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Hephaestus (Vulcan) was the god of fire and the protector of the metal workers. He was lame and deformed, but very powerful. His wife was Aphrodite. He made the golden throne of Zeus.
Hephaestus was married
to Aphrodite, but Aphrodite was not very faithful to him. So Hephaestus
attempted to rape Athena to aggravate Aphrodite. This resulted
in the birth of Erichthonios.
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Full name:John Czuhanich
Award:Veterans' Hall of Fame
John Czuhanich is a WWII veteran who has displayed incredible devotion to both his country and his fellow service men and women.
John, a native of Endicott, New York, enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1943 and attended Marine Corps Basic Training at Parris Island, SC. He went on to fight overseas as an infantryman in the 2nd Marine Division. After arriving, John was promoted to the rank of Corporal and participated in the Battle of Saipan, for which he received the Purple Heart, and later the Battle of Tinian.
Following the war, John continued to demonstrate dedication to his fellow military men and women who had served during WWII. As one of the original organizers of the Marine Corps League (MCL) in Broome County, John has been a motivating force behind recent efforts to honor deceased veterans at their funerals in and around Broome County. Since its establishment, the Marine Corps League has honored deceased veterans at nearly 3,000 of their funerals and sometimes perform as many as five funerals in one day. John has been quoted as saying that the Broome County Marine Corps League “is second to none.” As director of the Marine Corps League for the past six years, John has worked tirelessly coordinating with funeral directors, contacting the MCL members, cleaning and repairing rifles, and making sure that every veteran whose family requested their services received honors at the grave site. When asked why he and the MCL honor veterans as honor guards at their funerals, John responded, “They deserve it.”
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Motion Control and Safety
A Framework for Safe Motion Control Firmware
Writing the software to handle motion control is a critical job on any real-time system design project. Safety is of the utmost importance. And, of course, it is also important that the code work precisely and allow for testing and performance tuning. An object-oriented framework can be used to create safe, testable and tunable motion control systems.
MICHAEL WILK AND MICHAEL BARR, NETRINO
Page 1 of 1
Developing firmware for motion control systems can be a tricky business. Strict accuracy and repeatability combine with user safety to present a challenging set of requirements. How do you go about designing motion control firmware to meet these requirements properly? And how can you ensure the resulting implementation is tunable and testable from the start? In using what are some key design methodologies and the beginnings of a framework for safe, testable and tunable motion control firmware, it is important to consider the design goals.
Safety concerns vary by the industry for which you write firmware. In such application areas as medical devices and aerospace systems, safety is the critical priority. How a system handles failures from a safety perspective might vary. For example, in a medical device that uses motion control, if there is a systematic failure, the system must fail in a manner that will keep the patient or user safe. This may simply be to invoke an electromechanical interlock and alert the operator. In other cases, a failure in the system may not be as simple as shutting down, and so the events that take place following a failure must be well defined.
The testability of a motion control system starts with good architecture, and the firmware plays a key role. Test engineers must have the ability to verify all software modules to ensure correct behavior. One of the most common mistakes is testing with only valid (i.e., in range) inputs. The real key to testing is subjecting the system and/or its various modules to invalid inputs and ensuring the system behaves correctly and safely under all possible conditions.
If a bug causes the software to request motion that requires infinite acceleration, does the firmware respond safely or does it instead try to perform the erroneous operation and hope for the best? For a safety-critical system, this can have devastating results, for example if a surgical robot receives an invalid position or velocity command.
Testable motion control systems should also provide means for tuning the motion control parameters. Tuning is necessary to ensure both precision and repeatability in movement outcomes, with such calibration generally motor-specific.
Reaching all of our design goals properly in the first implementation requires time to think and plan prior to the start of coding. At the same time, we also need to consider the tools we’ll use to get the job done. Before getting into the always-interesting specific motion control algorithms and low-level hardware controls, we should first consider the software framework.
Infrastructure planning starts by thinking and using object-oriented analysis and design techniques. We have a great modeling tool at our disposal in Universal Modeling Language (UML) class diagrams and state charts. But we can begin, with or without UML, by identifying a few objects with limited and discrete sets of responsibilities. Used properly, objects also help avoid coupling between subsystems through encapsulation and good interface design.
To make our discussion concrete, consider the UML class diagram in Figure 1, which shows how to represent sensor and motor objects in an abstract way. We know there are many different types of sensors and motors. However, these objects do have common sets of features. In addition, there is a relationship between motors and their associated sensors. In the model shown, we do not directly incorporate sensor functionality with our motor implementation, but rather associate sensors with a motor instance. This object model immediately shows us extensibility and reuse using abstraction and class inheritance. The sensor and motor object model also sets us up for maintainability because we are avoiding putting all our functionality into a single object.
To reach our testability goals, we need to go a step further than this model by defining the public interface to each object. Once the interface is in place, white box tests can be developed to ensure proper functionality and the ability to handle invalid inputs.
We now have a set of objects in our framework for managing the motion control itself, but I mentioned earlier that infrastructure was one of the keys to success. Let’s assume that our motors and sensors have the data we need, but how can we make it available, especially if we’re running in an embedded system? This is where the classes in Figure 2 become part of our infrastructure.
Figure 2 presents a few different ideas. The first is the CDataComm class, which is a singleton object that provides a gateway to the outside world. The actual communication channel might be RS-232, USB, or Ethernet; it really doesn’t matter from the system perspective. The CDataComm object manages requests for data and sends responses. There are more efficient mechanisms, but I am assuming a query/response communication model.
The next thing to notice is the CDataLogger object. CDataLogger is an instance of an active object (perhaps running in its own task) that maintains a list of CDataLoggerItem derived objects. CDataLoggerItem provides an interface for common methods but does not actually contain any real data. The derived class, in this case CBLDCMotorDataItem, contains the specific data we care about.
Using polymorphism, the data is formatted and obtained over our communication channel. As we manage/control the motor, we set and add CBLDCMotorDataItem data to our running list that is managed by the CDataLogger instance. As a side note, we would want to allocate our CBLDCMotorDataItem objects ahead of time and keep them in a memory pool to avoid dynamic memory allocation at runtime.
From the outside world, we access the list of data through our communication interface. This data becomes available for performing offline or near real-time analysis and/or display of data. The data could include position, velocity, current, or other data. It is completely up to the developer to define what data to provide. Of course, we can also imagine a lot of possibilities for other objects like CBLDCMotorDataItem that could be used for various purposes.
So what do we do with the data now that we have it available? That’s really up to you, but I have used this data, combined with a small custom application, to provide live data displays or perform calculations. You could also do runtime calculations and graph the results to monitor your motion control behavior at runtime. The available tools for developing such test applications are varied, but could include Java, .NET, or LabVIEW, all of which have extensive support for communicating with your firmware. You could even go so far as to develop an entire testing infrastructure that matches your firmware infrastructure that would allow your testers to write a variety of test applications.
The next level of design for the framework provides a means to ensure efficient and deterministic behavior. We recommend taking advantage of an event-driven, message-based framework to communicate among your objects.
An event-driven software architecture works well with an object-oriented design such as that above. It also helps to ensure efficient use of the CPU and ties into another valuable design methodology: state machines. Using an event-driven architecture combined with state machines utilizes run-to-completion semantics, which eliminate race conditions, and can ensure deterministic response times for critical system event handling. You can do this using RTOS mailboxes or message queues, or with a state-machine framework.
The use of state machines ensures predictable and discrete behavior based on a given system event. With UML state charts, you can provide industry standard diagrams that clearly define system behavior. Figure 3 shows an example of a simplified motion control state machine.
The advantage of implementing our behavior using the state machine versus a flowchart approach is that we don’t need to check a bunch of flags using convoluted if/then/else spaghetti code. Additionally, the system only reacts to system events that matter based on the current system state. In this simplified example, there are only 11 possible states in which the axis can be at any given time. However, if we tried to manage the system with as few as, for example, 4 Boolean flags, then there are 16 possible system states. Each additional flag used to manage the state doubles the number of possible states, making unit and system maintainability, extensibility and testing difficult.
As mentioned, testing is critical when developing motion control firmware. In safety-critical systems, this is more formally referred to as verification. The verification process requires written detail and proof that the system has passed testing. The verification process usually involves formal test plans and procedures to be written, reviewed and approved.
During the development of the test plans and procedures, engineers need to devise tests that ensure their device meets the requirements. For the motion control case, this is usually done using an external measurement device. I’m not suggesting we could eliminate external measurement, but our framework gives us another avenue for test.
By using the internally measured data provided through the communication interface, we have an additional means to test and troubleshoot the system. If internally measured data can be verified, the motion control system can be considered self-validating once you take into account the need for system calibration. This is a valuable outcome.
The foregoing is presented as a basis for developing a framework when designing motion control firmware. With a little forethought, planning and good design practices combined with realizing the need for development and test tools, an extensible code base can be developed for creating safe motion control firmware. This firmware will not only be reused for varying needs, but it can be properly tested and maintained into the future.
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March 29, 2005, 11:16AM
I was talking with some friends over the weekend about that book Perfect Madness (which I wrote about here
), and the general idea that we mothers these days seem anxious to raise not only perfect, but extraordinary, prodigious children. During the conversation, I kept referring to a book that I have read, but that I've never shared here. It's called Your Child's Growing Mind
. Written by Jane Healy, an educational psychologist and teacher, it uses the latest brain research to examine children's mental development, the roots of learning and the hazards of forced early learning. The latter was the most interesting part of the book for me. I can see myself, had I not read this book, trying to teach Belle to start reading early. But Healy strongly urges parents to repress that urge, because teaching kids to read (or to do math, or anything for that matter) before their brains are ready is a recipe for academic disaster down the road. The reason has to do with the wiring of the brain. Kids aren't ready to learn to read, for example, until certain parts of their brains have developed. Teaching a child before those centers are ready may seem to work to a certain degree -- they may learn to recognize words by memorization -- but they won't really understand what they are reading. Healy says this can create serious long-term problems, because as kids are learning, their brains are getting wired up. And children who learn to read by "barking words" without attaching meaning to them are essentially getting their brains wired the wrong way, and as a result they may never learn how to read fluently. Here is a passage from the book
Even babies can be trained to recognize words. Babies, however, cannot read, tapping into a vast personal storehouse of language and knowledge that takes years to build. Most preschoolers, likewise, can be trained through a stimulus-response type of teaching. The human brain can be trained to do almost anything, if the task is simplified enough and one is willing to devote the necessary time and energy. Yet the brain power - and possibly the neural connections - are stolen from the foundation of real intelligence. Reading becomes a low-level skill, and there is a danger that it will remain at the level where it was learned and practiced. I believe that formally teaching reading to preschoolers is a serious intrusion on natural mental growth. ... If we get children to "read" words before they have ideas, thoughts, and language to make reading interesting we hand them a key to the door of an unfinished garden. ... One of the biggest problems today is that children do not like to read. They complain that it is "boring." Is it possible that we have turned them back at the doorway by forcing the key on them too soon?
She applies the same basic concept to learning math and science. It is really an excellent book; I'd recommend it for any parent who feels themselves falling into the superbabying trap. Whenever I find myself comparing Belle to her peers, I remember that book and immediately stop. She'll learn some things later than others -- and some things sooner. But it will totally depend on what she is interested in and ready for -- not what I or others try to teach her. Meanwhile, she can just enjoy being a child. Comments? Email me.
Also, check out the Parenting Forum
. Full story »
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"May I ask a question. Which one of these laws, if any, makes Louisiana a better state to live and work in now than last year?
If you teach a man to build, he will hammer. If you teach him to bait a hook, he wiil fish. If teach him to farm, he will plant crops. If you elect a man to be a legislator, he makes laws, despite the fact the laws are not needed. Another example of one superfluous individual justifying his existence.
Perhaps the legislature should be enpaneled every two years, instead of every year. We can save money and our legislators and our law books wonl't get so fat."
Join the conversation; reply to Henry L. Mencken1951.
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Discovering and photographing the unknown beauty of Europe
The word “trappist” does not refer to a certain kind of beer, but to its origin. It actually comes from La Trappe (France), where the Trappist order originated in a Cistercian monastery. The monks started brewing beer in the late 17th century.
There are a lot of monasteries where beer is brewed, but not all these beers can be called trappist. Or have the right to be called trappist, because there is actually an International Trappist Association (ITA), that has come up with four criteria:
When these criteria are fulfilled, the association will label a beer officially as a trappist. At the moment, there are 7 such beers:
Most of these beers are ales, which come in different varieties (usually different strengths). Westvleteren is very popular, but is also quite difficult to find, since the monks only produce limited quantities of it. Nowadays, it can only be bought at the monastery itself, but there is a – long – waiting list.
The monasteries -and breweries – themselves can in most cases not be visited, but there is usually a visitor’s center, where you can taste and buy the beers. In October 2010, The Viking and I visited the monastery of Orval. The village is actually called Villers-devant-Orval and is situated in the south of Belgium. The monastery was founded in the 12th century and today you can visit the church and the ruins of the abbey.
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Social Inequality is The Mother of All Our Problems
by Asif Haroon Raja
The social stratification and social mobility both are considered to be pre-requisite for a developing nation to enter the developed world. However, the ‘class system’ cuts at the root of equality without which any country is fragile. A heterogeneous society like Pakistan is divided and gaps between different classes are widening with every passing day. Almost 36 million people live below poverty line. Half of adult population is still unable to read or write. The society is not only divided on the basis of social status and conflicting viewpoints, but also on account of the belief that the less privileged members of society cannot cross the insurmountable barriers between them and those blessed with comforts of life.
The working class is expected to work only while the ruling or elite class is enjoying perks and privileges of life without working. This class based schedule has become a permanent feature and resulted in stagnation of social statures. While the working class toiling under the ever increasing hardships of life looks at the opulent class arrogantly displaying wealth with awe, envy, frustration and resentment, the affluent class remain ever hungry and greedy to multiply their wealth through corrupt practices and unprepared to share with the poor. They want laws to be applied on the poor only and themselves to remain above law and to be treated as holy cows.
The privileged class fervently protects its wealth, power and status. Elections are gerrymandered to keep genuine leaders out of the mainstream and to keep the reins of power in the hands of their families. Defective political and electoral systems fail to throw up leaders of quality. Politicians cheat the nation by entering the electoral contest without genuine degrees and without meeting the criteria laid down by Election Commission, or the constitution which mandate that good and competent people are elected. Even the Army Generals when in power have also failed to ensure that clean people are allowed to contest elections.
During election campaign they raise false slogans of democracy and welfare of the poor but after getting elected they neither abide by democratic norms nor take any purposeful steps to alleviate the suffering of the poor. Rather, they aggravate their miseries. Being status quo lovers, any voice raised to change the rotten system is muffled. Merit is flouted and nepotism and cronyism under the plea of reconciliation is practiced. Their wards keep climbing up the social ladder without hard work and manage to get lucrative posts in government departments or get elected as legislators and senators.
Most of political elites have huge banks accounts in foreign banks and posh residences in Dubai, UK and USA and their children study in prestigious universities abroad. Their lifestyle, attitude and mindset are different to ordinary people of the country to which they belong. The only link they have with people of Pakistan is the vote which helps them in acquiring power and in filling up their coffers with ill-gotten wealth. To become a lawmaker and to snuggle into the coveted legislature, they wear a deceptive mask to fool the gullible masses that they are poor-friendly, pro-democracy and are against feudal lords, big industrialists and generals. They fire salvos against all such elements that are despised by the public so as to gain their confidence.
They make tall promises and lead them up the garden path promising them moon if voted to power. They spend lavishly on all public gatherings because they are sure to earn many times more what they spent once they attained ministerial slot. No sooner they get elected, they get detached from those who had elected them and get engrossed in money making pursuits or settling scores with their opponents and extending benefits to their near ones, cronies and those who can give something in return. Corruption, taking commission in all projects and kickbacks in all agreements with foreign countries; land grabbing, hoarding, manipulating stock exchange, milking public corporations and taking non-returnable loans are some of the favorite means adopted to multiply their wealth. While disregarding sentiments and aspirations of the people and making no effort to develop a social contract between them and people, they make sure that America is kept happy.
War on terror at the behest of USA is being relentlessly fought since the elites feel threatened that status quo might be overturned by religious forces. They consider their own people opposing their ideas, way of living and US centric policies a greater threat than India and USA. They have joined up with non-Muslims to kill own countrymen. They are not prepared to stop the self-destructive war which is causing immeasurable socio-politico-economic ruination to the country. They are wedded to the idea planted into their minds by their foreign patrons that extremists are posing an existential threat to Pakistan and must be fought with full force.
They look the other way when women, children and old people get killed by CIA operated drones. They do not feel alarmed and concerned after collecting fool proof evidence of spies and trained operatives of foreign agencies operating in Pakistan disguised as diplomats, security contractors and businessmen. They are not bothered that India is building dozens of dams over rivers flowing into Pakistan to make our fertile lands arid and barren. They don’t feel humiliated when US officials push around Pakistan as if it is their colony.
When the rulers are pressed to get Pakistan out of stranglehold of USA by refusing US aid and dictates, their eyes well up with tears. With choked voice they start narrating the plight of the poor saying as to what will happen to them who could not afford two square meals a day. Behind the cover of the dispossessed whom they treat with rancor and insensitivity, they justify Pakistan’s dependence on US and aid flow. The hypocrites do not divulge that the real purpose of foreign aid is to upkeep the regal lifestyle of the elite which is not more than 10% and not for rest which are destined to live and die in hunger. It is pathetic that our rulers devoid of morality and self-respect have put honour and dignity of the nation on sale.
They are solely concerned about their selfish interests and are least bothered about the welfare of the people and sovereignty and integrity of Pakistan. When the media, Imran Khan and Jamaat-i-Islami leaders show them the mirror about their black deeds they complain that they are biased and unfair. When the law courts try to indict them on mega corruption charges and other wrongdoings they adopt a posture of defiance and wail that they are being wrongly persecuted. They go to the extent of playing ethnic card as was recently seen when controversial NAB chief was shown the door by Supreme Court.
The MQM which is continuing with its usual blackmailing tactics continue to remain a coalition partner with PPP but behaves like an opposition party. Its supremo has given a call to the patriotic generals to jump in and cleanse the Aegean stables and has also desired a bloody revolution to end feudal system which is the bane of the society. The party is desperate to gain a foothold in Punjab to become a national party particularly when it has succeeded in making political ingress in Azad Kashmir and in Gilgit Baltistan. It is on warpath with its coalition partner ANP in Sindh and is estranged with PML-N but has got married up with PML-Q.
While Gen retired Musharraf in exile has launched a new party ‘All Pakistan Muslim League’ on 01 October and is busy mustering support in all the four federating provinces with the help of his loyalists within Q League, MQM and other parties, Choudhry led PML-Q which was getting isolated and weakened due to revolt within the party, it decided to get merged with PML-F and accept Pir Pagara as the leader. Choudhrys kept throwing feelers to PML-N to join in before Musharraf hijacked members from both the parties. Latter refused to excuse the turncoats that had ditched Nawaz in 1999 and formed a King’s Party at the behest of Musharraf in 2001. It has however welcomed unification group of PML-Q headed by Dr Javed and Maneka which claims 47 members of the party in Punjab. Beleaguered Choudhry brothers are sometime clutching the hand of MQM and sometime of the PPP. They have given a commitment to Zardari that they are prepared to become coalition partners with the PPP in the centre and in Punjab.
All those desiring change and in a position to do so are not willing to bell the cat. They want the judiciary or the military to perform the feat so that they could reap the harvest. None has any viable strategy how to bring a change that could prove beneficial for the country. Till very recent, the PML-N harboring serious reservations over bad governance and corruption was not keen to bring down the government and wanted the present regime to complete its full five-year tenure. Since the talk of change has gained high pitch and the ruling regime has refused to bring any change in its conduct and has also decided to confront the higher judiciary, the PML-N has now given a strong hint that it will side with the supreme court and not the ruling regime in case of a clash. Nawaz said that he would welcome a change within the parameters of constitution. Its parting of ways with PPP in Punjab has led to daily rowdy scenes in Punjab Assembly.
Karachi and Balochistan remains turbulent because of unabated target killings and kidnapping for ransom. The two provincial governments led by weak chief ministers are helplessly watching the deteriorating law and order situation. The ISI, MI, IB and FIA have been repeatedly pointing out huge involvement of foreign agencies in Balochistan, FATA, parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Lahore and Karachi. These agencies have collected clinching evidence of RAW’s involvement in all our restive areas using Afghan soil. Since so many anti-Pakistan agencies are jointly operating in Pakistan for the last so many years, no place is now out of their reach.
Arrest of Raymond Davis and his trial by law court had given a ray of hope to the people that it would unearth the CIA network and its real designs against Pakistan. The big fish was allowed to fly out quietly to Afghanistan at 4.53 pm on 16 March under a secret deal about which the public was not taken into confidence. There is huge resentment among the people since they feel that their rulers have once again sold their souls and bartered away the dignity and honor of the nation to facilitate release of a spy and a double murderer. They got another jolt when next morning North Waziristan experienced one of the bloodiest drone attacks. 44 innocent people holding peace Jirga got killed. There is every reason to believe that Davis gave vent to his pent up anger of seven-week internment. It was a despicable act which has been condemned by all and sundry in Pakistan but hailed by CIA and hawks in Obama Administration and Pentagon. These two events are likely to trigger extremism in Pakistan.
It is unfortunate that our leaders are not taking stock of this grave situation and are keeping their eyes closed to ever increasing American intrusiveness and intervention. Hundreds of Raymond Davis-like commandoes and intelligence goons are wantonly shredding the sovereignty of our country and trying to destabilize Pakistan. Most terrorist acts in urban centres including attacks on religious places are the handiwork of foreign agents. It is like East India Company’s silent invasion under the garb of business. There is no plan in the offing to get rid of them.
We advocate purging of sensitive and elite institutions and weeding out Islamic extremists having links with militant outfits. None feel the need for a purge of pro-American elements in military-police-bureaucracy-parliament-nuclear installations pursuing US agenda. These in my views are more poisonous since they secretly take dictations from a foreign power to harm vital national interests.
Absence of social equality and tranquility and gross difference between way of life of haves and have-nots, lack of justice and ever growing liberalism giving rise to obscenity and permissiveness among the opulent are some of the reasons which bred radicalism and religiosity. Accumulation of grievances among the poor against the rich gave rise to despondency and then to revulsion and anger and ultimately fueled religious extremism and terrorism. Today the unprivileged classes together with the youth are fully charged up. They are restless to throw away the pro-rich decayed system and are yearning to bring a healthy change.
There is neither any mechanism to control social dichotomies nor there is will of the government in power to correct the anomalies since all members of the ruling regime are themselves the product of rich class. With no course correction, the ills keep accumulating. Rulers’ apparent concern for the poor is lip service since they do not believe in social equality. They have deliberately kept the great majority uneducated so as to not only keep the people ignorant of their basic rights but also to maintain a large labor force for their lands. Otherwise there was no earthly reason to have allocated only 2% of the budget for education since 1947. When a social gap widens between the leaders and the led and the former get disconnected with the masses, extremist organizations get an opportunity to slip into the gap. More the gulf, greater will be the space for the third force to gain strength.
It is unfortunate that after the untimely death of Quaid-e-Azam, mini-minds have ruled Pakistan. Visionless pygmy rulers have had neither the will nor the skill or charisma to rectify multiple ills of the society. Leadership crisis is among the major bane of Pakistan. Religious leaders and ulema, instead of preaching tolerance, moderation, high morals and imparting knowledge of Islam, they fan sectarianism and violence. Parents and teachers play little role in building character of the youth.
There is a dire need to make the social fabric cohesive to prevent 1971 like tragedy. Until and unless upward social mobility based on equality is promoted and evenhanded social justice for all is practiced, religious extremism and desire for Sharia will keep growing. Nationalism, patriotism, national integration and economic prosperity which we aspire will remain an illusive dream.
About the Writer: Asif Haroon Raja is a defence analyst and a freelance columnist. Email:email@example.com
Short URL: http://www.veteranstoday.com/?p=88498
Posted by Brig Asif H. Raja on Mar 18 2011, With 0 Reads, Filed under Corruption, Politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.
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Sep. 10, 2010 In our dynamic 3-D world, we can encounter a familiar face from any angle and still recognize that face with ease, even if the person has, for example, changed his hair style. This is because our brain has used the 2-D snapshots perceived by our eyes (like a camera) to build and store a 3-D mental representation of the face, which is resilient to such changes.
This is an automatic process that most of us are not consciously aware of, and which appears to be a challenge for people with a particular type of face-blindness, as reported in the September 2010 issue of Elsevier's Cortex.
Prosopagnosia is a condition in which the ability to recognize faces is impaired; it can arise from damage to the brain or can also be present from early childhood, without any discernible brain damage. The latter is known as Developmental Prosopagnosia (DP) and in many cases it runs in families.
To investigate familial prosopagnosia, Drs. Yunjo Lee and Hugh Wilson at York University in Canada, together with colleagues from University College London and Harvard University, extensively assessed the face-processing abilities of three cases of DP within a single family.
The participants, a father and two daughters, all have trouble recognizing faces, despite having otherwise normal visual sensory and intellectual abilities. All three are highly educated and socially well integrated; they know what a face looks like and can read facial expressions, attractiveness and gender from the face. One of the daughters is in fact a visual artist who frequently portrays faces with great detail in her sculptures, demonstrating her ability to process generic faces. However, the study showed that changes in lighting conditions and viewing angles affected their ability to recognize faces. For example, one of the daughters was able to detect subtle differences between two faces when looking at them from the same angle, but not when viewed from different angles.
The findings of this study suggest that some cases of familial DP result from an inability to form a robust mental representation of a face that can cope with changes in viewpoint or other conditions.
Other social bookmarking and sharing tools:
- Yunjo Lee, Bradley Duchaine, Hugh R. Wilson, Ken Nakayama. Three cases of developmental prosopagnosia from one family: Detailed neuropsychological and psychophysical investigation of face processing. Cortex, 2010; 46 (8): 949 DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2009.07.012
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
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Wildlife officials break down number, species of fish found dead along stretch of Rocky River
State wildlife and environmental protection officials have finished counting the number of fish found dead along a three-mile stretch of the Rocky River.
Their tally totals 28,613 fish and other aquatic species such as crayfish and frogs, dead as a result of a still-unknown cause.
The fish were discovered late Sunday by an angler who alerted the Ohio Division of Wildlife through that agency’s poacher-reporting hotline.
By Monday, the scene along the the Rocky River — all of which flows through Cleveland Metroparks’ Mill Stream Run Reservation in Strongsville — was one of state Wildlife Division officials and their counterparts with Cleveland Metroparks and the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency scouring the area for dead fish.
Their first task was to collect, preserve, count and identify the fish species. It is known that some of the dead fish were steelhead trout as well as possibly the bigmouth shiner, a state-listed threatened fish species, and smallmouth bass.
“The investigators aren’t going back to the stream today because they believe they have all the data that they need,” said Jamey Graham, spokeswoman for the Wildlife Division’s District Three (Northeast Ohio) office in Akron.
Broken down by species, the preliminary-only totals are: crappie,16; trout, 72; minnows (all subspecies), 22,018; darters, 3,287; suckers, 3,962; crayfish, 61; frogs, 3; shad, 2; sunfish, 143; smallmouth bass, 49.
The reason for the separation of the fish by species is so that the Wildlife Division can determine how much to charge in fines and restitution if and when the culprit is identified. The state has assigned a dollar figure for each fish species.
“Plus, it might help us determine what caused the kill and where since some fish species are more sensitive to indicators than are other fish species,” Graham said.
That discovery process will be aided by the Ohio EPA with its team of investigators which will work to discover what caused the fish to die, where the offending agent originated from and ultimately who was responsible, has said Mike Settles, Ohio EPA spokesman.
Location, ST | website.com
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 10, 2012
SCHUMER: NEW COLORFUL, EXTRA-TOXIC DETERGENT PODS LOOK LIKE CANDY AND HAVE BEEN EATEN BY ALMOST 3,000 YOUNG CHILDREN – URGES FEDS TO REQUIRE CHILD-SAFE CAPS AND OTHER PROTECTIONS
New Product is Convenient, But Detergent Is Concentrated and Particularly Dangerous to Ingest, Putting Young Kids At Risk
Schumer Urges Feds to Take Common Sense Step, Require Child Safety Caps and Warning Labels on Containers, Similar to Those Placed on Rx Drug Bottles
Doctors, Consumer Advocates, and Medical Journals Have Been Sounding Alarm About Pods – Dozens of Cases Have Been Reported In NYC and LI
U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer today called on the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) to put forward regulations that result in child safety caps on the packaging of dishwashing and laundry detergent gel pods that are posing serious risks to young children. The gel pods, which are relatively new to the United States, are small in size and come in a variety of bright colors, making them attractive to children, who confuse them for candy. The gel pods, which contain a single dose of detergent, are particularly dangerous to young children because detergent is highly concentrated. Schumer also urged the companies to immediately consider offering these products with child-safe caps on their own.
Schumer was joined by Dr. Maida P. Galvez of the Mount Sinai School of Medicine; Dr. Tamara Kuittinen of Lenox Hill Hospital; Daniel Kass, Deputy Commissioner of NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene; and Chuck Bell of the Consumer’s Union.
“These pods were supposed to make household chores easier, not tempt our children to swallow harmful chemicals,” said Schumer. “The common sense solution to this problem is for manufacturers to make the product less colorful, and for them to use child safe caps on the dispensers. Child safe caps are commonly used on prescription drug bottles, and there is no reason in the world that those protections can’t be used on another product that can be equally dangerous.”
The problem of children consuming these pods, meant for the washing machines or dishwashers, is growing as the products gain popularity in the United States, and the symptoms are severe. The effects of ingesting gel pods include vomiting, dizziness, drowsiness, trouble breathing, and a number of children have been hospitalized. According to the Consumer Products Safety Commission, these packets pose more serious problems when ingested than liquid or powder detergent. Young children can suffer from serious eye damage when the gel pod bursts open and eleven children have been placed on ventilators.
In May, 200 cases had been reported to poison control centers nationwide. That skyrocketed to 1,210 by the end of June. In April, May and June alone, 40 cases have been reported in New York City and a dozen have been reported on Long Island. According to the American Association of Poison Control Centers, there have been 2,950 cases nationwide of children aged 5 and younger swallowing these detergent gel pods.
Schumer is asking for the Commission to consider implementing both voluntary and mandatory child resistant packaging on gel pods, like those found on prescription drug bottles, as well as more prominent warning labels. Schumer said the agency should immediate put forward safety standards that manufacturers can adhere to, and begin the sometimes lengthy process that will ultimately result in such child resistant packaging being required. In Europe, where the pods have been on the market for years and have caused many more injuries, doctors are sounding the alarm, warning parents not to purchase the product. A paper published this month in the Archives of Diseases in Childhood outlined the growing scope of the problem, saying “Dishwasher and washing machine liquitabs are now a common finding in most homes but unfortunately seem very attractive to young children.”
Dishwashing and detergent “gel pods” are small pods that contain dishwasher or laundry detergent, and are designed to make household chores easier by reducing spills and eliminating uncertainty. Due to their convenience, these products are becoming more and more popular in households in New York and across the country. As they have grown more popular, reports have shown that there is a growing number of young children that are swallowing the gel pods because of their bite size packaging, bright colors and candy jar-like container.
After skyrocketing reports of children ingesting the detergent gel pods, Procter and Gamble announced in May that they would be implementing a new double-latch lid for the Tide Pods containers, making it much more difficult for children to open the packaging. Schumer noted that the Tide company should be applauded for their efforts and concern about this ongoing problem however, it is clear that these gel pods are still getting into the hands of young children and more needs to be done.
Schumer today called on the Consumer Product Safety Commission to implement both voluntary and mandatory standards for child safety caps and more prominent warning labels on detergent gel pods. According to the Poison Prevention Act of 1970,15 U.S.C. §§ 1471-1476, the Consumer Product Safety Commission has the authority to require child resistant packaging on a wide range of hazardous house hold products, in addition to prescription drugs.
A copy of Schumer’s letter can be found below:
Chairman Inez Moore Tenenbaum
U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission
4330 East West Highway
Bethesda, MD 20814
Dear Chairman Inez Moore Tenenbaum,
I write today to urge the Consumer Product Safety Commission to increase safety requirements for dishwashing and laundry detergent pods after the skyrocketing number of cases of children consuming these pods. Detergent pods, first sold in Europe, began sales in the Unites States for the first time this year and we’ve already seen a stunning number of children consume the colorful packets that resemble candy. More must be done to protect our children.
The pods are particularly dangerous for children because the detergent is very concentrated. The effects of ingesting a pod include vomiting, drowsiness and respiratory problems. The symptoms can be so severe in some children that they require hospitalization and a ventilator. According to the American Association of Poison Control Centers there have already been 2,950 cases nationwide of kids aged 5 and younger swallowing these dishwashing and laundry detergent pods. Locally, New York Poison Control has received forty cases in New York City and thirteen calls from Long Island reporting the ingestion of detergent in the form of pods. These cases are likely to be just the beginning.
With the recent rise in the manufacturing of such products, parents have been warned of the dangers posed by detergent pods, but more needs to be done. The Consumer Product Safety Commission must fully explore both mandatory and voluntary safety requirements for companies to follow in order to prevent children from being able to access and consume detergent products.
Thank you for your time and attention in this important matter. I look forward to your reply.
Charles E. Schumer
United States Senate
# # #
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Catechists & Teachers
Directors & Principals
Finding God 2005
Finding God: Our Response to God’s Gifts
Know Your Faith. Grow in Faith. Go in Faith.
Our faith is meant to be lived out in our homes, at our schools, in our jobs, and in our communities. Finding God: Our Response to God’s Gifts is a faith formation program that invites children and their parents into a new way of living in relationship with God, family, community, and the world. This comprehensive program provides sound doctrine, Scripture, Tradition, and prayer through experiential activities that make these essential lessons part of a lifelong practice of faith.
Finding God: Our Response to God’s Gifts is based on a spiral curriculum that integrates the fundamental themes of the Catechism of the Catholic Church with Scripture and Catholic Social Teaching. This program provides lessons in the faith and delivers those lessons through experiential activities that encourage lifelong practice.
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Feds: Critical Security Flaws Found in Millions of Home, Office DevicesSubmitted by emalvini on Wed, 01/30/2013 - 14:58
Feds: Critical Security Flaws Found in Millions of Home, Office Devices
by Paul Wagenseil | Senior Editor | Security TechNewsDaily
January 30 2013 08:59 AM ET
The U.S. government has released a security advisory about critical flaws in Universal Plug and Play (UPnP), a networking protocol used by tens of millions of routers, computer printers, storagedrives, smart TVs and other devices commonly found in homes and offices.
The flaws could let outside attackers invade your home or business network and cause havoc. Dozens of device manufacturers, including Cisco/Linksys, Netgear, Sony, Siemens and Belkin, have been notified, but few, if any, have rolled out patches yet.
US-CERT, the United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team, advises all users to manually disable UPnP in their devices' administrative settings. Users will have to refer to their owners' manuals or to manufacturers' websites to learn how.
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Programs for two-dimensional graphics fall into three categories: design, paint and photography. Adobe Photoshop has been the “Swiss Army Knife” software that most video professionals rely on to do all of these functions, but its main strength is image layout and design. Realistic painting that mimics natural media like oils and chalks continues to be the hallmark of Corel Painter. Neither application is much help if you need to organize hundreds of images, so programs like Apple’s iPhoto, Corel’s Paint Shop Pro Photo X2 and Google’s Picasa have come to fill that void for legions of photographers worldwide. These serve the needs of most amateurs, but if you’re a pro who needs industrial strength photo organization and manipulation software, then Apple Aperture and Adobe Photoshop Lightroom lead the pack. Both applications offer similar features and Adobe and Apple have been responding to each other tit-for-tat with new features in every software update – all to the benefit of the user.
In early 2008, Apple released Aperture 2, which was quickly followed by the 2.1 update. Aperture 2 added 100 new features, but the biggest improvement was faster performance, enabling quicker previews and image browsing. Aperture 2.1 introduced a plug-in architecture that has opened Aperture to a large field of third party developers. To date about 70 plug-ins have been developed for functions that include image manipulation, export, file transfer and Apple Automator workflow scripts. Apple has targeted professional photographers as the main customers for Aperture 2 and offers extensive support, such as video tutorials, on their website. There’s also a growing community of users and developers focused on Aperture and its plug-ins.
