, A; McGinn, John; Grout, Vic; Casas, R; and Blasco, R, "The Easyline+ Project: Evaluation of a User Interface Developed to Enhance Independent Living of Elderly and Disabled people" (2012). Computing. Paper 79.
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An Anthropologist On Mars Book Commentary
An Anthropologist on Mars by Oliver Sacks serves to explain the lives of several individuals who have been living with various defects and diseases. These individuals include Mr. I, an artist who had gone completely colorblind, Greg F., who had no memories of any events after the 1970s, Dr. Carl Bennet, a surgeon with Tourette’s syndrome, Virgil, a man who gained the ability to see after being blind, Franco, a painter who has the ability to create accurate paintings of his hometown that he hasn’t visited in many years, Stephen, a talented artist with autism, and Temple Grandin, an autistic professor at Colorado State University.
One of the major themes emphasized throughout the stories of these individuals’ lives and novel included the brain’s plasticity and ability to adapt to various experiences, despite the severity of the defects that had affected the brains of these individuals. The brain’s ability to adapt is especially noticed in those that suffer from neurological illnesses because it forces the nervous system to create new pathways so that the brain can construct a “coherent self and world” according to Sacks (Sacks xvii). Instead of seeing the brain as programmed and fixed, this novel is geared towards helping readers see the brain as a constantly changing and active part of the human body. In particular, I had found the stories behind these individuals very intriguing and each extremely unique. Many times I learn about various neurological disorders and diseases, but I don’t tend to think about the manner in which individuals with those defects must be living and how they are able to cope. However, by reading this book, I definitely developed a new way of perceiving the brain and its plasticity. Out of all of the stories mentioned in the novel, “The Case of the Colorblind Painter” and “To See and Not See” seemed to be the most fascinating stories to me.
In the first part of the novel entitled, “The Case of the Colorblind Painter,” a painter by the name of Mr. I, is affected by a condition known as cerebral achromatopsia. In other words, he has completely lost the ability to see any color due to brain damage from a car accident he had gotten into. Because Mr. I had dealt with various hues of color throughout his life as a painter, this loss of color had completely distorted his world. In fact, I would imagine one who was never a painter and didn’t appreciate color as much as Mr. I wouldn’t have even had an as difficult time coping with this visionary defect. To many, including myself, cerebral achromatopsia would mean that Mr. I was seeing the world through a black and white television, which turned out to be far from the truth. Mr. I was used to seeing several tones of gray and strong contrasts between white and black. After being very hesitant towards believing this would be his vision for the rest of his life, Mr. I began readjusting his world so that color as he had known would lose all its meaning. Mr. I had finally adapted to a new way of life and began living during the night in a world that made sense to him. He had found his night vision to be extraordinarily clear, which may have resulted from losing the ability to see color, and he began painting images in black and white.
The reason why I found this specific story of Mr. I interesting was because I felt that it was one of the stories that related most to the theme of the novel. Mr. I went from being completely disgusted with his visionary defect to completely embracing it. In fact, he couldn’t even imagine a world with color after his brain had adapted to the dull world he was living in. I think this is important to bring up because once color had lost its associations, it meant nothing to Mr. I. For example, an apple was no longer associated with red, but rather a dull gray. A question that was brought up in my mind after reading this story was the connection between dreaming in color and seeing in color and the fact that Mr. I noticed dreaming in black and white when he had become colorblind. Personally, I can’t recall dreaming in color, but perhaps those that are more aware of color in their daily lives such as Mr. I are also more aware of color in their dreams.
