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You think you love engineering? Well, here's a guy who can out-geek them all. Metro, a Boston area daily paper, reported recently that an electrical engineer in Michigan named his new-born infant son "2.0." Yup. Not "junior," but "2.0." What's the difference between "junior" and "2.0," he reportedly asked, after persuading his wife to go along with the computer-style name. "It's just a number instead of a word."
Well, yes, but his action says a lot about how dominant computers have become in our professional and personal lives. We use them to shop, to communicate, to pay bills, to listen to music, and, of course, to design products faster and easier than we could before.
And, we use them to gather information.
Indeed, the Internet has become an indispensable tool for engineers. I recently interviewed several to find out how they use the Internet. Andy Helm, an engineer with Faro Technologies, uses the Internet as a data book. "It's a research tool," he says. Ron Maty, an engineer who designs gearboxes, among other systems and components, for Honeywell Engines and Systems, searches the Internet to find specific parts. Gordon Keil, an engineer at BMW who recently took on press-relations activities for the car company, searches for components too, but also uses the Internet to keep up with industry news. And Paul Martin, an engineer at Instron Corp., searches for parts and for information, such as tips on how to calculate the life of ball screws or the correct type of grease to use in pneumatic systems.
All four say that a website's ease of use and ease of navigation are critical features to them. "It must be intuitive," says Helm. "The key is how fast you can get information."
Their sentiments echo and expand on those of respondents to a recent Design News
reader survey on web-user needs. You told us you spend an average of five hours per week using the web in their work. And what type of content is most important to you? Product specs, supplier information, and alerts of new products or new technology you can use.
When you go to magazine websites like www.designnews.com, you're also looking for design ideas and solutions to design problems, among other vital information.
You also told us you look for different types of information depending on where you are in the design cycle. In the planning phase, you're most interested in ideas and researching new products or technologies. In the design and development phase, you want solutions to design problems, standards information, and links to supplier websites.
That's good information for suppliers looking to improve their websites. Actually, we made that information the basis of a major, multi-phase redesign of our own website—www.designnews.com. We beefed up the content and made it easier to get to it. Now, past articles, product searches, new technology, opportunities for dialog with peers, and community information are a click away. And, we pumped up our e-mail newsletters with more stories, links to related information, and a better layout for easier reading.
But there's much more we are planning and much more we can do. We'd like more guidance from you. You can check out the site and tell us what you think—and how we can make it even better.
We're open to all ideas—wherever they come from. Perhaps we'll even ask "2.0" what he thinks. He has engineering in his blood line, and with a name like that he is destined to be Internet savvy.
Reach Teague firstname.lastname@example.org.
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Tap Water Quality and Safety
Questions and answers based on NRDC's report grading the quality of drinking water in U.S. cities.
- You reported that my tap water is not very good. Should I stop drinking it?
- I live in a city you haven't reported on. How can I find out about the quality of the water?
- A few years ago, you told us some bottled water is bad. Now you're saying the same thing about tap water. Which is true and which should I drink?
- What filter will best protect my family from getting sick?
- What can I do to protect the drinking water in my town?
1. You reported that my tap water is not very good. Should I stop drinking it?
In the short term, if you are an adult with no special health conditions, and you are not pregnant, then you can drink most cities' tap water without having to worry. However, pregnant women, very young children, the elderly, people with chronic illnesses, and people living with weakened immune systems (because they have HIV/AIDS, had an organ transplant, or are on chemotherapy), can be especially vulnerable to the risks posed by contaminated water. If you fit in one of these groups, review NRDC's findings for your city as well as your city's annual water quality report (see the next question), and then consult with your health care provider. You may also want to check the Physicians for Social Responsibility website for fact sheets that can help you and your health care provider make decisions about your drinking water. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) website has advice for people with weak immune systems about drinking city tap water and about bottled water and filters.
In the long term, we all have reason to be concerned about pollution in tap water. The water in many cities contains pollutants that are carcinogens and that, over time, could cause cancer. That's why we all should try to get cities to clean these contaminants out of tap water as soon as possible.
2. I live in a city you haven't reported on. How can I find out about the quality of the water?
To find out about your city's water quality, you should ask your water utility (the one that sends water bills to people in your community) for a copy of its annual water quality report, which is sometimes called a right-to-know report or consumer confidence report. Then get the brochure called "Making Sense of Your Right to Know Report," (see www.safe-drinking-water.org/rtk.html) to help you understand the report. Read your report carefully and contact your health care provider if you have questions.
3. A few years ago, you told us some bottled water is bad. Now you're saying the same thing about tap water. Which is true and which should I drink?
In 1999, NRDC conducted 1,000 separate tests of more than 100 brands of bottled water and concluded that bottled water is not necessarily any purer or any safer than city tap water. Some bottled water is of very high quality and is very pure; other brands of bottled water contain elevated levels of arsenic, bacteria, or other contaminants. Also, bottled water costs hundreds or thousands of times more per gallon than tap water. So while drinking bottled water of verified quality may be an interim solution if you live in an area with a known tap water contamination problem or if you have serious immune system problems, bottled water is not a long-term solution to tap water problems. Instead of relying on bottled water we need to make sure our tap water is clean and safe. (See the FAQ based on our drinking water study for more information on bottled water.)
4. What filter will best protect my family from getting sick?
Filters are no better a long-term solution than bottled water -- in the end we need to make tap water safe for everyone. But if you are thinking about getting a filter for your home, there are several things to consider. First, make sure you get a filter that removes the contaminants of concern in your tap water. (See your city's annual water quality report for information, or NRDC's report if you live in a city we've studied.) Second, be sure the filter is independently certified by NSF (or a similar independent organization) to remove the contaminants of concern in your tap water. Third, maintain the filter at least as often as the manufacturer recommends, or hire a maintenance company to maintain it for you. If you have a weakened immune system, check the CDC website and consult with your health care provider for advice about filters. Also, remember that a "point of use" filter on your sink will not remove all contaminants. For example, you can be exposed to trihalomethanes in the shower. Only a "point of entry" device that cleans all the water in your house will take care of all your water taps.
5. What can I do to protect the drinking water in my town?
You can support measures to protect your watershed and to improve drinking water protection and treatment in your area. To find groups working on these efforts in your area, check the list of member groups on the Clean Water Network website. And sign up for NRDC's action bulletins -- we'll send you an email when you can take action on decisions being made at the national level and in California.
Based on What's on Tap?: Grading Drinking Water in U.S. Cities, a June 2003 report by the Natural Resources Defense Council.
last revised 1/9/2006
Sign up for NRDC's online newsletter
Water on Switchboard
NRDC experts write about water efficiency, green infrastructure and climate on the NRDC blog.
Recent Water Posts
- New Draft Fracking Rules Give Industry a Free Pass
- posted by Frances Beinecke, 5/17/13
- Voices for America's Wildlife - Fishermen Know that Protecting Endangered Salmon Protects Fishing Jobs
- posted by Doug Obegi, 5/16/13
- How Are California's Existing Water Management Issues Impacted by Climate Change?
- posted by Ben Chou, 5/15/13
NRDC Gets Top Ratings from the Charity Watchdogs
- Charity Navigator awards NRDC its 4-star top rating.
- Worth magazine named NRDC one of America's 100 best charities.
- NRDC meets the highest standards of the Wise Giving Alliance of the Better Business Bureau.
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Headache is often due to build-up of stress and tension. Acupressure is an effective way to relieve painful sensation associated these conditions. This guide by Aaron Stein, PhD, is based on over 5,000 years of Chinese practice of self-acupressure.
How acupressure works:
Nobody knows how acupressure works. Very often pain is caused by a self-perpetuating mechanism: pain causes the mind to be attentive to pain, that, in turn cases more pain and even more attention, and so on.
Most likely acupressure works by interrupting this vicious circle. How does acupressure interrupt the cycle? Stimulation of active points is thought to lead to increased release of endorphins. Endorphin is a natural body painkiller. Endorphin and morphine are chemically different molecules but, by coincidence, they have very similar 3-dimensional shape. This similarity in shape allows morphine to bind the endorphin receptor and reduce pain.
Thus endorphin released by acupressure stimulation may lead to temporal reduction of mind's attention to pain, interruption of pain cycle, and following complete cessation of pain.
Here are some key features of "Headache Remedy (Palm OS)":
· Practical and fully illustrated.
· Step-by-step guide to treatment of every condition.
· Every step explains point location, direction of force, and duration of massage.
· No previous experience necessary.
· It is not necessary to massage active points on your own, you can ask somebody else to massage points for you.
· Total treatment duration for most conditions is 10 to 15 minutes.
· Palm 2.2 or later
· The trial version is limited to 2 acupressure points.
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Should Christians be engaged politically? Should they make arguments in the public square? While some are calling for Christians to abandon the political arena due to perceptions that we are “too political,” this would ultimately be unwise and a net loss for everyone because of the moral vacuum it would create. “The alternative isn’t to not do politics,” observes Michael Gerson. “The alternative is to do it better.”
One thing is certain—someone will influence our society. Someone will make laws. Someone will raise the topics for national, judicial, and constitutional debate. So why not labor as faithfully and prudently as we can for the greatest good of others and thus fulfill our role to be salt and light (cf Matt. 5:16)? As Christians, this is one way in which we can love our neighbor as ourselves.
Regardless of the spirit of the age, we are to use whatever tools and opportunities are arranged for us by God for his glory and for the proclaiming of the good news of the kingdom.
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It’s been a helluva a year for women in America. The Catholic Church hates us. Anne-Marie Slaughter told us we couldn’t have it all. A member of Congress thinks our bodies can shut down unwanted pregnancies. And the vice presidential candidate of the United States of America believes that rape is just another form of conception. Plus, some Republicans are trying to de-fund Planned Parenthood, which is, in my opinion, one of the greatest organizations in our supposedly awesome country.
One of the major reasons Republicans are anti-Planned Parenthood is because it is a place that provides abortions. The thing is, Republicans don’t seem to know a whole lot about abortion.
It’s easy to advise adoption or stepping up to keep a surprise baby when it’s not your own. Fictional movies and TV shows make it seem easy and fun to jump into motherhood when you aren’t prepared. (See: Juno, Knocked Up) But there are plenty of real-life situations where that’s not the best decision. And when abortion is illegal bad things happen to women. Here, eight mainstream flicks that teach important lessons about abortion.
Abortion-related plot point: Resort dancer Penny gets pregnant after having sex with waiter Robbie, who doesn’t want anything to do with her or the baby, so she gets an illegal abortion. The procedure was done inadequately and Jerry Orbach has to swoop in and save the day.
Lesson: Illegal abortions can often get botched, which threatens the life of the mother.
Abortion-related plot point: Vera Drake is a backroom abortionist in 1950. After one of her patients nearly dies, Vera is arrested and eventually sentenced to a longer-than-usual jail stay to set an example for others.
Lesson: Even if abortions are illegal, women will find a way to get them. Why is this bad? See point #1.
The Ides of March
Abortion-related plot point: After a clandestine relationship with a presidential candidate, a campaign intern gets an abortion and then kills herself.
Lesson: Abortions are harrowing decisions made under great duress and cause intense emotional strain.
Cider House Rules
Abortion-related plot point: A young girl is raped by her father and becomes pregnant. Despite being against abortions, Homer Wells performs one.
Lesson: Sometimes, there are very good reasons for women to get abortions. Rape is one of them.
Fast Times at Ridgemont High
Abortion-related plot point: Fifteen-year-old Stacy gets pregnant and asks the father, Damone, to pay for half of the abortion and give her a ride to the clinic. He blows her off and she is forced to pay for the procedure on her own.
Lesson: Women oftentimes wind up getting really screwed over by the men who impregnate them. If a man won’t show up to drive her to the doctor, what makes you think they’ll live happily ever after as a nuclear family?
4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days
Abortion-related plot point: Two students in Communist Romania arrange an illegal abortion. The girls are forced to have sex with the abortionist before he will perform the procedure.
Lesson: When abortion is illegal, it is extremely easy for women to be taken advantage of.
Abortion-related plot point: Ruth is an unfit mother of four who learns she is pregnant after being arrested for drug charges. A judge agrees to give her a lesser sentence if she has an abortion and soon, Ruth is at the middle of a nation-wide debate about abortion.
Lesson: Even when abortion is legal, there is no reason why anyone has to get one. It’s still a choice.
If These Walls Could Talk
Abortion-related plot point: Three different women from three different eras receive abortions amidst assorted strife.
Lesson: This is an issue that isn’t going away, so get used to it.
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This is from a footnote in the Perkins family history on my site:
4. Isaac Johnston who was head of a Robeson County household of one "other free" in 1790 [NC:48], perhaps a descendant of the Johnson Family of Northampton County, Virginia. Joseph Willis was the slave of Agerton Willis of Bladen County who manumitted him and gave him "considerable property." The manumission was approved by the North Carolina General Assembly in 1787 [Byrd, In Full Force and Virtue, 292]. Joseph was a "Molatto" taxable on 320 acres, 1 "white" (free) poll and 2 black (slave) polls in Captain Burn's Bladen County District in 1784, counted as white in 1790, head of a Cheraw District household of 1 male over 16 and 2 females [SC:46], head of a St. Landry Parish household of 13 "other free" and 7 slaves in 1810 [LA:325] and 11 "free colored" and 4 slaves in 1820 [LA:108]. He was buried in Ten Mile Cemetery at Occupy Church in Lower Rapides Parish: Rev. Joseph Willis, 1764-1854, First Baptist preacher of the word in Louisiana west of the Mississippi River [Wise, Sweat Families of the South, 100].
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Looking back on the more than twelve years of science from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and trying to predict what it will find in the future, one thing is certain: we can expect the unexpected.
This blog series will look at both some of the anticipated findings from the past dozen or so years, plus some of the unexpected results so far from the Chandra mission. Today, we look at discoveries involving our Solar System.
Expected and Detected:
X-ray emission was detected from the atmospheres of planets and comets. The X-rays are produced when solar X-rays and high-speed particles flowing away from the Sun hit these atmospheres. The observed X-radiation provides information on the outer atmospheres of these objects that is difficult to obtain with other telescopes.
Unexpected: The X-radiation from Jupiter's aurora, the equivalent of Earth's Northern Lights, was discovered to be located very near Jupiter’s poles, suggesting that the auroral X-rays are produced by particles streaming along Jupiter’s magnetic field all the way from Jupiter's moon Io.
Unexpected: The strongest X-ray emission from Saturn came from its equatorial regions and varied with solar activity, suggesting that Saturn acts like a surprisingly efficient X-ray mirror that reflects X-rays from the Sun.
Unexpected: The discovery of X-rays from Saturn's rings, from a source that is still unknown. It could be due to beams of energetic electrons produced in lightning storms on Saturn.
Please note this is a moderated blog. No pornography, spam, profanity or discriminatory remarks are allowed. No personal attacks are allowed. Users should stay on topic to keep it relevant for the readers.
Read the privacy statement
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The tropical regions of South America comprise 415 million hectares of wetland, followed by Europe (258 million), North America (242 million), Asia (204 million), Africa (121 to 125 million) and Oceania (36 million). One of the best known examples of wetland destruction is that of the Aral Sea (Kazakhstan, Ouzbekistan) which has lost 75% of its surface area since the 1960s, as the water supply was redirected for irrigation. The Mesopotamia marshland, between the Tigris and Euphrates, in southern Iraq, met the same fate, notably for political reasons, going from around 20,000 km2 in the 1950s to 400 km2 today. In Africa, climate change, the demand for water for irrigation and poor management decisions in the basin reduced the size of Lake Chad, which is shared by Cameroon, Nigeria, Niger and Chad, by 90% in 40 years. For 20 million people, essentially the fishermen and farmers and their families who depend directly on the lake, malnut...
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Americans, hit first by outsourcing and then a recession, are becoming deeply pessimistic about their country’s ability to maintain its economic leadership in a globalized world. America’s Aristophanes, Jon Stewart, commented during a recent interview with Anand Giridhardas, author of India Calling: “The American dream is still alive—it’s just alive in India.” Likewise, 20 percent Americans in a December National Journal poll believed that the U.S. economy was no longer the strongest. Nearly half picked China instead.
But there are at least five reasons why neither India nor China will knock America off its economic perch any time soon, at least not by the only measure that matters: Offering the best life to the most people.
America Wastes No Talent
Conventional wisdom holds that America’s global competitiveness is driven by geniuses flocking to its shore and producing breathtaking inventions. But America’s real genius lies not in tapping genius—but every scrap of talent up-and-down the scale.
A 2005 World Bank study found that the bulk of a people’s wealth comes not from tangible capital like raw resources and infrastructure. It comes from intangible wealth: effective government, secure property rights, a functioning judiciary. Such intangible factors put the equivalent of $418,000 at the disposal of every American resident. India and China? $3,738 and $4,208 respectively.
America’s vast intangible wealth makes everyone more productive and successful. Personal attributes—talent, looks, smarts—matter only on the margins. Having witnessed the life trajectory of many Indian immigrants, what’s striking to me is that, with some exceptions, it doesn’t matter whether they are the best in their profession in India or just mediocre. Within 10 to 15 years of arriving, they land in a very similar space. They get good jobs, buy homes, have children, send them to decent schools and colleges and save for their retirement. The differences in their standard of living would have been far greater had they stayed home.
America Does Not Have India’s Infrastructure Deficit or China’s Civil Society Deficit
India’s gap with America extends not just to intangible capital but tangible capital as well. Basic facilities in India—roads, water, sewage—remain primitive. For example, a 2010 McKinsey Global Institute report found that India treats 30 percent of raw sewage, whereas the international norm is 100 percent. India provides 105 liters of water per person per day, the minimum standard is 150 liters. It needs to spend twice the slated expenditures over the next 10 years to deliver basic services.
China, meanwhile, has a major civil society problem. America has made about $100 trillion in Social Security and Medicare promises to seniors that it can’t fund. But American seniors face nothing like the kind of destitution that the Chinese do. China’s one-child policy has decimated the natural safety net that old people rely on in traditional societies. And China offers no public safety net to the vast majority of village-born. Worse, many Chinese have invested their nest eggs is various asset bubbles that will wipe out their only means of subsistence if they burst, making the Great Depression look like a beach party.
America Does Not Have Grinding Poverty
Despite all the recent hoopla about China becoming the world’s second biggest economy and India hoping to follow suit, the reality is that the per capita GDP—even measured by purchasing power parity—in both is pathetic. America’s is about $47,000, China’s $7,500, and India’s $3,290.
Worse, both still harbor medieval levels of poverty with 300 million people in each living on less than $1.25 a day. India’s IT boom gets big press, but it—along with all the tertiary industries it has spawned—employs 2.3 million people, or 0.2 percent of the population.
Neither country is a font of opportunity comparable to America.
American Education Is Superior
President Obama claims that America is in an “education arms race” with India and China. Rubbish.
Notwithstanding all the horror stories about American kids underperforming on standardized tests compared to Asian kids raised by Tiger moms, things are worse in India and China. India’s literacy rate is 66 percent. China puts its at 93 percent—but between 2000 and 2005, China’s illiterate populationgrew by 30 million. The same may happen in India, thanks to last year’s Right to Education Act whose regulations will cripple India’s private school market. The fundamental problem is that both countries put their resources into educating elite kids—and ignoring the rest.
College education in both countries, especially in engineering, is also vastly overrated. Harvard researcher Vivek Wadhwa has shown that, contrary to conventional wisdom, not only does America graduate comparable number of engineers to India and China—American engineers are vastly superior.
But unless more Indian and Chinese kids get access to a quality education, their countries won’t be able to actualize their human potential, precisely what America does so well.
America Doesn’t Have a Culture of Hype
An important reason why the gloom-and-doom about America is unjustified is precisely that there is so much gloom-and-doom. Indians and Chinese, by contrast, have drunk their own Kool Aid. Their moribund economies have barely kicked into action and they are entertaining dreams of becoming the next global superpower. This bespeaks a profound megalomania—not to mention lopsided priorities. There is not a culture of hope in these countries, as Giridhardas told Jon Stewart. There is a culture of hype.
By contrast, Americans are their own worst critics—always looking for lessons to improve what is working and fix what’s not. Alexis de Tocqueville observed that although Americans were the freest and most enlightened men placed in the happiest of conditions, “a sort of cloud habitually covered their features.” Why? Because “they were constantly tormented by a vague fear of not having chosen the shortest route that can lead to...their wellbeing."
Indeed, Americans have a grab-the-bull-by-its-horns quality so that they simply don’t hang around hoping for things to get better on their own. If the public school monopoly is failing kids, by golly, then they’ll homeschool them themselves. (Public schools are dysfunctional virtually everywhere, but which other country has spawned anything equivalent to America’s homeschooling movement?) The government responds ineffectually to the recession, modest by historic standards, and Americans go into panic mode. Grass-roots movements such as the Tea Party emerge to rein in the government. Pay Pal founder Peter Theil has even given close to a million dollars to the Seasteading Institute to establish new countries on the sea to experiment with new forms of government. This might be wacky but it puts an outside limit on how out-of-whack Americans will let their institutions get before they start fixing them.
This American spirit, ultimately, is the biggest reason to believe that the American dream is and will stay alive—in America.
Shikha Dalmia is a senior analyst at Reason Foundation and a columnist at The Daily, America’s first iPad newspaper, where a version of this column originally appeared. This column first appeared at Reason.com.
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I could never forget the suffering that I received
until the day that I die
--Chum Mey, tortured under Duch
If you want to be free, there is but one way:
It is to guarantee an equally full measure of liberty
to all your neighbors.
I say father, and you say pater,
I saw mother and you say mater
Pater, mater Uncle, auntie,
let's call the whole thing off
--Let's Call the Whole Thing Off,
George and Ira Gershwin
A torturer was sentenced this week (sorry, folks, but this isn't about Mssrs. Bush or Cheney.)
Warden Duch -- The Khmer Rouge’s top jailer -- "was sentenced to 30 years in prison for overseeing the 'shocking and heinous' murder and torture of more than 12,000 inmates at the genocidal Cambodian regime’s Tuol Sleng Prison" (Khmer Rouge Warden Sentenced to 30 Years for Cambodian Killing Fields).
"The verdict by the United Nations-backed tribunal on Kang Kek Ieu, better known as Duch, marks the first conviction in a 13-year effort to bring to book the leaders of a regime blamed for the deaths of a quarter of the population."
Though Duch is guilty, he was held for 16 years sans trial. This, too, is criminal behavior. No one should be held indefinitely without a fair and transparent trial. The United Nations has a Bill of Rights, yet Duch sits for 16 years without trial. The U.S. has a Constitution, yet it has held prisoners almost eight years on without a trial, all while emphasizing they are not POW's.
Why are only defendants from small, poor countries ever convicted by the United Nations? Why haven't any U.S. personnel been charged or tried for torture? Is it possible that wealthy countries like the U.S. will never be called to answer for torture executed during our Phony War on Terror (PWOT ©)?
Some will argue that nothing the U.S. has done has risen to the level of the genocides in Cambodia or World War II. The murder and torture of 12,000 may make the Bush/Cheney team seem like pikers, but how does one quantify torture and its punishment? Torture is an absolute, and piling it on does not render it any more despicable.
Torture and killing has happened in U.S. secret prisons, detention facilities and anywhere we have held prisoners. John Walker Lindh and Jose Padilla -- both U.S. citizens -- were tortured and imprisoned. Though torture is either a war crime or a Crime Against Humanity (the rubric is context-dependent) their torturers were given campaign medals and promotions.
The UN tried Duch and found him guilty of torture. His actions would have been war crimes if Duch had been an operative of an opposing Army. Since he wasn't, and his crimes took place within his country's borders, then they are crimes against humanity.
This topic is rarely discussed anymore but hopefully some day, maybe 35 years from now, we will see court actions addressing the torture policies of the U.S. system. (R.I.P. Charly Gittings; Long Live your Project to Enforce the Geneva Conventions [PEGC].) That we allowed allies to torture prisoners and that we delivered those prisoners for torture are also criminal offenses.
We like to think of ourselves as freedom-loving, but our actions would indicate otherwise.
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The checklist, a collaboration with the nonprofit Institute of Medicine, is more a "credo of commitment" than a checklist like one a surgeon ticks off before picking up a scalpel. The first three strategies include foundational elements, infrastructure fundamentals and care delivery priorities, for example.
But they translate to concrete changes in hospital systems that save money, improve care and can even save lives, said Dr. Robert Wyllie, the Clinic's chief medical operations officer and a contributor to the checklist.
"At the Clinic during this process we looked at patients and how they were doing as we streamlined care and what we saw is that as we got the patients out of the hospital quicker and weaned them from ventilators faster and started putting projects in place, outcomes generally improved," Wyllie said.
The 11 healthcare institutions that contributed their best practices included Partners HealthCare System, Inc., a collaboration of Brigham & Women's Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital, Kaiser Permanente, the Department of Veterans Affairs and Cincinnati Children's Hospital.
"I think every major institution, and frankly most of the not-so fancy ones have the same obligation: If you find something that works, you have to share it," said J.B. Silvers, a healthcare finance expert and who is a professor and chair of the department of banking and finance at the Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University
"It's not rocket science," he said. "It's just doing the right thing."
The Clinic provided three such examples for other healthcare systems to potentially mimic.
First, under the area of IT best practices, the hospital has cut down on unnecessary testing by putting a "hard stop" function into their computer system when a doctor enters a potential duplicate test for a patient. The doctor has to call the lab to override the block.
This project stated about a year ago on the main campus with only eight key tests, but has expanded to 1,500 lab tests and is now being rolled out to the hospital system's regional hospitals, Wyllie said.
The change has reduced blood gas tests (used to find the amount of oxygen in the blood, how well breathing machines are working, and how well a person is breathing) by 13 percent, saving $10,000 a month in lab costs outside of the blood gas tests, and $117,000 in first-month savings for molecular tests (primarily genetic tests).
In the area of "shared decision making" and patient-doctor collaboration on care, the Clinic started patient and caregiver "huddles" to develop a plan for care and to inform lung transplant patients and their families of expected progress during their stay in the hospital.
The change -- including weaning these patients from ventilators sooner -- has reduced lung transplant average patient stays by a day-and-a-half, boosted 30-day survival by 3 percent and patient satisfaction with communication by 28 percent. It has also reduced overall cost of care by 6 percent.
Lastly, for the past three years the hospital system has been gathering information about the different ways its ICU staffs place and replace central lines, a large catheter placed in the neck for convenient blood draws and delivery of medications. Standardizing the way these lines are placed and cared for, and reporting how long a particular unit has gone without an infection has cut down on infections by 40 percent, saving the hospital about $30,000 per avoided infection.
The hospital realized a similar improvement by standardizing practices on the placement of urinary catheters, Wyllie said.
"You can achieve positive results in terms of improving the cost of care and making it safer care for patients," he said. "We really hope this will spur others to say 'yeah, we can do this too.'"
To see the complete checklist, go to iom.edu/CEOchecklist.
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The Parable of the Sower
19 When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which
was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the way side.
20 But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it;
21 Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is
22 He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches,
choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful.
23 But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth
forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.
Worldly Ways Harden One's Soul
1) Friends and Associates
2) Reading Material and TV
4) Pursuit of Pleasure
6) Private Thoughts
For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee.
1) Unbelief Causes Unfruitfulness
For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.
Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.
13 But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.
14 For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end;
15 While it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation.
16 For some, when they had heard, did provoke: howbeit not all that came out of Egypt by Moses.
17 But with whom was he grieved forty years? was it not with them that had sinned, whose carcases fell in the wilderness?
18 And to whom sware he that they should not enter into his rest, but to them that believed not?
19 So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.
2) Refusal to believe God's Word
3) Preoccupation with self
Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.
Soil that produces only weeds
1) Cares, anxieties, worries or worldly interests
Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the LORD delivereth him out of them all.
These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have
overcome the world.
Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil
This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.
No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other.
Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
3) Covetousness and Materialism
And the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh
And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he
For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his
11 Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of
righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.
How to tell if you have Productive Soil:
1) You will abide by His Word and all that it implies
2) You have received and accepted God's Word.
3) Your life is a reflection of God's gracious Spirit in your character, conduct and conversation.
John 1:11, 12
He came unto his own, and his own received him not.
12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.
And we are his witnesses of these things; and so is also the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey him.
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Group calls for child benefit to go to those most in need
on 02/10/2012 14:38:08
The message from the organisation One Family comes after the Labour Party issued a statement backing a plan to cut child benefit for wealthy families.
The Government is set to consider a report from an advisory group recommending a cut of €40 to €100 per month per child.
However, the Taoiseach Enda Kenny has said the matter has not yet been considered.
Stewart Duffin, from the group One Family, said cuts can be made in line with good social policy.
Mr Duffin said: "We welcome the discussions around child benefit.
"I mean if there have got to be cuts around child benefit let's open the discussion now and see that we get the best system so that money goes and is tailored for those most in need."
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Special Sub-Topic: Skydivers Say What?
|You've just agreed to be "Mr. Bill" on a parachute jump. What have you gotten yourself into?|
Jumping while holding on to another jumpers harness while he opens his parachute. While all of these choices are things that have happened at drop zones, the "Mr. Bill" jump gets its name from what people generally say before they let go, "Oh no!".
Unlike jumping from a fast moving plane, you do get a very intense sensation of falling when releasing from the relatively slow moving parachute of your partner.
|What is the name used to refer to a soft leather helmet worn by some skydivers?|
Frappe hat. They were originally made in France, and "frappe" in French refers to a strong impact. Skydivers have a dark and twisted sense of humor worldwide.
A hard helmet worn by skydivers is often called a "brain bucket".
|Which of the following common skydiving terms refers to a common freefall formation?|
Meeker. The Meeker is a four-way formation in which each jumper takes one grip on an adjacent jumpers leg and two opposing jumpers also grip each others arms.
A spot is the location where you should exit the aircraft to easily land in the desired area. Winds and jump altitude determine where this will be.
Twotter is a shortened version of the name for the DeHavilland Twin Otter, which is a very popular jump ship. The Triple Lindy is Rodney Dangerfield's signature high dive.
|Which of the following is not a type of parachute malfunction?|
Screamer. A Baglock is a nasty malfunction in which the parachute remains locked in it's deployment bag. It's bad because you will acutally fall faster with this problem than you would with no parachute deployed at all. A Streamer is only slightly better. The parachute has come out of the bag but that's it, it's just a wad of fabric not opening. A Spinner is usually a fully opened canopy, causing any of several problems causing an uncontrolled turn. Any of these malfunctions can be caused by poor packing, or in some cases, poor body position during deployment. In all cases, the solution is simple, get rid of it and open your reserve!
|What is a dirt dive?|
Formation skydiving rehearsal on the ground. Dirt dives are often done on your feet in a crouching position to somewhat simulate the airborne geometry. In some cases, they are also done while lying down on mechanic's creepers for a better simulation.
|You over-hear another skydiver mention that the "Industrial Haze" was pretty thick on the last jump. What were they referring to?|
Jumping through a cloud. It's technically illegal to skydive through clouds. "Industrial haze" is occasionally found at drop zones all over, even in unlikely spots like the North Shore of Oahu.
|Who or what is a whuffo?|
A person who does not skydive. Whuffo is a contraction coming from, "What for you jump out of a perfectly good airplane?" Poor grammar but still a common thing to hear around the drop zone. It can be used as a derogative or a term of affection, or anything in-between depending on the context.
|You're at the drop zone and you hear a skydiver talking about a 'Three Ring Circus'. What are they talking about?|
A main parachute release system. Bill Booth invented this simple yet very effective and reliable device in the early 1970s. It has even found some industrial uses. Remember the seaplane pilot with the ZZ Top style beard in "The Firm"? That's Bill.
|What is a burble?|
Turbulent or dead air in the wake of a body moving through the air. If you fall through somebody else's burble, you might get "funneled". The sudden low pressure in the burble will cause you to fall faster and generally with little or no control. One out of control person can easily take out a large formation of 4 to 10 people. Viewed from the side, it looks like they're being poured down an imaginary funnel. This is also referred to as being "flushed" at times.
|For skydivers, a "boogie" is essentially a skydiving party, sometimes involving dozens of aircraft and thousands of jumpers, lasting as long as a week. Which of the following is not a well known boogie?|
Boogie Nights. The Couch Freaks Boogie is held in Iowa each year. West Tennessee Skydiving is known for their "Boogie 'til You Puke" events in which you make as many skydives as you can stand in a two-day period for one fixed price. The Freak Brothers Convention was the first big boogie and began in the 1970s in Illinois. It later became the World Freefall Convention.
Did you find these entries particularly interesting, or do you have comments / corrections to make? Let the author know!
Send the author a thank you or
Submit a correction
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Digestive health is important for you and your pets [Infographic]
Pets, like humans, need a well-rounded diet full of vegetables, premium proteins and vitamins. Buying your pets high-quality food should help ensure they receive all the nutrients they need. But if pets aren’t digesting that food correctly, they may as well be eating low-quality food with the inexpensive fillers you’ve been trying to avoid.
“Research shows 70 percent of a pet’s immune system lies in the digestive tract,” says Dr. Al Townshend, staff veterinarian for WellPet, makers of high-quality, natural pet food. “Proper digestion and a healthy digestive tract are essential to maintaining whole body health. If a pet’s digestive tract isn’t in peak condition it can prevent the nutrients in food from digesting properly and lead to a number of different illnesses.”
To ensure your pet’s digestive tract is working properly, look for a high-quality, natural food with a digestive health support system that includes probiotics, prebiotics, natural fibers and digestive enzymes, like Holistic Select Natural Pet Food.
Click here for a video with more information about your pet’s digestive health.
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In February 2008, Justice Stratton was invited to give the keynote address at a gathering of the National Alliance on Mental Illness. NAMI is an association of families and friends of persons with mental illness who provide education, training and support for one another. Founded in 1979, NAMI is dedicated to the eradication of mental illnesses and to the improvement of the quality of life for persons of all ages who are affected by mental illnesses. In Ohio, NAMI has partnered with Justice Stratton and the Supreme Court's Advisory Committee on Mental Illness in the Courts (ACMIC) to promote many important mental health initiatives.
Justice Stratton brought a message of hope and encouragement to the audience. In times of shrinking budgets and a declining number of quality mental health facilities, she reminded the gathering that Ohio leads the nation in many aspects of mental health management. Justice Stratton highlighted the fact that Ohio had 35 mental health courts, more than one fifth of the total for the entire country; 77 drug courts, the most per capita in the country; and a number of specialized court dockets, including DUI and re-entry courts, designed to aid in an offenders' transition back into community.