Documentary films and corporate image videos make extensive use of photographs to tell the story. Aperture 2’s file management is the biggest selling point for video producers and editors. Images in your library are organized by projects, albums, books and light tables. You can store master images in the Aperture library or link to other folders. There’s a new Quick Preview mode to that rapidly updates images during browsing. When not in the Quick Preview mode, Aperture 2 loads the full resolution images into the viewer (if they are available on the mounted drives) from the master files. You may use the Loupe (photographer’s magnifying glass) to isolate and analyze a portion of the photo at a 1:1 pixel size, which is accessed from the master image. Or just zoom the image to its actual size if your prefer. If the drive with the master images is not mounted, then Aperture displays a hi-resolution proxy image. Standard image corrections can be made when master files are available and these are applied as non-destructive filters, like adjustment layers in Photoshop, so your master image is never altered. Corrections are applied only to an exported image, therefore “baking in” these changes to a new version of the photo.
You can add custom metadata to each photo, which can be used to automatically populate smart albums. For example, as you browse and evaluate images, a rating system or keyword can be applied to each selected still. Smart albums can be tied to certain metadata information, so as you apply the right criteria, these images instantly show up in the appropriate smart album. Photos in an album, smart album, book or light table are linked back to the original image files in the project. As you adjust the non-destructive color settings, these changes ripples through to all the instances of that image in an album or light table. There are numerous templates and now export plug-ins to send images to locations outside of the Aperture 2 environment. The application is tightly integrated with Apple’s MobileMe web service, but other options via third party exporters include Facebook, Flickr, Gmail and Picassa to name a few. This makes Aperture 2 the ideal tool for location managers, casting directors, producers and directors who like to post photos to a web location for quick and easy client review. If you are a Final Cut Pro editor, there’s even a plug-in to send selected images out as a Final Cut Pro sequence, complete with a choice of transition effects.
Imposing structure on a ton of photos is very important, but in the end, it’s all about image quality. In the documentary scenario, many stills given to the editor require a lot of clean-up, like dust-busting and cropping. Newer snapshots may require red-eye correction. These tasks have been traditional Photoshop strengths, but are actually better handled in a photo-centric application like Aperture 2. The tools include straightening and cropping, as well as a variety of color balance and enhancement filters. The image adjustment toolset is rounded out by non-destructive retouching brushes (repair, clone, healing) and vignettes. If you shoot camera RAW photography, Aperture 2 supports a wide variety of camera models plus the Adobe DNG format, and gained new RAW fine-tuning tools.
Photographers can now tether certain Nikon and Canon digital SLR cameras to the computer and capture their images directly into Aperture 2. You might not think this applies to video editors, but I’ve done a lot of projects where old photographic prints had to be scanned or shot with a video camera. Tethered operation for copy stand work seems like a much better and faster way to accomplish this task!
While we’re talking about camera RAW images, I have to quickly point out that the .R3D format of RED Digital Cinema’s RED One camera is not supported in Aperture 2. One of the beauties of shooting with RED is that the high resolution progressive frames also make great stills for print campaigns derived from the same shoot. Much like pulling a frame out of the 35mm negative after a film shoot. The RedAlert application can export 2K and 4K stills in the TIFF format, so it’s a simple task to import these into Aperture 2 for further manipulation. Aperture 2 isn’t as complex as Photoshop and its photographic tools are more comfortable for most directors of photography. So, it’s the ideal place for a DP to import sample stills from RED and do a quick grade for the director, client or colorist as a reference for his intended look.
Aperture has offered an “edit with” feature since the beginning, which lets you designate an application like Photoshop as an external image editor. The new, third party image filters are accessed through the same “edit with” menu selection. Unlike other plug-in formats, these filters open as separate applications with their own interface. Apple got the ball rolling by integrating a full-featured Dodge and Burn filter. Tiffen and DFT joined the party, as did traditional photography software and Photoshop filter vendors, like Nik Software (Color Efex Pro, Silver Efex Pro) and Picture Code (Noise Ninja). Unlike Aperture’s own internal tools, these filter changes are destructive, so when you use one, a copy of the image is created with the applied effect, so you aren’t locked into that result.
Written by Oliver Peters for Videography magazine and NewBay Media, L.L.C.
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New privacy and data security laws took effect in Nevada and New Hampshire on January 1, 2010, continuing the trend of state governments acting to strengthen data security laws. Nevada’s law makes it the first state to mandate compliance with the entire Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) and imposes a requirement on businesses and government agencies to encrypt sensitive data transmitted or carried outside of the premises of the business or agency. New Hampshire’s law first sets forth restrictions regarding the use and disclosure of personal health information for marketing or fundraising purposes and then sets forth a disclosure requirement if there is unauthorized use or disclosure of protected health information in violation of New Hampshire law, even if the use or disclosure is allowed under federal law.
Nevada’s law addresses transaction data created by a customer’s use of a credit, debit, or other payment card, and personal information, and applies to “a data collector doing business” in Nevada. While the question of what constitutes “doing business” in a state requires a fact-specific analysis, the Nevada law is clear in its adoption of PCI DSS standards. Specifically, a data collector that accepts payment cards is now required to comply with “the current version” of the PCI DSS, no later than the date for compliance set forth by the PCI DSS or the PCI Security Standards Council. Data collectors who do not accept payment cards must use encryption when transferring personal information through “an electronic, nonvoice transmission other than a facsimile” to a person outside the secure system of the data collector and when moving any data storage device containing personal information “beyond the logical or physical controls of the data collector.” By enacting this law, Nevada essentially codifies the PCI DSS standards.
New Definition of Encryption
The Nevada law also repeals a prior statute that defined the term “encryption” more flexibly. The new law defines “encryption” as (1) “an encryption technology that has been adopted by an established standards setting body, including, but not limited to, the Federal Information Processing Standards issued by the National Institute of Standards and Technology” and (2) “[a]ppropriate management and safeguards of cryptographic keys to protect the integrity of the encryption using guidelines promulgated by an established standards setting body, including, but not limited to, the National Institute of Standards and Technology.” Whereas the prior statutory definition of encryption permitted use of a wide range of technologies as long as the essential purpose of protection was accomplished, the new law now defines which technologies are acceptable.
The new law establishes a safe harbor by stating that a data collector is not liable for damages for a breach of the system data security if the data collector is in compliance with this law and the security breach is not caused by the gross negligence or intentional misconduct of the data collector, its officers, employees, or agents. The new law, however, does not identify a party empowered to enforce the statute nor does it specifically create an individual cause of action. Likewise, the law does not specify penalties or remedies for noncompliance. Since the new law resides in the Trade Regulations and Practices title, which generally grants the state Attorney General enforcement authority, it is likely that the Nevada Attorney General will be able to seek an injunction, restitution, or monetary relief for its citizens based on harms resulting from a violation.
New Hampshire Law
New Hampshire’s new medical records and patient information law sets forth requirements for the use of health care information for marketing and fundraising purposes and mandates that health care providers and business associates notify individuals in writing upon the unauthorized use or disclosure of their protected health information if such uses or disclosures violate New Hampshire law, even if such disclosures are “allowed under federal law.” Importantly, unlike New Hampshire’s general data breach notification law, there is no risk of harm threshold that must be met to trigger the notification requirement.
Definition of Health Care Provider
The data breach notification law applies to health care information in the possession of health care providers and business associates of health care providers. While the law adopts definitions in the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) for the terms “business associate,” “use,” “disclosure,” and “protected health information,” it sets forth its own definition of “health care provider.” The law establishes a broad definition, defining the term as “any person, corporation, facility, or institution either licensed by this state or otherwise lawfully providing health care services, including, but not limited to, a physician, hospital, office, clinic, health center or other health care facility, dentist, nurse, optometrist, pharmacist, podiatrist, physical therapist, or mental health professional, and any officer, employee, or agent of such provider acting in the course and scope of employment or agency related to or supportive of health care services.”
Marketing and Fundraising
The law requires health care providers and business associates to obtain authorization for any use or disclosure of protected health information (PHI) for marketing purposes. The authorization must meet the implementation specifications for marketing adopted in Sections 262 and 264 of HIPAA, as amended. The New Hampshire law defines marketing as “a communication about a product or service that encourages recipients of the communication to purchase or use the product or service,” except for communications made by the individual’s health care provider to the individual for treatment, case management, care coordination, and other related activities. Marketing is also defined as an arrangement in which a health care provider discloses PHI in exchange for direct or indirect remuneration, so that the other person may “make a communication about the person’s own product or service that encourages recipients of the communication to purchase or use that product or service.”
Individuals must also be provided with an opt-out prior to the use and disclosure of the PHI for fundraising purposes and that opt-out must be provided in a “clear and conspicuous manner,” which includes simple election language and easily readable type. This notice must be provided sixty days before the fundraising communication, on presentation of a notice of privacy practices distributed under HIPAA and given before the fundraising communication, or in a later fundraising communication if the individual did not opt-out earlier.
For either marketing or fundraising, PHI must not be disclosed by voice mail, unattended facsimile, or “through other means that are not secure.”
Notification and Remedies for Disclosure
Under the law, in the event of a use or disclosure of PHI by a health care provider or business associate “that is allowed under federal law but not permitted by RSA 332:1:4 [the marketing and fundraising provision],” the health care provider or business associate must “promptly” notify the individual or individuals whose PHI was disclosed. The law does not specify the time period for providing notice, nor does it include requirements for the content of the notice. Notably, however, the law does establish an individual cause of action for violations of the new law and mandates significant penalties. Aggrieved individuals may bring action for violations of the new law and damages are specified as “not less than $1,000 for each violation, and costs and reasonable legal fees.”
Although to date only Minnesota has codified one part of PCI DSS, Nevada’s new codification of the entire PCI DSS may well encourage other states to follow its lead in adopting PCI DSS as states did after California enacted the first information security breach notification statute. Even in the absence of new state laws, businesses with a nationwide presence may find themselves operating under a new standard due to the practical difficulty of separating information for Nevada customers from non-Nevada customers. The New Hampshire law, applying only to health care providers and business associates, may have more limited business impact. Nonetheless, it shows that affected companies may not look only to federal law when handling PHI and instead must also consider state laws that, in some cases, extend beyond HIPAA. As such, careful attention to state privacy and data security laws remains a prerequisite for companies handling private customer information.
The relevant provision of New Hampshire’s data breach notification law, codified at N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 359-C:20(I)(a), states that “[a]ny person doing business in this state who owns or licenses computerized data that includes personal information shall, when it becomes aware of a security breach, promptly determine the likelihood that the information has been or will be misused. If the determination is that misuse of the information has occurred or is reasonably likely to occur, or if a determination cannot be made, the person shall notify the affected individuals as soon as possible as required under this subdivision.”
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The government approved the corn solely for use as livestock feed. But, the cost of its discovery in the human food stream is mounting.
pay out over a billion dollars to producers and elevator operators.
And, the fallout over the contamination of the U.S. corn supply is adding up.
Based on concerns over the purity of American corn, the Japanese have begun looking elsewhere for imports. The net effect has been a drop in U.S. corn exports to three-month lows.
(Slug elevator footage)
Despite the work by Aventis officials, farmers, and elevator operators to find all the Starlink in the system the problem is not expected to go away any time soon. Several million bushels are still unaccounted for and the current contamination is believed to be from the 1999 corn crop. Industry analysts are predicting Starlink will be in the system, in trace amounts, for at least two more years.
Though exports have fallen for corn, the recent out break of Mad-Cow disease in the European Union may provide an outlet for other grains. This week, E-U ministers banned the use of rendered livestock in all animal feed -- previously the ban had only applied to cattle rations. The move has increased the export of soybean meal to Europe.
The human form of Mad-Cow has taken the lives of 80 people in Britain and more than 100 others across the EU. Besides the human cost, Mad-Cow has hit British producers hard. Over the past five years, farm incomes have slid 72 percent, 27 percent this year alone.
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Rugged Tablet Computers - Lessons Learned And Design ResponsesSource: DRS Technologies
Since the days of the ancient Egyptians, paper has been the medium of choice for capturing data. Today, paper – in the form of notebooks, maps and photographs, to name a few – is being rapidly supplanted by digital technology. The computer has moved from the office into the field. While rugged mobile computers were once used primarily by military personnel and focused applications in the commercial and industrial markets, today’s rugged computer is for people who perform normal job functions in demanding environments.
High and Low Temperatures
Mobile devices are subjected to a much broader range of temperatures, ranging from winter nights in Minnesota to summer days in Arizona. These extremes are quite different from the office. Sound thermal design practices not only address electronic components, but also the liquid crystal display (LCD), battery, and spinning storage media. In addition, overall thermal design establishes a “cold boot” lower limit and maximum hot operation. The ability of a computer to operate at high and low temperatures also depends in part on the selection of materials and how they relate to other materials in environments that can cause differential expansion and contraction.
Shock and Vibration
Mobile devices are subjected to a broad range of intentional and non-intentional usage environments not present with office equipment. Non-intentional shock includes dropping and sliding off surfaces, while intentional shocks occur through operations such as a vehicle backing up to a loading dock, a rail car engaging, or a tow truck winch operating. Vibration, on the other hand, is specific to the vehicle or stationary equipment on which the device is mounted. While most applications are typified by random vibration, in some cases, such as onboard a ship, there is an overlay of a strong periodic vibrating component induced by engines.
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The state's unemployment rate fell for the fourth month in a row in December, capping off a drop of more than 1 percentage point in the rate since December 2011, the Texas Workforce Commission announced Friday.
While December's rate only dropped 0.1 percentage point — 6.2 percent to 6.1 percent — from November, the rate for the end of 2012 was 1.3 percentage points below unemployment the year before. Texas employers added 4,100 nonfarm jobs last month, adding up to 260,800 jobs gained cumulatively over the course of the year.
"With those positive strides and 11,800 private sector jobs added in the past month, 2012 was a strong year for Texas," Workforce Commission Chairman Andres Alcantar said in a news release. "My hope is that the Texas economy will build on that success in 2013."
Texas' unemployment rate continues to be lower than the national rate. According to a Bureau of Labor Statistics news release, the national rate held steady at 7.8 percent, with no change from November to December.
The state's goods-producing sectors (mining and logging, construction and manufacturing) nearly broke even, adding 500 jobs collectively for December. The construction sector saw a loss for the second month in a row, dropping 4,100 jobs. The largest sector to see a decline was in the government sector, which lost 7,700 jobs last month.
The small gains came primarily from growth in the business and manufacturing sectors, which added 13,300 and 4,100 jobs, respectively.
Of the 260,800 jobs Texas added over the course of 2012, 257,400 came from nongovernment positions.
"Texas is leading the way in helping to make the United States energy independent," Tom Pauken, the Texas workforce commissioner representing employers, said in the news release. "Our robust energy sector not only is creating good paying jobs for many Texans in that industry but also is spurring job growth in many other industries."
According to the state release, the Midland Metropolitan Statistical Area again had the lowest unemployment rate in the state at 3.1 percent, which increased slightly from November. Odessa again came in second at 3.7 percent, and Amarillo was third at 4.1 percent.
Three areas reached over 10 percent unemployment in December. The Brownsville-Harlingen area and McAllen-Edinburg-Mission are tied for the worst unemployment rates, both reaching 10.3 percent. The Beaumont-Port Arthur area also saw an increase of 0.8 points since November, reaching 10 percent unemployment.
|Nov. 2012||Dec. 2012||Dec. 2011|
|Mining and Logging||258,200||259,800||253,500|
|Trade, Transportation, Utilities||2,181,500||2,182,000||2,126,000|
|Professional and Business Services||1,393,600||1,406,900||1,359,900|
|Education and Health Services||1,490,800||1,492,100||1,445,500|
|Leisure and Hospitality||1,115,200||1,111,500||1,064,000|
Texas Tribune donors or members may be quoted or mentioned in our stories, or may be the subject of them. For a complete list of contributors, click here.
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September 24, 2010
Researchers need to find ways to make clinical trials more inclusive of women, according to Judith Feinberg, an infectious-disease expert at the University of Cincinnati. Jobs, child care, and transportation often affect whether women complete clinical trials, which can last for a year or longer and require multiple doctor visits, Feinberg said.
Feinberg headed up the local arm of the national Gender, Race and Clinical Experience (GRACE) trial, which enrolled 287 women and 142 men at 65 centers in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. The Phase IIIb clinical trial was designed to assess how well women and minorities who had failed on other HIV drugs responded to Prezista.
Women are the fastest-growing group to be newly diagnosed with HIV, so it is key that scientists learn what drugs are most effective for them. New infection rates are highest among African-American women. "The reality is we prescribe drugs to women all the time that have only or primarily been tested on men," said Feinberg.
Of the study's female participants, 84 percent were African-American or Hispanic. While the researchers were able to recruit the right number of women and the correct demographic mix, retaining females during the trial proved difficult.
Almost one-third of women dropped out of the 48-week study for reasons unrelated to Prezista's side effects, compared to just one-fourth of men. The drug was equally effective in men and women, but failure rates were higher in black women because they left the trial early and thus had to be counted as treatment failures, said Feinberg.
The study's authors concluded: "Nonsignificant, sex-based differences in responses were found during the 48-week study; however, these differences were probably due to higher discontinuation rates in women, suggesting that additional efforts are needed to retain women in clinical trials."
The study, "Sex-Based Outcomes of Darunavir-Ritonavir Therapy: A Single-Group Trial," was published in the Annals of Internal Medicine (2010;153(6):349-357).
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Eugene Walker knows closing schools is inevitable, but the DeKalb County School Board member is spreading the message that high-achieving schools are to be saved.
The board heard a proposal earlier this month that called for the closing of 14 schools in massive redistricting effort that is designed to make the system more efficient and make more schools eligible for state funding.
Seven of the 12 elementary schools recommended to be closed are in Walker’s district. The schools targeted for closure in the proposal by MGT America are Livsey, Medlock, Rock Chapel, Bob Mathis, Atherton, Glen Haven, Gresham Park, Sky Haven, Toney, Peachcrest, Wadsworth and Kittredge elementary schools, Avondale High School and Avondale Middle School.
“We’re going to have to close schools, that’s a given,” Walker said. “But we ought not close the ones that are performing well.”
Four of the 12 elementary schools on the list–Medlock, Atherton, Glen Haven and Gresham Park–failed to make AYP (Annual Yearly Progress) in 2010.
According to the proposal, which has two options, 27 schools in the county are at less than 75 percent occupancy and are not receiving state funding for some programs. Only two schools would be left at less than 75 percent occupancy in one scenario and one in the other.
The proposal would eliminate most of the 11,000 empty seats throughout the system. Also, the proposal calls for 12,000 to 16,100 students among the system’s 99,000 student body attending new schools next year.
Of the 21 schools with enrollments of less than 450, one scenario would leave no school with fewer than 450 students and the other would leave three, according to the proposal.
“All of our schools are not broken,” Walker said. “We need to keep the ones that are not broken intact and make sure they continue to do well. We’ve got to make a hard decision and I don’t believe hat every schools needs tampering with.”
Walker said he is in favor of keeping open Wadsworth, a magnet school.
“There are 160 students there and they are doing well,” Walker said. “But there aren’t enough students there to justify its existence. In my opinion, we need to find a way to fix Wadsworth to keep it open. We don’t need to close it or consolidate it.”
The proposal calls for the system to be redistricted into five super clusters.
A series of public workshops has been scheduled to help residents better understand the proposal and give them an opportunity to voice their opinions. The first two were scheduled for Jan. 18 at Miller Grove and Jan. 19 at Druid Hills Middle School. The remaining workshops are Jan. 20 at Chamblee High School, Jan. 25 at McNair High School, Jan. 26 at Bethune Middle School and Jan. 27 at Stone Mountain High School.
The superintendent will make a recommendation to the board on Feb. 7, then the board will hold public hearings on March 1 and March 3 before a final vote is taken on March 7.
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~ Posted by James Manning, September 7th 2012
The Zoological Society of London (ZSL) was in its infancy when Edward Lear, then an awkward teenager who lived in Gray's Inn Road with his sister, asked for permission to sit in the parrot house at the new London Zoo and sketch the birds. His drawings became the hand-coloured lithographs in "Illustrations of the Family of the Psittacidae", a copy of which lies open to welcome visitors to the Royal Society's current exhibition, "Edward Lear and the Scientists".
Lear had a passion for colour: he had criticised earlier natural-history artists for getting the colours of their animals wrong, and he worked closely with the professional colourists who hand-painted his printed lithographs. Whenever possible Lear worked with live models, observing and capturing the way they perched, moved and caught the light. His vibrant drawings stand out from their setting, the mausolean exhibition room at the Royal Society. A toucan with a tiny malevolent eye and a serrated beak is depicted with its wings half-spread and its tail elevated; it looks ready to fly off the page. Across the room an owl glares out of another book, its head turned warily towards the entrance. On the pages of the great folios, you can still see traces of the egg whites Lear added to the paint to make his subjects' eyes and feathers shine.
Exactly 100 years after the founding of the ZSL, David Attenborough—later a collector of Lear's natural-history drawings—was born in west London. Attenborough's forthcoming BBC1 retrospective series is subtitled "60 Years in the Wild" but, as Samantha Weinberg's interview with him in the current issue of Intelligent Life reminds us, his TV career began in black and white in the captivity of the studio. Attenborough often visited London Zoo in 1953, while he was researching for his first natural-history programme "The Pattern of Animals". He became friends with Jack Lester, the keeper of the reptile house, and—once he had persuaded his boss to let him out of the studio—journeyed with Lester to Sierra Leone in search of a white-necked rockfowl for the Zoo's collection. The expedition was recorded and became "Zoo Quest", his first major series.
"60 Years in the Wild" is a testament to Attenborough's continuing reign as the nation's best (and best loved) natural-history film-maker, but one of his most important achievements sometimes goes unnoted. In 1967, when he was controller of BBC2, he was instrumental in introducing colour television to Britain. It was an innovation that transformed natural-history broadcasting, and allowed Attenborough, like Lear before him, to help the British public to see the natural world in new colours.
James Manning is an intern at Intelligent Life. His most recent post for the Editors' Blog was Bob Dylan's black comedy
Attenborough: 60 Years in the Wild BBC1, October
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Until recently, the population of pronghorn — a small antelope-like mammal endemic to North America — outnumbered people in its native Wyoming. The Cowboy State may be the nation’s least populous, but the two groups still manage to come into conflict. Pronghorns numbering in the tens of thousands cross Highway 191 each year during their annual migration, and collisions between animals and cars are costly for all involved.
Now conservationists are celebrating the apparent success of an experiment involving a series of new wildlife overpasses that allow the pronghorns to cross to safety while freeing up the roads.
“This really is a win-win situation for people and for wildlife,” said Jon Beckmann, the pronghorn project coordinator at the Wildlife Conservation Society. “The overpasses enhance connectivity for wildlife species and at the same time increase safety for the traveling public who don’t want to hit large wildlife going 65 to 75 miles per hour.”
In the days of Lewis and Clark, millions of pronghorn populated the western frontier. But even by then, only one species, Antilocapra americana, had managed to avoid extinction. Today, A. americana’s population hovers around 700,000. And of those remaining pronghorns, more than 50 percent are found in Wyoming.
“It’s a pretty spectacular animal, and with Wyoming being the last stronghold of pronghorns, its important to protect their long distance migrations,” Dr. Beckmann said.
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Fairfax County, Virginia (CNN) - General Registrar Rokey Suleman said a handful of memory cards did not work when machines were started this morning. He tells CNN that new memory cards have already been sent out to those precincts with problems. He said a "very, very small number of machines" were affected, and voters at those locations could use paper ballots instead until the problem was corrected.
Suleman said there are long lines everywhere. He added they expected that and are prepared for that. The 228 precincts in the county use both optical scan and electronic voting machines.
People started lining up to vote at 4:30am. The polls opened at 6am.
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The Handmade Tale: Coraline's Inventive DIY EffectsJason Silverman
Like most Hollywood kid flicks, the big-screen adaptation of Neil Gaiman's Coraline boasts a big star (the voice of Dakota Fanning), an armada of digital tools, and millions of dollars in advanced animation. But that's not what makes this stop-motion, 3-D take on the dark novel so eye-popping (and possibly Oscar-worthy). It's the stunningly inventive DIY visual effects that director Henry Selick (The Nightmare Before Christmas) used to bring the story to life. A quarter-million pieces of popcorn are transformed into cherry blossoms, superglue and baking soda are whipped into snow, and black fishing line becomes creepy chest hair.
In all, the crew hand-built 150 sets and 250 jointed puppets, as well as plants and toys with countless moving parts. "What makes this film different," says Tom Proost, one of the art directors, "is that everything is real and everything moves." From kernel to kitty litter, here's how they did it.
Many of the plants—which flutter for a hummingbird's attention—were formed out of plastic mesh. Their radiant stamens include fiber optics. Three seconds of footage took three weeks to shoot.
Set dressers had to adjust these vines to avoid "retinal rivalry"—a feeling of nausea triggered when an object in the extreme foreground is viewed in 3-D.
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A Wikileaks Society
I wonder if life will ever be the same on this side of Wikileaks. If you ask me, Wikileaks may just prove to be a game-changer, not just in politics but in all of society. Let me explain.
Just about a year ago I told you that God Watches You Google, showing how search engines never forget what we search for. They know things about us that we have long since forgotten—those embarrassing searches, those immoral questions—they are all there, recorded forever. Would you be prepared to have your search history revealed to the world? Not many of us would. And most of us have assumed that there is little reason to fear; what happens between me and Google stays between me and Google, right?
This is where Wikileaks comes in.
Julian Assange is the man behind the leaks. He is the one who has gathered all of the information that is now coming to light and he is the one who has made it publicly available on the Web. And, of course, he is the one who insists that this is just the tip of the iceberg and there is far more he can reveal. These further revelations could be the most devastating yet. These leaks will impact governments and big businesses. And along the way they will doubtlessly also impact many individuals (since what is government and what is business but a collection of individuals?).
Here is what Assange says about business in a Wikileaks world:
WikiLeaks means it's easier to run a good business and harder to run a bad business, and all CEOs should be encouraged by this. I think about the case in China where milk powder companies started cutting the protein in milk powder with plastics. That happened at a number of separate manufacturers.
It just means that it's easier for honest CEOs to run an honest business, if the dishonest businesses are more effected negatively by leaks than honest businesses. That's the whole idea. In the struggle between open and honest companies and dishonest and closed companies, we're creating a tremendous reputational tax on the unethical companies.
What Assange believes is that the inevitability of exposure will compel businesses to be more ethical. How will this happen? Because leaks will not just show end results, but also the means a company used to get there. We will not just know that a milk powder company began to cut the protein in milk powder with plastics, but we will also see how the executives came to that decision, what their rationale was, who they told and who they didn’t tell, how they justified themselves. Suddenly everything will be exposed. Everything will be brought to light.
The whole purpose of Wikileaks is to reveal correspondence that was meant to be private. It destroys privacy, laughs at it, regards it as a quaint vestige of the past.
Assange goes so far as to suggest that companies should begin to work to encourage leaks from their competitors. He hopes for a perfect market and believes that we can achieve perfection if we just have perfect information. He says, “To put it simply, in order for there to be a market, there has to be information. A perfect market requires perfect information.” In other words, if we can just make all information free and freely available, we can finally enjoy market perfection.
Naturally the Christian must disagree here. There can be no perfect market when markets are run by humans who are, at heart, entirely imperfect. There can be no market utopia this side of eternity. There can only be varying degrees of corruption. And what this means is that Assange’s entire philosophy is broken and impossible to achieve.
It’s inevitable that Wikileaks will claim some great victories. Companies that were doing secret but lawless deeds will be exposed and destroyed. Government officials that were corrupt will be exposed and humiliated. It may be difficult to argue with the results. But that doesn’t mean that Wikileaks is a good thing.
My fear is that the Wikileaks mentality may just seep out into all of society so we become a society that delights in exposing one another, in which we are all seeking to bring to light not just what we’ve done, but the motives behind what we’ve done. This may be only the beginning of a rash of similar revelations which exposes not just governments, but businesses, ministries, even individuals. So we won’t just have companies that decide to abandon one kind of customer, but we will have a breakdown of how they made that decision printed in the local newspaper. We will not just be churches who decide we must remove a person from membership, but we will have every bit of the discussion leading to such a decision revealed before the congregation and the world.
We tend to imitate. It may not be long before we all expose one another, or we at least all live with the fear of exposure. It may not be long before there is more virtue in stealing information and making it public than there is in seeking to make good and wise decisions and asking others to trust that we’ve done what is best. Wikileaks calls us all to be experts, to decide that we could have done better by making better decisions. It calls us to be suspicious, to expose, to assume the worst, to be paranoid.
We need to consider if this is really what we want. Do we really want to have a society where no secret is safe, where we all demand access not only to decisions, but also to the basis for those decisions and the information that led to them? Do we really want to live with the constant fear, the constant expectation, that everything will be revealed? On a pragmatic level there is a lot to gain, but I fear that on a societal level there is too much to lose.
I’ll give the last word to Harvard Business Review:
Thanks to Wikileaks, you can now expect that day to come when your most private and candid communications will appear for all to peruse. In preparation for that moment, you better make sure that your private dealings match your public declarations, if not perfectly then at least pretty close.
For companies and individuals as much as for governments, deeds will henceforward have to match words. If they don’t, you can assume you will suffer a Wikileaks crisis of your own, for it is from that discrepancy (or hypocrisy, read another way) that Wikileaks finds its energy -- and other leakers will in the future. Like it or not, what has happened this week is of profound importance, and its lessons are profoundly important too.
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The World Wide Web easily lives up to its name by connecting the world from all corners of the earth with a click or two of a mouse. People can talk to other people in any country, send pictures to family and friends, and even make free phone calls, without ever leaving the comforts of home.
Yet, there is also dark side to the internet that is home to child predators who are sitting at home watching and waiting for their next victim, an innocent child to log on the internet. Through our use of the internet, families are now allowing complete strangers to enter their home without giving a single thought as to who our child maybe talking to in his or her bedroom.
In cyberspace, places like MySpace, Face book, and Gaia Online are growing in popularity as America's newest way to socialize. The internet opens doorways to new friendships that were never possible before its inception. Parents need to closely monitor children and teens online now more than ever before. It is imperative parents know who their children are hanging out with and who they consider as friends, at school, at home, and online. More importantly parents need to educate children on what personal information is safe and unsafe to reveal online.
Real dangers lurk in cyberspace. Real predators are surfing the internet looking for his or her next victim. Children and teens are very trusting due to lack of life experience and can be easily misled. The internet provides a sense of anonymity, which is defined as the state of being unknown or unacknowledged. The feeling of being invisible provides users with a false sense of security, especially for children and teenagers.
Teens often share everything online. Teens fail to realize that even simple information can give away where he or she lives, or goes to school. Children by nature are naive; they want to believe what people tell them. Yet if he or she chooses to meet a real life an internet friend, it maybe to late when the friend they thought was their age and sex, is instead an adult, often times a predator or offender.
Predators no longer have to walk parks, malls, or other public places to find their next victim. The child molester of today needs only to log onto the internet from the easy chair and comfort of home. Everyday there are new stories of children who are sneaking out of their homes and schools to meet their new online friends.
Sadly, many of these children become victims of assault or worse turn up missing. So many children daily are being listed as missing and exploited children or endangered runaways when they fail to return home after meeting an online friend in real life. Do not allow your child to become a victim. Teach them how to be safe on and off line.
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With major silicon wafer plants remaining closed following the recent earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan, there is growing concern in the memory industry whether chip companies are preparing for any possible disruption to production.
Potential wafer supply disruptions may actually push the memory industry, especially the DRAM sector, to reach a balance between supply and demand. There has been a substantial rise in DRAM supplies since the second half of 2010.
Digitimes Research previously forecast that the DRAM industry would be dogged by oversupply as chipmakers ramp up output through conversions to new technology nodes. Worldwide DRAM supply would exceed demand by 28% in 2011, according to estimates made in January 2011.
Major DRAM producers plan to grow their capacity for 2011 between 40% and 70%, with any of their output growth expected to outpace the rise in overall demand.
As for NAND flash, a short supply of silicon wafers would just soften chipmakers' efforts to increase their capacity in 2011. Major NAND-chip producers including Samsung Electronics, Toshiba and Hynix are all gearing up to enter the 20nm-class technology era in 2011. Samsung, Toshiba and Micron Technology are also looking to implement their new fab plans.
Despite concerns about wafer supply disruptions caused by the earthquake, the NAND flash industry is still expected to see its overall bit growth reach 78% in 2011 to 9.33 billion GB.
Shin-Etsu Handotai's (SEH) main silicon wafer plant in Fukushima Prefecture remains closed with no time-frame for when it will re-open, according to parent company Shin-Etsu's latest statement about SEH's business status following the earthquake. Monthly capacity at the facility accounts for more than 60% of SEH's overall production capacity.
Sumco has been less affected due to its main factory sites being located away from quake-hit areas. Production at its damaged plant in Yamagata Prefecture has been shifted to other plants in the Kyushu region, according to Sumco's most recent status update.
Source: Digitimes Research, March 2011
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Mar 28, 2004, 11:01 AM
Post #2 of 6
Re: [TomG] a molcajete, a clay comal, and some cal.
Can't Post | Private Reply
....Iíve seen some indigenous people middle-aged and with an amazing mouthful of great white teeth, and they looked like they couldnít afford dental care, nor pop. Joaquin used to work for the IMSS system as a compliance accountant. He traveled to all the different areas of Oaxaca staying in pueblos checking on things. He says you see these things, itís the calcium. The handmade masa is important, has more cal they say....
There is no question at least in my mind that tortillas prepared from "fresh" masa taste better than those prepared from "maseca"-style corn flour. However, asserting dietary superiority such as a higher calcium content is what I'd classify as foodie and/or cross-cultural romance.
1. Calcium hydroxide is used as a processing agent, not a direct food additive. It's used during nixtamalization, in which corn is cooked and then steeped in a calcium hydroxide solution to loosen the corn kernel's pericarp and modify the starch granules and protein structure. The corn is subsequently washed and drained before being ground. During the washing and draining, excess calcium used during the process would be lost down the drain.
2. Corn is nixtamalized for both fresh masa and during the production of maseca-style corn flour (which should not be confused with cornmeal). The difference between the two is downstream following milling, where fresh masa (referred to as "wet" masa in the trade) is immediately formed into tortillas, while masa for maseca-style corn flour is flash-dried for reconstitution sometime in the future.
3. Studies have found similar calcium levels in both home-made and "industrially"-manufactured tortillas. As an example, in a 1992 literature review entitled Maize in Human Nutrition the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization cited calcium levels of 104, 202, and 217 mg/100 gram sample in homemade tortillas, and 182, 198, and 205 mg/100 grams in "industrial" tortillas. In both cases this is a marked increase in calcium levels compared to the 48 mg/100 gram concentration identified in pre-nixtamalized corn.
4. Nixtamalization does have the downside of decreasing the total thiamine, riboflavin, niacin and carotene contents of masa compared to the precursor corn. The significance of this decrease is still being investigated with some researchers claiming the loss is offset by the increased bioavailability of the remaining contents, while others indicating that a loss is exactly that, a loss. In this area corn flour has a significant advantage over fresh masa in that the product can have these vitamins (as well as other nutrients, with iron and folic acid being the most commonly mentioned) added back to the product downstream of nixtamalization at a very low additional cost. GRUMA/GIMSA, the Mexican multinational corporation which controls a massive portion of the corn flour market (Maseca is their brand name in Mexico) is a major backer of nutritional research in the corn flour arena, and has been an active proponent of nutrient enriching or fortifying corn flour. Although one would hope that corporate benevolence is at play here it is also quite possible that having the import and export duty categories, and Mexican tax status changed as a result of the sale of an enriched product is a significant motivator here.
Other Amusing Sidenotes:
1. Comparison of black beans with other common types of dried beans, such as red or pinto will show you that the nutritional profiles are very similar.