“To See and Not See” was an account of the life of a fifty-year-old man named Virgil, who had been blind for most of his life. As a baby, he was said to have poor vision but after becoming ill as a child with meningitis, polio, and cat-scratch fever, cataracts started developing in both eyes. Despite being blind, Virgil lived a relatively normal life that included working as massage therapist, an interest in sports, and having many friends. Then, when he was about to get married, he underwent a surgery for a cataract extraction in his right eye and was able to regain vision in this eye for the first time in his life. The moment he began seeing, he had no prior experience or memories of the world he was viewing nor was any of his life devoted to learning to see as most individuals start learning to see as soon as they are born. Unlike cataract extraction on patients who had been able to see prior to developing cataracts, Virgil was not simply able to recover and see normally. Instead of seeing faces, Virgil noted that he saw “blurs” and this was mainly due to the fact that he had not developed any central vision. Rather, Virgil displayed the behavior of an individual who was agnosic, which meant that one could see but not interpret what he/she was seeing. He acted like a baby, confused and observing objects constantly. Things such as blimps and cars were extremely interesting to him. However, I believe it is necessary to add that an infant has a cerebral cortex that is able to be adapted to any form of perception. However, Virgil was used to perceiving things in time and not space, so he needed to make a radical change in his neurological functioning. Another interesting fact to Virgil’s story was that he touched objects in order to see them, so he had a collection of miniature models of objects such as cars so that he could be able to properly see them. As time passed, Virgil had the cataract in his left eye removed and slowly his vision improved. He seemed less and less lost; however, he had contracted a respiratory illness that prevented one of his lungs from expanding. He recovered slightly, but his retinas slowly stopped working and once again, Virgil was a blind man.
I would have to say that this story was the most interesting to read in this novel mainly because as a child, I had known a girl who had been blind since birth, but was able to gain her sense of vision back through some type of surgery when she was in her teens. Although I had not personally known her very well, this story did remind me of her and she could have likely faced the same types of conflicts that Virgil had faced. It was actually quite surprising how difficult of a time Virgil had adjusting to vision because like many others, I would have thought that readjustment to vision would be a quick process. This would make sense for one who had gotten blind much later after birth, but apparently it was not the case for one who had never been able to see the world as most see it. Personally, this story reminded me of just how much constant information our brain is processing and we are able to construct shapes, boundaries, and objects unconsciously every single day, numerous times a day. For example, interpreting magazine images, which many of us do without any trouble, Virgil seemed to struggle with immensely. This related to the many class discussions that were shaped around the idea that we are only conscious of a small part of the information our nervous system is constantly receiving.
Another part of this story that had reminded me of a class discussion included the part of Virgil’s story in which he had suffered from implicit sight after his respiratory illness. In implicit sight, the “visual parts of the cerebral cortex are knocked out, but the visual centers in the sub cortex remain intact. The visual signals are properly perceived and are responded to, but the perception doesn’t reach one’s consciousness (Sacks 146-147).” Basically, Virgil reported seeing absolutely nothing, but he would grab something in front of him as if he could see the object. The way I had interpreted this was that the perception of the visual signals hadn’t reached the I-function, the subject of many discussion during class. Because it didn’t reach the I-function, Virgil was completely unaware of the objects sitting in front of him, but the visual centers in the sub cortex were. Lastly, an aspect of this story that related to Mr. I’s story included the color shock Virgil faced when he first gained his vision and the completely opposite shock that Mr. I faced when he had learned he had lost the ability to see color. Even though Mr. I and Virgil were both used to seeing completely different types of colors in their own worlds, when those colors were taken away, a completely new readjustment was needed.
Aside from “The Case of the Colorblind Painter” and “To See and Not See,” the other stories in An Anthropologist on Mars were also very enjoyable. They each offered a completely new outlook on common conditions such as Autism and Tourette’s syndrome and completely unheard of conditions that individuals such as Franco had. Apart from being very interesting, this novel was very inspiring because even those who were suffering neurological illnesses created lives for themselves and were able to readjust accordingly such as the surgeon with Tourette’s syndrome.
Sacks, Oliver. An Anthropologist on Mars: Seven Paradoxical Tales. New York: Vintage
Books, 1995. Print.
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The Avengers Movie Needed The Black Panther
Over the weekend, I finally took my son to watch the Avengers. It was definitely a block buster, but where the heck was the Black Panther? All the super heroes were white. You had Thor, the blonde, blue eyed Norse god; the Incredible Hulk, the smart white scientist turned raging monster; Iron Man, the handsome slick alien-busting version of Bill Gates; and Captain America, the hill billy super soldier.