She told the group that Ohio is a leader in crisis intervention training (CIT) where state and local law enforcement officers learn the skills they need to deal with mental illness - safely and compassionately. She praised the audience for accomplishing so much with so few sources of funds. She applauded the efforts of Ohio's courts, agencies and mental health providers who have worked together to develop innovative new methods for dealing with those persons with mental illness who find themselves entangled in the criminal justice system. Justice Stratton told the group that in speaking about mental health issues in forums throughout the United States, she has come to realize that Ohio is truly recognized as a national leader in this area.
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A vehicle is stolen every 20 seconds in the United States, and in 1997 over 1,500,000
vehicles were stolen.
Stolen cars, vans, trucks and motorcycles cause economic hardship for victims, increase
everyone's insurance premiums, and may be used to commit other violent crimes.
Facts about Auto Theft in Florida
- Florida ranks second in the nation in the number of vehicles stolen.
- In Florida, 46% of those arrested for auto theft are juveniles.
- Approximately 25% of the vehicles stolen in Florida had the keys in the ignition.
- Most of the cars stolen in the City of St. Petersburg are, on average, at least
5 years old.
How to protect yourself
- Always close all windows, lock all doors and take the keys with you.
- Never leave your vehicle running and unattended.
- Never hide a key in your vehicle.
- Park your vehicle with the wheels turned. This makes your vehicle difficult to tow.
- Copy your license plate and vehicle identification number (VIN) on a card and keep
them on you with your driver’s license.
- Always park in a well lighted area.
- Always use an anti-theft device.
- Etch the Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) on the windows, doors, fenders, and
truck lid. This helps discourage professional thieves who have to either remove
or replace etched parts before selling the vehicle.
- Install a mechanical device – commonly called clubs and collars, that locks
to the steering wheel or column to prevent the wheel from being turned more than
a few degrees.
- Install an anti-thief system – a system that typically includes siren alarms,
starter disablers (kill switch), motion sensors, remote control activation, and
- Install a radio transmitter system in a secret place within the vehicle body. If
the vehicle is stolen, the transmitter is activated by radio and the stolen vehicle
is located via the radio homing device.
A few common sense steps, can help you avoid being a victim of the nations fastest
growing property crime.
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Attached on merging: Poverty in Brazil---Pt 2
Thanks so much for helping me!!!!! I fixed it up. I added more about the school of thought, which is structuralism, but focusing on structural violence, in relations to structuralism.
Also i wanted to know if the new format of the essay/summary is good.
Also the issues the led to the problems are
-the government ignoring the people
-malnutrition-led to infant malnutrition
-poverty-breaking up families
Since i changed it up...can u also see if there is still grammar mistakes
once again thanks---here it is---you have helped me out soo much
In the Case Study, Poverty in Brazil, anthropologist Nancy Scheper-Hughes examines the effects of financialization on the Brazilian economy, during the 1980's. Global financialization had fundamentally altered the Brazilian economy, which created cultural changes, and had an effect on ordinary individuals behaviors and priorities. Nancy Schepher Hughes focuses on impoverishment that was prominent in a northeastern community entitled Bom Jesus. This community encountered an increase rate of infant mortality, widespread malnutrition, and substance abuse. Even though is this issue was transpiring the national statistics fabricated the reality that was transpiring in Brazil, mainly in the lower class society, since Brazil was experiencing a tremendous economic expansion. Due to the development of Brazil, it appears the priority of the citizens was a national reputation, rather than focusing on limiting poverty.
The acknowledged circumstance that resulted in subsistence families who were forced to impoverishment livelihoods, was the operation of sugar plantations that caused malnutrition, and disrupted the structure of local communities. Economically, Bom Jesus was dependent on sugar mills and the cane fields that surrounded them. Yet, this is a prime reason to why chronic hunger occurred, due too sugar cane displacing nutritious foods, which caused individuals within Bom Jesus to encounter malnutrition.
Families were broken up, due to men having to go to the city in search of work to support to their wives and children. Arguably, this could be one of the reasons that unemployed and impoverished residents used tranquilizers as a form of support, to help them cope with stress, since it would help them escape the harsh reality of life—due to poverty being a dominant issue, as well as woman having to raise a family alone.
Obtaining formidable information allowed Schper-Hughes to realize that the national statistics implication of the political and cultural life in Brazil was fallacious, since she encountered individuals who were in a unfortunate condition.
Scheper-Hughes uses particular techniques to investigates this problem, such as establishing close relations with women, as a method to construct a substantial analysis on the poverty epidemic that occurred in Bom Jesus. By forming bonds with these woman it appears she was able to view their struggles against poverty, social discrimination and hunger. Due to hunger being a major issue within Bom Jesus, numerous babies died, simply because of infant malnutrition.
Scheper-Hughes assembled information that compared the infant mortality rate in Brazil, to the rate in Bom Jesus, by providing statistics using facts from local registry books and church records. She also took the initiative to visit cemeteries, which would give her a better idea on how many babies passed away.
Scheper-Hughes juxtaposed both rates, regarding the national infant rate and the northeastern region rate. The side-by-side comparison made it easier to comprehend how the individuals in Bom Jesus , had an increasing rate of infants death, in contrast with the national rate that was lower. The national infant mortality was 57 per 1000, while the northeastern region had a rate of 116 per 1000. Scheper-Hughes also provides an analysis that demonstrates predominantly in 1986, the infant mortality rate was 211, but had increased to 493, during a terrible year.
The over all analysis of the case study, demonstrated that during the 1980's the people from "Bom Jesus" (Brazil) suffered greatly from drug abuse, hunger and having to cope with numerous infants dying. It appears that Nancy Scheper-Hughes conducted a study that was influenced by a structuralist perspective. The main concept of the article was based on structural and "everyday" political violence that occurred in Bom Jesus. Hunger and poverty are two prime examples of what structural violence is, which is demonstrated in the article.
Structural violence occurs whenever individuals are disadvantaged by political, economic and cultural traditions. The article demonstrates that politically Bom Jesus was treated unfair, and the problems individuals within the community were experiencing were being ignored. Brazil focused more on the nations reputation, then to assist individuals who were greatly suffering from poverty. Scheper-Hughes had to understand the structure of Bom Jesus to get a better idea of why this problems were occurring. By doing this, she formed relationships and used substantial information, to gain insight of why these individuals acted out such behaviors. This makes it clear that Scheper-Hughes was most likely from a structuralist's "school of thought."
In addition, Scheper-Hughes formed a study that demonstrated how Bom Jesus had experience various predicaments. It becomes clear that these issues transpired, due to families being broken up, malnutrition, the government not focusing on the problems within Bom Jesus, and poverty. Scheper-Hughes took the initiative to study this problem, and to discover that the national statistics didn't reflect the true reality of Brazil.
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Chesterfield mom pushes Congress for changes
WASHINGTON (WTVR) – The family of a 7-year-old Chesterfield student who died in January after suffering an allergic food reaction in January visited Congress.
Amarria Johnson’s family was pushing for a new law Wednesday to get schools across the country to carry auto-epinephrine injectors in case students suffer a severe allergic reactions.
Amarria died after being exposed to a peanut at her Chesterfield school last year.
Governor Bob McDonnell signed into law legislation requiring every school in the Virginia to carry emergency epinephrine auto-injectors in April.
That legislation had been in the works since the Hopkins Elementary School student’s death.
An investigation found that a classmate had given Amarria a peanut while the pair were on the playground. She then went into cardiac arrest at the school, and emergency crews were unable to resuscitate her.
Laura Pendleton, Amarria Johnson’s mother, said she asked had tried to give the school’s clinical aide an epinephrine auto-injector for emergencies, but was told to keep it at home.
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Atheists have scoffed at the mention of it, modern religionists have denied its veracity, and papal pundits refuse to admit that Constantine’s mother selected the wrong sites for The Red Sea Crossing and The REAL Mount Sinai – ground zero for the two most famous events in recorded history. Now, you will see the scientific and archaeological evidence that has been preserved in coral and stone for this generation.
Journey with Michael Rood and an international team of scientists and explorers as they document the most exciting archaeological finds in the history of the human race. You will sail the ancient “Yam Suph” (modern day “Gulf of Aqaba” aka the “Red Sea”) where hundreds of Egyptian chariots have been strewn across the sea floor. Robotic submarine cameras will lead you through an underwater battlefield where the coral encrusted remains of Pharaoh’s army still litter the ocean floor like an ancient chariot junkyard. This will be the beginning of the greatest adventure of your life. You will never be the same after experiencing The Red Sea Crossing!
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Videos From YouTube
Go Green! Hints for Eco-Friendly Clothing and Fabrics
The Problem: What is eco-friendly clothing and fabrics and why do we need them?
As the population of our planet increases, our resources, such as oil, other types of fuels, trees, water, etc. dwindle. When we create materials to replace non-renewable resources, the planet’s air, water, soil, plants, and animals are negatively affected. Consequently, it is important to find and promote materials that are considered "environmentally-friendly.” Such materials are resources that can be replenished in a relatively short amount of time (as opposed to millennia).
Besides considering the rate of renewal of fabric resources, we must also consider how much land it takes to create renewable fabric resources and how many chemicals it requires to grow and process them for market.
Thus, when we consider clothing and fabrics for homes, we see a need for environmentally friendly materials such as organic fabrics and non-toxic inks and dyes. Organic cotton and fast-growing plants like bamboo, hemp, and soy are becoming popular alternatives to traditional cotton and wool fibers for clothing and fabrics.
Solutions to the Need for Eco-Friendly Clothing
Clothing companies, hearing about their customers’ love for the environment, are increasingly making more eco-friendly clothing, using organic and recycled materials, less packaging, and energy-efficient manufacturing. Concerns over global warming, the impact of clothing production on the Earth, and worker health has spurred on this trend. (2)
“Consumers are demanding it,” says Megan Davis, spokeswoman for the Outdoor Industry Association in Boulder, Colo. “Green is certainly hip but consumers are starting to look a little bit more carefully at what they’re buying.” (2) Eco-clothing is hot in fashion. Rock star Bono started a new eco-friendly clothing line with his wife. Sustainability was a big theme of the recent London Fashion Week, due to the sudden appearance of so many eco-friendly clothing manufacturers.
The fashion industry is raising its environmental consciousness and “There’s a growing competitive advantage for companies that take on environmental issues in a very real way and talking to consumers about it,” states Betsy Blaisdell, Timberland’s (a $1.6 billion outdoor company) manager of environmental concerns. (2) Eco-friendly clothing manufacturers who recognize this are quickly developing new product lines.
The ecological footprint of hemp is smaller than that of other plants used for fibers. Hemp plants grow quickly and densely, eliminating the need for herbicides and artificial fertilizers. It requires no irrigation other than average rainfall and is highly bug-resistant.
Hemp has naturally long fibres, easily spun with a minimum of processing. The fibres are long-lasting and tough. Hemp fabrics come in many weights and textures. (2)
Wool is a fairly good eco-friendly resource, with a few exceptions. Sheep graze plants until they are gone and sheep manure enters the water supply. Factory-farmed sheep often live miserable lives when farmers only care about productivity and speed. During the shearing process, cuts are common even to the point of slicing the nose off the sheep.
Then there is the problem of bleaching wool to get it white, or dyeing it, but by acting responsibly most of these issues can be overcome. (2)
Organic cotton is a more eco-friendly fabric than traditional cotton, as it needs no pesticides, herbicides, or insecticides. There are many growers, and the number is increasing.
Usually manufacturers using this plant also use natural dyes to reduce the amount of chemicals dumped into water systems and soil.
Sally Fox, a biologist, has perfected a coloured cotton with long fibres that can be spun into thread. It grows naturally in shades of green and brown. It does not fade in colour and gets brighter after the first few washings. (2)
Soy silk is made from the by-products of tofu-making. The liquefied proteins are extruded into fibres which are spun and used like any other fibre. It is very easy to colour it with natural dyes. (2)
Bamboo fabric is created when bamboo pulp is put through a process of hydrolysis-alkalization and multi-phase bleaching. Bamboo is eco-friendly because it is a highly renewable grass, which is very fast growing and nearly impossible to kill. It has antibacterial properties and the fabric breathes.” Bamboo cloth is biodegradable. (2)
Effectiveness / Result
Eco-Friendly Clothing Brands
This year, Keen, a Portland, Oregon shoemaker, introduced the Ventura, a sneaker that uses recycled aluminum eyelets, non-synthetic and biodegradable rubber, and water-based glues. Sales of organic cotton are projected to hit $2.8 billion next year due to brands like Nike and Patagonia developing organic cotton clothing. The apparel company Kavu introduced a new line of bamboo, soy, and hemp shirts, pullovers, and pants. GoLite brand backpacking shirts are made from discarded coconut shells. You can find socks made of corn in some REI outlets. The corn socks are soft like cotton, but they stay drier. (2)
Facts About Eco-Friendly Clothing and Fabrics
Growing cotton uses 22.5% of all the insecticides used around the world. Growing enough cotton for one T-shirt requires 257 gallons of water. Bleaching and then dyeing fabrics creates toxins that flow into our lakes, rivers, and oceans. The use of rayon is contributing to the rapid depletion of the world's forests. Petroleum-based products are detrimental to the environment in many ways. Fortunately there are alternatives. (2)
- (1) http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18142220/
- (2) http://organicclothingcompany.blogspot.com
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O’Connor to weigh in on judicial process in Iowa
September 1st, 2010
For 25 years Sandra Day O’Connor’s opinion mattered more than just about anyone in the country. Appointed in 1981 to be the first woman to sit on the Supreme Court, O’Connor was positioned such that half the court was more conservative and half the court was less so. There were very few decisions in which O’Connor was on the losing side and a great many where her judicial thinking determined the course of the nation’s laws.
Upon retiring, O’Connor was asked what she predicted for the court in the 21st Century. The jurist replied that just as matters of race had dominated the court during the 20th Century, the upcoming years would focus on matters of sexual orientation.*
Now, even though she has stepped down from the SCOTUS, O’Connor will be – at least tangentially – addressing same sex marriage.
After the Iowa Supreme Court unanimously found for marriage equality, anti-gay voices have been calling for their heads. Three are up for re-confirmation this year, and there is a campaign to vote them out.
Some argue that the current method of judicial selection – the governor selects from a list of potential jurists who have been vetted by a State Judicial Nominating Committee – leaves judges “unaccountable to the people”. Some, such as conservative Alabama jurist Tom Parker, have gone so far as to argue that Iowa should adopt Alabama’s practice of having their judges run for office and make decisions based on partisan maneuvering and campaign promises rather than on the protections in the state constitution.
That is why it is so important the people insist they be allowed to select those who sit on the bench over them. If judges want to be “super legislators,” then they must stand before their constituents and tell them what they believe about the Constitution as it relates to current public policy debates.
Next week the Iowa State Bar Association will host a panel to discuss judicial appointment, and O’Connor will come to advocate for experience, temperament, and merit as qualifiers rather than populist appeal.
Sandra Day O’Connor will take part in a panel discussion Sept. 8 advocating judge retention based on merits rather than political whim.
O’Connor’s visit next month will be held at Hotel Fort Des Moines. The specifics of the panel discussion, hosted by the Iowa State Bar Association, have not been finalized, said Steve Boeckman, a spokesman for the association, which is one of the hosts of the forum.
“It’s on the merit selection of judges in the state,” Boeckman said. “That’s one of her issues. She’s a proponent of using a merit selection system rather than an election system for judges.”
I don’t know if O’Connor will speak to the wisdom of the court’s decision or even her opinion on the federal constitutionality of anti-gay state amendments. But I find it likely that she will address the campaign to remove the justices from the bench.
And I have to say that I agree with her that the people are best served by having one governmental branch that is not subject to the whim of the latest political trend or the most affluent contributor.
Let’s not forget that “standing before their constituents” may well result in putting Sharron Angle in the US Senate.
* – I’m recalling this from memory, but I cannot, for the life of me, find the interview in which she said this. I would greatly appreciate anyone who has the source.
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Chapter 3: Forming first impressions: Cues, interpretations, and inferences (pp. 57–72)
- Why do we immediately form impressions of other people on first meeting them?
- What factors influence whether we like or dislike someone immediately?
- Can we tell when someone is lying or telling the truth?
In this topic
The Raw Materials of first Impressions (pp. 59–64)
- Impressions from physical appearance
- Physical appearance in the workplace
- Impressions from nonverbal communication
- Detection of deception
- Lie detection in the legal system
- Impressions from familiarity
- Impressions from environments
- Impressions from behavior
- Which cues capture attention?
Interpreting Cues (pp. 64–69)
- The role of associations in interpretation
- The role of accessibility in interpretation
- Accessibility from concurrent activation of knowledge
- Accessibility from recent activation
- Accessibility from frequent activation: Chronic accessibility
- Accessibility and sexism in a job interview
Characterizing the behaving person: Correspondent inferences (pp. 69–72)
- When is a correspondent inference justified?
- The correspondence bias: People are what they do
- Correspondence bias in the workplace
- Limits on the correspondence bias
The Raw Materials of first Impressions
Impressions from physical appearance
People assume that "what is beautiful, is good": expecting attractive people to be more interesting, warm, outgoing, and socially skilled than less attractive people.
Physical appearance is an important element is people's attraction to strangers. This is supported by Walster et al.'s (1966) research on dating (SP p. 59).
Physical beauty has been shown to have a pervasive influence on our perceptions and evaluations of other people (SP p. 60).
Facial features also influence perceptions of other people. This was demonstrated by Berry and McArthur (1985) in their research on impressions of baby-faced adults, and by Todorov et al. (2005) in their research on the influence on voting patterns of impressions of competence based on facial appearance (SP p. 60).
Physical appearance in the workplace
Liking based on physical appearance can have impact on our work lives. For instance, good-looking and tall men have higher starting salaries (SP p. 60). However Heilman and Stopeck (1985) showed reverse patterns on competence ratings for females (SP p. 61).
Impressions from nonverbal communication
People who readily express their feelings nonverbally are liked more than less expressive people. A lot of studies demonstrated that nonverbal behaviors (body orientation, posture, eye gaze, tone of voice) are important for impression formation (see SP p. 61)
In addition, body language offers a special insight into people's mood and emotions. Some researchers even concluded that emotional expression is a kind of universal language, however recent findings show that interpretations of expressions also differ among cultures.
Detection of deception
People tend to use the wrong cues in assessing whether someone is lying or telling the truth. The best cues to detect a liar are nonverbal cues like the tone of voice or movements of the hands and feet (SP p. 62).
Research showed that in some circumstances people can detect deception better when receiving less information (Zuckerman et al., 1981), or when they are distracted by a difficult task (Gilbert & Krull, 1988; SP p. 62).
Research activity: Detection of deception
Lie detection in the legal system
Current research suggests that the "lie detector" is not precise enough to correctly detect guilty suspects. Its effectiveness may derive from confessions by suspects who anticipate that their lies will be detected.
Impressions from familiarity
We tend to develop positive feelings about people we encounter frequently. This is the mere exposure effect, as demonstrated by Zajonc (1968), Festinger et al. (1950), and Moreland and Beach (1992) (SP p. 62).
Case study: Mere exposure
Impressions from environments
Because people select and create environments that reflect and reinforce who they are, observers can quite accurately form impressions of others from environmental cues like dorm rooms and single-person offices (SP p. 63).
Impressions from behavior
Many behaviors are strongly linked to particular personality traits. People's behavior is the most genuinely useful resource for developing an impression of others.
Which cues capture attention?
Salient characteristics, characteristics that are rare or unique, capture attention.
The role of associations in interpretation
An association between two cognitive representations arises from similarity in meanings between the cognitive representations concerned, or if two cognitive representations are repeatedly thought of together.
Once the association is formed, two cognitive representations are linked. If either of the linked representations comes to mind, the other will also be activated (SP p. 65). This is the first crucial kind of stored knowledge that helps us interpret the cues.
The role of accessibility in interpretation
The second crucial kind of stored knowledge that helps us interpret the cues is accessibility. Accessible knowledge (i.e., knowledge that comes easily to mind) guides our interpretation of cues.
Accessibility from concurrent activation of knowledge
Accessible knowledge is knowledge that is concurrently activated by other sources. Research demonstrated, for instance, that mood and expectations influence our interpretation of cues (SP p. 66).
Accessibility from recent activation
Knowledge also is accessible when a cognitive representation has recently been brought to mind. Higgins et al. (1977) showed that only cognitive representations that are both accessible and applicable influence our interpretations (SP p. 67).
Knowledge can also become accessible using priming techniques, which activate cognitive representations (SP pp. 67–68).
Accessibility from frequent activation: Chronic accessibility
The final factor that influences accessibility of knowledge is frequent activation of a cognitive representation. When frequently using a cognitive representation, this representation becomes chronically accessible, and will be used when interpreting others' behavior.
Accessibility and sexism in a job interview
The concept of viewing women as sex objects can be primed by television and print advertisements, affecting men's judgments and behavior toward women. Rudman and Borgida (1995) showed its influence in job interviews (SP pp. 68–69).
Characterizing the behaving person: Correspondent inferences
People often assume that others have inner qualities that correspond to their observable behaviors.
When is a correspondent inference justified?
A correspondent inference is justified when the individual freely chooses to perform the behavior, when the behavior has few effects that distinguish it from other courses of action, and when the behavior is unexpected.
The correspondence bias: People are what they do
The tendency to draw unjustified correspondent inferences, is known as the correspondence bias, or fundamental attribution error.
Jones and Harris (1967), Jones (1990b), and Gilbert (1998) provided evidence for the existence of this bias; people tend to assume that behaviors they observe must reflect the actors' inner characteristics, even though other aspects of the situation could explain those behaviors (SP pp. 70–71).
Correspondence bias in the workplace
If people assume we have personal characteristics that fit with our behaviors, this has implications in the workplace, because they are shaped by behaviors we are instructed to perform. This is demonstrated by Humphrey's (1985) research on rating characteristics of people who were assigned roles.
Limits on the correspondence bias
The correspondence bias is reduced or reversed when people are specifically motivated to find out about the situation.
In Western cultures the correspondence bias is more prevalent than it is in Asian cultures. In Western cultures, people are seen as responsible for their own thoughts, feelings, and actions, whereas in Asian cultures group or social context are also considered.
So what does this mean?
Perceptions of other people are influenced by cues from physical appearance, nonverbal communication, environments, behaviors, and the frequency of encounters. Cues that are salient are particularly influential.
A cognitive representation that is associated with the cue itself or is accessible is most likely to be used in interpreting cues. Knowledge becomes accessible when it is concurrently, recently, or frequently activated.
When processing superficially, people often assume that others have inner qualities that correspond to their behaviors, i.e. they make correspondent inferences. The tendency to draw unjustified correspondent inferences when situational causes actually account for behaviors is known as the correspondence bias.
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Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 10-by-15-inch jelly-roll pan; line it with a sheet of waxed paper cut to fit the width but extending a few inches at either end. Butter the paper.
Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
Beat eggs at high speed until very thick and light, almost like softly whipped cream. Gradually beat in granulated sugar, then fold in flour mixture. Spread the batter in the pan and bake for about 20 minutes until puffed and golden brown. Quickly run a knife around the edges of the pan.
Heavily dust a clean dish towel (but not terrycloth) or a sheet of waxed paper with sifted confectioners' sugar and invert cake, pan and all, on surface. Lift off pan, peel off waxed paper and gently roll cake up from narrow side in towel or paper. Allow to cool completely.
Rinse and hull the berries. Slice them and fold in the brown sugar. Drain the yogurt of any excess liquid and gently fold it into the berries.
Carefully unroll the cake and spoon the berry mixture over the surface. Slowly re-roll the cake as tightly as possible without causing the berry mixture to ooze out. Gently wrap it in foil, enclosing it completely and refrigerate it for at least an hour.
To serve, transfer it to a serving dish and, using a serrated knife, cut slices from open ends at an angle.
Originally published with FOOD; Ways to Make the Most of the Strawberry Season
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LEVI SITE. The Levi site (41TV49, Levi Rockshelter) is a shallow rockshelter in the valley of a small tributary of the Pedernales River in western Travis County. Excavations at the site conducted on three occasions (1959–60, 1974, and 1977) under the direction of Herbert L. Alexander, Jr., amassed considerable evidence for use of the shelter in Paleoindian times. However, the Paleo-Indian artifacts found do not seem to be in pristine stratigraphic contexts, many of them defy classification in the generally accepted regional typology, and radiocarbon dating has not been successful (based on snail and mussel shells). There were also Archaic and Late Prehistoric materials recovered, but these were not the focus of the investigations. A travertine deposit containing bone and flakes against the back wall is apparently the oldest deposit in the shelter, but it remains undated. It is followed by four stratigraphic zones designated I through V, from the base up. Zone I is composed largely of limestone fragments of the shelter roof ranging up to large boulder sizes. Quartz-rich sand also is present in Zone I, indicating backwater flooding from the Pedernales River. A sparse lithic assemblage and bones of deer, rabbit, extinct tapir, bison, dire wolf, horse, and other species were recovered from Zone I. Zone II also yielded bones of extinct animals including bison, peccary, and horse along with projectile points resembling Clovis and a radiocarbon date of 10,000 ± 175 years ago. Zone III consists of water-lain sand and contains relatively few artifacts and fossils. Zone IV is the principal cultural zone at the site, containing numerous artifacts, among which is a mix of projectile points styles resembling such late Paleo-Indian types as Angostura, Plainview, Lerma, and others. Radiocarbon dates range from 6750 ± 150 to 9300 ± 160 years B.P. Zone V is a dusty surficial zone containing later cultural remains. No single research question regarding American prehistory has received more attention than the issue of when the Americas were first peopled. The Clovis horizon, dated between approximately 10,900 and 11,200 radiocarbon years ago, is widely accepted as probably the earliest cultural manifestation in North America, but assemblages thought to be of earlier age are reported from time to time. These usually are controversial, and claims that the earliest levels at the Levi Site predate Clovis have not been accepted by archeologists working in the area.
Herbert L. Alexander, Jr., "The Levi Site: A Paleo-Indian Campsite in Central Texas," American Antiquity 28 (April 1963). Jonathon E. Ericson et al., eds., Peopling of the New World (Ballena Press Anthropological Papers No. 23, Los Altos, California, 1982). John W. Greer and Patricia A. Treat, "Incised and Painted Pebbles from the Levi Site, Travis County, Texas," Plains Anthropologist 20 (August 1975).
The following, adapted from the Chicago Manual of Style, 15th edition, is the preferred citation for this article.Michael B. Collins, "LEVI SITE," Handbook of Texas Online (http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/bbl03), accessed May 19, 2013. Published by the Texas State Historical Association.
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Swift Fox-A “Jackson County, Iowa, trapper” asks for information of the animal called swift, and in reply you say, “There is a fox known as the ‘swift’ I believe in some localities.
“It is the common grey fox of the southern states which strays into the north occasionally.” You are a bit wrong there.
The swift is a species or at least a sub-species of the fox and is in a class by itself. Its range is in the far southwest and I never knew of its coming farther north than the northern limit of New Mexico. When I was in New Mexico some years ago I saw some of them. One day I was out on the plains with the highway commissioner; a swift stood on a knoll near the road and would not move till a shot was fired at him by a Mexican who was with us. Then he headed for the foothills two or three miles away and I never saw faster time than that. They take their name from their fleetness.
They stand somewhat higher than the gray fox and of a darker color. It was said out there that they could outrun a greyhound, but perhaps there is a question about that.
Harding, A.R.. 3001 Questions and Answers. Columbus, Oh: A.R. Harding, 1913.
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Success Through Understanding
What is Quality?
~ David Straker ~
This article first appeared Quality World, the journal of the Chartered Quality Institute
The domain of the quality professional has changed. From its humble beginnings in manufacturing, it is now expected, along with other infrastructure professions, such as IT, HR and finance, to contribute at the organisational level. Unlike those other professions, quality expertise can be hard to define, perhaps because there are many views of what business-level quality means. David Straker considers current definitions of ‘quality’ and offers a new one, considering its ramifications for the quality profession.
At its simplest level, quality answers two questions: ‘What is wanted?’ and ‘How do we do it?’ Accordingly, quality’s stomping ground has always been the area of processes. From the bread and butter of ISO 9000, to the heady heights of TQM, quality professionals specify, measure, improve and re-engineer processes to ensure that people get what they want.
So where are we now?
There are as many definitions of quality as there are quality consultants, but commonly accepted variations include:
So what is wrong?
Philip Crosby’s definition is easily toppled: if requirements are wrong, then failure is guaranteed. His focus is the domain of QA where, without a specification, quality cannot be measured and thus controlled. You cannot have zero defects if you do not have a standard against which to measure defectiveness.
This reflects the early days, where quality was clearly about product. Quality control, and later QA, was our domain - we didn’t care about customers; the research and design department was responsible for designing the job and sales and marketing for selling it. But those halcyon days of definitive specifications and jobs for life are long gone.
Though Juran takes a step further down the value chain, to the use of the product or service (at which point customers had forced their way into the frame), he still presupposes that we can fully understand how the product will be used, which is a great challenge (and not always possible). As Deming himself said, some things are ‘unknown and unknowable’.
ISO 8402 recognises this uncertainty with its ‘implied need’. It uses the word ‘entity’ as opposed to the ‘product or service’ definition of its earlier (1986) version, indicating a broadening uncertainty. Nonetheless, it suffers again from a simplistic, single-minded focus - all we need to do is to figure out what is wanted and then deliver it.
The quality models are a step further into broader business. Here, although processes are important, quality is much more about people: customers are there, but so too are stakeholders - employees, partners, suppliers, shareholders and society. Perhaps wisely, the models avoid nailing down a specific definition of quality, leaving us without a definition that encompasses a broader business view.
ISO9000:2000 steps in this direction also, talking about ‘customer and other interested parties’, but leaves the definition of quality at a rather generalised ‘degree to which a set of inherent characteristics fulfils requirements’
Let’s face it, quality is difficult to define. We want to be precise, to create a quality definition, yet language is limited. Nor does it help that our domain has expanded from the relatively- constrained factory floor into the open realms of a broader business context, and beyond that, to environmental and social domains.
The IQA dallies with all of the above definitions on its website (www.iqa.org), demonstrating the difficulty of naming quality. In the end, it plumps for a customer focus of quality that ranges throughout the product/service chain: this is still is not enough.
The perception of ‘quality’ as almost impossible to define, is not confined to our profession; in 'The Timeless Way of Building', architect Christopher Alexander calls it ‘the quality without a name’. In the same way that we know a good room when we use one, but cannot define exactly what makes it good, we can name its attributes of quality, but cannot define quality itself. One way to find a good definition of anything is to take a broader view. Alexander does this in his definition of a ‘pattern language’ for architecture, which reduces the whole of building and town design to 252 simple rule-sets. So can we find a new definition for quality by looking at the bigger picture?
A new beginning
Now for the audacious part: having knocked the existing definitions of quality and acknowledged that definition is not easy, let’s try it nonetheless. In the words of Susan Jeffers, we should ‘feel the fear and do it anyway’. The focus of our definition will remain in the general business arena. This is where most of us make our living. What if we follow the early quality mandate and ensure that we meet requirements? Of course, we can go out of business by producing goods that do not sell. So, strike the product/requirements-only focus.
What if we gave customers everything they wanted? What if they were totally delighted? Sounds good. But what if it cost us so much that we failed to make a profit? Again, we would go out of business. We need customers and products and services to satisfy them, but this is not enough. Why are businesses started? - To meet the needs of the people who start them, of course. So we must also meet the needs of the owners of companies, not all of whom are interested solely in money. Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard started HP to make a difference to society while having fun with the electronic engineering that was their passion. But they were aware that they had to make a profit to pay for their higher goals. Public companies are less egalitarian and have to toe the line that analysts and shareholders demand, which means a return on investment.
Effectiveness and efficiency are words we often use to define quality. Effectiveness is about meeting requirements, usually of customers. Efficiency is doing this at a minimal cost, which meets shareholders’ needs. Could we just focus on these? Skip the carpets and cafeterias; pay people the absolute minimum. Perhaps not, as in these times of hyper-competitiveness and scarce talent, your people are your most important asset. Employees have both needs and legs, and if the former are not met, the latter get into action; when you ask too much of your people, those with ‘get up and go’ are the first to do just that. We can be effective and efficient and still go out of business as our best employees leave and the rest repay our lack of care for them with a lack of care for us.
There are still people who can drive us out of business, from uncooperative suppliers and partners to environmental pressure groups and punitive governments. Where is the common thread? The phrase most commonly heard is ‘going out of business’. Deming recognised this when he pointed out that survival is optional. This is all somewhat negative, so let’s turn it around and say:
Testing the definition
A good definition will withstand all kinds of serious criticism. What about those people who need things? Staying in business means keeping them all reasonably happy, so this works. What about growth? This is an interesting question: why do so many companies seek to grow constantly? If shareholders demand growth, and will take their money elsewhere otherwise, then it is still about staying in business. If our competitors grow, we need to grow to stay in the game.
Growth can be a management trap: if it leads to over-extension or unmanageable diversity, such that the business fails, this is not a quality situation. To quote Ricardo Semler1: ‘The biggest myth in the corporate world is that every business needs to keep growing to be successful. That’s baloney. The ultimate measure of a business’ success, I believe, is not how big it gets, but how long it survives.’
One of the frustrations we meet in quality is the focus on longer-term company survival; we know that products containing defects will lead to dissatisfied customers. We know that incomplete customer knowledge impairs our ability to correct external problems and repair internal processes. But we come up constantly against managers who are working on short-term problems, such as getting a delivery out today or pacifying an angry customer on the phone. So who is right, given our new definition of quality? The answer is both. Our perspectives may be different and we can both benefit from sharing one another's concerns, but we both want to stay in business, which means focusing on both the short- and long-term.
How do we stay in business?
If quality means staying in business, how do we do that? Perhaps there is no single, simple answer, but by exploring the issue, including going back-to-basics, we can take a few steps in the right direction.
What is business?
While we are rushing in where angels fear to tread, perhaps we should scrutinise what we mean by ‘business’. At its most fundamental, business is barter: I will swap you two sheep for one cow; I will invest in your business if you give me a good chance of getting rich quicker than the bank. What makes barter work is that we value things differently, for example - I have plenty of sheep but no milk. Business is not so much barter as value exchange.
If business were just about customers and ourselves, it would be easy. We would find what they wanted, make it and sell it to them. But it is not that simple: our problems begin when we find we are at the crossroads of many exchanges of value. There are shareholders, employees, customers, suppliers, partners and governments, all engaged in a complex web of value exchange.
