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The pipe is part of a line that was built in the mid 1970s, but in 2009 the river bank started to erode, shifting the water's edge and leaving the pipe exposed.
This exposed pipeline in Toronto's Rouge Park has been causing concerns for at least one environmentalist. Enbridge, which has had highly-publicized spills in Wisconsin and Michigan, had responded to the problem by placing concrete blocks around the pipe as temporary protection.
But, naturally enough, the pesky environmentalist wasn't satisfied, so:
"We've been working with the authority to come up with a solution … something that blends in a little bit with the surroundings and something that they felt was not obtrusive," he said.
Nogier said work will begin soon and they hope to have a cover in place in a couple of months.
A few take-away points:
1) there's been a problem since 2009, but Enbridge did nothing until someone complained.
2) In response to that complaint, they did a shitty job.
3) In response to a complaint about their shitty job, they have promised to do a better job in "a couple of months".
4) This is their response to a problem in a populated area, with tons of media around to keep an eye on them.
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|Image: Rachel in Wonderland|
Chiragh Bibi lives in a small house in Shadra, one of the poorest areas of Lahore. She bends low over a piece of cloth, her eyes dimmed by age, squinting through thick-framed glasses held together with a piece of white masking tape, and tries to locate a thread. With much difficulty she finally finds it and, eventually, bites the extra piece off. ‘If I am as slow as I am today, we won’t be getting more than 100 rupees,’ she says, wagging a finger at her daughter, who is helping her. Her daughter does not reply, instead continuing to concentrate on the intricate embroidery she is doing on a shirt. Both are working as quickly as they can, but even so this 70-year-old woman has to work for 18 to 20 hours a day in order to complete the order. Her posture has become permanently stooped, while her frail figure and dark skin tell of years of malnourishment.
In Korangi, one of Karachi’s industrial areas, Shakeela, 38, makes about PKR 50 rupees a day for embroidering a thousand pieces of cloth. She works from home while taking care of her four young children. Her neighbour, Shabana, is worse off, with a workload that is ridiculously high. By packing 2500 to 3000 bags of dry fruit every day, she makes only about PKR 150 – a paltry sum with which to support her three young girls. Her husband has left her for another woman, so she has to deal with her situation all alone.
There are an estimated 50 million home-based workers in all of Southasia, of whom around 80 percent are women. The situation is roughly the same in Pakistan; according to the 2009 Pakistan Economic Survey, at least 70 percent of home-based workers are women, numbering around 8.5 million. Not only does the informal sector (both men and women) account for more than 73 percent of total employment in Pakistan, but according to Umme Laila Azhar, coordinator of a rights group called HomeNet, in the last two years this figure has grown by some 28 percent. These women are given neither protection by law, nor proper wages by their clients. There is no official rate schedule for their work, nor can they do much about the middlemen who can refuse to pay due wage for work already done. At the lowest rung of society, these women are some of the most vulnerable in the social economy – and for now, there is no sign of them receiving much support, especially from the government.
In Lahore alone, there are nearly 500,000 women engaged in such work. From making kites (now banned in Punjab) and paper bags, many ‘upgrade’ to produce shoe soles, jewellery, bangles or even small parts for vehicles. Like Chiragh Bibi, Shakeela and Shabana, many also engage in stitching and embroidery. Other such ‘cottage industry’ products include incense and women’s and children’s apparel, while less-paying tasks include making carpets, cleaning fruit, peeling and packing prawns, making pottery or stitching jute bags.
Admittedly, these jobs are major sources of income for a huge section of Pakistan’s poor. But having these jobs does not seem to be getting these women anywhere. Most are forced to scrape through the entire month due to the miniscule ‘salaries’ they receive. Circumventing the state entirely, large-scale businessmen contract this work out to middlemen, who in turn get it done, typically under piecemeal arrangements, through these informal labourers. ‘They have no health facilities, or transportation facilities,’ says Aima Mahmood, president of the Working Women Organisation (WWO) based in Punjab. ‘They must buy and bring home their own material and, in some cases, they even have to pay for damaged goods – for example, in the case of food items. If some dry fruits turn out to be bad, it comes out of their pockets.’
One of the sectors where women workers are most exploited is the bangle industry – quite the opposite of the traditional associations of bangles with joy and happiness. These workers live in poor, unhealthy environments. Most families have some five to ten members iving in single rented rooms, with crowded common laundry and toilets. An estimated 95 percent are unskilled workers, while the rest have had some insignificant training. In Hyderabad (Sindh), an incredible 80 percent of the workforce is thought to be engaged in making bangles. The simple fact is that they have no other choice, thanks to a lack of skills training. According to a HomeNet report, more than half of the women bangle-makers are illiterate, while only 13 percent have completed their primary education.
For bangle-makers, there are no fixed wages, and no set rules or regulations followed by the factory owners. For a tora of bangles – the basic unit of counting making up 300 pieces – workers receive a minimum of PKR 50 and a maximum of PKR 100. Wages are inflexible and can quickly lose their worth due to fast inflation and increasing prices of commodities. Neither do these women have access to medical facilities, despite the fact that making bangles requires them to sit in a single position for hours on end. This causes severe backbone, knee and joint pain for many and also gynaecological problems.
The method of bangle-making, using flame and glass in closed surroundings make the bangle-makers’ job especially dangerous. Electric fans or coolers cannot be used as the bangle burners are kept ablaze, causing significant heat problems for the workers in often-unventilated rooms. Bangle-makers are also exposed to electric shock, chemical burns on the hands and face, and multiple cuts due to the sharp glass used to carve designs on the bangles. Long-term inhalation of the chemicals can lead to asthma and increased susceptibility to tuberculosis and other respiratory diseases; staring into flames for long hours without eye protection, coupled with small slivers of glass flying about, also inevitably leads to eye problems.
Incredibly, informal labourers are completely unrecognised by the Labour Department or by Pakistan’s labour laws. They do not even register in the country’s labour statistics. ‘In the labour laws, the definition of the term worker defines them, but legally they do not fall under their protection,’ says Aima Mahmood. ‘They do not benefit from the Payment of Wages Act, the Maternity Benefits Ordinance or the Employees Old Age Benefit Act, just to name a few.’
Manzoor Khaliq, with the International Labour Organisation (ILO), says that international agreements on protecting workers in the informal sector, specifically Convention 177, agreed upon in 1989, are yet to be implemented in Pakistan. ‘Since then, the government has been lobbied strenuously by various NGOs and the ILO too, but this convention still has not been ratified,’ he says. ‘Laws cannot be made unless it has been ratified.’
Initiatives have been taken by NGOs that have tried to develop a national policy for home-based workers in collaboration with the federal government. In 2010, for instance, a consultation took place involving the Labour Department and several groups, though the matter was eventually deferred until other meetings. ‘This is an ongoing process and we have to have a second consultation soon,’ Khaliq says. Meanwhile, the 18th Amendment – passed in April 2010, under which all bodies that fell under the federal government are to be devolved to the provincial level – is silent regarding rules and regulations for the informal sector.
Programmes for worker welfare have been started but have also not really taken off. Projects initiated by the federal government and the provincial governments have been left incomplete due to lack of finances, with some dogged by allegations of corruption. There is also a problem of continuity – when a new government comes to power, it does not continue work on programmes introduced by earlier authorities. The high level of antagonism between the various political parties thus affects even the few programmes that are there to sere informal sector workers.
It is significant that the 64 years of independent Pakistan saw military rule for over three decades, during which the military governments were not sensitive enough to initiate programmes in these areas. Indeed, the military establishments have usually suppressed workers, preventing them from forming unions that could speak, they feared, against the establishment. And if organised labour itself faced such challenges, informal labour is a whole different question.
Civilian governments, meanwhile, have generally been unstable, and hence more concerned with their own longevity rather than issues such as worker rights. Also, civilian governments have tended to ally themselves with the feudal landlords, who typically lack any broader agenda other than to increase their own control over workers in their fiefdom. Most home-based workers are based in rural areas controlled by such feudal forces.
Although legal recommendations to deal with this issue have been put forward (by, for instance the WWO and others), these seem to be in a perennial state of postponement. These recommendations include the registration of informal workers for social security; providing training to women workers, especially to enable them to switch to safer occupations; formulating unions of informal workers and ensuring minimum wages; and formally addressing home-based women workers in the labour policy. In addition, many groups have recommended that investors, industrialists and other large-scale actors be actively involved in this process, and for those who do not follow the new rules to face stiff penalties. The role of the contractor, for instance, should be eliminated outright, thus forcing companies to deal directly with the people who are doing the work. Apart from this, health, education and other issues, including violence against women, should be monitored closely by government councils.
So far, however, these recommendations remain mere words on paper. In the meantime, women such as Shakeela, Shabana and Chiragh Bibi continue from day to day, trying to simply survive. Their eyes are dimmed by their work, but their future seems even dimmer.
~ Xari Jalil is a freelance journalist in Karachi.
Romila Thapar addresses invitees at the
Southasian relaunch of Himal Southasian,
IIC, New Delhi, January 2013.
Old Faces, New Precedents
On 11 May 2013, Pakistan went to the polls in a general election that will transfer power democratically for the first time in the nation's history. Nawaz Sharif has claimed victory for the Pakistan Muslim League-N.
From our archive:
Mehreen Zahra-Malik discusses novel means of holding corrupt officials to account in 'A coup by other means?' (July 2012)
Shamshad Ahmad on praetorian irony, Machiavelli's prince, and Pakistan's fight for constitutional primacy. (January 2008)
Zia Mian and A H Nayyar write about Pakistan's coup culture and Nawaz Sharif's 'absolutist sense of power.' (November 1999)
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Regina Leader Post
September 29, 1931. p.1
ESTEVAN, Sask., Sept. 29. With six policeman, five striking miners and a bystander badly hurt, the streets of Estevan were finally cleared at 3:40 o'clock this afternoon following the fiercest riot ever experienced in southern Saskatchewan.
The miners, having been driven from all the streets, were assembling on the outskirts of the town.
Fearing another attack and a rush of the town hall, the badly-mauled police were re-organizing to resist another attempt.
ESTEVAN, Sask., Sept. 29. Police and striking miners clashed on the streets of Estevan today when the authorities attempted to prevent miners aboard motor trucks from entering the town and parading.
The miners, who had come in by trucks and cars from Taylorton and Bienfait, met and consolidated their forces at the Crescent mine, one mile east of town. The procession proceeded to Estevan with the avowed intention of going to the town hall where their meeting had been forbidden by Mayor Bannatyne.
When within a block of the town hall, the miners were met by a cordon of police. The strike procession drove around one block, circled around and came up to the town hall, and then the trouble started.
Mounted policeman armed with rifles and revolvers ordered them to halt and drew their revolvers.
The miners descended form their cars and made a dash for the street.
HURL STONES, CLUBS
The police drew in line across the highway to resist the miners and the latter began hurling stones and clubs. The policemen, however, did not fire and slowly withdrew.
At 3:20 p.m. the fire department was called out to assist the police in restoring order.
At 3:30 p.m. the fire department turned on their hoses and began spraying the crowd of riotous miners with water.
FIRE REVOLVERS OVER HEADS
Several Mounted Policemen and town policeman with blood streaming down their faces from wounds caused by stones, bricks and sticks are holding the mob in check by firing their revolvers over the heads of the strikers.
Six hundred striking men and women surrounded the fire engine and stopped the fire department from using water.
The big crowd then surrounded the handful of police who were still firing above their heads with revolvers at the time this telephone was received, 3:35 p.m.
Store windows along the main street were shattered by missiles thrown by the miners, street lamps broken and the street generally looked as if tornado had swept it.
The women of the striking miners took a prominent part in the riot which was largely responsible for the caution of the police in avoiding firing into the crowd.
The retreating handful of police had been brought to bay with their backs against the Estevan city hall at 3:35 p.m.
Sixteen policemen armed with rifles were hurried into the town in cars from the different mines in the area and came to the aid of their beleaguered comrades.
200 TO SEE MAYOR
At 1:30 o'clock 200 striking miners mustered in Bienfait and after a short conference decided to form a motorcade and descend upon Estevan, where they are to interview Mayor Bannatyne with reference to the public meeting that has been called this evening. This in effect is considered by the miners as a parade, although it will not be the usual walk with demonstrations of banners. When the miners mustered at Bienfait no banners were to be seen.
At 2 o'clock the strikers got into lorries and cars at Bienfait and moved off to the Crescent mine at Taylorton, where they were to be reinforced by another contingent of strikers.
Several banners were displayed on the lorries and cars, among them being some bearing the following legends:
"We are going to live in houses now, not in piano boxes."
"We refuse to starve."
"Down with the company stores."
On the back of one car, one of the artists from among the strikers had painted a huge steam shovel. This, it was explained, referred to the big steam stripping shovel used at the Truax Traer Mine which is still operating. This mine is not unionized and the miners did not go on strike.
James Sloan, Dominion president of the Mine Workers Union of Canada was uncommitted as to whether the parade would be staged in defiance to the edict of council. He said at noon that the matter was in the hands of a committee. Should the parade take place, in defiance of the definite ruling of the town authorities, a clash between police and strikers will be inevitable.
These developments took place when it became generally known that the striking miners in the Bienfait and Estevan district were planning to stage a big demonstration in the town of Estevan.
It was announced by union officials that the miners would congregate at Bienfait at 1:30 in the afternoon, threading their way through the idle mining districts picking up recruits en route. From the mine fields the procession was to make its way to Estevan, where the miners were to parade through the streets carrying banners proclaiming their grievances. It was anticipated that a mass meeting would be held in the town limits addressed by members of the striker's army.
Early Tuesday morning Mayor D. Bannantyne called an emergency meeting of the town council.
The council went definitely on record as forbidding any parade or demonstration on the part of either of the warring bodies and ruled that in the event of such taking place, the situation should be placed in the hands of Chief of Police MacCutcheon and Inspector W.J. Moorehead, of the R.C.M.P.
Sloan was informed by Chief of Police MacCutcheon on long distance telephone that the parade would not be allowed. The president of the miners' organization would not say whether the parade would or would not be held.
In Bienfait large forces of the miners were mobilizing throughout the morning. In Estevan police forces made plans to prevent any act on the part of the miners in defiance to the ruling of the town authorities.
At noon the town of Estevan was waiting in suspense for any development in the tense situation. Throughout the sector police patrols kept a close watch for any signs of movement on the part of the strikers. It was anticipated that should the miners attempt to stage their demonstration that the police would concentrate at the limits of the town and prevent them from entering.
The strikers had planned to hire the town hall for a meeting to be held Tuesday night when Anna Buller, a well-known woman organizer of Winnipeg, was to speak at a public meeting on "The Truth About the Strike."
The possibility of the miners attempting to hold a public open air meeting in the city is rumored. What the attitude of the town authorities would be to such a meeting was not disclosed.
Judge E.R. Wylie, district court judge at Estevan, was in conference with Hon. Gideon R. Robertson, federal minister of labor, Monday night in Regina. No report of the conference was given but it was said that the judge is to commence his investigations into the coalfields trouble.
Recently Judge Wylie was named commissioner with full power to make inquiries into the coal mining fields of the Estevan district, and though a week has gone by the judge awaited the conference with the minister of labor before starting his work. Certain lines of procedure were laid down by the federal minister of labor and suggestions given to Judge Wylie. When the investigation is complete, Judge Wylie will report direct to the federal minister.
NOT READY YET
The official statement from the striking miners, concerning their grievances, is not ready as yet, and could not be obtained Tuesday morning.
Striking miners sat for a whole Monday in secret session at Bienfait, storm centre of the industrial battle area, while Mounted Police officers, armed with rifles, patrolled the sector and kept a ceaseless guard on the idle mines.