2. Clay, in comparison to cast iron, various steel alloys, aluminum, or copper is an extremely inefficient conductor of heat. This means that for the same unit value of food heating a clay comal will require more fuel. If the fuel source is bottled gas ("GaaazzzZZZ!") it means that the user is paying more to heat a clay comal, and on the global picture consuming more natural resources. If heated with wood or charcoal you have increased user exposure to combustion products such as carbon monoxide, particulates, and PAHs, as well as the global issues of deforestation and air pollution.
(This post was edited by ET on Mar 28, 2004, 3:13 PM)
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Here comes my first in-depth logo study focusing on Marvel characters. I haven’t been able to discover the designer on some of the logos, and information about exactly who did what on staff at Marvel in the early days is sketchy, so there are some unknowns. On the other hand, I do have quite a bit of design process information, like logo sketches, for many of the logos, so for those of you who like process info, it’ll be here. These articles will focus on regular X-Men team books, not one-shots, mini-series, crossovers, team-ups, or individual character spinoffs, with a few brief exceptions. The X-Universe has become vast indeed, and I have to draw the line somewhere. Let’s get started!
Above is the very first X-Men cover and cover logo from 1963. Stan Lee, who created the characters, has said that publisher Martin Goodman rejected his first name for the book, “The Mutants,” and he named it instead after the X-factor gene that, in the stories, causes humans to mutate into super-powered beings after puberty. There is also the group leader and founder, Professor Charles Xavier that some feel the X-Men are named for. In any case, the name has been a great gift to logo designers ever since. First, it’s short. I think the ideal length for a good comics logo is one word from three to eight letters. One and two letter names tend to read as some kind of abbreviation or symbol rather than a title. Longer names can certainly work, but short ones can be larger and have more impact. In addition, the prominent letter here is X, a graphically dynamic letter made of two crossed diagonals that, by its very nature, is going to stand out on any magazine cover, where the frame and other type and titles are usually rectangular, vertical and horizontal, or circular. X is also a letter rarely used at the beginning of words, so it stands out that way too. And by calling the book X-Men, separating the X with a hyphen, it gives even more emphasis to the X, encouraging a logo designer to make it bigger than the rest, as this first one is. Note that “the” is in front of the X, quite small and in script, giving full prominence to the X, where it should be. And the X is made even more dynamic by ending the strokes in a row of jagged points like a stylized brush-stroke. The hyphen and MEN are standard block letters, again putting the focus on the X. Finally, a lower left drop shadow gives the letters a little rise off the page and a better chance to stand out from any artwork behind them.
Who designed it? I don’t know for sure, but I have some good information from Mark Evanier, who writes:
Sol Brodsky told me that he designed all the early logos…and that was Stan’s memory, too. The final renderings of most if not all of them were by Artie Simek, however. Certainly, FANTASTIC FOUR, THOR, SPIDER-MAN, X-MEN, AVENGERS, DAREDEVIL, SGT. FURY and HULK are all Simek finishes.
Sol Brodsky was Stan Lee’s right-hand man and production manager in the early days of Marvel Comics. In pre-Marvel days, Stan and Sol were the entire staff of what was then Atlas Comics, and Sol did virtually all the production work, as well as some pencilling, inking and other creative tasks, in Marvel’s early days. Artie Simek was the main letterer for the company, and did much of the cover lettering as well, most probably including the remaining titles on this cover. In this case, the “design” that Brodsky did was probably laying out the logo in pencil, and Simek inked it. He may also have added the ragged edge to the ends of the X.
Tom Orzechowski, a long-time Marvel letterer writes:
Sol Brodsky, who was Stan’s production manager back to the early ’50s, was likely the sketch-designer of at least some of the first-generation Marvel logos. I should mention that Sol is the guy who hired me in the first place, and my affection and respect for the guy is undying. During the poorest times at Atlas, roughly ’53-’57, he and Stan ran the place, just the two of them. He inked his own solid pencils on many suspense and teen humor stories in those days, while managing production for the dozen or so titles. Having said that, as a jack of all trades he was not the most accomplished lettering draftsman, and that’s the standard I’m following here. The majority of the early Marvel logos are very straightforward, but there are telling bits and pieces. For fear of sounding hypercritical, these are my indicators as to whether Sol rendered them, or whether they’d been finished by Artie Simek, who began with Stan around the same time, and had a more studied approach. The uneven proportions on “the X-Men,” and particularly the introductory “the,” suggest to me that Sol did this one.
Tom also mentions Simek’s “trademark ragged-edge letters,” such as those on the X here. So, I think a team effort between the two is the best guess. To my eye, the original X-Men logo seems a bit clunky, not as polished as the logos usually produced at DC Comics by Ira Schnapp. The word “the” is quite uneven, and shouldn’t it begin with a capital T? On the other hand, the logo and the cover art by Jack Kirby have lots of raw energy, something I found very appealing as a kid. Like many others, I was drawn instantly to the early Marvel covers by that energy, and quickly became a Marvel fan once I read the stories. So, obviously, it did the job of any comics logo: help sell the comic. Note also the belt symbol on the character costumes: an X surrounded by a circle. That would come into play in future logos for the X-books.
The book continued with the original logo for several years, not the most successful of Marvel books, but a solid second-stringer. The art by Kirby was gradually passed off to other artists like Werner Roth and Don Heck who could imitate the Kirby style to some extent, and likewise the writing was passed off to Roy Thomas and others, as Stan’s workload increased and he focused on other features. Finally, with issue 49, a new artist, Jim Steranko, produced an X-Men cover. Steranko was of a younger generation than most of the then-current Marvel artists, and while his style obviously owed a lot to Jack Kirby, he brought an excellent design ability to his work that outshone much of what the company had produced up to then. His work on this cover is a bit stilted, with some odd character poses, and I can’t help feeling that the big head at the bottom is looking up at the logo with disgust. Steranko must have hated it, because for his next cover, he designed a new one. And what a great design it was!
The November, 1968 cover featured a much better composition, still with lots of Kirby elements like the “Kirby dots” in the background, but with great drama in the figure work, and a fabulous new logo. In a 2006 article on the Comic Book Resources site written by Adi Tantimedh, Steranko had this to say:
“At first, I didn’t want to work on the X-Men because of all the five-sided panels. I couldn’t relate to the characters, I didn’t know how to make it work, so I asked to work incognito on the book. But I signed my name to my first three covers. And that logo they had was awful. Logos were trademarked, but they let me redesign it, just to get rid of that awful logo. I never got paid for it.”
That’s a sad commentary on the comics industry, and particularly Marvel’s attitude toward logos at the time. Steranko doesn’t mention whether he asked to be paid for it or not, but my guess is he didn’t. It sounds like he was glad to have permission to revise the logo at all. I can imagine the conversation going something like, “We have a logo that works fine, but if you want to do something as part of your cover art, go ahead. If we like it we’ll use it.”
And boy, have they used it! Steranko’s design, sometimes modified, but clearly still his, has been in nearly constant use by the company ever since. What a shame that he was never paid at least something for it. I know there’s been a lot of bad blood between Steranko and Marvel, and this surely must add to that.
Let’s look at the logo from a design standpoint. The letters are tall, block style, with MEN being in much the same shape as the original, with the X now matching. The letters lean left and with perspective putting the lower left corner of the X in the front, the upper edges in the back. Telescoping has been added, and the logo is now very three-dimensional with three-point perspective. Even the letter X itself is strongly in perspective, with the bottom left corner much wider than the upper right corner. Steranko knew perspective, and made it work perfectly here. The letters are separated just enough that a different color on the telescoping makes them very strong and readable, and the overall effect is both more modern and more classically designed than the previous effort. Really fine work! Still highlights the X, but in a more unified way.
Steranko only did three covers, issues 49-51, and interior art for issues 50-51, then moved on to other things. But his design influence on the logo continues to be strong today, almost 40 years later. A great tribute to a top design talent, and one that has not been appreciated enough in my opinion.
Next, the X-Men fall on hard times. More then!
More chapters and other logo studies on my LOGO LINKS page.
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What does it mean to say that some of the best Chinese contemporary art is made in America, by Americans? Through words and images, this book challenges the artificial and narrowly conceived definitions of Chinese contemporary art that dominate current discussion, revealing the great diversity of Chinese art today and showing just how complex and uncertain the labels "contemporary," "Chinese," and "American" have become.
This volume features contributions from six artists and eight scholars who participated in a 2009 symposium held in conjunction with the Princeton University Art Museum exhibition Outside In: Chinese × American × Contemporary Art. These ethnically Chinese and non-Chinese artists work or have worked in America--indeed, all of them are U.S. citizens--but they are steeped in Chinese artistic traditions in terms of style, subject matter, and philosophical outlook. Here they discuss their art and careers with rare depth and candor, addressing diversity, ethnicity, identity, and other issues. The academic contributors bring a variety of perspectives--Chinese and American, art historical and political--to bear on the common, limiting practice of classifying such art and artists as "Chinese," "American," or "Chinese American." Revealing and celebrating the fluidity of who can be considered a Chinese artist and what Chinese art might be, these artists and scholars broaden and enrich our understanding of Chinese contemporary art.
Jerome Silbergeld is the P. Y. and Kinmay W. Tang Professor of Chinese Art History at Princeton University and director of Princeton's Tang Center for East Asian Art. Dora C. Y. Ching is associate director of the Tang Center for East Asian Art.
Other Princeton books authored or coauthored by Jerome Silbergeld:
Other Princeton books authored or coauthored by Dora C. Y. Ching:
For customers in the U.S., Canada, Latin America, Asia, and Australia
For customers in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and India
Prices subject to change without notice
File created: 6/10/2013
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|1.||chilly chap stick (CCS)|
When the surrounding environment becomes so cold that one's penis shrinks to an extraordinarily small size (or possible inversion in severe cases!)
Commonly caused by cold weather temperatures.
May also be caused by exiting the shower into a cold draught - referred to as 'RAPID chilly chap stick'
May be relieved using many methods:
moving to a warmer environment is most common. However, if one is unable to do this then the individual may have to seek other methods of resolution e.g. watching pornography, masturbation, reading erotica, putting on many layers of underpants (thick woolly undergarments are best insulators), introduing a warm (not hot as it can cause extensive damage, and we wouldn't want that!) application to the inguinal/genital area e.g. hot (remember, never actually 'hot') water bottle.
One may experience acute chilly chap stick in which case the penis returns to a 'normal' (very subjective) size after a few mintues.
Chronic chilly chap stick can be worrying and embarassing for the individual and should be handled with sensitivity. Medical advice may be required if attempts to resolve chronic CCS does not produce results.
a.k.a. artic pecker
Mum! Mum! I've got chilly chap stick and my new girlfriend's coming round in 5 minutes!! Quick, what do i do?!!
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Visit additional Tabor Communication Publications
April 13, 2012
A team of researchers from the Laboratoire Univers et Théorie (LUTH, Observatoire de Paris/CNRS/Université Paris Diderot) (1) directed by Jean-Michel Alimi has just completed the first calculation of the entire observable Universe, from the Big Bang to the present day. The work entailed the simulation of 550 billion particles.
It is the first of three phases of the Dark Energy Universe Simulation (DEUS - Full Universe Run) project in which a full universe simulation (2) is being run on the new CURIE supercomputer, operated by the Grand Equipement National de Calcul Intensif (GENCI). The system is installed at the Très Grand Centre de Calcul (TGCC) at the CEA. The simulation that has already been run and those planned for the end of May 2012 will aid large projects and observational mapping of our Universe. They intent is to help better understand the nature of dark energy and its influence on the structure of the Universe, as well as the origin of the distribution of dark matter and galaxies.
After several years of development, six researchers (3) from the cosmology research team at LUTH performed the first simulation of our entire observable Universe, from the Big Bang to the present day -- equivalent to 90 billion light years (7). Beyond employing the standard cosmological model using the cosmological constant, they developed two additional cosmological models taking into account dark energy (4), a mysterious component introduced to explain the accelerating expansion of the Universe (5).
What is the imprint of dark energy on the structure of the Universe? And conversely, how can the structure of the Universe be tied to the nature of this energy? These are two fundamental questions that project DEUS project is attempting to answer.
The simulation using the standard model of cosmology, which has just been completed, has already measured the number of clusters of galaxies (144 million) to be of a mass greater than one hundred thousand billion solar masses. The research suggests that the first cluster of this type appeared when the Universe was only 2 billion years and the most massive cluster today now weighs 15 million billion solar masses.
The calculations are also designed to measure changes in the distribution of dark matter. The fluctuations in the cosmic background radiation from the Big Bang have been observed by the WMAP and Planck satellites. These observations were reflected by the simulation, which covers the entire history of the Universe with unprecedented accuracy and on the broadest range of scales ever attempted. According to the results, they accurately reveal the fingerprints of Dark Matter on primordial gas ("Baryon Acoustic Oscillations"). These results represent important new knowledge for the entire cosmological community.
The simulation results from all three cosmological models are expected to be complete by May 2012. Not only will the work help to better understand the influence of dark energy on the structure of the Universe, but it can also be used to support and interpret cosmological "catalogs" collected from various observational projects, in particular, those developed by major international space agencies, such as project EUCLID (8). EUCLID is supported by ESA, the European Space Agency.
The implementation of DEUS was made possible thanks to the powerful resources available to the researchers by GENCI (6), most notably, CURIE, a supercomputer with more than 92,000 processors and capable of achieving 2 million billion operations per second (2 petaflops). The system is installed and operated by CEA at the TGCC facility, in Bruyères-le-Châtel. Designed by Bull, CURIE is currently one of the five most powerful such machines in the world.
The DEUS - Full Universe Run work goes well beyond the calculations acheived by international teams at other large-scale computing centers. The project will require more than 30 million hours of computing (nearly 3500 years), using almost all the CURIE processors. More than 150 petabytes of data (the equivalent of 30 million DVDs) will be generated during these calculations. That data will be filtered down to a single petabyte to be stored.
(1) The LUTE is a laboratory Observatoire de Paris / CNRS / Université Paris Diderot and a scientific department of the Paris Observatory.
(2) DEUS: Universe Dark Energy Simulation, www.deus-consortium.org
(3) Jean-Michel Alimi, Pier-Stefano Corasaniti, Yann Rasera, Irene Balmes, Bouillot Vincent, Vincent Reverdy.
(4) The first model is a concordance model, based on the cosmological constant. A second model predicts the presence of a dynamic component of dark energy that fills the entire Universe. The third model simulates a modification to the law of gravity at large scales, by taking into account an accelerator component known as phantom energy.
(5) The observational work that implied cosmic dark energy could be accelerating the expansion of the universe was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics in 2011.
(7) In a Universe age of about 13.7 billion years, light travels to reach us a distance greater than 13.7 billion light-years due to the expansion of the Universe. This distance depends precisely model cosmological considered. Space is expanding it expands during the trip and leads the light to travel about 45 billion light years.
(8) EUCLID is one of the missions of the Cosmic Vision program of ESA (period 2015-2025). EUCLID is devoted to the study of cause of the the acceleration in the expanding Universe. http://www.esa.int/esaSC/SEMOZ59U7TG_index
Source: based on press release from DEUS Consortium
Contributing commentator, Andrew Jones, offers a break in the news cycle with an assessment of what the national "size matters" contest means for the U.S. and other nations...
Today at the International Supercomputing Conference in Leipzing, Germany, Jack Dongarra presented on a proposed benchmark that could carry a bit more weight than its older Linpack companion. The high performance conjugate gradient (HPCG) concept takes into account new architectures for new applications, while shedding the floating point....
Not content to let the Tianhe-2 announcement ride alone, Intel rolled out a series of announcements around its Knights Corner and Xeon Phi products--all of which are aimed at adding some options and variety for a wider base of potential users across the HPC spectrum. Today at the International Supercomputing Conference, the company's Raj....
Jun 18, 2013 |
The world's largest supercomputers, like Tianhe-2, are great at traditional, compute-intensive HPC workloads, such as simulating atomic decay or modeling tornados. But data-intensive applications--such as mining big data sets for connections--is a different sort of workload, and runs best on a different sort of computer.
Jun 18, 2013 |
Researchers are finding innovative uses for Gordon, the 285 teraflop supercomputer housed at the San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC) that has a unique Flash-based storage system. Since going online, researchers have put the incredibly fast I/O to use on a wide variety of workloads, ranging from chemistry to political science.
Jun 17, 2013 |
The advent of low-power mobile processors and cloud delivery models is changing the economics of computing. But just as an economy car is good at different things than a full size truck, an HPC workload still has certain computing demands that neither the fastest smartphone nor the most elastic cloud cluster can fulfill.
Jun 14, 2013 |
For all the progress we've made in IT over the last 50 years, there's one area of life that has steadfastly eluded the grasp of computers: understanding human language. Now, researchers at the Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC) are utilizing a Hadoop cluster on its Longhorn supercomputer to move the state of the art of language processing a little bit further.
Jun 13, 2013 |
Titan, the Cray XK7 at the Oak Ridge National Lab that debuted last fall as the fastest supercomputer in the world with 17.59 petaflops of sustained computing power, will rely on its previous LINPACK test for the upcoming edition of the Top 500 list.
05/10/2013 | Cleversafe, Cray, DDN, NetApp, & Panasas | From Wall Street to Hollywood, drug discovery to homeland security, companies and organizations of all sizes and stripes are coming face to face with the challenges – and opportunities – afforded by Big Data. Before anyone can utilize these extraordinary data repositories, however, they must first harness and manage their data stores, and do so utilizing technologies that underscore affordability, security, and scalability.
04/15/2013 | Bull | “50% of HPC users say their largest jobs scale to 120 cores or less.” How about yours? Are your codes ready to take advantage of today’s and tomorrow’s ultra-parallel HPC systems? Download this White Paper by Analysts Intersect360 Research to see what Bull and Intel’s Center for Excellence in Parallel Programming can do for your codes.
Join HPCwire Editor Nicole Hemsoth and Dr. David Bader from Georgia Tech as they take center stage on opening night at Atlanta's first Big Data Kick Off Week, filmed in front of a live audience. Nicole and David look at the evolution of HPC, today's big data challenges, discuss real world solutions, and reveal their predictions. Exactly what does the future holds for HPC?
Join our webinar to learn how IT managers can migrate to a more resilient, flexible and scalable solution that grows with the data center. Mellanox VMS is future-proof, efficient and brings significant CAPEX and OPEX savings. The VMS is available today.
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You’ve seen them before, even if you didn’t know what you were seeing: #hashtags have become much of a trend on the Internet within the past few years. Starting on the social networking website Twitter, other social media sites have picked up on using them as well.These include the hot social media sites such as Pinterest and Instagram.
While the use of the hashtags is used by Twitter users from all over the world to talk about a wide range of topics, you can even use it to help your business and increase exposure.
If you are not familiar with the hashtag, it is actually used on Twitter as a representation of specific topics that people are talking about on Twitter in their Tweets. The tweets are short messages that Twitter users can type in throughout the day, talking about anything and everything that they want to. For example, if you were tweeting about a recent news event, you might tweet something like this:
“Wow! Can’t believe that actually happened! Now what?! #newsevent
The Hashtag is simply the two words combined into one (with no spaces) with the “#” in front. It can also just be one word eg #Marketing.
Creating a Hashtag is Simple
The hashtag first became useful as a way for users to separate messages into different categories so that other Twitter users can easily find the messages that relate to what they are looking for. It is generally quite simple to create a hashtag message. All that you really need to do is put the “#” symbol in front of the words, but make sure there are no spaces in between words.
For example: you could be writing a tweet about your business and the products available and then end the message by putting something along the lines of #BestProductsAvailable.
Note that capital letters don’t have an effect on the search but can make it easier for users to read.
Why Are Businesses Using Hashtags and How Do They Help?
Many businesses, big and small, are using hashtags as a way of gaining more attention for the brands, products, and services that they have to offer. There are currently millions of people worldwide who log onto Twitter every day to write tweets or see what their followers are up to. To sum it up, if you want free exposure for your business, creating a hashtag for it would be your best bet.
Social media marketing has become increasingly popular and tons of businesses are getting involved, creating social media website accounts and using them in an efficient manner so that they are getting more exposure for their business. This leads to more traffic on their website and improved overall engagement with their customers. Greater engagement typically translates into a more positive experience for the consumer which has long-term positive effects for companies.
What Topics are Important in your Industry?
Think about your business and what relates to your business. You take topics that relate to the business you have and use them for your hashtag. For instance, you can find a lot of different trending topics on Twitter and find out what hashtags are currently being used on the social networking website.
One hashtag that may be popular for the day could be something along the lines of #socialmediatips. If you know a great deal of information about social media and this topic pertains to your business, you can offer a tip or two in your tweet and end the message using the #socialmediatips hashtag.
HashTags are Like Twitter SEO
You may also want to consistently use a few hashtags that are related to your brand, such as you would with keywords for SEO on your website. This helps users find you later if they’re looking for what you have.
The entire process of using hashtags is quite simple. If you are looking to expand your business and increase your success without having to pay a single cent, relying on social networking websites and, in particular, the hashtag is a great way of making yoiur Tweet more visible.
What About You?
How are you using hashtags? What sort of hashtags do you find work for you?
Do you create search columns on Hootsuite or Tweetdeck to stream and manage them?
Look forward to hearing your stories.
Guest Author: Tara Hornor Tara Hornor has found her niche writing about marketing, web and graphic design. She writes for PrintPlace.com. Connect with @TaraHornor on Twitter.
Want to Learn How to Use Twitter Effectively to Promote your Business and Brand?
My book – Blogging the Smart Way “How to Create and Market a Killer Blog with Social Media” – will show you how.
I will also reveal hundreds of tips about how to use social media to become visible on the web and also insights into creating and growing tribes, fans and followers on social networks such as Twitter and Facebook.
You can read it now.
Image by by danielmoyle
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David C. Treen
1980 - 1984
Born: July 16, 1928 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Political Affiliation: Republican
Religious Affiliation: Methodist
Education: Tulane University and Tulane Law School
Career Prior to Term: Lawyer and U.S. Representative
How He Became Governor: Elected in 1980
Career after Term: Attorney in New Orleans involved in Republican Party activities
David Connor Treen, the first Republican governor in Louisiana since Reconstruction, knew well the political realities of the state. After receiving the endorsement of four Democrats he had faced in the open primary, which helped him defeat Democrat Louis Lambert in the "run-off' election, Treen appointed them to positions in his administration or made them legislative leaders. During his administration, Louisiana truly became a two-party state.
Treen's term unfortunately coincided with a harsh downturn in the state's economy as the oil boom went "bust." His own quiet personality surprised Louisiana voters attracted to flamboyance. The combination resulted in Treen's defeat by Edwards in the 1983 election.
His accomplishments as Chief Executive included the appointment of more blacks to office than any other previous governor, the strengthening of teacher certification requirements, and the establishment of the Louisiana School for Math, Science and the Arts.
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The level three multiverse is particular to a certain interpretation of quantum mechanics being Hugh Everett’s Many Worlds Interpretation. It is a mathematically simple model in support of unitary physics. Everything that can happen in the particle realm actually does happen. Each of the many worlds following a split represents one of the possible worlds remaining after the event which led to the split. There are no interactions between these worlds. No observer or inhabitant of them will notice anything about the other worlds.
Everett’s interpretation is not impossible due to the fact that we do not experience the continual splitting of our world. Observers would only view their level one multiverse, but the process of decoherence—which mimics wave function collapse while preserving unitary physics—prevents them from seeing the level three parallel copies of themselves. It is no more contradicted by our failure to experience the splitting than the theory that the earth rotates is contradicted by our failure to experience its movement.
Max Tegmark, “The Multiverse Hierarchy,” arXiv:0905.1283v1 (accessed March 15, 2011), 10.
Some of the commentary is summarized by Karl Popper in Quantum Theory and the Schism in Physics, ed. W.W. Bartley, III (Totowa, NJ: Rowman and Littlefield, 1982): 91-2.
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Australian Bureau of Statistics
8624.0 - Retail and Wholesale Industries, Australia: Commodities, 2005-06
Latest ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 17/08/2007
|Page tools: Print Page Print All RSS Search this Product|
During 2005-06 the combined retail and wholesale industries generated total retail sales of $240.3b, with cost of goods sold of $178.6b, and a margin on sales of 25.7%.
Food (including Meat and dairy products and Other food products) was the largest contributor generating 20.1% ($48.4b) of total retail sales. Transport equipment (including new car sales) contributed 14.9% ($35.8b), while Petroleum, gas and coal accounted for 11.5% ($27.7b) of total retail sales. Clothing and footwear contributed 8.5% ($20.4b).
The categories generating the highest margins on retail sales of goods were in Clothing and footwear with 47.1% and Textiles and textile products (43.1%). In contrast, the low margin categories were Petroleum, gas and coal with 6.2% on the sales of goods, while Transport equipment (including new motor vehicles) recorded margins of 10.3%.
These documents will be presented in a new window.
This page last updated 16 August 2007
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The Glimmer Manifesto
It's tough out there. So many huge problems in the world, so much noise, so hard to know what to do and where to begin. All of which means—it's a great time to be a designer. In that spirit, here is The Glimmer Manifesto, which first appeared on Creativity magazine's site. Twelve uplifting lines, plucked from Glimmer, based on thoughts from Stefan Sagmeister, Cameron Sinclair, George Lois, Paula Scher, IDEO's Tim Brown and Jane Fulton Suri, Dean Kamen, and a big heaping helping of Bruce Mau (Glimmer's main subject).
1. A designer does not have the luxury of cynicism. So sayeth Mau, adding that designers must never be cool and detached skeptics, but instead must be willing to be laughed at—willing to take the occasional pratfall in pursuit of grand and crazy dreams. "A cynical designer," Mau adds, "is a joke."
2. It is easier to react than to create. This is Sagmeister's rejoinder to all who complain about being so busy with emails, tweets, and meetings. "Within that complaint is an excuse," he says, pointing out that most of us would rather answer another email than face the blank page.
3. You must keep moving away from what you know. Mau's advice on how to become a more cross-disciplinary designer in a world that demands T-shaped problem-solvers Also, he notes, it's a good way to avoid resting on your laurels.
4. A designer's gotta have the guts to be truthful at all times. In case you couldn't tell, that's George Lois talking about how the designer must be the one person in the room who is always willing to call bullshit. Even, Lois adds, "while everyone else is nodding their heads."
5. People don't fund problems, they fund solutions. Cameron Sinclair, the founder of Architecture for Humanity, says that if you want to raise support to tackle the world's problems, you must first design potential solutions—and make them visible to people, even if only in sketches.
6. Many believe the world just is. Designers believe we can make the world be. This observation from Jane Fulton Suri, a pioneer in bringing psychology to design, suggests that designers actually perceive reality differently from everyone else. And that maybe designers are a little crazy—but if so, it's a kind of crazy the world needs right now.
7. It can be helpful to think about an idea from a point of view that makes no sense. This is Sagmeister again, talking about how to be original at a time when it seems everything has been done already. Think laterally, says Stefan; look at the world around you sideways or upside down. To hell with logic.
8. Through the act of making things, we discover ideas. IDEO's Tim Brown, here talking about the power of prototyping to stimulate fresh thought. When just thinking isn't good enough, try "thinkering."
9. When you're totally unqualified for a job, that's when you do your best work. I'm slightly paraphrasing Paula Scher, who actually said the above using the first person "I." Scher's point is that when you're an inexperienced outsider on any project, you are unburdened by conventional wisdom and can see things that the insiders and "experts" can't see.
10. The goal is to be an expert coming out, not going in. Here Mau is making the case against too much upfront research. Go into a challenge a little bit blind and use the early stages for speculative thinking. There's always time for research later.
11. To bring about real change, you have to kiss a lot of frogs. Dean Kamen's way of saying you must be willing to work your way through many sub-par ideas before you'll get to transformational ones. Kamen, by the way, thinks that as a society we've lost our taste for frogs. "We're not willing do the hard work and take the risks that are part of making progress."
12. When the world isn't working well, you have the makings of a great design project. The final word, from Mau, which could also be put this way: There's never been a better time to be a designer because there is so much in need of better design.
No related posts, but check around GlimmerSite for lots of other interesting articles.
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Build a framework for success for any goal that needs a kick-start by learning some powerful tools to help you uncover innovative, practical and do-able solutions to steer your goal towards success by:
Identifying a clear and current vision of your goal
Clarifying acquired and needed skills, resources and support, or challenges standing between you and your goals
Cultivating creative strategies for acquiring the skills, resources and/or support needed to implement the goals you laid out
Our creative goal setting offerings are:
Private Goal Coaching
If your idea is too big to devlop in an afternoon or you need accountability and extra support, consider weekly creative goal coaching sessions - in person, on skype or over the phone.
Goal Setting Workshops
Transform a vague idea into a DO-ABLE plan with focused brainstorming, Visioning collage, prompted journalling, reflective activities and mind mapping techniques. Set goals using logic AND creativity!
Goal Setting E-Workshops
Set goals and develop action plans at your own pace and on your schedule with an
e-workshop that is downloaded and played back from your computer! You can repeat this process as much as you want!
See if we've got a public goal
setting workshop coming up
Contact us to learn more about Creative Goal Coaching
See if we've got a goal setting workshop that's right for you
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This post isn’t meant to be a de-motivator as much as a reality check.
New Year’s Resolutions don’t get much respect these days.
It seems that most of them are toast before the toasting of the New Year is over.
88% of them are gone with two months.
However, it’s not the resolutions that’s the issue.
Resolutions or Wishes?
We set silly, ridiculous, and even impossible resolutions.
Then, we expect them to magically come true.
But, changes don’t happen immediately.
How long did it take you to get into debt? You aren’t going to get out of it overnight.
And they don’t happen without effort.
Getting into shape is going to be tough and physically grueling work.
Maybe they should be called New Year’s wishes.
That might be more accurate in many cases.
Why Your Resolutions Aren’t Going to Come True
It is our unrealistic expectations that result in failure at our resolutions.
Are your resolutions grounded in reality? Or are they destined to be forgotten by February?
Here are 10 Reasons Your New Year’s Resolutions Aren’t Going to Come True:
- Too Many Resolutions - If your resolutions list looks like the picture at the topic of this post, then you have too many resolutions. Pick one. Two max. Focus isn’t possible when you have too many goals at once. You need laser-like focus on your resolution.
- Your Resolutions are Unrealistic - Many of our resolutions are to change conditions that we have been enduring for years. Don’t think that a quick fix is going to happen. Be realistic about small steps. Then repeat.
- You Won’t Pay the Price - Nothing is free in life. Resolutions cost time, money, and sacrifice. Are you willing to pay the price or are you just paying lip-service?
- Your Resolutions Aren’t Flexible – Do you see your resolutions as win or lose? There has to be some amount of adaptability. While changing your goals should not be used as a cop-out, it should be used as course correction. Life happens. Make sure your resolutions are ready to adapt.
- You Aren’t Acting Today - People like to make resolutions and then say, “I’ll start that tomorrow.” Or next week. If you aren’t doing it today, you aren’t going to do it tomorrow.
- You Don’t Have the Information Needed - If one of your resolutions is to start a new career path, you need to ensure that you have the knowledge to make that leap. Attempting a new goal without the proper knowledge is like going on an adventure without a map. You may eventually get there, but it’s going to be a long trip.
- They Aren’t Your Resolutions – Are you setting resolutions because someone else wants you to? If they aren’t your goals, you will not be dedicated to them. Make sure you own them yourself.
- You Aren’t Willing to Fail - Here’s an ironic one. Many people fail at their resolutions because they are afraid to fail. Well, by choosing not to try, you have chosen to fail by default.
- Your Resolutions Are All Talk – Are your resolutions all talk? Don’t say what you aren’t going to do. It’s all about action. (See #5)
- You’ll Quit Before the Finish Line - 60% of resolutions are given up in the first 30 days. 88% by the end of the second month. You can’t win a race if you stop before the finish line. It’s not always about time, but about reaching the destination.
Did you make resolutions this year?
If so, make sure that you have checked them against this list.
Be one of the 10% that do stick with their resolutions and goals for the New Year.
You might just change your life.
Questions: What were your resolutions this year? What will you do to make sure you succeed?
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Set priority levels and streamline the work order generation process accordingly, to entrench efficient planning and scheduling practices. Identify critical equipment based on a defined valuation model taking multiple factors such as usage, costs and availability. Generate work orders depending on whether the maintenance is preventive or reactive and who requested it.
Link documents required to plan a work order and allocate tasks to internal staff or external contractors based on skill sets and availability. Break a complex task into multiple sequential tasks for better understanding of responsibilities and individual requirements.
Maintain and print check-lists for each task for effective follow-up. Assign due dates and record discrepancies and identify errant resources. Automatically send reminders and notifications to keep everyone on their toes. Collect status updates and comments and send to concerned authorities for review.
Route tasks automatically for each work order eliminating associated delays due to human intervention. Alert maintenance personnel and purchasing department automatically when work orders are generated. Make automatic warranty claims for parts to be replaced when applicable.
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The suggestions were among 70 recommendations in the panel's report. First lady Michelle Obama released the findings Tuesday as part of her campaign against childhood obesity.
"For the first time, the nation will have goals, benchmarks and measurable outcomes that will help us tackle the childhood obesity epidemic one child, one family and one community at a time," Mrs. Obama said. "We want to marshal every resource - public and private sector, mayors and governors, parents and educators, business owners and health care providers, coaches and athletes - to ensure that we are providing each and every child the happy, healthy future they deserve."
One in 3 American children is overweight or obese, putting them at higher risk of diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and other illnesses. Obesity is even more prevalent among black and Hispanic children. Some public health experts say today's children are on track to live shorter lives than their parents.
Mrs. Obama has said she wants to help solve the problem in a generation so babies born today will come of age at a healthy weight. The report says that could happen if childhood obesity rates dropped to 5 percent by 2030.
The report and its recommendations are advisory. One exception is that Congress has begun updating the guidelines for food served in schools, including those dished up by vending machines. Pending legislation would spend $4.5 billion more over 10 years for nutrition programs; the Obama administration has asked for more than twice that amount.
The report says a woman's weight before she becomes pregnant and her weight gain during pregnancy are two of the most important factors that determine, before a child is born, whether he or she will become obese.
Studies find that about 1 in 5 children becomes overweight or obese by age 6, and that more than half of obese children become overweight before the age of 2. Nearly 6 percent of infants younger than six months are overweight, the report says, up from 3.4 percent between 1980 and 2001.
Breast-feeding after birth also helps, as studies have found that children fed that way are 22 percent less likely to become obese.
Mrs. Obama has talked publicly about many of the recommendations that found their way in the report since launching her "Let's Move" campaign in February, including having the appropriate agencies work with the food industry to put a standard nutrition label on the front of packaged goods.
The report calls on restaurants to consider portion sizes and post more calorie information. Other recommendations include updated federal nutritional standards for meals served at school; more school-based nutrition education; incentives to attract supermarkets to underserved areas; and an effort to get pediatricians to make a habit of calculating their patients' body mass index, a height-weight comparison used to measure fat.
A dozen federal agencies, including the Education, Agriculture, Health, Interior and Transportation departments, participated in the Childhood Obesity Task Force, which President Barack Obama created in February. The panel had 90 days to issue a report, and it sifted through more than 2,500 suggestions from the public on how to tackle the problem.
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Eduardo Frei Montalva Historic House Museum is the first Chilean museum dedicated to a former President of the Republic. The initiative that made it possible is based on the historical importance of this outstanding statesman, who, from a young age, was participant of the political life of the country.
The Museum looks to outline the spiritual, human and affective dimension of the figure of Eduardo Frei Montalva. Although, he stood out for the extraordinary quality of his public service – the source of his stature as an intellectual and statesman -, such performance would have been impossible if not based on principles and values born out of his religious view and his profound concern on thought and knowledge matters.
Undoubtedly, the source of these qualities is related to the solid and austere familiar context surrounding his childhood and youth. Eduardo Frei belonged to a family with strong moral principles; values wich possibly became determining factors for his subsequent successful career and, certainly, the behavior model through which he educated and formed his family with the support of his wife.
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We reported yesterday that the federal government’s Recovery.gov Web site, which purports to track jobs created or saved with stimulus money, was citing new jobs in nonexistent congressional districts. Today a new report from the Government Accountability Office brings news that phantom districts aren’t the only problem.
GAO found almost 4,000 reports that showed jobs created or saved but no money received or expended. Those reports represented more than 50,000 jobs. Recovery.gov’s total job count is 640,329.