To make things worse, we cannot make all of the people happy all the time. With a limited pool of resources, we try to keep customers happy, while being profitable enough for shareholders, while paying our suppliers (eventually), while paying for the new employee rest rooms. Sorry folks, but there is not enough cash to go around. Like any paymaster, we will need to make some tough decisions.
Staying in business then, means playing a dynamic
balancing game, optimising value exchange, with an awareness of the very
real resource limitations with which we work. This gives us a second level
of detail we can use for our quality definition:
What does this mean for quality?
Casting a keen quality eye over this revised definition may lead to a certain queasiness. Optimising means making compromises but we have technology: remember Mr Pareto and his law, and Juran’s ‘vital few’. We are not counting defects but units of value, in terms of value created and of the levels and types of value required to keep each player in the game.
A simple conceptual model is to imagine everyone putting coins into a central pot and then taking them out again at a later time. As long as there is money in the pot, and there are people to play, the game continues. Staying in business means keeping the game going.
A consideration within this game is that some players can easily leave. When they are critical value contributors (as customers often are), they can demand a higher level of value in return. This can lead to low-value customers which many of us tolerate under the ‘customer is always right’ banner. What we sometimes forget is that if someone is taking too much out of the pot, they can be asked to leave.
If quality is making this game work, then quality professionals need to understand the game. It does not mean abandoning our concern for customers and products: far from it. But it does mean optimising the system so that the whole thing continues to operate. Blind quality is what killed TQM in many companies. Why should I map my processes? - Because it is the right thing to do. Why do I need to empower everyone? - Because it works. The revised view of quality proposed here pushes against such mantras. Thus, one more defining statement is:
If we are to accept this definition, the most important result is that it changes the what we must do as quality professionals. We must act on the words: understanding, optimising, system, value and exchange. It means understanding how things truly work, both individually and as systems. It means understanding people, what they value and how they effectively trade with others. And it means working out how these imperfect systems can be optimised so our businesses thrive.
An ancient Chinese emperor once asked his wise counsellor’s advice for the greatest thing that could happen. The counsellor said: ‘Grandfather dies, father dies, son dies.’
The emperor was shocked at such a morbid suggestion until he realised that changing this sequence would bring a far greater sadness. The same applies to our companies, which are often much like our children. We can change and advise them in many ways, but the greatest thing we can do is to give them the strength to outlive us.
2 Harvard Business Review, September/October, 2000
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|How Baseball Changed This Man’s Life|
Written by Laura K. Nist (Contact & Archive) on June 25, 2003
Ed interviewing Bobby Murcer
You may be asking yourself how does a blind man report on baseball games. Ed hasn’t always been blind. Even though he was born with a congenital eye disease he was able to see. He had a love of baseball from a very young age, as both of his parents were fans of the Giants – that is the NY Giants, prior to their move west. As a matter of fact the last game that Ed saw was the 1951 thriller in which Bobby Thomson hit the “shot heard ‘round the world”. He was twelve years old. He came home from school and watched it on TV with his family. After the game he went outside to play baseball in the nearby sandlot and was hit between the eyes with a baseball. Shortly afterwards, he lost his sight – partially due to the eye disease that he was born with, although doctors believe that being hit in the head with a baseball may have also contributed in the loss.
Initially, when Ed lost his eyesight he thought it was the end of the world. The image of blind people that he had in his mind was that of a panhandler on the streets of New York or New Jersey, selling newspapers or pencils. Ed did not know what would happen to him or what a blind person could do. Several things transpired that helped bring meaning back to his life.
Ed was a Giants fan and much to the chagrin of his father he also loved the Yankees. Up until the days of free agency many players had part-time jobs in the off-season so that they could support their families. Somehow, Ed’s mother discovered that Phil Rizzuto was working at a men’s clothing store in New Jersey and she took Ed there so that he could meet one of his Yankee idols. Phil took an interest in Ed and encouraged him. Ed’s mother, Rosanna, also sent a letter to Leo Durocher who at the time was the manager of the NY Giants. Durocher invited him to the Polo Grounds to meet the team and he also became friends with Russ Hodges.
The other event that helped to shape his life was meeting a nun while walking down the street with his mother. She told them of a local school, St. Joseph’s School for the Blind, and encouraged them to search it out. Later that year Ed was enrolled in this special school and learning that blind people can do many things.
After two years he graduated from St. Joseph’s and enrolled at the New York Institute for the Education of the Blind. Because of Ed’s love for baseball he created a club while he was at school, which he called Diamond Dusters. Once a week celebrities such as Jackie Robinson, Lindy McDaniel, Russ Hodges and many others would come to the school to talk about baseball and read the newspapers to the blind students. It was during this time that Ed began writing about baseball. Accompanied by his uncle he attended many games; he carted around a large reel-to-reel tape recorder and began interviewing players whenever he could.
After graduating from high school Ed attended Seton Hall University and was conferred with a degree in communications. For four years he worked at a local radio station and had his own show “Around the bases with Ed Lucas”.
All of these years later Ed is still reporting on baseball games; he attends quite a few Yankees and Mets home games. So, how does he do it? He does not do the play by play although he does have the uncanny ability to determine where a hit ball will go just by the sound it makes coming off of the bat. Ed’s method is this – he sits in the press box and listens to the local radio broadcast of the game. Then after the game he goes to the field or the locker room or press area and interviews players about what happened during the game – perhaps an extraordinary play or call or any incident that may have been out of the ordinary. He adds his notes to the tape and sends it in to someone that types and submits it for him. He has had articles published in many newspapers and magazines.
Ed has had the opportunity to meet many famous baseball personalities. Some of his favorites are Joe Dimaggio, Mickey Mantle, Ron Guidry, Lindy McDaniel, Dave Righetti, Monte Irvin, Alvin Dark, Bobby Thomson and many more. There is no way to name all of them and if you ask him he will not pick just one favorite. He has nice things to say about everyone he has met – including Barry Bonds, who many members of the media have taken a disliking to. Ed has known the Bonds family for years and says that Barry has always gone out of his way to be nice or to help him in any way that he can.
Of course, there have been challenges along the way. Some of the players are uncomfortable talking with him or do not know how to approach him. One time he was interviewing Willie Mays and didn’t realize that he was blocking the AP photographer, who was working under a tight deadline, from getting a picture. But for the most part Ed has had many positive experiences.
And after all of these years Ed still counts Phil Rizzuto as one of his closest friends. As a matter of fact, Phil hosts a celebrity golf tournament every year to benefit St. Joseph’s School, where Ed is now employed as the Director of Development and Public Education. Together they have raised over a million dollars in the past twelve years. *
Ed certainly has come a long way from that scared twelve-year old boy. Isn’t it amazing how baseball can change your life?
Ed Lucas (right) with mentor and friend, Yankee great - Phil Rizzuto
* St. Joseph's School for the Blind in Jersey City, NJ is having their 13th Annual Phil Rizzuto Celebrity-Charity Golf Classic on Monday, August 18, 2003 at the Brooklake Country Club, Florham Park, NJ. The theme this year is the 100th Anniversary of the New York Yankees: 1903-2003. There are 2 Shot Guns - morning & afternoon. We are also having a Cocktail Party, Dinner, Silent & Live Auctions & Scooter Awards. Reservations must be made as space is limited. Please contact Ed Lucas at 201-653-0578, to find out how to be a part of this great event! http://www.eteamz.com/golf/tournaments/tournament.cfm/303669/
Photos courtesy of Bill Menzel
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The Weekly Francis eBook – Volume 10 - This is the 10th volume of The Weekly Francis ebook which is a compilation of the Holy Father’s writings, speeches, etc which I post at Jimmy Akin’s The We...
1 hour ago
|I wanted to share the Office of Readings from yesterday's Liturgy of the Hours. I thought it was so telling about our relationship to our brothers and sisters who are Fundamentalists and deny our baptism is valid or that we are truly Christians (Catholics that is). It reminds me so much of how I used to feel when I was Protestant and reminds me that no matter what I think we have to reach out in ecumenical dialogue at all times and love our brothers and sisters in Christ even when they err from Church teaching. To think that this was written 1700 years or so ago and in a time where fundamentalism didn't even exist is somewhat mind boggling. He also brings out some Church teaching that we should note is ancient - that there is only one baptism and that non-Catholics are still our Brothers and Sisters.|
|From a discourse on the psalms by Saint Augustine, bishop|
|Whether they like it or not, those who are outside the church are our brothers|
We entreat you, brothers, as earnestly as we are able, to have charity, not only for one another, but also for those who are outside the Church. Of these some are still pagans, who have not yet made an act of faith in Christ. Others are separated, insofar as they are joined with us in professing faith in Christ, our head, but are yet divided from the unity of his body. My friends, we must grieve over these as over our brothers; and they will only cease to be so when they no longer say "our Father".
The prophet refers to some men saying: When they say to you: You are not our brothers, you are to tell them: You are our brothers. Consider whom he intended by these words. Were they the pagans? Hardly; for nowhere either in Scripture or in our traditional manner of speaking do we find them called our brothers. Nor could it refer to the Jews, who do not believe in Christ. Read Saint Paul and you will see that when he speaks of “brothers,” without any qualification, he refers always to Christians. For example, he says: Why do you judge your brother or why do you despise your brother? And again: You perform iniquity and common fraud, and this against your brothers.
Those then who tell us: You are not our brothers, are saying that we are pagans. That is why they want to baptise us again, claiming that we do not have what they can give. Hence their error of denying that we are their brothers. Why then did the prophet tell us: Say to them: You are our brothers? It is because we acknowledge in them that which we do not repeat. By not recognising our baptism, they deny that we are their brothers; on the other hand, when we do not repeat their baptism but acknowledge it to be our own, we are saying to them: You are our brothers.
If they say, “Why do you seek us? What do you want of us?” we should reply: You are our brothers. They may say, “Leave us alone. We have nothing to do with you.” But we have everything to do with you, for we are one in our belief in Christ; and so we should be in one body, under one head.
And so, dear brothers, we entreat you on their behalf, in the name of the very source of our love, by whose milk we are nourished, and whose bread is our strength, in the name of Christ our Lord and his gentle love. For it is time now for us to show them great love and abundant compassion by praying to God for them. May he one day give them a clear mind to repent and to realise that they have nothing now but the sickness of their hatred, and the stronger they think they are, the weaker they become. We entreat you then to pray for them, for they are weak, given to the wisdom of the flesh, to fleshly and carnal things, but yet they are our brothers. They celebrate the same sacraments as we, not indeed with us, but still the same. They respond with the same Amen, not with us, but still the same. And so pour out your hearts for them in prayer to God
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Modern Shetlandic Scots (MSS) is a variety of Insular Scots with Norn (Norroena) influences spoken in Shetland. It is variously known as Shetlandic, "da dialect", Shetland dialect, Shetland, Shetlan or Broad Shetland, which refers to stronger versions. MSS could also be classified as belonging to the Anglic subsection of the West Germanic branch of Indo-European languages, with many North Germanic influences.
MSS combines elements of Scots, English and Norn, the language which developed from the Old Norse bought to Shetland by the settlers from Norway in the early 9th century. After the islands came under Scottish control in the early 17th century, Scots and English became increasingly dominant. By the early 18th most Shetlanders were bilingual in Norn and Scots, and by the late 19th century Norn was no longer spoken, though Norn words continued to be used for such things as place-names, seasons, the weather, plants, animals, places, food, materials, tools, colours (especially of sheep or horses), moods and whims or 'unbalanced states of mind'.
There is no standard way of writing MSS and there are many variant spellings.
Peerie cat, peerie cat, whaar's du been?
A'm been athin Lerook fae aer da streen.
Peerie cat, peerie cat, whaat saa du dere?
Mair dugs dan I lippened sae A'm gjaan nae mair.
Peerie Cat, a poem by Rhoda Bulter
The Shetlandic Dictionary Project
Northern and Insular Scots - recordings of regional dialect variants from Shetland, Orkney and northern parts of mainland Scotland: http://www.lel.ed.ac.uk/dialects/nis.html
Recorded samples of MSS
Afrikaans, Alsatian, Cimbrian, Danish, Dutch, Elfdalian, English, Faroese, German, Gothic, Icelandic, Low German / Low Saxon, Luxembourgish, Norn, North Frisian, Norwegian, Old English, Old Norse, Saterland Frisian, Scots, Shetland(ic), Swedish, Swiss German, West Frisian, Yiddish
Hosted by Kualo
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We could be here all day arguing about what a genius is.
I agree Lennon was in his hey day (63 to 67, with another little flash in the early 70’s) like Mozart etc an exceptionally good songwriter. Probably one of the greatest of his day. So in his field, on a good day, yes he was a genius at writing songs. If that’s what people actually mean, then good and fair enough.
But I do think many people, when calling him a genius, believe that he transcended that, that he was more on a par with “great mind” genius (if you get my drift), which I think is pretty unconvincing.
In the context of the world and human endeavour, “changing the face” of popular western music (an accolade quite a few artists, producers and Simon Cowells could lay claim to) is hardly E=MC2.
And another point I like to labour – John and Paul didn’t invent pyschedelia or “concept” albums – they just did them remarkably better than everyone else, and because of the fame afforded to them by Beatlemania were able to popularise them as ideas.. Their genius (damn) was to be able to take ideas bubbling away at the fringe of popular music and turn them into (exceptionally good) products for the masses.
And for the record, I think it’s pretty hard in any human endeavour (music included) to say “this person invented this idea.” Generally it’s the culmination of many little ideas, with one person (Darwin, Einstein, Picasso, Lennon) being the one to have the fortune or skill to popularise them. History loves a hero. Maybe that is genius. Damn again
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- About this Journal
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Advances in Materials Science and Engineering
Volume 2011 (2011), Article ID 509457, 7 pages
Low-Temperature Strengths and Ductility of Various Tungsten Sheets
1Department of Applied Physics, Okayama University of Science, 1-1 Ridai-cho, Okayama 700-0005, Japan
2International Research Center for Nuclear Materials Science, IMR, Tohoku University, Ibaraki, Oarai 311-1313, Japan
Received 18 March 2011; Accepted 6 June 2011
Academic Editor: Kin Ho Lo
Copyright © 2011 Yutaka Hiraoka and Hiroaki Kurishita. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
We used three kinds of tungsten sheets in this study. First, we examined microstructure such as grain size distribution using an optical microscope. Secondly, we carried out three-point bend tests at temperatures between about 290 and 500 K. Then, we examined fracture surface of a failed specimen using a scanning electron microscope. Lastly, by analyzing all these results, we evaluated apparent intergranular and transgranular fracture strengths and discussed strengths and ductility of tungsten. Additionally, we compared mechanical properties of tungsten with those of molybdenum.
Generally, pure molybdenum after recrystallization indicates a certain amount of ductility at room temperature. In contrast, pure tungsten after recrystallization does not deform plastically near room temperature, since its ductile-to-brittle transition temperature is much above 400 K . Such brittleness of tungsten is principally attributed to high hardness which leads to high yield strength and difficulty of plastic deformation. However, detailed discussion on such difference in the strengths and ductility between tungsten and molybdenum has not been carried out until now.
Materials used in this study are pure tungsten, K-doped tungsten, and La-doped tungsten. All these materials are subjected to recrystallization treatments in various conditions. First, we examined microstructure such as average grain size and size distribution of the specimen after recrystallization using an optical microscope (OM). Secondly, we carried out three-point bend tests at temperatures between about 290 K and 500 K and obtained yield and maximum strengths. From the temperature dependences of the yield and the maximum strengths, we evaluated two parameters (critical stress and critical temperature) [2, 3]. Lastly, we carried out fracture surface observation of a failed specimen by a scanning electron microscope (SEM). Analyzing these experimental data, we estimated apparent intergranular and/or transgranular fracture strengths. Furthermore, we compared and discussed difference in the mechanical properties between tungsten and molybdenum.
2. Experimental Procedures
Three kinds of tungsten sheets were used in this study. One is pure tungsten sheet (designated as “W” in the text). The others are K-doped tungsten sheet (K: about 50 mass ppm, designated as “KDW” in the text) and La-doped tungsten sheet (La2O3: about 1 mass%, designated as “LDW” in the text). Thickness of these sheets is about 1 mm. The materials are produced by powder metallurgy, sintered, hot-rolled, and stress relieved. Typical grain structure of these materials is a fibrous structure. Before the following measurements, the materials were subjected to recrystallization treatments in various conditions. Pure tungsten sheet was heated at 1773 K for 3.6 ks or at 2073 K for 3.6 ks in a vacuum of less than 10−5 torr. Two doped tungsten sheets were heated at 2073 K for 3.6 ks in vacuum. In the test, heat treatments at 1773 for 3.6 ks and at 2073 K for 3.6 ks were designated as “r1” and “r2,” respectively. For example, K-doped tungsten after recrystallization at 2073 K for 3.6 ks is designated as “KDW(r2).”
We examined microstructure of the material using OM. Grain shape is approximately equiaxial. Thereby we measured grain size in the direction parallel to the final rolling direction and determined average grain size and its distribution.
We evaluated mechanical properties of the material by three-point bend tests. We carried out the tests at a strain rate of s−1 at a temperature between about 290 K and 500 K. We obtained yield strength () and maximum strength () using the following: and are the load at the yield point and maximum load point, respectively. 2 (= 16 mm) is the support span. and are the specimen width and thickness, respectively. In this study, typical specimen width and thickness were 4 mm and 1 mm, respectively. Here, we automatically converted the bend strength () to the tensile strength () using the following equation. This equation was experimentally obtained :
From temperature dependence of the yield and maximum strengths, we estimated two parameters (critical stress, and critical temperature, ) [2, 3]. These parameters are derived as schematically shown in Figure 1. Critical stress is a stress which is necessary to generate and propagate microcracks alternatively along the grain boundaries or in the matrix. This stress corresponds to apparent intergranular fracture strength of a polycrystalline material. Critical temperature, on the other hand, is an expression of ductile-to-brittle transition temperature (DBTT), and reciprocal of this temperature corresponds to low-temperature ductility. Higher value of () means the material is more “ductile” and even at a lower temperature.
We determined fracture mode as follows. We observed the fracture surface of a specimen which failed in a brittle manner at about 290 K using SEM. In this study, we represent the fracture mode by a parameter, PIF-value. PIF-value is a percent intergranular fracture value and is defined as a ratio of intergranular fracture area to total fracture area. For example, a high PIF-value means grain boundaries of the material are generally very weak. For molybdenum with an average grain size of 20–25 μm, critical stress () and fracture mode (PIF-value) demonstrate the following relationship [2, 3]: Here, the constant corresponds to apparent transgranular fracture strength, since the value of at PIF-value = 0 means a stress which is necessary to propagate microcracks only in the matrix.
3.1. Grain Size and Its Distribution
Grain size distribution of the material is shown in Figures 2(a) (W(r1)), 2(b) (W(r2)), 2(c) (KDW(r2)), and 2(d) (LDW(r2)). Average grain size is also indicated in the figure. Grain size distributions of W(r1) and KDW(r2) are similar. Average grain sizes of these materials are almost the same, and their distributions were relatively narrow. Grain size distributions of W(r2) and LDW(r2) are generally different from W(r1) and KDW(r2). The former materials indicate much larger grain size and much wider size distribution than the latter. At first, these results suggest that grain coarsening occurred after heating at a higher temperature in case of pure tungsten. Secondly, K-doping and La-doping suppressed grain coarsening to a certain extent.
3.2. Strengths and Ductility
Yield strength of pure tungsten significantly depends on the heating condition. Yield strength of W(r2) which was heated at 2073 K is generally much lower than that of W(r1) which was heated at 1773 K. Yield strength of KDW(r2) is approximately the same as that of W(r1). Yield strength of LDW(r2) is slightly lower than that of W(r1) and/or KDW(r2), but higher than that of W(r2).
Maximum strength of pure tungsten also significantly depends on the heating condition. Maximum strength of W(r2) is generally much lower than that of W(r1). Maximum strengths of KDW(r2) and LDW(r2) are ranging between W(r1) and W(r2), although strength of KDW(r2) is higher than that of LDW(r2).
Critical stress and critical temperature are summarized in Table 1. We obtained these parameters in a manner as already shown in Figure 1. First, critical stress approximately corresponds to the maximum strength. Critical stress of W(r1) is much higher than that of W(r2). Critical stresses of KDW(r2) and LDW(r2) are ranging between W(r1) and W(r2), although stress of KDW(r2) is higher than that of LDW(r2). Critical temperature, on the other hand, does not necessarily follow the critical stress or the maximum strength. Difference in the critical temperature among materials is considerably little in contrast to that in the critical stress. This result is well interpreted, since the critical temperature is determined not only by the maximum strength (critical stress) but by the yield strength. In contrast, the critical stress is determined almost only by the maximum strength [2, 3].
3.3. Fracture Mode
Typical fracture modes of various tungsten are shown in Figures 5(a)(W(r1)), 5(b)(W(r2)), 5(c)(KDW(r2)), and 5(d)(LDW(r2)). Fracture modes of W(r1) and KDW(r2) are principally intergranular fracture. On the other hand, fracture modes of W(r2) and LDW(r2) are mixture of intergranular and transgranular fracture. By a high-magnification SEM observation, intergranular fracture surfaces of W(r1) and W(r2) are relatively clean, except for a number of very small pores. General aspect of the intergranular fracture surfaces of KDW(r2) is similar to W(r1) and W(r2). On the other hand, some coarse inclusions are recognized on the intergranular fracture surfaces of LDW(r2). Considering the heating temperature of 2073 K, it is supposed that these inclusions are La2O3 particles.
Using fracture surface photographs, we determined PIF-value. Average values are summarized also in Table 1. PIF-values of W(r1) and KDW(r2) are as high as about 90% similar to pure molybdenum after recrystallization . On the other hand, PIF-values of W(r2) and LDW(r2) are medium (about 60%).
4.1. Grain Size Dependence of Yield Strength and Critical Stress
It is well known that strength of a material is significantly affected by the microstructure such as grain size. For example, Hall-Petch relationship stands between the yield strength and the grain size . Thereby we discussed grain size dependence of the yield strength and critical stress in this session.
In Figure 6, yield strength obtained at about 500 K is plotted against the reciprocal of square root of grain size (d). In this study, average grain size was used as the grain size. Dotted line in the figure indicates a linear relationship between the yield strength at 500 K and the reciprocal of grain size that was reported by Yih and Wang . Data of various tungsten are well consistent with the linear relationship, although data of LDW(r2) is slightly higher. The latter result might be attributed to the dispersion of inclusions as shown in Figure 5(d).
In Figure 7, critical stress is plotted against the reciprocal of square root of grain size. In this study, the critical stress corresponds to the fracture strength of a material at a relatively low temperature. There is no data concerning the contribution of grain size to the critical stress or to the fracture strength in tungsten. Therefore, we applied the results obtained for molybdenum with grain size of 20–25 μm (green solid line) . It is obvious that data for tungsten qualitatively agree with the relationship for molybdenum.
4.2. Relationship between Critical Stress and Fracture Mode
In Figure 8, PIF-value is plotted against critical stress. Data obtained for molybdenum with grain size of 20–25 μm is also plotted in the figure for reference. In addition, the green line having a slope of 0.2 represents linear relationship between the critical stress and the fracture mode for molybdenum [5, 8].
It is interesting that data of W(r1) and KDW(r2) approximately agree with the green line obtained for molybdenum. It is noted that all these materials have grain sizes almost as large as 20–25 μm. Present result suggests, at first, that relationship between the PIF-value and the critical stress is applicable not only to molybdenum but also to tungsten. Secondly, intergranular fracture strength of KDW(r2) is slightly lower than that of W(r1) with their transgranular fracture strengths being equivalent with each other.
Data of W(r2) and LDW(r2) deviate left hand from the linear relationship. This result might be attributed to the contribution of grain size to the intergranular and transgranular fracture strength (the constant, in (3)), although contribution of grain size on the transgranular fracture strength for tungsten has not been reported yet. Grain coarsening concurrently induces lowering of transgranular fracture strength as well as lowering of intergranular fracture strength. As a result, PIF-value is almost unchanged.
4.3. Plots of Critical Stress and Reciprocal of Critical Temperature
As already mentioned, the critical stress corresponds to the apparent intergranular fracture strength. On the other hand, the critical temperature is an expression of ductile-to-brittle transition temperature (DBTT), and the reciprocal of critical temperature is a measure of ductility .
In Figure 9, reciprocal of critical temperature (ductility) is plotted against critical stress. Data obtained for molybdenum is also plotted in the figure for comparison. At first, it is obvious that ductility of tungsten is generally much lower than that of molybdenum. This result is principally interpreted by the difference of yield strength between molybdenum and tungsten. It is known that yield strength of tungsten is much higher than that of molybdenum at a given temperature with the grain size being equivalent. The straight line in the figure indicates the temperature dependence of the yield strength. Secondly, intergranular fracture strength of tungsten is almost equivalent with that of molybdenum if the grain size is the same.
5. Summaries of Results(1)Yield strength of tungsten principally depends on the microstructure such as grain size. Yield strength of tungsten at a given temperature is much higher than that of molybdenum.(2)Critical stress of tungsten depends not only on the grain size but also on the intergranular fracture strength. Critical stress of tungsten is almost equivalent with that of molybdenum if the grain size is the same.(3)Low-temperature ductility of tungsten is determined both by the yield strength and the maximum strength (critical stress). As a result, ductility of tungsten is generally much lower than that of molybdenum.
The authors greatly appreciate Dr. Tomohiro Takida and A.L.M.T. Corp for supplying pure tungsten and doped tungsten materials.
- 8: Tungsten, in Behavior and Properties of Refractory Metals, T. E. Tietz and J. W. Wilson, Eds., pp. 274–330, University of Tokyo Press, Tokyo, Japan, 1965.
- Y. Hiraoka, S. Yoshimura, and K. Takebe, “Effects of complex additions of Re or Ti with C on the strength and ductility of recrystallized molybdenum,” International Journal of Refractory Metals and Hard Materials, vol. 12, no. 5, pp. 261–268, 1993.
- S. Yoshimura, Y. Hiraoka, and K. Takebe, “Effect of Ti in solution on ductile-brittle transition characteristics of powder-metallurgy molybdenum alloys,” Journal of the Japan Institute of Metals, vol. 58, no. 7, pp. 734–739, 1994 (Japanese).
- T. Hoshika, S. Yoshimura, and Y. Hiraoka, “Evaluation of low-temperature fracture characteristics of molybdenum by means of tensile tests and bend tests,” in Proceedings of the 14th intergranular Plansee Sem, pp. 1018–1025, Tirol, Austria, 1997.
- T. Kadokura, Y. Hiraoka, Y. Yamamoto, and K. Okamot, “Change of mechanical property and fracture mode of molybdenum by carbon addition,” Materials Transactions, vol. 51, no. 7, pp. 1296–1301, 2010.
- N. J. Petch, “The cleavage strength of polycrystals,” The Journal of the Iron and Steel Institute, vol. 173, pp. 25–27, 1953.
- S. W. H. Yih and C. T. Wang, Tungsten- Sources, Metallurgy, Properties, and Applications, Plenum, New York, NY, USA, 1977.
- Y. Hiraoka, “Significant effect of carbon content in the low-temperature fracture behavior of molybdenum,” Materials Transactions, vol. 31, no. 10, pp. 861–864, 1990.
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One percent of the population owns 41% of the wealth and 22% of children of color live in poverty. We are losing the war that has been waged by plutocrats against the poor over the past thirty years as wealth has been systematically flowing from the poor to the wealthy.
In this video, recorded at the 10th Annual Fighting Bob Fest in Madison, Wisconsin, Dr. Cornel West talks about the democratic awakening we are experiencing, and how it can combat poverty and raise wages. Social unrest is not impossible, Dr. West notes.
This segment is part of a new video series produced by Video Nation in collaboration with On the Earth Productions featuring progressive thinkers and leaders such as Sen. Bernie Sanders, Jim Hightower and Thom Hartmann. Watch the series introduction and check back each Wednesday for a new video in the series.
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RICE: U.S. 2012/13 rice supplies are increased 12.4 million cwt or 5 percent because of increases in beginning stocks and production. U.S. rice production in 2012/13 is forecast at 196.3 million cwt, up 6.3 million from last month due to both an increase in harvested area and yield. Harvested area is estimated at 2.68 million acres, up 37,000 acres. The average yield is estimated at a record 7,334 pounds per acre, up 138 pounds per acre from last month, with large increases in Arkansas and Mississippi. Long-grain rice production is forecast at 138.3 million cwt, up 6.2 million from last month. Combined medium- and short-grain production is forecast at 58.1 million cwt, up slightly from a month ago. All rice beginning stocks for 2012/13 are raised 7.6 million cwt from last month to 41.1 million (rough-equivalent basis) based on USDA’s Rice Stocks report released on August 27. The import projection is lowered 1.5 million cwt to 19.5 million, all in long-grain, as the increase in production and stocks will reduce imports.
Domestic use and exports are raised for 2012/13. Domestic and residual use is increased 2.0 million cwt to 126.0 million, largely because of a substantial increase in supplies, particularly for long-grain rice. All rice exports for 2012/13 are projected at 100.0 million cwt, up 8.0 million cwt from last month, all in long-grain rice. Larger supplies, particularly for long-grain rice, will likely pressure prices and make U.S. rice more competitive. All rice ending stocks for 2012/13 are projected at 30.9 million cwt, up 2.4 million from last month, but down 10.2 million from 2011/12. The long-grain season-average farm price range is projected at $12.50 to $13.50 per cwt, down
$1.00 per cwt on both ends of the range from last month compared to $13.40 per cwt for 2011/12. The combined medium- and short-grain farm price range is projected at $16.50 to $17.50 per cwt, up $1.00 per cwt on each end of the range from last month compared to a revised $16.50 per cwt for 2011/12. The 2012/13 all rice season-average farm price is forecast at $13.70 to $14.70 per cwt, down 40 cents per cwt on each end of the range from last month compared to a revised $14.30 per cwt for 2011/12. Larger supplies of long-grain rice will pressure prices and tighter supplies of combined medium- and short-grain rice will support prices.
Projected global 2012/13 rice supplies are raised more than the increase in use, resulting in a net increase in ending stocks from a month ago. Beginning stocks are raised 0.7 million due mostly to increases for Indonesia, Brazil, and the United States. Global rice production is projected at a near record 464.2 million tons, up 1.0 million tons from last month, primarily due to larger expected crops in China, the Philippines, EU-27, and the United States. China’s 2012/13 rice crop is increased 1.0 million tons to a record 143.0 million, as harvested area and average yield are raised. Global consumption is raised 1.3 million tons from a month ago to a record 467.7 million tons due to increases for China, the Philippines, and a number of smaller changes for other countries. Global exports are raised from a month ago largely due to an increase in the United States, which is partially offset by a decrease for Burma. Global ending stocks for 2012/13 are projected at 102.2 million tons, up 0.4 million from last month, but down 3.5 million from the previous year. Stocks are raised for Brazil, China, Indonesia, the Philippines, and the United States, and lowered for Sri Lanka and Pakistan.
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Dec. 7 marks the 61st anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.
The number of living survivors is dwindling.
According to officials at the Alabama Pearl Harbor Survivors Association, there are between 80 and 90 members statewide. Most are in their late 70s to mid-80s.
Last year's ceremony was held aboard the Battleship USS Alabama in Mobile.
Fifty Alabamians died in the surprise attack, which pushed the United States into World War II.
The association will hold its annual observance at 9 a.m. at Fort Rucker.
wtvynews4.com Extended Web Coverage
Dec. 7, 1941 Timeline of Events
Attack erupts at Pearl Harbor
|Get the ingredients you need to cook with Rach all week long.|
|Full length exclusive concerts from hot artists.|
|Take a break!
Classic Pacman, Frogger, Asteroids and more.
Sell almost anything locally.
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Every Who down in Whoville liked Christmas a lot, but the Grinch, who lived just north of Whoville – did not.
The Grinch hated Christmas – the whole Christmas season. Now, please don’t ask why; no one quite knows the reason. It could be, perhaps, that his shoes were too tight. Or it could be that his head wasn’t screwed on just right.
But I think that the most likely reason of all… may have been that his heart was two sizes too small. But, whatever the reason, his heart or his shoes, he stood there on Christmas Eve hating the Whos.
Love, hate, joy, and anger are about you not others. The Grinch hated the Whos because his heart was small, not because the Whos were hate-worthy.
Feelings reveal and express what’s in you
not what’s around you.
And what happened, then? Well, in Whoville they say – that the Grinch’s small heart grew three sizes that day. And then – the true meaning of Christmas came through, and the Grinch found the strength of *ten* Grinches, plus two!
The leader’s heart is:
Bonus: The leader’s heart grows rather than shrinks.
Leaders without heart are well manicured cemeteries, pretty to look at but full of dead bones. Everything is cold technique and dead strategy apart from heart.
“True meaning” grows hearts. Find purpose; find heart.
Which heart-qualities seem most important to you? Why?
What role does meaning/purpose play in leadership?
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Action & Advocacy
At the National Eczema Association our goal is to find answers for all who struggle with eczema.
We are guided by an uncompromising passion to understand this complex skin disease and hasten the discovery of a cure for the causes of eczema. We are committed to raising public awareness about eczema, its effects on children, families, and society, and to giving hope to all who deal with the hardships of this disease. We also seek to raise funds to facilitate effective treatment and research on eczema. We are dedicated to uncovering the biology of eczema and developing effective treatments through research funding.
The National Eczema Association aims to bring the entire eczema community together as one strong voice to raise awareness regarding the burden of eczema and advocate for increased research funding at the national level. It is our firm belief that, working together, we will find the answers and create a different future for families coping with this disease.
We will focus our efforts on:
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Simola Nayak knew how to spell “cisele,” but stumbled on the word for an Irish irregular soldier or bandit. The 13-year-old DeKalb County girl fell out of the semifinal Scripps National Spelling Bee Championships today when she misspelled “rapparee,” in use since 1690, according to Merriam-Webster.com. She “did DeKalb proud,” school system officials said on their official Twitter feed.
Simola, who just finished eighth grade at Henderson Middle School, was carrying the weight of the state on her shoulders. Officials, including U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss and U.S. Rep Jack Kingston wished her well on their own Twitter feeds. In March, she correctly spelled “tautologous” to win the 51st annual Georgia Association of Educators State Spelling Bee. That victory earned her an all-expenses paid trip to Washington, D.C. this week to compete in the national event.
Here is the note this morning from DeKalb Schools about its champion speller Simola Nayak, who sounds like a heck of a student and human being:
DeKalb Schools student and Georgia State Spelling Bee Champion Simola Nayak will compete today in the semifinals of the Scripps National Spelling Bee. The event will be covered throughout the day on ESPN beginning at 10 a.m.