Samuel L. Jackson's character Nick Fury doesn't count. He was just playing the role of the figurehead, he didn't have any super powers, and in the comic books Fury is white. Jackson was more like President Obama calling in Seal Team Six to take out Osama Bin Ladin. He gave the orders, but he didn't do the job.
Instead, the biggest blockbuster of the summer sent out a subliminal message that Latinos and Blacks can't be counted on to save the world. Heck, the producers couldn't even squeeze a little screen time for Don Cheadle to play Iron Man's sidekick, War Machine. That makes me very upset.
The movie should have included the Black Panther, who was the first black hero in modern day comic books when he made his debut fighting alongside the Fantastic Four in 1966. According to his origin, the Black Panther's real identity is T'Challa, the chief of the Panther tribe from the fictional African nation of Wakanda. He had to earn his title by fighting other champions from the tribe and his job was to protect his country from exploitation. He has genius level intellect and his senses and physical attributes have been enhanced to near-superhuman levels.
The Black Panther joined the Avengers in 1968. Eight years later, he starred in his own comic book, in which he took out the Ku Klux Klan in Georgia. And he could charm the ladies too. His first girlfriend was Storm, the mutant leader of the X-Men.
So why can't Hollywood bring him to the big screen? The only black actor who gets to dress up in tights these days is Tyler Perry - and he is not making super hero movies.
I really hope the Black Panther makes it into the Avengers sequel because my son deserves a super hero that looks like him.
Follow Luke on Twitter @unclelukereal1.
Follow Miami New Times on Facebook and Twitter @MiamiNewTimes.
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I’m sure that we can at least talk about the jist of it though – there have been lots of high profile incidents where li-ion batteries (large ones, the sort used in electric vehicles, hybrids, and suchlike) have started fires while under little or no load. It seems likely that it was the cause of the WIlliams fire last year. As a result, major airlines around the world seem to be on the verge of banning these batteries from being put onto planes. The batteries are also very sensitive to salty environments so sea transport is not ideal.
Basically, since the KERS systems have large li-ion batteries (becoming much bigger and more powerful next year) this could cause a huge logistical problem for F1 which relies on air freight to take it around the world.
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The senates are the highest policy forums for the constituencies they represent.
The Faculty Senate is a creation of the faculty, and is the means by which the faculty shall exercise, consistent with the legal authority of the Board of Regents and Chancellor, its broad Aresponsibility for the immediate governance of the university and assume Aprimary responsibility for academic and educational activities and faculty personnel matters [Merger Law 36.09(4)].
The Academic Staff Senate is the creation of the academic staff members, and is the means by which academic staff members may Aactively participate in the broadest areas of university policy formation and exercise Aprimary responsibility for the formulation and review . . . of all policies and procedures concerning academic staff members, including academic staff personnel matters [Merger Law, 36.09(4m)].
The Student Senate is the creation of the student body, and is the means by which students may Aactively participate in the broadest areas of university policy formation, and exercise Aprimary responsibility for the formulation and review of policies concerning student life, services and interest [Merger Law, 36.09(5)].
Typically, Aprimary responsibility has involved both initiation and review of policies relating to the specified subject areas for which the constituency is assigned primary responsibility, and a recognition that weight be given to recommendations in those areas from that constituency.
However, primary responsibility does not mean exclusive responsibility for a subject area. Nor does primary responsibility for a subject mean that one governance group can unilaterally prescribe the procedure that another group must use in considering that subject. The statutes give faculty, academic staff, and students the right to organize themselves as each sees fit to participate in institutional governance.
Thus, faculty have the authority, and indeed the obligation, to initiate and review policies concerning academic and educational activities and faculty personnel matters before they are amended or adopted by the entity or entities at the university with the authority to make decisions in those areas. Further, greater weight should be given to those faculty recommendations that deal with the specific subject areas of faculty primary responsibility.Membership
The membership of some of the councils and commissions described in these Faculty Bylaws include students and academic staff members. Participation by these governance bodies is strictly voluntary and all such representatives shall be chosen in a manner determined by the appropriate senate. The decision to participate or not participate by these groups in no way prevents them from creating independent organizations with similar duties and powers.