GAO found other inconsistencies as well. More than 9,000 reports included large expenditures but showed no jobs created or retained, GAO found. Also, recipients used different and inconsistent interpretations of the "full-time equivalent" unit for reporting jobs.
To be fair, those errors came from a relatively small proportion of the more than 100,000 stimulus money recipients who reported. And GAO reported no evidence of deliberate deception, saying that the recipients it contacted "appear to have made good faith efforts to ensure complete and accurate reporting." But still, GAO described the issues as "significant."
Indeed, even the government watchdog whom the Obama administration put in charge of monitoring stimulus spending said today that the White House had been too quick to take credit for saving or creating 640,000 jobs. Earl Devaney admitted to members of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee that there were too many errors in the reporting to know the true number of jobs. Devaney is head of the Recovery Act Transparency and Accountability Board.
In a conference call to reporters, Ed Deseve, senior adviser to the president for Recovery Act implementation, offered an explanation for some of the errors. He said that a recipient of a grant may have the money in hand but may not have yet hired people to do that job. And in other cases where no money had been received but jobs were reported, the recipient could be a school district, for instance, that told teachers they won’t be losing their jobs based on the fact that funding had been approved — but not yet sent out. Deseve called Recovery.gov’s numbers "a good representation of what’s going on" and said that he believed the errors affected "less than 5 percent of the overall data."
Footnote: New evidence surfaced to indicate that the "phantom district" problem was even worse than at first reported. A writer on Examiner.com did an informal survey of the site, and found reports from nonexistent districts in "every single state." Deseve said that the congressional district issue had been fixed. (Instead of listing phony districts for states, the site now includes an "unassigned congressional district" category.)
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SKOPJE, Macedonia — NATO resumed the collection of rebel weapons Friday as Macedonia's peace process entered a new and potentially difficult phase--following through on promises to grant the ethnic Albanian minority more rights.
Javier Solana, the European Union's foreign affairs chief, warned Macedonian legislators to adhere to reforms agreed to under the peace deal signed last month.
"The agreement should be considered as a whole," Solana said in the Macedonian capital, Skopje.
The peace plan is a Western-sponsored, step-by-step process that involves rebels' voluntarily surrendering arms to NATO in three phases, which include parliamentary approval of legislation granting more rights to ethnic Albanians.
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization has already taken more than a third of the estimated 3,300-piece rebel arsenal to be surrendered by late this month. In the second phase, NATO plans to collect another third of the weapons, or about 1,100 pieces.
The second phase began when NATO resumed the weapons collection after a weeklong impasse that ended when the Macedonian parliament voted Thursday night to change the constitution.
Chanting, "We are Albanian heroes!" about 200 fighters of the rebel National Liberation Army gathered in the northern village of Radusa, near the border with Kosovo, to hand in their weapons Friday.
"We are giving up every last bullet," said Mevlud Bushi, a 19-year-old fighter. But he added that "if we feel at any point concerned, we will buy new arms."
Mission spokesman Maj. Alexander Dick said the majority of weapons surrendered were automatic assault rifles. He did not say how many weapons were collected.
"So far it has been a success," Dick said. "We still expect by Sept. 13 to have the next third of the weapons."
Many Macedonians, however, believe that the rebels are handing in only outdated hardware.
The peace deal moved ahead after much debate when lawmakers buckled to international pressure Thursday, voting 91-19 in favor of changing the constitution.
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June 27, 2001: Piercing the heart of a globular star cluster, NASA's Hubble Space Telescope uncovered tantalizing clues to what could be a strange and unexpected population of wandering, planet-sized objects. The orbiting observatory detected these bodies in the globular cluster M22 by the way their gravity bends the light from background stars, a phenomenon called microlensing. These microlensing events were unusually brief, indicating that the mass of the the intervening objects could be as little as 80 times that of Earth. Bodies this small have never been detected by microlensing observations.See the rest:
Theoretically, these mystery objects might be planets that were gravitationally torn away from their parent stars in the cluster. (Normally, planets orbit stars, just like Earth circles the Sun.) However, astronomers estimate that the wandering celestial bodies make up as much as 10 percent of the cluster's bulk - too numerous to be "orphaned" planets. The objects could be brown dwarfs, "failed stars" that are 80 times more massive than Jupiter. They're called failed stars because they don't have enough hydrogen in their cores to shine as stars. Or, these small, dim bodies could be a new class of objects.
Astronomers are planning more Hubble observations of the center of this dense cluster of 10 million stars. They expect to detect another 10 to 25 microlensing events, enough to yield direct measurements of the true masses of the small bodies.
Microlensing is an indirect way of obtaining information on celestial objects, such as planets or brown dwarfs, which are too dim to see.
Here's how microlensing works: As an unseen body floats across the face of a background star, it acts like a powerful lens by gravitationally bending the starlight and thus creating two separate images of the faraway star. Even Hubble can't resolve these images, because the bending angle is about 100 times smaller than the telescope's angular resolution. But the object's gravity also amplifies the starlight, causing it to brighten as the body passes in front of the star.
Microlensing events are brief, unpredictable, and rare. Astronomers improve their chances of observing one by looking at many stars at once. That's why astronomers pointed Hubble at a dense cluster of 10 million stars. They figured that some of the stars had planets or other objects around them. Some of the objects eventually might pass in front of background stars, causing microlensing events. In this case, the background stars are in the galactic bulge of our Milky Way Galaxy. Only the "sharp eyes" of Hubble can penetrate the core of a dense cluster of stars and monitor stars well beyond that region.
The telescope monitored 83,000 stars every three days for nearly four months, looking for slight increases in starlight. A spike in brightness provided evidence that an unseen body in the jam-packed cluster was passing in front of a star. The increases in brightness were transitory. Six of them lasted less than 20 hours and one stretched for 18 days. Based on the duration of the eclipse and the amount of brightening of background starlight, astronomers estimated the masses of the unseen bodies. In the case of the six short microlensing events, the objects are much smaller than a normal star, perhaps 80 times Earth's mass. The 18-day microlensing event was caused by a star. A typical star like our Sun is about 300,000 times more massive than Earth and 1,000 times heftier than Jupiter, the solar system's most massive planet.
Credits for the Hubble image: NASA, Kailash Sahu, Stefano Casertano, Mario Livio, Ron Gilliland (Space Telescope Science Institute), Nino Panagia (European Space Agency/Space Telescope Science Institute), Michael Albrow and Mike Potter (Space Telescope Science Institute)
Credits for ground-based image: Nigel A.Sharp, REU program/AURA/NOAO/NSF
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Like most technologies that finally make it to the mainstream, tablet PCs and the iPad in particular are finding success in large part because they have generated huge amounts of interest from the average consumer. As is often the case, Apple’s first target was the average tech savvy Joe. But, we’re over a year into the tablet push (since the first iPad was released) and with the RIM Playbook now available, we’re entering a new phase in the “tablet boom” – the one where these devices start to infiltrate institutions at rapid speed.
For more than 20 years, technology has gone through a similar cycle – new things would hit the market, the technology would be refined and eventually consumers would get excited. Shortly afterwards, limited adoption in enterprise environments, schools, and other professional circles would pick up and whatever new device had hit the market would surge in sales.
Everyone owns a personal computer, but so too do school districts and corporate computer banks. There are millions upon millions of computers sold directly to institutions because they make everyday activities easier for their users.
Tablets are at that point. While the ecosystem is still evolving and technology is still adapting to provide the kind of infrastructure needed for an Android or Windows 7 device to be viable in schools and businesses, it’s starting to happen. Even with less than stellar (though solid) reviews, the BlackBerry Playbook is a big step forward in this movement.
Android technologies will continue to develop as well, allowing IT departments for corporations and school districts to integrate devices into their technology plans without sacrificing security and content oversight. Schools that now hand out laptops to their students may soon offer tablets (and some are already doing it).
And once that happens, things will pick up even faster – we’ll start to see specialized devices that work for specific industries. We’ll see tablet PCs that are made specifically for reading eBooks and taking notes, tablets built for video conferencing and file sharing, and a growing interest in tablets that provide easy and secure access to medical information in hospitals and clinics.
I’m not stepping out on a limb saying any of this – the obvious next step is to take iPads and Android tablets, Playbooks, and Windows 7 Slates and start integrating them into offices, schools, and hospitals, but I’m excited to see what happens next. Whose technology will prevail in these settings and what innovations will we see to the way the technology is used? No matter what happens, it will be fun to watch!
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BOSTON – Congregants of one of the nation’s oldest churches have voted to auction off a 372-year-old hymn book that’s expect to fetch $10 million to $20 million at auction.
Members of the Old South Church in Boston authorized the sale of one of its two copies of the Bay Psalm Book, which was published in 1640. It is among the first books ever published in North America, and only 11 copies remain.
Board of Trustees Chairman Phil Stern says the church wants to continue growing its endowment and take care of some “critical capital needs.”
He says although there was loud opposition to the sale, the vote wasn’t close, with 271 votes cast in favor and 34 against.
Members also authorized the sale of 19 pieces of Colonial-era silver
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Even though email marketing is well past its infancy, many marketers routinely go against best practices by sending emails from a no-reply address. When your company sends email from email@example.com, it's an indicator to your recipient that you're creating a one-way communication and that you don't want to hear from them.
Traditionally, when constructing an online presence, content is written and organized for a target audience. With the rise of mobile devices and tablets, the online presence must take into account how the content is being accessed by the end user. Would your content typically be browsed leisurely on the couch? Are you supplying information for people who would be in transit? Are you providing a compelling, immersive experience engaging the user for hours?
Whether you’re just beginning to use email marketing or whether you’re an experienced marketer, reviewing the basics of email marketing is never a bad idea. Preparing your messages by covering off on the most fundamental strategy can help you realize your campaign goals. Many marketers will pay attention to these details during their initial campaign [...]
Pushing the “send” button on an email campaign can be a nerve-wracking moment. Are you really sure your campaign is ready? Is that little voice in the back of your head making you second-guess the accuracy of your message? A bad campaign can have a significant amount of negative impact on your brand. It can: [...]
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At last summer's reunion banquet for EDGE-- Enhancing Diversity in Graduate Education--news that Farrah Jackson had received her Ph.D. in mathematics met with thunderous cheers and applause. "It was as if they were at a basketball game," recalls Sylvia Bozeman, Professor of Mathematics at Atlanta's Spelman College and co-director of EDGE. "It was just a wonderful moment for the other students . . . to be so excited about not only her accomplishments but anticipating their accomplishments."
Since 1998, EDGE has been helping women, especially women from underrepresented groups--African Americans, Hispanics, Native Americans, and Pacific Islanders--make the transition into graduate programs in mathematics. Jackson's Ph.D., which she earned from North Carolina State University, is a milestone for the program. Jackson is the first African American from the program to earn a Ph.D.
The Leading EDGE of Diversification
EDGE certainly has its work cut out for it. When the program began in 1998, the American Mathematical Society's Annual Survey of the Mathematical Sciences revealed that among the 586 U.S. citizens who earned doctoral degrees between 1 July 1997 and 30 June 1998, 163 were females: 2 were American Indian or Alaska Native, 5 were African American, 6 were Hispanic or Latino, and none were Pacific Islanders.
The small number of minorities and women in math are precisely why Bozeman and Rhonda Hughes, EDGE co-director and Helen Herrmann Professor of Mathematics at Bryn Mawr College, created the program. Throughout their careers, Bozeman and Hughes have witnessed women and minority graduate students--even the well-prepared ones--struggle and drop out. The EDGE directors attribute the high attrition rate in part to a system they say has persisted in many math departments for decades. "People just feel like only the smartest can do mathematics," explains Bozeman. "You have to have some special talent. You're born with it." In these settings, graduate students don't have much room for failure and they become discouraged and leave their programs when they struggle.
For women and minorities, proving they are just as capable as their peers is a tougher task. These students, especially those coming from small colleges and minority-serving institutions, have difficulty entering the mathematical sciences, say the two directors. These students are used to a close-knit, nurturing environment; they don't do well when they end up in large math departments with only a couple of women and no minority faculty. Moreover, many come from schools that don't offer many advanced math courses and, consequently, they enter graduate school with limited academic preparation, adds Hughes.
According to Bozeman, EDGE prepares women and minorities for Ph.D. study mathematically and psychologically. "We have watched many women [and minorities] over the years succeed, and we know that you don't have to be at the top. You can actually develop the ability to do mathematics."
The Empowerment EDGE
Currently funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, each program cycle starts with a 4-week summer session for 8 to 14 participants: all are women, half are students of color, and half are Caucasian. Each participant must be accepted into a graduate program in the mathematical sciences, or have completed their first year of graduate school in the mathematical sciences.
2005 EDGE participants.
The summer program is held at different host colleges each year and gives the women a taste of graduate-school life with two basic-but-intense graduate courses, one in abstract algebra and the other in analysis. Program participants are also taught how to cope with academic stress in part by utilizing assistance from 2 to 3 graduate mentors. When they do their homework, students are encouraged to work together.
The summer program provides additional survival lessons. During a weekend reunion, EDGE women from the previous year attend the summer program to describe their graduate school experiences to current participants. EDGE also offers a seminar given by a psychologist or sociologist to help the students learn to handle individual differences, as well as diversity and women's issues.
Finally, the participants meet with math experts who introduce them to various research and career possibilities. After the summer program, EDGE sets up a year of mentoring for the women with a faculty member at their graduate institutions. The women can get more support from anyone involved with the program at any time in the future, even years down the road.
Making a Difference
To date, three EDGE participants have received their Ph.D.s, and more of the 58 EDGE participants are expected to finish their doctorates. Thirty-three either have left their graduate programs or received master's degrees; EDGE directors don't consider master's degree recipients a failure. "Of those who have received a master's degree, we expect many of them to eventually continue their education," says Hughes. "We have seen [women] re-emerge back in graduate school," Bozeman explains; for one thing, she says, marriage and children typically prolong women's pursuit for a Ph.D.
Although only a few EDGE participants have completed their doctorate, EDGE has been influential in changing the face of mathematics. According to the directors, EDGE has prevented students from dropping out of their programs and encouraged others to switch to more suitable graduate programs when problems occurred. In the process, they've made math departments realize how things they've said or done have impacted women and minorities, for the worse.
In the case of Farrah Jackson, who is now an assistant professor in mathematics at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, EDGE's network of support kept her afloat in her graduate studies. "I've been the only minority in my whole class," she says. "Even if [women from the program] were in different universities, knowing I can talk to them and knowing that they're going through the same situation helped a lot."
Bozeman and Hughes hope EDGE will continue to alter the culture of mathematics. "We want the departments to give some attention to the fact that they are losing students and figure out what they can do differently? What we want to do is try and share what we've learned with those departments that want to improve their retention," says Bozeman.
Edna Francisco is a contributing writer for MiSciNet and may be reached at email@example.com.
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The missionary work of the first Hindu sannyasin to the West and his plan of regeneration of India
(From the Complete Works)
For the past few weeks, the Hindu public of Madras have been most eagerly expecting the arrival of Swami Vivekananda, the great Hindu monk of world-wide fame. At the present moment his name is on everybody's lips. In the school, in the college, in the High Court, on the marina, and in the streets and bazars of Madras, hundreds of inquisitive spirits may be seen asking when the Swami will be coming. Large numbers of students from the mofussil, who have come up for the University examinations are staying here, awaiting the Swami, and increasing their hostelry bills, despite the urgent call of their parents to return home immediately. In a few days the Swami will be in our midst. From the nature of the receptions received elsewhere in this Presidency, from the preparations being made here, from the triumphal arches erected at Castle Kernan, where the "Prophet" is to be lodged at the cost of the Hindu public, and from the interest taken in the movement by the leading Hindu gentlemen of this city, like the Hon'ble Mr. Justice Subramaniya Iyer, there is no doubt that the Swami will have a grand reception. It was Madras that first recognised the superior merits of the Swami and equipped him for Chicago. Madras will now have again the honour of welcoming the undoubtedly great man who has done so much to raise the prestige of his motherland. Four year ago, when the Swami arrived here, he was practically an obscure individual. In an unknown bungalow at St. Thome he spent nearly two months, all along holding conversations on religious topics and teaching and instructing all comers who cared to listen to him. Even then a few educated young men with "a keener eye" predicted that there was something in the man, "a power", that would lift him above all others, that would pre-eminently enable him to be the leader of men. These young men, who were then despised as "misguided enthusiasts", "dreamy revivalists", have now the supreme satisfaction of seeing their Swami, as they love to call him, return to them with a great European and American fame. The mission of the Swami is essentially spiritual. He firmly believes that India, the motherland of spirituality, has a great future before her. He is sanguine that the West will more and more come to appreciate what he regards as the sublime truths of Vedanta. His great motto is "Help, and not Fight" "Assimilation, and not Destruction", "Harmony and Peace, and not Dissension". Whatever difference of opinion followers of other creeds may have with him, few will venture to deny that the Swami has done yeoman's service to his country in opening the eyes of the Western world to "the good in the Hindu". He will always be remembered as the first Hindu Sannyâsin who dared to cross the sea to carry to the West the message of what he believes in as a religious peace.
A representative of our paper interviewed the Swami Vivekananda, with a view to eliciting from him an account of the success of his mission in the West. The Swami very courteously received our representative and motioned him to a chair by his side. The Swami was dressed in yellow robes, was calm, serene, and dignified, and appeared inclined to answer any questions that might be put to him. We have given the Swami's words as taken down in shorthand by our representative.
"May I know a few particulars about your early life?" asked our representative.
The Swami said: "Even while I was a student at Calcutta, I was of a religious temperament. I was critical even at that time of my life, mere words would not satisfy me. Subsequently I met Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, with whom I lived for a long time and under whom I studied. After the death of my father I gave myself up to travelling in India and started a little monastery in Calcutta. During my travels, I came to Madras, where I received help from the Maharaja of Mysore and the Raja of Ramnad."
"What made Your Holiness carry the mission of Hinduism to Western countries?"
"I wanted to get experience. My idea as to the keynote of our national downfall is that we do not mix with other nations — that is the one and the sole cause. We never had opportunity to compare notes. We were Kupa-Mandukas (frogs in a well)."
"You have done a good deal of travelling in the West?"
"I have visited a good deal of Europe, including Germany and France, but England and America were the chief centres of my work. At first I found myself in a critical position, owing to the hostile attitude assumed against the people of this country by those who went there from India. I believe the Indian nation is by far the most moral and religious nation in the whole world, and it would be a blasphemy to compare the Hindus with any other nation. At first, many fell foul of me, manufactured huge lies against me by saying that I was a fraud, that I had a harem of wives and half a regiment of children. But my experience of these missionaries opened my eyes as to what they are capable of doing in the name of religion. Missionaries were nowhere in England. None came to fight me. Mr. Lund went over to America to abuse me behind my back, but people would not listen to him. I was very popular with them. When I came back to England, I thought this missionary would be at me, but the Truth silenced him. In England the social status is stricter than caste is in India. The English Church people are all gentlemen born, which many of the missionaries are not. They greatly sympathised with me. I think that about thirty English Church clergymen agree entirely with me on all points of religious discussion. I was agreeably surprised to find that the English clergymen, though they differed from me, did not abuse me behind my back and stab me in the dark. There is the benefit of caste and hereditary culture."
"What has been the measure of your success in the West?"
"A great number of people sympathised with me in America — much more than in England. Vituperation by the low-caste misssionaries made my cause succeed better. I had no money, the people of India having given me my bare passage-money, which was spent in a very short time. I had to live just as here on the charity of individuals. The Americans are a very hospitable people. In America one-third of the people are Christians, but the rest have no religion, that is they do not belong to any of the sects, but amongst them are to be found the most spiritual persons. I think the work in England is sound. If I die tomorrow and cannot send any more Sannyasins, still the English work will go on. The Englishman is a very good man. He is taught from his childhood to suppress all his feelings. He is thickheaded, and is not so quick as the Frenchman or the American. He is immensely practical. The American people are too young to understand renunciation. England has enjoyed wealth and luxury for ages. Many people there are ready for renunciation. When I first lectured in England I had a little class of twenty or thirty, which was kept going when I left, and when I went back from America I could get an audience of one thousand. In America I could get a much bigger one, as I spent three years in America and only one year in England. I have two Sannyasins — one in England and one in America, and I intend sending Sannyasins to other countries.
"English people are tremendous workers. Give them an idea, and you may be sure that that idea is not going to be lost, provided they catch it. People here have given up the Vedas, and all your philosophy is in the kitchen. The religion of India at present is 'Don't-touchism' — that is a religion which the English people will never accept. The thoughts of our forefathers and the wonderful life-giving principles that they discovered, every nation will take. The biggest guns of the English Church told me that I was putting Vedantism into the Bible. The present Hinduism is a degradation. There is no book on philosophy, written today, in which something of our Vedantism is not touched upon — even the works of Herbert Spencer contain it. The philosophy of the age is Advaitism, everybody talks of it; only in Europe, they try to be original. They talk of Hindus with contempt, but at the same time swallow the truths given out by the Hindus. Professor Max Müller is a perfect Vedantist, and has done splendid work in Vedantism. He believes in re-incarnation."
"What do you intend doing for the regeneration of India?"
"I consider that the great national sin is the neglect of the masses, and that is one of the causes of our downfall. No amount of politics would be of any avail until the masses in India are once more well educated, well fed, and well cared for. They pay for our education, they build our temples, but in return they get kicks. They are practically our slaves. If we want to regenerate India, we must work for them. I want to start two central institutions at first — one at Madras and the other at Calcutta — for training young men as preachers. I have funds for starting the Calcutta one. English people will find funds for my purpose.
"My faith is in the younger generation, the modern generation, out of them will come my workers. They will work out the whole problem, like lions. I have formulated the idea and have given my life to it. If I do not achieve success, some better one will come after me to work it out, and I shall be content to struggle. The one problem you have is to give to the masses their rights. You have the greatest religion which the world ever saw, and you feed the masses with stuff and nonsense. You have the perennial fountain flowing, and you give them ditch-water. Your Madras graduate would not touch a low-caste man, but is ready to get out of him the money for his education. I want to start at first these two institutions for educating missionaries to be both spiritual and secular instructors to our masses. They will spread from centre to centre, until we have covered the whole of India. The great thing is to have faith in oneself, even before faith in God; but the difficulty seems to be that we are losing faith in ourselves day by day. That is my objection against the reformers. The orthodox have more faith and more strength in themselves, in spite of their crudeness; but the reformers simply play into the hands of Europeans and pander to their vanity. Our masses are gods as compared with those of other countries. This is the only country where poverty is not a crime. They are mentally and physically handsome; but we hated and hated them till they have lost faith in themselves. They think they are born slaves. Give them their rights, and let them stand on their rights. This is the glory of the American civilization. Compare the Irishman with knees bent, half-starved, with a little stick and bundle of clothes, just arrived from the ship, with what he is, after a few months' stay in America. He walks boldly and bravely. He has come from a country where he was a slave to a country where he is a brother.
"Believe that the soul is immortal, infinite and all-powerful. My idea of education is personal contact with the teacher - Gurugriha-Vâsa. Without the personal life of a teacher there would be no education. Take your Universities. What have they done during the fifty years of their existences. They have not produced one original man. They are merely an examining body. The idea of the sacrifice for the common weal is not yet developed in our nation."
"What do you think of Mrs. Besant and Theosophy?"
"Mrs. Besant is a very good woman. I lectured at her Lodge in London. I do not know personally much about her. Her knowledge of our religion is very limited; she picks up scraps here and there; she never had time to study it thoroughly. That she is one of the most sincere of women, her greatest enemy will concede. She is considered the best speaker in England. She is a Sannyâsini. But I do not believe in Mahâtmâs and Kuthumis. Let her give up her connection with the Theosophical Society, stand on her own footing, and preach what she thinks right."
Speaking of social reforms, the Swami expressed himself about widow-marriage thus: "I have yet to see a nation whose fate is determined by the number of husbands their widows get."
Knowing as he did that several persons were waiting downstairs to have an interview with the Swami, our representative withdrew, thanking the Swami for the kindness with which he had consented to the journalistic torture.
The Swami, it may be remarked, is accompanied by Mr. and Mrs. J. H. Sevier, Mr. T. G. Harrison, a Buddhist gentleman of Colombo, and Mr. J. J. Goodwin. It appears that Mr. and Mrs. Sevier accompany the Swami with a view to settling in the Himalayas, where they intend building a residence for the Western disciples of the Swami, who may have an inclination to reside in India. For twenty years, Mr. and Mrs. Sevier had followed no particular religion, finding satisfaction in none of those that were preached; but on listening to a course of lectures by the Swami, they professed to have found a religion that satisfied their heart and intellect. Since then they have accompanied the Swami through Switzerland, Germany, and Italy, and now to India. Mr. Goodwin, a journalist in England, became a disciple of the Swami fourteen months ago, when he first met him at New York. He gave up his journalism and devotes himself to attending the Swami and taking down his lectures in shorthand. He is in every sense a true "disciple", saying that he hopes to be with the Swami till his death.
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This September, when the Senate returns from its summer recess, the Foreign Relations Committee plans to vote on the Moscow Treaty on Strategic Offensive Reductions, which Presidents George W. Bush and Vladimir Putin signed at the Moscow Summit in May. Bush claims the treaty "will liquidate the legacy of the Cold War," but it does no such thing. Nor was this really his administration's intention. Rather, the objective, which this treaty now codifies, is to ensure that the United States retains maximum nuclear flexibility -- by enabling it to deploy its nuclear forces in any way that it wants. The result is a treaty that makes the world no safer than it was before, and much the worse for failing to achieve a genuine reduction in nuclear weapons.
Bush came to office committed to "leave the Cold War behind" and "rethink the requirements of nuclear deterrence." The United States would reduce its nuclear forces to the "lowest possible number consistent with our national security." And it would do this through unilateral action rather than through a legally binding agreement with Russia. Last November, then, Bush announced the United States would reduce its strategic nuclear arsenal over the next 10 years, from its current level of about 7,200 warheads to between 1,700 and 2,200 warheads. At first, he resisted Russian demands to codify this commitment in a formal, binding agreement. But in deciding last December to withdraw the United States from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, Bush agreed to soften the blow to Moscow by affirming these offensive force reductions in a legally binding treaty.
But it is important to understand what the Moscow Treaty says -- and more important, what it doesn't say. The only legally binding commitment the United States and Russia undertake under the terms of the agreement is to deploy no more than 1,700 to 2,200 warheads on "operationally deployed" launchers by December 31, 2012. The treaty is deliberately silent on what will happen between now and then. Moreover, at the exact moment 10 years hence, when the limits on force levels go into effect, the treaty will expire, unless both parties agree otherwise. In other words, the United States and Russia are free -- except for a single day a decade from now -- to deploy as many (or as few) warheads on operationally deployed systems as they like. Yes, it is as absurd as it sounds.
Even worse, and directly undermining Bush's claim that it liquidates the Cold War's legacy, the treaty is silent on what happens to the weapons to be retired. They can be stored, put in reserve or dismantled -- whatever the parties wish. There is no obligation to liquidate anything. The treaty also says nothing about how many warheads a missile can carry or how many launchers each side can have. Russia, for example, will be free to put multiple warheads on its new land-based missile forces -- a procedure banned by the START II Treaty that the elder George Bush and Boris Yeltsin signed in January 1993. (START II, which never entered into force even though both the U.S. Senate and the Russian Duma gave their conditional consent, was slated to have been implemented by 2007.) What remains in effect is START I, a Reagan-era arms-control document that we signed with the Soviet Union, which stipulates force reductions that both nations have in fact already achieved. Now this will be augmented by an agreement to reduce U.S. and Russian forces for at least a single day 10 years from now. If either Washington or Moscow decides it does not like that constraint, it can withdraw from the treaty by giving 90-days notice. And this is called arms control!
To be sure, it is possible that 10 years from now the United States and Russia will decide to extend the life of the Moscow Treaty. It is even possible that the two nations will agree to dismantle the retired weapons. The relationship between Moscow and Washington is changing -- and for the better. Nuclear weapons, and joint measures to control them, are becoming a less contentious part of their relations.
But one cannot assume that U.S.-Russian relations will grow inexorably closer. Putin is attempting a fundamental shift in Russia's foreign policy, one that has left much of Russia's elite grumbling. Economic hardship or foreign-policy humiliation could produce an unstoppable demand to return Russian policy to its traditional antagonism to the west. One role of arms control is to guard against this danger. Yet this is precisely what the Moscow Treaty fails to do. Remarkably, an administration that prides itself on its hard-nosed realism is ignoring the first rule of international politics: Hope for the best, but guard against the worst.
What accounts for this failure? The Bush administration argues that arms control reflects old-fashioned Cold War thinking, that what is needed today are not formal, detailed agreements about mutual obligations but informal exchanges of intentions. As National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice puts it, the Moscow treaty "codifies what President Bush and President Putin have decided independently are the levels needed to defend their countries ... in a way that doesn't look like an agreement that you would make with an enemy like the Soviet Union, but rather more like a defense-planning guidance with the Russians." In other words, friends don't do treaties. Putin needed a treaty and got one, but that was Bush's only concession. In keeping with true administration policy, the treaty's actual provisions were drafted to facilitate a strategy that has nothing to do with arms control.
The Bush administration does not so much object to arms control per se (although it does that as well) as it does to placing any constraints on America's freedom of action. It believes that as the most powerful nation on earth, the United States should not and cannot be constrained in ways that other lesser powers can. The Bush administration has made this abundantly clear, from the Kyoto Protocol to the ABM Treaty, the International Criminal Court to the Comprehensive Test Ban. It rejects some treaties, withdraws from others, and even engages in the novel practice of "unsigning" those it truly detests.
This Thucydidean philosophy -- that the strong do as they can and the weak suffer as they must -- is the leitmotif of the administration's foreign policy. Thus, the Nuclear Posture Review that the Pentagon sent to Congress in January raised the prospect of using nuclear weapons in the midst of a conventional conflict to attack targets capable of withstanding non-nuclear attack. This fetish for flexibility emerged even more clearly in Bush's West Point speech in June, when he embraced a new policy of preemptive nuclear war. The administration now proposes to "strike first" -- regardless of whether there is political support at home or abroad for such an action, and perhaps without proof that a threat to our safety actually exists. So much for the Constitution and 200 years of military practice.
The Moscow Treaty elevates this flexibility fetish into the law of the land. As a senior administration official told The New York Times, "What we have now agreed to do under the treaty is what we wanted to do anyway. That's our kind of treaty."
Unfortunately, it does little to liquidate the Cold War's primary legacy: many thousands of nuclear weapons. For that, a different, more ambitious agenda is necessary. Its central goal must be to marginalize nuclear weapons. That requires taking the following steps:
Reduce U.S. nuclear forces to 1,000 strategic weapons. In a world in which Russia is a friend and no other potentially hostile country has more than a few dozen strategic warheads, 1,000 nuclear warheads would deter anyone who can be deterred. As McGeorge Bundy recognized more than three decades ago, "in the real world of real political leaders ... a decision that would bring even one hydrogen bomb on one city of one's own country would be recognized in advance as a catastrophic blunder; 10 bombs on 10 cities would be a disaster beyond history; and a hundred bombs on a hundred cities unthinkable." We have long lived in Bundy's real world -- and we certainly do so now.
Complete the weapons cuts by 2004. The Moscow Treaty gives both sides 10 years to implement its reductions. But because weapons can be stored, those reductions can be accomplished much more quickly. In nine months in 199192, the United States removed more than 4,000 tactical nuclear weapons from active duty. There is no reason why these reductions should take much longer.
Agree with Russia to eliminate all tactical nuclear weapons. The new treaty is silent about the thousands of short-range nuclear weapons the United States and Russia have in storage. They serve no military purpose, and they are precisely the kind of weapons Osama bin Laden would love to obtain.
Destroy all weapons to be retired. More than 10 years after the Cold War ended, the United States and Russia still have 30,000 nuclear weapons between them. That is a Cold War legacy we can surely do without.
Ratify the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. This treaty would create a worldwide system, including sensors in closed societies such as China and Iran, for monitoring clandestine nuclear explosions. The result would reduce the nuclear proliferation threat.
Rather than continuing with treaties that are all form and no substance, Washington and Moscow should return to the bargaining table and come back with a compact that truly makes major, enduring reductions in nuclear weapons. Yes, the United States would have to sacrifice some flexibility. But it would get something more important in return: enhanced security.
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by Jon Meacham
As a new American president takes the stage, reading a history of an American president some 180 years prior is an enlightening joy.
Watching Barack Obama utilize his mandate from the 2008 election has been the perfect backdrop for going back in time to learn how — in 1828 and during the eight years of two terms Andrew Jackson showed many U.S. presidents how the power of the presidency might be used to lead.
A youth during the War of Independence, a hero of the War of 1812 and a renown Indian fighter, the man those close to him called “the General” won the popular vote as well as the electoral vote in two elections, and he never let it be forgotten by those who disagreed with his reasoning.
Meacham paints a thorough portrait of Old Hickory — warts and all — yet his loving brush strokes are obvious. Readers, too, will find much to admire in Andrew Jackson, yet much for which to find fault with him as well, and that’s to the historian Meacham’s credit: He lets Jackson be human, not all good, not all bad, but multi-dimensional.
One way: Jackson’s
Jackson was the break-through candidate, the one who saw the president as the representative of the people against entrenched interests. He took that mandate from his election as a voucher giving him the right to make changes — and that he did.
Coming from his Tennessee home (the Hermitage) to a Washington that was just decades old but already seemingly set in its ways — particularly with regard to who had a “right” to government jobs — Jackson made it plain that he do things differently — and his way. Hundreds of long-time government staff found they were replaced by Jackson appointees, for one thing. That was new.
When it came to Congress, Jackson initiated greater use of the veto, enhancing presidential power: In 40 years no more than four or five Acts of Congress had been vetoed by six presidents; Jackson vetoed four in three days.
A man of firsts
Jackson was the first Democrat, and might be credited — for good or ill — as the one who started party-line voting, and a president who offered favors for votes in Congress.
During the election year of 1832, when he sought a second term, Jackson broke with tradition and initiated the first presidential campaign tour. Not willing to let others do his bidding, Jackson made the barbecue circuit, shaking hands and being seen as he made his way from his home in Tennessee to Washington and elsewhere. In New York City, one observer likened a Jackson torchlight parade to Catholic processions.
The campaign of 1832 may be where image first played a major role in how Americans voted. Jackson’s men repeated the message that “a vote for Jackson was a vote for the people while a vote for (Henry) Clay was a vote for the privileged,” Meacham noted.
Jackson understood the power of his personality and how the power of personality gave a president power.
Along the way, though, President Andrew Jackson made what today society would say were serious errors — even immoral ones.
For one thing, Jackson was a slave owner and upheld the practice of slavery. He moved to curb the forces of abolition, even suppressing with presidential orders the right of printed material to be delivered from abolitionist writers.
He also saw Native Americans as just in the way of the progress of white U.S. citizens, and his policies and practices led to cruel resettlement of Indian tribes. The “Trail of Tears” — the forced removal of the Cherokee to the west — was a shameful result of Jackson’s Indian policy though it took place a year after he left office. An estimated 4,000 of the 16,000 Cherokees forced out of Georgia died along the way due to brutal treatment by the U.S. military.
Reading of his life now, though, is a good reminder, Meacham points out, “that evil can appear perfectly normal to even the best men and women of a given time.”
Ironically, despite his own participation in slavery, Jackson is also credited with preventing the southern states from seceding from the Union. When South Carolina felt compelled to reject Acts of Congress, Jackson stamped down and denied that any state had the right to do that.
When the tariff on southern cotton proved to be a divisive issue that could lead to succession, Jackson worked out a compromise that cooled tempers.
He is still with us
For my taste, too much of Meacham’s work pays attention to the pettiness of Washington society and how it impacted Jackson’s cabinet and household.
But Meacham shines in showing how Jackson has influenced and continues to influence the presidents of the United States:
– Running at the head of a national party;
– Fighting for a mandate from the people to govern in a particular way on particular issues;
– Depending on a circle of insiders and advisers;
– Mastering the media of the age to transmit a consistent message at a constant pace;
– Using the veto as a political weapon.