Click here to watch or to see a schedule of ESPN broadcasts. Regular updates will also be provided on the DeKalb Schools Twitter feed at Twitter.com/DeKalbSchools
Updates are also available by following the Scripps National Spelling Bee on Facebook www.facebook.com/scrippsnationalspellingbee or on Twitter at Twitter.com/ScrippsBee.
Simola recently completed the eighth grade at Henderson Middle School. She won the DeKalb County School District Spelling Bee in February and the Georgia State Spelling Bee in March. She prepared for her competitions by studying words and vocabulary from previous spelling bees and reading books like The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins and the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling. She also enlisted help from her family, who quizzed her daily on different words.
Simola won a $1,000 as State Spelling Bee champ, money she donated to a student at her school.
–From Maureen Downey, for the AJC Get Schooled blog
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Your Direct Mail Donors Should Be Arrested (By Your Letter Opening)
The first time I was shelled by enemy artillery, I learned a vital lesson that applies to the success of your fundraising letters.
I was lying in a slit trench on Mount Wall, about 35 kilometres west of the town of Stanley, in the Falkland Islands. The year was 1982, the Falklands War. The Argentines were lobbing 105mm Pack Howitzer shells around my position, trying to dislodge my Royal Marines Commando troop.
But their fire was ineffective.
You see, the soil in the Falkland Islands consists largely of peat bogs. The soil is dense and wet and soft underfoot. That means the enemy?s artillery rounds penetrated the soil before detonating, sending most of their force and shrapnel upwards rather than horizontally, in my direction.
When you want to leave a lasting impression on your target audience, you must use the right ammunition. If the Argentines had used the kind of artillery shells that explode above the ground rather than in it, you would not be reading this article today.
So here is the principle applied in practice, in the battle for the mind of your target audience. You must open your fundraising letters in such a way that you compel your donors to read on right to the end, and take action. Your opening sentence is the most vital sentence in your letter. If you use the wrong ammunition here, your letter will misfire.
So start your letters with your largest cannon. Grab your prospect?s attention so that he simply has to read on.
Here are some creative examples of ways to do that.
Pose a provocative question
?What happens when a snow leopard catches a cold, a walrus has a toothache or a 3,000-pound rhino comes down with an intestinal disorder??
Start with an arresting story
?She stood on the curb looking scared and lonely in a skimpy halter top and bright red lipstick. It was two in the morning. A chilly breeze whipped up in the street and seemed to make her shiver. She was a child . . . just a child. We pulled our Covenant House van up to the curb and rolled down the window . . . .?
Open with a scintillating (and relevant) quote
??I complained because I had no shoes, until I met a man who had no feet.? Perhaps your parents taught you this when you were young. Mine did. It keeps things in perspective, and I have learned, in my better moments, not to complain.?
Present an arresting fact
?America?s neglect is killing our children. In the past year, 40,000 babies like Andrew died before their first birthday. Virtually no other industrial nation lets so many of its babies die.?
About the Author: Alan Sharpe is a professional fundraising letter writer. Sign up for free weekly tips like this at http://www.RaiserSharpe.com.
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Thursday, June 19, 2008
Courts - 'We Can't Stop Parliament Ratifying Dead Treaties'
Bill Cash rightly states that the Irish referendum result stops the Lisbon Treaty from having legality, as it had to be ratified by all its signatories to have force of law. He is also right that when the 2005 Constitutional Treaty was rejected in the French and Dutch referendums, Blair immediately abandoned attempts to ratify the Treaty in Britain as it could not acquire legal effect after its failure to be ratified in France and Holland. The Irish rejection is no different.
The High Court, however, held that if Parliament wishes to waste its time ratifying Treaties that cannot have final effect due to the non-ratification by others, it is no business of the court to stop them. In essence that is a political decision, which Parliament is entitled to take. Cash's action was therefore rejected.
Here is the communication from The European Foundation telling the story -
Bill Cash’s application for judicial review on Lisbon Treaty at High Court is refused
On 17th June, Conservative MP, Bill Cash, sought a judicial review in the High Court to ensure that the Lisbon Treaty should not be ratified, given David Miliband’s decision to continue the ratification of the Treaty in the UK (statement on 16th June) after the 'No' outcome of the Irish referendum vote (on 13th June). Bill Cash has now heard from Mr Justice Collins that permission has been refused. Shown below is the original detailed statement of grounds, the Order by the Honourable Mr Justice Collins, the next step of the Bill in Royal Assent, and Mr. Cash’s view.
Original detailed statement of grounds
Decisions under the prerogative are in principle subject to judicial review (CCSU v The Minister for Civil Service AC 374) and although many prerogative powers, including the making of Treaties would not be justiciable, the Courts may rule on the legality of action taken in the course of foreign policy R v. Foreign Secretary EXP Rees-Mogg QB 552 – decision to ratify Treaty on European Union reject on the merits of that case because Government was exercising prerogative power not relinquishing it.
The Treaty of Lisbon was signed on 13th December 2007 by the Prime Minister on behalf of Her Majesty’s Government and the 26 other Member States also signed the Treaty, including the Republic of Ireland. The Treaty is not ratified in the United Kingdom.
The claimant contends that the legal consequence for the United Kingdom of the ‘No’ vote on the Lisbon Treaty in the referendum held in the Republic of Ireland notified on Friday 13th June under Article 29 of the Constitution of Ireland 1937 (which is direct binding legislation) against the coming into force of the Treaty of Lisbon in the Republic of Ireland is that as from 13th June, the performance of the Treaty in relation to the UK (because of supervening impossibility and change of circumstances preventing the accomplishment of the original object or purpose and transforming the original consent of the parties to the terms of that Treaty) is now otiose, terminated and therefore no longer an available lawful use of the Prerogative in the UK.
Furthermore, under the principles of customary international law the Treaty of Lisbon should be stayed (Clausula Rebus Sic Stantibus).
As admitted by the Foreign Secretary in his statement to the House of Commons at 5pm on 16th June “All 27 Member States must ratify the Treaty for it to come into force.” The Republic of Ireland can no longer do so in respect of this Treaty under their Constitution, thereby vitiating the object or purpose of the Treaty as between all 27 Member States including the United Kingdom and in these circumstances and for want of proper and lawful justification the continuing assertion by Her Majesty’s Government that the Treaty is effective in the UK is an abuse of prerogative power and is therefore justiciable by the Courts of the United Kingdom.
In accordance with Article IX of the Bill of Rights, this claim is directed at the decision to continue to ratify the Lisbon Treaty in the exercise of prerogative power and does not question the proceedings in Parliament.
Mr Justice Collins made the following order:
Since I am refusing permission to seek judicial review, it follows that I decline to make any interim order.
The claim is misconceived. There is no reason why the government should not ask Parliament to continue to deal with the European Union (Amendment) Bill despite the refusal of Ireland to ratify the Lisbon Treaty. It will be for Parliament, not the court, to decide whether the Bill should be passed having regard to the Irish decision. The assertion that the decision to continue the ratification process is an exercise of the prerogative power and so justiciable is not correct. In reality, this claim seeks to prevent the parliamentary process from reaching its conclusion and as such is not justiciable. In any event, there may well be a value in the government knowing that they Treaty in its present form has been ratified by Parliament or by a referendum is a matter of political not judicial decision.
It follows that this claim is not arguable. It is indeed totally without merit since it is an attempt to pursue a political agenda through the court.
Royal Assent will take place today and it is not known when instruments of ratification will be delivered.
Bill Cash’s view
As Bill Cash said in the House of Commons yesterday, and on Monday, he regards the Government’s behaviour in continuing with this Treaty disreputable because this Treaty cannot be ratified by Ireland by virtue of the direct binding legal nature of the ‘No’ vote which cannot be changed by the Government or the Dail under the Irish Constitution itself.
Even Tony Blair as Prime Minister abandoned the original European Constitutional Treaty Bill when the French and the Dutch voted ‘No’ because he knew that that Treaty could not be ratified. The same principle clearly should have been applied to this Treaty and this Bill, as Bill Cash pointed out in yesterday’s European affairs debate.
Bill Cash is considering grounds for an oral hearing which he is entitled to do.
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Senior Orientation is offered by the Iowa Department for the Blind twice a year to seniors from around the state. It is a one-week training program offering the opportunity to learn simple, non-visual techniques for everyday tasks. The skills of blindness are important, but the week is about much more. It provides the participants with increased confidence, greater self-reliance, and a renewed sense of self-worth. As we approach our next session (April 9-13), we thought it worthy to share the thoughts and opinions of past participants.
"When I was first told I was losing my sight I was devastated. I lost faith in my abilities . . . when February came and I could no longer drive, it was a final blow. Your information . . . and your encouragement made me decide to go."
"When my eyes started to go with macular degeneration I thought my life would be full of nothing. Sitting around because there would be nothing that I could do."
"Before going, I felt very . . . unsure of
"To be able to talk freely about your doubts and fears was rewarding. One of the best things we did was the round table discussions we had together every morning. Suddenly, I didn't feel so alone!"
"During the training, I did not feel so alone and realized there were others like me. I found I could find my way around - blindfolded with my white cane."
"I could cross a street safer."
"The stairs were a fun challenge. After [cane] travel came Braille with Marcia. She was so gentle in her speech and patience that it made you want to do well."
". . . we had Braille class which I found easy and much fun."
". . . we learned how to thread a needle with no vision and took a few stitches by hand in a cloth. Then I began making a kitchen hand towel. It had a potholder button closure at the top. I actually used a sewing machine with no vision. Something I haven't done . . . for years."
"I made beef barley soup with no vision. I made cheese hash browns and . . . cut lemon bars and pies with no vision."
"Home management class . . . different ways to
identify canned goods, other foods, clothing, etc. We played tic-tac-toe with no
vision and we practiced putting plugs in outlets and placing light bulbs in
sockets with no vision."
"It was the best thing I've ever done."
"You all have no idea just how much my life has changed for the better."
"The training I have had . . . helped me understand just what I can do."
"The friends that were made there and the self-confidence that was given to me was worth every minute that was spent there."
"When I got home . . . my husband noted I was much more sure of myself . . . ."
"My attitude . . . improved so much. I still do all of my cooking, laundry, book accounts, and am doing my utmost to maintain my independence."
"Other than driving an automobile . . . an individual who was blind could do anything a normal sighted individual could do. The individual who was blind may need to adapt different techniques or skills for doing what a normal sighted person could do. However, both individuals could accomplish the same task."
"I feel better about myself and praise the Lord -
life goes on."
Each individual gains something from their experience at
Senior Orientation. If you know someone who could benefit from the services
available through the Iowa Department for the Blind call 800-362-2587 or email firstname.lastname@example.org.
We look forward to hearing from you.
To find out what is happening at the Department and in your area, choose the Upcoming Events link.
Return to Newsletter page.
Iowa Department for the Blind Home Page.
INDEPENDENT LIVING PROGRAM NEWSLETTER is published by the Iowa Department for the Blind. Please direct questions and suggestions to the Iowa Department for the Blind, 524 Fourth Street, Des Moines, IA 50309-2364, 515-281-1333.
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Surgery. Saving Lifetimes. — Children's 2010 Annual Report
25,853 surgeries. 59 surgeons. 50 anesthesiologists. 171 surgery nurses. 31 surgical technicians. These numbers only begin to tell the story of the thousands of children who had operations at our not-for-profit hospital in 2010. Many of the surgeries were life saving. All of them were life changing. The renowned surgeons and caring staff at Children’s are uniquely skilled and prepared with the most up-to-date techniques and tools to treat the issues facing children and their families — from cancer to liver transplants to repairing the tiny hearts of premature newborns. Children’s, ranked among the best pediatric hospitals in the country, is affiliated with UT Southwestern Medical Center, one of the nation’s best academic medical centers and one of the most prolific research institutions in the world. That means the experience among our surgeons is vast, and leads to success in the most complex cases. In this report, you’ll meet several patients who had surgery in 2010. Each has experienced a transformation.
Top 10 in the nation. The one for children here — Children's 2009 Annual Report
What makes a Top 10 hospital
On June 18, 2009, Children's Medical Center was told by the editors at U.S.News and World Report that the hospital had been named to the magazine's Best Children's Hospitals 2009 Honor Roll, distinguishing Children's as one of America's Top 10 pediatric centers.
Children's earned the spot not because of its brilliance in any one specialty or discipline, though they certainly exist. Instead, it was the hospital's consistent level of excellence across 10 different specialties that garnered the elite ranking.
One Day. Typical. Amazing. — Children's 2008 Annual Report
Just 24 hours at Children's Medical Center produces thousands of awe-inspiring moments. As captured by our award-winning photographers in this book — One Day. Typical. Amazing. — a regular day within our walls is hardly that. Every day at Children's brings extraordinary hope for families and an opportunity for us all to make a meaningful difference in the life of a child.
We invite you, our friends and family, for a closer look at the compassionate care that takes place here every day.
Nursing Annual Reports
The Nursing Division annual report reflects not only the many accomplishments of nurses working at Children's Medical Center and within the community but, more importantly, the positive patient care outcomes that result from their exemplary professional practice and interdisciplinary teamwork.
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I have to admit I had a hollow feeling when I read about the speech Mayor Finizio gave at a weekend ceremony held in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King.
The mayor talked about his own experience in civil rights, as a gay man, and said over the years he has tried to "strike down discrimination wherever it could be found."
And yet it was only last week that I had spoken to the mayor about his firing in December of the first black firefighter recruit hired by the city in more than 30 years, someone who might have finally begun to tip, ever so slightly, the racial balance in the largely white department.
The mayor's excuses for supporting the fire chief's decision to uphold the predominately white face of the department struck me as extraordinarily thin. He referred to a still-passing test score of 79 and some minor discipline at the state firefighting academy, where the recruit, Alfred Mayo, was the only black in a class of 48.
Apparently, the worst offense involved Mayo being accused of writing the name of the class in small letters in wet cement in a fresh section of new sidewalk.
Mayo denied the cement writing, although evidently his admission that he did tell another recruit, who confessed to a similar writing-in-cement incident, that he should not have admitted guilt, was, in the end, held against him. (A copy of a report on the strange cement incident appears online with the column.)
Before I read Mayor Finizio's grand remarks about striking "down discrimination wherever it could be found," I had just finished reading an email I had received from Mayo.
He sent along some quotes from a letter he wrote to his uncle right after he was escorted off the academy grounds, in the wake of his firing by the New London fire chief and mayor.
I hate to admit to being a softie, but it struck me as an especially sad moment.
"I NEVER ever said a cuss word out loud at the academy but upon being walked out I wanted to and (I FEEL) I had every right to cuss out those instructors so bad for what was happening, but I am so respectful that I still said 'sir' and spoke respectfully the whole time . . .
"I know you can guess what I felt like but I assure you it was worse," Mayo wrote in describing his departure.
"I was humiliated more than I have ever been in my life. I had a state police man walking right next to me like I was a damn criminal. When I went and shook EVERY instructor's hand as I left, he was right behind me.
"The guys I grew close to saw the tears in my eyes and one good friend had one in his eyes as we caught eye contact.
"I wanted so bad to give him a hug but I kept my head up high and walked across the street to my car then drove off, while the state cop and those two instructors who made my time there a living hell watched me."
He went on to write that he doesn't want to sue the city. He just wants his job back.
Maybe, as time goes on, we will know more about what happened to the city's first black firefighter recruit in more than 30 years.
It is sure beginning to look, based on what's on the record, like discrimination that ought to be struck down wherever it's found.
This is the opinion of David Colllins
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The Health Benefits of Black Tea
Since more research is done on green tea in regards to health
benefits, it is easy to believe that green tea is the only tea worth
drinking. This simply is not true! The health benefits of black tea are
abundant. Black tea is a powerful source of antioxidants, which slow
down the aging process and prevent a wide variety of diseases. Some
black tea health benefits include its antiviral and anti-inflammatory
properties, which provide protection against tooth decay and infection
as well as relief from arthritis.
Though some of the most important antioxidants that the tea plant
contains are compromised during the black tea fermentation process,
studies show that black tea still contains several antioxidants. Among
the most important antioxidants in the tea plant are theaflavins, which
remain intact even after fermentation. The theaflavins in black tea have
been shown to scavenge abnormal cells and dispose of them before they
can do damage or mutate into cancer cells. Theaflavins are also known to
inhibit oxidation, particularly the oxidation of LDL cholesterol. This
gives black tea the health benefit of significantly reducing blood
cholesterol and thereby reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease.
Drinking black tea on a regular basis may even help patients who have
existing cardiovascular disease. According to a study in Circulation:
Journal of the American Heart Association, tea consumption is associated
with an increased rate of survival following a heart attack. As such,
the health benefits of drinking black tea are important for anyone at
risk of or already suffering from cardiovascular disease.
A study in Germany found that drinking black tea significantly
improved the ability of the arteries to relax and expand in order to
maintain healthy blood pressure. The study showed that the molecules in
tea known as catechins helped dilate the blood vessels by producing a
chemical called nitric oxide.
So, as you can see, green tea isn't the only type of tea that is good
for you. The health benefits of drinking black tea are also numerous.
That's good news since 80% of the tea consumed in the world is black
Here's to a long and healthy life. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: Although we strive to provide you
with current, accurate information, we do not recommend tea as a cure or
remedy for any health problems. Please consult a physician to ensure
that drinking tea will not adversely affect your health or medical
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Inuvik is located on the east channel of the Mackenzie River, at the end of the Dempster Highway, 481 miles from Dawson City, YT, by road and some 60 air miles south of the Beaufort Sea.
Visitor Information: Western Arctic Regional Visitors Centre on Mackenzie Road, phone (867) 777-4727; open June to September. http://inuvik.ca/tourism/.
|Inuvik, meaning “The Place of Man,” is the largest Canadian community north of the Arctic Circle, and the centre for government, transportation and communications in Canada’s western Arctic. Construction of the town began in 1955 and was completed in 1961. Inuvik was “the first community north of the Arctic Circle built to provide the normal facilities of a Canadian town.” Today, government, transportation, tourism and construction are the major industries. The Mackenzie River Delta is one of the richest muskrat areas in the world and Inuvik is the western centre for shipping furs south.
Visitors will find food, gas and lodging in Inuvik. Accommodations at Arctic Chalet (cabins, bed-and-breakfast), and at 4 hotels (2 with dining lounges). Camping at Happy Valley Territorial Campground and at Jak Territorial Park.
There is also a post office, territorial liquor store, churches and a bank. There are 2 gas stations each with car wash; propane, auto repair and towing are available. Hardware, grocery and general stores, and gift shops are here.
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WASHINGTON – The U.S. economy could take a big hit from automatic government spending cuts even if Congress only leaves them in place for a month or two.
The cuts were meant to be so painful that they would force Congress to find a more thoughtful way to tighten the budget.
But many analysts assume they will take effect as scheduled, forcing federal offices to furlough some of their 2.8 million workers and trim spending on everything from paper clips to missiles.
It is anyone's guess, however, how long lawmakers will be able to stomach the economic pain. The duration of the austerity measures will determine the force of the blow to the economy. Some analysts think having the cuts in place for more than a few months could trigger a brief recession.
The Congressional Budget Office said on Tuesday the cuts would translate into $42 billion less in federal spending between the beginning of March and the end of September.
If $6 billion in spending is cut in March - which would be the average decline over a seven-month period - economic growth would be stunted by roughly seven-tenths of a percent in the first quarter, said Omair Sharif, an economist at RBS in Stamford, Connecticut.
"You are going to feel the pain right away," Sharif said.
Expectations for growth during the first quarter are already lackluster. Analysts polled by Reuters last month said they expected the economy to grow at a 1.5 percent annual rate in the first quarter, though some have since raised forecasts.
If the cuts continued into the second quarter, the austerity could erase almost all the growth expected during that period, Sharif said. After the second quarter, the impact would lessen.
Sharif's calculation only takes into account the direct effect on growth from spending cuts. The loss of income at government contractors and among furloughed employees would also hurt the economy throughout the year by reducing consumer spending and business investment.
Pentagon officials have said up to 800,000 of the military's civilian employees would work one less day a week because of the cuts.
The Air Force said it would have to curtail orders for Lockheed Martin Corp's F-35 fighter jet and delay a new version of the MQ-9 Reaper drone being built by privately held General Atomics.
Congress has been scrambling to find a way to postpone the budget cuts, but has shown little sign of progress.
In its report this week, the CBO projected that the economy would grow 1.4 percent this year if the austerity measures kick in. At that pace, the jobless rate would average 8 percent in the fourth quarter, just above the 7.9 percent reading from January.
Most Wall Street banks expect the cuts, known as the "sequester" in Washington parlance, to take effect at least briefly.
Kevin Logan, chief U.S. economist at HSBC in New York, does not. He acknowledges there is a good chance he is wrong and says the cuts could push the United States into a brief recession.
"The full implementation of the sequester over a short period of time could very well be the trigger," he said.
(Reporting by Jason Lange; Editing by Tim Ahmann and Stacey Joyce)
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There are two days in every week about which we should not worry, two days which should be kept free from fear and apprehension.
One of these days is YESTERDAY with its mistakes and cares, its faults and blunders, its aches and pains. YESTERDAY has passed forever beyond our control.All the money in the world cannot bring back YESTERDAY. We cannot undo a single act we performed; we cannot erase a single word we said. YESTERDAY is gone.
The other day we should not worry about is TOMORROW with its possible adversities, its burdens, its large promise and poor performance. TOMORROW is also beyond our immediate control.TOMORROW'S sun will rise, either in splendor or behind a mask of clouds --- but it will rise. Until it does, we have no stake in TOMORROW, for it is as yet unborn.
This leaves only one day --- TODAY --- Any man can fight the battles of just one day. It is only when you and I add the burdens of those two awful eternities --- YESTERDAY and TOMORROW that we break down.Itis not the experience of TODAY that drives men mad --- it is remorse or bitterness for something which happened YESTERDAY and the dread of what TOMORROW may bring.
--- Let us, therefore, live but one day at a time. ---
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Using iPods in language classes
Students in Spanish and French-language courses at Moorestown Friends School use iPods and voice recorders to practice their speaking skills, critique their pronunciations and keep records of their language studies. Students in Rob Buscaglia’s Spanish classes provided these examples of the work they have been doing with the iPods.
Yet, MP3 players that have a voice recorder and can play mp3s does the same thing. Just a coverup for PR stunts. Shame. Next….........Posted by David on 02/22 at 08:59 PM
I have previously used something like that. It wasn’t with iPods though… it was something very similar though and I made great progress due to those sessions! Then, I wanted to buy one of them myself but I have now got a cd-software instead to use on my computer and a little mp3 player. That way I can learn wherever I go, istn’t technology great!
Also, I have found a very cool site for learning Spanish: http://www.spanish-word-a-day.com
Itís my favourite recent discovery! It also shows a new picture from Spain every day and audio samples and book reviews(although they are very intelectual!) butÖ it sooo cool!
Have fun! I hope this was useful!
Saludo, BambiPosted by Bambi on 03/31 at 01:36 PM
Previous entry: 'Turin' or 'Torino'?
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The following HTML text is provided to enhance online
readability. Many aspects of typography translate only awkwardly to HTML.
Please use the page image
as the authoritative form to ensure accuracy.
HARDROCK MINING ON FEDERAL LANDS
increase efficiency, avoid duplication and delay, and identify the most cost-effective manner for implementation.”
To conduct the study the NRC established the Committee on Hardrock Mining on Federal Lands in January 1999. The Committee conducted an evidence-based analysis, taking account of scientific and technical knowledge. It was not asked to address the issue of comprehensive reform of the General Mining Law of 1872 or general problems related to abandoned mine lands. Because the Committee's charge indicated that the baseline for the study was the existing regulatory framework rather than proposed revisions to that framework, the Committee did not focus on the BLM proposal to revise its regulations governing hardrock mining; the Committee did, however, receive briefings on that proposed rule making.
The Committee concentrated on the intersection of three elements that form the context of hardrock mining on federal lands:
This federal lands context is governed by the General Mining Law of 1872 (30 U.S.C. §22 et seq.). The law defines the system of open access to hardrock minerals on federal lands of the western United States that are not withdrawn from mineral entry. The law allows any person to stake a claim on these lands and thereby to obtain the exclusive right to extract the minerals thereon without payment of royalty to the United States and without acquiring title to the land itself. The regulation of hardrock mining and exploration operations on these “unpatented” mining claims, where title to the land remains with the United States, is the focus of this study.
A mining claimant may also obtain title to (patent) the lands by proving the location of a valuable mineral deposit on the mining claim, among other requirements, and paying the United States the statutory price ($5.00 per acre for lode claims and $2.50 per acre for placer claims). The result of over a century of mineral patenting and other conveyances of federal lands is, in many parts of the West, a patchwork of intermingled privately owned lands; state-owned lands; and federally owned lands, including unpatented mining claims. A large mine may occupy a mixture of these land ownerships, each subject to different regulatory and land management requirements.
For the purposes of this study, we use the term “hardrock minerals” as a synonym for “locatable minerals,” which is a legal term not widely used in the
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Origin of Life
It was once believed that life could come from nonliving things, such as mice from corn, flies from bovine manure, maggots from rotting meat, and fish from the mud of previously dry lakes. Spontaneous generation is the incorrect hypothesis that nonliving things are capable of producing life. Several experiments have been conducted to disprove spontaneous generation; a few of them are covered in the sections that follow.
Redi's Experiment and Needham's Rebuttal
In 1668, Francesco Redi, an Italian scientist, designed a scientific experiment to test the spontaneous creation of maggots by placing fresh meat in each of two different jars. One jar was left open; the other was covered with a cloth. Days later, the open jar contained maggots, whereas the covered jar contained no maggots. He did note that maggots were found on the exterior surface of the cloth that covered the jar. Redi successfully demonstrated that the maggots came from fly eggs and thereby helped to disprove spontaneous generation. Or so he thought.
In England, John Needham challenged Redi's findings by conducting an experiment in which he placed a broth, or “gravy,” into a bottle, heated the bottle to kill anything inside, then sealed it. Days later, he reported the presence of life in the broth and announced that life had been created from nonlife. In actuality, he did not heat it long enough to kill all the microbes.
Lazzaro Spallanzani, also an Italian scientist, reviewed both Redi's and Needham's data and experimental design and concluded that perhaps Needham's heating of the bottle did not kill everything inside. He constructed his own experiment by placing broth in each of two separate bottles, boiling the broth in both bottles, then sealing one bottle and leaving the other open. Days later, the unsealed bottle was teeming with small living things that he could observe more clearly with the newly invented microscope. The sealed bottle showed no signs of life. This certainly excluded spontaneous generation as a viable theory. Except it was noted by scientists of the day that Spallanzani had deprived the closed bottle of air, and it was thought that air was necessary for spontaneous generation. So although his experiment was successful, a strong rebuttal blunted his claims.
Pasteurization originally was the process of heating foodstuffs to kill harmful microorganisms before human consumption; now ultraviolet light, steam, pressure, and other methods are available to purify foods—in the name of Pasteur.
Louis Pasteur, the notable French scientist, accepted the challenge to re-create the experiment and leave the system open to air. He subsequently designed several bottles with S-curved necks that were oriented downward so gravity would prevent access by airborne foreign materials. He placed a nutrient-enriched broth in one of the goose-neck bottles, boiled the broth inside the bottle, and observed no life in the jar for one year. He then broke off the top of the bottle, exposing it more directly to the air, and noted life-forms in the broth within days. He noted that as long as dust and other airborne particles were trapped in the S-shaped neck of the bottle, no life was created until this obstacle was removed. He reasoned that the contamination came from life-forms in the air. Pasteur finally convinced the learned world that even if exposed to air, life did not arise from nonlife.
Excerpted from The Complete Idiot's Guide to Biology © 2004 by Glen E. Moulton, Ed.D.. All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. Used by arrangement with Alpha Books, a member of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.
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Online collaborative encyclopedia Wikipedia has a massive 97% share of internet visits among the top five reference websites, highlighting the amount of work that rivals like Britannica.com have to catch up.
Britannica.com announced some new Wikipedia-style community features last week as it attempts to make up some of the ground lost to Wikipedia. According to stats from Hitwise, it currently has just 0.57% of US internet visits to the encyclopedia category.
Other reference sites like MSN Encarta and Encyclopedia.com also trail way behind Wikipedia, but Britannica.com comes bottom in this category:
Britannica president Jorge Cauz also complained about Wikipedia's superior search engine rankings, but it could do a lot more to optimise its site for Google. Wikipedia is well designed for SEO; its link structure, title tags and meta descriptions all work well on Google, as well as the millions of links into the site from other sources. Meanwhile, much of Britannica's content is locked away for subscribers only, making it harder for Google to index, and less attractive to link to.
As we pointed out last week, usability is also a big issue. Britannica.com is not especially usable, with too much Flash, intrusive ads and poor site search among the problems.
Compare the entries for 'World War Two' on the two sites. Wikipedia comes third for the term on Google, while Britannica is nowhere. Perhaps Britannica's entry is more authoritative than Wikipedia's, but I can't find out easily because it is locked behind a premium content wall, and requires users to sign up for a free trial, which involves entering card details, something few users will be happy about:
The other three encyclopedias on the list also lag well behind Wikipedia for usability, even though others like Encyclopedia.com rank better than Britannica, while Google Knol is a big disappointment so far. Clearly, all these sites have a lot of work to do to close the gap.
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The Valdosta Daily Times
McAlister Development Company appealed to the Valdosta City Council Thursday evening over an issue with the Historic Preservation Commission (HPC) that is preventing the company from beginning construction on a mixed-use development intended for college students.
In October, Council approved the rezoning of the block bounded by Brookwood Drive, North Toombs Street, West Ann Street and North Oak Street to community-commercial for the development of a four-story living and shopping complex intended for student living.
At the Nov. 5 meeting of the HPC, McAlister requested permission to relocate or demolish 11 houses standing on the block to make way for the development.
The HPC approved relocation of the houses with the condition that McAlister make a “good faith effort” to relocate the houses for a period of 90 days, after which time McAlister would be allowed to apply for demolition of the remaining houses.
McAlister began the process, but relocation of the houses “got a little cumbersome,” according to attorney Bill Nijem, speaking on behalf of McAlister.
“McAlister doesn’t own the property yet, so it’s tough to contract with people to move these houses,” Nijem said. “And nobody knows what’s going to happen if these houses aren’t removed. We’re in a catch-22.”
Nijem explained that McAlister could not apply for loans for the multi-million-dollar project when demolition permits were still not issued, and without the loans, development could not begin.
At the center of the issue, McAlister was aiming to have construction complete by the start of the fall semester of 2014, to cater to new students looking for living solutions. Missing this window could spell major losses.
McAlister approached the HPC with the issue, and suggested that the commission approve demolition permits effective in March, pending the
continued good-faith effort to remove the houses. This would allow the company to make some headway.
“We’re running out of time, and we need an official date of issue for the demolition,” Nijem said.
Nijem reported that McAlister spoke with more than 200 realtors about the availability of the houses and with Habitat for Humanity (which remarked it was less expensive to build new houses). The company advertised the houses—sold for $10 each plus the cost of relocation—and currently has 10 to 15 individuals interested in purchase.
Nijem explained the company is taking care to ensure these interested parties plan to relocate the houses to a vacant property and not simply dismantle them for materials, and the process has been slow and not very promising.
After hearing Nijem’s appeal, the Council Member Deidra White motioned to postpone a decision on the appeal with the condition that the HPC reconsider McAlister’s concerns at their next meeting Feb. 4. The motion was seconded and passed unanimously.
“I’d like to give the process one more chance to work,” White said. “I agree that this development is good for the city, and that it will have a positive impact by a private developer that will help protect single-family housing by creating walkability.”
The City Council also unanimously approved:
• an ordinance to establish qualifying fees and dates for the 2013 City of Valdosta Municipal Election. Fees to run for office were set at $465 for City Council seats and $35 for school board.
• a bid for Scott air packs for the Valdosta Fire Department that will allow firefighters to breathe in smoke-filled areas, at a cost of $247,885.
• the abandonment of an easement within the Drury Inn development area.
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Last week’s Big Bang science and engineering fair saw a bigger turnout of youngsters from across the country than ever before and the show’s organisers can justifiably be proud of beating their targets for numbers of visitors.
With more than 120 different engineering, science and technology organisations supporting The Big Bang, and leading employers such as BAE Systems and Rolls-Royce taking the time out to connect with the schoolchildren who will become the engineers and scientists of tomorrow, there was a lively atmosphere at what is becoming established as a crucial event on the STEM agenda.
The fair, held on Thursday to Saturday at London’s cavernous ExCel exhibition centre, is set to move to even bigger surroundings in 2012 at Birmingham NEC, effectively doubling its footprint. It’s been an impressive addition over the last three years to other outreach efforts that aim to inspire children when it comes to engineering.
The organisers must hope that their efforts, however, are not in vain because of a lack of government support for science and engineering. The level of rhetoric about STEM’s importance has arguably never been higher – it is significant that Engineering UK was able to deliver its report which outlined the need for hundreds of thousands of new engineers at No 11 Downing Street – but worries remain on the part of some that it could turn out to be hot air.
At The Big Bang, Mike Brown of Siemens was manning a stand, and making one too. He has helped to introduce the latest computer-aided design and engineering software to schools as part of a role in the past with PTC (of Pro Engineer fame) and is working on a similar education programme with the German giant that he says is among the best in the industry.
But he fears that the T and the E in STEM are “silent” with little focus on technology and engineering, and with design and technology classes in schools sometimes viewed as being a means of keeping poorly-behaved children out of trouble – instead of as an important element of later study of disciplines such as engineering. “If we as a country want to grow we need to invest in these kinds of kids [with technical/practical bias] now,” Brown says.
Brown’s concerns were backed up by Richard Green, of The Design and Technology Association, which was also exhibiting. Green’s organisation is fighting hard to ensure that the teaching of design and technology, as opposed to maths or physics, is not marginalised due to it being dropped from the National Curriculum.
A call for evidence on a review of the curriculum is currently taking place on the part of the government – it closes in a month’s time – and concerned engineers are urged to lobby ministers about the importance of these traditional subjects which give children practical skills. Otherwise, so the argument runs, they could be sidelined to the detriment of industry.
It’s possible to observe a disconnect at work here between The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills – whose leader Vince Cable visited The Big Bang – and The Department for Education, which is arguably looking at developing a “1950s-style, grammar school” curriculum. Design and technology, argue those defending them, should be kept on the National Curriculum or as compulsory subjects from the ages of 5-14. Green says, in favour of this view: “At GCSE-level, design and technology is the most popular non-core subject.”