With a greatly augmented force, between 30 and 40 men, under the command of Inspector W. Moorehead, Regina, all precautions are being taken to defend life and property in the area in the event of riots taking place. The force is "standing to" at dawn each morning in the vicinity of the Truxa Traer mine, the only large mine now on operation in the field while sentries patrol the property at night.
Transportation is kept available for immediately rushing reinforcements to any point of the sector in case trouble should arise. Held in reserve are quantities of tear gas bombs. The whole area is being closely watched for any invasion from outside points of would be "rioters" and the roads leading into Bienfait and Estevan are being patrolled.
PLAN BIG PARADE
From James Sloan, president of the Miners' Union, came the announcement Monday morning that the miners had decided to complete a statement of their grievances, the details of which have hitherto been kept private, and make them public. He also announced that a big demonstration parade would be held through the streets of Estevan Tuesday afternoon, and that, at night, Anna Buller, the well known Winnipeg woman organizer would address a meeting in the town hall at 8 o'clock on "The Truth About the Strike." The parade may go on, but it was learned that town officials, who have previously allowed the miners committee to meet in the town hall will not allow the building to be used for this purpose Tuesday night. No application had been received from the strikers to hold a parade in the town by either Chief of Police MacCutcheon or Mayor D. Bannatyne late Monday night.
TWO DEAD, ONE DYING IN FIERCE RIOT BETWEEN ESTEVAN POLICE, STRIKERS
At 3:40 o'clock this afternoon, the toll of injured in the fierce riot staged by striking miners had reached 12, including five miners, six policemen, and a bystander.
Bullets laid low the five miners who were stretched out on the floor of the Estevan hospital.
The policemen were suffering from head and scalp wounds caused by missiles thrown by the miners.
Clive Butterworth, an Estevan resident and bystander, suffered a dangerous bullet wound in the groin.
Led by Inspector Moorehead, a detachment of the mounted police at 3:50 o'clock this afternoon, armed with rifles were pursuing the strikers , who had finally been cleared off the streets. They drove the sullen crowd to the town limits, firing their rifled over the heads of the retreating men and women.
During the retreat, one striker was arrested.
As he was being taken to the town cells, three of the miners' women were also arrested and placed in the cells. Two other strikers had been taken in custody previously, making six in all arrested to date.
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A modern dictionary of Catholic terms, both common and obscure. Find accurate definitions of words and phrases.
Aromatic gum or resin in the form of powder or grains that give off a fragrant smoke when they are burned. When blessed it is a symbolic sacramental. Its burning signifies zeal or fervor; its fragrance, virtue; its rising smoke, human prayer ascending to God. It is used at Mass, for the Gospel book, the altar, the people, the ministers, and the bread and wine; before consecration; at benediction of the Blessed Sacrament; during processions; and at absolutions of the dead. When it is to be used, it is carried in a metal cup-shaped container and burned in a thurible or censer. Five large grains of it are placed in the Paschal candle at the Easter Vigil to symbolize the Five Wounds of the Risen Savior. In some countries it is placed in a stationary censer to burn slowly before the Blessed Sacrament, either exposed or reserved on the altar. (Etym. Latin incensum, incense; literally, something burned; from incendere, to kindle.)
All items in this dictionary are from Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission.
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About the Savannah Cat...
Savannah Cats are a breed of domestic cat
that mirrors the beauty of spotted wildcats and yet make a great house pet. In
fact, the very first Savannahs were created by out crossing domestic cats with
the graceful, long bodied and long legged exotic Serval Cats.
Serval Cats are medium sized, fun loving and playful cats weighing approximately
20- 35 pounds and standing 15-30 inches at the shoulder at maturity. The males tend to be larger
than the females. There are currently 14 different sub-species recognized.
|Found in the savannah grasslands
|A Servals diet in the wild consists of rodents,
birds, small reptiles, fish and anything else they can catch in the tall
grass, or leap up and pull out of the air, that looks tasty.
|The Barbary Serval from Algeria is the only
Serval considered endangered by USF&W.
To continue with the Savannah story......
The first Serval Cats were crossed with domestic cats as part of a research
effort to study cat diseases. After years of careful breeding, we now have
the breathtaking and
affectionate house cats that resemble the spotted exotic cats of the African
The first offspring produced by breeding an
Serval to a
domestic cat is known as the "F1" generation. F1 is a genetics term that
means "first filial". Many of these attempted crosses do not produce live
young. When the kittens do survive, the F1 males are sterile. The F1 hybrid
females, on the other hand, can be fertile and can be bred to other domestic cats.
This is how the Savannah breed was established. Due to the difference in
the gestation periods of a domestic cat and a Serval cat, the first generation
kittens are sometimes born premature and either require an incredible amount of
care to survive.
When an F1 female hybrid is crossed, the next
generation is called the F2. Once again, the F2 Savannah foundation males
are not fertile. The females are once again usually bred to fertile
males now that we have reached fertility in the lower generations.
The same is true of the F3 foundation generation. A small percentage of the F3
males may occasionally produce some offspring. Normally an F5 is the first
generation we try to keep to test for fertility. To date we have had two F5
males, one is fertile the other one was not. As of 2009 we have a fertile SBT
male and a fertile F4 male that we have added to our program.
These first three generations are registered by The International Cat Association
(TICA) as foundation cats and only the F3's can be shown in TICA-sponsored cat shows
as a new breed. F1s and
F2s are often gorgeous, but should not be considered as pets for inexperienced households.
For example, they can be extremely active, a touch on the moody
side and due to their size are not good to have around young children. There are
always exceptions to this, but in general we do not recommend the F1's or F2's
for homes with small children.
The fourth generation of offspring that have been breed to
only other Savannahs for four generations are considered domestic Savannah cats. TICA
registers these as "SBTs". SBT pedigreed Savannahs can be shown in
TICA-sponsored cat shows but are still not accepted for championship status.
Savannahs make great pets. By careful breeding,
TICA affiliated catteries maintain the "wild" look, but produce well-socialized
pets. Savannahs are often selected as pets by previous dog owners, since they are
often more sociable and playful than some other breeds of cats.
Savannahs have long graceful necks, big ears and long legs.
They are usually a bit larger than your regular house cat in height and length,
and we strive for a nice short thick tail.
Their coats are short and as a result they usually do not shed as much as
longer haired cats. The coats are often called "pelts" because they are so much
like a fur-bearing animal's soft fur. And of course, they are spotted to
resemble their wild ancestors.
Did you know that more people are now selecting cats as pets than dogs? This
change appears to have occurred because most folks now work outside of the home
for long hours. Cats can be left alone with food and a litter box -- where as
dogs usually need to be walked.
Savannahs often make good pets for dog-lovers as well as cat people.
are outgoing and enjoy games and interaction with their humans. Some of our
Savannahs like to play fetch. A few will wear a harness and a leash. Several
like to play with water. They greet you at the door and "talk" to you. They
never stop entertaining their households.
THE ABOVE INFORMATION IS COPYRIGHT PROTECTED -
you may use it if you note the source on your site and ask permission FIRST.
Contact us for more info
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With Earth Day coming up on April 22nd you may be wondering if you have done enough to help our planet and what more you can do. The very best way to improve our health, and that of our planet, is to utilize our purchasing power. Making smart choices in the products you buy, from food to cosmetics, not only creates a healthier lifestyle for you and your family, but also creates a higher demand for safe products. This, in turn, necessitates safer farming and manufacturing processes, improving our soil, water and earth.
Earth Day was founded by U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson (D-Wisconsin) as a way to inspire awareness in the environment, with hopes of gaining attention for environmental issues in Washington DC. The first Earth Day was held on April 22 1970, on the spring equinox.
And what more perfect time to celebrate our Earth than the season of change. As we welcome sunshine, fresh air and greenery back into our lives we also tend to make changes in our diets, activities and clothing.
Fruits and vegetables are more enticing than heavier foods. Buying organically grown and local if possible, is one simple way to give back to your Earth while eating healthy. Growing some of your own veg is another.
Ride your bike or walk to work, if that is an option, to cut down on gas and emissions while enjoying some sunshine and getting your daily dose of vitamin D. Just be sure to apply sun block if you plan to be out for more than 15 minutes.
Put away the blacks and grays in your wardrobe in favor of more vibrant color. But colorful options don’t only apply to clothing, remember to update your makeup for the season as well.
If you are here chances are good that you have already made the switch to natural skincare. What have you done to green up the more colorful items in your beauty arsenal? You need to be sure these are non-toxic too.
Organic make up has come a long way baby, offering gorgeous color, natural coverage and long-lasting wear-ability. Mineral makeup provides beautiful, natural hues perfect for all skin types. For spring, try swapping blacks and browns for greens and blues. Not ready for quite that much color? Light neutrals with brown accents play up features while creating a fresh, natural look. Try our Organic Cosmetic Starter Kits in brown or blue.
Rather than thinking big this Earth Day, try keeping the little things in mind. Each purchase, no matter how small, has a big impact overall.
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Professor Julian’s research interests are focused on using small organic molecules as tools to study molecular pathways involved in the development and progression of human disease, with a particular focus on cancer. We will design targeted molecules using principles of structure-based design and medicinal chemistry. Knowledge gained from these studies will allow us to build compounds that 1) will provide mechanistic insight, and 2) will serve as lead structures for the development of new small molecule drug therapies. The paradigm for treating cancer is evolving toward the use of “targeted” cancer drugs that are specific to the genetics of both the patient and the type of cancer. Biologists are characterizing these genetic profiles and have already identified numerous proteins and receptors that could have great potential to selectively kill cancer cells. Chemists need to provide molecules in order to evaluate these biological targets. Thus, we aim to synthesize molecules, many derived from nature, and to study their effects on cancer cells. Some of our target small molecules will be complex and will require highly efficient multi-step syntheses. We will develop and implement new reaction methodologies in order to streamline the synthesis of our key intermediates and analogues to drive our overall goals. Students will gain laboratory experience in organic synthesis, organometallic chemistry, and medicinal chemistry.
Professor Julian began her career in organic chemistry as an undergraduate researcher in the Overman group at UC Irvine, studying diastereoselectivity in a novel bisalkylation reaction. She then moved to the University of Michigan where she earned a Ph.D. under the direction of Professor William Roush, and completed a total synthesis of a complex polyketide natural product (+)-13-deoxytedanolide. Immediately after completing her doctorate, she took a position as a research scientist at Amgen in the San Francisco bay area. After three years of research toward the discovery of new drugs for the treatment of diabetes and cancer, she realized her true passion lied in academic research and teaching students. In order to accomplish this transition back into academia, she took a position as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign working with Professor John Hartwig on the development of new catalysts for hydroamination. Finally in August of 2011, she began her current position as Assistant Professor of Chemistry at the University of Colorado Denver.
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Clem Paul begins his case for Metis Treaty Rights
Yellowknife, N.W.T. - 15 boxes of evidence were dropped off at the Yellowknife courthouse Friday as the former president of the North Slave Metis Alliance, Clem Paul, begins his fight for Metis treaty rights.
Paul said he has been fighting for 25 years and claimed he is trying to make the government make good on the promises that were made to his people.
Paul said he has heard no opposition or support from the other aboriginal communities in the NWT and he is taking this fight on solo.
"Me I’m just doing my own thing, I’m sure now everything else and is now public it will be subject to a lot of debate and discussion, and I don’t think anyone will be offended by anything I've found."
Paul said something else he has been fighting for is a band for his people, a fight which he had once given up hope on.
"Going through the motions I had finally given up 15 years ago because I got tired of the run-a around, but I guess that is one of the things are that are going to heard quite profoundly through those boxes."
Paul will be returning on Friday October 12th to speak with other lawyers and continue discussion surrounding this case.
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Popular Blog Articles
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Article, Writing Prompts
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe Writing Prompt
- Grades: 3–5, 6–8
About this book
SCIENCE: The Seasons
Today we know that the seasons are caused by the earth's rotation around the sun. Winter begins with the winter solstice, which is the shortest day of the year, and it ends with the vernal equinox, which ushers in spring. Ask students to make a list of five things that occur when winter comes and five things for spring.
ART: Imaginary Creatures
In our book we have been introduced to fauns, ogres, centaurs, and minotaurs. Go over the characteristics and definitions of each type of being and then have the children draw or paint a picture of each type. Ask them to label their creatures. Have them invent a creature of their own and make a name for it.
WRITING: Character Sketches
Invite students to write a paragraph about the creature they have made up. They should make up an individual who has a name and a personality, like the faun Mr. Tumnus. Question: What is your creature's favorite season and why?
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Consumers develop a hankering for hummus as flavor profiles expand and awareness of health benefits increases
Hummus sales are humming. The Middle Eastern mixture has experienced enough growth in recent years that some industry experts are calling it “the new salsa.”
Hummus is certainly similar. Like salsa, some retailers are promoting it as a more healthful alternative to traditional dips. It is often cross-merchandised with chips — pita, though, rather than tortilla. And an increasing number of restaurants now serve the chickpeas-and-tahini-based blend as a pre-meal munchie, inspiring diners in turn to seek out the spread at supermarkets for at-home consumption.
However, while some shoppers have become regular buyers, the category still has lots of room to grow.
“I believe that hummus is becoming more mainstream, even though many of our customers do not fully understand the health benefits yet,” said Bob Matthews, deli category manager, Food Lion, Salisbury, N.C. “This is a relatively new category, with the major brands making huge product improvements rather quickly.”
Food Lion currently carries 10 hummus SKUs across two brands: Cedars and Sabra. Flavors include original, garlic, pine nut, chunky, red pepper, and cranberry and fig, among others. The retailer stocks them in the deli case along with other dips and specialty cheese items.
Price promotions on hummus are few and far between there, according to Matthews. Instead, the chain relies on manufacturers to spread the word.
“We would like to see the hummus suppliers continue to educate consumers on the great flavors and health benefits on a broad scale,” he explained. “This would help drive the demand in stores.”
The demand has already grown some. During the 52 weeks ending Oct. 12, 2008, sales of hummus in the supermarket channel were up 24% to $44.9 million, according to Information Resources Inc., Chicago.
Alan Hiebert, spokesman, International Deli-Dairy-Bakery Association, Madison, Wis., reports that estimates of hummus sales across channels have been ranging from $140 million to over $180 million annually, with predictions of around $210 million within a few years.
“Hummus manufacturers are working to expand the category by adding unique flavors,” he said. “In addition to the now-common olive or sundried tomato flavors, we're seeing other savory options like artichoke hearts, dill and caramelized onions.”
Rick Schaffer, vice president, sales and marketing, Tribe Mediterranean Foods, the Taunton, Mass.-based hummus manufacturer, has seen similar sales lifts. But he pointed out that household penetration still remains low in the U.S.
“Household penetration is only around 5% [according to IRI]. In Israel, one of the places hummus originated, this number is closer to 95%,” he said. “There's still a lot of room to grow the category here in the States.”
The top flavors made by Tribe are classic, roasted garlic and roasted red pepper. But when the company came out with 40 Spices hummus a while back, it quickly jumped to fourth place and is now nipping at the heels of the three most popular flavors, Schaffer reported.
Other varieties made by the company include spicy chipotle, eggplant (baba ganoush), cracked chili pepper, scallion, dill, zesty lemon, calamata olive, garden vegetable, jalapeno, French onion and sundried tomato basil.
In addition to the wide variety of flavors, there are many unique variations from brand to brand. Each company's products vary slightly in ingredients, thickness and style, with some blending in ingredients and others piling them on top as a garnish.
Tribe reformulated its hummus three years ago to differentiate itself more from the competition. Now, all of its varieties contain only all-natural ingredients. They are also cholesterol-free, gluten-free, contain no hydrogenated oils or saturated fats, and are labeled “vegan-friendly” and “certified Kosher OU.”
According to Schaffer, the change was made to capitalize on the natural and organic trend, and thus far the strategy is working.
“Shoppers are very interested in naturals and organics, so it behooves retailers to offer at least one brand like this,” he told SN.