“He gave his most imaginative successors the means to do things they thought right,” Meacham noted, citing examples of Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin Roosevelt, and Harry Truman as evidence.
A man of prayer
Readers interested in Jackson’s spirituality will find consistent references in “American Lion” that show the seventh president to have been a man of prayer.
Jackson’s rhetoric regularly includes mention of the Almighty, he is seen in prayer and frequently a nearby church, though he didn’t join a particular denomination — Baptist — until after he left office. His reasoning? He didn’t want it to look like he was joining just to improve his image.
One wonderful anecdote that captures a whiff of Jackson’s spirituality and a large bite of his sense of power is told upon his death near the end of the 360 pages of prose in this Random House book. Meacham writes:
according to legend, a visitor to the Hermitage asked a slave on the place whether he thought Jackson had gone to heaven. ‘If the General wants to go,’ the slave replied, ‘who’s going to stop him?’” — bz
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By Gene Meyer | Kansas Reporter
OVERLAND PARK — Kansas voters elected the state’s biggest crop of avowed budget hawks ever to the next state Legislature on Tuesday.
And Kansas budget forecasters served up the first big potential test of those new budget cutters’ fiscal conservative mettle. Some popular state spending programs may experience funding cuts. No one is saying which ones or how much.
The Kansas Consensus Revenue Estimating Group, the group of state budget and revenue executives and three university economists that compiles Kansas’ official budget forecasts, said late Tuesday afternoon that Kansas’ projected $5.7 billion tax revenue in 2014 appeared likely to fall $327 million short of projected needs.
Tax cuts passed last year — eliminating most state income taxes for 190,000 business owners and cutting the state’s top rate on other income taxes more than 20 percent — account for part of the drop. So also does a still sluggish economy, said Rainey Gilliland, acting Kansas Legislative Research Department director, who is a member of the consensus revenue estimating group.
“We’re still growing out of the Great Recession; however, that growth remains slow,” Gilliland said.
Kansas’ Constitution requires legislators to pass balanced budgets annually. That means the 92 Republican and 33 Democratic members of the state House and the 32 Republicans and eight Democrats in the state Senate who will convene Jan. 14 must agree on some combination of spending cuts or tax increases to plug the projected $327 million hole.
Tax increases so far are everyone’s least favored choice.
The total 124 Republicans elected to the House and Senate are the largest number of Republicans ever elected to the Legislature in at least a half century. Gov. Sam Brownback and GOP leaders campaigned for the group, most of whom support Brownback’s aims to restrain government growth and reduce taxes in the state.
“We’re back and moving forward as a state,” Brownback told Republicans in victory speeches Tuesday night.
Kansas Budget Director Steve Anderson earlier this year asked state agencies to begin preparing their 2014 budget requests assuming that 10 percent fewer funds would be available. That request was a planning tool to help agencies prepare for reduced help from Washington or other revenue reductions, Anderson said at the time
Anderson calculated Tuesday that cutting $327 million would equate to a 5.3 percent funding reduction, the Topeka Capitol Journal reported.
So what gets chopped? Brownback, who will submit the first budget proposal that legislators will see for dealing with the $327 million, isn’t saying.
“The governor will submit a budget in January that will be balanced and that will preserve funding for core government functions — education, Medicaid and public safety,” said Sherriene Jones-Sontag, the administration’s communications director.
What could be chopped? Many things and they wouldn’t be painful, said Derrick Sontag, Kansas director of Americans For Prosperity, which advocates for lower taxes and government efficiency. (He also is married to Jones-Sontag.)
“Realistically, everyone knows that some spending reductions were coming, because it will take a year or more for the revenue benefits of lower taxes to take effect,” Sontag said. “What the election of fiscal conservatives does is to give them more power to practice what they preach.”
Contact Gene Meyer at firstname.lastname@example.org.
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"The highest ideal of cure is the rapid, gentle, and permanent restoration of health . . .
in the shortest, most reliable and most harmless way . . ."
Samuel Hahnemann, M.D. (1755-1843), founder of homeopathy
What Is The AVH?
Founded in 1995, the Academy of Veterinary Homeopathy is comprised of veterinarians who share the common desire to restore true health to their patients through the use of homeopathic treatment. Members of the Academy are dedicated to understanding and preserving the principles of Classical Homeopathy.
Why Choose Homeopathy?
Most veterinarians are led to homeopathy by a frustration with the chronic and recurring nature of so many of the problems we see in our animal patients. The goal of homeopathic veterinarians is not merely to treat disease but to cure it. This means that the symptoms of the disease are gone, the patient feels better, and has no new symptoms. Ideally, no further treatment is necessary.
What Can Be Treated By Homeopathy?
Almost any problem that can be treated by traditional western medicine (allopathy) can be treated by homeopathy. Examples of chronic diseases that respond to homeopathy include skin allergies, ear infections, asthma, diabetes,inflammatory bowel disease, epilepsy, thyroid disease and a host of other conditions. Veterinarians who practice classical homeopathy according to academy standards have found that many otherwise chronically ill patients can be restored to health. They have also found that homeopathy can rapidly and gently treat a diverse array of acute conditions from traumatic injuries to infections and poisonings.
Homeopathy is a holistic discipline and the principles of good health such as diet, exercise and removal of stresses are also part of the process or restoring health. Veterinarians who practice homeopathy have found it to be a gentle, safe and effective medical system which offers a true cure to many patients.
The members of the Academy encourage you to explore this web site for further information. A list of Academy members is available if you are seeking a homeopathic veterinarian in your area. Members who have become certified have further demonstrated their competency in the field by passing rigorous testing and inspection of their case work. If you have further questions or comments about your experience with an AVH member please contact us.
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After the Lehman Brothers crisis, Ben Bernanke's Federal Reserve demonstrated creativity and nerve. Unfortunately, that reputation is no longer justified. Today's Fed confronts slowing growth, high unemployment and well-anchored inflation expectations. And yet it hesitates. Paradoxically, its image as a risk-taker inhibits its ability to be genuinely bold.
Back in 2008-09, the Fed took real risks with its balance sheet – risks that private actors shunned. It bought portfolios of toxic securities. It lent to manufacturers. It backstopped money-market funds. But today the Fed's supposedly audacious "unconventional policies" consist of buying Treasury securities. These are the safest possible instruments and there is no shortage of private actors lining up to buy them. Prices are screaming out this message. Interest rates on 10-year Treasuries are at a record low.
Because of Mr Bernanke's reputation for boldness, he is frequently accused of creating money wildly. When he appeared last week before Congress, he was rebuked by Republicans for his presumed recklessness, while Democrats appeared to feel he was pushing policy as far as he could. But there is nothing particularly wild about the Fed's money printing. Its purpose is merely to effect a change in private balance sheets. Banks sell their Treasuries to the Fed in exchange for newly minted dollars (in the case of quantitative easing) or for shorter-term government securities (in the case of the current Operation Twist). Given that risk-free government securities are treated as cash equivalents by financial institutions, this is not radical.
Most assessments of quantitative easing find that it has worked. In May, a paper by two Federal Reserve Board economists calculated that the Fed's asset purchases had lowered 10-year Treasury rates by 1 percentage point. Last year the San Francisco Fed estimated, a bit heroically, that output might be 3 per cent higher at the end of 2012 than it would have been otherwise. But these positive verdicts conceal a less uplifting message. The first round of quantitative easing was most powerful – it was the largest, and its novelty inspired shock and awe. The second round, from November 2010 to June 2011, was less effective. The current Operation Twist is the limpest of all.
Unless the Fed can rekindle the shock value of the first round, more quantitative easing is unlikely to work. Success depends on a whole range of actors deciding that the Fed is determined to accelerate recovery rather than repeat a tired trick that they have seen before. Banks, having sold Treasuries, must choose to reinvest the proceeds in riskier assets rather than just adding to their huge cash piles. Corporations, facing lower borrowing costs, must resolve that this is the moment to invest. Consumers, seeing rising stock and bond markets, must summon the confidence to spend. If the Fed won't take the risk of going beyond what it has tried already, private actors won't take risks either. Monetary policy is like faith healing. The patient must believe.
Quantitative easing that fails to spark risk-taking could actually make things worse. A Fed that is both active and ineffectual is the worst thing for confidence, and indefinite purchases of Treasuries threaten to upset the way markets work. As the IMF's Manmohan Singh argues, the Fed's appetite for safe assets is draining the financial system of an essential lubricant. Traders use Treasuries as downpayments on derivatives positions; investment funds use them as collateral when they borrow. Because Treasuries circulate so rapidly through the financial system, Mr Singh suggests that $1m of them in private hands will stimulate more growth than $1m of cash.
And so the Fed faces a dilemma. With inflation below target and unemployment far above the neutral rate, there is a clear case for stimulus. But the familiar tools of stimulus seem unlikely to work. So the markets expect next week's Fed policy meeting to produce more equivocation. The better way forward would be to come up with new tools.
One possible measure is to cancel interest on excess reserves. At present, the Fed pays 25 basis points to banks that deposit cash with it, a perverse reward for keeping money inert. Eliminating that incentive might steer cash into the real economy. But it would also drive cash into the money markets, where returns would soon fall to zero or lower. Money market funds would be hard-pressed to avoid breaking the buck again. Panic might follow.
That leaves a second option: the Fed could couple more quantitative easing with a formal announcement of a higher inflation target. Some Fed leaders are open to this. Charles Evans, the Chicago Fed president, has floated the idea of a 3 per cent target, effective until unemployment falls below 7 per cent. A higher inflation target would lead markets to understand the Fed is committed to quantitative easing of game-changing magnitude, inducing the behavioural shifts needed to make the policy succeed. Financiers would embrace risk assets rather than safe ones with real returns that would be clearly negative. Companies, expecting more growth, would step up investments. Consumers, seeing the real value of their debts eroding, would probably spend more.
The Bernanke Fed has been pilloried for pursuing wild quantitative easing at the risk of inflation. The truth is that it has pursued cautious quantitative easing without risking inflation. The time has come for some fresh thinking. A Fed that can escape the myth of its audacity might be able to do more.
The writer is a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and an FT contributing editor
This article appears in full on CFR.org by permission of its original publisher. It was originally available here.
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What was all this nonsense about how the characters in a fairy tale actually spoke so long ago as if the story had been discovered by archaeologists? I thought Tolkien wrote it. Why this pretence?
Challenges to our priorities which are likely to take us out of our comfort zone are seldom met with enthusiasm and this was certainly the case with Bilbo Baggins. However, sometimes there are reasons why we might consider such disturbances worthwhile.
Bilbo and the dwarves recognise that Gandalf has powers from beyond their world, and that he has other business to attend to which they are not party to. He is not at their beck and call, and yet he seems to guide and to protect them.
Something else Tolkien did not do in these stories by his own admission is produce allegories. Nevertheless, it may help us to appreciate The Hobbit story and other related tales, if we consider what locations might have been in Tolkien’s mind as he wrote of Rivendell.
Where are Bilbo and his companions in relation to the Faerie realm? Perhaps Chapter 4 of The Hobbit can be seen as a turning point where Tolkien moved away from MacDonald and towards Chesterton.
Tolkien’s genius and humanity is to be seen in the global popularity of The Hobbit and The Lord of The Rings stories because they communicate something universal about the struggle between good and evil which people from any culture can understand.
I suspect that, in contrast to films of Ian Fleming’s James Bond books, when The Hobbit makes it to the big screen, we will see excitement and thrills without murder or immorality.
We’ve just had a general election in the United Kingdom and there was much talk of the elephant in the room if a big subject was ignored in a discussion…. on re-reading Chapter 7, it became obvious that we have to look at the most important of all Old English stories, that of Beowulf, dragon fighter and slayer of monsters.
As you begin to read Chapter 8, you are in no doubt that this is going to be creepy, especially if you have recently read the end of the previous chapter where Bilbo and the dwarves are given dire warnings by Gandalf not to stray off the path in Mirkwood. The first few paragraphs paint a picture of enveloping gloom and a place where all the surroundings seem threatening. From there, things proceed like a slow motion ghost train ride with creepers dangling down and luminous eyes peering from the darkness.
Tolkien had plenty of ideas to work with to spring his characters from jail but he still had to add the finishing touches of getting the Dwarves out of their cells, into the barrels, and pushed through the trap doors. This he does with nail-biting drama and considerable humour. I recommend reading Tolkien’s original script just in case the film makers can’t fit in all the gags.
I guess I may be a tad late to offer my opinions on the appearance of Peter Jackson’s Dwarves, but, for what it’s worth, he has done a good job of making them more serious than the Rankin and Bass cartoon film and more war (hammer)-like than in the images of the Brothers Hildebrandt. I hope they leave their battle axes and swords outside when they visit Bilbo for tea and cakes. And they need to remember their harps and wind instruments.
With The Hobbit, as a live action film, I think Jackson will have to be more sparing with the eye-popping 3-D effects. We need more credible stunts and action from most of the characters in The Hobbit, and I, for one, will be looking for a film which in some way reflects the pace of Tolkien’s carefully crafted narrative.
To the uninitiated into Tolkien’s mythology, Dragons may be a source of fun, but once you have entered the secondary reality of Middle-earth, they are devoutly to be feared and the embodiment of evil. No big friendly monsters here. A Tolkien dragon is the genuine article.
The situation seems to be getting out of hand as far as personal morality is concerned, but thankfully things can be turned around if Bilbo can let go of this precious object when the time comes. And you can be sure that Tolkien knows what he is doing with the plot here.
Bard certainly had a sense of foreboding, but he showed no desire to become famous after death by throwing his life away. We might describe him as a professional soldier deploying his resources to best effect and leading from the front. Tolkien values loyalty, personal courage, and leadership, but not folly or pride.
I would like to suggest that there is another dimension to Tolkien’s characterisation in the way he portrays talking beasts. He does more than personify them to stand in for human types. He gets inside their heads and their manner of speaking. He did it with Smaug, and he does it again with Roac. … Roac speaks like a human but thinks like a Raven of Middle-earth.
Hence, Bilbo is in a very difficult situation, but true to his character development, he does not give up. He has realised on this adventure that looking at all the options and weighing them up could well show that there is a way out. And so he begins to develop a cunning plan.
I always liked Billy Connolly as a comedian. I hope he can do a look for Dain that gets across the seriousness of the situation. What’s that, Peter, can he do grim? Why don’t you ask him? I mean he looks perfectly friendly. You’re not afraid of a Glaswegian ex-shipyard worker wielding a mattock and wearing iron boots, are you?
For those of you who have only read The Hobbit and The Lord of The Rings, let me explain that The Quest of Erebor (Erebor being the Lonely Mountain) was something that Tolkien wrote as an appendix to the latter work, but most of it ended on the editing room floor, so to speak. He had written too much. I think I know the feeling, but with Tolkien, that was a lot more.
Mr Jackson, could I have a word in your ear? It’s about etiquette. I don’t know where your dwarves were brought up, but I would have thought the least they could have done when they arrived at Bilbo’s house in your film was to ask for their favorite food, as Professor Tolkien expected them to do.
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Regular readers of Nanodot will be aware that the nanotech uses of the exquisite molecular recognition properties of DNA include both the programmed assembly of nanoparticles (which is not atomically precise) and structural DNA nanotechnology (the atomically precise assembly of nanometer scale structures from DNA strands). A group of German scientists have developed a new slant on DNA nanotechnology by using atomic force microscopy to assemble a DNA scaffold on a surface to which molecular building blocks can then bind. The pattern of molecular building blocks thus assembled can be arbitrarily complex, with individual building blocks spaced about 50 nm apart. The precision of assembly is essentially the lateral precision of the AFM, about 6 nm. So the building blocks are atomically precise but the larger structure is only precise on a larger scale. The technology is described in a Nanowerk Spotlight written by Michael Berger, which includes a movie showing the assembly of a rather intricate flower pattern about 10 µmeters across. From “Nanotechnology cut and paste with single molecules“
Using a hybrid approach that combines the precision of an atomic force microscope (AFM) with the selectivity of DNA interactions, researchers in Germany have successfully demonstrated a technique that fills the gap between top-down and bottom-up since it allows for the control of single molecules with the precision of atomic force microscopy and combines it with the selectivity of self-assembly.
“In the past, great efforts have been put into creating DNA structures like the so called DNA origami or crystals composed of nanoparticles” Dr. Hermann E. Gaub tells Nanowerk. “However, these approaches exclusively rely on self-assembly and are purely bottom-up. They don’t allow control over single molecules and the structures that are formed are predetermined by the design of the experiment.”
Gaub, head of the Biophysics and Molecular Materials Group in the Physics Department at the Ludwig-Maximilians-University (LMU) of Munich, together with Elias Puchner and colleagues from the university’s Center for Nanoscience and the Center for Integrated Protein Science Munich, combined the precision of atomic force microscopy with the selectivity of DNA interaction to create freely programmable nanopatterns of DNA-oligomers on a surface and in aqueous environment.
What the LMU researchers did was create a DNA scaffold by picking biotin bearing DNA oligomers with an AFM tip and depositing them, one by one, in a desired pattern on a surface, basically creating a pattern of attachment points for fluorescent semiconductor nanoparticles conjugated with streptavidin. The small bacterial protein streptavidin is commonly used for the detection of various biomolecules and it binds with high affinity to the vitamin biotin. The strong streptavidin-biotin bond can be used to attach various biomolecules to one another or onto a solid support.
When the sample with the DNA scaffold is incubated with a solution of fluorescent nanoparticles, a rapid self-assembly process of these particles on the predefined scaffold takes place. Watch a movie of this process here.
Berger quotes Gaub that extension of the technique to assembly in three dimensions “appears challenging but achievable”. The technique was introduced in Science earlier this year (abstract) and recently elaborated in Nano Letters (abstract).
A subtle but crucial point that makes the technique workable is only clearly illustrated in the online supplementary material to the Science paper. The molecular building block is a single strand of DNA to which other molecules (biotin, a fluorophore, etc.) can be attached. One end of the DNA strand binds to an anchor DNA strand on the surface; the other, shorter end binds to a DNA strand on the AFM tip. The AFM tip moves the molecular building block from an anchor strand in the “depot” area of the surface to an anchor strand in the “target” area where the structure is to be assembled. The key to the technique working is that the anchor strand is linked to the surface by its 5′ end in the depot region and by its 3′ end in the target region. As can be seen in the illustration, this sets up the binding of the molecular building block to the depot region in an “unzip” geometry in which the duplex can be broken one base pair at a time, thus requiring a relatively small retraction force on the AFM tip, while binding to the target region is in a “shear” geometry which requires a greater force to pull the duplex apart. Consequently the AFM tip can remove the building block from the depot area, but leave it on the target area when the tip retracts. The authors report that, amazingly, one cantilever tip was used to transport over 5000 units from the depot to the target area.
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Image: Larval Spiderfish and diver
A 5 cm long larval deepsea Spiderfish (probably Bathypterois) at a depth of 5 m. The photograph was taken during a diving safety stop at night (9pm - about an hour and thirty minutes after sunset) on 25 March 2010.
- Dan Dickinson
- © Dan Dickinson
- Common name:
- Scientific name:
- Bathypterois sp
The dive location was south-west of the western end of Little Cayman Island, Cayman Islands. Caribbean Sea. The sandy bottom was at a depth of 15 m. Scattered coral heads rose to 5 m to 7 m above the bottom. The dive area was about 100 m from the edge of a wall that according to the dive master dropped to a depth of about 2000 m.
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The world's first bowling robot hunkers down in an alley in Muskegon, Michigan, plotting its next strike. Ten feet high and 20 feet long, with an arm the size of a howitzer and springs like rocket launchers, Throbot weighs more than eight tons. Stored in its Pentium-powered brain are tens of thousands of throws by dozens of human bowlers, their exact spin, velocity, and position recorded by video cameras, ultrasonic and infrared sensors, and a computer-aided tracking system. "It's kind of scary," says Bill Orlikowski, a professional bowler whose throws the machine often imitates. "I sit behind it and get the same feeling as when I'm bowling."
Scarier still, to the average weekend player, may be the sheer scientific sophistication of modern bowling. Once upon a time, even a Neanderthal might have enjoyed hurling small boulders at sticks. But professional bowling now requires space-age equipment--urethane balls, plastic-coated pins, lanes laser-inspected for smoothness--and true success is measured in thousandths of inches. The very simplicity of the sport has made it ripe for technological innovation.
|Brunswick Bowling's Throbot can hurl a ball down a lane at 1,200 revolutions per minute--four times faster than a ball thrown by an average human. |
|Photographs by Jeff Sciortino |
The key to getting strikes, of course, is slamming the ball into the "pocket"--for right-handers, the space between the first pin and the one angled behind it to the right. But that's only the beginning. A ball that hits the pocket straight on will deflect away from the pins, rather than ricocheting through the pyramid. To knock down every pin, it should hit the pocket after veering six degrees from its original path, says Roger Dalkin, executive director of the American Bowling Congress. "But you have to hit a target one inch wide that's 60 feet away, and more hook equals less accuracy."
That's where science and technology can help. Beneath a bowling ball's urethane shell lies a dense core of polyester infused with calcium carbonate or barium sulfate. This structure lowers a ball's inertia by concentrating its weight in the center, thus helping the ball to roll faster and more easily. A slightly off-center, irregularly shaped core also lends itself to sidespin, which makes a ball curve down the lane. To see what works best, bowling engineers use computers to model balls.When a prototype is ready at the Brunswick Bowling research center in Muskegon, Throbot gets it.
Not long ago, Bill Wasserberger, Brunswick's director of high-performance bowling ball research and development, placed one of his creations into Throbot's paw--a U-shaped chuck, set at a 10-degree angle--and set it spinning. When the ball reached 300 revolutions per minute (the forward rotation an average bowler can achieve), the giant arm swung back, locked with a thunk, and then slowly tightened its springs. "A solid professional bowler has about an inch and a half variation five feet down the lane," Wasserberger said. "Throbot has between two and four tenths of an inch." By the time the arm hurtled forward and the ball blasted out at a programmed height and angle, a strike seemed preordained. Yet even Throbot can't control every variable.
To help maintain a ball's speed, bowling lanes are usually coated in mineral oil once or twice a day, Wasserberger explained. In a typical bowling alley, the edges of the lane are lightly oiled, and the last 20 feet are left dry. That way, a ball with sidespin can better grip the lane, curving clear of the gutter and hooking into the pocket at the end. But lane oil is hardly a constant. Alley owners can slather their lanes with various types and quantities of it. Professional lanes are coated with an even layer of oil across their entire width, but they still suffer more from patchy distribution as balls spread the oil around. Because a bowler can't see the oil pattern from the top of the lane, his first toss is a blind trial. After that, he can adjust his throw, try a different ball or, as a last resort, sand or polish his original ball to alter its coefficient of friction.
In order to get rid of some of the guesswork, Wasserberger's engineers had given the ball he was testing an arrow-shaped core and a shell made of a new kind of urethane called Proactive. The core made the ball change its axis as it rolled, so a dry part of the ball touched the lane on every turn, thereby improving its grip. "By the time the ball gets to the back part of the lane, you get an increase in hooking action," Wasserberger said. Whenever the ball hit an especially oily patch, special particles in the urethane shell (Wasserberger wouldn't reveal their composition) increased the ball's traction.
| || |
Beneath their urethane shells, bowling balls once differed mainly in weight (1 and 2). But their cores are now often topped by a sliver of dense material (3) to balance out the weight lost to finger holes. Many new cores are designed to be unbalanced (4 and 5), to encourage sidespin. Others have an odd-shaped core (6) surrounded by an airy layer of polyester (7), to concentrate weight at the center and lower inertia. A ball with a spherical yet unbalanced core (8) will spin differently depending on where you drill it.
| || |
To demonstrate the difference such small changes can make, Wasserberger had Throbot try the exact same throw with a more traditional ball. This time, it swung short of the pocket.
In theory, there is no limit to how precise and powerful a bowling ball could be made. But the American Bowling Congress and the Women's International Bowling Congress keep a sharp eye on innovation. In one room at the congresses' joint testing center in Greendale, Wisconsin, 16-pound balls are weighed to make certain that their balance isn't off-center by more than an ounce. In another room, a ball rolls down a ramp and through an archway strung with fiber-optic infrared sensors. When the ball hits a pin, both the ball speed and the pin speed are measured to ensure that no more than 35 percent of the ball's energy has been transferred to the pin. Nearby, a ball on a conveyor belt continually climbs another ramp and then knocks down sets of newly manufactured pins. If they give higher or lower scores than regulations allow they won't be accepted.
Bowling lanes have their own strict specifications to meet: They are not supposed to have dips, peaks, or crosswise tilts of more than forty thousandths of an inch. But John Davis, president and chief engineer of the Kegel Company in Sebring, Florida, thinks there is still room for improvement. Forty thousandths of an inch may be less than the thickness of a quarter, he says, "but that amount of tilt can affect how a lane plays." One machine Davis has designed scoots down a lane, stopping every two feet to check the surface topography with a laser at 80 separate points across the boards. Another of his inventions uses microprocessors and fluid measuring devices to apply as little as one thousandth of an ounce of oil to each board of the lane. "Maybe it doesn't matter on the recreational level," Davis says. "But why wouldn't you want the same conditions as the competitive level to compare yourself to the stars?"
There's only one catch: The more perfect our bowling technology, the less excuse for our imperfect bodies. That sad fact is apparent even among the aspiring pros at Kegel's bowling school--the only such facility in the world. Although every throw is tracked by computer and every move digitally filmed, although lanes are glass-smooth and equipment close to ideal, success or failure lies in human hands. "Ninety percent of the game is behind the foul line," says Parker Bohn III, record holder for the highest average score on the Professional Bowlers' Association Tour. Release the ball too late, and the excess loft will kill its momentum. Drop your shoulder too low or forget that little leg slide at the end, and you may still get a split. Wasserberger, the father of Throbot, knows that better than anyone. "All the technology in the world," he says, "can't help you if you stink."
For movies of trick shots, see the Web site of Parker Bohn III: www.parkerbohn.com
For charts on how lane oil is depleted with wear, see www.foundation300.com
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Who was Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him)? Was he a Messenger from God?
Title: Who was Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him)? Was he a Messenger from God?
The Lecturer: Yusuf Estes
Reviewing: Muhammad AbdulRaoof
Short Discription: Prophet Muhammad, may the mercy and blessings of God be upon him, is the man beloved by more than 1.2 billion Muslims. He is the man who taught us patience in the face of adversity, and taught us to live in this world but seek eternal life in the hereafter. It was to Prophet Muhammad that God revealed the Quran. Along with this Book of guidance God sent Prophet Muhammad, whose behavior and high moral standards are an example to us all. Prophet Muhammad’s life was the Quran. He understood it, he loved it and he lived his life based on its standards. He taught us to recite Quran, to live by its principles and to love it. When Muslims declare their faith in One God, they also declare their belief that Muhammad is the slave and final messenger of God.
Addition Date: 2010-06-08
Short Link: http://IslamHouse.com/311464
Translation of Subject Description: Arabic
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What is collagen?
Collagen is the natural protein that constitutes most of the body’s structural support, being the skin, tendons, bone and cartilage and is the primary substance of connective tissue. It is this fibrous tissue that holds the body together.
Besides its many structural properties, collagen serves as the major catalyst for growth and repair of nearly all of the body’s tissues. Whether the body can efficiently rebuild and repair itself is dependent upon its ability to convert one body resource into another. This process of protein synthesis is a metabolic process requiring collagen as a catalyst. As collagen diminishes in the body, both the resource and the catalyst are reduced. Thus many different aging diseases are related to the body’s lack of this vital protein and to disorders in the collagen itself.
The body’s production of collagen slows with aging. The connective tissues and muscle tissues break down due to an increase in collagen deficiency and damage. By supplementing the body’s decreasing stores of collagen, many of the signs and effects of aging on the musculoskeletal system can be greatly reduced.
The different types of collagen
There are 5 different types of collagen, representing 99% of all collagen types. Each has a different role at the human metabolic level.
Type 1 - Bones, tendons, ligaments and skin.
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Montgomery GI Bill - Selected Reserve
The Montgomery GI Bill - Selected Reserve Program is available to certain members of the Selected Reserve, which include the Army Reserve, Navy Reserve, Air Force Reserve, Marine Corps Reserve and Coast Guard Reserve, and the Army National Guard and the Air National Guard. This program provides up 36 months of educational benefits.
In order to qualify, applicants must:
- Have a six-year obligation to serve in the Selected Reserve, signed after June 30, 1985 (or for some types of training after September 30, 1990.)
- Complete your initial active duty for training.
- Complete a high school diploma or its equivalency prior to training.
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Professor Discusses Constitutional Implications of 2008 Election
November 3, 2008 — Professor Anil Kalhan discussed whether the U.S. presidency has acquired excessive power during a guest appearance on Comcast Network’s “The American Law Journal,” broadcast on Nov. 3, 2008.
“There is a danger of too much accrual of power,” Kalhan said of the unitary executive theory, which has prevailed during the Bush Administration, allowing the president to sidestep the formal veto process when confronting legislative initiatives he opposes.
Kalhan and fellow guests Stephen Sheller, an attorney and Drexel University trustee, Michael Moreland, assistant professor at Villanova University School of Law and former associate director for domestic policy in the Bush White House and C. Scott Shields, an attorney, debated the changes that could result from this year’s presidential election in a discussion led by host Christopher Naughton.
The program aired at 6:30 p.m. on CN8.
More News »
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Brandywine Student Receives AAC DeviceBy AT Messenger , Vol. 14, No. 3, pp. 2-3
Publication Date: Summer 2006
Article discusses the Prentke Romich Company’s “40 for 40” program, as the company has marked its 40th anniversary by donating 40 speech output devices to people who lack funding options. One winner was a student with communication disabilities in the Brandywine School District in Wilmington, Delaware. The study was chosen to receive a SpringBoard Plus, which is a direct selection communicator created for people with speech or communication disabilities. The device contains pre-stored vocabulary, while it focuses on key words that are frequently utilized in speech. The student's journey from Kenya from the United States and his educational experiences are discussed.
Assistive Products Discussed: SPRINGBOARD PLUS & BILINGUAL SPRINGBOARD PLUS
Delaware Assistive Technology Initiative (Web Site: http://www.dati.org )
Link to text: http://www.dati.org/newsletter/issues/2006n3/index.html
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The further we dive into the 21st century, the more we find technology becoming a staple - and not just in our personal lives.
South Florida high schools are stocking up on the latest in cutting-edge technology to enhance students' learning.
For some math classes at Coral Springs High, the SMART Board plays a role in lectures. The SMART Board, an interactive whiteboard that hooks up to the teacher's computer, comes with a pen tray. Anything written on the pen tray will show up on the SMART Board screen.
"It was so cool, and it helped a lot," said Taylor Kourim, a senior at Coral Springs High. The teacher "could load graph paper onto the background, which helped when we were learning graphs and transformations. ... It was sort of like using Microsoft Paint on a white board, but more advanced."
Western High has an entire science building devoted to innovative technology. Projectors built into the classroom ceilings are connected to DVD players and video cameras.
"It's definitely a lot easier ... because the document camera will show students everything that needs to be shared with the class," Western High senior Alan Goldman said. "Our teachers can show us demonstrations without having everyone crowd around one desk."
At West Broward, technology is everywhere. Every classroom has projectors, DVDs, sound systems, cameras, iPods, computers and streaming video capability.
The surge in technology is not limited to the classroom.
Students at Archbishop McCarthy can now use their ID badges as credit cards to purchase lunch in the cafeteria. This tool speeds up the lunch lines and gives students a reason to wear their ID badges consistently.
Nevertheless, technology has its downfalls.
At Cypress Bay High, some teachers expect their students to download and print their assignments at home from teacher Web sites.
However, "I think it's great that we can access our assignments over the computer," Cypress Bay junior Rebecca Schechner said. "If it's a requirement to go online and print our assignments, it makes the teachers' Web sites more useful."
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Tobias Buche is an up and coming young German sculpture, Lehmann Maupin, a respected Chelsea Gallery so why is Buche showing work that looks like an oversize low tech science fair project? The answer has a lot to do with the current fashion for art that tries hard not to look too good. No one is going to look at this show and call Buche a sell out to market driven art. It is like he is taking paints to make his art look underwhelming.
He takes his own snap shots along with pictures from the internet, newspapers, dust covers and albums covers and puts them on this flimsy looking supports. Any of these tape marks, pin holes and rips on the pictures as if to suggest that these are not precious art objects at all. Buche is not the only artist making this kind of deliberately low grade art. You can also see his work at the recently reopened new Museum of Contemporary Art. Where he is showing work along side Tom Burr who takes text and image and puts them on folding screens and Kelly Walker who radically degrades his images.
The creators of that show argue that the sense of permanence and solidity associated say with stone and bronze sculpture has now completely disappeared after events like the destruction of the Twin Towers and the infamous top link of Saddam Statue in Baghdad. In its spirit and its crappies esthetic, Buche sculpture also recalls Mark Wallinger’s replica of a protestor’s camp which just won him the 2007 Turner Price.
Looking like an information board at a peace camp may make this sculpture the perfect foil to slickly produced artwork. But it is so blend and low key that is this is a protest it is a pretty reluctant one. The pieces do not take a position on anything. There is more than a tinge of interested adolescent male subjects like deformity, violence, anti-social behavior and rebellion. That in the obscurity of some of these references could make this work a little self-indulgent.
But interpreted as an endlessly changeable portrait, maybe a self portrait drawn from images Buche has saved over the years. This sculpture finds it niche. It suggests that each of us carries around a pretty unglamorous collection of images, remember that Anne forgotten from which we make up our versions of reality.
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About the TOEIC® Speaking and Writing Tests
The TOEIC® Speaking and Writing tests are reliable assessments of your students' ability to speak and write in English in the workplace and an important tool you can use to prepare them for success in a competitive global market.
- Workforce Readiness: Prepare students to compete in the competitive global workforce.
- Placement: Determine who has the skills to succeed in school and in business.
- Program Effectiveness: Measure a student’s progress and proficiency in English.
- Program Development: Evaluate the effectiveness of your English-language programs.
- Increase Enrollment: Attract more students who can develop skills to succeed in the workplace.
When the TOEIC Speaking and Writing tests are taken together with the TOEIC® Listening and Reading test, they provide a reliable measurement of all four English language communication skills.
English is the Language of Global Opportunity
With the TOEIC Speaking and Writing tests, you can help your students to communicate successfully across borders and cultures. You can also:
- Build your reputation as a trusted resource for skilled, qualified job applicants
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Over 10,000 organizations in 120 countries around the world use the TOEIC® tests. Over five million tests were administered last year. Make sure your students have the competitive advantage and demonstrate the effectiveness of your English-language programs with the TOEIC Speaking and Writing tests.
The TOEIC Speaking and Writing tests are delivered through the Internet and available globally.
Contact your local ETS Preferred Network office for more information about availability in your country.
- Hunter College Relies on TOEIC® Test Scores for Student Placement
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Learn how the TOEIC tests are helping Chinese students advance through the interview process (Flash).
Give your students the tools they need to succeed. Learn more >
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A new and unusual coalition of nonprofit, religious, and corporate interests today killed a legislative effort to get more money for Muni through the Transit Impact Development Fee, which was going through its process of being reauthorized every five years and came to the Board of Supervisors today.
The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency was hoping to get millions of dollars more per year from the fee to help cover the increasing costs of Muni service, so the city last year commissioned a study establishing a nexus between new development projects and their impact on the public transit system as a way to set the fees developers would pay.
Using that study, Sup. Scott Wiener sponsored legislation that increased the cost per square foot of development for some business types – mostly notably hospitals, big retail and entertainment complexes, and Cultural/Institution/Education facilities – and ended the categorical exemption for nonprofit organizations.
Those who could be impacted by the increased fees banded together into an organization calling itself NOTT (Non-profits Opposed to the Transit Tax), a group that included the city's major health care providers, religious institutions, and influential nonprofits such as Council of Community Housing Organizations and Chinatown Community Development Center.
“We are gravely concerned that elements of the forthcoming Transportation Sustainability Program (TSP), especially elimination of the non-profit fee exemption, have been selectively imbedded in the TIDF update legislation. Elimination of the non-profit exemption has not been considered through a thorough and transparent process and is not good public policy,” SF Chamber of Commerce President Steve Falk wrote in Nov. 27 letter to supervisors on behalf of the organization.