So as the Big Bang continues to expand at the NEC next year, educators, engineers and scientists will be hoping that there is solid backing from government at its core.
- Interested? Register your support for design and technology by answering questions 16a and 16b of the National Curriculum call for evidence
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Story: Wellington places
Page 7 – Wellington Harbour
Wellington’s magnificent harbour is a lake-like expanse of sheltered water surrounded by hills, with a narrow entrance to the sea.
A raised rock platform (a legacy of the great 1855 earthquake) surrounds the harbour’s edge. Today much of this is obscured by roads. In other places it is interspersed with sandy beaches.
Creation of the harbour
Wellington’s nearly circular harbour (about 10 kilometres in diameter) began as a shallow basin between two tilted blocks. Repeated uplifting along the Wellington Fault raised the block on the western side, creating a cliff from Thorndon to the Hutt Valley. The block to the east tilted down towards the fault, making a depression that later filled with water.
Matiu (Somes Island) and Mākaro (Ward Island) are the exposed peaks of a submerged ridge running parallel with the extensive ridges of Miramar Peninsula and Hataitai.
In Māori tradition the explorer Kupe was the first person to visit the harbour. He was followed by Tara and Tautoki, sons of the explorer Whātonga. They settled there and named it Te Whanganui-a-Tara (the great harbour of Tara). Later, a succession of tribes lived in the area.
In 1839, the New Zealand Company chose Port Nicholson as the site for its first settlement of British immigrants.
The waterfront: reclaiming the land
Since the 1850s the shape of the inner harbour has been changed by reclaiming land from the sea. This includes a massive 1960s reclamation to cater for container shipping. Containers had made much of the old port redundant.
Today Wellingtonians are resettling the waterfront with apartments, cafés, offices, boat moorings and parks.
The narrow entrance to Wellington Harbour is guarded by Barrett Reef – according to Māori legend, the reef is debris left by the taniwha (water spirit) Ngake when he escaped to the sea. Entering the harbour can be a challenge for mariners, especially in strong southerly winds. Since 1859, they have been guided by a lighthouse on Pencarrow Head. But many vessels have foundered here, including the trans-Tasman (Sea) liner Wanganella in January 1947. It stayed fast on Barrett Reef for 18 days before being pulled free by tugboats and towed to safety.
Matiu (Somes Island) and Mākaro (Ward Island)
These islands were named by the explorer Kupe after his daughters, and were occupied by a succession of Māori tribes. After British settlement they were renamed Somes Island and Ward Island, after the deputy governor and secretary of the New Zealand Company.
Somes Island later became a quarantine station, then an internment camp for enemy aliens during both world wars. More recently, rats and other pests have been eradicated and the 25-hectare island has become part of the conservation estate. Volunteers from the Royal Forest and Bird Protection Society have planted more than 90,000 trees since 1981. Tuatara, wētā and native birds such as kākāriki (parrots) have recently been released. About 10,000 people visit the island each year.
The much smaller Mākaro (Ward Island) has been largely ignored. Steep-sided and clothed in impenetrable taupata, it is frequented only by seabirds.
The bay bears the name of George Evans, a prominent early settler. At the southern end, land raised by the 1460 earthquake is now Wellington’s airport. Miramar Peninsula juts into the harbour, forming the east side of Evans Bay. Occasionally whales and dolphins come into the bay and other parts of the harbour.
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Pope's apostolic exhortation offers a guide to reconciliation in Africa
CWN - November 21, 2011
“Be the salt of the African earth,” Pope Benedict XVI challenged Catholics as he formally released his apostolic exhortation, Africae Munus, summarizing the key insights of the 2nd African Synod.
Pope Benedict signed the apostolic exhortation on November 19, at the basilica of the Immaculate Conception in Ouidah, Benin, during a 2-day trip to the African nation. He had chosed Benin as his destination because that country is celebrating the 150th anniversary of its evangelization. The faith first spread from there to surrounding nations, and the Immaculate Conception basilica is the first cathedral in the region of west Africa.
The next day—Sunday, November 20, the feast of Christ the King—the Pope formally released the document, at an outdoor Mass in Cotonou, the nation’s capital, which he concelebrated with more than 200 African bishops. As he described the apostolic exhortation to the congregation of over 20,000, he said that the key priority for the Church in Africa must remain “the proclamation of the Good News of Jesus.” This evangelizing effort, he continued, “is not just a message or a word. It is above all an openness and adhesion to a person: Jesus Christ the Incarnate Word.”
Evangelization was also the key theme of Ecclesia in Africa, the apostolic exhortation with which Pope John Paul II concluded the work of the 1st African Synod. But Pope Benedict noted that evangelization “cannot be separated from the work of human promotion.” Thus the 2nd African Synod had built on the work of the first by concentrating on “reconciliation, justice, and peace.”
In this new apostolic exhortation, the Pope writes, “Africa is led to explore its Christian vocation more deeply.”
The theme of reconciliation is particularly crucial in Africa because of the continent’s troubled past and its continuing conflicts today, the Pope observes. “Africa’s memory is painfully scarred as a result of fratricidal conflicts between ethnic groups, the slave trade and colonization. Today too, the continent has to cope with rivalries and with new forms of enslavement and colonization.” (9)
The wounds made by violent conflicts are aggravated by the urgent need for economic and social development, the Pope notes. Thus, he says, the continent today faces an “anthropological crisis.” As strong cultural traditions collide with contemporary ideas, he writes: “Africa is experiencing a culture shock which strikes at the age-old foundations of social life, and sometimes makes it hard to come to terms with modernity.”
Africae Munus stresses the need for reconciliation to address past and present wrongs, noting that “human consciences are challenged by the grave injustices existing in our world as a whole and within Africa in particular.” However, the Pope makes it clear that he does not intend to offer a political program. Instead he calls for a spiritual approach to reconciliation, based upon conversion, penance, and reconciliation. “It is God’s grace that gives us a new heart and reconciles us with him and with one another,” he reminds his readers.
Rather than embracing any social or economic scheme, Africae Munus urges African Christians to base their activities on the principles set forth in the Sermon on the Mount:
In the spirit of the Beatitudes, preferential attention is to be given to the poor, the hungry, the sick – for example, those with AIDS, tuberculosis or malaria – to the stranger, the disadvantaged, the prisoner, the immigrant who is looked down upon, the refugee or displaced person…
In the apostolic exhortation the Pope observes that Africa’s traditions provide some strong bases for the building of strong and healthy communities, pointing out for example that “the elderly are held in particular veneration.” On the other hand there are areas in which Africa lags badly behind the world; he notes that “overall, women’s dignity and rights as well as their essential contribution to the family and to society have not been fully acknowledged or appreciated.”
Pope Benedict underlines the importance of family life as the fundamental resource for a healthy society. Applying that insight to the theme of the 2nd African Synod he says: “The family is the best setting for learning and applying the culture of forgiveness, peace and reconciliation.”
Africae Munus includes particular exhortations directed toward bishops, priests, religious, catechists, lay people, and youth. Remarking that young people account for the majority of Africa’s population, the Pope makes a special appeal: “Dear young people, enticements of all kinds may tempt you: ideologies, sects, money, drugs, casual sex, violence... Be vigilant: those who propose these things to you want to destroy your future!”
To Africans at large, the Pope issues an appeal to protect human life (putting them on guard against “questionable elements found in certain international documents, especially those concerned with women’s reproductive health”), safeguard the natural environment, and root out corruption in government.
Pope Benedict calls for new efforts to promote inter-religious harmony in Africa. But he issues warnings about the influence of witchcraft and of new “syncretistic movements and sects” that have sprung up more recently. Of these new sects, the Pope writes:
Sometimes it is hard to discern whether they are of authentically Christian inspiration or whether they are simply the fruit of sudden infatuation with a leader claiming to have exceptional gifts. Their nomenclature and vocabulary easily give rise to confusion, and they can lead people in good faith astray. These many sects take advantage of an incomplete social infrastructure, the erosion of traditional family solidarity and inadequate catechesis in order to exploit people’s credulity, and they offer a religious veneer to a variety of heterodox, non-Christian beliefs. They shatter the peace of couples and families through false prophecies and visions. They even seduce political leaders.
The Vatican has released the full text of Africae Munus, a document of over 30,000 words. The Vatican Information Service also provided a summary by Archbishop Nicola Eterovic, the secretary general of the Synod of Bishops.
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Imitation of other species is one of the most intriguing and mysterious aspects of birdsong. Often — as in the case of mockingbirds — there seems to be little connection between what the bird is imitating and what it is doing at that moment. But in the rainforests of Sri Lanka, a bird that travels in mixed-species flocks has learned to use the calls of other species in the same contexts that those species use them.
The behavior of drongos was documented by Eben Goodale, who completed his Ph.D. in organismic and evolutionary biology last May at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. His article about drongo behavior, based on his doctoral thesis, was published last month online in the Proceedings of the Royal Society: Biological Sciences, a British scientific journal. The study, “Context-dependent vocal mimicry in a passerine bird,” is co-authored by Sarath W. Kotagama of the University of Colombo in Sri Lanka.
Goodale’s discovery of the drongo’s mimicking ability is the culmination of years of studying communication among various bird species in Sri Lanka.
“I still remember vividly the moment that I first observed this behavior,” he says. “I was following through the rainforest a mixed-species flock of birds. Mixed-species flocks in this rainforest are large and noisy, averaging 12 species and nearly 40 individuals. From the back of the flock, one bird, a greater racket-tailed drongo, swooped down and approached me to within three meters at my head height. The drongo was clearly mobbing me—a behavior that birds use to notify other individuals of the presence of a stationary predator.”
The familiar scene quickly changed, according to Goodale. “The drongo did an extraordinary thing: it began to mimic the mobbing-specific note types of other species. It kept rotating through the mobbing notes of other species, in addition to its own notes. I wouldn’t have understood what was happening if I hadn’t just completed a study on the alarm-associated calls of all the species in the flock system.”
Further study by Goodale revealed that drongos’ repertoire is varied. They imitate other species’ notes in the same contexts as other birds and also mimic the calls of predators, which they use in alarm situations.
“What’s fascinating about this behavior is that it’s reminiscent of what we know some birds—notably parrots—are able to do in the laboratory: learn to use other species’ signal in a context-dependent manner. But such context-dependent mimicry has not yet been demonstrated in the wild.”
“It’s very significant,” says Bruce E. Byers, a UMass biology professor and one of Goodale’s thesis advisors, “The idea that signals could’ve evolved beyond species boundaries hasn’t really been demonstrated before.”
Byers says Goodale’s paper also reveals “the pretty extraordinary cognitive abilities of the drongo,” an area that his former student is continuing to investigate.
Other aspects of Goodale’s research were published earlier this year in Auk and the Journal of Tropical Ecology. He is planning further fieldwork in Sri Lanka, India and Papua New Guinea.
From UMass Amherst
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I live in Rowayton, Connecticut. It’s a tiny town, around 4,500 people, that sits on Long Island Sound roughly 50 miles up from New York City. Rowayton is famous for… well, it’s not famous really. It’s a sleepy little place that has managed, by applying itself as little as possible, to remain almost entirely obscure.
Under the circumstances, this took some doing. In the 18th and 19th centuries, Connecticut was a veritable Silicon Valley, filled with hard-charging inventors throwing off a profusion of new ideas and practices. Just up the coast, for instance, in a town called New Haven, Eli Whitney created the cotton gin and gun works. Connecticut inventors were learning how to make machine tools. All those things once painstakingly assembled by hand (guns, watches, bicycles, and, yes, even machines) could now be mass manufactured. The earth trembled with industrial activity.
How Rowayton managed to sleep through this fury of invention … well, we can’t be sure. Certainly, there were local sources of income. Rowayton was briefly called the oyster capital of the world. Every day, its oysters went down to New York City where they were sold to factory and office workers as the fast food of their day. The other source of income, latterly, was a fairground that featured a roller coaster, Ferris wheel, concession stands, beauty contents, and big bands. This made us vulgar and noisy, and the object of much sniffing from Darien across the way. We didn’t care. We might be vulgar, but we had oysters and, um, a roller coaster!
And then one day, something happened. The Remington Rand Corporation came to town. It installed itself in an old estate in the middle of town. Remington Rand was active in the machine tool tradition: sewing machines, firearms and typewriters. But by the middle of the 20th century, it was trying to figure out how to make something called the “business computer.” (A machine that could do for information what the machine tool did for manufacture, that was worth trying for.)
The computer work was so top-secret they put it in a building called “the barn,” a sweet little building, all stone and faux Tudor timbers (pictured). Actually, the barn looks like a preindustrial cottage, and the last place you’d expect to help produce the business computer. So much for appearances. The Barn created the Remington Rand 409. After hundreds of years of well-deserved obscurity, Rowayton had a claim to fame.
Photos from the Barn tell the story. Engineers, dressed in white shirts, wearing sensible glasses. One is wearing that early badge of geek chic, the pocket protector. And there is more than one short-sleeved shirt, that miracle of “Drip-dry” and “Wash and wear!” No one actually has tape on his glasses, but one feels that’s only a matter of time.
This is what innovation looked like after World War II, deeply practical, happily inelegant. Guys in sensible shirts. People trying stuff until they got it right. The invention process was a deeply engaging, sometimes vexing thing. The beams of the second floor proved insufficient for the weight of the new computer, so they shored them up. Vacuum tubes ran hot and had to be replaced every three hours. There were problems large and small, and the guys at Remington Rand kept at it. By mid century they were done. Lo and behold, the father of the UNIVAC line of computers and great, great, great, great grandfather of the laptop on which I write.
This is innovation as we used to do it. The recipe was simple: put inventive souls in an isolated place, give them resources, and leave them alone. We called it “R&D,” Research and Development. It wasn’t pretty. It wasn’t fashionable. It wasn’t sensible in certain ways. (Why was everyone white, male and middle aged?) But it was relentlessly curious. And practical. When ‘A’ didn’t work, someone said, “what about ‘B’?” And if that didn’t work, people were happy to run down the alphabet until they found something that did. “What if” was the order of the day.
There is something about this R&D tradition that feels at risk. That combination of hard thinking and brute pragmatism is now in peril. But this is just for starters. For ingenuity and reckless experiment funded a larger spirit of innovation. This was the “can do” world. A place of relentless ingenuity. And now it feels cowed, diminished, uncertain, less and less prepared to “try stuff and see what happens.” Westerners in general and Americans in particulars have retreated into pessimism. They have taken to their ideological corners. They have withdrawn from their furious engagement with the world. But of course we have grounds for discouragement. But I would have thought that the baby we do not wish to put out with the bathwater is our ability to solve problems. If we lose that once reckless, generous, exuberant spirit of invention that we truly are done for. It’s time for ingenuity to stage a comeback.
Originally published on CultureBy. Republished with kind permission.
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What is Advent?
Advent is a period of spiritual preparation in which many Christians make themselves ready for the coming, or birth of the Lord, Jesus Christ. Celebrating Advent typically involves a season of prayer, fasting and repentance, followed by anticipation, hope and joy.
Many Christians celebrate Advent not only by thanking God for Christ's first coming to Earth as a baby, but also for his presence among us today through the Holy Spirit, and in preparation and anticipation of his final coming at the end of time.
Definition of AdventThe word "advent" comes from the Latin "adventus" meaning "arrival" or "coming," particularly of something having great importance.
The Time of Advent
For denominations that celebrate Advent, it marks the beginning of the church year.
In Western Christianity, Advent begins on the fourth Sunday prior to Christmas Day, or the Sunday which falls closest to November 30, and lasts through Christmas Eve, or December 24. When Christmas Eve falls on a Sunday, it is the last, or fourth Sunday of Advent.
For Eastern Orthodox churches which use the Julian calendar, Advent begins earlier, on November 15, and lasts 40 days rather than four weeks. Advent is also known as the Nativity Fast in Orthodox Christianity.
• Advent Calendar 2012
• Catholic Liturgical Calendar for Advent 2012
• Advent Calendar 2013
• Advent Calendar 2014
What Denominations Celebrate Advent?Advent is primarily observed in Christian churches that follow an ecclesiastical calendar of liturgical seasons to determine feasts, memorials, fasts and holy days:
• Anglican / Episcopalian
Today, however, more and more Protestant and Evangelical Christians are recognizing the spiritual significance of Advent, and have begun to revive the spirit of the season through serious reflection, joyful expectation, and even through the observance of some of the traditional Advent customs.
Origins of AdventAccording to the Catholic Encyclopedia, Advent began sometime after the 4th century as a time of preparation for Epiphany, and not in anticipation of Christmas. Epiphany celebrates the manifestation of Christ by remembering the visit of the wise men and, in some traditions, the Baptism of Jesus. At this time new Christians were baptized and received into the faith, and so the early church instituted a 40-day period of fasting and repentance.
Later, in the 6th century, St. Gregory the Great was the first to associate this season of Advent with the coming of Christ. Originally it was not the coming of the Christ-child that was anticipated, but rather, the Second Coming of Christ.
By the Middle Ages, the church had extended the celebration of Advent to include the coming of Christ through his birth in Bethlehem, his future coming at the end of time, and his presence among us through the promised Holy Spirit. Modern-day Advent services include symbolic customs related to all three of these "advents" of Christ.
For more about the origins of Advent, see the History of Christmas.
Advent Symbols and CustomsMany different variations and interpretations of Advent customs exist today, depending upon the denomination and the type of service being observed. The following symbols and customs provide a general overview only, and do not represent an exhaustive resource for all Christian traditions.
Some Christians choose to incorporate Advent activities into their family holiday traditions, even when their church does not formally recognize a season of Advent. They do this as a way of keeping Christ at the center of their Christmas celebrations.
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While Libya War Grows, Obama Team Denies It’s a War
2011 03 24
By Spencer Ackerman | Wired.com
It’s one thing to say that the U.S. is right to take action against Moammar Gadhafi. It’s quite another to insist that it’s not even a war. And it’s simply dishonest to do so while escalating the war.
But that’s the spin from the Obama White House. While the president travelled through Latin America, his aides told sympathetic audiences in Washington that Operation Odyssey Dawn “is a limited humanitarian intervention, not war,” in the words of White House Mideast troubleshooter Dennis Ross. A letter to Congress notifying lawmakers that Odyssey Dawn was in effect studiously avoided the word “war,” preferring the more anodyne “military efforts” — which are “discrete” and “limited in their nature, duration, and scope.”
Ross’ remarks are outright deceptive. And it fits a pattern with President Obama: escalating U.S. military commitments while portraying them as essentially finite and limited.
For one thing, the fight is intensifying, not dropping off. On Sunday, the U.S.-led coalition flew 60 sorties over Libya; Monday it flew nearly 80; on Wednesday it flew 175. At this moment, American pilots are bombing and shooting at Gadhafi’s armor and artillery units on the outskirts of Libyan cities. Off the shores of Libya, a bevy of Navy ships and subs have launched over 160 Tomahawk missiles.
Nor can NATO agree on a command structure that will get the U.S. out of the lead of the war. Obama might want to hand off command responsibility to a different, multinational entity, in order to keep the scope of the U.S. commitment limited. He just lacks a plan to do so.
It’s true that not every application of military force is a war. Reasonable people can disagree, but when Saddam Hussein’s removal of weapons inspectors in 1998 prompted four days of U.S. and British bombs and missile strikes, that didn’t quite rise to the level of a whole new war. By contrast, the concerted, open-ended multinational application of naval and air power to enforce a United Nations Security Council resolution authorizing “all necessary measures” to forcibly change the political behavior of a head of state — that’s something that Carl von Clausewitz would recognize in an instant. Call it smart, call it stupid, but please don’t call it anything besides war.
And despite what Ross may say, nothing about a “humanitarian intervention” renders it rigorously distinct from a war when the chief means of intervention are military. NATO, for instance, bombed Slobodan Milosevic for 78 days, all for the humanitarian purpose of saving Kosovo from him. Approve or disapprove, but Operation Applied Force was quite certainly a war.
It’s obvious why the Obama team wants to spin the Libya war as anything but a war. It doesn’t want to rely on Congress to declare war (not strictly necessary, at least yet, since the War Powers Act empowers the president to conduct war for 60 days without congressional action). War with Gadhafi garners anemic public approval ratings.
And to be up front about calling it a war would risk unraveling Obama’s contention that the war should be limited. It’s reasonable to ask whether the explicit goal of the war, now that it’s underway, should be to overthrow Gadhafi; which might require arming the opposition; or even devoting ground troops — all steps Obama wants to avoid. But those are arguments for caution about starting a war with Libya, not for pretending that the one the White House has ordered doesn’t exist.
This is getting to be a habit for Obama. First he expanded the scope of the U.S. counterterrorism efforts to Pakistan and Yemen, places that at least arguably exceed the 2001 congressional mandate for military action. Then he rejected congressional offers to openly debate a reauthorization of the war. When Obama ordered a 30,000-troop surge into Afghanistan — atop his earlier increase of 21,000 troops — he vowed the escalation would end this July. But only minimal numbers of troops will come home this year, and his senior aides are talking about an indefinite stay by at least some U.S. forces after 2014. (Indeed, at a dinner on Tuesday night, White House “war czar” Doug Lute said that would serve as an “insurance policy” against Afghanistan going down the tubes.)
If Obama’s aim is to conduct limited wars, he’s not doing it very well. And he’s certainly not coming clean to the public about what he’s doing. Somewhere, George W. Bush is smirking with vindication.
Article from: wired.com
Obama under fire for Libya military operation
Libya, Serbia, Iraq... Libya: Become US President, Declare War!
Russia says Western strikes kill Libyan civilians
Libya holding huge gold reserves IMF data shows
Libyan Invasion was Planned 10 Years in Advance? - Occult Connection to March 19 Invasion (Video)
Gaddafi says Libya under attack from "colonial aggression"
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English Poems Index
I will arise and go now and go to Innisfree,
And a small cabin build there, of clay and wattles made,
Nine bean-rows will I have there, a hive for the honey bee,
And live alone in the bee-loud glade.
And I shall have some peace there, for peace comes dropping slow,
Dropping from the veils of the morning to where the cricket sing :
There midnight's all a glimmer, and noon a purple glow,
And evening full of the linnet's wings.
I will arise and go now, for always night and day
I hear lake water lapping with low sounds by the shore;
While I stand on the roadway, or on the pavements grey,
I hear it in the deep heart's core.
By William Butler Yeats
About The Poet :
William Butler Yeats (1865-1939) was born near Dublin in Ireland. He was educated in London and returned to Ireland in 1880. Soon afterwards he began his writing career and many years later, in 1923, he received the Nobel Prize for Literature.
Yeats was a believer in magic and much of his work is mystical. It has a dream-like quality. He was a firm believer in the idea that the age he was living in, with its materialism, was no good and that peace and happiness could only be found in a return to the simple living of the past.
In this poem Yeats shows clearly that even if he has to live in the city with all its ills, he can find happiness and feel in his heart's core the beauty and peace of a far distant isle. This is one of the best known of Yeats' poems. It was written in 1893. Innisfree was an actual place in Ireland and Yeats had spent some time at this beautiful spot. The poet was attracted to the place for the reasons he gives in the poem. It is peaceful, it is quiet and it is surrounded by nature.
Words to know :
Bee-Loud Glade : a clear open space in the forest, which is full of the buzzing of bees
Core : the innermost part
Lapping : moving in gentle waves
Linnet : a small, brown song-bird
Veil : a thin covering (usually worn by a woman to hide her face). Here, the veil is one of mist.
Wattles : interlaced rods and twigs used for fences, walls or roofs. These are then usually covered with clay.
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NOTE TO TEACHERS
In Maus I: My Father Bleeds History Art Spiegelman has simultaneously expanded the boundaries of a literary form and found a new way of imagining the Holocaust, an event that is commonly described as unimaginable. The form is the comic book, once dismissed as an entertainment for children and regarded as suited only for slapstick comedy, action-adventure, or graphic horror. And although Maus includes elements of humor and suspense, the horror it envisions is far worse than anything encountered in the pages of Stephen King: it is horror that happened; horror perpetrated by real people against millions of other real people; horror whose contemplation inevitably forces us to ask what human beings are capable of perpetrating—and surviving.
Maus has recognized the true nature of that riddle by casting its protagonists as animals—mice, cats, pigs, and dogs. As Spiegelman has said (in an interview in The New Comics, p. 191): "To use these ciphers, the cats and mice, is actually a way to allow you past the cipher at the people who are experiencing it." When Maus first appeared as a three-page comic strip in an underground anthology, the words "Nazi" and "Jew" were never mentioned. Spiegelman's animals permit readers to bypass the question of what human beings can or cannot do and at the same time force them to confront it more directly. His Jewish mice are a barbed response to Hitler's statement "The Jews are undoubtedly a race, but they are not human." His feline Nazis remind us that the Germans' brutality was at bottom no more explicable than the delicate savagery of cats toying with their prey. And although Vladek Spiegelman and his family initially seem even more human than the rest of us, as the story unfolds they become more and more like animals, driven into deeper and deeper hiding places, foraging for scarcer and scarcer scraps of sustenance, betraying all the ties that we associate with humanity.
Many books and films about the Holocaust founder on its hugeness: those caught up in it blur into a faceless mass of victims and victimizers. But Maus is the particular story of one survivor, Vladek Spiegelman, a young man who treated his mistress badly and may have married for money, whom we first see in his stubborn, tight-fisted, infuriatingly manipulative old age. Because he is not a saint, what happens to Vladek is all the more horrible. And by its very nature the comic book is a specific medium, in which even the slightest background details tell a story of their own. Students who read Maus will come away knowing the workings of the ghetto black market, the architecture of false-walled bunkers, and what was happening in the town squares where Polish Jews lined up patiently for deportation. They will know the words on the sign above the gate to Auschwitz: "Arbeit Macht Frei"—"Work Makes You Free."
In addition, Maus is the story of the aged Vladek's tortured relations with his son, Artie, who is both a character in this book and its narrator; with his first wife, Anja, who killed herself twenty-three years after leaving Auschwitz; and with his long-suffering second wife, Mala, who reminds Artie that Vladek's cheapness and paranoia are not wholly attributable to his ordeal. The elderly Vladek's conversations with his son give the Holocaust narrative a frame and also an ironic depth. Vladek and his son are at odds, and what stands between them is Vladek's unexamined past, which has left deep wounds in both of them. Maus is subtitled "a survivor's tale," and the survivor is not just Vladek; it is also his son. In reading this simple book, students are driven to ask large and complex questions about the nature of survival, about suffering and the moral choices that people make in response to it. They are compelled to consider the terrible relation between history and the real human beings who are history's casualties.
ABOUT THIS AUTHOR
Art Spiegelman is co-founder/editor of Raw, the acclaimed magazine of avant-garde comics and graphics. His work has been published in the New York Times, Playboy, the Village Voice, and many other periodicals, and his drawings have been exhibited in museums and galleries here and abroad. Honors he has received for Maus include a Guggenheim fellowship, and nomination for the National Book Critics Circle Award. Mr. Spiegelman lives in New York City with his wife, Francoise Mouly, and their daughter, Nadja.
DISCUSSION AND WRITING
1. What is your first impression of Vladek Spiegelman? What does his remark about friends suggest about his personality? How does it foreshadow revelations later in the book?
1. What has happened to Artie's mother?
2. How does Vladek get along with Mala, his second wife? What kind of things do they argue about?
3. How long has it been since Artie last visited his father? What do you think is responsible for their separation?
4. How does Vladek respond when Artie first asks him about his life in Poland? Why might he be reluctant to talk about those years?
5. On page 12 we see a close-up of Vladek as he pedals his exercise bicycle. What is the meaning of the numbers tattooed on his wrist? How does this single image manage to convey information that might occupy paragraphs of text?
6. Describe Vladek's relationship with Lucia Greenberg. How was he introduced to Anja Zylberberg? Why do you think he chose her over Lucia?
1. What is Vladek doing when Artie comes to visit him? How does his health figure elsewhere in the book?
2. How does Vladek become wealthy?
3. What does Vladek see while traveling through Czechoslovakia?
4. Why does the artist place a swastika in the background of the panels that depict the plight of Jews in Hitler's Germany (p. 33)? Why, on page 125, is the road that Vladek and Anja travel on their way back to Sosnowiec also shaped like a swastika? What other symbolic devices does the author use in this book?
Prisoner of War
1. When Artie refused to finish his food as a child, what did Vladek do? How does he characterize Anja's leniency with their son?
2. Why was Vladek's father so reluctant to let him serve in the Polish army? What means did he use to keep him out?
3. What is the meaning of the beard and skullcap that Vladek's father is shown wearing in the panels on page 46? What happens to his beard later on?
4. How does Vladek feel after shooting the German soldier?
5. How did the Germans treat Vladek and other Jewish prisoners after transporting them to the Reich? How was this different from their treatment of Polish P.O.W.'s?
6. What is the significance of Vladek's dream about his grandfather? What recurring meaning does "Parshas Truma" have in his life?
7. How does Vladek arrange to be reunited with his wife and son? What visual device does Spiegelman use to show him disguising himself as a Polish Gentile?
The Noose Tightens
1. Describe the activities depicted in the family dinner scene on pages 74-76. What do they tell you about the Zylberbergs?
2. Although Jews were allowed only limited rations under the Nazi occupation, Vladek manages to circumvent these restrictions for a while. What methods does he use to support himself and his family?
3. During the brutal mass arrest depicted on page 80, Vladek is framed by a panel shaped like a Jewish star. How does this device express his situation at that moment?
4. What happened to little Richieu? When Vladek begins telling this story on page 81, the first three rows of panels are set in the past, while the bottom three panels return us to the present and show the old Vladek pedaling his stationary bicycle. Why do you think Spiegelman chooses to conclude this anecdote in this manner?
5. What happened to Vladek's father? What does the scene on pages 90-91 suggest about the ways in which some Jews died and others survived?
1. This chapter and the one that follows both have the word "mouse" in their titles. And, in fact, in the concluding sections of this book Spiegelman's mice seem to become more "mouse-like." How does the author accomplish this? What reason might he have for doing so?
2. Why does Artie claim that he became an artist?
3. How does the comic strip "Prisoner on the Hell Planet" depict Artie and his family? How did you feel on learning that Artie has been hospitalized for a nervous breakdown? Why do you think he has chosen to draw himself dressed in a prison uniform? What is the effect of seeing these mice suddenly represented as human beings?
4. Why did Anja finally consent to send Richieu away? Was his death "better" than the fate of the children depicted on page 108?
5. Describe the strategies that Vladek used to conceal Anja and himself during the liquidation of the ghetto. How did the Germans flush them from hiding?
6. What eventually happens to the "mouse" who informed on the Spiegelmans? What becomes of Haskel, who refused to save Vladek's in-laws even though he accepted their jewels?
7. What does the incident on pages 118 and 119 tell us about relations between Jews and Germans? Does the knowledge that some Nazis fraternized with their victims make their crimes more or less horrible?
8. How did Vladek care for Anja after the destruction of the Srodula ghetto? Contrast his behavior toward his first wife, during the worst years of the war, with the way he now treats Mala.
1. What does Vladek mean when he says that reading Artie's comic makes him "interested" in his own story (p. 133)? Is this statement just a product of broken English, or does it reveal some deeper truth about what happens when we record our personal histories?
2. On page 136 Vladek says that he was able to pass for a member of the Gestapo but that Anja's appearance was more Jewish. What visual device does Spiegelman use to show the difference between them?
3. Given the fact that the Spiegelmans are "mice," what is the significance of the panels on page 147, in which Vladek and Anja's hiding place turns out to be infested with rats? Why might the author have portrayed this incident?
4. On page 149 Vladek is almost betrayed by a group of schoolchildren. What stories did Poles tell their children about Jews? How do you think such stories—and perhaps similar stories told by German parents—helped pave the way for the Final Solution?
5. Why does Vladek want to flee to Hungary? How are he and Anja eventually captured? What is the significance of the letter from Mandelbaum's nephew (p. 154)?
6. Why does Artie call his father a murderer? Is he justified? Who else has he called a murderer, and why?
The characters of Maus I
1. What kind of man—or mouse—is Vladek Spiegelman? What details does Spiegelman use to establish his character? What traits do you think enabled him to survive events in which the overwhelming majority of Jews were killed?
2. The opening pages of Maus portray Vladek Spiegelman as an old man. Only later, when Vladek is telling his story, do we see him as he was in his thirties. What differences do you see between the old Vladek and the young one who emerges in his memories? How do you account for these changes in his character?
3. How does Spiegelman establish the old Vladek's "foreignness"? In what specific ways, for example, does his speech differ from his son's? Why does the author show the young, remembered Vladek, as well as his family, speaking "normal" English?
4. How would you sum up the character of Artie? How would you compare him with his father? What things about Vladek irritate him? Which of Artie's traits does Vladek seem incapable of understanding? In what ways do you think Vladek has influenced his son?
5. How does the author portray Anja as a young woman, and later as a depressed and suicidal older one? How are your earlier perceptions of her altered by the comic-within-a-comic "Prisoner on the Hell Planet"? If Anja had written a suicide note, what might it have said?
For in-class discussion
1. What does Maus do that pure text narratives cannot? In what ways do Spiegelman's crude drawings help us visualize things that words alone, or more "realistic" images, might be unable to portray? How does Maus differ, both in its subject matter and visual format, from other comic books you have read?
1. One of the problems inherent in representing human beings as cats and mice is that animals have a narrower range of facial expression. Are Spiegelman's animals as emotionally expressive as human characters might be? If so, what means does the cartoonist use to endow his mice and cats with "human" characteristics?
2. On page 23, Vladek asks his son to refrain from telling the story of his youthful involvement with Lucia Greenberg, claiming that "it has nothing to do with Hitler, with the Holocaust." Artie argues that this story "makes everything more human." Which of these statements do you agree with? Should the Holocaust be treated as an event so catastrophic that it makes private experience irrelevant? How do other books and films about the Holocaust, like Schindler's List, Night, or The Painted Bird, deal with this predicament?
3. Why do you think some Jews assisted the Germans, either by policing the ghettos or by informing on their people (see pp. 113 and 117)? Why might Vladek still send gift packages to Haskel, who betrayed his in-laws (p. 118)? In Vladek's place, would you do the same thing?
4. Maus contains several moments of comedy. Most of these take place during the exchanges between Artie, Vladek, and Mala. But humor even finds a place in the ghetto and the bunker, for example on page 119, when the cake sold to the starving Jews of Srodula turns out to have been made with laundry soap. What is the effect of this humor? Was it inaccurate or "wrong" of Spiegelman to have included such episodes within his survivor's tale?