No faculty member may serve on more than two of the following in the same year: the Faculty Senate, the Academic Planning Council, the Academic Information Technology Commission, the University Undergraduate Curriculum Commission, the University Academic Budget Commission, and the University Rank Salary and Tenure Commission PolicyOpen Meeting
The meetings of all senates, councils, commissions, committees, and boards are open, except when they are restricted or closed according to the provisions of Wisconsin's Open Meeting Law. All meeting times, places, and agenda, whether open or closed, shall be published in advance, except in the case of emergency meetings where such publication is as a practical matter not possible. In all instances, meetings must conform with the Wisconsin Open Meeting Law.
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Last month, PSY’s “Gangnam Style” became the most viewed YouTube video of all time, and now, another video wonder is making it to the top of the site’s charts. This time, it’s the unsuspecting “One Pound Fish Man,” a fish stall seller named Muhammad Shahid Nazir, who works at Queen’s Market in East London’s Upton Park. In its first week since the video was posted, it accumulated over five million hits.
From a fish monger to an overnight sensation, Mr. Nazir has now been profiled on CBS in the U.S. and Australia, and on BBC World News in the U.K. Parodies have been created of his video, remixes of his song featuring President Obama are hitting the airwaves, and people from all over the world are visiting Queen’s Market to seek out Muhammad and get his autograph. He now has more than 30,000 followers on Twitter.
What could top that? How about a recording contract with Warner Music label, and Nazir’s first single of the song which was released on December 9th! Word is that he could end up having the number one Christmas single of the year.
Now, it’s easy to write this video off as just funny and quirky, and it’s true that Nazir could prove to be a one-hit wonder, a flash in the proverbial (frying) pan. But none of that matters if you look at the “One Pound Fish Man” video from a marketer’s perspective. We may not be used to learning important marketing lessons from a fish vendor, but you don’t need an MBA to glean six powerful brand slogan tips that Nazir’s video offers:
Keep your slogan or tagline simple. “One Pound Fish” couldn’t be a clearer message. It’s simple, and it has a staccato rhythm. Both of those elements make the slogan stick.
State your key benefits in your phrase. “One pound fish, very very good, one pound fish, very very cheap.” That pretty much sums it up, doesn’t it? You know exactly what you’re getting, and when you want to buy fish, well, let’s face it – those are the key benefits you’re after.
Make it catchy and memorable. Turning his tagline into a tune that resonates and sticks in the customer’s head is what has made the “One Pound Fish” slogan so easy to remember. In fact, after you hear it once, it’s hard to get out of your head!
Repeat, repeat, repeat. Say it again and again and again. And again. Repetition may sound boring, but it’s what helps customers remember your brand. And this is exactly what Nazir does. In fact, an X Factor television show host in England, after hearing the song sung by Nazir for the first time, cheekily said, “So, let me guess… the name of the song is ‘One Pound Fish,’ right?” This phrase is repeated so many times in the song that no listener can possibly forget it.
Be genuine. What makes “One Pound Fish” such a memorable video is that Nazir is such a likable guy. He comes across as humble, honest, not full of himself, and someone who’s having a good time. He just wants to earn an honest day’s living selling something he believes in. (Of course, now, he probably wouldn’t mind a number one single, too! But, hey – there’s still a very authentic air about him.)
Include a call to action. I’m sure Nazir didn’t think to himself, “I should include a call to action in my song,” but intuitively he must have known that he needed to encourage his customers to buy. “Come on, Ladies. Come on, Ladies. Have-a have-a look,” is a clear call to action, and it has one intention: Get customers to his stall, wallet in hand.
So, how can you apply these lessons to marketing your own brand? Think about your current tagline and test it against each of these attributes:
- Is it simple?
- Does it clearly state the main benefits your brand offers?
- Is it catchy and memorable?
- Is it repeatable?
- Is it genuine?
- Does it include a straightforward and powerful call to action?