In the face of opposition from both downtown and progressive groups, and hoping to get SFMTA more money for its next budget cycle, Wiener appealed for support to sustainable transportation activists, who had mixed feelings on the legislation for reasons ranging from its exemption of parking garages and development in Mission Bay to its inclusion of organizations serving low-income communities.
So Sup. Sean Elsbernd – who spoke on behalf of Catholic schools and churches – was able to amend the legislation back to the status quo on a 9-2 vote, with only Wiener and Sup. Carmen Chu opposed (Sup. Christina Olague, who co-sponsored the measure with Wiener, even failed to support it in the end).
While that ends this effort for now, it is really only the first round of efforts that are just getting underway to find more funding for Muni, which is underfunded and at capacity on many lines, and implement the TSP when it is unveiled next year.
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On one of my projects (the one that’s kept me too busy to blog), I had to work quite a bit with the google data API. I was using Django, so I was using the gdata python client.
The client is, for the most, part excellent. It abstracts away the parts of OAuth that you never ever want to have to know anything about or debug. All the signing, encoding, and decoding takes place inside the library – where it should happen.
The spec is somewhat young, and the library is even more so; there isn’t a whole lot out there covering the subject. The client comes with some sample scripts, but they don’t make it very clear how to set things up in a web app workflow. I’m going to try to fill the void somewhat with a sample Django app and a somewhat extensive writeup. You don’t have to know/understand Django to follow along, but it may help.
Disclaimer: The sample app is written in the simplest possible way, so as to focus on the code that actually has to do with OAuth and the GData API. When I say “sample,” I really fucking mean it. I pay no attention to things like security and good practices, because I don’t give a shit about those things, and neither should you. The purpose is to understand how Google’s python client works. If you copy and paste this code into your production app and push your key, secret, and RSA creds to a public github repository, that is your own stupid fault.
OAuth Crash Course
There are many better resources for learning about OAuth proper, so I’ll cover the basics. OAuth is a protocol for securing communication between an API (provider) and an app that wants to use said API (consumer). It’s fairly complicated, but due to Google having a pretty nice client wrapped around their API, most of that is abstracted away. What we need to know is the general OAuth workflow:
- User invokes a part of the consumer app that requires access to the provider’s API
- If the consumer already has an OAuth Access Token for that user, skip down to step 6
- If not, the consumer fetches an OAuth token key and token secret from the provider. The token secret is stored. The consumer then directs the user to an Authorization URL provided by the provider, with the token key as a query parameter, along with a “callback” URL pointing back to the consumer
- The user authorizes the consumer to use the provider’s data; the provider redirects the user back to the callback URL with the “Authorized Request Token” ‘oauth_token’ query variable set to its token key. The consumer can then request an Access Token from the provider by sending this token key back with the token secret that was saved in the previous step
- The provider returns the Access Token. The consumer can now use this Access Token to access the user’s data through the provider’s API until the user elects to revoke the Access Token
- The consumer does magic tricks with user’s data, including making it disappear
Simple, right? I’ve left out all the encryption details (those are still murky to me as well), but luckily we don’t have to worry about that too much. I’ll reference this list of steps as I go along – mostly to keep myself sane. Let’s call a spade a fucking spade – shit is confusing! More info on OAuth and Google’s implementation of it can be found here. If you want to be really hardcore, you can read the spec here.
Some key terms to remember along the way:
- Provider – service with the user’s data (in this case, Google)
- Consumer – the app that wants to access the user’s data (your app)
- Request Token – refers to a token used by the consumer to request access from the provider/user. It can be authorized and unauthorized. The token is initially given by the provider to the consumer in an unauthorized state. The consumer has to then direct the user to the provider’s authorization page with the unauthorized token. If the user accepts, the provider will send the user back to the consumer with an authorized request token.
- Access Token – refers to a token used by the consumer to actually authenticate with the provider. The consumer has to exchange an authorized request token for an access token before it can access data. The access token is what gives the consumer long-term access to the user’s data.
First and foremost, go here and sign up for an API key. Pretty straight forward. Store your App key and secret somewhere – I’m using the settings.py file in my sample app, though that may not be optimal security-wise. You’ll also see an rsa_key in my GDATA_CREDS dictionary. That is there because my example uses RSA_SHA1 encryption. You don’t have to use that, but I recommend it, and the example will be easier to follow. I’ve seen in some documentation that may or may not be outdated that the contacts API only accepts RSA encryption, though I haven’t tried HMAC myself. To setup your RSA encryption, follow the steps here. You should be able to accomplish this on most unix/linux boxes.
Now that you have your app key and secret, and you’ve set up RSA encryption, you should download and install the the gdata lib itself. Get it here.
Storing the Token
Before you start using tokens, you need some way to store them. A token consists of a token key and a token secret. You could create a database table to store those things individually. Me, I’m lazy – I just pickle my entire gdata token object. It lets me rebuild a functioning token object on the spot when I fetch it from the database. So for my case, I just have a text field for storing the token itself. See models.py in the sample app.
You could probably just as easily define a model with token and token secret fields and a method to return an initialized token object. Whatever your preference, define an appropriate model. You also need a way to tie the tokens to a user. My sample app does this using a foreign key to the django.contrib.auth.models.User model.
Creating a Token
Now we’re ready to actually start down the path towards getting the OAuth Access Token – the jackpot of API access. Seriously, you will feel a sense of palpable relief when you finally get one working. Like when passing a pineapple.
If you’re following along in the app, we’re going to skip over shit like user signup and auth (it’s only there so that people could set this up on their server and really see it work) and go straight for the money: getting the OAuth token. Look at /oauth/views.py->add_token. Approximate line numbers will be given in square brackets.
The first line of the view [~97] fetches the right scope for dealing with the contacts API. The scopes determine what part of the user’s data your token will have access to and are not part of the OAuth spec. They are stored under some pretty cryptic keys, so you may just have to look in the gdata source under gdata/service.py to find the right ones. I just want to use the contacts feed for the example, so I put ‘cp’ (what else would it be, right?)
Next, we initialize the gd_client variable, which is the object that will take care of all of our OAuth needs and communicate with TEH GOOGALZ [~99]. You will see that I tell it to use RSA encryption and pass it my app’s API credentials from settings.py. There are a few different subclasses to the base client that provide more specific methods for dealing with individual feeds (contacts, blogger, docs, etc). We’ll just use the base client for initializing our token.
Now we arrive at a conditional to check what part of the process we’re on [~107]. If we don’t have a ‘oauth_token’ get parameter, that means that we’re at step 3 in our process – we have to send the user to Google to hit the big Authorize button.
The first thing we do is initialize a request token (rt). We then store the ‘secret’ part of that token. I store it in a session for simplicity/readability, but it can be stored anywhere.
We then tell our client to use this request token and to generate an authorization URL for that token [~116]. That’s the URL we will send our user to in order for them to authorize us. Note that in the callback we just pass the current URL. When the user clicks ‘Allow’ on Google’s authorization page, they will be sent right back to this same view, but this time with the ‘oauth_token’ parameter, meaning they will hit the ‘else’ part of our conditional.
When we do get back to the page, we’ll need to reconstruct our token [~127]. Google has modified our token and marked it authorized, but we still need to put back our piece of the puzzle – the token secret. Since we stored it in a session variable, we retrieve it with ease. Since our token now has no context, we have to tell it what scopes we’re interested it in as well.
So what we have now is an authorized request token. We’re still not out of the woods. Now we need to upgrade our token to an actual access token. This is done via the UpgradeToOAuthAccessToken method of the gdata client [~135].
As the comments in my code indicate, this part is a tad shifty [~141], at least as of version 1.2.4 of the python client. Since upgrading the token modifies it once more, we need to store the end result of the upgrade. However, the upgrade method does not return that modified token, it just stores it in the client’s token store, hence the find_token call. See discussion here for more info. UPDATE 05/05/2009: the patch to fix this awkwardness just got committed to SVN, so hopefully the next version of the library will no longer require the extra step.
Regardless, once we’ve retrieved the authorized token (at), we can store it [~145]. As I had mentioned, I just pickle it into a TextField.
That’s it. Once you’ve saved that token, you can reconstruct it at any time to fetch any data that token is authorized for (as in, which scopes you specified when sending the token to Google).
To see it in action, just take a look at the views.py->home. First, we find the latest OAuth token in our database [~66]. If we don’t have one, we redirect the user to the add_token view to go through the OAuth process [~86]. If we do have one, we fetch some data.
We create and initialize a ContactsService client [~71-78] and then pass it our token [~79-80]. Then BAM, we fetch some contacts from our user’s contacts feed.
That’s all for now. Hopefully this overview is helpful in getting everybody and their mother developing apps using the Google APIs. I welcome corrections and additions, and will update this post if I get any important ones.
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254 U.S. 113
UNDERWOOD TYPEWRITER CO.
CHAMBERLAIN, Treasurer of the State of Connecticut.
Argued Oct. 13 and 14, 1920.
Decided Nov. 15, 1920.
[254 U.S. 113, 114] Messrs. Arthur M. Marsh, of Bridgeport, Conn., and Arthur L. Shipman, of Hartford, Conn., for plaintiff in error.
Mr. Justice BRANDEIS delivered the opinion of the Court.
This action was brought by the Underwood Typewriter Company, a Delaware corporation, in the superior court for the county of Hartford, Conn., to recover the amount of a tax assessed upon it by the latter state and paid under protest. The company contended that as applied to it the taxing act violated rights guaranteed by the federal Constitution. The constitutional questions involved were reserved by that court for consideration and advice by the Supreme Court of Errors. The answers to these questions being favorable to the state (94 Conn. 47, 108 Atl. 154), judgment was entered by the superior court, confirming the validity of the tax. The case comes here on writ of error to that court.
Connecticut established in 1915 a comprehensive system of taxation, applicable alike to all foreign and domestic corporations carrying on business within the state. This system prescribes practically the only method by which such corporations are taxed, other than the general property tax to which all property located within the state, whether the owner be a resident or a nonresident, an individual or a corporation, is subject. The act divides business corporations into four classes, and the several classes are taxed by somewhat different methods. The fourth class, 'Miscellaneous Corporations,' includes, among others, manufacturing and trading companies, and with these alone are we concerned here. Upon their net income earned during the preceding year from business carried on within the state a tax of 2 per cent. is imposed annually. The amount of the net income is ascertained by reference to the income come upon which the corporation [254 U.S. 113, 118] is required to pay a tax to the United States. If the company carries on business also outside the state of Connecticut, the proportion of its net income earned from business carried on within the state is ascertained by apportionment in the following manner: The corporation is required to state in its annual return to the tax commissioner from what general source its profits are principally derived. If the company's net profits are derived principally from ownership, sale, or rental of real property, or from the sale or use of tangible personal property, the tax is imposed on such proportion of the whole net income as the fair cash value of the real and the tangible personal property within the state bears to the fair cash value of all the real and tangible personal property of the company. If the net profits of the company are derived principally from intangible property, the tax is imposed upon such proportion of the whole net income as the gross receipts within the state bear to the total gross receipts of the company. A corporation aggrieved because of a tax assessed upon it may, after paying the tax, apply for relief to the superior court for the county of Hartford. There it may show cause why it is not subject to the tax, or why the tax should have been less. If the whole tax assessed is found by the court to be proper, it enters judgment confirming the same. If the tax is found to be for any reason unauthorized in whole or in part, the court enters judgment for the company in the amount with interest which it is entitled to recover; and the state treasurer is directed to pay the same. The decision of the superior court is subject to review by the Supreme Court of Errors as in other cases. Laws of 1915, c. 292, pt. IV. 19-29; Underwood Typewriter Co. v. Chamberlain, 92 Conn. 199, 102 Atl. 600.
The Underwood Typewriter Company is engaged in the business of manufacturing typewriters and kindred articles; in selling its product, and also certain accessories and supplies, which it purchases; and in repairing and [254 U.S. 113, 119] renting such machines. Its main office is in New York City. All its manufacturing is done in Connecticut. It has branch offices in other states for the sale, lease, and repair of machines and the sale of supplies, and it has one such branch office in Connecticut. All articles made by it-and some which it purchases-are stored in Connecticut until shipped direct to the branch offices, purchasers, or lessees. In its return to the tax commissioner of Connecticut, made in 1916 under the above law, the company declared that its net profits during the preceding year had been derived principally from tangible personal property; that these profits amounted to $1,336,586.13; that the fair cash value of the real estate and tangible personal property in Connecticut was $2,977,827. 67, and the fair cash value of the real estate and tangible personal property outside that state was $3,343,155.11. The proportion of the real estate and tangible personal property within the state was thus 47 per cent. The tax commissioner apportioned that percentage of the net profits, namely $629,668.50, as having been earned from the business done within the state, and assessed thereon a tax of $12,593.37, being at the rate of 2 per cent. The company, having paid the tax under protest, brought this action in the superior court for the county of Hartford to recover the whole amount.
First. It is contended that the tax burdens interstate commerce, and hence is void, under section 8 of article 1 of the federal Constitution. Payment of the tax is not made a condition precedent to the right of the corporation to carry on business, including interstate business. Its enforcement is left to the ordinary means of collecting taxes. Saint Louis S. W. Ry. Co. v. Arkansas, 235 U.S. 350, 364 , 35 S. Sup. Ct. 99; Atlantic & Pacific Telegraph Co. v. Philadelphia, 190, U. S. 160, 163, 23 Sup. Ct. 817. The statute is, therefore, not open to the objection that it compels the company to pay for the privileges of engaging in interstate commerce. A [254 U.S. 113, 120] tax is not obnoxious to the commerce clause merely because imposed upon property used in interstate commerce, even if it takes the form of a tax for the privilege of exercising its franchise within the state. Postal Telegraph Cable Co. v. Adams, 155 U.S. 688, 695 , 15 S. Sup. Ct. 268. This tax is based upon the net profits earned within the state. That a tax measured by net profits is valid, although these profits may have been derived in part, or indeed mainly, from interstate commerce, is settled. U. S. Glue Co. v. Oak Creek, 247 U.S. 321 , 38 Sup. Ct. 499, Ann. Cas. 1918E, 748; Shaffer v. Carter, 252 U.S. 37, 57 , 40 S. Sup. Ct. 221; compare Peck & Co. v. Lowe, 247 U.S. 165 , 38 Sup. Ct. 432. Whether it be deemed a property tax or a franchise tax, it is not obnoxious to the commerce clause.
Second. It is contended that the tax violates the Fourteenth Amendment because, directly or indirectly, it is imposed on income arising from business conducted beyond the boundaries of the state. In considering this objection we may lay on one side the question whether this is an excise tax, purporting to be measured by the income accruing from business within the state, or a direct tax upon that income; for 'this argument, upon analysis, resolves itself into a mere question of definitions, and has no legitimate bearing upon any question raised under the federal Constitution.' Shaffer v. Carter, 252 U.S. 37, 55 , 40 S. Sup. Ct. 221, 226 ( 64 L. Ed. 445). In support of its objection that business outside the state is taxed, plaintiff rests solely upon the showing that of its net profits $1,293,643.95 was received in other states and $42,942.18 in Connecticut, while under the method of apportionment of net income required by the statute 47 per cent. of its net income is attributable to operations in Connecticut. But this showing wholly fails to sustain the objection. The profits of the corporation were largely earned by a series of transactions beginning with manufacture in Connecticut and ending with sale in other states. In this it was typical of a large part of the manufacturing business conducted in the state. The legislature, in [254 U.S. 113, 121] attempting to put upon this business its fair share of the burden of taxation, was faced with the impossibility of allocating specifically the profits earned by the processes conducted within its borders. It, therefore, adopted a method of apportionment which, for all that appears in this record, reached, and was meant to reach, only the profits earned within the state. 'The plaintiff's argument on this branch of the case,' as stated by the Supreme Court of Errors, 'carries the burden of showing that 47 per cent. of its net income is not reasonably attributable, for purposes of taxation, to the manufacture of products from the sale of which 80 per cent. of its gross earnings was derived after paying manufacturing costs.' The corporation has not even attempted to show this; and for aught that appears the percentage of net profits earned in Connecticut may have been much larger than 47 per cent. There is, consequently, nothing in this record to show that the method of apportionment adopted by the state was inherently arbitrary,1 or that its application to this corporation produced an unreasonable result.
We have no occasion to consider whether the rule prescribed, if applied under different conditions, might be obnoxious to the Constitution. Adams Express Co. v. Ohio, 166 U.S. 185, 222 , 17 S. Sup. Ct. 604. Nor need we consider the contention, made on behalf of the state, that the statute is necessarily valid, because the prescribed rule of apportionment is not rigid, and provision is made for rectifying by proceedings in the superior court any injustice resulting from its application. [254 U.S. 113, 122] Third. It is stated in the brief, doubtless inadvertently, that the assignment of errors includes the objection that the tax was void under the Fourteenth Amendment also on the ground that the company, a foreign corporation, had made large permanent investments in Connecticut before the statute of 1915 was enacted. No such error appears to have been specifically assigned, and the objection was not pressed in brief or oral argument. It is clearly unsound. To the facts presented here the principle discussed in Southern Railway Co. v. Greene, 216 U.S. 400, 414 , 30 S. Sup. Ct. 287, 17 Ann. Cas. 1247, has no application.
[ Footnote 1 ] Compare Western Union Telegraph Co. v. Massachusetts, 125, U. S. 530, 552, 8 Sup. Ct. 961; Pittsburg, etc., Railway Co. v. Backus, 154 U.S. 421, 430 , 14 S. Sup. Ct. 1114; Cleveland, etc., Ry. Co. v. Backus, 154 U.S. 439, 445 , 14 S. Sup. Ct. 1122; Western Union Telegraph Co. v. Taggard, 163 U.S. 1, 14 , 16 S. Sup. Ct. 1054; Adams Express Co. v. Ohio, 165 U.S. 194, 221 , 17 S. Sup. Ct. 305; Id., 166 U.S. 185 , 17 Sup. Ct. 604; American Refrigerator Transit Co. v. Hall, 174 U.S. 70, 75 , 19 S. Sup. Ct. 599; Union Refrigerator Transit Co. v. Lynch, 177 U.S. 149, 152 , 20 S. Sup. Ct. 631; St. Louis S. W. Ry. v. Arkansas, 235 U.S. 350, 365 , 35 S. Sup. Ct. 99.
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While the rich get richer…
As the top galleries branch out, the middle tier is being squeezed
By Charlotte Burns. News, Issue 244, March 2013
Published online: 04 March 2013
President Barack Obama put the middle class at the heart of his State of the Union address last month. “Corporate profits have skyrocketed to all-time highs, but for more than a decade, wages and incomes have barely budged. It is our generation’s task… to reignite the true engine of America’s economic growth: a rising, thriving middle class,” he said.
Obama may not have had the art market in mind when he said this, but there are growing calls within the art community for a similar focus on its own middle section. While there has been considerable growth at both the top and emerging ends of the trade, the middle has stagnated. Mega-galleries including Gagosian, David Zwirner, Pace and Hauser & Wirth have all expanded internationally, but mid-level galleries including Hotel, Agnew’s, Haunch of Venison and Saamlung have recently closed, and there are fears that more will follow.
The Art Dealers Association of America—which led the efforts to build the $1.2m Superstorm Sandy relief fund—says that much of the help so far has gone to mid-tier dealers hit hard by the disaster, and that more may need to be done to stabilise that market. “The middle range is absolutely vital to the ecology of the art world,” says Linda Blumberg, the association’s executive director.
“It is possible that the bifurcation in the art market reflects a dichotomous growth in the world’s economies,” says Benjamin Mandel, an economist at the Federal Reserve Bank who has been studying the art trade. In the US, for example, incomes grew overall by 1.7% between 2009 and 2011. But the incomes of the richest 1% grew by 11.2%, while the incomes of the remaining 99% declined by 0.4%, according to “Striking it Richer”, a report published in January by the economist Emmanuel Saez.
This has an impact on who buys what. Rising costs and stalling wages for the 99% have led to “an erosion of the more traditional collector base of upper-middle-class professionals who come from academic, medical or accounting backgrounds. They’ve been trumped by a new collecting class from emerging economies, which has proved very capable of dominating and mis-shaping the market,” says Gregor Muir, the executive director of London’s Institute of Contemporary Arts. Another group on the wane is “the hedge-fund group that was spending $150,000 to $200,000 on a painting in 2007. They all got fired, so they’re not buying,” one prominent New York collector says.
Even at auction, where the mid-level day sales sat well alongside the “masterpiece” market this season, the gap between the average prices at the top and in the middle has widened considerably over the past five years.
Part of the problem is that the sector is difficult to define. In terms of material, it could refer to works by mid-career artists or to lesser works by established artists. Price levels are also tricky to ascertain. The Art Newspaper surveyed more than 40 art professionals and found consensus on a range of $30,000 to $500,000. But “there are many middles of the market”, the art adviser Allan Schwartzman says. “At some price levels, it can be $40,000 to $60,000; at others, around $150,000 to $350,000; and at others, in the $2.5m to $5m [range]. There are many plateaus or stall points in the market.” (For some, the sums are higher still. “I’m seeing the middle of the market moving up. Is a $10m, $20m picture considered mid-range now?” asked Larry Gagosian in an interview with the Wall Street Journal last year, demonstrating how big the gap is becoming.)
The New York gallerist Edward Winkleman argues that the mid-level dealers are the “ones taking the risk”, but says that “they can’t grow into powerhouses because the big galleries poach their best-selling artists before they gain any real power. The galleries in the middle therefore get stuck.”
“We’re now at a tipping point,” says Michael Plummer, the co-founder of Artvest Partners. “The middle-tier galleries are being squeezed by the big guys, who are able to attract capital from outside investors. More and more of them will start to disappear or merge, especially after the effects of [Superstorm] Sandy are fully reckoned with.”
Why does this matter? The middle is “where a very large part of the creative energy of the art community finds an outlet. If all the money goes to mega-galleries committed to trading works expensively produced by a handful of brand-name artists, then the whole scene will die back,” says Robert Storr, the dean of the Yale University School of Art, who warns: “That, alas, is where we are headed.”
The new band of ultra-wealthy collectors who have entered the market are buying “masterpiece” art at the top or works by emerging artists at the bottom: not in the middle. “People are buying the young, hot artists for speculation or the big established names from a certain period. They aren’t focusing on the middle market, even though they could be forming great collections for prices that aren’t exorbitant,” says Brian Washburn, the director of New York’s Joan Washburn gallery, which specialises in middle-market material by 19th- and 20th-century American artists.
Some of the new buyers are “trying to use the market for purely financial gain. As a result, there is a herd mentality driving up certain artists’ prices much faster,” says the London- and Hong Kong-based art dealer Ben Brown. “Fewer people seem to want artists whose prices have not moved, whereas everyone seems to want hot artists, despite the obvious lessons that should have been learned from buying overhyped artists,” he adds.
The impact could be felt for many years to come: since most museum collections are built through donations, what is being bought now is likely to enter museums in a generation’s time. “Rampant speculation… disproportionately gears attention to works of art that are financially ‘in play’, and disproportionately draws attention—and money—away from works that would normally rise steadily but more slowly in price, based on intrinsic artistic importance,” Storr says. This could lead to worthwhile art being overlooked by the market and “by museums where market fevers now run amok among patrons and curators”.
Museums are “surely the ones that will ultimately have to call the shots in defining what is important—who else is going to do it?” asks Gregor Muir. But, he adds, “they are strangely on the sidelines at the present time”.
But the mid-market at auction soars
While middle-tier private dealers are struggling, the auction houses are breaking records with their mid-market material. Christie’s South Kensington outpost showed an overall sales increase of 20% in 2012. During last month’s London auctions, both Sotheby’s and Christie’s recorded strong results in their day sales; on 7 February, Christie’s had its most successful auction of Impressionist and Modern works in terms of percentage sold by lot (83%), according to a spokesman. “The day sales were rocking—I’ve never experienced such buoyancy,” says Alex Branczik, Sotheby’s senior director and senior specialist in contemporary art, who was the auctioneer.
Much of this is to do with the international brand appeal of the auctions houses, which are better able to attract new buyers from emerging economies. “Latin American collectors account for a lot of our business at the moment, particularly in middle-market, classic post-war material by artists such as Calder, Fontana and Manzoni,” Branczik says.
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O Brave New World
Life in the California Sierra's ultrarunning culture
Ultra runners are like the rich in the famous conversation between Hemingway and Fitzgerald: "Ultrarunners are different from the rest of us," I might say. You could answer, "Yes, they run more miles." And there you’d have it: they are the same, and they are vastly different.
Before spending the summer in the foothills of the northern Californian Sierra, I never thought of myself as a trail hound. Hooking up with a group of runners who think marathons are for training, who log their runs in numbers of hours rather than miles, who don’t leave the house without food, water and toilet paper, I felt like Miranda arriving at Prospero’s island: "O brave new world that has such creatures in it."
Land of Legends
It’s a commitment to train for and run a marathon; the journey towards a 100 miler is a lifestyle. An ultramarathon is like a classical epic. An individual, Odysseus-like, sets out alone, leaving home, leaving family and friends. The journey is long and hard. There are canyons and rivers to be forged; natural elements to be endured; monsters to be battled along the way, mostly internal. There will also be temptations: the siren song of aid stations, where volunteers offer food and warmth, the ease of stopping, a comfortable seat. The bodies of those not as strong, not as tough-minded, litter the trek. But finally, finally, the runner returns home, greeted by the cheers of those left behind. She will be both changed and more truly herself, having traveled not just over distance, but deep into the inner realms of mind and soul.
It’s strange being in a place filled with epic heroes. The area around Auburn is a Mecca for endurance athletes. People move here because they want access to the trails; a Sunday morning run that starts at sunrise could easily last until late afternoon. Turn a corner and you are likely to meet folks who have many times run the Western States and other ultras, and have paced, volunteered or crewed even more frequently. (If you embark on this kind of journey it is likely that at one time or another, you will be injured. That’s when you are given the opportunity to pay back the kindness of those who have helped you.) You might, for example, if you turn the right corner, run into Mo Bartley and Bryan Hacker, who live in nearby Cool.
Mo Bartley is cool. She’s the kind of woman men want to date, and women want to be friends with. A 46-year-old surgical nurse, she has run Western States five times, and has competed, like her husband Hacker, on the U.S. 100K team. Bartley ran a marathon before ever doing a 5K.
Typically ultrarunners are a little longer in the tooth than road racers; patience is a virtue in endurance sports, and more often possessed by those who have been around a few blocks. Many top ultrarunners come to the sport after tiring of racing shorter distances, though that is changing and there are a number of young ultrastuds on the rise. Bartley, never one to follow the typical path, is now bucking the ultra trend and working towards shorter distances as she gets older. She won her age group at cross country nationals this year. She’s been a friend, role model and mentor to many women runners. She is inclusive and expansive in her reach; she’s also funny as all get-out.
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Wheat has long been one of the most important crops in the world, with millions of acres devoted to wheat production.
Planted in fall, winter wheat is ready to be harvested in late spring. Read on for more fun facts about this crop.
Learn how to grow giant pumpkins from the master.
Nothing says summer like a bright red juicy tomato. Several states battle it out over this juicy red fruit, each claiming they grow the tastiest tomatoes.
Dark, dank and moldy? Sounds perfect for mushroom farming.
More than 1 billion pounds of pumpkins are produced in the the United States each year, mostly used for processing, not ornamental. Read on for more pumpkin trivia.
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Dec 05, 2012 (07:12 AM EST)
Schmidt: Apple, Google Waging A Cold War
Read the Original Article at InformationWeek
Apple and Google are a bit like the U.S. and U.S.S.R. during the Cold War: They're at odds with one another, but neither is lobbing any real bombs. Instead, the skirmishes are smaller and indirect. That's how Google chairman Eric Schmidt described the relationship between the two tech titans, which are fighting for smartphone supremacy around the world.
"The press would like to write the sort of teenage model of competition, which is, 'I have a gun, you have a gun, who shoots first?'" said Schmidt in an interview with The Wall Street Journal. "The adult way to run a business is to run it more like a country. They have disputes, yet they've actually been able to have huge trade with each other. They're not sending bombs at each other. I think both Tim [Cook, Apple's CEO] and Larry [Page, Google's CEO] have an understanding of this state model. When they and their teams meet, they have just a long list of things to talk about."
Apple and Google are not only combating in the open market, they're combating in courtrooms, too. It's odd, Schmidt noted, that Apple has yet to confront Google head-on. Much like how the Cold War was waged, Apple is attacking Google indirectly by suing Google's hardware partners. Apple has ongoing lawsuits with Samsung, Motorola, and others (though it recently settled with HTC).
[ Apple may be fighting a Cold War with Google, but blocking Google Maps from iOS would be a bad move. Read Why Apple Can't Deny Google Maps On iPhone. ]
Settlement talks are certainly on the table for the two. "Apple and Google are well aware of the legal strategies of each other," said Schmidt. "Part of the conversations that are going on all the time is to talk about them. It's extremely curious that Apple has chosen to sue Google's partners and not Google itself." (How many times did Reagan and Gorbachev meet?)
Schmidt doesn't see a quick end to the patent litigation, though, no matter how often the two companies meet. "It'll continue for a while. Google is doing fine. Apple is doing fine."
On December 6, for example, Apple will face Samsung in a San Jose courtroom in the latest chapter of their patent war. The two companies are at odds with one another in more than 10 countries. The squabbles concern all manner of smartphone, tablet, and 3G/4G cellular patents. Apple has been hounding Samsung since April 2010. Samsung is fighting back -- without the help of Google. The stakes are tremendous considering the size of the two companies' smartphone businesses. Samsung, for example, is expected to sell 60 million smartphones during the fourth quarter alone.
The number of in-progress and pending trials will take years to complete. Could Google and Apple settle them once and for all on their own terms? Possibly, but Schmidt's comments imply such an end is not in the near future.
Interestingly, Google is concerned about Apple's Siri voice assistant (though for the life of me I can't figure out why). Of Siri, Schmidt noted, "Well, it's competition. I mean, in the antitrust filings, we actually use Siri as an example of future 'non-conforming to the Web' competition, which we do worry about." Google's Google Now voice assistant and search tools are more effective than Apple's Siri, but Siri is still serving as an alternative means to perform searches on Apple devices such as iPhones and iPads. Google Now is part of the Android 4.1/4.2 Jelly Bean operating system.
For the moment, Android is the "clear leader" in the smartphone market, according to the figures from IDC. IDC says Android ate up 68% of the smartphone market in 2012, with Apple's iOS trailing at a distant 18%. Android is winning when it comes to the number of devices sold, leaving Apple's iPhone in the dust -- and other competitive platforms even further behind. Though the iPhone 5 and other devices have sold well for Apple, the sheer volume and availability of varied Android smartphones makes it an attractive platform for handset makers, network operators, and consumers.
Attend Interop Las Vegas May 6-10, and be the first to create an action plan to incorporate the latest transformative technologies into your IT infrastructure. Use Priority Code DIPR01 by Jan. 13 to save up to $800 with Super Early Bird Savings. Join us in Las Vegas for access to 125+ workshops and conference classes, 350+ exhibiting companies and the latest technology solutions. Register for Interop today!
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We are in the news again.
“Minnesota’s gap between white and black employment is one of the largest in the United States,” the Twin Cities Business Journal reports.
It’s not good news, but it is true. And the more newspaper articles and TV stories there are about our state’s economic disparities, the harder it is to ignore.
According to the Minneapolis Foundation and data from the U.S. Department of Labor, people of color make up 40 percent of the population but hold only 17 percent of the jobs.
The Minneapolis Foundation study did not look at the types of jobs people of color have. But most of us have seen our loved ones and neighbors accept part-time jobs when they want fulltime, or taking positions that are lower than their education level or experiences. Underemployment is as big of a problem in our communities as unemployment.
As the nation recovers from The Great Recession all workers and job seekers — not just people of color — are struggling to regain economic and career success. However, this road to recovery is much harder for ethnic minorities.
This ongoing struggle is one of the reasons why the Multicultural Forum on Workplace Diversity (MCF) hosts an annual multicultural Career Fair and Career Services Center. This year’s Career Fair is Tuesday, April 10, 2013 at the Minneapolis Convention Center.
Job seekers who are tired of going to job fairs and not getting results should attend this Career Fair. More than 50 companies and community organizations are coming together to connect qualified job seekers with livable wage jobs.
Companies such as Cargill, Medtronic, Hennepin County, U.S. Bank, Target and others are looking for college students and candidates with college degrees to interview for positions in finance, health care, information technology and other career areas.
How often do you have access to free career help?
The Career Services Center on April 9 and 10, 2013 offers job seekers one-on-one help with experienced career coaches. Use this time to prep for the Multicultural Career Fair or to help strengthen your job search and prepare for future job interviews.
The Career Services Center has volunteer career coaches giving individualized help with interviews, elevator speeches and resume critiques. All of the Career Service Center resources are free, no appointment necessary, but registration is requested.
Who, When & Where
Both the Career Center and the Career Services Center are open to individuals who hold or are pursuing a college degree. Veterans, people of color, and members of other underrepresented populations are invited to attend.
The Career Services Center with free career coaching is open Tuesday, April 9, 10am-5pm and Wednesday April 10, 9am-3pm at the Minneapolis Convention Center.
The Career Fair with employer exhibitors is Wednesday, April 10, 9am-4pm.
- Minnesota must close its employment and wealth gaps (MinnPost)
- Good Question: Why Is Jobless Gap By Race So Bad In MN? (WCCO-TV)
- Twin Cities again lead nation in black, white unemployment gap (Minnesota Public Radio)
- Minnesota Not-So-Nice: Examining the Employment Gap & Career Success for Twin Cities Communities of Color
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The YouTube sensation known as Psy, aka Park Jae-Sang, is best known for his viral video "Gangnam Style." America loves him But he hasn't always loved America so much.
But a recently unearthed video shows the singer performing in 2004 as part of a protest against the 37,000 U.S. troops stationed in South Korea, the singer smashed a camouflaged American tank onstage, according to Mediaite.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, it wasn't the first time Psy expressed anti-American sentiments. In a song titled, "Dear American," he reportedly delivered the lines, "Kill those (expletive) Yankees who have been torturing Iraqi captives," during a 2002 concert in South Korea.
He sure doesn't seem minding spending all those Yankee dollars though, does he?
"Kill those (expletive) Yankees who have been torturing Iraqi captives/Kill those (expletive) Yankees who ordered them to torture/Kill their daughters, mothers, daughters-in-law and fathers/Kill them all slowly and painfully," he continued.
Nice. He doesn't quite seem so cuddly anymore, does he?
The 2004 concert was in protest against the killing of Kim Sun-Il, a South Korean missionary and translator who was beheaded in Iraq by militants. Sun-Il was murdered after the South Korean government proceeded with plans to send 3,000 additional troops to the country, CNN reported.
Psy told Rolling Stone he was sorry and blamed the episodes on his "emotional reaction" to the war in
"As a proud South Korean who was educated in the United States and lived there for a very significant part of my life, I understand the sacrifices American servicemen and women have made to protect freedom and democracy in my country and around the world," said Psy in a statement. "The song -- from eight years ago -- was part of a deeply emotional reaction to the war in Iraq and the killing of two innocent Korean civilians that was part of the overall antiwar sentiment shared by others around the world at that time. While I'm grateful for the freedom to express oneself I've learned there are limits to what language is appropriate and I'm deeply sorry for how these lyrics could be interpreted. I will forever be sorry for any pain I have caused anyone by those words.
"I have been honored to perform in front of American soldiers in recent months -- including an appearance on the Jay Leno show specifically for them -- and I hope they and all Americans can accept my apology. While it's important we express our opinions, I deeply regret the inflammatory and inappropriate language I used to do so. In my music I try to give people a release, a reason to smile. I have learned that though music, our universal language we can all come together as a culture of humanity and I hope that you will accept my apology."
We'll think about it.
ROYAL FAMILY REACTS TO DEATH OF NURSE: The royal family has reacted to the news of the death of Jacintha Saldanha, the nurse who earlier this week unwittingly released news about Kate Middleton's medical condition to Australian radio hosts impersonating Queen Elizabeth and Prince Charles.
In related news Friday, the two DJs behind the prank announced they have taken themselves off the air. It was not known when they would return.