Hummus isn't just a pita dip that hails from overseas. It is a high-protein, low-fat blend that can be coupled with fresh veggies, used as a condiment on sandwiches or even function as a core ingredient in main entrees.
With so many options, it's surprising that most retailers present it only as a dip with chips, said Jim Wisner, president, The Wisner Group, Libertyville, Ill.
“People respond well when hummus is promoted with a price drop, and there's also a lot of value to putting it in circulars with ad copy that explains what it is and how they should use it,” said Wisner. “Panera uses it as a spread on some of its sandwiches instead of mayonnaise or honey Dijon. That's something simple that retailers can urge shoppers to try at home.”
Indeed, roasted pepper hummus goes well with turkey. Horseradish hummus is the perfect partner for roast beef, he added.
Tim Cummiskey, grocery manager, Highland Park Market, Glastonbury, Conn., feels that sampling would have the biggest impact on sales. American consumers are often put off by foods with bland color and mushy texture and need some coaxing to taste-test that type of food, he said.
The problem, though, is that most supermarkets don't want to invest time, money and energy on hummus. Highland Park hasn't put forth much effort. It's just too small of a category to warrant the attention, Cummiskey said.
“It's such an easy item to set out for shoppers to try, but I can't imagine many people stopping to try a sample unless someone was there to talk about hummus, to encourage them to try it,” he noted. “It would be in manufacturers' best interest to send promotional teams into stores to do this.”
Something as simple as hanging signs touting the health benefits of hummus would work wonders, said Don Stuart, managing director, Cannondale Associates, Wilton, Conn. He envisions hummus in a section of a circular centered on eating healthy during the holidays.
“The benefits of hummus are very much in line with the health and wellness trend sweeping the country,” said Stuart. “Most have no saturated fat, no cholesterol, no sugar and are high in protein and fiber.”
Another movement that bears mentioning is the “buy local” trend, he added. In the U.S. alone, there are upwards of 100 manufacturers of hummus, most of which are regional or niche-market players. Stuart advises supermarkets to stock such varieties alongside better-known brands, promoting the opportunity to support local businesses.
Meijer does this. The Grand Rapids-based chain stocks several flavors of hummus made by Garden Fresh, a manufacturer headquartered in nearby Fremont, Mich. A recent store visit to a Meijer in western Michigan revealed six Garden Fresh hummus flavors: original, garlic, Greek, original with pine nuts, red pepper and spice.
“We don't carry any organic hummus, but it's so healthy anyway that I'm not sure that would matter. It only has a few ingredients that are simple, but nutritious,” said a deli employee there. “We have people ask about it from time to time, most often when it's on sale. They want to know what it tastes like and how to eat it.”
The employee usually recommends Stacy's brand pita chips, which are merchandised atop the hummus case and in the chips aisle. She also points people to carrots, celery, broccoli, cauliflower and other pre-cut veggies located a few refrigerated cases away in produce.
Schaffer likes the idea of partnership promotions. Tribe routinely joins forces with Nonni's, the Tulsa, Okla.-based pita chips manufacturer, setting up cardboard displays filled with chips in retailers' stores and attaching coupons for $2.00 off the combined purchase of any Nonni's product and Tribe hummus.
“We also have a bunch of recipes on our website that go well beyond the expected,” said Schaffer. “We have a recipe for hummus fettuccine alfredo, one for tuna salad and another for smoked salmon and dill pizza with hummus.”
Schaffer wishes more supermarkets would direct shoppers to such recipe sites at the point of purchase and in ads. Chains could also put out small recipe holders next to hummus cases so shoppers can have instant access to meal and snack ideas, he added.
At Orchard Market, Spring Lake, Mich., price promotions draw the most attention to the category, according to the deli manager at the retailer's Fruitport store.
“When hummus is on sale, it goes like crazy. We promote it in circulars several times a year and use POP materials to point them out to shoppers,” she said. “Most people buy it to spread on crackers or pita chips, rather than a sandwich spread.”
Orchard Market sells Athenos brand hummus in original and garlic, roasted red pepper and black olive flavors. In total, the assortment takes up around 2 feet of space in a refrigerated case next to soft cheeses and other dips and spreads.
Shoppers tend to buy hummus more during the summer than any other season. This is when they tend to stock up on snack items for picnics, boating excursions and other outdoor events, said the manager.
As hummus continues to increase in popularity, retailers can expect to see new flavor profiles, more recipe suggestions from manufacturers and even unique packaging concepts.
Sabra is already ahead of the curve. The company recently came out with a new line of snack-size Sabra to Go packs. Varieties include garlic, classic and roasted red pepper hummus, as well as zesty or mild salsa. Each container comes with a handful of crispy pretzel chips stacked on top of a small tub of dip and sealed tightly in a separate plastic-protected bubble.
The company has also made updates to its online recipe collection, putting up directions for dishes like hummus mashed potatoes and baked eggs with hummus, tomatoes and Greek olives.
According to Wisner, one characteristic of hummus in particular will enable the item to expand well beyond its current reach is its rather bland base. Because the core ingredients — tahini and chickpeas — have very little flavor, they create a blank canvas on which food makers can paint whatever they want. In short, the flavor possibilities are virtually endless, he said.
“Hummus can take on a Middle Eastern or Mediterranean flair when topped with olives, garlic or tomatoes,” he said. “It could also be more Hispanic if you add hot peppers, chipotle or lime. Any new flavor trend could easily be adapted to hummus.”
The category also presents the perfect opportunity for retailers to expand their private-label lines. They could make a SKU or two of hummus or complementary consumables like pita chips, added Wisner.
“Whether you have a private-label brand or not, creating awareness is the biggest hurdle to boosting sales,” said Wisner. “Fortunately, there are many things retailers can do to draw attention to the category. It's just a matter of making the effort.”
Current household penetration for the $45 million hummus category.
Source: Information Resources Inc.
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You are here
chidraṁ hy antar-nihita-vayunaḥ śikya-bhāṇḍeṣu tad-vit
dhvāntāgāre dhṛta-maṇi-gaṇaṁ svāṅgam artha-pradīpaṁ
kāle gopyo yarhi gṛha-kṛtyeṣu suvyagra-cittāḥ
Formerly, in every household, yogurt and butter were kept for use in emergencies. But Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma would pile up planks so that They could reach the pots and would then pick holes in the pots with Their hands so that the contents would leak out and They could drink it. This was another means for stealing butter and milk. When the butter and milk were kept in a dark room, Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma would go there and make the place bright with the valuable jewels on Their bodies. On the whole, Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma engaged in stealing butter and milk from the neighborhood houses in many ways.
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Thousands of people all over the world bet on sports for several reasons. Many of these do sports betting for entertainment, while some bet for their favorite teams for the money. Well, no matter what their reason is, it is important to keep in mind that betting on sports without the right comprehension of the sport and its odds is suicidal.
In every sports betting game, checking out the sports betting odds is a really crucial move to take. After all, sport betting odds is considered the most common method of betting in the world, plus it basically involves predicting whether an outcome may occur or otherwise. So, to consider odds betting, you need to place your bet at certain odds which relate directly to the percentage probability that the predicted outcome will happen. Many experts have stated that the lower the sports betting odds, the more likely it truly is that this outcome will happen. Its no wonder then that the outcome with the lowest odds is considered as the favourite.
Who makes the sports betting odds? How the sports betting odds are made?
You may have heard about the odds makers. Basically, in sports betting, there are odds makers are those taking into consideration every possible thing which may affect the outcome of a particular event or game. The sports betting odds are then identified by way of the odds makers by means of considering several factors with the game, like the expertise of the teams or participants, the injuries, edge to win, weather and condition of the field, place of the event, match-up history, plus much more.
When all of the factors are considered and ever detail is given close attention, the maker of the sports betting odds usually form a number that will be acceptable to both sides in the bet. To put it simply, the number is considered dependant on its quality to attract enough attention on every side on the bet. So, if for example, the majority of the bets fall on one particular side of the bet, the initial number chosen by way of the sports betting odds number was probably not a high quality one. This is where actually the sportbooks come in to adjust the line up or down so to persuade folks to try and bet on the other side.
The sports betting odds are also dependant on the odds makers by looking at the everyday specifics of the big event or game. The information will then be employed to adjust spreads as the season progresses. Also, the essential digits are calculated and analyzed before season of the game starts. Along with this, it is the task of the sports betting odds makers to consider the seasons numbers of the previous events, like the off-season moves and transactions, health of the players, changes on coaching, along with other important information.
These factors are then used together by using a series of special formulas in order to form exactly what the people commonly call as “power rankings”. The power ranking of each sports betting is often changed or adjusted depending on its overall performance. And, the resulting number is employed to help determine the spread.
One main fact to note about the makers of sports betting odds is that they will never actually let you know that their job is not to calculate a result of an event. They rather divide the public as who it thinks will win. So, before you consider betting on sports, try to conduct some research on the sportsbooks you bet at, and check the odds.
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BRITISH police investigating the hacking of mobile phones by Rupert Murdoch's now-defunct News of the World tabloid made six more arrests of journalists or former journalists.
The phone hacking in the new arrests was believed to have taken place in 2005 and 2006, the police said. Five suspects were arrested and taken in for questioning in London and one in Cheshire near Manchester.
Operation Weeting was set up to investigate the allegation that journalists and private detectives working for the News of the World tabloid repeatedly hacked into mobile phones.
Revelations that the hacking extended from celebrities and politicians to crime victims, including murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler, caused public outrage.
The scandal escalated into a wider crisis embroiling the top echelons of the British political establishment, media, and police, and led to Murdoch closing down the News of the World in July 2011.
The latest arrests involve a suspected conspiracy separate to the one under which charges have already been made.
Earlier this month, a senior police officer was jailed after she was found guilty of offering to sell details about the phone-hacking inquiry to the tabloid, the first person to be convicted as part of the investigation.
Prime Minister David Cameron's former media chief Andy Coulson, who was editor of the News of the World between 2003 and 2007, and Rebekah Brooks, the former boss of News International and a confidante of Murdoch, are among those charged with criminal offences.
Last week, News International agreed to settle most outstanding civil lawsuits brought against it by phone hacking victims, including actor Hugh Grant and Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York.
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As the summer driving season gets underway, most Americans are enjoying lower gas prices than they might have expected when the spring began.
But prices, while well off their 2012 peak set in early April, are still higher than they've been at the start of most summers.
The current national average of $3.636 for a gallon of unleaded is down about 15 cents from a year ago and 30 cents from this year's peak, according to readings from AAA. But it's still the third-highest price on record for a Memorial Day weekend, behind only 2011 and 2008.
And experts say that despite oil futures recently falling to below $90 a barrel for the first time since November recently, the steady slide in gas prices might not extend much further.
"We might move a little lower, we might move a little higher," said Tom Kloza, chief oil analyst of the Oil Price Information Service, the firm that compiles the pump price averages for AAA.
While Kloza said there won't be dynamic moves in any direction, a sharp worsening of the economic situation in Europe might cut the demand outlook, which could bring some additional price relief.
A deal between Western powers and Iran on its nuclear program could also help push prices lower by cutting the "fear premium" being built into oil futures as traders worry about the effect of sanctions on Iran and disruptions in other Middle East supplies.
But for the most part, the 7% drop in gas prices since the start of April is probably most of the relief that drivers can hope for.
Not all drivers are seeing the break on prices that the national average would suggest. West Coast drivers are still paying close to the same price as two months ago. Tight inventories west of the Rocky Mountains have kept prices out there high -- $4.28 in California, $4.25 in Oregon, and $4.27 in Washington State.
The highest prices are in Hawaii, where drivers are paying $4.53, and Alaska, which doesn't have any refineries despite all of its oil. Drivers there pay $4.52.
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Proposal for thinner streets among winning entries in Vancouver housing ideas contest
Proposals for thinner streets, bridging development directly overtop of existing buildings, and residential units constructed out of shipping containers are among the affordable housing ideas that were selected as part of a City of Vancouver competition.
The winners of the contest were announced by Vancouver mayor Gregor Robertson’s task force on housing affordability Monday (July 30) evening, including three proposals selected by a jury, four that were chosen in an online vote, and six honorable mentions.
The three winners chosen by the jury comprised of members of the housing task force include a proposal to allow medium-density additions on top of existing structures, and a model that would narrow some streets to create more room for residential lots.
According to the proponents of that model, Christina Demarco, Ted Sebastian, and Charles Dobson, the thinner streets would make room for between 10,000 and 20,000 units of ground-oriented housing in single-family zones.
The winners selected through an online vote include proposals for more mid-rise development at transit nodes, a “cargo park” consisting of affordable residential units constructed from recycled shipping containers, and measures to enable more cooperative and cohousing developments in the city.
Honourable mentions in the contest include models proposing self-managed low-income housing, courtyard housing, and the preservation and upgrading of city-owned heritage houses in East Kitsilano.
The winning ideas were chosen out of almost 70 entries, and 8,000 votes were cast online during a two-week period.
The selected submissions will be included in the final report of the mayor’s task force on housing affordability, which will go before city council in the fall.
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Promoting the healthy development of MCH populations.
(Correlates with MCHB Strategic Plan: FYs 2003-2007, Goal 2: Promote an Environment that Supports Maternal and Child Health.)
IMPORTANT: To assist the reader in better understanding what is meant by MCHB Strategic Research Issue #4, the following are examples of possible areas of study addressing this issue. They are only examples for illustrative purposes and do not constitute preferences for funding consideration. The Bureau strongly encourages research studies that specifically address issues related to MCHB investments and programs.
Study the effectiveness of health promotion and prevention strategies for infant, child, adolescent and adult populations (e.g., Bright Futures Guidelines) that use coordinated strategies and a variety of venues involving the clinical setting, the community and the home environment.
Conduct longitudinal studies of health and normative development in special populations of children such as minority children; children with special health needs; and children of low socioeconomic status (SES), rural, migrant and homeless backgrounds.
Study the effectiveness of health promotion and prevention strategies to promote healthy weight and prevent obesity in children and adolescence.
Study child, parental (including fathers) and family strengths, i.e., coping and resilience associated with pregnancy, childbearing and parenting; significant injuries; chronic and catastrophic disease conditions; and natural and man-made catastrophic events.
Study the effects of family/professional partnerships and integrated community systems on the health (including mental and oral health) and development of children.
Study the factors associated with health care utilization that positively influence health care utilization and preventive health behaviors of women at various stages of and throughout their life span.
Study the effectiveness of community outreach workers in increasing breastfeeding duration rates in underserved populations.
Develop and validate instruments that assess health and development of the MCH population.
Assess emerging research in the prevention of dental caries in pregnant women and its effects on their children through the use of oral rinse and varnish, chlorhexidine, xylitol, and/or iodine.
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|Date Added: April 04, 2012 01:12:58 PM|
|Category: Shopping: Weight Loss|
Everyone desires to look young, beautiful and fit. The key to losing weight, however, lies in the fact that you need to burn more calories than you intake. In short, it is basically a way to trick your body in to using the deposited fat so that no accumulated fat remains. Weight loss goals can either be achieved through dieting, taking weight loss pills and supplements and also by doing regular exercise and workout. This helps to burn down the calories. If a healthy and a perfect lifestyle are adopted, then there would be no trouble involved in losing weight.
There are many exercises which can also aid in weight loss. It is also stated that exercise is the best solution to obesity and not only it makes you slim down, but it also helps to tone and strengthen your body muscles, helps you to remain fit and healthy by keeping you away from many diseases which includes diabetes 2, heart problems, high cholesterol level, blood pressure etc.
There are a few exercises that should be made a part of daily routine. These exercises are extremely easy to carry out. They are as follows:
SOME EFFECTIVE WEIGHT LOSS EXERCISES:
1. One of the most effective and commonly prescribed exercise is walking. Walking is prescribed by many doctors for patients who have heart problems, diabetes, obesity and high cholesterol level. Walking helps regulate body functions and stimulates metabolism. It helps to burn down calories faster. Brisk walking is suggested as the most effective exercise for losing weight.