1. Keep a journal recording your responses to Maus I. If you were initially startled or put off by seeing the cartoon format used in the service of material that is profoundly serious, did those feelings change in the course of your reading? At what point, if any, did you find yourself accepting Spiegelman's visual and dramatic conventions? You may wish to put away your journal for a few weeks and then reread them, while skimming through Maus a second time. Do the responses you first recorded still hold true? In what ways has the book stayed with you?
2. On page 33, a character says, "There's a pogrom going on in Germany today." The Random House Dictionary defines "pogrom," a word of Russian origin, as "an organized massacre, especially of Jews." Elsewhere it defines "the Holocaust" as "the systematic mass slaughter of European Jews in Nazi concentration camps during World War II." How well do these definitions describe the events through which Vladek Spiegelman lived? Using independent research, describe the difference between a pogrom and the Holocaust. Why are such words—along with others like "victim," "survivor," and "genocide"—considered controversial today?
3. The situation of Polish Jews worsens steadily and dramatically throughout Maus, a deterioration that is aptly summed up by the chapter heading "The Noose Tightens." Chart the progress of this escalation, citing specific incidents in the book. What happens to Spiegelman's mice as they are forced deeper into "mouse holes"? In what way do they become more "mouse-like"? How might they have responded differently if the Germans had begun their program of mass extermination from the start?
4. Most art and literature about the Holocaust is governed by certain unspoken rules. Among these are the notions that the Holocaust must be portrayed as an utterly unique event; that it must be depicted with scrupulous accuracy, and with the utmost seriousness, so as not to obscure its enormity or dishonor its dead. In what way does Maus obey, violate, or disprove these "rules"?
5. Over the next month, interview a parent or grandparent about an episode of his or her life. Record not only the story that emerges, but your responses to that story. In what way is that story also your own?
ABOUT THIS GUIDE
This teacher's guide was written by Peter Trachtenberg. Peter Trachtenberg has taught writing and literature at the New York University School of Continuing Education, the Johns Hopkins University School of Continuing Education, and the School of Visual Arts.
Copyright © 1994 by PANTHEON BOOKS
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When 15-year-old Jess Harrahill heard a gruff male voice summon him twice from behind a car tucked back in a private driveway, a frightening possibility flashed through his mind: "Somebody's going to beat me up," he thought. But when the Monrovia, Calif., homeschooler-on his way home from adjunct classes at the local high school-identified the speaker as a police bicycle officer, he realized the police were just rounding up the usual suspects.
During the 1996-97 school year, police detained and questioned Jess Harrahill and his 13-year-old brother Ben-Joe a total of 22 times under Monrovia's truancy law, an ordinance that doubles as a de facto daytime curfew. Monrovia, a city of about 38,000, is among a growing batch of American burgs with truancy and daytime curfew ordinances in effect. As of December, according to the U.S. Conference of Mayors, 76 cities enforce daytime curfews; still more are considering imposing them. Such laws authorize police to detain, question, and cite on public property during school hours anyone who appears to be under age.
School and law enforcement officials credit the curfews with driving down truancy and juvenile crime. But the Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA), ACLU, and other watchdog groups believe such edicts erode constitutional freedoms. "Daytime curfews reverse the long-held American presumption of 'innocent until proven guilty' and preempt the constitutional right to move about freely," says Michael Farris, president of the Home School Legal Defense Association. "They're sold as a feel-good strategy, but really are a curtailment of liberty that produces no benefits."
At least 14 cities, including San Diego and Washington, D.C., have faced constitutional challenges to nighttime curfew laws. On behalf of the Harrahills and four other families, HSLDA filed suit in May 1997 questioning the constitutionality of Monrovia's truancy ordinance. In Washington and San Diego, nighttime curfews were struck down; the Harrahill suit may be a national test case for daytime curfews.
HSLDA's case also seeks to debunk the city's statistical claims of success. Monrovia police officials claim the daytime curfew contributed to a 54 percent decline in the school district's dropout rate during the 1995-96 school year. But the California Department of Education has a different story: Its annual report for the same period pegged Monrovia's dropout rate at 3.3 percent, an increase of more than a third over the previous year.
Roger Johnson, a Monrovia police captain, says his curfew-backing statistics have been verified by the Rand Corporation, a California-based think tank. City officials feel the city's truancy ordinance stands on solid statistical and legal ground.
"We've taken an education code that required truants to be handcuffed and taken into custody, and actually made it less intrusive on kids," says Mr. Johnson. He says the city's newer truancy procedure, passed by its city council in 1994, empowers police to question and cite kids who can't satisfactorily explain their presence on public property during school hours. Offenders must then appear in juvenile traffic court accompanied by a parent. "We're concerned for the community's kids," says Johnson.
But Jess Harrahill's mother Rosemary, who says crime and truancy levels in Monrovia don't warrant the amount of police-child contact generated by the truancy ordinance, calls the law "heavy-handed." Ironically, Monrovia is a favorite of Hollywood filmmakers for location shots requiring a Leave It to Beaver neighborhood feel. Films like Beethoven (boy meets rambunctious but endearing St. Bernard), and TV series like Picket Fences are routinely shot on the city's hospitable streets. Crime rates, which are relatively low for the L.A. basin, validate the city's small-town reputation.
So does Monrovia really need a law that authorizes police to clear kids off neighborhood streets? "Every community needs to be concerned with children attending school. You don't need to have a big crime problem to perceive that something needs to be done," says Mr. Johnson.
Mr. Farris says that job should be left to schools and parents. He says other, less restrictive methods like school attendance monitors can achieve the same objectives without impinging on the rights of homeschool and private-school kids, who are often on city streets during school hours due to varied class schedules.
According to Mrs. Harrahill, a full-time mom who has homeschooled five kids, Monrovia police seemed at first to be willing to work with families negatively affected by the truancy law. But she says her repeated attempts to familiarize police with her children failed to decrease the number of times police stopped her kids.
One overture by Monrovia police did attempt to ease the truancy law's impact on home- and private-schoolers: According to Mrs. Harrahill and deposition statements by pastor John Waldrip, a witness in the HSLDA suit, police chief Joseph Santoro offered to issue bright orange I.D. cards to kids whose schedules varied from that of the city's public schools. "It's a police-state mentality," says Mrs. Harrahill: "Innocent,
law-abiding kids have to register with the police department to be able to move around freely. Not even a sex offender has to carry a card to prove he can walk down the street."
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Now that I broke the ice, tested the waters and hopefully cleared the air by answering a reader’s question on a touchy subject in my last post, It’s Hard to Be Ethically Consistent While You’re Tap-Dancing on Eggshells, It’s my turn to ask a question:
Why is it that when members of the Wedge wolf pack were being killed in Washington State, people throughout the environmental community were up in arms, but now that the Colville Tribe has announced plans to initiate the first hunting season on wolves in the state on their northeastern Washington Reservation, folks are staying mostly silent about it?
People are fond of saying that the Native Americans believed this…, or did that…, as though all tribes were of one mind and every individual felt the same way as each other about everything, regardless of which tribe they were with or what part of the continent they lived in. For example, I’ll never forget this line that made me scoff out loud during a lecture: “Native Americans never ate anything that died in fear.” What? How does an animal pursued and shot with arrows not experience fear?
European Americans have gone from thinking of the Native Americans as barbaric savages to egalitarian angels. Neither impression is based on a scientific understanding of human nature. And neither is the revisionist notion that all tribes were like-minded on every issue (case in point are the different attitudes on wolves expressed by the Colvilles, who plan to hunt the few wolves who have returned to their reservation, and the Ojibwe of the Great Lakes region who respect wolves. .
On a related issue, the following is an article I wrote while the Makah tribe were shoring up plans to kill whales off the Washington coast…
Commercial Whalers and Slave Traders
In a May, 1995 letter to the U.S. Commerce Department, Dave Sones, the Makah nation’s “fisheries” manager revealed the tribe’s intent “to harvest whales not only for ceremonials and subsistence, but also for commercial purposes.” This sentiment was recently echoed by Canada’s Nuu-Chah-Nulth tribe, who also hope to get into the commercial sale of whale products.
Despite continued public support for whales, our IWC delegates struck a five year deal with the Russians to get the Makah a back-door quota of whales. In 1997, defying an international treaty on trade in endangered species, they traded 20 of the Alaskan Inuit’s bowhead whales (down to only 13 percent of their original population) for 20 gray whales from the Russian Chukotkas.
The Chukotkas were happy to trade up for the more palatable bowhead. Very few of them will even eat gray whales, which are said to have the texture of gum erasers and are known in their language as “the one that makes you poop fast.” (The real source of the gray whale’s nickname “Devilfish”?)
Seeing as how the Clinton administration is assisting the Makah in their effort to return to whaling, wouldn’t it be a nice, symbolic gesture for the President to join them in their ceremonial whaling preparations? These included prayer and self-flagellation, as well as fasting and sexual abstinence.
Other rites that were part of their whaling ceremonies are kept secret from “outsiders;” they are “nobody’s business.” Are there skeletons in the closet they don’t want exhumed? The media have depicts a Disneyized version of the historic Makah: a simple, sharing people, unique in their reverence for the Earth’s creatures. Summon the image of the Plains Indians, substitute whale for bison. But the coastal Makah were different, killing more prey then they could ever eat themselves.
Whales were rendered into oil to be traded along the Pacific. They were a source of great wealth for the tribal elite, who thought themselves superior to other Indians, including buffalo hunters. Although the primitive Makah’s ability to conquer massive sea mammals without motor boats or heavy artillery was impressive, it was also excessively cruel. And, according to European witnesses, so were some of the related rituals: “Since it was the first whale of the season, special ceremonies we involved…When it was brought ashore, a slave was sacrificed, and the corpse was laid beside the whale’s head, which was adorned with eagle feathers…” observed Haswell and Boit, eighteenth century writers. Boit understood that cannibalism was also occasionally practiced.
Slave trading was an integral part of the Makah socioeconomic structure. Slaves were considered chattel, a thing of less than human status, one step below “worthless people” in their caste system. Possession of slaves was prestigious; to sacrifice a slave on a formal occasion demonstrated an arrogant disregard of wealth. Unfortunately for their lower castes, this was before the United Nations Decade of Education in Human Rights.
In order to capture new slaves and acquire new territories, the Makah frequently undertook military expeditions to distant villages. Relying on the element of surprise, they would attack and kill all of the adult males in the unsuspecting tribe. Women and children were taken as slaves; infants and elderly were left for dead. Slain members of the conquered tribe were decapitated, their heads brought back to be displayed as trophies. Clearly, the killing of whales is not the only bygone tradition that modern society would condemn or reject if given a voice. The Makah continued to capture and trade slaves well after the 1855 treaty prohibited it.
Meanwhile, Japan, in their ongoing effort to promote the backslide into commercial whaling, discovered a crisis situation in 1995. They learned the number of their young people who had never tasted whale was on the rise! In answer to that shocking trend, their “fisheries” agency began a slick marketing campaign that included a home delivery service for whale meat. A quarter-pounder there now goes for $55.00 U.S. That’s without cheese. Or a bun. But a word of warning to those planning to stop by the Moby Dick’s franchise (coming soon to your neighborhood) for a juicy double-devilfish burger: Don’t forget the Kaopectate!
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What is Tikkun Olam?
Tikkun Olam (literally, “world repair”) has come to connote social action and the pursuit of social justice. Tikkun Olam is a key element of the Union for Progressive Judaism (UPJ) mission statement. The UPJ and its members, including Brisbane Progressive Jewish Congregation, support a range of projects in Australia and around the world. This page has been developed to provide a portal for our members and supporters to access some of these projects and other organisations who contribute to Tikkun Olam. As we become aware of projects, new links will be added. If you know of a new program, or would like us to add a link to an existing project, please contact us.
The following paragraphs give information on some Tikkun Olam-based activities you may wish to support.
Jewish Aid Australia (JAA) is a non-profit organisation dedicated to pursuing social justice for disadvantaged communities in Australia and overseas. JAA enables people to realise and practice the core Jewish concepts of Tzedakah (justice), Chessed (kindness) and Tikkun Olam (repairing the world). Jewish values urge us to question injustice, act, and take collective responsibility. JAA sparks and sustains social change by channelling the unlimited passion and potential of Jewish change-makers into action for a more just world. Volunteering with JAA is an avenue for Jews, who are passionate about community and international development, to work through a Jewish aid organisation.
Queensland Jewish Community Services Inc. provides welfare services for people in the Jewish community. We respond to enquiries from the community by giving information, referring clients to the relevant Government departments, organisation or professional person to assist them. If needed, we support clients in their interaction with these services. Where appropriate, we provide practical assistance as well. Our work includes:
- Providing client support and advocacy at the Police, Courts and Government Departments;
- Visiting correctional facilities to assist determining the needs of Jewish prisoners;
- Finding legal representation and support to those exposed to abuse, domestic violence and discrimination;
- Providing initial contact and assistance to access services for clients with mental health issues;
- Helping purchase medical equipment for people to maintain a level of independence in their homes;
- Providing transport to people who need to attend medical procedures and appointments; and
- Doing our best in a professional caring manner.
Tevel b’Tzedek (Earth – In Justice) is an Israel-based non-profit organization promoting social and environmental justice. Our mission is to create a community of Israeli and Diaspora Jews engaging in the urgent issues of global poverty, marginalization and environmental devastation from a place of deep commitment to the Jewish people and its ethical and spiritual traditions.
Union for Progressive Judaism Social Action – Mazon Appeal. At Mazon, we recognise that even in our lucky country the homeless and unemployed, the elderly, single parents and the working poor suffer from food insecurity. And the numbers are growing. With this in mind Mazon runs an annual Mazon Food Bag Appeal at Rosh Hashanah as a direct means of getting food to those who need it most. Mazon also collects funds throughout the year and runs an annual Pesach appeal. We encourage people to donate a nominal 3% of the cost of the catering at a simcha to Mazon. To find out more, to get involved or to donate funds, contact the UPJ office at (02) 9328 7644.
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WASHINGTON, July 20 (UPI) -- Saturday mail delivery has to go, and service may eventually drop to three days a week, U.S. Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe says.
The U.S. Postal Service is projected to lose $8.3 billion this year, and, "On Sept. 30, I won't be able to pay my bills," Donahoe told USA Today.
On that date, a $5.5 billion payment is due to cover future retirees' health benefits.
Congress mandated six-day delivery in 1983, but Sens. Tom Carper, D-Del., and Susan Collins, R-Maine, have introduced legislation to allow the end of Saturday mail.
Donahoe estimates that step would save $3.1 billion annually and said it has "a much better chance today than a year ago. I don't know if I'd say 'likely' yet."
Looking ahead, he said, "At some point, we'll have to move to three" days a week, maybe in 15 years.
Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., says Saturday delivery is vital to rural areas.
"It's important to have delivery on Saturday in places like Montana to get things like medicine and things they need," he said.
|Additional U.S. News Stories|
WASHINGTON, June 18 (UPI) --Natura Pet Products is voluntarily recalling some of its dry pet food because of potential salmonella contamination, U.S. health officials said Tuesday.
REYKJAVIK, Iceland, June 19 (UPI) --Iceland's new prime minister this week cited the country's mackerel fishing dispute with the European Union as a prime example of the value of sovereignty.
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As the commercial sector expands, the competition also increases. With globalization taking on humongous proportions, it would be safe to say that no manufacturer today enjoys a monopoly. This competition has given rise to the concept of marketing and advertising.
Marketing is a crucial aspect of the sales figures of almost any commercial activity. How the product is presented to the prospect is considered as important as the product itself. But what most advertising businesses seem to overlook is the most important nine word sentence in advertising. In the words of Rosser Reeves, “A gifted product is mightier than a gifted pen.”
The star of the advertisement is the product, not the ad itself.
The central idea behind this nine word sentence is reinstating the importance of the product, which is the ultimate weapon in winning over your client. Rosser Reeves was most remembered for his annoying Anacin advertisement, which was so excruciating for the viewer that the headache medicine’s name was embedded in his/her mind. In fact the sales of Anacin tripled after this advertisement went on the air.
Rather than focus on the quality of the advertising, Reeves believed that the product should be the star of the advertisement. Instead of focusing on creating a beautiful and fancy advertisement, the focus should the on imprinting the product’s name in the prospect’s mind.
Finding the USP of the product and propagating it is the name of the game
It is the unique selling proposition (USP) of the product that should be elaborated in the advertisement, so that it is imprinted in the viewer’s mind. Reeves adopted the use of slogans to ensure that prospects remembered the product along with its USP. The Dettol antiseptic company launched a soap which was propagated as an antiseptic soap. While it is known that all soaps are antiseptic in nature, Dettol managed to create a niche for itself by advertising its USP as being an antiseptic soap. So creating a unique selling proposition for the product and imprinting it in the prospect’s mind is the trick to effective advertising.
The ultimate idea behind any business-related activity is to make profits. Absolutely no energy should be wasted in undertaking any activity that fails to deliver in support of this ultimate goal of profit making. Profits are made when products are sold. Advertising is a marketing strategy that helps draw the attention of possible buyers towards the product. However, if the advertisement is unable to add to the sales and therefore the consequent profits of a venture, then regardless of the quality of the advertisement, it fails in its aim.
There are several noted ads that are remembered and honored for their great creativity; however, sadly, in many ads, the product seems to be forgotten completely. So while the ads were lovely, they were at the same time useless. Unless the advertisement can compel your prospects to remember the product and maybe even buy it, it is a bad advertisement, no matter how creative the concept behind it may be.
Repeat sales make the real profits
Marketing is a combination of four Ps, namely "product," "price," "placement" and "promotion." Most advertisers seem to forget this combination and interpret the meaning of marketing as only "promotion" of the product. It is imperative to understand the logic of business if one is to develop a coherent advertising strategy. Profits are made when clients return for the product repeatedly. If a soap manufacturer manages to sell one bar of soap to everyone in the vicinity, the business will start a downward trend as soon as the last customer has been attended to. It is only when users of a product buy it once, use it, are satisfied with it and come back repeatedly to purchase it, that a company can grow indefinitely.
Even in the virtual world, advertising strategies are developed in order to not only lure the prospect once, but have browsers return to the site often. eBay has earned a reputation for itself which makes shoppers return to the site for various products. Similarly, there are holiday package-providing sites like makemytrip.com that have plenty of clients returning to look for affordable and interesting holiday packages on the site. The success of these sites lies in clients returning to use their services over and over and over again.
No matter how efficient the product advertisement is, it can only raise the prospect’s interest in the product and do absolutely no more. A good ad that places the product in the right light and focuses on its USP will only manage to make the prospect pay attention to the product. An interested prospect may buy the product once.
But from that point on, it is the quality of the product, its value for money and other such intrinsic attributes, that will come into play. The "repeat sales" wealth-creating formula can only be executed and implemented by the product. The copywriter can in no way help in adopting or executing this plan. So unless the product is satisfying the customer’s needs, the buyer will not return to purchase it again, regardless of how good the advertising strategy of the product is. The best of advertisements cannot make a customer buy a product repeatedly unless the client has been satisfied by the product.
Continuing with the Anacin example, the advertisement made people remember the annoying jingle and therefore by default remember the name of the medicine. But it was when they tried the headache pill that users realized how effective it was. This made them return to the product repeatedly. So what the Anacin advertisement did was embed the name of the product in the prospect’s mind — and that’s it. The repeated sales were only created by the pill itself.
The product quality should not take a back seat to the advertising strategy
When pumping large amounts of money into your advertising strategy, never ignore or compromise on the quality of the product. It is the product that will help you cash in on the major profits that can be generated by repeat sales.
Ignoring product performance at the cost of advertising strategy is sure to spell doom for the venture. Since it has been proved that it is the product and not the advertising that causes repeat sales, it is of course crucial that the product be given its due attention.
Successful business ventures give due attention to maintaining regular and correct "repeat sales statistics" because these send out several signals that are crucial for the business. Repeat sales statistics warn the manufacturer early that the product is not faring well against the competition. Armed with this knowledge, corrective measures may be taken in time to pull the product up to mark once more.
For this reason, it is highly advisable that these statistics be maintained month after month and year after year. While almost all commercial ventures understand the importance of advertising, many of them fail to recognize the life-saving effects of "repeat sale statistics."
It is an obvious conclusion now that, while advertising is essential in today’s day and age of communication and exposure, it should not take away the focus from the product itself. Simply hiring a creative copywriter is not the solution to good and effective advertising. A good copywriter is not one who creates original ads, but one who is able to bring out the USP of the product. It is the USP of the product that will help create a niche for it.
Advertising agencies that can use the USP of the product in a magnetic manner to bring the prospect to the point of making the first purchase shall be considered effective. From then on it is the product that will perform.
At no given time should the quality of the advertisement awe the viewer to the extent that he or she ignores (or forgets) the product been advertised. So while the temptation to out-perform the product is usually difficult to fight off for a copywriter, a good copywriter must at all times keep the product as the prime and only star of the show.
The M&M slogan “melts in your mouth, not your hands" is a classic example of how the product USP was portrayed in such a way as to keep the product itself as the highlight of the advertisement. Prospects remembered the product and their curiosity was also heightened enough to want to try it out. M&M still rules the market today, and the slogan has lasted for decades now. It was the advertisement created by Reeves that got the prospect’s attention, but it was the quality of the product that retained this interest over the years.
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Road Rules: Teaching Your Teen to Be a Good Driver
Teen drivers have the highest accident and fatality rates of any age group. If you're the parent of a young driver, you can help protect your teen by learning about the problem and taking steps to decrease your teenager's risk of injuries in a car crash.
Teens face an increased risk of car accidents for many reasons:
Lack of experience and judgment; According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 16-year-old drivers are five times more likely to have an accident than 18-year-old drivers.
Overestimating their driving abilities
Speeding and driving too fast for traffic and weather conditions
Drinking and driving
Not wearing a seat belt
Inattention, often caused by other young people in the car; With two or more passengers, the fatal crash risk for 16- to 19-year-old drivers is more than five times greater than it is when they're driving alone, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.
Doing a lot of night driving
Talking on a cell phone while driving
Texting while driving
Make sure you and your teen wear seat belts at all times. Nearly three-quarters of 15- to 20-year-olds who die in vehicle crashes aren't wearing seat belts.
Draw the line on drinking
Set a zero-tolerance rule about drinking and driving, with strict punishments attached.
Give your teen lots of time to practice. Once your teen has a learning permit, drive with him or her as often as you can and in all possible driving conditions. Some states require a licensed driver accompany the teenager for the first six months.
Before setting out, plan the route and discuss it with your teen. Begin with 15- to 20-minute sessions and gradually increase the time to an hour. Give positive feedback. Give specific instructions.
Have a time limit
Set a curfew time for night driving. More than 60 percent of teen motor-vehicle deaths occur between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m.
Hit the books
Have the teen take a defensive-driving course. Such classes go beyond basic "driver's ed" and provide invaluable skills.
Be a good driver yourself
Because teens usually learn to drive from their parents, be sure you're teaching them good technical driving skills, respect for other drivers, and good judgment.
They should pay
Have your teen pay for some or all of the insurance, car payment, gas, and maintenance. Teens who contribute are more likely to drive responsibly.
Minimize the teenager's distractions
Don't let a teen drive while using a cell phone, eating, or playing loud music.
Choose your teenager's car with care
Avoid sports cars with performance images, and small or older cars that offer little crash protection. Instead, look for a mid-sized or full-sized vehicle with a sedate image and a smaller motor.
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The end of summer has brought the usual plethora of historical talks and events in Massachusetts. Here are three from the Old South Meeting House in Boston, circling around the Boston Tea Party.
On Thursday, 7 October, at 6:30 P.M., Prof. Jill Lepore of Harvard will speak on “The Tea Party’s Revolution and the Battle for American History.”
The 1773 Boston Tea Party is an iconic event in American history, a symbol for civic-minded citizens and activist organizations across the political spectrum. Since 2009, the far-right has laid claim to the Tea Party, creating a national campaign against taxation and tyranny in its modern forms. But what resemblance, if any, does this recent movement have to the original protests of 1773?Lepore’s new book is The Whites of Their Eyes.
On Thursday, 21 October, at 6:30 P.M., Prof. Benjamin Carp of Tufts will speak on “Defiance of the Patriots: The Boston Tea Party of 1773,” which is also the name of his new book, to be launched that night.
On the evening of December 16, 1773, a group of disguised Bostonians boarded three merchant ships and dumped more than forty-six tons of tea into Boston Harbor. The Boston Tea Party was a daring and revolutionary act that set the stage for war. This study brings to life the diverse array of people and places that the Tea Party brought together—from Chinese tea-pickers to English businessmen, Native American tribes, sugar plantation slaves, and Boston’s ladies of leisure.Showing how crowded the month has become, I know of three other historical organization hosting talks on eighteenth-century history the same night. But for folks interested in the real story of the Tea Party, Defiance of the Patriots is the most thorough and wide-ranging account out there.
Finally, the Old South’s reenactment of the meetings preceding the Boston Tea Party is a big draw every year. While the professors’ talks above are free, it costs $9 to attend the reenactment, and tickets can sell out. But if you buy today, the cost is only $8.
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If the ongoing gas leak at French oil company Total’s Elgin-Franklin well is not brought under control, the firm could see its share price drop by 50 percent, according to Stuart Joyner, head of oil and gas at Investec Securities.
Total saw a near 8 percent drop in its share price just last week, reflecting investors’ fears that the leak could last months or worsen.
For now, the causes of the leak have not been determined.
Total said on Friday that two rigs had been mobilized to drill a relief well, and that it will be only a matter of days before that drilling starts.
The company said that the leak was isolated from other wells, and that there had been no drop in pressure in the other wells.
Joyner told CNBC that “there is not much appetite to buy Total [shares] anyway, and some hedge funds might make some marginal buying, but overall people don’t want the hassle.” He estimated that the chances of the leak off the coast of Scotland developing into the sort of crisis that BP faced in 2010 are one in seven.
Analysts are concerned that if the gas leak at the Elgin-Franklin facility is not brought under control rapidly, it could cause extensive damage to the environment and to Total.Page 1 of 2 | Next Page
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We hear a lot about this during Lent. But here’s a helpful reminder that this sacrament is welcome, and necessary, all year ’round.
From Sr. Mary Ann Walsh at the USCCB:
Penance, aka confession, is the sacrament of the forgiveness of sin. You can’t beat it for convenience. It’s available practically whenever. Tell a priest you want to go to confession and you’ll get his attention. One bishop I know was cornered on an airplane. Another passenger figured out what was going on and asked if he could confess too. It must have been an interesting game of musical seats. An interesting question for priests might be: Where was the strangest place you ever administered the sacrament of penance? The answers I’ve gathered include “in a sports bar, at a graduation party” and “on the golf course, walking up the fairway.”
Confession has benefits. Here are ten:
1. Confidentiality guaranteed. There’s nothing like confessing your sins to someone guaranteed not to tell anyone else. Sometimes you need to talk in absolute confidence. Even under subpoena, a priest can’t tell anyone what’s said to him in confession. He can’t even hint at it. Now that’s confidentiality.
2. Housekeeping for the soul. It feels good to be able to start a clean life all over again. Like going into a sparkling living room in your home, it’s nice when clutter is removed – even if it’s your own.
3. A balm for the desire for revenge. When you have been forgiven you can forgive others. If the perfect Jesus forgives me, who am I to want to avenge the slights in my life. Think: “Why did they promote him over me?’ or “Mom played favorites!”
4. Low cost therapy. It’s free, which makes it cheaper than a psychiatrist for dealing with guilt.
5. Forced time to think. Socrates said that the unexamined life is not worth living. To examine our lives and acknowledge failings marks the first step of making things right with God, others and ourselves. Life can be more worth living when you ponder the meaning of your own life.
6. Contribution toward world peace. Gaudium et Spes, the Second Vatican Council’s Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World, said that the imbalances in the world that lead to war and tensions “are linked with that more basic imbalance which is rooted in the heart of man.” Peace of soul leads to peace of heart leads to peace beyond oneself.
7. A better neighborhood. Confession leaves you feling good about yourself, thereby cutting back the inclination to road rage and aggressive shopping cart driving. With the grace of the sacrament you’re energized to, as Jesus said to the woman caught in adultery, “go and sin no more.”
8. Realistic self-perception. Confession helps overcome arrogance when you have to admit you’re as much of a sinner as anyone else. It helps build tolerance for others’ perceived shortcomings.
9. One more benefit of being Catholic. There are lots of benefits, including a sense of community, liturgical rites to help us encounter God in prayer, and the wonderful sense of humanity exemplified in the saints, from Mary, the loving Mother of God, to Augustine, the exasperating son of Monica. The sacrament that leads us to inner peace is among the greatest boons.
10. Closeness to God. Confession helps you realize that you have a close connection to God and receive his grace through the sacraments. What can be better than knowing God’s on your team, or, to be less arrogant about it, that you are on God’s.
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Dizziness: Lightheadedness and Vertigo
Dizziness is a word that is often used to describe two different feelings. It is important to know exactly what you mean when you say "I feel dizzy," because it can help you and your doctor narrow down the list of possible problems.
Although dizziness can occur in people of any age, it is more common among older adults. A fear of dizziness can cause older adults to limit their physical and social activities. Dizziness can also lead to falls and other injuries.
It is common to feel lightheaded from time to time. Lightheadedness usually is not caused by a serious problem. It often is caused by a momentary drop in blood pressure and blood flow to your head that occurs when you get up too quickly from a seated or lying position (orthostatic hypotension).
Lightheadedness has many causes, including:
A more serious cause of lightheadedness is bleeding. Most of the time, the location of the bleeding and the need to seek medical care are obvious. But sometimes bleeding is not obvious (occult bleeding). You may have small amounts of bleeding in your digestive tract over days or weeks without noticing the bleeding. When this happens, lightheadedness and fatigue may be the first noticeable symptoms that you are losing blood. Heavy menstrual bleeding also can cause this type of lightheadedness.
An uncommon cause of lightheadedness is an abnormal heart rhythm (arrhythmia), which can cause fainting spells (syncope). Unexplained fainting spells need to be evaluated by a doctor. You can check your heart rate by taking your pulse.
Many prescription and nonprescription medicines can cause lightheadedness or vertigo. The degree of lightheadedness or vertigo that a medicine causes will vary.
Vertigo occurs when there is conflict between the signals sent to the brain by various balance- and position-sensing systems of the body. Your brain uses input from four sensory systems to maintain your sense of balance and orientation to your surroundings.
Common causes of vertigo include:
Less common causes of vertigo include:
Immediate medical attention is needed if vertigo occurs suddenly with loss of function. Vertigo that occurs with loss of function in one area of the body can mean a problem in the brain, such as a stroke or transient ischemic attack (TIA).
Alcohol and many prescription and nonprescription medicines can cause lightheadedness or vertigo. These problems may develop from:
Check your symptoms to decide if and when you should see a doctor.
eMedicineHealth Medical Reference from Healthwise
To learn more visit Healthwise.org
© 1995-2012 Healthwise, Incorporated. Healthwise, Healthwise for every health decision, and the Healthwise logo are trademarks of Healthwise, Incorporated.
Find out what women really need.
Pill Identifier on RxList
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According to the Hawai`i Revised Statutes, a victim of a felony offense, where the offender has been convicted, is entitled to certain rights. In all Circuit Court cases, the court shall afford a fair opportunity to the victim to be heard on the issue of the offender's disposition, before imposing sentence. This not only provides information to the judge, but may also be beneficial to provide release and closure to the victims.
After a felony offender pleads to, or is found guilty of a criminal offense, the Department of the Prosecuting Attorney sends the crime victim's name, address and telephone number to Adult Probation. A pre-sentence probation officer contacts the victim to inform him/her of the offender's sentencing date and time. In the event the sentencing hearing is continued, the victim will be notified.
The victim will be sent a form asking if he/she wishes to make a statement at the sentencing hearing. The purpose of the statement is to inform the judge of the physical, psychological and/or financial effect(s) that the crime has had upon the victim.
The victim may appear in person at the sentencing hearing to make a verbal statement or submit a written statement to be included in the pre-sentence report. In the case of a homicide in which the victim is unable to appear, the victim's family will be afforded the fair opportunity to be heard.
Our victim services coordinator is available to answer questions about the victim impact statement. If a victim is already working with an advocate from Victim Witness Kokua Services (Department of the Prosecuting Attorney), the victim may choose to coordinate the victim impact statement with his/her advocate.
Victims wishing to make a statement at the offender's sentencing hearing should go to the designated courtroom and report to the bailiff on the day of the hearing.
Written statements must be mailed to: Adult Client Services, First Circuit Court, 777 Punchbowl Street, Honolulu, Hawai`i 96813.
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The integration of air travel and high-speed rail services on the mainland will benefit major airports like Hong Kong, Shanghai and Beijing, but hurt smaller airports and short-haul flights, say industry players.
After Hong Kong's high-speed rail, the Express Rail Link, is completed in 2015, it will benefit Hong Kong airport because many passengers will take high-speed trains from the south of the mainland to Hong Kong, and transfer to international flights from Hong Kong airport, said Zheng Tianxiang (pictured), a transport professor at Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou.
Given the high-speed train journey of four hours, 10 minutes between Wuhan in central China and Guangzhou, people south of the Yangtze River will find it convenient to take high-speed trains to Hong Kong, said Zheng.
However, Hong Kong's future high-speed train station, the West Kowloon Terminus, lacks a direct high-speed rail link to Chek Lap Kok Airport, which diminishes the attractiveness of the airport as a transit hub for high-speed train passengers from the mainland, he added.
"High-speed rail is a good thing for big airports. For small airports, it poses competition," said Liu Wu Jun, chief technical officer of the Shanghai Airport Authority.
For example, the airport in Wuxi city, Jiangsu province, previously had one daily flight to Beijing, but that has ceased, Liu said. Now, passengers from Wuxi take high-speed trains to the Hongqiao transport hub in Shanghai, where they take a plane to Beijing, Liu said.
There are now 70 flights from Hongqiao to Beijing every day, Liu added. "So passengers from Wuxi go to Hongqiao."
The Hongqiao transport hub includes a high-speed train station, subway connections, and an airport where 90 per cent of the flights are domestic.
Hongqiao now offers 230 travel tickets that combine high-speed rail with flights. Among them is a ticket for a high-speed train journey from Nanjing to Hongqiao plus a flight out of Hongqiao, said Liu. "This is good for passengers. If we don't have these combined tickets, they will go to other airports."