"The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are deeply saddened to learn of the death of Jacintha Saldanha," read a statement from a St. James's Palace spokesman. "Their Royal Highnesses were looked after so wonderfully well at all times by everybody at King Edward VII Hospital, and their thoughts and prayers are with Jacintha Saldanha's family, friends and colleagues at this very sad time."
The duchess was admitted to the hospital Monday and was discharged Thursday.
A U.K. Metropolitan Police spokeswoman told E! News that police were called at approximately 9:35 a.m. Friday to a report of a woman found unconscious at an address in central London. Medical personnel pronounced the 46-year-old married mother of two dead at the scene, which according to the New York Daily News, was just yards away from the hospital. Police would not confirm if the death is being ruled a suicide.
"It is with very deep sadness we confirm the tragic death of a member of our nursing staff, Jacintha Saldanha," said a statement from a King Edward VII hospital spokesman. "Jacintha was an excellent nurse and well-respected and popular with all of her colleagues. We can confirm that Jacintha was recently the victim of a hoax call to the hospital. The hospital had been supporting her throughout this difficult time."
According to E! News, Saldanha fielded the prank call from Mel Greig and Michael Christian, hosts of an Australian radio show called "2 Day." She reportedly transferred the call to another nurse who provided medical information on the Duchess of Cambridge, who was being treated for hyperemesis gravidarum, an acute form of morning sickness. Buckingham Palace later publicly castigated the hospital for the "breach."
The radio station later issued an apology after the prank, stating, "We thought we'd be hung up on as soon as they heard our terrible accents. We're very sorry if we've caused any issues for Kate or the nurse. It was honestly meant as fun and hope the nurse and Kate are OK."
The DJs have since taken themselves off the air, effectively suspending themselves. Southern Cross Austereo, the company that owns the station, said a statement "SCA and 2Day FM are deeply saddened by the tragic news of the death of nurse Jacintha Saldanha from King Edward VII's Hospital. SCA and the hosts have decided that they will not return to their radio show until further notice out of respect for what can only be described as a tragedy."
According to TMZ, SCA said the CEO has spoken with both DJs, who are "deeply shocked" over the tragedy.
LINDSAY LOHAN MAY HAVE SCORED HERSELF A HUNK: Max George of boy band The Wanted and Lindsay Lohan might be in a romance after all.
After denying he invited Lohan to the group's Philadelphia show, according to TMZ, he's now confessing he really did. And somehow, afterward, she ended up on the band's tour bus on the way to its Thursday night show in Boston.
Maybe he appreciates how much she really, really appreciates their music.
Sources told TMZ that Lohan was on the bus as George's "guest."
So that's what the kids call it know -- being each other's "guest."
Supposedly, "George doesn't want a girlfriend, but doesn't mind having Lindsay around," a source told TMZ.
George made headlines when he was identified as a possible cause for a New York nightclub fight in which Lohan allegedly punched a Florida psychic. Lohan was charged with assault after the incident.
TOM BRADY AND GISELE BUNDCHEN BREED AGAIN: Tom Brady and Gisele Bundchen now have a second totally unlucky child.
The NFL star and his model wife welcomed their second child on Wednesday, a baby girl named Vivian Lake, who will, no doubt, grow up without looks, money, smarts or charm.
Should we be considering the ramifications of these two breeding? If they have enough children, will the rest of us even have a chance?
According to E! News, the 32-year-old Bundchen shared the news on Facebook Friday morning, along with an adorable photo of her holding her new daughter's hand.
That's right, I said "adorable." And I'm not getting all misty ... at all.
"We feel so lucky to have been able to experience the miracle of birth once again and are forever grateful for the opportunity to be the parents of another little angel," she wrote.
"Vivian Lake was born at home on Dec. 5. She is healthy and full of life. Thank you all for your support and well wishes. We wish you and your families many blessings."
OK ... (sob). Thanks.
The couple also has a 3-year-old son, Benjamin.
DECEMBER 8 IN HISTORY
Saturday is Dec. 8, the 343rd day of 2012. There are 23 days left in the year. The Jewish Festival of Lights, Hanukkah, begins at sunset.
1776: During the Revolutionary War, Gen. George Washington's retreating army crossed the Delaware River from New Jersey into Pennsylvania.
1854: Pope Pius IX proclaimed the Catholic dogma of the Immaculate Conception, which holds that Mary, the mother of Jesus, was free of original sin from the moment of her own conception.
1941: The United States entered World War II as Congress declared war against Japan, a day after the attack on Pearl Harbor.
1949: The Chinese Nationalist government moved from the Chinese mainland to Formosa as the Communists pressed their attacks.
1961: A fire at Hartford Hospital in Connecticut resulted in 16 deaths. The Beach Boys' first single, "Surfin'," was released.
1972: A United Airlines Boeing 737 crashed while attempting to land at Chicago-Midway Airport, killing 43 of the 61 people on board, as well as two people on the ground; among the passengers who died were Dorothy Hunt, wife of Watergate conspirator E. Howard Hunt, U.S. Rep. George W. Collins, D-Ill., and CBS News correspondent Michele Clark.
1980: John Lennon was shot to death outside his New York City apartment building by an apparently deranged fan.
1982: A man demanding an end to nuclear weapons held the Washington Monument hostage, threatening to blow it up with explosives he claimed were inside a van. (After a 10-hour standoff, Norman D. Mayer was shot dead by police; it turned out there were no explosives.)
1987: President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev signed a treaty at the White House calling for destruction of intermediate-range nuclear missiles.
1992: Americans got to see live television coverage of U.S. troops landing on the beaches of Somalia as Operation Restore Hope began (because of the time difference, it was early Dec. 9 in Somalia).
2002: Iraq's massive dossier detailing its chemical, biological and nuclear programs arrived in New York; the U.N. Security Council agreed to give full copies to the United States and the four other permanent council members: Britain, France, Russia and China.
2007: The Justice Department and CIA announced a joint inquiry into the spy agency's destruction of videotapes of interrogations of two suspected terrorists. Florida quarterback Tim Tebow became the first sophomore to win the Heisman Trophy.
2011: Former MF Global CEO Jon Corzine was called before Congress to explain the collapse of the securities firm just over a month earlier; Corzine told the House Agriculture Committee he didn't know what happened to an estimated $1.2 billion in missing clients' money. The 161-day NBA lockout ended when owners and players ratified the new collective bargaining agreement.
Actor-director Maximilian Schell (82), rock singer-musician Gregg Allman (65), reggae singer Toots Hibbert (Toots and the Maytals) (64), Actress Kim Basinger (59), rock musician Warren Cuccurullo (56), rock musician Phil Collen (Def Leppard) (55), rock musician Marty Friedman (50), actress Teri Hatcher (48), singer Sinead O'Connor (46), actor Dominic Monaghan (36).
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Buddha-Dhamma is as vast as the universe and as concise as a moment’s flash of insight. Many sentient beings have got lost between the two, unable to resolve through direct personal experience the many teachings available today. Fundamental perspectives are required for us to begin sorting out the multiplicity of experiences and concepts. Here, we offer a clear, direct, and practical guide into the essentials of Buddhism, that is, the Dhamma.
While many Buddhists take Dhamma to be “the Buddha’s teaching,” it really means “Natural Truth” or “Natural Law.” Of course, this is what the Buddha taught and demonstrated, but we must be careful to distinguish the teaching from the Truth itself. Thus, to understand Buddhism one must begin with the Dhamma. (more…)
Filed under: Buddhadasa Bhikkhu, eBooks, Encyclopedia, Theravada | Tagged: Buddhadasa Bhikkhu, Buddhist eBook, Buddhist Science, pariyatti-dhamma, patipatti-dhamma, pativedha-dhamma, Santikaro Bhikkhu, Spiritual Disease, Suan Mokkh | Leave a Comment »
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Importers have requested the government to explain clearly on the products needed to be inspected before being shipped to Tanzania in order to remove confusion between them and the supervising organ.
Speaking in Dar es Salaam during the half day awareness seminar organised by the Tanzania Bureau of Standards (TBS), they said there are some materials which do not need inspection.
The seminar was convened to educate traders and members of Tanzania Private Sector Foundation (TPSF) on the new pre-inspection procedures established by the government.
“I understand that raw materials do not need inspection, when I looked at the list of products I found that it is supposed to be inspected, so you have to tell us clearly what is needed,” Said Mohammed from Bahresa group of companies said.
He said there is a need to review all products needed to be inspected at the country of origin before being shipped to Tanzania in order to alleviate problems which might happen.
Mohammed also urged the bureau to continue educating people on the importance of quality products since it would reduce importation of substandard goods.
Flora Njau from Tanzania Portland Cement Company (TPCC) said there is a need to address challenges brought about by the new system.
She said many traders do not understand clearly the lists of products to be inspected and urged TBS to provide the information.
Herryad Malewo from Mohan Oysterbay, hailed the new system saying it would help to curb importation of fake products and save local factories from collapse.
He requested the government to provide them with a one-year grace period in order to finalise the procedure
“As you know some of us have already ordered goods from abroad, I request the government to allow us to clear the goods,” he said.
For her part, the TBS Director of Quality Control, Kezia Mbwambo, said the bureau would continue educating people on the new procedure and that the government had started taking measures to reduce the importation of substandard products in the country.
The measure known as pre-export verification of conformity to standards (PVOC), which came into effect in February, this year, intended to ensure that only quality products were imported.
Conformity assessment includes physical inspection before shipment, sampling, testing and analysis in accredited laboratories and audit of product processes and systems.
She said the bureau has issued over 12,000 certificates of conformity to various traders under destination inspection since its establishment more than 10 years ago.
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Quite a list. Here’s the start:
Many people have explained what one can learn from Steve Jobs. But few, if any, of these people have been inside the tent and experienced first hand what it was like to work with him. I don’t want any lessons to be lost or forgotten, so here is my list of the top twelve lessons that I learned from Steve Jobs….
Experts are clueless.
Customers cannot tell you what they need.
Jump to the next curve.
The biggest challenges beget best work.
You can’t go wrong with big graphics and fonts.
Changing your mind is a sign of intelligence.
“Value” is different from “price.”
A players hire A+ players.
Real CEOs demo.
Real CEOs ship.
Marketing boils down to providing unique value.
Bonus: Some things need to be believed to be seen.
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September 24, 2009
Is it finally time for a United States of Africa (U.S.A.) to emerge? Without question, I think the time is right.
But, it’s about time also. I was once in Africa meeting with the president of a country and he basically said his “house was on fire.” So, I said to this president that I had the water that could extinguish the fire. His response? “I will let you know when I want the water.”
This has been a common experience with me in my dealings on the continent. Africans have their own concept of time and in most cases it is not congruous with the major powers of the world.
Last week I attended a speech by H.E. Cheikh Tidiane Gadio, Senior Minister & Minister of Foreign Affairs from the Republic of Senegal. The purpose of his speech was to discuss the concept of a United States of Africa. He was a great speaker, with a thorough knowledge of the subject matter. Whether you were an academic or layman, the minister displayed the communication skills necessary to make the concept understandable to everyone. I was most impressed with the minister.
A united Africa makes all the sense in the world. After all, Europe has done it, South American is doing, and of course the United States is the model for how to do it.
According to the minister, they have 20 countries that are ready to move forward, with the other 33 hesitating for one reason or another.
Logistical, political, and economic hurdles aside, I see a major strategic flaw in the minister’s approach. Africa has yet to lay out the intellectual arguments for the movement in the U.S. and Europe. Though these two groups can’t vote on the proposal, I think it is in Africa’s interest to educate the general public as to the relevance of this movement.
For example, when I go to see my orthodontist, Dr. Larry Kawa (www.braces1.com), I know exactly what is going to happen. The staffer assigned to me, Linda, is the best. Before she starts, she tells me what the purpose of this particular visit is, what she is going to do, why she is going to do it, and the expected result from that day’s visit. If there are any changes to the treatment for that visit, she will explain why the change occurred and why it is necessary.
My point is, an educated patient is the best patient. So it is relative to the U.S.A., an educated world is the best world.
Discussion of a united Africa is no new thing. Marcus Garvey is credited with being the father of a united Africa as early as 1924. He was way ahead of his time and the issue is still being debated within the continent.
So, I think the minister, specifically and Africa in general, must do a better job in educating the U.S. as to why Africa matters to us. Why should a proposed United State of Africa matter to the diaspora within the U.S.?
The time for Africa to unite is now, but the time to educate strategic allies is also now. I find most African embassies have very little presence within the U.S. This is not all African embassies, but a lot of them do fit into this category. They should be more engaged in the local communities, as well as the various media outlets. Most of the images you see regarding Africa are about war, famine, and despair. I put most of the blame on African nations for not countering these images conjured up by the media.
Africa has a lot of positive stories to tell, but they must not wait or depend on someone else to tell their story. They must persist in their efforts to force American media do show the positive side of Africa. Most Americans have little appreciation as to how close Africa is to the U.S.
For example, most people don’t realize that from the east coast, you can get to Dakar, Senegal in about the same time it’s takes to get to Los Angeles or San Francisco! So, if I have a 4 day weekend, I would much rather go to Senegal than I would Los Angeles or San Francisco.
Most people don’t know that most of the world’s diamonds come from Africa, as does cocoa. Africa has the world’s largest population of people under 18. This group will have tremendous purchasing power in the years to come. China, Europe, and the U.S. are getting older. Africa is getting younger. Every businessman knows what this means—Africa is the next “MTV” generation (for better and for worse).
So, if Africa could unite and harness this potential and all the natural assets it possesses, they can and will be a power to reckon with.
While they are working on resolving the many logistical impediments to unification, on a parallel track, they must launch a strategic educational campaign simultaneously. To do otherwise is like baking a cake without preheating the oven. You will get a cake, but all the ingredients will not have blended together as they should have.
So, educating Europe, Asia, and the U.S. is the preheating process. When I say educate, I am speaking of going directly to the people, not the “powers that be.” So, to the proposed United States of Africa, it’s about time!
Raynard Jackson is president & CEO of Raynard Jackson & Associates, LLC., a D.C.-based political consulting/government affairs firm. You can listen to his radio show every Saturday evening from 7-9:00 p.m. Go to www.ustalknetwork.com to register and then click on host, and then click on his photo to join his group.
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The most popular tablet in the world
Tablets are becoming more and more popular, and the iPad is at the top of the list. Many people, however, aren’t familiar with how to use this piece of technology. Even those that have experience with Apple products often are unaware of a few tricks that could make their experience more enjoyable. This article will outline a few things that you can do to make the most of your iPad.
Fed up with being asked to join different Wi-Fi networks? There is an easy way to fix this issue in the Wi-Fi Settings. Simply turn off the Ask to Join settings. You will still be able to join networks; however, you will need to go to Wi-Fi settings and join from there.
The calendar function does not allow you to navigate from one day to the next by swiping. You should instead use the navigation bar located at the bottom of the screen to select the date you want to see. The current day is marked in blue and should be easy to notice.
Do you use the video call feature a lot? If the small screen where your own image is displayed gets in the way and prevents you from seeing what your friend is showing you, you can use your finger to move this small screen by simply dragging it to a different area of your screen.
You can use Google Maps as an alternative to a GPS, even though there is no built-in satellite navigation in your iPad. Launch Google Maps and do a search for directions. You only have to enter your destination and your iPad will automatically figure out your current location. You will then have access to step by step directions.
The iPad can work great for consolidating existing processes. For instance, you can add your Google Calendar to your iPad. All you have to do is go to your settings tab, then go to mail, then contacts and finally calendars. You’re going to tap add an account, and then click on other to start setting it up.
Make the most of the “delete all” function that is incorporated within the iPad. For security reasons you can program the tablet to delete all your sensitive data if your password is entered incorrectly 10 times. This is a perfect feature if your tablet has been lost or stolen and you keep extremely confidential details on it.
If you’d like to see a list of all apps which are running, press the home (square) button twice. All the running apps will appear at the bottom of the screen, allowing you to close those which aren’t in use by touching and holding them until they jiggle, then clicking the minus icon.
The iPad is actually much more complex than it appears on the surface. Take the information included in this article and use it to make your experience with the machine more enjoyable. Before you know it, your friends, family and coworkers will all be turning to you for advice on navigating the iPad!
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There are additional conclusions that we can extract from the results as well. Specifically, we looked at the differences between XP and Windows 7, as well as multiple virtual processors and using a Boot Camp volume.
XP vs. Windows 7
Right from the beginning, things just felt better running under Windows 7. Part of this is a more modern interface, but for the most part, things just felt snappier. I/O was faster, graphics worked better in both products, etc. The whole experience just made you want to run Windows 7 over Windows XP.
Parallels Desktop 6: Windows XP vs. Windows 7
We wanted to see what some of the benchmarks did, and normalized a number of scores so that we could compare them. With the exception of application performance, which was still quite good, Windows 7 helped things run better and faster for both Parallels Desktop and VMware Fusion.
VMware Fusion 3.1: Windows XP vs. Windows 7
In previous virtualization benchmarking projects, there were significant differences between running Microsoft XP vs. Vista, or XP vs. Windows 7. At this point, MacTech recommends that unless you have a driving reason to use XP (like application compatibility), you should move to Windows 7. Of course, no one should be using Windows Vista.
There's a big marketing push right now for 64-bit. We did not measure 32-bit specifically against 64-bit during these benchmarks, but we did use a 64-bit version of Windows 7. While most users still don't need the additional address space that 64-bit brings, we no longer see any penalty to running 64-bit. As a result, especially if you are moving to Windows 7, you should probably move to the 64-bit version unless there's some specific reason not to.
Multiple Virtual Processors
There's a lot of "bragging rights" that encircle using multiple virtual processors under virtualization. In earlier versions of Windows, there were licensing issues that created artificial limitations. Today, especially with Windows 7, it's different.
Depending on the test, and whether XP or 7, sometimes Parallels was faster, and other times VMware. The most significant difference was with the launch and a full Windows boot where Parallels was noticeably faster (shorter bars are better).
Virtual Machine Performance with 2 Virtual CPUs
In virtual machine performance with two virtual CPUs, we saw fairly predictable results. File duplication tests were split: VMware won under XP, and Parallels won under Win7. Compression tests were also split, but fairly close regardless. Launch virtual machine time, however, goes again to Parallels with noticeably faster full Windows boot times.
For graphics, similar to what we saw with a single virtual CPU, Parallels was faster across the board when using two virtual CPUs.
Graphics Performance with 2 Virtual CPUs
These days, the decision is fairly simple. If you have an application that can make use of multiple virtual processors, and this includes 3D Graphics, and your Mac has enough horsepower, then you should use them. Otherwise, it's not necessary.
Then again, if speed is that important to you, you should be asking yourself about whether to run the app native on your Mac instead of in a virtual machine. Sometimes, like for CAD, you may not have an option.
Graphics performance with two virtual CPUs became even more pronounced, especially under Windows XP where Parallels Desktop was 3-4x faster than VMware Fusion. VMware Fusion scored considerably better on graphics tests under Windows 7. That said, Parallels Desktop continued to be faster there as well.
Virtualization is one of the topics at the next MacTech Boot Camp
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UK-based Lok8u (Get it? Locate you?) is a GPS-enabled wristwatch meant to be worn by children. The watch also features a built-in cell signal, too, which enables location information to be relayed rapidly to parents while waiting for the GPS chip to get its bearings or when there’s no line-of-sight to GPS satellites.
The device itself costs £149.99 ($245) plus a required 18-month cellular plan for text alerts and location services ranging from £4.99 ($8.15) to £19.99 ($32.65) per month depending on the number of automatic text alerts you want sent to you.
Location information is available using included mapping software or you can use your own cell phone to send out a text message containing a special code as well. If the watch is removed from your child’s wrist, a text message and e-mail alert are immediately sent to you. You can also set up a “Safe Zone” for your child – basically a neighborhood perimeter that, when crossed, will send you alerts.
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The parents of girls as young as 10 are paying $700 each to enter their daughters in a junior Miss World beauty pageant.
Collette Lochore, the reigning Miss World New Zealand, toured schools last year recruiting 25 girls for the Miss Junior New Zealand contest, which has a $1000 prize. Contestants have to fundraise the $700 entry fee.
The girls, who will be aged between 10 and 17 by the time of the April pageant, will take part in eight weeks of workshops and training beginning next month.
Lochore, who had previously said she was prepared for some flak over the age of the contestants, would not give any information ahead of the first workshop.
Former Miss New Zealand Elizabeth Aitken said children who were as young as 10 would not be able to deal with the experience.
And psychologist Sara Chatwin said the entrants needed to think of the implications. "It can bring into sharp focus the body image issues that a lot of young girls suffer from."
However, Natalie Zeigler said she did not have any concerns about her 13-year-old daughter Zena participating, because there is no swimwear section. On the final night of the competition, the competitors will perform a dance as a group, introduce themselves, show off a talent and then parade in an evening dress.
Zena was driven by an interest in modelling, Zeigler said. "She's very tall. My daughter wants to be a model and this is the perfect training ground for confidence-building."
Compared with the $450 she paid for a one-week modelling course, she said, the entry fee did not seem so bad.
Paige Cheverton, who came third in Model of the Year in South Africa, said she too felt very lucky to be a contestant.
The competition is the first for Maggie Kyd's 17-year-old daughter Danielle, who said if she was not able to raise sponsorship money for the entry, she would have to work for it.
She was equally unconcerned about the critics. "It's a fun girly thing. Girls like to do these things."
Victoria Marsden, a specialist counsellor in body image and eating disorders with Auckland Psychology, had earlier said 10 or 11 was "very, very young" for girls to be involved. "By that age body image tends to already be an issue with young girls," she warned. "This is a very risky idea."By Susan Edmunds Email Susan
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While the fate of America's Yucca Mountain appears to be sealed, Finnish company Posiva is moving forward with a cutting-edge nuclear waste storage facility that it claims will safely store radioactive waste in drums deep in the ground for 100,000 years. While challenges abound, a green light from the Finnish government expected by 2012 will make the site on Finland's Olkiluoto Island the first permanent nuclear waste repository in the world, opening the door for more to follow.
The task is not a small one, however. First, Posiva carved nearly 16,500 feet of tunnels, collecting borehole samples along the way to ensure that the bedrock is solid and that water -- a nuclear waste repository's biggest enemy -- cannot get in. Then they had to figure out how to create the nearly 29-ton copper storage bins lined with iron and sealed with a weld so precise that it will hold through Finland's next ice age.
To make it all work, Posiva's engineers came up with a unique system. Bundles of rods will be delivered in special transit bins to a sealed room in the facility. A robot arm, controlled remotely via a video link, will remove the fuel bundles and dry them -- remember, absolutely no water can go into storage with the rods -- before placing the extremely hot cargo into the copper canisters.While moving the rods is the most dangerous part, sealing them in their bins is by far the hardest. To make sure the welds are perfect -- and to last 100,000 years, they have to be -- the engineers are designing a kind of conveyor belt that allows the drums to swivel and turn as they move. As each bin rotates precisely, high-velocity electrons bombard the seal between lid and canister, fusing the cask with a strong weld without weakening the surrounding material. Any flaws or weak spots in the welding seam will be caught at the end of the track, where X-ray, ultrasonic and eddy-current inspection devices check the seam for imperfections.
If all goes to plan and the government approves Posiva's ambitious plan, the Olkiluoto facility will be in business by 2020. But by proving the technology works, Posiva won't just earn the right to a contract for 100 years of nuclear storage; it will have demonstrated to the world that indeed such facilities are possible, perhaps resurrecting abandoned projects like Yucca Mountain and pushing nuclear energy to new prominence. Right now, it starts with a perfect weld seam -- check back in 100,000 and we'll tell you how it ends.
Five amazing, clean technologies that will set us free, in this month's energy-focused issue. Also: how to build a better bomb detector, the robotic toys that are raising your children, a human catapult, the world's smallest arcade, and much more.
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Perhaps you’ve heard the claims from your neighbor, “yoga cured my insomnia.” Or maybe your co-worker boasts, “I practice three times a week and my back pain is gone.” It’s possible that your 11-year-old daughter squeals with delight because she can now touch her toes and no longer gets “homework headaches.”
With 16 million Americans practicing yoga, the anecdotal evidence is exponentially favorable to the curative benefits of yoga. But skeptical and scientific minds still want to know, is yoga really a remedy?
I began practicing yoga at age 11, and can say from my personal experience that I rarely get sick, I’ve never broken a bone and I sleep like a baby 97 percent of the time. In a purely unscientific poll of myself, yoga has been and continues to be a remedy for my aches and pains and a preventative from getting them in the first place!
I also have hundreds of stories I could share with you from students who work with me in my specialized yoga therapy format, Yoga Tune Up. A range of students from 17-77 come to me with chronic conditions like MS, scoliosis, breast and chest surgeries, metal implants in their tissues, migraines, car accidents, obesity and more.
The good news is that there are studies that confirm the benefits of yoga for many health conditions. We can rejoice that yoga’s curative powers are not just a myth! Yoga helps and it heals.
In part one of this three-part series on Yoga as a Remedy, we look at insomnia:
Your neighbor’s insomnia
Insomnia is a plague. When we cannot sleep well, our stress levels skyrocket and this can lead to accidents, greater fatigue and weight gain. When your neighbor tosses and turns all night, her mind is not letting her body enter into the healing phases of deep sleep.
So how did it work its magic? Yoga enhances a body’s ability to sleep by consistently inducing the relaxation response in the body’s tissues. Yin Yoga especially promotes a very relaxing environment by holding static or still stretches for long periods of time (two to 20 minutes), with the body often supported by bolsters, blankets and other props. These stretches are done with the help of gravity’s pull on the body. She is instructed to breathe deeply and rhythmically. The result is that the long-held stretches, combined with the breathing, turn her “fight or flight” response off and her “rest and digest” response on. Ultimately, this resets the resting tone in her muscles and her mind is reconditioned to be more mellow .
Yoga help for insomnia
This classic yoga pose works wonders for those who are challenged with anxiety or difficulty getting their Z’s.
Savasana or “corpse pose”
This macabre sounding pose is very simple and can be done in any quiet environment. To minimize light and other distractions, place an eye pillow over your eyes.
1. Lay down on the ground, bed or sofa with your legs a couple of feet apart, knees propped over pillows or a yoga bolster, hands about 1 foot away from your sides and palms facing up.
2. Lightly touch your index fingers and thumbs together on both hands to create jnana mudra. Place your attention at the fingertips and begin to feel the heart’s pulsation there.
3. Inhale for a count of three heartbeats and exhale for a count of six heartbeats.
4. As you relax more deeply, increase the counts to inhale for four heartbeats and exhale for eight heartbeats.
5. Practice for a minimum of 10 minutes daily at the end of the day to induce relaxation and prepare the mind and body for sleeping.
Sweet dreams! For more insomnia remedies, watch this video on proper breathing or check out my blog on travel tips to explore the wonders of Veeparita Korani Mudra as taught by Rodney Yee and Colleen Saidman. Let me know which pose works best for you!
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We have all heard about global warming, but how about mobile warming? This is a subject that revolves around network bandwidth and dropped calls, something that we all know about. So how will this effect phones in 2010 as they demand more from the networks, such as the iPhone 4G and the coming LTE standard?
Business Insider says that if you think you think that mobile warming is bad now, then things are about to get a whole lot worse. The article suggests that the problem will be much bigger over the next two years and that wireless networks are also at breaking point.
Growth over the past few years has been phenomenal, this is due to the popularity of smartphones where the demand for mobile video and data traffic are in high demand. Adobe Flash is also a major cause; this is one of the reasons why Apple does not offer the Flash Player to iPhone users.
4G or LTE has not exploded into the mainstream yet, but when it does we can expect even more dropped calls. It certainly seems like this growth is unsustainable. For more details visit Business Insider.
You can add us to your circle on Google+, follow us on Twitter, join the photo community on Pinterest, or like our Facebook page to keep updated on all the latest news.
Our Apps: Android | iPhone | iPad.
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The mechanical design of legged robots
Liu, A 2009, The mechanical design of legged robots , PhD thesis, University of Salford.
Restricted to Repository staff only until 03 October 2014.
Download (42MB) | Request a copy
This thesis has focused on the mechanical design of statically stable multi-legged CLimbing And WAlking Robots(CLAWAR) machines and, since crab-like machines represent an important sub-class, in this thesis they were chosen as the subject of the study. Through the review of leg mechanisms, it is clear that for many years, navigation, gait generation and control, rather than mechanical design, have been the main concerns of many CLAWAR researchers. During the development of prototypes, it has often been assumed that the mechanical design principles are known and the researchers' jobs are simply to apply them. In practice, this is far from the truth, as the performance of existing prototypes testifies. The most common design approach is to copy the geometry of insects and mammals with little or no scientific justification. Although there has been some very good work on leg mechanism design, the relationships between leg design and overall machine layout have been neglected. In this thesis, the design is considered as a whole with no artificial decoupling of leg geometry and overall machine geometry. Furthermore, the design process is treated as a series of coupled optimisation problems. The main achievements and conclusions that have resulted from the research described in this thesis can be summarised as follows: • Based on the review on leg mechanisms, a classification on legged machine layout was proposed; • A clear understanding of the effect of leg configurations and geometric design parameters on the performance of crab-like CLAWAR machines has been achieved. • A novel design methodology that breaks the problem into: a) kinematic design; and b) performance optimisation, was presented. The design methodology is based on satisfying kinematic requirements (constraints) and optimisation of kinetic performance measure, such as minimising the joint torques. • Although the design methodology has only been applied in the 2D case, it has been shown that it could be applied in the 3D case and the necessary analysis methods have been established. • Methods for using foot force distribution as well as design to optimise performance were developed. • Novel reformulations of the Moor-Penrose pseudo-inverse for optimising the foot force distribution in the 3D case were developed, which could be applied in real time control as well as in design.
|Item Type:||Thesis (PhD)|
|Schools:||Colleges and Schools > College of Health & Social Care|
Colleges and Schools > College of Health & Social Care > School of Health Sciences
|Depositing User:||Institutional Repository|
|Date Deposited:||03 Oct 2012 14:34|
|Last Modified:||07 Apr 2013 12:37|
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<urn:uuid:e502422c-d6c0-4571-82a0-09d60f37da4d>
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CC-MAIN-2013-20
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http://usir.salford.ac.uk/26779/
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From the Editors of The Daily Cat
Your concern, both for your cat and your kitchen cabinet, is understandable! The problem does not revolve around your cat’s attraction to your kitchen cabinet but instead has to do with why your cat is rejecting the previously established litter box.
First, if you haven’t already done so, schedule a visit with your veterinarian to rule out health problems that can cause a cat to reject the litter box. These may include urinary tract or bladder issues, infections, medications, parasites and more. Elderly cats often get arthritis or other age-related health problems that can affect litter box usage, but since your cat is only 5, these problems are most likely not the case.
Make sure each of your cats has its own clean litter box. Frequently scoop the boxes clean and change the litter as directed by the manufacturer. If you’ve recently changed litter brands, your cat may not like the new litter’s smell or texture.
Finally, you can retrain your cat to use his litter box by keeping your pet in its own comfy, closed-off room for a few days. Make sure the room contains food, water, his favorite toys and scratchers, and of course, a clean litter box. Without access to your kitchen cabinet and no other attractive options in sight, he should get into the habit of using his box again. Use this time to also thoroughly clean your kitchen cabinet so your cat won’t recognize his scent there when he’s allowed back into the rest of your home.
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http://www.thedailycat.com/partner/content/worldnow-ftp/archive/2009-10-19/expertqaiframe/kitchen_cabinet/index.html?keepThis=true&TB_iframe=true&height=450&width=800
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U.S. Defense Secretary in Iraq: Drawdown may be paused
U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Monday endorsed, for the first time, the idea of pausing the withdrawal of American soldiers from Iraq this summer.
"A brief period of consolidation and evaluation probably does make sense," Gates told reporters after meeting with Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq. Petraeus has indicated in recent weeks that he wants a "period of evaluation" this summer to assess the impact on Iraq security of reducing the U.S. military presence from 20 brigades to 15 brigades.
In his remarks in southern Baghdad, Gates said Petraeus had given him his view on the drawdown, which some fear could result in giving up some of the security gains of recent months. In endorsing Petraeus' suggestion of pausing after July, Gates made it clear that President Bush would have the final say.
In his remarks, Gates also indicated that he had begun some time ago to lean in Petraeus' direction. "In my own thinking I had been kind of headed in that direction as well," Gates said, according to the AP. "But one of the keys is how long is that period (of pause and evaluation) and then what happens after that."
In an interview with reporters traveling with Gates, Maj. Gen. Jeffery Hammond, commander of all U.S. forces in Baghdad, declined to say how many troops he would be losing during the drawdown, saying he believed that information was secret. But he said that whatever troop-cut decisions are made, he will make the necessary adjustments to ensure that the security gains achieved over the past several months are not sacrificed. "We're not going to give back any terrain," Hammond said.
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http://www.albawaba.com/news/us-defense-secretary-iraq-drawdown-may-be-paused
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A smile for John Cage
The man in the funny hat was born 100 years ago today in Los Angeles, and died in Manhattan on the 12th of August, 1992. Shall we make anything of that life trajectory? Born on the Pacific Rim at the dawn of modernity, lived long enough to witness the post-modern scene he helped create as if flourished near his Greenwich Village home? Probably not, in any meaningful sense, though we may smile at the thought. And that, for me, is the best reaction to the music of the man in the picture, John Cage: Don't look for meaning; do take pleasure. "Purposeless play" is how Cage defined music. And while you may rightly stop short of applying that definition to, say, Bach, Beethoven or Bob Dylan, it fits Cage's own whimsical, playful spirit like a nut fits a bolt, and like both fit the strings of Cage's most enduring invention, the prepared piano.
Indeed, from the hardware stuffed inside the piano, and the anvils and break drums Cage used in his pioneering percussion works, to the common objects Cage "plays" in his celebrated appearance on the TV game show "I've Got a Secret," Cage took a childish delight in the music of everyday life. Whether or not you want to consider what he did on the TV show to be "music," much less pay money to attend concerts of it, is up to you. When it comes to the works Cage composed after his adoption of "chance procedures," in which the music is determined as much by randomness and non-musical criteria (e.g., a roll of dice, a map of the New York City skyline, the imperfections in a sheet of paper) as by the composer's choice of pitches, rhythms, etc., I admit to preferring my amusement at a distance. Fun to know about, not so interesting to hear. When it comes to the works of Cage's earlier years, up to about 1950, works that range from great rhythmic intricacy to virtual motionlessness, and from great complexity to the ultimate in spareness, I admit to being utterly mesmerized. Check out Russian pianist Alexei Lubimov's forthcoming all-Cage CD "As It Is" when it's released by ECM later this month. Or get ahold of the Cage albums by pianist Margaret Leng Tan, who also wrote a moving tribute to Cage for the New York Times. (Note: Some of Tan's best Cage CDs were done for the New Albion label, which recently went out of business. But the CDs are, for the present, available as downolads from Ariama. And the CD containing "Four Walls," which she wrote about in the Times piece, is available as a CD-R from Amazon.)
Even if you don't appreciate Cage's music, which is nothing to be ashamed about, perhaps you can at least acknowledge the powerful, ongoing influence of Cage's ideas. No Cage, no minimalists, no "downtown" composers, no noise-rock like Sonic Youth, no a lot of the most intriguing music around today. Maybe they're not your favorite music, but they're all vital parts of the contemporary scene, without which music, and life, would be a little more boring. So for that alone, Mr. Cage, thanks a lot, and best wishes for happy mushroom hunting in the next realm.
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For those who are home, and for those who are on the way. For those who support the historic and just return of the land of Israel to its people, forever loyal to their inheritance, and its restoration.
In an article about a growing tide of African migrants sneaking into Israel, Joel Greenberg, the Washington Post's Jerusalem correspondent, draws a false parallel between Israelis as a nation of recent refugees seeking to cope with a new wave of refugees from Sudan and Eritrea ("In Israel, flow of migrants poses dilemma -- Some fear state's Jewish character is threatened amid an influx of African refugees" page A8, April 16)
"Their presence," Greenberg writes, "has created an acute dilemma for Israel, a state founded as a haven for Jewish refugees." And he adds:"The controversy over the African migrants touches on core questions of Israel's self-definition as both a Jewish and democratic state -- a nation of immigrants created as a shelter for Jews after the Holocaust."