2. Another commonly done exercise to lose fat in the abdominal area, legs, and butts is leg lifting. This exercise helps to tighten the abdominal muscles and eliminates pot belly problem. It is important to keep your leg straight while doing this however if it is initially difficult to do it that way, then it is okay to bend legs a bit.
3. Another powerful weight loss exercise is crunches. The best thing about crunches is that it helps to tighten tummy and strengthens the muscles as there is a lot of stretching involved. You can do this exercise while listening to music, watching t.v. etc
4. Another exercise that helps to make you cheerful, helps lose a lot of weight overall is dancing. Dancing does not involve any complicated steps and is always fun to do.
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£6.3 6 Months (and 1 month free)
List Price is £13.99 meaning you save around 54%
Print Quota: 8 pages Copy Quota:2,400 words
This is a revised edition of the classic guide to children's developmental progress. Over 120 illustrations clearly set out each stage of development in young children.
Try one of our sample e-Textbooks to flick through. It's a Calculus book - but don't worry, we won't test you on it.
Got your hands on a Professor Code did you? You need to login before you can enter the code for your personal promotional delight!
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MORE OR TITLES
MORE OR TITLES
Why the American Jewish Romance with Israel Is Coming to an End
"Mr Finkelstein makes this argument crisply and convincingly… [his] research is certainly thorough. His characterisations, too, can be brilliant, and he spares nobody …" —The Economist
"[Finkelstein’s] place in the whole history of writing history is assured." —Raul Hilberg, author, The Destruction of the European Jews
“A very impressive, learned and careful scholar.” —Avi Shlaim, professor, International Relations, Oxford University
print + ebook: $25/£16
Traditionally, American Jews have been broadly liberal in their political outlook; indeed African-Americans are the only ethnic group more likely to vote Democratic in US elections. Over the past half century, however, attitudes on one topic have stood in sharp contrast to this group’s generally progressive stance: support for Israel.
Despite Israel’s record of militarism, illegal settlements and human rights violations, American Jews have, stretching back to the 1960s, remained largely steadfast supporters of the Jewish “homeland.” But, as Norman Finkelstein explains in an elegantly-argued and richly-textured new book, this is now beginning to change.
Reports by Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and the United Nations, and books by commentators as prominent as President Jimmy Carter and as well-respected in the scholarly community as Stephen Walt, John Mearsheimer and Peter Beinart, have increasingly pinpointed the fundamental illiberalism of the Israeli state. In the light of these exposes, the support of America Jews for Israel has begun to fray. This erosion has been particularly marked among younger members of the community. A 2010 Brandeis University poll found that only about one quarter of Jews aged under 40 today feel “very much” connected to Israel.
In successive chapters that combine Finkelstein’s customary meticulous research with polemical brio, Knowing Too Much sets the work of defenders of Israel such as Jeffrey Goldberg, Michael Oren, Dennis Ross and Benny Morris against the historical record, showing their claims to be increasingly tendentious. As growing numbers of American Jews come to see the speciousness of the arguments behind such apologias and recognize Israel’s record as simply indefensible, Finkelstein points to the opening of new possibilities for political advancement in a region that for decades has been stuck fast in a gridlock of injustice and suffering.
Publication June 2012 • 470 pages
paperback ISBN 978-1-935928-77-5 • ebook ISBN 978-1-935928-78-2
Norman G. Finkelstein received his doctorate in 1988 from the Department of Politics at Princeton University. For many years he taught political theory and the Israel-Palestine conflict. Finkelstein is the author of eight books besides this one, which have been translated into more than 40 foreign editions: What Gandhi Says: About Nonviolence, Resistance and Courage (OR Books, 2012); This Time We Went Too Far: Truth and Consequences of the Gaza Invasion (OR Books, 2010, expanded paperback edition, 2011); Goldstone Recants: Richard Goldstone Renews Israel’s License to Kill (OR Books, 2011), Beyond Chutzpah: On the Misuse of Anti-Semitism and the Abuse of History (University of California Press, 2005, expanded paperback edition, 2008); The Holocaust Industry: Reflections on the Exploitation of Jewish Suffering (Verso, 2000, expanded paperback edition, 2003); Image and Reality of the Israel-Palestine Conflict (Verso, 1995, expanded paperback edition, 2003); with Ruth Bettina Birn, A Nation on Trial: The Goldhagen Thesis and Historical Truth (Henry Holt, 1998); and The Rise and Fall of Palestine: A Personal Account of the Intifada Years (University of Minnesota, 1996).
Middle East Research and Information Project, February 2013
The Daily Beast, October 8th 2012
C-SPAN, October 6th 2012
review31, September 2012
Red Pepper, September 2012
The New Internationalist, June 2012
The Economist, June 16th 2012
Tablet, June 11th 2012
Mondoweiss, June 6th 2012
The Huffington Post, June 6th 2012
Democracy Now!, June 4th 2012
Zocalo Public Square, May 22nd 2012
Russia TV, May 16th 2012
HARDtalk, May 8th 2012
Mondoweiss, April 6th 2012
Haaretz, April 5th 2012
Recent surveys strongly suggest that American Jews are “distancing” themselves from Israel. The data do not however yield a single causal factor for this estrangement. Judging by these surveys as well as the historical record, the interplay of a trio of factors—ethnicity, citizenship and ideology—have shaped the contours of the American Jewish relationship with Israel.
One can observe these factors at play in poll findings of Jewish opinion. When asked in a 2009 J Street survey to name “the single biggest reason” they support Israel, the most frequent replies of American Jews divided into the three classes of ethnic belonging (“I am Jewish and Israel is the Jewish homeland”), state loyalty (“Israel is an American ally in the Middle East and strengthens our national security interests”), and ideological affinity (“Israel is a democracy which shares my values”). Or, when asked whether a notorious anti-Arab politician joining the Israeli cabinet would affect their feelings towards Israel, fully one in three American Jews replied on the basis of ideology that it “weakens my personal connection to Israel because [his] positions go against my core values.”
It is not always clear however which factor is the operative one. Polls show that a decisive majority of American Jews oppose Israeli settlement expansion. But is this because successive U.S. administrations have been at loggerheads with Israel over the illegal settlements, or because settlement-building violates the liberal precept of respecting international law and resolving conflicts peacefully?
The bedrock of the American Jewish bond with Israel is kinship: the attachment of an ethnic group to “its” ethnic state. Although their support of Israel does not spring automatically from this primal connection, American Jews plainly would not be as supportive in the absence of an ethnic link. The high rate of intermarriage among American Jews in recent years has diluted the impact of this blood tie and consequently attenuated the connection of many American Jews to Israel.
Both celebrants and critics of the American Jewish romance with Israel typically depict the ethnic factor as the only operative one. Jewish neoconservatives claim that they adopted the neoconservative creed in significant part because its unconditional support for Israel was “good for the Jews,” while in their bestseller, The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy, John J. Mearsheimer and Stephen M. Walt take for granted that Jewish neoconservatives support Israel largely because they are Jewish. But American Jews have been equally protective of their hard-won rights and attendant secular success in the United States. Their support of Israel has consequently fluctuated depending on the state of U.S.-Israeli relations. Fearful of the “dual loyalty” charge that has historically haunted the Jewish people, American Jewry has put Israel at arm’s length whenever relations between Washington and Tel Aviv have been tenuous and drawn closer when official ties have been stronger.
Jewish neoconservatives are a case in point. Liberal Jewish intellectuals who were resolutely indifferent to Israel in their youth mutated into neoconservative lovers of Zion not because of an idealistic devotion to kith and kin but because of an opportunistic devotion to power and privilege. Like many a sacred awakening, the one Jewish intellectuals experienced after the June 1967 war, when they “discovered” their roots and homeland, also netted them sizable profane benefits, when—coincidentally—Israel became an American strategic asset. Their new love affair with Israel was shot through with as much poignancy as a decision to reunite with an estranged relative after he has won the lottery.
The lineaments of the American Jewish relationship with Israel have also been molded by liberal ideology. A pair of allegiances distinguish American Jews from fellow Americans: their markedly greater support of liberalism and of Israel. Indeed, these commitments have effectively defined what it means to be Jewish in America. “For many American Jews,” Steven M. Cohen observed in his classic anatomy of the contemporary Jewish scene, “politics—in particular pro-Israel and liberal activity—have come to constitute their principal working definition of Jewishness.” The interaction between these twin commitments, and in particular the tension between them, is the focus of this book.
For a long while “pro-Israel and liberal activity” appeared perfectly compatible. Israel was conceived among enlightened Americans as an offspring of their own nation-building experiment, a place where rugged settlers had also transformed wasteland into a democratic oasis. But in recent years it has proven increasingly difficult to marry support for Israel with liberal values. In an essay published already some 15 years ago, the eminent American Jewish sociologist Nathan Glazer vividly captured this budding conflict:
Liberals want to spend money on schools and housing projects rather than arms; but American sophisticated arms may defend Israel. They want to give aid to poor nations; but Israel, not a poor nation, engrosses a huge share of the American aid budget. They want to support democracies, and Israel is a democracy, but one in which the rights of a very large part of the population, Arabs within Israel and the occupied territories, are scarcely models of the rights people expect to have in a democratic society….Liberals in this country support the strict separation of church and state and the equality of religions before the law, but they support a state in which one religion holds primacy and is backed by state power. They are against the conquest of territory by force but support a state that has doubled its size through force and over time has shown less and less inclination to give up its conquests. The measures Israel uses to put down the [first] intifada, when resorted to by other democracies…, raise an outcry among liberals; in the Israeli case, the outcry is muted.
Glazer went on to speculate that in defense of Israeli policies, American Jews would eventually shed their “anachronistic” liberal sensibility. Some poll data lent support to Glazer’s prediction: American Jews have embraced policies such as a strong military that buttressed Israel but contradicted liberalism. However, the overarching tendency has been the reverse of what Glazer anticipated. The robustness of their liberalism has caused American Jews to loosen their bonds with Israel.
A raft of recent studies has chronicled the incipient breakup of liberal Jewish support for Israel. They spotlight how a sequence of political developments in Israel—the accession to power of right-wing parties and politicians, the 1982 invasion of Lebanon, the repression of the first Palestinian intifada, the impasses in the “peace process”—have created rifts in the American Jewish community and concomitantly alienated liberal Jewish opinion from Israel.
This book takes a different tack. It traces the gradual shift in perception of the Israel-Palestine conflict, in effect, the knowledge shift from fiction to fact, that has rendered support for Israel on the basis of liberal values increasingly untenable. A 2011 Gallup poll of American public opinion unsurprisingly found “liberals the least supportive of Israel of any group.” Although more than 60 percent of Americans generally expressed greater sympathy for Israel than the Palestinians, the percentage fell to under 50 percent for liberals.
The perceptual shift that now casts Israel in a harsher light takes multiple forms and is visible in multiple forums. Respected scholars and human rights organizations have confirmed and deepened the findings of prior, mostly maligned critics of Israel. Additionally, the broad consensus in the legal-diplomatic community for resolving the Israel-Palestine conflict puts the onus on Israel for the failure to achieve peace.
Whereas Israel’s critics in the past had to rely on marginalized sources, they can now quote unimpeachable authorities to make the case against Israeli policy. For every apologetic study by a Michael Oren on the history of war and peace in the Middle East, one can now cite a critical Israeli strategic analyst such as Zeev Maoz; for every book and blog entry by a Jeffrey Goldberg whitewashing Israel’s human rights record, one can now cite critical publications by authoritative human rights organizations such as B’Tselem, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International; for every legal-diplomatic justification of Israeli intransigence put forth by an Alan Dershowitz or a Dennis Ross, one can now quote the International Court of Justice or a reputable Israeli diplomat such as Shlomo Ben-Ami. Although reportage will not be directly treated in this book, it might also be noted that for every hackneyed piece by the New York Times’s Ethan Bronner and Thomas Friedman, one can now cite the courageous and deeply informed dispatches of Haaretz reporters Gideon Levy and Amira Hass.
In fact the vast preponderance of mainstream historical scholarship, human rights reporting and legal-diplomatic opinion upholds impressive standards of objectivity. The findings of this body of work, more often than not sharply critical of Israel, have entered the public debate, and willy-nilly these critical conclusions have seeped into the consciousness of American Jews, who are highly educated and tapped into the broad currents of liberal culture. An indication of these compound developments is that American Jews with relatively higher levels of education tend to be more alienated from Israel.
Still, the pages of this book depict an incomplete, on-going process, a trajectory. Many propagandistic works, and outright frauds, still gain wide currency in the United States. Regrettably, even respected university presses and human rights organizations now and again put out studies of dubious value. A significant portion of this book will be devoted to dissecting such misinformation and disinformation, as a practical demonstration of the process described here.
Because Israeli propaganda no longer monopolizes public discourse, and enough of the truth, even if still only a small fraction of it, has become known, Israel can no longer count on the blind support of American Jews. Nowhere is the shift more palpable than on American college campuses. During the past couple of decades this writer has lectured widely across the U.S. on the Israel-Palestine conflict. Confident of their convictions, Israel’s youthful defenders used to pack the audiences and form long queues after the talks to pose hostile questions. But in recent years fewer and fewer of them venture to show up; once boisterous and sure-footed, their presence is now barely audible. Only a handful of diehards are willing to suffer the embarrassment of making the “case for Israel” in public.
Not even the massive proliferation of centers, programs, and endowed chairs devoted to Judaic Studies, Holocaust Studies, Israel Studies, and Anti-Semitism Studies has managed to turn the critical tide of campus opinion. Israel’s supporters allege that anti-Semitic (or self-hating Jewish) professors have hijacked Middle East Studies departments and brainwashed students. In reality it is not the scholarship but the facts that are “biased,” and what is now being taught is what serious research shows. Not for the first time the messenger is being blamed for the bad news.
It is improbable, however, that American Jews will ever become wholly indifferent to Israel’s fate and future. Polls show that regardless of ideological affiliation the primal attachment of American Jewry to Israel stays constant. What differs according to political hue is support for Israeli policies: those American Jews calling themselves liberal refuse to back Israeli initiatives antithetical to liberal values.
True, as Israel moves steadily and inexorably to the right, more American Jews will likely grow alienated from it. A small portion will not shy away from publicly denouncing Israel while a larger portion—not wanting to air dirty laundry in public, but also not wanting to defend the indefensible—will lapse into silence. Indeed, a significant percentage of younger American Jews has already expressed indifference to the prospect of Israel’s destruction. But even among those Jews most alienated from Israel a residual sentiment of blood-belonging persists, just as it did in the past among Jews wedded to assimilation. “A chain holds them fast to Judaism,” the spiritual Zionist Ahad Ha’am famously observed, mocking these Jewish assimilationists. “Try as they will to conceal it, seek as they will for subterfuges to deceive the world and themselves, it lives nonetheless; resist it as they will, it is a force at the center of their being.”
If Israel does, or appears to, confront an existential crisis where its physical existence is literally at stake, American Jewry will almost certainly rally, and should rally, to its defense. The physical destruction of any society is a criminal act and sane people will contemplate such a prospect with horror. Should such an eventuality loom large, the near-totality of American Jews will rise to Israel’s defense because the elemental compulsion of blood—not to mention the fear, however irrational, that they might be next—will make itself felt; because their own liberal values will spur them into action; and because it is hard to conceive that the U.S. government will stand in their way.