Last year, 10 per cent of travellers passing through Hongqiao were high-speed train passengers, Liu estimated. Those who buy combined high-speed train and air tickets via Hongqiao were mainly business travellers.
"There will definitely be more business travellers buying the combined tickets. Time is of the essence to them."
At Shanghai's other airport at Pudong, 90 per cent of the flights are international, so Pudong International Airport will not suffer from high-speed rail services, said JP Morgan analyst Karen Li.
"When the Beijing-Shanghai high-speed railway became operational in 2011, lots of people were concerned that it would cause a lot of traffic diversion. There was some traffic diversion but not that much," said Li.
Since the Beijing-Shanghai High-Speed Railway started in June 2011, the Beijing-Shanghai flight route has lost 3 to 5 per cent market share, she estimated.
But by the end of this year, when 3,500 kilometres of new high-speed rail links will be completed, the bigger network will make train travel more attractive, Li said.
After that, Beijing-Shanghai flights may lose market share of 30 to 40 per cent, while other mainland short-haul flights risk losing market share of up to 30 per cent, he warned.
In January, Air China, China Southern Airlines, China Eastern Airlines, and other mainland carriers, collectively reported one billion yuan (HK$1.23 billion) in losses, partly due to competition from high-speed rail.
To keep passengers from switching to high-speed trains, airlines have been offering steep discounts. For example, a one-way economy high-speed train ticket from Guangzhou to Wuhan typically costs 463.50 yuan, but mainland airlines are offering discounted air tickets for this route priced as low as 235 yuan.
Ironically, the diversion of traffic by the rail services will benefit Beijing airport, due to the airport's congestion in domestic flights, said Li.
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The Mystic Voodoo
Where Art, Psychology, and Mythology Collide
Wise and loving Father of the Loas.
Loa of new life, transformation, and fertility.
Damballah Wedo is one of the most revered of the African gods, the loa of peace and purity, of platinum and silver, and the one who grants riches and sustains the world. Optimism emanatesfrom his presence and it is he who is the original servant to the Creator.
Long ago, the serpent spirit Dambala created the world. He used his 7,000 coils to form the stars and the planets in the heavens and to shape the hills and valleys on earth. He used lightning bolts to forge metals and make the sacred rocks and stones. When he shed his skin he created all the waters on the earth. And when the sun showed through mist settling on the plants and trees a rainbow was born. Her name was Ayida Wedo. Dambala loved her and made her his wife. They are still together today, the serpent and the rainbow. Dambala and Ayida Wedo.
Some of the chief attributes of Damballah Wedo is his lack of human speech and an affinity for water. He has many aspects, one of which Damballah la Flambeau, where he appears in fire form and pure active energy. In this form he melds with the attributes of the Dragon, and represents the outward manifestation of Kundalini of the East rising.
Purpose: To bring wealth, happiness, optimism, and purity of thought to his possessor.
Use: To use this Voodoo Doll, light a white candle and tell Damballah Wedo your wishes in a sacred place. Appropriate offerings for Damballah Wedo include white eggs, white wine, cabbage, and white flowers. His color is white and his day is Sunday.
The most important concept in Voodoo is reverence to ancestors. Always be sure to remember those who have gone on before you. It is the single most important thing you can do to insure success in your ritualistic endeavors.
Serpent Deities of the Vodou Religion
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Your Perseverance Will Win You Your Lives
Remember Albert Einstein’s words after the Second World War: “As a lover of freedom, when the revolution came in Germany, I looked to the universities to defend it, knowing that they had always boasted of their devotion to the cause of truth; but no, the universities were immediately silenced. Then I looked to the great editors of the newspapers, whose flaming editorials in days gone by had proclaimed their love of freedom; but they, like the universities were silenced in a few short weeks. Only the Church stood squarely across the path of Hitler’s campaign for suppressing truth. I never had any special interest in the Church before, but now I feel a great affection and admiration for it, because the Church alone has had the courage to stand for intellectual truth, and moral freedom. I am forced to confess that what I once despised, now I praise unreservedly.”
Lofty praise from a man who is described as a one of the greatest thinkers the world has ever known. He praises the church for having the courage to stand up for what it held dear...the Gospel of Jesus Christ, a Gospel of Life, at one of the most dangerous moments in the history of humankind. In spite of what the media may tell us, the Catholic Church was responsible for saving countless lives during the Nazi occupations. I think of a number of our great saints who stood up against persecution and certain death in order to proclaim their love for Christ. Maximilian Kolbe stands out as one such Saint. He went to his death in Auschwitz concentration camp with the words of the Hail Mary on his lips. He faced his final moments as he had the whole of his life, with courage and deep faith. He knew that these evil men may kill the body but they can never kill the divine life within him. He, like all our brothers and sisters in the faith who held dear in times of persecution, stand as beacons of hope for us today.
We may not have to die for our faith today in the literal sense. However in the world in which we live today we are faced with a more subtle persecution. There are those who mock and ridicule us for the faith we hold dear, even from within our own families, our friends and our work colleagues. Why do you still go to Mass? How can you believe in all that stuff? We will have opportunities to stand up for what we believe. What St Luke says to those who first read his words for the first time he says to us today- your endurance will win you your lives!
The ideal way to accept Jesus’ ‘end of time’ message is always to be ready to face our death. We must live holy lives of selfless love, mercy, compassion and unconditional forgiveness, remembering the demands of justice in our day-to-day lives. We must also take time to rest and to pray in order to keep our hearts alive to God’s presence with us and within us. Daily examination of our conscience at bedtime, asking God’s pardon and forgiveness, also prepares us to face God at any time to give an account of our lives.
Fr. Eamonn Burke
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This poem was written for Read Write Poem Prompt #114: All Over The Map. I decided to continue the narrative that began in “Endgame” and continued in “Emmaus”. The words led me to a dream sequence experienced by the character in both poems; it is constructed in three Six Sentences pieces with two short interludes in between. I hope you enjoy the read.
I. A Dead God’s Chest.
Your mind unfolds, tumbling out jewel-wrapped candy like a cracked-open piñata minted inside a pirate’s fiction. This is the stuff of little boy and girl pretend, of cinemascope phantasms dreamt alive in the dark. It is made out of crowns, galleons, doubloons, and blessed by curses like the clown-painted Aztec god grin baring teeth at you from the face of an underbreath promise: take my treasure and you die, mortal. You laugh like the sunset dancing diamonds upon the water that holds your ship aloft, but a sword swishes wet and red in your ear, drawing its double-dog-dare-you onto a blueprint that looks just like your neck. It’s the eggshell crack that you never hear until your boots break through a wretched, open floor. And on the way down, you will see those boots embedded inside that grin, lodged between eyetooth and incisor as a testament against you, just before your back splits apart upon Hell’s floor.
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SSP Fellow Connie Wyrick Creates a Ripple Effect
|SSP Fellow Connie Wyrick's students demonstrate the use of a vacuum chamber, which was purchased with support from SSP, to elementary school students|
By Caitlin Jennings, Communications Specialist, Society for Science & the Public
Wrapping up her second year as an SSP fellow, Connie Wyrick, along with her students, has a lot to show for her hard work and dedication. One of her students at Miller County R-III High School, a small school with just 67 students in Tuscumbia, Missouri, was recognized as a Kirkpatrick Eagle winner, which places her research as the top high school research project presented in the state at the Missouri Academy of Science State Meeting, and a freshman was awarded a $14,000 scholarship (as one of the top six medicine and health projects at the Missouri Junior Science, Engineering and Humanities Symposium) for her work on edible Missouri mushrooms as antibiotics. Another student will be presenting her research to the school board of education as she found that most local law enforcement officials did not realize that some new sweetened alcoholic beverages, which are branded similar to sodas, contained alcohol.
These are just some of Connie’s students’ successes, and there will hopefully be more to come. Upcoming freshmen have already begun research and some of her students will be competing at the Missouri State Future Farmers of American Agriscience Fair this summer. Last year, three of her students received gold medals at the National Agriscience Fair.
Not only are her high school students succeeding in science, but they are also sharing their passion with elementary school children in several neighboring schools through science units on topics including chemistry, weather, and ecology. With the help of SSP, they recently created a marine life unit and were able to show over 500 kindergarteners, first-, and second-graders living star fish, sea slugs, and other marine animals that most of the students in this rural area in a land-locked state had never seen before. “The children just went nuts,” Connie says. In this way, SSP’s support causes a “ripple effect,” she says, because the younger kids also get a chance to see what getting involved in high school science could be like.
“No doubt the SSP Fellowship has opened doors,” Connie says. “A lot of projects that the students have done would have been very difficult to do without [SSP’s support].” And the Fellowship helps in other ways too. “Probably as much, or more importantly, is that when it comes time to contact [potential] mentors for the kids, as soon as I…mention Society for Science & the Public, the professors just open their doors and their labs and are so receptive to the students coming in and doing research.” She adds that is has also helped the students feel more sure of their scientific abilities. “When it comes time to compete against the schools that are larger, or have a better financial base than our small rural school …they feel like they can be competitive,” she says. “The students themselves have more confidence because they feel like the program has been recognized.”
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NEW YORK - It's hard enough for parents to say goodbye to their kids at drop-off time at preschool or the baby sitter's house. Add in the threat of a disaster, and the thought of being unable to reach them can make things scary.
Despite recent disasters including the 2001 terrorist attacks, many child care providers don't have emergency plans for their charges, experts say. Parents need to take matters into their own hands by asking if plans are in place, says Linda Smith, executive director of the National Association of Child Care Resource & Referral Agencies.
"The vast majority of child care in this country is not prepared for a disaster, other than a fire drill," says Smith, whose organization has 800 agencies around the country that refer parents to day care centers, preschools and home-based care.
"Our goal is to have parents make sure they ask: What are the plans? Where will the children be taken? How long is the child going to be cared for?'" she said.
Unlike K-12 public schools, which are largely complying with a federal mandate to have a disaster plan, early childhood education and care is not federally regulated, and few states require disaster planning, Smith says. While some providers obtain accreditation from private organizations that mandate planning, they make up less than 10 percent of centers nationwide, she says.
Parents and caregivers can't anticipate every potential danger. Still, asking questions and being prepared can make parents feel more at ease.
Some parents are doing just that.
Jim Cowen was not yet a father on Sept. 11, 2001, when he was a Navy lieutenant at work at the Pentagon. On that day, he knew his girlfriend was safe and recalls "how difficult it was for me, when I had no one but myself to worry about."
Now his daughter, Samantha, who turns 2 in August, attends a day-care program about a block from the White House, and Cowen has made sure he understands what would happen with her in another emergency.
"I feel confident because I sat down and asked questions and walked through potential situations," says Cowen.
For example, he knows the center's two evacuation sites and could run there from from his office in about 20 minutes and that the program has supplies if the kids were to stay put in a crisis. He also keeps a lightweight stroller, diapers and other supplies in his car.
Some parents don't inquire about disaster plans with child care providers because they don't think something bad will ever happen to them, or they are embarrassed to ask, says Don Owens, public affairs director for the National Association for the Education of Young Children, an accreditation organization that requires a disaster plan.
"We clearly as an association don't think enough parents are asking for this," Owens said.
Once children are ready for kindergarten, if they attend public school, their school most likely will have a plan, as more than 95 percent of districts are meeting the federal requirement to have one, said William Modzeleski, an associate assistant deputy secretary at the U.S. Department of Education.
But the government doesn't tell districts what the plans should say. Parents should ask if the plan is up to date, regularly practiced and coordinated with local emergency officials, he said.
Smith, of the national referral association, acknowledges that preparations for a disaster can scare parents.
"They're not intended to," she said. "They're intended to be precautions so people don't panic at the last minute."
Lubbock Avalanche-Journal ©2013. All Rights Reserved.
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Fitness, Footwork & Nutrition
Tennis Footwork Quiz – See How You Do & leave your answers in the comment section below.
Click HERE to see the 7 Golden Keys to effective Tennis Footwork & Movement video
Q1. During the course of your matches do you….
1. hope the ball comes to you?
2. react on instinct….sometimes it works out but other times you find yourself out of [...]
I have a tennis elbow question here….which for simplification is often confused with golfers elbow (similar pain but slightly different location and sometimes cause).
Q. Paul, friend of mine just started playing again.
Playing a lot now, USTA league and stuff, and is starting to complain about tennis elbow. I asked about the racket and found out it [...]
This video taken from the WTA tour finals 2012 held in Istanbul shows how Petra Kvitova uses opposing forces in her footwork to help her return serve and then recover back towards the middle of the court for the next ball.
Understanding opposing forces is crucial if you want to maximize your footwork and therefore your tennis…….so pay close attention!
I have [...]
In this video (part 2 of the 4G Square system) I move things on & show you what Federer does & what you need to consider once the ball goes in play………..Click HERE for Part 1
This video shows you how to set up & make your way to the ball so that you won’t make all of those unforced errors [...]
In this video I show you how most tennis players get it wrong when they try and improve their tennis by improving their footwork.
Most players think that footwork training just consists of drills & agility training……but that is so wrong!! The biggest problem they have is that the training they do is too disjointed from their actual play and [...]
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| 1.601563
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Seattle-area artists play with visual rhythms from nature
In two new Pioneer Square exhibits, photographer John Anderson and artist Dion Zwirner play with visual rhythms, patterns and colors derived from nature. Both shows run through March 30, 2013.
Seattle Times arts writer
John Anderson: ‘Visual Rhythm’
10 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Tuesdays-Saturdays through March 30, Linda Hodges Gallery, 316 First Ave. S., Seattle (206-624-3034 or www.lindahodgesgallery.com).
Dion Zwirner, ‘Patterns in Time ... Images from Within’
10:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesdays-Saturdays through March 30, Davidson Galleries, 313 Occidental Ave. S., Seattle (206-624-7684 or www.davidsongalleries.com).
“Visual Rhythm” is the perfect name for Seattle photographer John Anderson’s new show, except for one thing. That “Rhythm” should really be in the plural, because in every shot so many different rhythms are going on at once.
They all add up to a “beautiful confusion” — a title Anderson gives to a whole series of photographs, two of which are in this show at Linda Hodges Gallery.
“Beautiful Confusion 27,” a color chromogenic print from 2010, has pride of place in the exhibit. Shot near La Push on the Olympic Peninsula, it shows a small, ripple-patterned sandbar islet afloat in a pond of calmed seawater. The water’s surface reflects both the stirrings of currents beneath it and the pattern of high, cloud-dotted sky above it.
The result: an image that seems simultaneously to float and dizzily recede.
“Dune Composite” — a huge collage of 16 rectangular black-and-white Death Valley sand-dune shots — is, by contrast, a theme-and-variations epic, drawing on all the shadowed/wind-sculpted patterns that dunes can muster. It’s a rich, ricocheting affair, with shape answering shape from image to image.
Elsewhere, Anderson’s eye is trained on volatile water flow. In “Spiral,” a plunging, whitewater creek slides through a gap in rock formations with centrifugal force, forming a whirlpool.
“Denny Creek” depicts a more sinewy stretch of stream, its waters almost muscular in their tension as they flow over boulders. The same is true of “Rushing Downstream,” where the water movement is so blurred, fast and fanlike that you may find yourself mentally “skiing” down its swift unstoppable surface.
In nearly every shot, Anderson draws contrasts between still, solid elements (cliff faces, sand formations, boulders) and fluid or vaporous elements (rushing waters, mountain mists, changeable skies). What makes these images strike deep and seem something more than “nature photography” is the way they mirror life’s own rush of experience, with crystalline, perishable moments indelibly caught in the turbulent flow.
At Davidson Galleries, Bainbridge Island artist Dion Zwirner’s show, “Patterns in Time ... Images from Within,” does something similar. Its dozens of works on paper, using watercolor, gouache, acrylic and graphite, take inspiration from nature’s continual balancing act between unfolding patterns and random, organic shapes.
Some of her titles — “Willow Herb,” “Fall Tideland,” “Night Sky in Winter” — suggest an illustrative treatment of outdoor scenes. But something more filtered and processed is going on here, as Zwirner plumbs nature’s rich vocabularies and summons from them semiabstract forms.
“Soft Cool Breeze,” for instance, transforms the intangible into the visible, as greens, grays and yellows brilliantly ebb and flow, without quite precipitating into a concrete image.
In “Glow,” there’s a suggestion of fire on a mountain ridge — but a suggestion is all it is. What matters more is the way Zwirner’s veined blue-gray and tawny washes of color form downward and upward sweeps, accented at the upper left by dense glowing flecks of red-black.
All Zwirner’s works in the show have the intimate, color-rich allure of illuminated manuscripts (they’re no larger than a manuscript page). They also have a kinship with the suffusions of shape and hue in the glorious later work of J.M.W. Turner.
What Zwirner and Anderson have in common is the way they transcend mere observation. Instead, they craft rich, interpretive, nature-derived images that have meanings on multiple planes.
Michael Upchurch: email@example.com
This article, published March 22, 2013, was corrected March 22, 2013. An earlier version of this story listed the wrong gallery for each show.
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February 6, 2007 - (BRONX, NY) - Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University has received a $1.1 million grant from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health to study the impact of genetic and biological markers on common diseases affecting postmenopausal women. The lead investigator will be Gloria Ho, Ph.D., M.P.H., professor of epidemiology and population health at Einstein.
The study marks the beginning of a new phase in the NIH's landmark Women's Health Initiative (WHI), the largest study of women's health ever undertaken. Einstein is one of nine major institutions nationally selected to receive grants under this new program, and the only one in New York.
The new two-year research projects will apply innovative technologies to study factors affecting the major diseases most common in postmenopausal women - cancer, osteoporosis and cardiovascular disease. Investigators will conduct their research using blood, DNA and other biological samples and clinical data from the 161,808 postmenopausal women who participated in the Women's Health Initiative.
As the principal investigator at Einstein, Dr. Ho will lead a research team that will analyze the association of adipokines (physiologically active proteins from body fat cells) with cancer and stroke risk, and the role of these proteins in the association between obesity and the risk of cancer and stroke.
"We are very pleased to be taking part in this next phase of the Women's Health Initiative study" said Dr. Ho. "Obesity has become an increasingly serious health risk to people throughout the nation. Understanding the risks obesity poses to postmenopausal women will also, we hope, help to demonstrate how it impacts people of all ages."
In addition to the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, other major institutions across the country taking part in this new study include: Harvard Medical School; Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle; Ohio State University; Tufts University, Boston; University of California at Davis; University of Pittsburgh; Wake Forest University School of Medicine, North Carolina; and California Pacific Medical Center, San Francisco.
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Take notice that also non SSRI anti-depressants (such as SNRI's targeting the neurotransmitter nor-epinephrine (nor-adrenaline) and even Ritalin) may interact (primary or secondary) with the serotonergic system in the brain.
IMPORTANT MESSAGE 2009!
Protect Your Children Against U.S. Government/Pharmaceutical "Mental Health" Screening Program.
It is critically important to stay alert and be informed, especially regarding your rights as a parent and a child.
We urge everyone who wishes to protect their family to visit the following websites in order to educate themselves and to spread the word.
Do NOT under any circumstances let your child participate in any survey linked to the Government/Pharmaceutical arrangement called TeenScreen®
KNOW YOUR RIGHTS: SAY NO TO FORCED MEDICATION, SAY NO TO TEENSCREEN®.
*** www.TeenScreenTruth.com and www.TeenScreenFacts.com ***
*** The Federal PPRA Act of 1998 ***
Each person will respond differently to stopping serotonin boosters, or Selective
Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRI's). Whilst some people experience mild side-effects when stopping the drug,
others will have horrendous side-effects from just lowering the dosage, since the neural seroto(ni)nergic system in
the brain has become dependent on the actions of the (SSRI) anti-depressant (blocking the re-uptake carried out by
"transporter proteins" carrying "mis-fired" serotonin across the plasma membrane back into the synapse of the firing
By stopping cold turkey, serotonergic activity will drop drastically.
Hence withdrawal side-effects may appear such as electrical surges/shocks
in the head (brain shivers) and/or body, pins and needles on the skin, feelings as being on the verge of losing
consciousness, blackouts, short term memory problems, etc..
Above mentioned side effects refer to epileptiform activity, or electrical
discharges, in the brain. When dosages are cut back, (withdrawal) side-effects are at least minimized. No one
should stop taking their medication cold turkey, but anti-depressant use should be tapered off very, very slowly.
The Right Way to Wean Off an (SSRI/SNRI/SSNRI) antidepressant How should I taper off and how long should I take to taper off?
Work closely with a doctor. Don't go off medication without medical supervision.
The best way to minimize withdrawal side effects is to wean off the medication.
By reducing the dosage in small increments, your serotonergic system can gradually
take over it's own natural serotonin producing activity and slowly adapt to living
without the drug. This process may take up to a year or longer.
Some doctors are halving the dose every week or two. We do not recommend to taper off that
fast. Nor do we recommend to skip daily doses. Taper gradually with an absolute maximum of 5% per week.
When it gets down to the smallest dose, (10mg capsule),
you can try "The Orange Juice Bit", "Cutting Tablets" or "Oral Suspensions-Liquid Preparations":
"Orange Juice Bit"
pour a glass of orange juice
pull apart the capsule and stir into the orange juice
drink 9/10 of it and repeat this every day until the 7th day
the next week drink 8/10 of it until the 14th day, then 7/10 until the 21th day,
6/10 until the 28th day, and so on...
repeat the "orange juice bit" several weeks until you've totally come off your (SSRI) antidepressant...
Never ever use Grapefruit Juice.
Grapefruit juice is an inhibitor of the cytochrome P-450 enzymes. These enzymes are known to metabolize (break down) (SSRI) antidepressants in the liver.
Drinking grapefruit juice whilst you are taking an (SSRI) antidepressant can create a serious toxic reaction, because the chemical ingredient will build to toxic levels in the bloodstream!
For more information click here.
If you don't take capsules but tablets, you can try to chip smaller doses off the
tablets. Unfortunately this is a very uneasy task. You could order a pill cutter or pill splitter at your
local pharmacist to facilitate this procedure. Pill-cutters aren't that expensive.
"Oral Suspensions-Liquid Preparations"
A much better way to wean off when it gets down to the smallest dose is simply to turn to
your doctor who can provide you a liquid preparation (oral suspension-10 mg./5 ml.) of
Paxil, Prozac or Zoloft and possibly more liquid versions of other SSRI's.
Most people don't know about it, or don't consider it because
it's supposedly for kids. It's very easy to use and more
reliable then chopping up tablets. Ask your doctor for it !
Take notice that even this process of slowly tapering off could be too fast for you to avoid withdrawal reactions or
other serotonin related side-effects. This will be different for every individual.
If you recently experienced a negative reaction to an antidepressant whilst you were taking
it, click HERE.
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Newspapers spending too little on news quality, too much on advertising: study
A study conducted by researchers at the University of Missouri-Columbia found that newspapers are underspending in the newsroom and overspending in circulation and advertising.
The researchers analyzed financial data of small to medium-size newspapers with a circulation of 85,000 or less. They found that it is news quality that most directly affects the bottom line.
The assessment was made using a diagnostic tool developed by the researchers. It consists of a mathematical formula that breaks down revenue and expenditures from news, advertising and circulation departments, and predicts profitability.
Inland Press Association, a trade organization of more than 900 daily and weekly newspapers, provided the financial data, which covers a 10-year period.
The identities of the newspapers were anonymous.
Murali Mantrala, a marketing professor at the College of Business, and Esther Thorson, a professor of advertising and associate dean for graduate studies at the School of Journalism, conducted the study that closely examined the profitability of newspapers.
The pair collaborated with marketing doctoral students Hari Sridhar and Prasad Naik, who is now a professor at the University of California-Davis. The team focused on news quality, distribution and circulation, and advertising.
With the popularity of the Internet and specialized Web sites, Ms. Thorson said in a statement that newspapers have lost some of their advertising appeal with high-dollar advertisers, such as automobile dealerships and major retail establishments.
Classified advertising was also noted as not being reliable because readers are more likely to search online for jobs, houses and various niche items.
The study, "Uphill or Downhill? Locating Your Firm on a Profit Function," will be published in the April issue of the Journal of Marketing.
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Guest post by Oliver Huslid, Evening MBA student
Silicon Valley of Peru
Microsoft Peru rents space from an unassuming office building in the heart of the city. Because this particular satellite branch only does Sales, it does not have the need for a sprawling complex like that in Redmond. The immediate surrounding area has a new and modern feel to it. The architecture of the buildings showcases their glass and clean concrete. Because Microsoft’s neighbors include HP, Cisco, Oracle, and Google, it’s no wonder they call this area the “Silicon Valley of Peru.”
We visited Café Villa Rica, a co-op of coffee-growers in the Villa Rica region. Headquarters were located inside an unmarked office building in a sleepy residential area of Lima. Café Villa Rica is a privately owned and privately funded since local banks do not trust farmland as good collateral for loans. They grow, pick, and process their own beans to ensure quality. Unfortunately, Peru does not yet have a big coffee-drinking culture, so most of their beans are exported to coffee-drinking nations like the United States. Café Villa Rica sells about 60% of its beans to Starbucks, where their acidic, earthy beans are mixed with Kenyan beans to balance out some flavors for Starbucks’ customers.
We walk around the corner to visit the headquarters of Southern Peru Copper Corporation, a copper mining corporation with extraction sites in Peru and Mexico. The copper industry enjoys high margins and an accelerating demand from developing countries like China. Year over year EBITDA is in the triple billions for this particular company despite issues with strikes, corrupt unions, and increasing environmental backlash.
Though recent demand slowed in 2009 due to lagging construction needs in the global sphere, demand has picked up pace again in 2010. As one of the largest mining companies in the world, Southern Peru Copper Corporation mines a diversity of minerals and metals, like molybdenum, zinc, and others.
Peru’s national economy
We began one day with a visit to the Ministry of Foreign Relations, where we are treated to an exposition on the strengths of Peru’s economy.
Many of the charts convey dramatic increases of key exports in the past decade, highlighting Peru’s rapid expansion and growing presence in the global trade arena. Peru’s modern approach to global economics has earned it crucial free trade agreements with a large number of countries, including the United States and much of Europe. The impact of these decisions has improved the standard of life for Peruvians substantially, as evidenced by the poverty level dropping from 50% to about 35% over the past decade.
One major weakness of Peru’s economy that they are trying to remedy is overreliance on exporting to the United States and other developed nations. The other major weakness of Peru’s economy is heavy saturation of mining companies. This trait of the Peruvian economy makes it vulnerable to fluctuating commodity prices for metals and minerals.
Oliver is one of many University of Washington Foster School of Business MBA students who studied abroad in 2011. Learn more about MBA study and work abroad opportunities.
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Set a Marketing Budget to Fit Your Small Business Goals
Small business marketing budgets include two variables: time and money. You can reach your small business customers with paid advertising and marketing communications, or through personal contacts, which requires time but little if any cash outlay.
As a small business owner, the most important commitment you can make to your marketing program is to establish and stick to a budget. Whether you’re budgeting time, money, or both, cover these four points:
Establish a marketing budget
Spend the allocated time or funds on a planned marketing program
View the allocation as an important business investment
Manage the program well
If you cut back on marketing, you put your business on a dangerous downhill slide. Sure, you recoup some money — or time — when you make the budget cut, but following that one-time savings, look at what happens. With the reduction comes fewer communication efforts. With fewer communications, sales decline. Declining sales reduce your overall revenues, which means you have even fewer resources to allocate for future marketing.
Think long and hard before trimming your marketing budget because it’s the one expense item designated specifically to attract and keep customers.
How much should a small business spend on marketing?
How much money you spend on marketing depends on the type of business you have and the marketing tools you employ. Everyone wants a magic formula, but there isn’t one, especially today when so much marketing happens online rather than through paid advertising.
Mature businesses in established markets with low growth goals can get away with low marketing investments of as little as 2 to 5 percent of sales. Companies that target high growth must invest far more.
Businesses whose sales come primarily from subcontracting can spend almost no cash on marketing, while businesses that need to win the attention of a broad cross section of retail customers must budget enough to gain visibility through paid media ads, online communications, and promotions.
Businesses with customers who are active online and in social media networks can establish communication and ongoing interaction with little or no cash investment, though don’t fool yourself into believing that social media and online marketing is free. At the least, you need to allocate time, which may translate to money if you hire staff or outside resources to establish and manage a truly effective online presence.
Only a decade ago, marketing success —– especially for business-to-consumer marketers — relied heavily on how much money a business could invest in efforts to push its message into the marketplace. Today, success results not from merely pushing marketing messages but from forming two-way interactions with customers, both personally and through the Internet.
Dollars no longer make or break marketing effectiveness. Today’s marketers need to budget both money and time to communicate with and listen to customers — interacting, responding, and developing two-way relationships as a result.
Realistic talk about small business marketing budgets
As you determine how much to allocate for marketing, consider:
The nature of your business and your market: Businesses that market to other businesses tend to allocate a lower percentage of sales to marketing than businesses that market to a wide range or number of consumers.
It’s the proverbial rifle versus shotgun difference. The business-to-business marketer can set its sights and reach its customers directly, whereas the business-to-consumer marketer must reach a broader audience, usually involving costly investments of time and money.
The maturity of your business: Start-up businesses need to invest more heavily than established businesses, in part to cover extraordinary one-time costs that existing businesses have behind them and in part to accelerate communications to gain first-time prospect awareness.
The size of your market area: Businesses that serve customers who are primarily located within a short drive or walk from the business location can target marketing communications into a concise market area. As a result, they can probably allocate a lower investment than businesses that have to build awareness and interest in statewide, national, or even international markets.
Your competition: Businesses that are the only game in town have to enhance their marketing efforts if several competitors suddenly open nearby. And businesses that are the underdog and want to take on the leaders must invest accordingly.
Your objectives: The most important consideration in setting your budget is to understand your growth goals. The more aggressive they are, the more time and money you need to budget for marketing.
For example, if you’re planning to launch a new product or open a new location, you need to increase your marketing efforts to gain awareness, interest, and action and to fund the training, marketing support, and additional advertising required to make your plan possible.
Your money or your time? Some businesses decide not to invest significant dollars in advertising. Instead, they direct their resources at sales presentations, networking efforts, community and industry trade shows and events, and online communications, through which they can establish contact and interact with customers and prospective customers.
That doesn’t mean they aren’t investing in marketing. They’re investing time (and supporting dollars) rather than relying exclusively on costly and traditional advertising vehicles. Here are examples of businesses that rely more heavily on an investment of time than money:
An attorney who wants to attract regional corporate clients may serve as a board member and volunteer counsel for a community nonprofit organization, knowing that this will generate working relationships with fellow board members who fit the target client profile.
A regional ski resort that wants to attract more families from the local market area may decide to offer free ski lessons and rentals to all fifth graders as a way to establish relationships directly rather than via paid marketing communications.
A hair salon that wants to build business may shift its emphasis from paid ads to pay-per-click search ads and social networking, aiming to reach customers at the moment they’re considering salon services. The salon can direct online interest to a landing page that features a special offer and reservation invitation, converting customers to leads with no cash investment beyond initial site setup.
Templates for creating a small business marketing budget
You’ll find many forms to help you allocate funding for your marketing program if you search online for marketing budget templates. The template best-suited for your marketing budget depends on the nature of your program — whether you’re marketing business-to-business, business-to-consumer, primarily through events and networking, primarily using online and social media communications, or primarily through paid advertising.
Here’s a sampling of websites that offer free templates for you to choose from:
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Quick Index Board Index Home FAQ Site Map
|Jane and the Campbells
Written by Anne-Marie
(4/14/2008 7:32 a.m.)
in consequence of the missive, Finally, Jane Fairfax!, penned by nan duval
Maybe this is a topic better suited for the Life & Times board, but I have always wondered why the Campbells, who are apparently rich, have only one living child and are obviously fond of Jane, did not adopt her. The book hints that they couldn't afford to provide for her after they were gone even though they are able to educate her well and are willing to let her live with them for as long as they are alive. And if they'd had other children, surely those children would have been provided for. Was adoption simply not done in those days,unless there were blood ties? Frank's situation with the Churchills would seem similar, but they are childless and he is a blood relative, while Jane is not related to the Campbells. Could that be the reason?
Groupread is maintained by Myretta with WebBBS 3.21.
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we speak with asks us some version of the same question: "What
does it really mean to go green?"©
We have a
simple answer: "Get an electric vehicle, plug it in to an EV
charging station and stop burning fossil fuels." It's that easy.
Immediately you can be an active, contributing member of an
environmentally responsible group of people that are
individually reducing pollution and helping to clean the planet,
one vehicle at a time.
Best case scenario: Power the
Electric Vehicle Charging Station with renewable solar energy
right at the point of use.
America we believe that nearly everyone can pitch in and make
this kind of real difference to help the world environment and
make it a better place for our future and the future of our
children and our entire
Our country and
the whole world is now moving to a future of transportation that
will contain a significant number of electric vehicles.
Currently, we do have plentiful electricity and an excellent electric
grid to deliver it.
What is still
needed to achieve true energy independence, while striving for a
greener earth, is for us to develop a user friendly, safe, green
and innovative means of supplying electricity to the clean,
electric vehicle where-ever and when-ever they drive.
major sources of the electricity will be from renewable energy
sources such as solar, wind, geothermal and biomass for 100%
carbon-free, pure and domestically produced electricity.
That is our
mission. To provide the means to connect on-grid
or off-grid cleanly, safely and economically all over North America.
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The jackets of Jonathan Safran Foer’s books (“Everything Is Illuminated,” “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close,” “Eating Animals”), designed by John Gray, helped set off a revival in hand-lettering. Graphic-design quirks have also figured in each of Foer’s narratives.
But his latest book, “Tree of Codes,” takes the integration of writing and design to a new level. As Visual Editions, the London-based publisher, describes it, the book is as much a “sculptural object” as it is a work of fiction: “Jonathan Safran Foer has taken his favorite book, ‘The Street of Crocodiles’ by Polish-Jewish writer Bruno Schulz, and used it as a canvas, cutting into and out of the pages, to arrive at an original new story.”
The result is a text of cutout pages, with text peeking through windows as the tale unfolds. Foer discussed the making of this book in a recent interview.
Where did this strong affinity for graphic design come from?
Where would the lack of interest in design come from? Why wouldn’t — how couldn’t — an author care about how his or her books look? I’ve never met an artist who wasn’t interested in the visual arts, yet we’ve drawn a deep line in the sand around what we consider the novel to be, and what we’re supposed to care about. So we’re in the strange position of having much to say about what hangs on gallery walls and little about what hangs on the pages of our books. Literature doesn’t need a visual component — my favorite books are all black words on white pages — but it would be well served to lower the drawbridge. Read more…
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The most famous image of Uncle Sam is from James Montgomery Flagg’s WWI recruiting poster. But Sam was not the creation of Flagg. Uncle Sam predates Flagg’s poster by over a century and is the product of a different war.