A nation of immigrants created as a shelter for Jews after the Holocaust?
Greenberg simply has his history wrong by a margin of 3,000 years. The roots of Jewish nationhood go much deeper and cover a far longer historical span than the arrival of Holocaust survivors after World War 2. Jews ruled the Holy Land for a thousand years before the Common Era -- with only a brief, half-century exile in Babylon. After the Roman conquest, there was a continuous Jewish presence in Palestine until modern times.
Israel as a post-Holocaust shelter for Jewish refugees? Think again. Jews have rightful claims to the Holy Land as its most indigenous people since David conquered Jerusalem.
A few historical samples that illustrate Israel's historical ties to the land -- not as immigrants, not as refugees, but as permanent local residents:
--In the 6th Century of the Common Era, there were 43 Jewish communities across all parts of the Holy Land
--In the 11th Century, Jews were among the fiercest local fighters in defending Haifa against the Crusaders.
--From 1,267 on, there were an unbroken Jewish presence in Jerusalem until Jordan briefly seized the city in 1948.
--In the 16th Century, Kabbalists flourished in Safed, whose Jewish population grew to 30,000 by the end of that century.
--By mid-19th Century -- a hundred years before the Holocaust -- Jerusalem was preponderantly Jewish.
When Jewish survivors of the Holocaust arrived in Israel, they were welcomed in Israel by a vibrant local Jewish community whose roots pre-dated the Holocaust by many centuries.
Jews as migrants or refugees in their own land? Greenberg needs a refresher course in Middle East history. Jews aren't migrants or refugees when they come to settle in Israel. They may be refugees or immigrants elsewhere, but once in Israel, they've come home.
Thus, there's no parallel between African migrants who cross into Israel and Israelis as a supposed post-Holocaust "nation of immigrants."
If there's a moral quandary in Israel about what to do with these African migrants, it's not because both Israelis and Sudanese arrivals can be lumped together as foreign immigrants.
Rather, Israelis -- as locals with an indigenous identity of three millennia -- are commanded by their Creator to always be mindful, respectful and sensitive to the needs of the "stranger in your midst for you also were strangers when you were slaves in Egypt."
As usual, the Bible has it right, while Greenberg has it wrong -- Jews have been strangers, migrants, refugees not only in Egypt but around the world. Except in one place -- the Promised Land. There, they have been and remain fully at home.
If you enjoy "Love of the Land", please be a subscriber. Just put your email address in the "Subscribe" box on the upper right-hand corner of the page. .
I visited Hevron in November 2000 after the outbreak of the Rosh Hashanah War to see what could be done to assist in the face of the growing daily attacks on the community. After returning to work for the community in the summer of 2001, a bond and a love was forged that grows to this day. My wife Melody and I merited to be married at Ma'arat HaMachpela and now host visitors from throughout the world every Shabbat as well as during the week. Our goal, "Time to come Home!"
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Frontpage Interview’s guest today is Alide Forstmanis, the chair of Tribute to Liberty, a new organization based in Toronto that seeks to have a memorial built in Ottawa to the Victims of Communist Crimes, by November 2010.
FP: Alide Forstmanis, welcome to Frontpage Interview.
Forstmanis: Thank you, I am grateful to FPM for this opportunity to inform its readers about Tribute to Liberty.
FP: Tell us about this memorial you are planning.
Forstmanis: We want a memorial built in our nation’s capital Ottawa to the victims of communism, a commemoration to the more than 100 million who were subject to the denial of their fundamental rights and freedoms, to torture, to deprivation, and to murder.
We are doing our utmost to have it ready next year. You might ask, why the rush? It took 15 years to complete a similar monument in Washington DC. The answer is very practical: we do not have those years available here. The fact is that many of the Eastern European victims of communism have passed on and those who are still alive are getting very old. We would like as many as possible of them to have a chance to see the monument. The 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin wall in November has re-inspired our cause.
FP: What is your own personal background that explains your dedication to this issue?
Forstmanis: Both my parents are Latvian, but I was lucky to grow up in Sweden. Almost all of our relatives stayed in Latvia and some were also sent to Siberia. Living in Sweden I envied those that had cousins or other relatives living nearby, as we were just the four of us – my parents, my brother and me. I missed growing up with an extended family. Although that family lived on the other side of the Baltic Sea, only about 150 km away, it seemed very far, one could really sense a wall. I remember my parents listening to “Voice of America” and the other news sources that were being jammed by the Soviets – so our relatives in Latvia wouldn’t hear them. Our correspondence with Latvia was censured by the Soviets, and telephone calls were complicated to make, due to Soviet technical backwardness. In sum, communication was difficult.
For us in Sweden, very little, if anything was taught in the Swedish schools about the Baltic States, and to us it seemed as if to Sweden and the rest of the world these states hadn’t ever existed. Balts where often called “Russians”. And if you were not a Swedish citizen you were a “stateless Soviet Russian” citizen, and needed a visa to be able to travel internationally.
These experiences left me with a strong sense of my Latvian roots, and with a feeling of urgency to respond to what was going on. I then became involved in the Latvian communities in the various places I lived – Sweden, the UK, Germany and Canada – and I have seen the passion and conviction the survivors, including my parents, have had and the need they felt to inform the world about communism’s evils. The least I can do is try to get their suffering recognized here in Canada.
FP: What is the importance of monuments such as these?
Forstmanis: A monument like this will be a recognition by Canada of the determination of millions to come to a country like ours that celebrates liberty and opposes the oppression of totalitarian communism. This recognition will also help us remember the suffering that many of those Canadians endured, as well as the suffering of the millions who couldn’t come, and of the many millions that perished in the Gulag. Further it is also important for Canada’s future generations, to understand different Canadians’ backgrounds and history and bring a better understanding of each other. This monument will hopefully generate curiosity about communist crimes and through studies teach Canadians to be aware of and vigilant about them, and of the capacity for such evil in the world when our liberties are not protected.
FP: Why a memorial in Canada?
Forstmanis: According to 2006 Census almost 9 million of Canada’s 33 million inhabitants come from either former or current communist led countries. This is close to a third of the Canadian population. That’s an incredible number of people who can establish some kind of personal connection to lives under communist regimes. By building this memorial, Canada will show that it recognizes these connections. It will also underscore the seriousness with which we take our freedoms, our democracy, and the rule of law we are privileged to have.
FP: Why do you think there is so much resistance in our society to talking/educating about the crimes of Communism?
Forstmanis: The resistance has been there for a long time. Make no mistake: communist regimes have consistently been imperialistic, genocidal, brutal, murderous, aggressive, discriminatory, destructive, oppressive, cynical – there is no end to the negative descriptors that can be used. This has frightened both governments and ordinary citizens.
Many families in the west did not dare talk openly about their families in their homelands, because it could hurt them there. Fear is a great and often very understandable motivator. In addition, communist propaganda machines like that of the former Soviet Union have been incredibly efficient around the world at hiding the evils of communism and spreading myths about the good life offered under it. Many in the west bought this rhetoric – naivety, duplicity, ignorance – who knows the reasons. Many still refuse to acknowledge the truth about communism. And then there are those that say such extreme oppression is dead and that these crimes happened a long time ago so why dwell on them.
Luckily, in the last 20 years, archives have opened up and truths have been revealed. We must continue to bring this evidence to light however, to educate people about the monumental human suffering of the last century.
FP: How do you explain this monstrous evil of communism and how it has manifested itself — and continues to manifest itself? And even after massacring more than a hundred million people and causing unspeakable pain and suffering to millions of others, there are still myriads of believers. What are your thoughts on this phenomenon?
Forstmanis: Communism has existed for well over a century as an ideology and still maintains significant power in some countries. Ideologies can keep hold for a very long time. But many wonder why communism – which was in part the inspiration for Nazism, managed to survive its brutal offspring for so long. I think part of the reason was that the West had to make the communists our allies in the Second World War. This was a necessary evil at the time, but the result was that Stalin emerged largely unscathed from public criticism in the West. This despite his horrific abuses – the Holodomor genocide of Ukrainians, the Katyn slaughter of Poland’s senior officer ranks and intellectuals, to name just a couple.
Add to that the naive romanticism associated with communists – the legacy of the fight in the Spanish civil war against the fascists, the popular portrayal of Castro and Che Guevera, the popular portrayal of Mao (despite incredible slaughter) and you see a kind of branding that is extraordinarily positive. Finally, when the Berlin Wall fell in 1989, things begin to change, but people who had witnessed many of the worst horrors were older, and all were so focused on addressing economic anarchy that there simply wasn’t the kind of attention paid to the crimes of communism that there might have been otherwise.
There was no Nuremburg, there was no Truth and Reconciliation commission – that kind of public engagement still needs to occur. But when so many were caught up in the romanticism and are embarrassed by having to confront the realities, it makes it very hard to contemplate such engagement. After all, George Bernard Shaw himself denied the Ukrainian Holodomor – saying no famine was occurring. So did New York Time journalist Walter Duranty. Such high profile endorsements are hard to ever shake free.
And then, recognize the continuing power of communism. Speak to Chinese-Canadians about the fear – the still pervasive fear – about speaking out, when you have family and friends back home. Cuban Canadians understand it, so do Vietnamese, and Koreans and Tibetans. East Europeans understand constant fear of reprimand and reprisal – they all lived it.
So all of these factors combine to create an atmosphere where there is incredible ignorance. Here in Ontario the Ministry of Education decided to include teachings of genocide into its high school curriculum. They chose to include the Armenian and Rwandan genocides, ignoring the genocides communism has committed.
But things are starting to change. For example, in Sweden, the alliance government elected in 2006 is concerned about it. The Swedish minister of education has included teachings about communist crimes in his government declaration. This was done because a poll result a few years ago showed that only 10% of people aged ~15-25 knew about the Gulag.
I believe Hollywood has done a tremendous job in exposing and teaching about the Holocaust and its victims. It is time for Hollywood to make a few movies about life in the Gulag. It’s my understanding that there has been talk about making a film about the poisoned ex Soviet spy in London UK, however for some reason that production has come to a standstill, and the film might not be completed. I mentioned Shaw before. Think about how many public figures were enamored with communism – the legacy of that remains hard to shake, and people are inclined to say oh why don’t we just move on. And today, when every one wants more trade with China, criticizing communism has economic consequences that many are afraid to deal with.
FP: Is there any opposition to your efforts? The Left must not be very supportive.
Forstmanis: We recently received approval from the National Capital Commission of both projects for the concept and its name. To our original title “Memorial to the Victims of Communism” we added the adjective Totalitarian, in response to an early concern by NCC officials that the title might target legitimate political views in support of a communist party. With this, the NCC officials took the proposal forward to their decision-making body for a monument. That body agreed to the project in principle but still found objection to the revised name, arguing that it might offend communists, that it was not politically correct, and that it should mark all forms of oppression.
Needless to say this sparked derision when it got out. The media had a field day with it, and we think the NCC suddenly recognized how absurd their complaints were. I don’t bear malice towards them: they like many others were oblivious – I go back to my earlier point about ignorance. We were able to convince the NCC that the scope and scale of abuse by communism – directly and indirectly against Canadians – was deserving of public memorial. We agreed to an amended title of “Memorial to the Victims of Totalitarian Communism; Canada, A Land of Refuge”.
We have not encountered much other resistance. I would note that we have written endorsements from Members of Parliament in the Conservative Party, the Liberal Party, and the New Democratic Party. The Communist Party of Canada has written a letter to NCC asking them to reverse their decision, but this letter itself has sparked responses already – including a recent letter from the Vietnamese community. I can not imagine NCC reversing its decision. When you think that approximately 25% of Canadians trace connections to countries currently or formerly under the fist of communism it is hard to imagine this memorial being rejected now.
FP: What do you hope the monument will help achieve?
Forstmanis: I hope it will give an incentive to people to explore and learn about communism. To see it for what it was and still is. It supposedly died 20 years ago for the West, although ByeloRussians will tell you that isn’t the case yet. And certainly its remaining outposts – particularly China – are not to be treated as of little consequence. There are several lessons I think.
First, that this was an extraordinarily evil ideology that took hold of incredibly large parts of the world and subjugated – and still subjugates – hundreds of millions to its oppression. People need to know this history and this reality – it is a part of knowing what we are and where we come from.
Second, the excesses of communist authority can exist under another name: the undermining of democratic processes by various regimes around the world – in Russia, in the middle east, in Latin America – looks awfully like communism by another name. By understanding communism and its terrible affects better, we are better able to address other oppressive regimes.
Third, I would like this monument to be a recognition for the many, many refugees from communist countries that arrived in Canada. It acknowledges and memorializes what they endured, and what those who could not follow them endured.
And fourth, and related to that last point, I would like the monument to help us remember that Canada is a land of liberty. Our great country took people in from around the world, and still does, because it believes in the fundamental dignity and worth of every individual. This liberty is to be vigilantly guarded– memorials like this can help us do that. It is important every new generation gets informed so that past mistakes are not repeated.
FP: Alide Forstmanis, thank you for joining Frontpage Interview.
Frontpage encourages all of our readers to visit Tribute to Liberty.
[To get the whole story on why the Left ferociously opposes a true account of, and final verdict on, communism's crimes, read Jamie Glazov’s new book, United in Hate: The Left’s Romance with Tyranny and Terror.]
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Sermon Delivered April 19, 2009 (Great & Holy Pascha).
A little less than half way through the Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 12 we hear that:
Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered [Jesus], saying, "Teacher, we want to see a sign from You." 39But He answered and said to them, "An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.
What is the Sign of Jonah? Jesus tells them:
For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
This of course is why the Church has selected the Book of Jonah to be read at the Vesperal Liturgy of Holy Saturday which we celebrated this morning. Jonah, like all the prophets, is a type of Christ. In other words, Jonah comes before Christ and is very similar to Him. The Ancient Christian Commentary on the Scriptures relates that:
Jonah typified the Lord's three days in the tomb. He remained unharmed in the sea and waves, and though swallowed by the whale, he was not consumed by death (Paulinus). Also, the belly of the fish is called "the belly of hell" and is likened to the three days of Jesus' death (Theodoret). As such, Jonah typifies Christ's descent into the nether world. Just as Jonah survived in the belly, so Christ survived the tomb (Cyril of Jerusalem). Jonah cries out to the Lord like many of God's servants, is heard and delivered (Symeon). Jonah's expulsion from the whale after three days typifies resurrection (Tertullian). Jonah's fate in the fish's belly was not destruction but salvation (Gregory N).
In addition, St. Cyril of Jerusalem (5th cent.) says that when Jonah is thrown into the sea, thereby calming the storm prefigures Christ's rebuking the wind and storm while with His apostles. Further, Jonah, like Jesus, is a Jew who preaches repentance to Gentiles (non-Jews), in Jonah's case the people of Ninevah.
However, I believe Jonah is also a type of the average person, you and me. Let us quickly review Jonah's story. God the Lord speaks to Jonah and tells him to go to the city of Ninevah and cry out against the people because of their great wickedness. Instead of doing what the Lord's bidding, Jonah flees to Tarshish aboard a ship. A great storm arises and puts the boat and its occupants in peril. The mariners discover it is because of Jonah's disobedience to the Lord that the storm was upon them. The men throw Jonah overboard and the storm abates.
How often have we forsaken the will of the Lord by disobeying simple commandments like "You shall worship the Lord your God and have no other gods before Him; You shall remember the Sabbath and keep it holy; You shall honor your father and mother; You shall not commit adultery or fornicate; You shall not steal, lie nor covet"? How often have we disregarded Christ's word to discipline our tongue, check our anger, and control our lust? Think of the many storms, great and small, we have brought upon ourselves through our disobedience. These personal storms not only affect us, but like the mariners, they affect those around us. There is no such thing as a sin that doesn't hurt anyone but me. St. John Chrysostom (4th cent.) says that "In their attempts to lighten the ship's cargo, the mariners proved that the weight of Jonah's disobedience was the heaviest burden."
Looking at it from a different perspective, God was calling Jonah to perform a certain type of ministry to the Ninevites. Is not God also calling us to minister to each other, especially the poor, the hungry, the homeless, the strangers and the prisoners? The stewardship cards we send out each year, are they not a call from God to participate in the various ministries of the Church? How often do we turn our back on these opportunities to answer the call of the Lord? As we will see later, Jonah was afraid that the prophecy to the Ninevites would not be fulfilled and he would be ridiculed or persecuted.
Returning to the story of Jonah, one may think the terror on the boat was bad but now Jonah was thrashing in the cold tempest of the sea without a modern day life vest or preserver. To make matters worse, he is swallowed by a great fish. Jonah hits the proverbial "rock bottom." As any addict might tell us, rock-bottom is not the worst evil because it provides a harsh reality of our life separated from God and becomes the motivation for repentance and return to God. What does Jonah do in the darkness of the belly of the whale, in the midst of the sea? He cries out to the Lord. Listen to his prayer:
I cried out to the LORD because of my affliction, And He answered me. Out of the belly of Sheol I cried, And You heard my voice. For You cast me into the deep, Into the heart of the seas, And the floods surrounded me; All Your billows and Your waves passed over me. Then I said, I have been cast out of Your sight Yet I will look again toward Your holy temple. The waters surrounded me, even to my soul; The deep closed around me; Weeds were wrapped around my head. I went down to the moorings of the mountains; The earth with its bars closed behind me forever; Yet You have brought up my life from the pit, O LORD, my God. When my soul fainted within me I remembered the LORD; And my prayer went up to You Into Your holy temple. Those who regard worthless idols; Forsake their own Mercy. But I will sacrifice to You; With the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay what I have vowed Salvation is of the LORD (2:1-10).
What does God do? He hears the prayer of Jonah and the great fish vomits him out onto the dry land. Now Jonah goes to the Ninevites and prophesies against their sin saying Ninevah will be overthrown after forty days (3:1-4). How do the Ninevites respond? They repent and God spares them (3:5-10). Great! Mission accomplished. Jonah should be happy, right? Well he is not happy. He is upset, actually very upset, because he doesn't see God's mercy but only sees that the destruction he prophesied did not happen.
How often do we follow God's commandments and do His will by acting righteously and helping others expecting certain results. These people benefit from our efforts but we lose any benefits to be gained because we are still thinking in a self-centered manner even if we are acting in a selfless way. How sad after God has mercy on us, rescuing us from the belly of our passions and lifting us out of the sea of self-destruction, that we cannot rejoice when He does the same for others.
How did the Ninevites enjoin God's mercy and compassion to be delivered from destruction? It says, "believed God, proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest to the least of them (3:5). Hopefully, we have spent the forty days of Great Lent seeking to grow in faith and belief in God through prayer, worship, scripture reading and the like. Hopefully we have spent it fasting, denying our desires for gratification in order to gratify God by serving others through almsgiving. Hopefully, we have spent it wearing the sackcloth of true repentance by abstaining from evil thoughts, words and deeds.
To the degree we have practiced faith, fasting and repentance is the degree to which we are resurrected with Christ tonight. Returning to the 12th Chapter of Matthew, Jesus also says that:
The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than Jonah is here.
Let us identify with and imitate Jonah and the Ninevites so we can see the greater sign of the Resurrection of Christ. Let us reach out to the Great One, Jesus, so He may pull us up from the tomb of sin and death. Amen!
Fr. Richard Demetrius Andrews is the pastor of St. George Greek Orthodox Church in St. Paul, Minnesota. Fr. Andrews is the past president of Minnesota Eastern Orthodox Christian Clergy Association (MEOCCA), and a volunteer chaplain with the St. Paul Police Department.
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Introduction to Health Services Research : A Self-Study Course
Module 2: Brief History of Health Services Research (Page 14 of 40)
Public Health Becomes Increasingly Important - Local Health Departments
The Social Security Act (1935) generated the formation of local health departments.
APHA's Work in Public Health
The American Public Health Association (APHA), founded in 1872, examined the need for coordination of local departments to guarantee coverage of the entire country.
The American Public Health Association (APHA), founded in 1872, examined the need for coordination of these local departments to guarantee coverage of the entire country.
The Association conducted a needs assessment and endorsed the core public health services of vital statistics, communicable disease control, environmental sanitation, maternal child health, and public health education.
Grants Support Local Health Jurisdictions
This was also the year that the federal government considered how to coordinate public health services with hospital facilities. It distributed grants to support the expansion and improvement of the state and local health departments.
These grants later became the disease-oriented categorical grants, such as federal appropriations for breast cancer or diabetes (Flook, 1973).
The Work of J. Allison Glover
J. Allison Glover (1876-1963) documented variations in tonsillectomy rates in England in various articles during the 1930s. In 1938 Glover described how the rates of tonsillectomies varied significantly between several geographic regions. His work is referred to as The Glover Phenomenon and is an early example of what we now call small area variation. (White, 1992)
Health Services Studies
Important health services studies, such as the National Health Survey in 1935-1936 and the Department of Labor, Division of Cost of Living surveys correlated disparities in income with disparities in health status and access to quality medical care.
The government programs of the New Deal changed the locus of responsibility for many social programs from private, charitable organizations and local governments to the federal government. However, health insurance remained an individual concern.
View Key Projects and Milestones in Health Services Research.
- Why are public health important when considering health services research issues?
- Why is the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) and related NCHS surveys important to health services researchers?
- How much of the NHIS survey instrument, the coding content and related documents do those working with health services researchers need to know about?
- Are the disease-oriented categorical grants discussed above still important to health services researchers? For librarians to know about? Discuss why or why not.
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What's the Value of One Life Saved
Click here to read more articles about HVAC
This article originally appeared in the March/April 2007
issue of Home Energy Magazine.
March 09, 2007
Training in the whole-house approach to home performance gives contractors the ability to save lives as well as energy.
On a chilly morning in early November last year, Pete Foster arrived at the home of Hella Baer on Long Island, New York, to perform an energy evaluation of her home and to provide her with recommended upgrades. When Foster entered Ms. Baer’s house, the level indicator on his CO detector immediately began to rise. It reached 18 ppm in the living room. Foster is certified as a Building Analyst by the Building Performance Institute (BPI), a national nonprofit organization that provides professional credentialing for organizations and individuals in the home performance industry. Current BPI standards state, “Diagnostic evaluations and inspections must be aborted if ambient CO concentrations greater than 35 ppm are recorded.” Though CO levels at this point were not above 35 ppm, Foster was still concerned. Carbon monoxide can cause nausea, headaches, and dizziness even at levels below 10 ppm.
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Some Green readers have probably heard by now that a draft of the next big United Nations report on climate change has leaked.
The agent of the leak is a rather colorful climate contrarian named Alec Rawls, who essentially claimed, on the basis of a single sentence in the draft, that the entire edifice of climate science is about to collapse. In his interpretation, the group putting the report together, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, is about to acknowledge the validity of a longstanding fringe theory: that cosmic rays have a huge influence on the earth’s climate.
This claim turns out to be an overstatement, to say the least. But first, what do the leak and the accompanying flurry of reaction on blogs tell us about the United Nations exercise of periodically summarizing climate science?
These reports come out roughly every five years. They are unlike anything else in science that I know of: an attempt to digest the many thousands of relevant papers and discern a global scientific consensus about the state of climate science, the likely impacts of climate change, and the policies that might be effective in countering the risks.
The exercise is a special type of response to a unique global problem. Ultimately, the reports are supposed to help governments decide what steps to take to act on their own stated commitment under a global treaty to “prevent dangerous anthropogenic,” or human, “interference with the climate system.”
The I.P.C.C. has won accolades over the years, most notably the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize. But the reports have also become political lightning rods. Climate-change contrarians, though they publish very little in the relevant scientific literature, use the Internet to mount persistent attacks on the I.P.C.C. Being a human enterprise, the I.P.C.C. has certainly made mistakes, and these get magnified by people attempting to generate doubt about the overall body of climate science.
I’ve had conversations with several mainstream scientists who have their own doubts about the continuing value of the whole exercise. Some of them think the I.P.C.C. reports have become a too-convenient target. Most of these folks continue to participate, though. One top scientist, Ken Caldeira, caused a stir last year when he resigned as a lead author, saying he was confident in the other authors and felt that his own time could be put to better use.
Some other scientists, and a lot of environmental campaigners, feel the I.P.C.C. is just too cautious and too bureaucratic to make contributions to the global discourse that matter in real time. In their view, climate change itself is outrunning the statements that scientists are able to make about it through such a ponderous mechanism.
As best as I can tell, the majority of climate scientists hold a moderate view: that the I.P.C.C. certainly has its problems but remains a valuable forum for helping governments and the public understand the vast complexities of the field.
Now, as to the leak at hand, what does it tell us?
The first thing to say is that the document is a draft and is right now undergoing revisions that could turn out to be extensive. That means nothing in it yet represents the official position of the I.P.C.C. or the governments that appointed it.
That said, assuming that the current language survives revision, the top-line findings are not going to be especially surprising to anyone. The last I.P.C.C. report, in 2007, made headlines by going beyond the previous three reports, concluding on the basis of accumulating evidence that “most of the observed increase in global average temperatures since the mid-20th century is very likely due to the observed increase in anthropogenic greenhouse gas concentrations.”
The draft report pushes only a little beyond this language, saying it is “virtually certain” that greenhouse gases released by human activities are causing an energy imbalance that is warming the earth, and finding “very high confidence” that natural drivers of climate change are causing only a small fraction of that imbalance.
Again, assuming the draft language survives, this will be the single most important conclusion:
It is extremely likely that human activities have caused more than half of the observed increase in global average surface temperature since the 1950s. There is high confidence that this has caused large-scale changes in the ocean, in the cryosphere, and in sea level in the second half of the 20th century. Some extreme events have changed as a result of anthropogenic influence.
For anyone who has been following climate science closely the last few years, this is pretty much exactly what you would expect the next I.P.C.C. report to say. So what is it that got Mr. Rawls excited enough to leak the draft? (He got his hands on it by signing up to be an official reviewer, as virtually anyone can do, and then breaking his pledge to keep the draft confidential.)
The backdrop is that, in their quest to prove that anything other than human-generated greenhouse emissions are the cause of global warming, climate contrarians have seized on a theory promulgated by a Danish scientist named Henrik Svensmark. He believes that cosmic rays modulated by the sun exercise a substantial influence on the earth’s climate.
Some scientific results issued by Dr. Svensmark and others may turn out to be initial steps toward establishing the theory. The idea is a long, long way from being proven, however. Gavin Schmidt, a scientist at NASA, has outlined the missing steps here and further dissected the issue here. For more of a grounding in the basics, you can go here.
In this discussion, scientists often use the abbreviation G.C.R. for galactic cosmic ray. The sentence that fired Mr. Rawls’ imagination is the one in bold within the following paragraph:
Many empirical relationships have been reported between G.C.R. or cosmogenic isotope archives and some aspects of the climate system… The forcing from changes in total solar irradiance alone does not seem to account for these observations, implying the existence of an amplifying mechanism such as the hypothesized G.C.R.-cloud link. We focus here on observed relationships between G.C.R. and aerosol and cloud properties.
Mr. Rawls found this to be a “game-changing” acknowledgement that, yes, earthly climate must be influenced by cosmic rays. Indeed, in his manifesto leaking the document, he called this sentence “an astounding bit of honesty, a killing admission that completely undercuts the main premise and the main conclusion of the full report, revealing the fundamental dishonesty of the whole.”
Looking at the full report, I have to wonder if Mr. Rawls just stopped reading when he got to that sentence. Because what follows is a lengthy discussion of the science to date regarding cosmic rays and climate, one that points out the intriguing results suggesting a possible connection, but also points out that many of those studies cannot be reproduced by other scientists, that many of the supposed correlations are weak, and so forth. (To read the whole discussion for yourself, download Chapter 7 here or, if that has crashed again, as happened earlier, try here and click “create download link.” Go to Section 7.4.5.)
That single sentence may, in fact, be inartfully worded, giving more credence to the cosmic ray theory than it deserves – and I’m guessing the I.P.C.C. authors will now take a closer look at it. But as I read it, the full discussion is a balanced recitation of what we know so far, a diligent attempt to take the published science into account, including the many holes in the theory – exactly what one would hope for from the climate body.
The discussion concludes, explicitly, that evidence of a connection between cosmic rays and climate is quite weak. That is not the same as saying it won’t be proven some day, but it certainly has not been proven yet.
My interpretation of all this appears to be confirmed by a statement from Steve Sherwood, a climate scientist at the University of New South Wales who is a lead author of the chapter in question. He told the blogger Graham Readfern:
The single sentence that this guy pulls out is simply paraphrasing an argument that has been put forward by a few controversial papers (note the crucial word “seems”) purporting significant cosmic-ray influences on climate. Its existence in the draft is proof that we considered all peer-reviewed literature, including potentially important papers that deviate from the herd. The rest of the paragraph from which he has lifted this sentence, however, goes on to show that subsequent peer-reviewed literature has discredited the assumptions and/or methodology of those papers, and failed to find any effect. The absence of evidence for significant cosmic-ray effects is clearly stated in the executive summary. This guy’s spin is truly bizarre. Anyone who would buy the idea that this is a “game changer” is obviously not really looking at what is there.
There you have it. For those who can’t get enough of this flap, go to the invaluable Skeptical Science Web site, where Dana Nuccitelli has further deconstructed Mr. Rawls’s argument.
Here’s the real kicker, as Mr. Nuccitelli points out: if the supposed cosmic ray mechanism were valid, and as strong as the climate contrarians want to believe, the earth should be cooling rather sharply right now. But it is doing nothing of the sort.
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As many of you may have noticed, Dining Services is no longer using trays in Connection Café. This is to reduce food, water and chemical waste. Together, without trays, we can save more than 11,500 lbs. of food waste in just one semester.
This can be determined by using a national average of 1.5 oz. per student per meal saved, which was published in a white paper from ARAMARK Higher Education.
Going tray-less on college campuses is a trend emerging all over the U.S. This is a huge step amongst many efforts to reduce UT Arlington’s carbon footprint. Look for more Green initiatives like this in support of the President’s Sustainability Committee.
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Watch full story"The anesthesiologist, the nurse, they were all fantastic, they were all nice. We joked around and they made me feel comfortable."
Holy Cross Hospital Awarded Grant for Educational Campaign Targeted to Hispanic and African American Women and Men
The Florida Breast Cancer Foundation has awarded the Michael and Dianne Bienes Comprehensive Cancer Center at Holy Cross Hospital a $10,000 grant for an educational and awareness campaign targeting Hispanic and African American women and men.
The Holy Cross Partners in Breast Health Program is designed to create awareness of breast health, increase knowledge on how to access breast health care and overcome barriers in accessing breast health care for 250 women and men in Broward County in the hope of reducing advanced diagnoses and cancer mortality. Breast cancer continues to be one of the most common causes of death among African American and Hispanic women. Nationwide, African American women are approximately 37 percent more likely to die of breast cancer than women who are white non-Hispanic.
“This population faces several barriers including lack of education and awareness about breast cancer, poverty, lack of or inadequate health insurance, poor access to care, racial discrimination, language, lower preventive care utilization, cancer fatalism and other cultural issues,” said Project Director Christina Austin-Valere, PhD, LCSW. “This is a grassroots, community-based program to reach the underserved population in our community. We will offer the Partners in Breast Health Program to local non-profit organizations that reach those most in need by partnering with local universities to recruit and train student nurses as facilitators. That way, nurses can have an impact early on in their careers and help save lives at the same time.”
More than 20 breast health workshops will be scheduled that are culturally-appropriate for each target population. Each workshop will focus on healthy lifestyles, breast cancer detection and community resources and will include the recommended screening guidelines by the American Cancer Society, which recommends that women who are 40 or older have a screening mammogram done annually and maintain this practice as long as they remain in good health. Women who are in their 20s and 30s should have a Clinical Breast Exam (CBE) in conjunction with their routine health exam performed by their physician at least every three years. An annual CBE should be done for women who are 40 or older.
“Participants will gain the tools and motivation they need to prevent and detect breast cancer early thus improving survival,” said Dr. Austin-Valere. “They will also be educated as to what to do if or when a problem is detected and where to go for treatment.”
A licensed clinical social worker and the Breast Health Navigator at Holy Cross Hospital will be available to participants for help in scheduling appointments and for financial assistance and support.
“Culturally-sensitive breast health education provided in community-based settings by trained facilitators is one of the most important health care needs of minority women and men,” said Dr. Austin-Valere. “The effort must also include ways to empower minority women and men to be active participants in their breast health.”
Among the groups that will be contacted to host the workshops are the Urban League of Broward County, Hispanic Unity of Florida, Minority Empowerment and Development Inc. and the Holy Cross Hospital Community Outreach Department.
For more information, please contact Dr. Austin-Valere at 954-267-7770
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Investor-owned utilities serving the Southeast U.S. are well-positioned to face increasing competition, but the region's municipal joint power agencies and electric co-ops may face serious losses.
That's the finding of a Moody's Investors Service regional study, the fourth in a series.
The "Southeast Electric Break-Even Analysis" estimates $24 billion in stranded costs for the region, with cooperatives and JPAs holding a disproportionately high portion of the per-kilowatt costs.
Moody's found the 12 IOUs and several major municipal electrics to have relatively low stranded costs, resulting in higher bond ratings. The ratings ranged from 'Aa2' to 'A2' for the IOUs. The average U.S. electric utility industry as a whole is rated 'A3.' Four IOUs (em Duke Energy, Alabama Power, Savannah Electric and Mississippi Power (em face no stranded costs. The state-owned South Carolina Public Service Authority is rated 'Aa2' and has minimal stranded costs while two major munis, Orlando Utilities Commission and Jacksonville Electric Authority, both rated 'Aa1,' also have moderate stranded cost exposure.
Tennessee Valley Authority may face some stranded costs should it be privatized, but Moody's believes privatization is unlikely anytime soon. TVA maintains its 'Aaa' rating because it is a government-owned agency and because it's likely Congress would support its debt should it be privatized.
Moody's reserved its bad news for two North Carolina municipals: North Carolina Eastern Municipal Power Agency, rated 'Baa1,' and North Carolina Municipal Power Agency No 1, rated 'A3.' Moody's found that while the two agencies' potential stranded costs may not be the largest, they add up to more than $1,000 per kilowatt.
The study examines generation's relative costs based on a model for the electric industry developed by Moody's in 1994. The model distinguishes what a utility must charge for energy (em its actual power, measured in kilowatt-hours that customers use (em and what it charges for capacity (em the uninterrupted availability of energy in kilowatts. Break-even is the minimum price a utility must sell electric capacity to cover fixed production costs.
The average break-even price for JPAs is much higher than for those of Southeastern IOUs and munis. North Carolina Eastern Municipal Power Agency has the highest break-even price for installed generation in the region: $363 per kW of capacity; Duke Energy has the lowest break-even price for installed generation, minus $2 per kW. (em LAB
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Osteoporosis at a Glance
For the most part, our bodies function on autopilot—and the same goes for our bones: They’re programmed to regenerate themselves, with new bone replacing old. In ideal circumstances, this keeps bone tissue dense and sturdy.
If you have osteoporosis, a condition that affects about 10 million Americans, several things can happen:
- Your body may be losing bone mass too fast.
- Your body may not be making enough new bone fast enough.
- You may not have had enough strong bone to start with.
- Or you may be experiencing a combination of these problems.
The result? Your bones weaken over time, and if left unchecked, something as ordinary as lifting a stuffed grocery bag can cause a fracture. But perhaps the most important osteoporosis fact of all is that it’s a silent disease: Since you can’t see or feel your bones getting weaker, you could have osteoporosis and not even know it.
All too often, people don’t discover they have osteoporosis until bone weakness leads to a fracture, or broken bone—and the result can have long-term effects. In addition to causing pain at the site of the break, fractures may require a lengthy recovery, which can mean time away from work, having to stop your favorite pastimes and needing others to help you perform basic everyday activities. In serious cases, like a hip fracture, you may need surgery, hospitalization and an intense recovery that puts your independence at risk.
Quite a lot! You can start taking steps today to help keep osteoporosis at bay and even reverse bone loss. The first is discovering how strong your bones are right now; building a partnership with your doctor can help you do just that.
Your doctor may recommend a bone mineral density scan, which will shed light on your bone health. She can also help you develop a bone-protecting action plan that may include eating more calcium- and vitamin D-rich foods, exercising, taking supplements and possibly osteoporosis medications.
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