The political upshot for the present moment is that if American Jews are to be won over, the terms set forth for resolving the Israel-Palestine conflict must be aligned with liberal values. Otherwise, however enlightened their convictions and however estranged they might feel from Israel, most American Jews will not actively speak out against it. In other words, it must be shown to American Jews that the choice between Israel’s survival and Palestinian rights is a false one; that it is in fact Israel’s denial of Palestinian rights and reflexive resort to criminal force that are pushing it toward destruction; that it is possible to resolve the Israel-Palestine conflict so that everyone, Israeli Jew and Palestinian Arab, can preserve their full human dignity; and that such a settlement has been within reach for decades, but that Israel—with critical U.S. backing, largely because of the Israel lobby—has blocked it.
It must be shown to American Jews that what is being asked of them is not more but also not less than that they be consistent in word and deed when it comes to the people of Palestine. If it can be demonstrated that the enlightened values of truth and justice are on the side of Israel’s critics, then it should be possible—the evidence is already there—to strike a resonant chord among American Jews that goads them into action.
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Paraguay politician who helped oust dictator dies in crash
By Daniela Desantis and Mariel Cristaldo
ASUNCION (Reuters) - Paraguayan presidential candidate Lino Oviedo, who helped the lead the 1989 coup that overthrew dictator Alfredo Stroessner, died in a helicopter crash over the weekend.
A retired general known as a dynamic public speaker, the 69-year-old Oviedo was running in the April presidential election in the landlocked, grains-exporting South American country.
Police rescuers found his body on Sunday in the wreckage of a helicopter crash in northern Paraguay where he was traveling for a campaign event. The day, February 3, marked exactly 24 years since the coup that ended Stroessner's 35-year dictatorship.
Oviedo's popularity was based on the story - often repeated by his supporters but never independently verified - of him breaking into Stroessner's bunker with a grenade in his hand to force the dictator to surrender.
Polls showed he was in fourth or fifth place, with 8 percent support, going into the April election.
"On behalf of the government, we send our sincere condolences to the family of General Lino Cesar Oviedo," Paraguayan President Federico Franco said in a Tweet.
The government decreed three days of mourning and suspended all official activities.
Oviedo, known for his fluency in the indigenous "Guarani" language spoken in Paraguay's poor neighborhoods, was accused of plotting to overthrow governments in the 1990s and sentenced to 10 years in jail. Continued...
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|Updated: 4/13/2007 5:36 pm
||Published: 4/13/2007 5:36 pm
The Family and Medical Leave Act, also known as FMLA (F-M-L-A), is a federal law designed to help employees balance their work and family responsibilities. It allows certain employees with family obligations or medical conditions to receive up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave per year. It also requires that group health benefits be maintained during the leave. Generally, you're entitled to an FMLA leave in cases of the birth and care of a newborn child, placement of a son or daughter for adoption or foster care, caring for an immediate family member with a serious health condition, or serious health problems that inhibit you from working. However, to be eligible for FMLA benefits, you must work for an employer covered under the Act for a total of 12 months and have worked at least 1,250 (one thousand two hundred and fifty) hours over the previous 12 months. FMLA generally applies to all public agencies, including state, local and federal employers, schools, and private-sector employers who have 50 or more employees. When you seek an FMLA leave, you're required to provide 30-day advance notice when the need is foreseeable. If the need for leave is not foreseeable 30 days in advance, you should give whatever notice is possible, ordinarily within one or two business days of when you learn of the need for your leave. The employer may require that you provide medical certification issued by your health care provider to support your request. Upon return from FMLA leave, your employer must restore you to your original job, or to an equivalent job with equivalent pay, benefits, and other terms and conditions of employment. Remember that a number of states have also enacted family and medical leave laws, some of which provide greater amounts of leave and benefits than those provided by FMLA, or provide benefits to employees who are not eligible for FMLA leave.
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The purpose of the Audit Committee shall be to (a) assist the Board of Directors of the Company in its oversight of (1) the integrity of the Company's financial statements, (2) the Company's compliance with legal and regulatory requirements, (3) the Registered Public Accounting Firm's (the "Public Accounting Firm") qualifications and independence, and (4) the performance of the Company's internal audit function and Public Accounting Firm; (b) prepare an audit committee report as required by the rules of the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") to be included in the Company's annual proxy statement and (c) perform such other functions as set forth herein, which shall be deemed to include the duties and responsibilities set forth in Section 10A-3 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the "Act").
It is not the duty of the Audit Committee to prepare the Company's financial statements, to certify that the Company's financial statements and disclosures are completely accurate and are in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles and applicable rules and regulations, to attest to the Company's internal controls, to plan or conduct the audit or to guarantee the Public Accounting Firm's report. These are the responsibility of management and the Public Accounting Firm. The Audit Committee is charged with the oversight roles for these functions as set out in this Charter.
Moreover, it is not the duty of the Audit Committee to assure the Company's compliance with laws and regulations or the Company’s and its employees’ compliance with the Company's Code of Business Conduct. The primary responsibility for these matters also rests with the Company's management. Also, it is not the duty of the Audit Committee to assure the Board of Directors’ compliance with the Company’s Code of Ethics for Board of Directors. The primary responsibility for such compliance rests with the Board of Directors and Company's management.
The Board of Directors and the Audit Committee also recognize that meeting the responsibilities of an Audit Committee requires a degree of flexibility. To the extent that procedures included in this Charter go beyond what is required of an Audit Committee by existing law and regulation, such procedures are meant to serve as guidelines rather than inflexible rules and the Audit Committee is encouraged to adopt such different or additional procedures as it deems necessary from time to time to fulfill its functions.
The Audit Committee will primarily fulfill its responsibilities by carrying out the activities enumerated in Section V of this Charter.
The Audit Committee shall be comprised of directors who shall satisfy the independence and other requirements of each stock exchange on which the Company's shares are listed (the “Exchange"), as well as other applicable requirements for audit committee service imposed by the Act, or the rules of the SEC. Determination as to whether a particular director satisfies the requirements for membership on the Audit Committee shall be made by the Company's Board of Directors.
III. EXTERNAL ADVISORS
The Audit Committee shall have authority to engage independent counsel and other advisors as it deems necessary to carry out its duties. The Audit Committee shall also have authority to obtain advice and assistance from any officer or employee of the Company.
The Company shall provide appropriate funding, as determined by the Audit Committee, for payment of (i) compensation to the Company’s Public Accounting Firm as well as any other accounting firm engaged to perform audit, review or attest services for the Company, (ii) any independent counsel or other advisor retained by the Audit Committee and (iii) ordinary administrative expenses of the Audit Committee that are necessary or appropriate in carrying out its duties. The Audit Committee shall promptly report to the Board of Directors its engagement of any advisor, including the scope and terms of such engagement.
The Audit Committee shall:
- meet as often as it determines appropriate, but not less frequently than quarterly;
- be directly responsible for the appointment, compensation, retention and oversight of the work of the Company’s Public Accounting Firm (including resolution of disagreements between management and the Public Accounting Firm regarding financial reporting) and the Public Accounting Firm shall report directly to the Audit Committee;
- prior to the filing of each Form 10-Q and the Form 10-K, be available to discuss with the Public Accounting Firm the matters required to be discussed by Statement on Auditing Standards No. 61 or any successor to such standard that may be adopted by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board ("PCAOB") and other matters that should be communicated to the Audit Committee under the professional standards of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants or the PCAOB, as applicable;
- prior to the filing of each Form 10-Q and the Form 10-K, review and discuss with management and the Public Accounting Firm the content of each of these forms including (a) management's discussion and analysis, (b) analyses of judgments made in connection with the financial statements contained therein, including analysis of the effects of alternative GAAP methods on the financial statements and (c) major issues regarding the Company's accounting principles and financial statement presentations, including any significant changes in the Company's selection or application of accounting principles and financial statement presentations.
- review with the Public Accounting Firm any audit problems or difficulties and management's response;
- ensure receipt of an annual formal written statement from the Company’s Public Accounting Firm delineating all relationships between the Public Accounting Firm and the Company and discuss with the Public Accounting Firm any such relationships that may impact the objectivity and independence of the Public Accounting Firm; and take appropriate action to oversee the independence of the Public Accounting Firm;
- at least annually, obtain and review a report by the Public Accounting Firm describing: the firm's internal quality-control procedures; any material issues raised by the most recent internal quality-control review, or peer review, of the firm, or by any inquiry or investigation by governmental or professional authorities, within the preceding five years, respecting one or more independent audits carried out by the firm, and any steps taken to deal with any such issues;
- be responsible for the preapproval of all audit services and permissible non-audit services to be provided to the Company by the Public Accounting Firm, subject to any exceptions provided in the Act and the rules of the SEC promulgated thereunder (it being understood that the Audit Committee may delegate to one or more of its members the authority to grant such preapprovals, provided that any preapproval by such member or members must be presented to the full Audit Committee at its next scheduled meeting);
- review, in consultation with the Public Accounting Firm, the internal auditing staff of the Company, and such other advisors as the Audit Committee may deem necessary, the scope, purpose and procedures of the overall audit plans of the internal auditing staff and the Public Accounting Firm, review the results thereof and take any necessary actions in connection therewith;
- consult with the Public Accounting Firm, senior management, the internal auditing staff of the Company and such other advisors as the Audit Committee may deem necessary regarding their evaluation of the adequacy of the Company’s “internal controls over financial reporting” and “disclosure controls and procedures” (as such terms are defined by the SEC), and make specific recommendations to the Board of Directors in connection therewith;
- areview annually and recommend changes, as appropriate, to the Company's Code of Business Conduct, the Company’s Code of Ethics for Board of Directors and the Company's program to monitor compliance with those Codes;
- meet with the Public Accounting Firm, the internal auditing staff of the Company, management, and the General Counsel of the Company in separate executive sessions to discuss any matters that the Audit Committee or these groups believe should be discussed privately with the Audit Committee;
- prior to dissemination, discuss the Company's earnings press releases, as well as financial information and earnings guidance provided to analysts and rating agencies;
- be responsible for the review and evaluation of all related-party transactions, as such term is defined by the rules of the Exchange;
- establish procedures for (i) the receipt, retention and treatment of complaints received by the Company regarding accounting, internal accounting controls, or auditing matters and (ii) the confidential, anonymous submission by employees of the Company of concerns regarding questionable accounting or auditing matters, and review periodically with management these procedures and, if appropriate, any significant complaints received, to the extent required by the Act, the rules of the SEC or the Exchange;
- review and concur on the appointment or dismissal of the Vice President of Internal Audit who functionally reports to the Audit Committee and administratively to the Company's Chief Financial Officer;
- review and concur on the performance of the Vice President of Internal Audit and the internal audit function on an annual basis, and oversee the internal audit function on an ongoing basis;
- set clear hiring policies for employees or former employees of the Public Accounting Firm;
- discuss policies with respect to risk assessment and risk management;
- review and assess the adequacy of this Charter on an annual basis;
- review and evaluate at least annually its own performance and effectiveness;
- perform any other activities consistent with this Charter as the Audit Committee or the Board of Directors deems necessary or appropriate;
- perform such other duties as the Board of Directors shall from time to time assign to it; and
- report regularly to the Board of Directors.
* As adopted by the Board of Directors on March 9, 2012.
Compensation Committee Charter
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In this post I shall attempt to use aluminium pressure die casting as a metaphor for what I perceive as the defects in the recent Finch Report on Open Access publishing. I know what you're thinking, "not another aluminium die-casting as metaphor for open access post, I've read ten of those this week".
Here goes then - when making aluminium pressure die casts, molten aluminium is forced into a mould at high velocity and pressure. There are a number of defects that can occur, and two of these are analogous to the problems I see with the Finch report.
I should start by saying I think the Finch team did a very thorough job, and that have the genuine, honorable aim of increasing access to research publications. Their report is very well researched and the conclusions they come to are sensible and based on sound analysis. I recommend reading the report in full if you're interested in open access publishing as it does an excellent job of pulling together many different strands and setting out the context.
But, I have some niggles. These fall in to broadly two categories, which are analagous to my die casting defects.
The first is the 'cold flow' type defect. In die casting a cold flow occurs when the metal begins to cool too quickly, either because it wasn't hot enough to start with, or it was injected too slowly, or the design of the mould restricts flow. You get big unsightly swirls, which can also weaken the structure.
The Finch report cold flows are where they have been too cautious in my opinion. They are injecting open access too slowly into the system, allowing it to cool and congeal around key points.
Cold Flow 1: Lack of support for repositories
The report acknowledges that some repositories such as arXiv have been successful but concludes they are not a viable model on their own, stating that there is a:
"widespread acknowledgement that repositories on their own do not provide a sustainable basis for a research communications system that seeks to provide access to quality-assured content; for they do not themselves provide any arrangements for pre-publication peer review.
Rather, they rely on a supply of published material that has been subject to peer review by others; or in some cases they provide facilities for comments and ratings by readers that may constitute a more informal system of peer review once the material has been deposited and disseminated via the repository itself"
I'm not sure I agree with this, and if you are proposing a national initiative then certainly there is room for a repository. Their suggestion to move to Gold Open Access means that effectively the tax-payer will be funding publishers, since the money will come from research bodies. If you're going to plowing this money in then you have the opportunity to rethink approaches. So we could set up a national, interdisciplinary arXiv. With possible post-filter (eg using my metajournal approach). That would be an innovative thing to do.
Cold Flow 2: Lack of demand on publishers
As I said above, the model they propose will mean the government effectively funds the publishing process. If you're going to be doing that, then you should make sure you get value for money. So instead of suggesting that it would be good for publishers to link data with publications, eg:
"In an ideal world, there would be closer integration between the text and the data presented in journal articles, with seamless links to interactive datasets; a consequent fall in the amount of supplementary material; and two-way links, with interactive viewers, between publications and relevant data held in data archives. The availability of, and access to, publications and associated data would then become fully integrated and seamless, with both feeding off each other."
Perhaps they should mandate it? And offer an alternative, for instance, they could fund universities directly to publish OA journals, where you get the 'basic' package, or if you have publishers then this is the value they add. Without mandating what you are requiring for your money, you create cold flows as people figure what they can get away with.
The second type of defect I see in the report is analagous to inclusions. In die casting the presence of foreign particles (typically Aluminium Oxide) is known as an inclusion and can be very damaging to the overall strength of the casting. As the aluminium cools around these particles, it will create a weak spot, which can potentially fracture.
The Finch report has one large inclusion in it that I think creates just such a weak spot. It is the role of the publishers. I know a few people in publishing, and they're good people generally who want to work with academics and believe in the research dissemination process. So this isn't an anti-publisher rant. But in a talk I attended from the Finch team and in the report, I got the impression that the economic viability of the academic publishing industry was a key objective. For example, the report states:
"arrangements must be in place to enable publishers (whether they are in the commercial or the not-for-profit sector) to meet the legitimate costs of peer review, production, and marketing, as well as high standards of presentation, discoverability and navigation, together with the kinds of linking and enrichment of texts (‘semantic publishing’) that researchers and other readers increasingly expect. Publishers also need to generate surpluses for investment in innovation and new services; for distribution as profits to shareholders;"
Generating profits for publishers can be a side effect (as it was in pre-internet days), but it cannot be a goal. The goal is to effectively disseminate research. That is all.
The danger of this inclusion is that it creates an economically unviable model, where much of the money flows to shareholders, or creating systems that gain competitive advantage. Neither of these are concerns for disseminating research. A Deutsche bank report (cited in McGuigan and Russell) stated that:
"We believe the publisher adds relatively little value to the publishing process. We are not attempting to dismiss what 7,000 people at the publishers do for a living. We are simply observing that if the process really were as complex, costly and value-added as the publishers protest that it is, 40% margins wouldn't be available."
The conclusion of the Finch report does nothing to address this, and indeed could make the situation worse. It also loses an opportunity to think of more radical methods through which that principle aim of disseminating research might be achieved, because the stability of the existing approach is assumed.
I won't try and make connections to other die casting defects such as porosity. I'll leave it there, but you should read Stephen Harnad's piece on the Finch report, which makes up for what it lacks in tenuous die-casting metaphors by being excellent.