If you follow these tips from an unsuspecting, now-famous fish monger, you just might create a slogan/tagline that goes viral in your customer’s world.
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Farmland in parts of Japan is no longer safe because of high levels of radiation in the soil, scientists have warned, as the country struggles to recover from the Fukushima atomic disaster.
A team of international researchers said food production would likely be "severely impaired" by the elevated levels of caesium found in soil samples across eastern Fukushima in the wake of meltdowns at the tsunami-hit plant.
The study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences journal, suggests farming in neighbouring areas may also suffer because of radiation, although levels discovered there were within legal limits.
"Fukushima prefecture as a whole is highly contaminated," especially to the northwest of the nuclear power plant, the researchers said.
The study looked at caesium-137, which has a half life of 30 years and therefore affects the environment for decades.
The legal limit for concentrations in soil where rice is grown of the sum of caesium-134 and caesium-137, which are always produced together, is 5,000 becquerels per kilogram (2.2 pounds) in Japan.
"The east Fukushima prefecture exceeded this limit and some neighbouring prefectures such as Miyagi, Tochigi and Ibaraki are partially close to the limit under our upper-bound estimate," the study said.
"Estimated and observed contaminations in the western parts of Japan were not as serious, even though some prefectures were likely affected to some extent," it added.
"Concentration in these areas are below 25 becquerels per kilogram, which is far below the threshold for farming. However, we strongly recommend each prefecture to quickly carry out some supplementary soil samplings at city levels to validate our estimates."
The study said "food production in eastern Fukushima prefecture is likely severely impaired by the caesium-137 loads of more than 2,500 becquerels per kilogram".
It is also likely production is "partially impacted in neighbouring provinces such as Iwate, Miyagi, Yamagata, Niigata, Tochigi, Ibaraki and Chiba where values of more than 250 becquerels per kilogram cannot be excluded", it said.
The study was led by Teppei Yasunari of the Universities Space Research Association in the US state of Maryland.
He and his team used daily observations in each Japanese prefecture and computer-simulated particle dispersion models based on weather patterns.
Japan has been on alert for the impact of radiation since an earthquake and resulting tsunami struck the northeast of the country on March 11, crippling the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.
Its cooling systems were knocked offline and reactors were sent into meltdown, resulting in the leaking of radiation into the air, oceans and food chain.
Shipments of a number of farm products from the affected regions were halted and even those that were not subject to official controls have found little favour with Japanese consumers wary of the potential health effects.
An official in charge of soil examination for the agriculture ministry said government tests had been conducted on soil in Fukushima and five other prefectures earlier this year.
He said contamination levels in Fukushima had exceeded 5,000 becquerels per kilogram, but were below that level elsewhere.
"We are now conducting further checks covering 3,000 spots in Tokyo and 14 prefectures and plan to publish the results later," he said.
Explore further: Source of life running out: water scientists
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NetWellness is a global, community service providing quality, unbiased health information from our partner university faculty. NetWellness is commercial-free and does not accept advertising.
Thursday, May 23, 2013
Prolonged Care and Bipolar Disorder
I oversee the care of a 30 year old male who had a traumatic brain injury (car jacking) about 3 1/2 years ago. He was diagnosed with bipolar disorder as a result of this event but in the last year has become allergic or had adverse reactions to most of the medications used to treat bipolar disorder. There is the question of whether or not he, indeed, is bipolar since he does not seem to exhibit signs of both of the poles associated with the disorder. His psychiatrist has decided to give him the benefit of the doubt and has taken him off of all of his bipolar meds and placed him on anti anxiety meds (Lexapro and Clonazepam). For several months he has exhibited signs of panic attacks and phobia refusing to go out of the house or to work (can`t seem to hold a job). He says that he feels "antzy" and just doesn`t feel well. He has called his psychiatrist and advised him of the situation but he either doesn`t return his call or just doesn`t seem to think that there is a problem. At this point I am not sure if the anti-anxiety drugs are worth taking. Counseling has also been suggested but, due to insurance constraints, this treatment is not always possible and he does not share much. It has been difficult watching this situation and I am just wondering where I go from here. I cannot take care of him indefinitely. Is there hope for a "normal" way of life or should I look into filing for a permanent disability since this individual cannot seem to cope with the activities of daily life? Thank You!!