The earliest surviving use of the term is from the Troy, NY Troy Post of 3 September 1813:
“Loss upon loss,” and “no luck stiring but what lights upon Uncle Sam’s shoulders,” exclaim the Government editors, in every part of the Country....This cant name for our government has got almost as current as “John Bull.” The letters U.S. on the government wagons &c are supposed to have given rise to it.
But legend has it that the name derives from a real man, and the origin is much akin to that of Kilroy. Samuel Wilson, so goes the legend, was a meat inspector in the service of the federal government whose task it was to approve the quality of meat bought by the army. Workers handling barrels of meat stenciled with “US” questioned what the cryptic phrase went. The joke went up that it stood for Uncle Sam Wilson. From John Frost’s 1843 Book of the Navy:
Immediately after the last declaration of war with England, Elbert Anderson of New York, then a contractor, visited Troy, on the Hudson; where was concentrated, and where he purchased, a large quantity of provisions, beef, pork, &c. The inspectors of these articles at that place were Messrs. Ebenezer and Samuel Wilson. The latter gentleman (invariably known as ”Uncle Sam”) generally superintended in person a large number of workmen, who, on this occasion, were employed in overhauling the provisions purchased by the contractor for the army. The casks were marked “E.A.—U.S.” This work fell to the lot of a facetious fellow in the employ of the Messrs. Wilson, who on being asked by some of his fellow-workmen the meaning of mark (for the letters U.S. for United States were then almost entirely new to them), said “he did not know, unless it meant Elbert Anderson and Uncle Sam”—alluding exclusively, then, to the said ”Uncle Sam” Wilson.
The story is tempting. The dates and the place, Troy, NY, are right. But unfortunately the story doesn’t appear until a generation after the alleged incident. It’s unlikely that this Sam Wilson was the inspiration, or at least the sole inspiration, for Uncle Sam.
The exact origin is lost in history, but it undoubtedly arose as a joke on the paternal nature of the government.
Copyright 1997-2013, by David Wilton
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Someone on LinkedIn Answers asked the question "Has writing gone the way of the Dodo?" and wrote that he didn't mean that writing was extinct, just that standards of business writing appear to have declined. He provoked a lot of responses from writers, and his question certainly hit a nerve with me, so here's what I wrote in reply:
"Mass literacy has been replaced by mass communication, and many people don't read any more they just watch or listen. I don't think you can master the complexities of written language - particularly written English - without reading widely or studying deliberately.
Modern school education hasn't done a good job of teaching the mechanics of English, and I have taught non-specialist undergraduate university students who have come to a class on writing and been unable to explain what an adjective is. "I didn't think this class was going to be about grammar", said one. But if you can't tell what the parts of a sentence are how can you ever hope to write a meaningful one? These students had clearly passed their GCSEs and A-levels even though they didn't appear to know much about language, and without devaluing their achievements it does suggest that the English language standards expected by examiners can't be that high.
Technology and market forces also play their part in keeping down the value of writing. There are people out there who will write you 250 words of SEO-focused junk copy for about 5p, making it difficult for professional writers of any kind to charge reasonable rates. My own approach to technical communication makes this aspect of the problem even worse, as I generally find myself telling clients they need to publish fewer words. Shouldn't that be cheaper?
I am constantly amazed that although people who have Microsoft Excel on their Windows PC don't immediately think that they can be accountants, everyone who has a copy of Microsoft Word thinks they can be a writer. Worse still, everyone who has a copy of Microsoft Word appears to think that they can be a typographer as well (and don't get me started on how "ICT Skills" are being taught in UK schools).
So I'd blame the decline in writing standards on a combination of a number of different expectations all coming together - people are offering very cheap writing services, so it's not worth paying for; there's a tool on my computer that "does" writing so it must be easy; I passed my exams at school without making much of an effort at writing skills so why should I bother to make an effort now?"
4 hours ago
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The ongoing clash between two scientists and government investigators questioning their work on sea ice and polar bears took a turn this week when agents with the federal Inspector General’s office admitted that the men’s published observations of dead polar bears were legitimate, according to their attorney.
But far from exonerating the scientists and wiping the slate clean, the investigative team put Dr. Jeffrey Gleason on notice that, like his one-time colleague Dr. Charles Monnett, they had referred his case to the Department of Justice’s criminal division, said Jeff Ruch, executive director for Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, which is defending both scientists. There was no explanation why.
After 18 months of inquiry, no charges have been filed and both men remain at a loss as to why they’ve been dragged through an intense inquiry damaging to their professional lives.
“The Inspector General tried to have them prosecuted and they still don’t know what for,” Ruch said in an interview Wednesday.
For Ruch, Wednesday’s interview with Gleason is just one more episode in a strange saga that caused Gleason to leave his job out of frustration and Monnett to receive punitive backlash that remains in effect. Monnett still works for the Bureau of Ocean Energy and Management in Alaska; Gleason has moved on to a position out of state.
Ruch’s analysis of the agents’ actions, if accurate, is troubling.
On the one hand, the acknowledgement that Gleason and Monnett did in fact see dead polar bears floating in the Arctic Ocean in 2006 is a relief, he said. Previous inquiries had suggested investigators thought the scientists had in some way misrepresented what they saw or incorrectly raised the issue of whether climate change and retreating sea ice contributed to the deaths.
According to Ruch, agents told Gleason that two other observers saw floating bears around the same time, which would seem to validate Gleason and Monnett’s assertions. But Ruch is suspicious of the seeming-positive development.
“We don’t think that there were two additional sightings. They are claiming that there are sightings that weren’t recorded,” he said.
It’s a potential problem because it could also point to sloppy documentation because any sighting should have been recorded. Monnett was the program leader, and he would have know if his staff saw other dead, floating polar bears, Ruch said. For this reason Ruch questions whether the Inspector General agents actually received such reports.
Ruch has no idea why the agents would lie about such details. “We don’t know if the IG is deliberately misstating information or doesn’t understand the information it is receiving,” he said, adding that not understanding is the greater evil.
In another odd development, the Inspector General agents questioned Gleason over a routing slip they had found in the trash. The piece of paper had previously been attached to paperwork the agents had asked Gleason to duplicate. The agents grilled Gleason about whether, by disposing of the routing slip – which had been attached to an internal poster on sea ice retreat that was later approved for publication – he was attempting to conceal something.
“I think we are at the point where this is the IG equivalent of a cop planting drugs on a suspect,” Ruch said of the strange line of questioning his client received.
The off-topic forays suggest the investigation is collapsing, according to Ruch.
“We think it’s imploding. This is a completely misguided witch hunt and every interview reinforces our alarm,” he said.
The full transcript of Wednesday’s interview of Gleason should be available in about one month. Meanwhile, PEER’s press release on this latest development can be read here.
Contact Jill Burke at jill(at)alaskadispatch.com
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Culture first, language second
Absolutely true if we can speak and read and write the language, we would
be able to understand the culture much better. But remember there are
also many Hakkas who cannot speak Hakka any more because of many reasons.
(Political suppression in some countries was a big reason). If they claim
themselves as Hakka and identify with Hakka culture, they should be
treated as Hakka. On the other hand, there are also Hakka who speak
fluent Hakka but do not identify with the ancestry and history of Hakka.
I would say they are less Hakka than the first type. That is my point.
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The link below is to an article with some tips on how to keep your family history research organised.
I have over the years tried to find a site that could be useful for housing something of a private family social network. They have usually proved to be less than suitable. It will probably be something I have another shot at as I get back into the family history research and work on the website again.
The site I’m probably going to look into a bit with the hope that it may assist in accomplishing the private social network side of things is Family iBoard. I only recently became aware of it, so I haven’t had a lot of opportunity to investigate at this stage. However, the article linked to below in which the site was reviewed by Mashable, does fill me with a lot of hope. The only real issue will be getting family members to join, especially given the fees involved. But at roughly $8.00 a year, it’s hardly a huge fee and could prove very useful.
What do others think of the idea? I’d be keen to know. It really seems like a very good site for this sort of thing.
View the Mashable article at:
There have been a number of things happening at Tracing our History over the last couple of days, including the overhaul of Kevin’s Portal as mentioned in an earlier post. The latest happenings are listed below:
The latest issue of Research has been completed and is now available online via the link below:
The first collaboration project has been launched via the Tracing our History Stixyboard (a password is required – please request one). Details of the project and how to use Stixyboard are covered in the above-mentioned newsletter.
Collaboration features of the Tracing our History site have been moved to a new section of the site. Visit the collaboration page at:
The Kevin’s Portal updates can be found at:
http://kevinmatthews.zxq.net/The updates and overhaul at Kevin’s Portal are also covered in the newsletter.
Tracing our History is developing a set of tools for enhancing the ability of family members to trace our history together in a collaborative and interactive manner. To do this I am setting up channels and groups within various social networks and web applications. All of these tools and sites provide a plethora of free opportunities for family members to help make our family research more interesting, exciting and useful for all. Please consider joining one or all of these sites listed on the ‘Research Collaboration Features’ page at Tracing our History.
I have now set up two real time chat/file sharing possibilities via the collaboration page, with two different social networking sites (Pip.io and Micromobs). To get involved with either site or both you will need to join the site and the channel that I have set up (on each of the sites). You can find both sites via the link above or go directly to Pip.io and/or Micromobs at:
The Tracing our History channel at Pip.io can be found via the link below:
The Tracing our History ‘mob’ at Micromobs can be found via the link below:
As most people probably know, a PDF reader is required to read PDF files. Usually you would use Adobe Acrobat PDF Reader for that. Now there is even more reason to use Adobe’s piece of software for doing just that. Adobe has just released version X of the software and it has some massive improvements – improvements that will be of great help to family members at Tracing our History.
The following are the ‘new’ features of version X of Acrobat PDF Reader:
Read, search and share PDF files
Convert to PDF
Export and edit PDF files
Add rich media to PDF files
Combine files from multiple applications
Increase productivity and process consistency
Streamline document reviews
Collect data with fillable PDF forms
Protect PDF files and content
Comply with PDF and accessibility standards
OK, that all sounds very confusing I guess – it does a bit to me also. Now this is how I see at least some of the improvements and they are what I’ve been looking for for a long time.:
There is the ability now to highlight text within a PDF file
There is the ability to add a note to what is highlighted and make comments. If the PDF file is sent to someone else to look at it can be opened and comments can be made in reply to what you have written. This makes a PDF file very collaborative in research.
There is the ability to place sticky notes onto the file – just as you would with a book or magazine. Again, these can be replied to or edited.
Obviously the PDF file can be shared with others for their comments and be passed backward and forwards.
The PDF file can also be sent to someone else right in the reader software by email or via Adobe Online.
So they are just some of the uses of version X, but they are brilliant for genealogy research.
To get Adobe Acrobat PDF Reader X visit:
Work is progressing well on the new site and already some sections of the site are going live and working well. I have now got the newsletter section of the site running, along with the first edition of a new newsletter.
The new newsletter is called ‘Research – The Tracing our History Newsletter,’ or ‘Research’ for short. The newsletter archives will be hosted at Scribd, but you will be able to download them from the tracingourhistory.com site via an embedded widget from Scribd. With this widget from Scribd I will no longer need to update the site when adding a newsletter – just simply upload the newsletter to Scribd and the embedded widget updates the site automatically. All very easy.
How can you subscribe to the newsletter? You don’t need to really. If you subscribe to the Tracing our History Blog you will be notified when a new issue of the newsletter is posted and you can then go to the site to download the issue. Those who do not have Internet access will need to let me know (or via someone that does) that they would like to have a hard copy sent to them – or, someone may be able to print them a copy.
Have a peek at the new site at:
I have just registered the domain name tracingourhistory.com for my family history site. I will no longer be updating the old site at http://particularbaptist.com/matthewshistory/index.html .
So what does this mean? You will need to continue to use the old site for the next couple of months while I build the new site/transfer files. When the work is completed I will add a link to the new site (at the old site) directing users to it. This work will need to be completed by June 2011, for this is when I will no longer have an account at the current host. The new domain, tracingourhistory.com, will be on a new host site. This will save me a fair amount of money over time.
The new site will bring all the sites associated with my family history under the same name of ‘Tracing our History.’ This name takes the focus of any one particular surname such as Blanch, Lilley or Matthews, and allows the user of my site to look at all the surnames being researched without bias to any one in particular. I want to be able to include all of the family in my collaborative and interactive research site/s.
By doing this I am hoping to establish the next step in my family history research and provide a much better tool for my family and those family members yet to come.
You will be able to follow my progress on the new site by visiting the tracingourhistory.com site. This Blog will also follow progress on the site and the feed is also on the old site.
It has been a little while since the last Blog post here at Tracing our History – not a great deal has happened in that time. To be honest I’ve had a lack of interest in family history. However, my interest levels have risen again and I have to thank those who have sent emails to me over the last little while. My lack of interest was ‘sparked’ by bickering on one side of my family, but now the other has ‘refreshed’ my interest by their interest in familial matters. Thank you so much for that.
Part of my interest in family history over the last 10 to 20 years, has been to preserve what I can for future generations. Sure, I’ve been very interested in my past and my family’s past to answer my own curiosity, but I’ve also wanted to have something there for those who come after me. Our history is being lost and I want to be able to preserve as much of it as I can. I have also longed for this exercise to be a collaborative matter, with others in the family also taking part in the preservation of our history. Thankfully, there are a number of people on my mother’s side who seem keen to research that history from varying perspectives (all of which helps with the overall story) and who are also willing to share and collaborate in that research. This can only be good for all of us and for those that follow.
I am still looking at ways to make that process easier and more profitable for us all – to develop a sort of place that we can come back to time and time again, to just touch base, share our research, nut out issues we may have in that research, see if we can help each other, etc. To do this, I think I will have to develop a dual approach – tools for my mother’s side and tools for my father’s side. There is already a Matthews social network available on Geni (which I set up). I am hopeful that on my mother’s side of things the experience will be a far better one (and all indications seem to point that way).
Over the next couple of days I am hoping to get a social network site up and going for my mother’s side of the family, which would include such surnames as Lilley, Jenkinson, Blanch, etc. I want to try and tie this Blog, the social community I have already set up for family members, my actual website and a family tree social network (for my mother’s side) together, so that they kind of work together – there will probably be a few passwords needed (helpful for privacy and security reasons). Anyhow, keep a look at the Blog here – I will keep updating things via the Blog.
In my last Blog post I made some comments regarding Delicious, the online bookmarking social network owned by Yahoo. Things may not be as desperate as I feared in that area, so I am keeping with Delicious at the moment. Hopefully it will be sold and continued, as it is a very good service.
It should only be a very short time now until all of my property is out of storage and back with me under the one roof – in my own apartment (rental). After more than two years I will soon have everything back out of storage and fully accessible again. This will mean many things, the least of which is not a renewed ability to get at all of my family history research, tools, etc. I’ve been waiting for this for so long.
So the countdown is now on and I should be able to access everything again within 5 to 6 weeks. So not that long to wait now. All of the projects that have been on hold can be back up and running again very soon.
I have been to the Nabiac/Failford Cemetery now, but failed to photograph all of the headstones in the cemetery. I will need to return in the next couple of days to complete the project. I will probably also visit the Bulahdelah Cemetery and photograph the headstones there.
I probably still have about one fifth to one quarter of the cemetery to photograph. I have come across a number of headstones that I recognize from my family history research, which is the main reason for taking the photographs.
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Organizations to share Hudson Valley stories and engage new listeners
John Shaloiko, Executive Director, Southeastern NY Library Resources Council
Eileen McAdam, Sound and Story Project of the Hudson Valley
Highland, N.Y.-The Southeastern New York Library Resources Council, located in Highland N.Y., and the Sound and Story Project of the Hudson Valley, located in Stone Ridge, N.Y., will transport Hudson Valley voices from the past into the present with a new project titled “Voices of the Hudson Valley: Bringing New Technology to Old Stories for 21st Century Audiences.”
“The history of this region comes to life through the voices of those who lived here,” said John Shaloiko, executive director of the SENYLRC.
The organizations – along with the Greater Hudson Heritage Network in Elmsford, and the Hudson River Valley Institute at Marist College in Poughkeepsie – received a National Leadership Grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the primary source of federal support for the nation’s 123,000 libraries and 17,500 museums, which is located in Washington, D.C.
The organizations will use the latest technology and social media applications to provide the public with access to Hudson Valley oral histories online and allow libraries and museums to preserve the recordings.
“By sharing these stories through radio programs, mobile apps and new media we hope to reach a new generation of listeners,” said Eileen McAdam, director of the Sound and Story Project of the Hudson Valley. Continue reading this post…
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|Rediff India Abroad Home | All the sections|
India needs to change its Tibet policy
March 27, 2008
Recent events in Tibet [Images] have put an uncomfortable spotlight on China. Although the Tibetan uprising appears to have been put down for the moment, the Tibet story is not over. Troubles could erupt again. The world and the people of China realise that China's Tibet policy has been a failure. A group of eminent Chinese writers and intellectuals have shown the courage to publicly question the Beijing [Images] regime's Tibet policy.
The psychological impact of developments in Tibet could be debilitating for China in the long term. It could inspire other disaffected ethnic groups in China like the Uighurs to try to coalesce with Tibetan groups, both within China and abroad. The more repression there is within China, the less credible is China's claim of 'peaceful rise'. Tibet may well hold the key both to China's internal stability and Hu Jintao's political longevity. No wonder Beijing is hysterical and considers Tibet a 'life-and-death' question.
The settlement of the India-China border and the status of Tibet are interlinked issues. Unless there is all-round agreement that Tibet is a part of China, there is only an India-Tibet boundary, not an India-China boundary. By the crude and aggressive reiteration of its claim to Arunachal Pradesh, China has already ruled out any early settlement of the boundary question with India; recent events in Tibet would only reconfirm Chinese thinking not to settle the border with India unless it has Tibet firmly under its control. Therefore, India should deal with China with this perspective clearly in mind.
Although it has already extracted significant concessions from India on Tibet, China remains uncertain and anxious about India's Tibet policy. The Dalai Lama's [Images] periodic statements, including recently, that India's policy on Tibet is over-cautious reinforce China's suspicions and fears. The failure of six rounds of talks between the representatives of the Dalai Lama and the Chinese government seem to indicate that the Chinese leaders have made up their minds that a satisfactory solution to Tibet, from China's point of view, is unlikely while the present Dalai Lama is still alive.
China's mistrust of the Dalai Lama has only intensified after the recent troubles. Yet, contrary to what the Chinese government may be thinking, a post-Dalai Lama situation may become more radicalised, unpredictable and violent.
In India's relations with China, Tibet is a key issue that requires skilful handling by India. India has recently taken some welcome tentative steps to review its Tibet policy. The first move was made in January when the statement issued at the end of Indian prime minister's visit to China did not carry any reference to Tibet. It is not clear whether this was a deliberate policy move, or a one-off measure. The widespread disturbances in Tibet in March provide an opportunity for India to continue with its subtle policy shift. India's official statement on March 15, was a step in the right direction. Firstly, clearly refuting official Chinese propaganda, it stated that "innocent people" had died in Lhasa. Secondly, by expressing its "hope that all those involved will work to improve the situation and remove the causes of such trouble in Tibet� through dialogue and non-violent means," New Delhi has conveyed its message to Beijing that there is merit in the demands of Tibetans, that the onus is on Beijing to find a solution, and that such a solution requires dialogue, not use of force.
In describing the Dalai Lama as a man of non-violence, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh [Images] has clearly conveyed that India does not endorse the harsh and vituperative official Chinese denunciations of the Dalai Lama. China's recent offensive and patronising approach and behaviour about India's stand on Tibet, including summoning the Indian Ambassador in the middle of the night, required an appropriate riposte. It is good that India has put off Commerce Minister Kamal Nath's visit to China. At the same time, India has sought to reassure China that India considers Tibet as "an autonomous region of China." One hopes that in the coming months the government gives its Tibet policy a clearer strategic direction.
While formulating its policy on Tibet, India has to keep in mind that it is uniquely placed vis-�-vis Tibet, and therefore must have a unique policy that conforms to its national interests, irrespective of what the rest of the world says or does. No other country has as important stakes in peace and stability in Tibet as India does. A Tibet in ferment makes India's Himalayan frontiers unstable and insecure. As a democratic country that is hosting such a large number of Tibetans, India has a legitimate interest in what happens in Tibet. Since developments in Tibet have direct consequences for India, Tibet cannot be, as the Left parties in India make out, just an internal matter of China.
If there is a severe crackdown on the Tibetans, it is likely to lead to an increased Chinese military presence in regions close to India's borders, which would have implications for India's own defence planning. It will also inevitably trigger off a fresh influx into India of Tibetan refugees, whom India would find it difficult to turn away on practical and humanitarian grounds.
In subsequent official statements and/or through authoritative but deniable unofficial channels, India could emphasise that while it firmly upholds the principles of supporting the territorial integrity of duly constituted states and non-interference in other states' internal affairs, its own experience shows that the peace and stability of multi-racial, multi-religious and multi-cultural societies requires dialogue and accommodation within a democratic framework.
Ethnic and separatist problems require political solutions that give every citizen the confidence of being an equal stakeholder in the state. India expects that China would put in place policies that would stabilize Tibet and give the Tibetan Diaspora in India the confidence that they can return to their homeland.
India needs to take full advantage of an important nuance, perhaps unintended, in India's acceptance of Tibet as a part of China: India has merely conceded that the "territory of the Tibetan Autonomous Region is a part of the People's Republic of China;" it has not accepted that Tibet (whose borders historically and in the minds of the Tibetans extend beyond the Tibetan Autonomous Region) was always a part of China. As a matter of fact, Tibet was quite independent of Chinese rule and had all the attributes of a sovereign state between 1913 and 1950.
Traditionally, thousands of Indian pilgrims have made pilgrimages to Mount Kailash and Mansarovar lakes in Tibet without needing any permission from the Chinese authorities. If China can lay claim to Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh on the grounds of its cultural, historical and spiritual links with Tibet, the case for India's claim to Kailash-Mansarovar region on similar reasoning is probably more substantive. Secondly, if at any time in the future the People's Republic of China were to give way to another entity India could well argue that it is not obliged to recognize Tibet as a part of any new political entity of China. Of course, this is a hypothetical scenario, but the Chinese would not miss such nuances and subtleties.
India needs to take a leaf out of China's book in the matter of observance of solemn bilateral commitments. Just as China, contrary to the agreements with India in 2003 and 2005, has re-opened very aggressively its claim to Arunachal Pradesh, has still not fully accepted Sikkim as a part of India, and does not want an early settlement of the boundary question, India too should subtly reopen the whole question of the legitimacy of China's claim to Tibet, which is the basic foundation for China to make any territorial claim on India.
There could be many ways in which India could introduce some nuances in its traditional policy. For example, India could state that it considers Tibet, as an autonomous region, to be a part of the territory of the People's Republic of China -- the implication being that it is only if Tibet is a truly autonomous region that India recognises it as a part of China.
Ironically, China, in welcoming the Indian approach during the recent uprising, has given legitimacy to India's unofficial policy shift. The Chinese should be made aware that subtle shifts in India's Tibet policy will continue, and that India will remove the ambiguities in its Tibet policy only under the following conditions: firstly, if the situation on the ground permits it (very unlikely if China persists with its present repressive policies); secondly, if there is a definitive settlement of the boundary issue; and, finally, only as a quid pro quo for China recognising all of Jammu & Kashmir as an integral part of India.
It is time for India to get out of its defensive mindset and timid approach in dealing with China. There are vital national security interests at stake. Relations with China must be handled from a strategic, not a legalistic, perspective. The approach India follows should be multi-dimensional. India does want better relations with China, but it must also evolve a calculated and calibrated policy to put China under some pressure to safeguard its interests and concerns.
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LITTLE FERRY, N.J. (AP) — North Jersey is in the midst of an invasion from Canada.
The feathered intruders — finches, to be exact — normally spend winter far to the north but have been arriving here in waves over the past several months, giving birders a rare winter treat.
Clouds of redpolls, a species of finch, have taken over a large stand of birch trees in Losen Slote Creek Park in Little Ferry. "The trees were just loaded with them one morning," Don Torino, president of the Bergen County Audubon Society, told The Record of Woodland Park (http://bit.ly/XXPqZx).
That, in turn, has drawn flocks of bird-watchers to the park.
The redpolls make a distinctive buzzing sound. "You could hear them before you could even see them," Torino said. "And then there were birders from all over the state wandering through the woods."
While the redpolls have been landing en masse, other, more exotic birds have been discovered — including a lost American white pelican and a pink-footed goose.
The invasion of redpolls and other species of finch, including pine siskins and the white-winged crossbill, has been spurred by lack of food in their normal range. They feed on the seeds of conifer trees, and in seasons when pine cones are few they head south to scavenge for other food sources.
"Last winter was really boring — there was nothing going on," Torino said. "This year it's incredible. I've never seen so many redpolls in my life. This is the kind of thing birders wait for."
These birds normally remain in the boreal forest of Canada. But the trees there go through boom and bust cycles, some years producing few cones and other years producing a wild abundance. It's actually a survival strategy for the trees: produce so many seeds one year that it's impossible for the birds to eat them all; produce so few other years that it keeps the bird population in check, said David Bonter, a bird migration expert at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.
"Normally, winter finches prefer to stay put, because migrating south for food is risky and costly," Bonter said. "This year, the food situation was so bad that everything moved, from red-breasted nuthatches to grosbeaks."
Pine siskins — about 5 inches long and weighing half an ounce — have brown upper bodies, a chest dotted with brown and hints of yellow on the wings. These birds dropped down into North Jersey in the fall in large numbers. Many then continued south. Some have even been reported in Florida.
Michael Newhouse runs a banding project for the Meadowlands Commission at DeKorte Park in Lyndhurst. In the past four years, he had caught and banded 14 pine siskins. Last fall, he banded 400. "They were everywhere," he said.
The redpolls showed up more than a month ago, and some have continued on as far as North Carolina. These birds, similar in size to siskins, have a reddish cap on their heads, a black beard around the beak and pinkish chest feathers.
Ringwood resident Susan Grimstead has had 50 or more redpolls at a time around her backyard feeders, mixed in with more typical winter residents. "Some days there are too many to count. It gets a little noisy, but it's also exciting — you don't expect to even see them in the first place," she said.
In Little Ferry, several white-winged crossbills have taken up residence in a clutch of sweet gum trees, attracted by the distinctively spiked fruit. "It's so rare to see them here, so it's really interesting that they've shown up," Newhouse said.
The male white-winged crossbill has a red body and black wings with white streaks. Most distinctive is the beak — the ends of the top and bottom halves curl away from each other, crisscrossing, which helps the bird more easily extract seeds from cones.
"Birders love these reports," said Pete Bacinski, who writes a blog called "All Things Birds" on the New Jersey Audubon Society's website. "These are the kinds of thing they crave."
To track the irruption of finch species this winter, the Cornell Lab of Ornithology has issued a call for more volunteers to participate in its 26th annual Project FeederWatch, which lasts through April. Volunteers submit observations on the species that show up at their backyard bird feeders. Those interested can sign up at www.FeederWatch.org.
"This has been a dream winter for folks who put out backyard feeders," Bonter said.
Information from: The Record (Woodland Park, N.J.), http://www.northjersey.com
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|Stopping Medication for Toxoplasmosis
Dec 10, 2012
I was diagnosed with toxaplasmosis 5 years ago. My treatment medication regimen has involved daily doses or Dapaprim, Sulfadiazine and Leucovorin Calcium. My doctor thinks it's safe to stop the medications. Does anyone have experience with this?
| Response from Dr. McGowan
Hi and thanks for your question,
Current treatment guidelines prepared by the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) idicate that it is generally safe to stop treatment for toxoplasmosis once your CD4 count has increased to above 200 for 6 months or more. So, if you have had a successful treatment of your toxo and have an undetectable HIV level with CD4 over 200 you can stop the toxo treatment.
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There are wonderful things I could say about having a daughter with a fair complexion. The fact that her skin comes in two shades -- casper and lobster -- is not one of them. Which isn't a problem at home where I slather the sunscreen on before she steps outside. The problem, oh fellow parents, is when she goes to school.
And if you happened to catch a glimpse of the photos one Washington State mom snapped of her sunburned elementary schoolers the other day, you'll be scared for your kids too. Jesse Michener's daughters baked to a crisp during their school field day. Why?
Because no one bothered putting sunblock on her daughters before they were sent outside. In fact, the teachers aren't allowed to put any sort of sunscreen on the kids at their Tacoma school! The rules state that the only sunscreen that can be put on must be done by the kids themselves, and then only if they have a doctor's note on file. And now that I've done some asking around, I'm finding out this is how it works in a LOT of school districts!
More from The Stir: 10 Suncreens That Actually Work
Come on! In 2012, knowing the immense damage that the sun can do to kids in just a few hours, there has to be a better way people!
For starters, let's just strike "putting it on themselves" off the list right here and now.
I'm sure I don't have to tell you that most kids do not actually enjoy having sunscreen put on them. At least, my 7-year-old doesn't. Nor does her 8-year-old buddy. And although both are smart, capable kids, neither one is able to put the stuff on themselves ... there are too many places they can't reach, they're still not really aware of what has to be covered, etc.
And let's talk about the "doctor's note," shall we?
I didn't know my daughter was going to have her "fun day" until a few days before it actually happened. That's when I learned that A) Field Day has gotten much, much cooler since we were kids (Did y'all have bouncy houses? Me neither!), and B) at some point during the day, my fair-haired princess was going to be outside in the bright sunshine. When, exactly, was I going to make an appointment with my pediatrician? OK, so maybe I could have gotten a note at the beginning of the year, but I bet you it would be tied to an exact bottle/brand of sunscreen. And as luck would have it, we changed brands again this spring after the latest warning about sketchy chemicals.
I think Michener's photos really scare me because I actually fretted about this on the morning of my kid's fun day. Here I was at 7:30 in the morning wondering if I should bother because if she didn't go out until noon, the stuff wasn't going to work anyway.
That's the problem -- we, the parents, can't do this for our kids! We aren't there, and whatever we do in the morning is pretty useless!
I know teachers have a lot on their plate, and gooping up our kids is going to take a lot of time, and won't exactly be fun. But kids should not be coming home from school looking like lobsters because they don't have sun protection.
What do you think would fix this problem? Have you had a sunburned kid come home from school yet?
Image by Jeanne Sager
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Yesterday, at a lunch hosted by the Committee to Protect Journalists, New Yorker writer Jon Lee Anderson shared stories of his reporting trips to Iraq and Afghanistan with a group of CPJ staffers and journalists.
It was the usual brew of horror stories, signs of hope, and tales of the security precautions that Western reporters working in those countries have to take, but one thing Anderson said stuck with me. On his most recent trip to Iraq, he said, he embedded with a U.S. Army unit, something he normally doesn’t do. I don’t have a transcript in front of me, so I’ll have to paraphrase the rest about embedding with the military, but essentially he said that he doesn’t like to embed, though he knows lots of reporters who do and get great stories from being out with the troops. Anderson, though, is concerned about becoming too close to the troops and losing his perch as a disinterested observer.
While Anderson has done some remarkable work from Iraq and Afghanistan over the past several years, and I understand his point, his comments puzzled me. His concerns have been voiced by plenty of other reporters over the years, but I’ve yet to see evidence that embedded reporters are pulling punches. The New York Times’s Dexter Filkins, for example, has filed some amazing stuff as an embed in Iraq.
The standard argument to which Anderson subscribes goes like this: since the embedded reporter relies on the soldiers in his unit to protect him, and since the reporter spends so much time in close contact with these soldiers, a personal relationship based partly on mutual fear (of the insurgents, not each other) develops, making it harder for the reporter to dispassionately assess what he sees and hears.
There’s something to this, but it’s not enough to write off embedding as hopelessly biased (not that Anderson is, of course, its just not something he likes to do too much of.) As I said above, Dexter Filkins opened up a window into the daily lives of soldiers out in the field that we don’t get nearly enough of in the mainstream media. Many other reporters have done the same, and how else do you tell the full story of the war without getting out there and experiencing it with the troops? As I’ve said countless times before, it’s shameful that there aren’t reports from embedded reporters in The New York Times, The Washington Post, and on the nightly news every day. And if they’re not totally objective—which is a perverted concept in contemporary American journalism anyway—so what? War isn’t a black and white, he said-she said kind of thing. Let the reporting reflect that.
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Electronic digital computers moved out of science fiction and into reality during World War II. Less powerful than a modern pocket calculator, the first real job for these massive machines was to speed up the calculation of artillery firing tables.
Thirty years later, computers had firmly cemented themselves in the public imagination. They were huge boxes, covered with blinking lights and whirring reels of tape. Banks and big corporations all had computer rooms, closely guarded by a priesthood of programmers and administrators. Science fiction novels and movies imagined impossibly brilliant supercomputers that guided spaceships and controlled societies, yet they were still room-sized behemoths. The idea of a personal computer, something small and light enough for someone to pick up and carry around, wasn't even on the radar.
Even the major computer companies at the time didn't see the point of small machines. The mainframe industry was dominated by IBM, who was the Snow White to the Seven Dwarves of Burroughs, CDC, GE, Honeywell, NCR, RCA and Univac. Mainframes took up entire floors and cost millions of dollars. There was also a market for slightly smaller and less expensive minicomputers, machines the size of a few refrigerators that sold for under a hundred thousand dollars. This industry was dominated by Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC), with strong competitors such as Data General, Hewlett-Packard and Honeywell-Bull. None of these companies considered the personal computer to be an idea worth pursuing.
ENIAC, the second electronic digital computer, circa 1943
It wasn't that the technology wasn't ready. Intel, at the time primarily a manufacturer of memory chips, had invented the first microprocessor (the 4-bit 4004) in 1971. This was followed up with the 8-bit 8008 in 1972 and the more-capable 8080 chip in 1974. However, Intel didn't see the potential of its own product, considering it to be useful mainly for calculators, traffic lights, and other embedded applications. Intel had built a reference design with a microprocessor and some memory that could be programmed using a terminal, but it was used for testing purposes only. An Intel engineer approached chairman Gordon Moore with the idea for turning it into a consumer product, but Moore, with a rare lack of insight, couldn't see any practical purpose for such a device and decided not to go ahead with the project.
The task of inventing the personal computer, and with it the personal computer industry, was left instead to the manager of a small, little-known calculator company in Albuquerque, New Mexico. His name was Ed Roberts.
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