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Professor Mark J. Perry's Blog for Economics and Finance
Posted 8:14 AM Post Link
Links to this post
Great - now I can watch the fish swim away.Brian
So ... many ... fishy puns coming to mind! Must ... stop ... thinking!
... and then the line breaks.
Oh wow! This is a bit silly but seriously cool none the less...
This is nothing more than an effort by Janet Napolitano & her minions at DHS to further involve private citizens in her "If you see something, say something" campaign, after a reported sighting of a Libyan submarine off the Florida coast.
"This is nothing more than an effort by Janet Napolitano & her minions at DHS to further involve private citizens to help them help TSA do some early Xmas shopping"...:-)
If only Billy Mays was alive to pitch this on late night TV...
I want to know this: Has anyone actually caught a fish?
"Has anyone actually caught a fish?"...People catch fish everyday pseudo benny...I'm guessing though your chances of catching something worth keeping might be better with this: New BioPulse lure system gives fishermen an unfair advantageThe BioPulse lure system by Mystic Tackleworks was developed by John Caprio from Louisiana State University (LSU) and uses the fish's biology to make sure your fishing trip is a success – good news for you, not so for the fish.An expert in fish taste and smell systems, Caprio has spent most of the last 30 years, researching the chemosensory systems of a variety of fresh and saltwater fish. He discovered the specific natural stimuli that cause the activation of fish taste sensors which causes the fish’s nerve reflexes to ingest food or - in the case of BioPulse – a fishing lure...
Thanks Juandos. From my experience, going fishing is a lot like snipe hunting.
help TSA do some early Xmas "shopping"...:-)"wow. I'll bet snowglobes are still sold at the airport gift shops, so they can buy them back from the state, and resell them. What a great business plan.
My dad used to catch a lot of fish with these gizmos.
"My dad used to catch a lot of fish with these gizmos."Went to link - fishing with your dad must have been a blast.
"Went to link - fishing with your dad must have been a blast."Ya, it really blew me away.
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Dr. Mark J. Perry is a professor of economics and finance in the School of Management at the Flint campus of the University of Michigan.
Perry holds two graduate degrees in economics (M.A. and Ph.D.) from George Mason University near Washington, D.C. In addition, he holds an MBA degree in finance from the Curtis L. Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota. In addition to a faculty appointment at the University of Michigan-Flint, Perry is also a visiting scholar at The American Enterprise Institute in Washington, D.C.
View my complete profile
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WASHINGTON -- A closely divided Supreme Court on Thursday swept away long-standing limits on campaign spending by unions and corporations.
In a long-awaited decision, the court's emboldened conservative majority declared that the limits on so-called "independent expenditures" by corporations violate First Amendment free-speech rights. The much-anticipated decision means that more money can be spent on federal elections, including this year's congressional elections.
"The government may regulate corporate political speech through disclaimer and disclosure requirements, but it may not suppress that speech altogether," Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote for the five-member majority.
However, Justice John Paul Stevens, writing for the four-member minority, warned that the ruling would harm the political system as well as the court's reputation. In striking down certain corporate campaign-spending limits, the court reversed its own earlier decision.
"The court's ruling threatens to undermine the integrity of elected institutions across the nation," Stevens wrote.
The "independent expenditures" covered in the case called Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission are different from the campaign contributions that union and corporation political action committees make directly to candidates.
Instead, the mostly closely watched political-speech case of recent years covers the money that corporations and unions spend from their own treasuries on ads and other advocacy efforts.
The court's decision Thursday rolls back a key provision of the 2003 Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act, commonly known as the McCain-Feingold law. In doing so, justices took the relatively unusual step of explicitly overturning the court's own precedent.
The PACs also can spend money independently, funding ads and the like. Under Section 203 of the McCain-Feingold law, however, unions and corporations couldn't directly finance from their own treasuries "electioneering" communications within 30 days of primaries and 60 days of general elections. These are messages that explicitly urge votes one way or another, or that are reasonably interpreted as having done so.
The 1990 case Austin v. Michigan Chamber of Commerce had upheld a state law that banned corporations from making independent expenditures using corporate funds to support or oppose candidates. The court's decision Thursday overturned the 1990 Austin ruling.
-- The Associated Press
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You Get What You Pay For
4:20 PM, May 2, 2011 • By THOMAS DONNELLY
Charles Krauthammer has it right: the number one take-away from Osama bin Laden’s killing is the “reach, power and efficiency” of the American military. The reach is global, the power is both immense and immensely precise (President Obama was able to reject the bomb-it-to-smithereens option on Osama bin Laden’s compound in favor of the special operations raid), and the application of force produced exactly the outcome intended. Even more than its efficiency, the effectiveness of this very complex operation was astonishing; many television commentators tellingly contrasted it to Operation Eagle Claw, the ill-fated Iran hostage rescue attempt.
Reach, power, and effectiveness come with a price tag, however. At $700 billion per year when the costs of wartime operations are factored in, it’s not cheap. But at less than 5 percent of gross domestic product, it’s more than affordable and at a relatively low level by recent historical standards. Over five decades, Cold War annual budgets averaged half again as much. And when measured by the other costs to American society, such as the fact that the active duty force totals about one-half of one percent of the population, the U.S. military is a bargain that cannot be beat.
This effectiveness is the product of long investment, over many administrations, but also one set of very large investments during Ronald Reagan’s two terms. That “Cold War military” allegedly remains the core of today’s force, providing the bulk of the personnel and training systems, the main weapons systems and, even more important, the esprit and morale that have proved so durable in the post-9/11 years. Those investments have paid handsome dividends, but have never been fully renewed.
Thus it would be ironic – if it weren’t so obvious and a reflection of a bipartisan failure of will – that this stunning success comes at the moment when the U.S. military faces a further downsizing and diminution of capability. Two weeks before giving the “go order” to take out Osama bin Laden, President Obama proposed his third round of defense budget reductions, taking another $400 billion from the Pentagon. It may be that Congress, whether through the House leadership or the Senate’s “Gang of Six,” not only accepts that proposal but also increases the cuts.
The Osama bin Laden raid may be a singular success, but it comes at the end of a decade’s worth of persistent effort and constant conflict amortizing investments made a generation ago. Global reach, unequalled combat power and battlefield efficiency – in other words, victory – demand a 24-7-365, all-the-time effort. We will not get what we do not pay for.
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The stats helper monkeys at WordPress.com mulled over how this blog did in 2010, and here’s a high level summary of its overall blog health:
The Blog-Health-o-Meter™ reads Fresher than ever.
About 3 million people visit the Taj Mahal every year. This blog was viewed about 26,000 times in 2010. If it were the Taj Mahal, it would take about 3 days for that many people to see it.
The busiest day of the year was November 9th with 142 views. The most popular post that day was Simple Maths in the Unix Shell.
Where did they come from?
The top referring sites in 2010 were steve-parker.org, google.com, google.co.in, ubuntuforums.org, and rackerhacker.com.
Some visitors came searching, mostly for bash maths, suid bit, shell script timestamp, awk one liners, and bash field separator.
Attractions in 2010
These are the posts and pages that got the most views in 2010.
Simple Maths in the Unix Shell January 2007
Timestamps for Log Files March 2007
suid shell scripts – setting “the SUID bit” April 2007
IFS – Internal Field Separator September 2007
Calculating Averages March 2007
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The Religion Teacher provides practical resources and teaching strategies to help religious educators transform the lives of the young people they teach.
Together we are introducing our students to Christ, helping them develop a personal relationship with him, encouraging them to seek understanding of our faith, and giving them the tools to welcome Christ into their daily lives both today and for the rest of their lives.
As religion teachers or catechists, we need practical resources and teaching strategies to help us meet our students’ greatest needs. They need our help. They need us to be the best teachers and catechists we can be.
Whether you are a veteran teacher or have no educational background at all, you will find the practical resources, activities, lesson plans, prayers, and teaching strategies at The Religion Teacher to be great supplements to your catechetical work.
“Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.” Matthew 28:19-20
About Jared Dees
Jared Dees is the Digital Publishing Specialist at Ave Maria Press. He helps develop catholic textbooks and other catechetical materials for teens and teachers in Catholic schools and parish religious education programs. Jared has taught religion in Catholic schools and parish religious education programs at elementary school, middle school, and the high school level. He has led and directed numerous retreats for students and continues to volunteer as a catechist at his parish. He founded The Religion Teacher to help meet the needs of elementary, middle, and high school religion teachers and catechists who deserve high-quality, practical catechetical resources.
Jared studied history and religion at Miami University (OH) and then went on to earn two masters degrees from the University of Notre Dame. His Master’s in Education is from the University of Notre Dame’s Alliance for Catholic Education (ACE) program and he earned a Master of Arts in Theology at Notre Dame as well. Jared, his wife Jennifer, and their daughters live in South Bend, Indiana.
Jared is the author of the book 31 Days to Becoming a Better Religious Educator, which will be published in June 2013.
*The content expressed at The Religion Teacher is the responsibility of Jared Dees and does not necessarily represent the views of Ave Maria Press, the Alliance for Catholic Education, the University of Notre Dame, or any other entity of the Roman Catholic Church.
Jared is the author of the free eBook, The Religion Teacher’s Guide to Lesson Planning. You can get a free copy by signing up for The Religion Teacher email newsletter.
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Today, Brian and Bo tackle the risk that you take by sitting on the investment sidelines. They have been fielding a number of questions over the past few months covering this very topic. The moral of this episode is to get started doing something sooner rather than later so that you do not miss out on what the market has to offer.
Brian shared an interesting piece of data that showed if you invested $10,000 a year for 25 years during the period from September 1, 1929 to September 1, 1954 (the Great Depression), while the DOW only increased 2 points in overall value (381 to 383), your dollar-cost-averaged investment would be worth $1.5 million. This shows that during a period where the market did not really appreciate at all, there was still value in investing your money in the market. That equates to an annualized return of 11.7%.
So, with that information, there are a few factors that need to be considered:
- Do you have enough cash to cover your emergencies? You should maintain enough cash reserves to replace at least 3 to 6 months of your income.
- What is your monetary needs timeline? If a big purchase is on the agenda, it may be necessary to hold that money in cash to avoid losing substantial amounts of the principle (down payment on a house 3 to 4 years from now).
- Make sure that the cash you are holding in the bank does not exceed the FDIC insured amount of $250,000.
- Measure your risk profile:
- Risk vs. Reward: How much risk are you willing to take for your desired level of returns?
- Risk Tolerance: Correlates with your risk vs. reward by measuring how much risk you can handle for a given amount of reward (or loss).
- Risk Capacity: How capable is your portfolio of taking loss given your investment timeline?
Risk of Not Taking Risk:
Inflation risk: Inflation could be a factor in the near future, is your portfolio giving you the required appreciation to maintain your purchasing power? Ask yourself what one dollar today will buy for you in 10 years.
Outliving your money: If you and your spouse reach the age 65, there is a 50% chance that one of you will live past age 90.
Multi-Generational Housing: Beware of running out of money and having to move in with your children (not because you want to, but, because you have to). Make sure your army of dollars is working for you!
Strategies to combat the fear of uncertainty:
- Have ample cash reserves worth 3-6 months of salary.
- Diversify your allocations: cuts volatility, use alternatives to outweigh individual sector risk, it has psychological value.
- Dollar cost averaging: This is something we preach! Spread your purchases out over time to help mitigate risk.
Things to consider when entering the market:
- When do you want to retire?
- How much money do you want every year in retirement?
- Do you want to leave a legacy?
- If inflation averaged 3% per year over a 25 year period it would cut your purchasing power in half!
- Current S&P 500 dividend yield is greater than a 10 year treasury bond.
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What’s the benefit?
Changes to the benefits system and how it could affect you
The proposed changes to benefits will be biggest shake up of the system in 60 years. Welfare Reform is one of the government's flagship bills and intends to bring in a new ‘Universal Credit’. This will replace the current system of benefits and credits.
There is a huge amount of detail in the bill and it is still being debated between the House of Commons and House of Lords. The changes have been very controversial but it looks increasingly likely they will go ahead.
Here are some of the key changes that could take place:
As part of the changes, from October 2013 working-age tenants will personally receive the new ‘Universal Credit ‘ paid monthly directly to a bank account. This will include the Housing Benefit element.
Pensioners and vulnerable tenants will continue to have their housing costs paid straight to their landlord.
Overall benefit cap
The government want to limit the total amount of benefits a single person or a couple receive. The government want to set the cap at the same as the average income for a working household. At the moment this is around £500 per week (£26k a year) for couples and lone parents, and £350 per week for single people without children. This cap would include child benefit and housing benefit.
Under the plans the cap would not apply to households receiving Working Tax Credit, Disability Living Allowance or its successor Personal Independence Payment, Constant Attendance Allowance and war widows and widowers.
‘Spare room’ penalty
The government want to introduce a new size limit for housing benefit claims in social housing. This will apply from April 2013 to tenants of working age. The idea is to cut housing benefit for those the government think are living in homes too big for what they need. Those judged to have one extra bedroom would lose about £11 a week, those with two or more extra rooms would lose on average £20 a week. How the decision is made whether you have extra bedrooms is complicated:
Children under 16 of same gender expected to share
Children under 10 expected to share regardless of gender
Disabled tenant or partner who needs non resident overnight carer will be allowed an extra bedroom
How we will support you
Building on our Financial Inclusion and Money Advice services, we are planning a wide range of products and services to help you through these changes so you can make informed choices about your home and your money. If you are likely to be directly affected, we will contact you over the coming months to find out more about your circumstances and advise you about how you may be affected.
We will be looking for residents who are interested in being involved in planning our Financial Wellbeing Strategy and how we communicate key messages about welfare reform, if you are interested please contact Jane Murphy on 01744 670221 ext 7558 email@example.com
Find out more about how these changes could affect you.
- Direct Gov Benefits Calculator
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Rajiv Gandhi (1944-1991) was an Indian politician, prime minister from 1984, following his mother Indira Gandhi's assasination, to November 1989.
As prime minister he faced growing discontent with his party's elitism and lack of concern for social issues.
Rajiv Gandhi initially displayed little interest in politics and became an airline pilot. But after the death in a plane crash of his brother Sanjay (1946-1980), he was elected to his brother's Amethi parliamentary seat in 1981.
In the December 1984 parliamentary elections he won a record majority. In 1985 he reached a temporary settlement with the moderate Sikhs which failed, however, to hold.
His reputation was tarnished by a scandal concerning alleged "kick-backs" derived by senior officials from an arms deal with the Swedish munitions firm Bofors and, following his party's defeat in the general election of November 1989, Gandhi was forced to resign as premier.
Why is Rajiv Gandhi famous?
Rajiv Gandhi was the sixth Prime Minister of India from 1984 until 1989.
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The back scratch is a staff, into for lasting scratching a suitable (thus not sharp), differently out-arranged edge runs out.
In flee-rich 18. Century was out-arranged it in the aristocracy (particularly for ladies) common and accordingly decoration and became in 19. Century of the middle class taken over.
Itch can be released at any time also by other factors than parasite infestation and be satisfied at least temporarily with the back scratch. Today back scratches on the edge have often for example the form of a hand, with which one can scratch oneself.
We found here 5 articles.
» Balanced food
» Basis therapy
» Bell trousers
» Body therapy
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The Wonder Years, The ‘Burbs, And Encouragement From Fred Savage
I was watching The Wonder Years on Netflix last night and was stunned by what I think many folks could learn from the following quote at the end of the first episode.
The context is that Winnie just found out her brother died in Vietnam…
When some “Blow Hard” talks about the anonymity of the suburbs, the mindlessness of the “T.V. generation,” we knew that inside each one of those identical boxes with its Dodge parked out front, and its white bread on the table, and its glowing TV…there were people with stories. There were people bound together in the pain and struggle of love. There were moments that made us cry with laughter. There were moments of sorrow and wonder.