You deserve credit for your dedication and care of this patient. Your message has a confluence of several issues
First, I would recommend attempting to recontact the psychiatrist's office and mention your concerns directly. There could be some structural changes that may benefit this patient and you. For example, is there a mechanism in place for the timely delivery of messages? What is the office policy on returning phone calls? Would it be possible for this patient to have more frequent appointments or set aside a predetermined time to discuss matters less formally over the phone?
Once in contact, it would be reasonable to ask the treating psychiatrist what features led to the diagnosis of bipolar illness, especially given the evidently sharp distinction between the patient's life before and after the trauma. Typically, more brittle forms of bipolar illness should present themselves when the patient is not taking medications long-term.
You can also ask about the psychiatrist's experience in treating patients with a similar history. Are there people in the area who could provide a consultation? You can also mention how exactly the patient's behavior concerns you, what changes you have seen on and off meds, and areas in which the patient could improve.
Lastly, I recommend consultation with a social worker in your area to assist in the process of filing for disability and related matters. Once initiated, the treating psychiatrist can provide additional information on the paperwork.
Thank you for your question.
Ram Chandran Kalyanam, MD
Clinical Assistant Professor of Psychiatry
College of Medicine
The Ohio State University
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|Basic InformationMore InformationLatest News|Chronic Heartburn May Raise Odds for Throat Cancer: StudyStudy Supports Using Low-Dose CT Scans to Spot Early Lung CancerComorbidities Up Other-Cause Death for Men With Prostate CARacial Disparities Seen in U.S. Lung Cancer TreatmentNewer, Pricier Prostate Cancer Radiation No Better Than Old: StudyHIV No Barrier to Getting Liver Transplant, Study FindsXofigo Approved for Prostate CancerTest Approved to Detect Faulty Lung Cancer GeneNew Drug May Help Immune System Fight CancerCancer Patients May Face Higher Bankruptcy OddsFDA Approves New Drug to Fight Advanced Prostate CancerMetformin Won't Aid Breast Cancer Survival in DiabeticsCreative Arts Therapies Up Mental Health for Cancer PatientsExperts Aim to Draw Attention to High Cancer Drug CostsCreative Arts May Help Cancer Patients CopeAgent Orange Tied to Lethal Prostate CancerScientists Discover More Genetic Clues to Testicular CancerSocializing May Ease Pain of Breast CancerGene Discovery May Offer Breakthrough for Rare LeukemiaRed Hair Pigment Might Raise Melanoma Risk: StudySkin Cancer Tx Mostly Surgical, Regardless of Life ExpectancyAATS: MnDCT Beats Chest X-Ray for Detecting Lung CancerProstate Cancer May Be Deadlier for the UninsuredSleep Woes Tied to Prostate Cancer Risk in StudyAUA: Incidence of Testicular Cancer Up Through 2009Study Links Timing of ER Visit to Prostate Cancer Survival OddsTesticular Cancer on Rise in U.S., Especially Among Hispanic MenUrologists' Group Issues Updated Guidelines on PSA TestAt-Home Drug Errors Common for Kids With Cancer, Research ShowsScientists Pinpoint Most Major Genes Behind Deadly Blood CancerImplants May Delay Breast Cancer Detection, Raise Death RiskComprehensive Analysis Supports SERMs for Cutting Breast CancerNovel System Proposed for Accountable Cancer CareWomen Smokers More Likely to Get Colon Cancer Than Men: StudyFor Some Seniors With Skin Cancer, Surgery Not Always Best ChoiceComprehensive Discussion With Docs Ups Cancer ScreeningHistory of Skin Cancer Linked to Secondary CancersIntegrated 2D, 3D Mammogram Improves Cancer DetectionSoaring Prices Keep Leukemia Drugs From Patients, Experts SayRace, Income Tied to Breast Cancer Treatment Delays, Reduced SurvivalObesity Tied to Risk of Prostate Cancer After Negative BiopsyNon-Melanoma Skin Cancers Tied to Risk for Other CancersObesity Linked to Prostate Cancer, Study FindsMammograms Can Measure How Breast Cancer Drug Is Working: StudyScientists Spot Cancer Metabolism ChangesMinorities Less Prone to Think They'll Get Cancer: StudyClinical Trials Helped One Woman's Fight Against CancerARRS: MASS Criteria, LDH Predict Survival in MelanomaScientists Create Breast Cancer Survival PredictorEndocrine Therapy Often Incomplete after Breast CancerLinksBook Reviews
Abandoning PSA Screening Could Cost Lives: Study
by By Steven Reinberg
Updated: Jul 30th 2012
MONDAY, July 30 (HealthDay News) -- In the wake of a widely publicized report advising against prostate-specific antigen (PSA) testing for prostate cancer, a new study finds not screening would triple the number of U.S. men developing advanced cancer.
Testing, on the other hand, might keep some 17,000 men each year from receiving a diagnosis of late-stage prostate cancer -- cancer that has spread and is far less curable -- the study finds.
"PSA testing, for all its pluses and minuses and all that . . . permits you to catch the disease earlier," said lead researcher Dr. Edward Messing, chair of urology at the University of Rochester Medical Center in Rochester, N.Y.
"These people are all going to die, they are going to die incredibly expensively and die miserably," he said, referring to the many men whose diagnoses would be delayed by not testing. "I don't know that all these people could be saved with PSA testing," but many could, he added.
The report was published online July 30 in the journal Cancer.
Messing said the annual number of prostate cancer deaths dropped from about 42,000 in the 1990s to 28,000 now. "The only thing that can explain that is PSA early detection and treatment," he said.
Many cases of prostate cancer are not life-threatening, which is why testing is controversial. The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) in May recommended against routine PSA screening, saying too many non-lethal cancers were being treated aggressively, exposing men who didn't need treatment to serious side effects such as impotence and urinary incontinence.
But Messing disagreed with that advice. Condemning PSA testing "wasn't a brilliant conclusion," he said.
For the new study, Messing's team compared information from the U.S. Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database for the years 1983 to 1985 -- immediately before widespread PSA testing started --- to data from 2006 through 2008.
In the 2008 data, 8,000 cases of prostate cancer were diagnosed after the malignancy had spread to other parts of the body.
Using these cases as a base, the researchers constructed a model that used data of advanced cancer diagnosed in the 1980s and predicted how many cases of advanced cancer would have been diagnosed in 2008 if PSA testing was not done.
Their model showed instead of 8,000 actual cases in 2008, about 25,000 cases would have been diagnosed.
But the USPSTF maintains the benefits of testing are overrated. "The task force recommends against prostate cancer screening using the PSA test, as the potential benefit does not outweigh the harms," said Dr. Michael LeFevre, co-vice chair of the task force and professor in the department of family and community medicine at the University of Missouri School of Medicine.
As a result of treatments for PSA-detected prostate cancer, one out of 1,000 men screened in the United States develops a blood clot in his legs or lungs, two will have a heart attack or stroke, and up to 40 are left impotent or with urinary incontinence, LeFevre said.
"At best, only one of these 1,000 men who were screened avoids dying from prostate cancer for at least 10 years," LeFevre said. "In addition, about one in every 3,000 men screened dies as a result of surgery to treat cancer detected by the PSA test."
Still, the task force recognizes that "some men may continue requesting the PSA test and some physicians may continue offering it," LeFevre said.
Before getting this blood test -- which measures a protein in cells of the prostate gland -- men should learn about the pros and cons, he said. "The decision to start or continue screening should reflect an understanding of the possible benefits and known harms, and should respect each individual's preferences."
Messing advises men with a family history of prostate cancer or urinary symptoms to have a PSA test. Men with no family history or symptoms should discuss PSA testing with their doctor, he added.
Messing pointed out that screening-detected cancer doesn't mean surgery, chemotherapy or radiation treatment must follow. Most cases can be watched for some time, he said.