Here are some takeaways:
1. Talking about how much MORE strategic it is to live in an urban context needs to quit. There are real hurts in the urban, suburban, and rural. None of them is “more strategic”.
Spend time just encouraging people to have eyes to see and ears to hear for the Kingdom, no matter where they are.
Also, with being involved in Sudan for over 10 years now, it has been amazing to see how many people live in an urban and suburban context, that look down on those who are in a rural context, all the while affirming what we are doing in Sudan. 2 out of the 3 orphanages we have started are in a VERY RURAL context. I think that it’s just that it seems to be “more strategic” because it’s Sudan.
Don’t believe the lie.
2. If you live in the suburbs and minister in the suburbs, be encouraged, but don’t be lulled to sleep. There are two types of people in the world: The Walking Living (those who are in Christ) and The Walking Dead. That is it. There is not a third category. Therefore, how are you engaging the people in “the identical boxes”?
3. If you live in a rural context, yet think it’s some type of “second class” deal compared to the ‘burbs or an urban context, please stop that also. The rural context has just as much pain as the other two. Let’s not fool ourselves. Also, the rural has just as much victory!
Therefore, my prayer is the mask will be taken off of the idol, “My area is more strategic because…”
“The Earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof.” (Ps. 24:1)
Pain is everywhere. Victory is a foregone conclusion for those who are in Christ. Therefore, let’s just be people who want to faithfully see the Gospel of The Kingdom proclaimed everywhere no matter what the cost.
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(From the publisher):
What if the history of the transatlantic slave trade had been reversed and Africans had enslaved Europeans? How would that have changed the ways that people justified their inhuman behavior? And how would it inform our cultural attitudes and the insidious racism that still lingers—and sometimes festers—today?
We see this tragicomic world turned upside down through the eyes of Doris, an Englishwoman who is kidnapped one day while playing hide-and-seek with her sisters in the fields near their home. She is subsequently enslaved and taken to the New World, as well as to the imperial center of Great Ambossa. She movingly recounts experiences of tremendous hardship and dreams of the people she’s left behind, all while journeying toward an escape into freedom.
Original title: Blonde Roots
Genre: Fiction→ Science Fiction→ World Versions→ Alternate Histories
Fiction→ General Fiction→ Humor→ Satire
Fiction→ General Fiction→ Ethnic And Multicultural
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Are you wondering what type of preschool is right for your child? Read on to find out the difference between a Montessori and a Waldorf school, for instance, and to pinpoint an early education philosophy that will best suit your child.
Founded by pediatrician / psychiatrist Maria Montessori in 1907, Montessori school programs (there are over 5,000 in North America) emphasize the importance and connection of all living things, and the need for each person to find meaningful work and his or her own place in the world. Children learn about other cultures, animals, and plants in addition to reading, language, and mathematical skills.
Teachers — or "guides," as they are called — take their lead from each child, whom they believe will learn at his or her own pace. Montessori programs encourage a child's sense of independence: Children are always asked if they want to try a task, if they need help doing it, or if they feel they aren't ready. Guides also like to involve parents closely in their children's education — the teacher-student-parent bond is carefully cultivated.
In the classroom
The Montessori curriculum focuses on five areas:
All the disciplines are tied together in complementary ways. Toys and other developmentally appropriate learning materials are laid out in the classroom so a child can see what her choices are and then pick a task — called "work" — according to her interests. Work options include books, puzzle games, art projects, toys that test spatial relations, and more. When they're done, children put their work back on the shelves and move on to something else. The daily schedule allows time for children to play alone or in groups.
Guides work with children as a group and one on one, but most of the interaction is among the children. In a Montessori school, teachers aren't the only instructors. Older kids often help younger ones learn how to master new skills. That's why each class usually includes children from a two- to three-year age span.
The length of the day depends on the school and the age of the students. A typical Montessori preschool program runs from 9 a.m. to 12 or 12:30 p.m. Most offer afternoon / early evening care, too.
Who it's best for
"Kids who want a hands-on learning environment suited to their own needs," says Chelsea Howe of the Montessori Foundation. Special needs children thrive, especially those with attention deficit disorder (ADD) or other learning or psychological problems, because of the individual attention teachers pay to each student.
Montessori schools believe in teaching children about a wide range of cultures, and most actively seek a diverse student body. If you'd like your child to be exposed to kids from all walks of life, this might be the place. Most Montessori schools take children starting at age 3 or 4, and prefer that they are able to go to the bathroom on their own. Some facilities offer limited programs for infants and young toddlers.
For more information
Phone the Montessori Foundation: (941) 729-9565
Web site: http://www.montessori.org
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Location: Allschwil, Switzerland
Program: primary school-competition
Team: Gus Wüstemann, Eftychia Papathanasiou, Jan Kubasiewicz, Nuno Almeida Arquitecto Paisajista, Gartenmann Engineering AG, Born Partner AG
The main building volume is positioned on the north-west corner of the terrain, generating and defining clearly the maximum surface of the school park towards the South. The school is clearly recognizable as an urban mass within the urban context and offers a new conciseness to the area.
On both limits to the two streets the ´head´ of the mass is formed as an animal-like figure, a rabbit to the South and a fish to the North.
Sensors stretch out from the main mass, which communicate with the neighboring block in a local context. These sensors generate large covered exterior spaces and become the entrance accesses from both streets.
The access from Binningerstrasse is along the sports hall, which as a glass mass under the sensor mass gets pushed into the forest, while from Lettenweg we have the access under an open structure, which works as a filter to the park and a bicycle parking area.
The school building is situated on the North-South axis and has its main facades on the East-West.
On the ground floor are all the accesses. On the periphery is the program, which is also intended for the neighborhood, such as the sports hall, the music hall and the day school.
The access from both sides of the block happens under large drafty covered exterior spaces at the level +1.00 and leads to the entrance in the center of the school building.
The peripheral closing of the school is interpreted as part of the exterior space, a continuation of the playing level. These surfaces are covered with wood, which is used also on surfaces in the playing equipment and the exterior areas.
All program such as the sports hall, the music hall and the day school have their own entrances and can be separately used, but at the same time are also accessible from the interior space.
The school building is surrounded from the North-West side by a forest, a vast vegetation, which leads till Binningerstrasse and filters the entrance. On the South-East the entire school park is divided in fine structured surfaces; opposite the sports hall is the basketball field, in front of the classrooms are the break time areas with seating units and surrounded seasonally by different colored trees. The entire school park is at the level +0.00=Lettenweg, and is surrounded by the peripheral closing at level +1.00, which can be interpreted as a tribune to the park.
The school building is planned in a compact way. The exterior envelope is a concrete construction with suspended, in core insulated, prefabricated concrete elements. These elements alternate with glass panels with exterior sun protection. In the interior there is exposed concrete, and the circulation areas covered with wood, giving a sustainable, material-focused atmosphere.
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|John Broskie's Guide to Tube Circuit Analysis & Design|
4 February 2005
Something about Jeff Macaulay’s amplifier always troubled me—beyond the claims of single-ended class-A operation. That something lies in an asymmetry in output devices’ transfer curves; this is a mismatch that cannot be eradicated with tightly matched output devices, as the unevenness is imposed externally to the devices. In essence, the bottom output device benefits from the 1-ohm resistor at its emitter/source/cathode, as it provides local degeneration (feedback), straightening the device’s transfer curve. In contrast, the top output device is only burdened by the 1-ohm resistor at its collector/drain/plate, as it offers no useful degeneration and only steals valuable B+ voltage from the output device. Local degeneration?
I have been told that at the 2004 European Triode Festival (ETF and, no, I didn't attend) they held a shoot out between cathode-bias devices: a resistor, a bypassed resistor, an LED, a battery… After a suspense–building pause, the winner was the unbypassed cathode resistor. (Although I agree with the results and I would have been truly surprised if they were otherwise, I would like to know how the test was setup, as differing gains and output impedances could easily pollute the test’s cleanliness.) Really, the only surprise was that such a result was surprising for so many.
Using a tube as an example, an unbypassed cathode resistor lowers the grounded-cathode amplifier’s gain and distortion, but raises its output impedance. Why does the distortion go down? The resistor is the same current path as the plate resistor, so it will see all the variation in current flow that the plate resistor sees, which means that the input signal will be imprinted across this resistor (in phase with the input signal). Thus, if a 100k-plate resistor develops an output signal of 10 volts, then a 1k-cathode resistor will develop a signal of 0.1 volts. The signal strength at the cathode can be found from this formula:
If this signal at the cathode exactly equaled the input signal in all but amplitude, then the distortion would vanish from the plate, as the tube would have to have produced zero distortion to create such equality. Real tubes do distort and that distortion is present on the unbypassed cathode resistor. This distortion is in voltage anti-phase with the input signal. For example, if the cathode voltage is too low compared to the grid’s voltage, the tube will increase its conduction, which will lift the cathode voltage. On the other hand, if the cathode voltage is too high compared to the grid’s voltage, the tube will decrease its conduction, which will drop the cathode voltage. In other words, feedback. The larger the cathode resistor’s value, the more feedback.
Below is a graph of a power MOSFET with and without a source resistor (1 ohm). Note how much transconductance (gm) was lost (hold a ruler to the screen) and how much more linear the transfer curve is. The unbypassed resistor produced a good amount of feedback, but at the cost of gm.
The formula for the decrease in a MOSFET's gm because of an unbypassed source resistor is:
A triode's decrease in gm because of an unbypassed cathode resistor is:
Wait a minute
Returning to the Macaulay circuit, if we move the sense resistor from the top device’s collector/drain/plate to its emitter/source/cathode, what would result? Well, the output device’s transconductance would decrease along with its nonlinearity, so the OpAmp will have to swing slightly more output voltage to compensate, which in the solid-state version is not that big a liability. Additionally, the top output device is better protected from a shorted output, as the 1-ohm resistor limits the maximum current flow through the device. Most importantly, the top and bottom output devices' transfer curves would match eachother. Below is the revised circuit:
In breif, the transistors have been swapped out with MOSFETs; the idle current is now a healthy 1A; the AD823 OpAmp works particularly well in this application, as it can swing to within 0.5V of its rail voltages; the input coupling capacitor both limits the low-frequency amplification and allows full DC feedback to maintain a low DC offset at the output (yes, the amplifier inverts the phase, but the loudspeaker leads can be reversed); the amplifier can be re-wired for no phase inversion, but the capacitor cannot be eliminated, as it is needed to prevent high DC offsets at the output.
All in all a good little amplifier, perfect for annoying audiophiles who like to spend lots more money. It only puts out 7 watts, but then many 300B SE amplifiers only put out 7 watts. Of course, the 300B is likely to sound more powerful than this amplifier, as its clipping can never be as sharp as this amplifier’s, as a transformer-based amplifier can never accept as much negative feedback because of the phase shifts through the transfomer.
Still, if I owned a $3,000 300B amplifier I would be afraid to put it up against this amplifier, as its distortion products have a distinct single-ended quality to them, as shown below. Note the second and third are about all there is and note how low they are relative to the fundamental. If reality were only half as good as these SPICE simulation, we would still have an excellent amplifier.
This is a problem all follower-based output stages face: the driver circuit needs to work with a greater B+ voltage than the output stage, as it must swing a greater output-voltage swing than the output stage, particularily with a MOSFET output stage. Yet, most designers are loath to add a second power transformer. Instead, they will add a series resistor and decoupling capacitor and hope that too much voltage isn’t lost; or, they may only place a rectifier in series with the existing power supply, so that when the output stage force the rail voltage to collapse, the driver stage and input stage’s power supply capacitors will not discharge into the main power supply. The better solution is to add full-wave voltage doublers to each rail, creating new rail at twice the power supply’s nominal voltage. These new rails can then be passively or actively smoothed. Below is a such a voltage-doubled power supply circuit.
TCJ My-Stock DB helps you know just what you have, what it looks like, where it is, what it will be used for, and what it's worth. TCJ My-Stock DB helps you to keep track of your heap of electronic parts. More details.
Version 2 Improvements
|www.tubecad.com Copyright © 1999-2005 GlassWare All Rights Reserved|
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How Do I Evaluate Web Resources?
Why evaluate what you find on the Web?
- Anyone can put anything on the Web.
- There are no uniform standards for quality for what can be put on the Web.
- Most Web sites are not reviewed by experts in a subject as scholarly journal articles are.
- Most Web sites do not undergo any kind of editorial process as most books and many other types of print sources do.
Questions to ask about a Web site that can help you evaluate its quality fall into the following categories:
- Purpose and Content
- Structure and Ease of Use
- Site Accessability
Are there any other ways to identify quality web sites?
Evaluative Directories on the Web search databases that are usually created and maintained by academic editors and have some kind of rating or review system. They can prove useful in fiding better quality Web sites.
How can I learn more about evaluating Web sites?
Many useful and reputable sources on the Web provide further guidance in evaluating Web sites. Links to several are provided here:
Bibliography on Evaluating Internet Resources
This bibliography addresses the problems and issues related to teaching and using critical thinking skills to evaluate Internet resources. It includes Internet Resources, Print Resources, Example Web Sites, Useful Listservs, and Useful Books.
Criteria for Evaluation of Internet Information Resources
This site considers scope, content, graphic and multimedia design, purpose, reviews, workability, and cost when evaluating information found on the Internet. Definitions and critical questions are provided for criteria.
Evaluate Web Resources (part of WebSearch - The Web Research Resource
A comprehensive list of questions to ask in evaluating any Web site. Criteria are divided into sections that cover source, content, and format with the primary considerations being accuracy, authority, coverage, currency, and objectivity.
Evaluation of Information Sources
This page contains links to web sites that offer criteria for evaluating information resources. It is intended for librarians and others who are selecting sites to include in an information resource guide, or for users who are evaluating Internet information.
Evaluating Quality on the Net
This site presents an article that discusses how to evaluate quality on the Internet. Particularly useful are the author's key indicators of quality. Key indicators include ease of discovering the scope and inclusion criteria; ease of identifying authorship, currency, last update, and what was updated; stability of information; and ease of use.
Evaluating Web Resources
This site provides materials to assist in teaching how to evaluate the informational content of Web resources. It includes separate checklists for advocacy, business/marketing, news, informational, and personal pages. It also provides a bibliography of materials on applying critical thinking techniques to Web resources.
How to Evaluate Web Pages. Questions to Ask. Strategies for Getting the Answers
This site asks critical questions pertaining the quality of Internet websites: What can the URL tell you? Who wrote the page? Is he, she, or the authoring institution a qualified authority? Is it dated? Current, timely? Is information cited authentic? Does the page have overall integrity and reliability as a source? What's the bias? Could the page or site be ironic, like a satire or a spoof ? If you have questions or reservations, how can you satisfy them? It also provides dictionary links to Web and Internet jargon.
Acknowledgment is given to Joyce Lindstrom, the Government Documents Librarian at Iowa State University Library and Eddie Byrne of Dublin, Ireland, on whose web sites much of the content of this collection of pages is based.
- Is it clear who is responsible for the site?
- Can their Internet presence be located?
- What are the site creator's qualifications? (Try looking up the person responsible for the Web site in a biographical source. You might also check an online database that covers the same subject as the author's Web site is to see if they have written other things, and, if so, in what type of publications his or her work has been published. If an organization is responsible for the site, what do others say about it? )
- Is there an address or phone number you can use to verify the legitimacy of the author or the organization? (An email address can be misleading.)
- Is the information provided copyrighted?
- How reputable are sites to which the site is linked?
- Is there evidence that the information is checked and verified and, if so, how is it done?
Purpose and Content
- What type of resource is it? For example, is it an electronic journal, a database, a personal page, or a Email archive?
- What does it contain?
- Are the criteria for inclusion of information indicated?
- Is the name of the site descriptive of its content?