Dr. Otis Brawley, chief medical officer for the American Cancer Society, said over the past few years a number of studies have been published on the benefits and harms of PSA testing.
"None of these studies can be considered decisive other than in proving that there are some harms associated with treatment," he said. The American Cancer Society still supports screening for certain men in consultation with a physician.
Prostate cancer is the second-leading cause of cancer death among men in the United States. In 2012, more than 240,000 new cases are expected to be diagnosed, and 28,000 men will die from the disease, researchers say.
For more information on prostate cancer, visit the U.S. National Cancer Institute.
This article: Copyright © 2012 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
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If laws defined a country’s attitude to bribery and corruption, China would be a world leader. The offering and receiving of bribes is illegal. There is corporate as well as individual liability. Penalties include confiscation of assets and even capital punishment for officials when corrupt actions are severe enough and affect the public interest.
”The trouble is that the law is still ambiguous and misunderstood and investigations by authorities are not always made public” says Grant Jamieson, Head of KPMG’s China Forensic practice.
“Nonetheless, the government is very serious about cleaning up corruption and has been diligently investigating and prosecuting allegations of corruption by its own employees, many of which have resulted in former officials receiving the death penalty as punishment.” Jamieson says that people here grasp the moral and practical arguments for anti-bribery and corruption (AB&C) policies. But the Western mindset cannot be easily applied in this environment.
Business outside of China is conducted with a fair amount of transparency and in many cases is regulated by government regulation or commercial norms, but personal relationships are paramount here. This in turn is governed by highly formal, albeit unwritten, rules of practice.
Making relationships the foundation of business means showing respect for the people you deal with and, in China, cash and gifts are the primary means to show respect. Those famous ‘red packets’ of cash, for example, are given not only to customers and associates but to family members and friends as well.
In business relationships, you are expected to provide regular and sometimes even generous amounts of entertainment. None of this is seen as wrong. It is a custom rooted in traditional ethics and the notion of guanxi – deepening your relationships to expand your personal network.’ The lack of transparency in business transactions makes these waters harder to navigate. Conflicts of interest are rarely identified and deals, large and small, are sealed over dinner and fine bottle of bai jiu (Chinese white wine). This makes it essential to discover whether business partners or acquisitions are dependent on political influence or corruption and therefore may fail if they fall from favour or corrupt activity ceases.
There are signs of real change. Many Chinese think new wealth and business opportunities have led to a perversion of old customs. Company chairmen (who usually possess great power here) are starting to appreciate that AB&C programmes can mean bigger profits because less will be spent on hand-outs. In large part due to the government’s recent prosecutions of some of the most influential businessmen in China, many Chinese businesses are looking for ways to maintain their profitability and relationships without running afoul of the local AB&C laws lest they end up in jail with assets confiscated, or worse.
The post-2007 wave of FCPA prosecutions helps, as does concern about violating the UK’s 2010 Bribery Act. In that regard, gifts are the front line issue. “We are called frequently by clients asking how they should handle transactions in this culture, especially mergers and acquisitions. They want to comply with the law while doing business in an acceptable Chinese way. Our advice is to establish robust compliance policies and procedures and proactively monitor them while showing respect for reasonable Chinese culture and customs”.
Jamieson believes strongly that western companies need to invest in changing mindsets while accepting that it will take years to effect a full transformation. A dogmatic adherence to western assumptions - as distinct from western laws - will be counterproductive. He illustrates the point by reference to corporate codes. “Many words and concepts do not translate one-for-one into Mandarin. Translators and subject matter experts need to work together in order to convey underlying ideas and principals and ensure understanding of the concepts”.
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I've seen a couple comments lately that make me wonder. Someone commented on a site that they don't think feral hives last more than a year and that bee trees that seem years old are just being re-used by other swarms.
Could this be a factor on CCD? Have we finally bred a bee so dependant on manipulation that it cannot survive more than a few weeks or months without us? That are so used to being disturbed and robbed that they are lost if left alone?
My feral hives are more than a year old. I have removed feral hives that are many years old.
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