- Why was the site created? (The Web site's address, its URL, can provide clues about the intended purpose of the site. For example, ".com" in a URL usually means the site was created for business purposes.)
- What is the motive for providing the information?
- Does it appear to have been created to inform or persuade its audience, to explain something to them, or to sell them something?
- Is any advertising present and, if so, does it affect the site's main content?
- Does the site's content show evidence of bias?
- Has an attempt been made to present a balanced viewpoint?
- Is the content to be considered fact or opinion (interpretation of fact), or even propaganda? (The creator's writing style can provide clues here as can claims backed by evidence pointed to.)
- Are the scope of subject coverage and time frame indicated?
- Are there any stated limits to the treatment of the information covered?
- Does the content match the stated scope, purpose, and audience?
- Who is the intended audience?
- Is the information appropriate to your needs or those of the intended audience?
- Should it be viewed by children?
- Is it a vanity work or scholarly?
- Is it the result of research?
- Does it contribute original or new information?
- Are there errors present?
- Does the material support other work or contradict it?
- Is the content taken from another source and, if so, is this indicated?
- Does the content present the most valuable information available on its subject?
- Is it a primary (original work) or secondary source?
- How clearly is such indicated?
- Is the site referenced or reviewed in any subject guide/citation index to Internet resources?
- How did you find out about the site?
- Is there a bibliography or list of references present and, if so, are they in a recognizable and consistent style?
- Is there a print equivalent?
- If so, is complete information from the print original available on the Web site or is only part of the full content present?
- When was the material written?
- When was the information revised or the site last updated?
- Does it appear to have been thoroughly rewritten when last updated or were only cosmetic changes made?
- Is there evidence of a commitment to maintain the site?
- Is the site updated by the original author or someone else?
- Is the type of material presented of the sort that it's important that it be kept up to date?
- If a date is given is it made clear what it indicates?
- Is there a "What's New" section that highlights recent changes to the site?
- What type of resource is it?
- For example, is it an electronic journal, a database, a personal page, or a Email archive?
Structure and Ease of Use
- Is the site well organized?
- Is it logical, simple, or over elaborate?
- Are structural changes made and, if so, do they improve the structure?
- Is the site still under construction and therefore incomplete?
- Are headings descriptive?
- Do they help you find the information easily and quickly?
- If headers and footers are present is their use consistent throughout the site?
- How clearly is the information presented?
- Are navigation tools present such as a table of contents, site map, index?
- Can the site's content be searched and, if so, are instructions provided for effective searching?
- Is it easy to determine where you are in the site at all times?
- Is a link to the home page always present and easily identifiable?
- Is there help available?
- Is a link provided to contact the creator of the site?
- Is a creation date present on every page?
- If the site uses frames do they help or hinder use of the site?
- Is it easy to get lost in the site?
- Is the composition style used consistent?
- Is it overly obvious that the site was created by several different people?
- Are textual components well employed?
- For example, are sentence and paragraph lengths appropriate?
- Is there too much use of bold, italics, capitals?
- Are textual devices consistently applied?
- Are colors used appropriate and easy to view?
- Do colors contrast well?
- Does the background chosen visually "fight with" the main content?
- Are differing span styles kept to a minimum?
- Are there spelling, grammar, or composition errors?
- Is scrolling required to read the whole page, and, if so, are navigation aids such as arrows present to move easily in the text?
- Are graphic images used appropriately?
- Do they enhance the meaning of the text or are they merely decorative?
- Do images take too much time to download?
- Is page composition done skillfully?
- Is it pleasing to the eye?
- Is all content provided as accessible to people with physical impairments as possible?
- Does the site require use of additional software?
- If so are downloading instructions and links provided?
- Can the site be accessed completely on any commonly available browser?
- Are options available for viewing the site such as text only or using it without frames?
- Are there any "dead" links?
- Are links readily identifiable?
- Does the color of links change when visited so you can keep track of pages you've viewed already?
- Do links clearly describe the content of the pages they lead to?
- Are there text links provided for all linked images?
- Is it clear that an image is a link?
- Do links to video or sound files indicate the type of file to which they're linked?
- Do such links indicate the size of the files to be downloaded?
- Are the links chosen relevant and appropriate?
- Are there too many or too few links used?
- Do links to external sites automatically open in a new browser window keeping the existing site on screen?
- Is the site URL (Web address) easily identified?
- Is the site stable over time?
- Is it moved often?
- Are significant changes made to the site without warning or explanation?
- Is contact information for the webmaster readily available?
- Can the site be located easily from its parent site(s) or through use of search engines?
- Are appropriate metatags used to ensure easy retrieval of the site by search engines?
- Does the page download quickly?
- Is the site available consistently?
- Is access to any part of the site restricted in some way, e.g. must you pay to use it or use a password?
- Is the site secure?
- Is the security method described?
- Does the site ensure privacy of use or are users tracked in some way?
- Does the site use a firewall for protection?
- Does the site support different formats such as VRML?
- Is the level of use the site receives indicated?
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LIVE [C, U] › the place where you live or feel you belong: I tried to ring him, but he wasn't at home. We sold our home in London and moved to Scotland. He left home (= stopped living with his family) when he was eighteen. CARE [C] › a place where people who need special care live: a children's home My grandmother lives in a home now.
feel at home › to feel happy and confident in a place or situation: After a month she felt at home in her new job.
make yourself at home › to behave in a relaxed way in a place, as if it was your own home: Take off your coat and make yourself at home.
the home of sth/sb › the place where you usually find something or someone, or where they come from: France, the home of good food → See also nursing home → See also stately home
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"Tornado Near Elmwood, Nebraska, April 6, 1919." This remarkable photograph,
probably the best ever made of a tornado, was made in two parts, as the
photographer was too close to get the whole funnel cloud into the field of his
camera. In: "Meteorology" by Charles F. Talman, 1922. P. 137.
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It looks like another win by Amazon against so-called “agency” pricing model employed by Apple’s iBookstore and other digital bookstores. Following the lead of a US court, the European Union (EU) Thursday announced that the iPhone maker along with four publishers will relent after all.
Specifically, Apple and publishers reportedly have agreed to lower e-book prices on competing stores, including the Kindle store operated by Seattle-based Amazon. Apple, along with Simon & Schuster, HarperCollins, Hachette, and Macmillan, signed the agreement because it wanted to avoid fines that could have topped an astounding $15 billion.
As part of the settlement, Apple’s so-called “most-favored nation” clause – that barred publishers from offering lower prices on competing stores – gets suspended for five years…
“The decision hands online retailer Amazon a victory in its attempt to sell e-books cheaper than rivals in a fast-growing market publishers hope will boost revenue and customer numbers,” Reuters reports Thursday.
While the “agency” model let publishers set their own prices on the iBookstore in return for Apple’s customary 30 percent revenue share, Amazon’s model gave the online retailer the power to set prices as it saw fit, typically selling Kindle books for as low as $9.99, which wasn’t always in publishers’ best interests.
The publisher Penguin was not part of today’s settlement with the EU. Apple offered one and a half million books on the iBookstore as of end of September.
European regulators said Apple had offered concessions to end the antitrust probe, which was launched in December 2011. If the targeted companies had not come to an agreement, the European Commission could have levied fines of up to ten percent of their worldwide sales.
Today’s settlement is similar to one publishers signed with the U.S. Department of Justice. While the American agreement involved Apple (which deemed it unlawful) and publishers HarperCollins, Simon & Schuster and Hachette, Penguin and Macmillan still await a 2013 court date.
The EU settlement comes as Amazon opens its first Kindle store in China.
Although the store won’t initially sell e-reader devices, customers will be able to get iOS and Android apps for viewing Kindle books. The store could shine a spotlight on the Kindle brand as homegrown e-book stores dominate the market.
Amazon already has 65 percent of the e-book market in the United States, according to a Fordham University professor interviewed by Reuters.
Can Apple’s “agency” pricing model survive discounting efforts from Amazon?
It has already ended in Europe.
If American courts follow the EU and order the suspension of contracts favoring publishers at the expense of Amazon, how will that affect Apple’s iBookstore?
After all, the ability to set their own price was about the only leverage Apple had to prevent a mass rush of e-book titles to Amazon.
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November and December saw the usual monthly release of Parrot. However, November's release was particularly notable, as it was version 0.5.0. The minor version number increase came because it includes an implementation of the object design as specified in PDD15. This was a major piece of work, both in the implementation, and integration with existing language implementaitons.
The 0.5.1 release was also quite exciting. The major work for this release was converting a number of language implementations to use the new Parrot Compiler Toolkit, which includes NQP, a simple subset of Perl 6. This means that Parrot's Perl 6 implementation is now largely written in NQP, which is important since the use of NQP opens up compiler development to anyone who can write in a Perl-like language, as opposed to anyone who can write C or Parrot assembler.
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ISC Solved Papers (Last 10 Years) Science Stream for Class XII
• The Present Volume Titled ‘ISC SOLVED PAPERS (Last 10 Years)’ designed and prepared by experienced professionals, will meet the requirements of students of class XII of the ISC council. The publishers have made efforts to ensure that the total needs of the students of the science stream are taken care of by the present volume.
• This publication has been structured in a manner that students get a fair idea of the type and style of questions asked in the finals. It will acquaint them will all facets and dimensions of the subjects, as well as the designing of the unit system and distribution of the marks.
• The contents of this volume have been presented in an easy flowing style that is not heavy or monotonous. The team of specialists that has produced this volume has taken notes of the changing patterns and trends in paper settings that the ISC council engages in every now and then.
• The publishers hope students of class XII of the science stream is definitely gain a lot, and be in a positive frame of mind to face the examinations, after a through study of this publication.
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[jahsonic.com] - [Next >>]
Related: pickpocket - crime
Theft (also known as stealing) is in general, the wrongful taking of someone else's property without that person's willful consent. In law, it is usually the broadest term for a crime against property. It is a general term that encompasses offences such as burglary, embezzlement, larceny, looting, robbery, trespassing, shoplifting, intrusion, fraud (theft by deception) and sometimes criminal conversion. Legally, theft is generally considered to be synonymous with larceny. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theft [Oct 2005]
Identity theft is the deliberate assumption of another person's identity, usually to gain access to their credit or frame them for some crime. Less commonly, it is to enable illegal immigration, terrorism, espionage or changing identity permanently. It may also be a means of blackmail, especially if medical privacy or political privacy has been breached, and revealing the activities undertaken by the thief under the name of the victim would have serious consequences like loss of job or marriage.
Identity theft is usually the result of serious breaches of privacy. Except for the simplest credit cases, it is usually not possible without breakdowns in:
- customer privacy, in which case the consequences may be limited to fraud on one corporation, typically the one that leaked the data in the first place, e.g. account numbers.
- consumer privacy, more serious, where credit card numbers or other generally-useful identity is stolen and used much more widely.
- medical privacy enabling one to alter biometrics stored on the victim, and thus very effectively impersonate them even through secure points.
- client confidentiality and political privacy, making it easy to effectively impersonate someone, by using confidential information that an ordinary impersonator would not have access to.
--http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Identity_theft [Jul 2004]
your Amazon recommendations - Jahsonic - early adopter products
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Is there any information on what is considered a healthy (and sustainable) weight and body fat % loss? How many pounds/bf% for each week can I compare my results against so that I know I'm making good progress and that the loss I'm experiencing is sustainable and long term.
Your fat storage can only release 69 kcal/kg per day from your fat mass to be consume as energy. If you use up more energy then that it will be taken from somewhere else. Probably muscle mass.
I will make the assumption that the cell itself is not consumed in the process, therefor the only weight contribution is lipids and water. Water mass is far less and pretty constant in comparison to fat. The energy content of fat in adipose tissue is approximatly 9000[kcal/kg]*80% = 7200 kcal/kg.
What this means is that the fat you have on your body dictates how much caloric deficit you can be in before you start losing fat free mass as it is also shown here.
If you weight somewhere around 130kg, with 73kg lean mass and 57kg fat mass. You can use almost 69 * 57 ~= 4000 kcal/day from your fat storage as energy without making too much sacrifice on muscle mass. That can be up to 7 [days] * 4000[kcal/day] / 7000[kcal/kg] = 4kg of fatloss per week. Almost 9 lbs!
As you approach 5-6% body fat, your estimated maximum loss of body fat approaches 1 lbs.
Conclusion So what we see is that 2-3lbs/week is a good estimate for a normal person to achieve a goal for the duration of a normal diet plan. As you get leaner the rule of thumb is getting harder to keep without starting to lose lean mass. Also if you are obese there are no problems to lose more then the 2-3lbs/week.
These calculation are estimates and should be seen as optimal release, this do not take metabolic adaptation and and other effects like hormonal issues into acount. What it shows is how much you can be in caloric deficit before you start losing muscle mass.
This is different for everyone and every situation. What might be considered a healthy "weight loss rate" for someone in a certain situation can be totally different for someone else or in another situation.
Providing your body with the right nutrients and get the right amount of exercise will automatically result in your ideal "weight loss rate".
From experience I found that loosing 5 lbs per week is normal for most people if you adjust you lifestyle and eating habits.
Try this: Consume more water rich foods (vegetables and fruit) and limit your intake of sugar and fast carbohydrates.
I'd recommend you to do some research on healthy nutrition an exercise and see how your body is reacting to it. More than measuring your success by your weight loss, I would suggest you to measure your success by how you feel.
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Want more weird health news? Find The Body Odd on Facebook.
"Nomophobia," or the fear of being separated from one's cellphone, is on the rise, according to a new study. WTVJ-TV's Adam Kuperstein reports.
We use cellphones every day. But for a growing number of people, staying connected is an obsession.
According to a study by SecurEnvoy, a company that deals in mobile phone technology, the fear of being apart from your cellphone is on the rise.
It's called Nomophobia, as in "No mobile phone phobia," and 66 percent of the people surveyed said they have it.
That number is up from a similar study four years ago, where 53 percent of people admitted to a fear of losing their cellphones.
Dr. Mitch Spero, director of child and family psychologists in Broward County, said it was common to see problems arise because of cellphone use.
"Cellphones are tools that should be used to enhance our lives," he warned, "not to destroy our interpersonal communication skills with those that we love."
The study by SecurEnvoy shows that people check their cellphones an average of 34 times a day. But for Karla Campos from Pembroke Pines, that's nothing.
Campos estimates that she checks her phone closer to 50 times a day, and she even sleeps with it.
"Before I go to sleep, I put it under my pillow," said Campos, who owns a web services company called Gig Logo.
No matter what, 'it goes with me'
According to the study, 75 percent of people use their cellphones in the bathroom.
Scott Miller-Farrugia from Coral Springs admitted to being one of those people.
"I bring it into the bathroom instead of the newspaper," he said.
Scott's wife Shellie is such a cellphone addict, her nickname is "Celly."
"No matter where I am, it goes with me," she said.
Campos takes "everywhere" to the extreme, bringing her cellphone into the shower, "just in case it rings and somebody needs me."
For the record, Campos said she placed the phone on a ledge where it stays dry.
She also uses her cellphone to communicate with her 10-year-old son. But not necessarily when they're apart.
"He doesn't talk to me, I see him and pass by and he just says 'Hi Mom,'" Campos explained, "but when I have real conversation with him, it's on the phone, through Facebook."
Campos argued that any form of communication is better than none at all, and said she believes the cellphone connects her family.
Spero disagreed. "What I recommend is to keep your cellphone there for emergencies, but when you're with someone make them the priority in your life," he said.
The study showed that the younger you are, the more likely you are to be afflicted with Nomophobia. Women are also more likely to have it than men.
Wondering if you have Nomophobia?
The warning signs include: Obsessively checking your phone, constantly worrying about losing it even when it's in a safe place, and never turning it off.
More on how we live with smartphones:
Mark Kolbe / Getty Images
Are you scared right now? Symptoms of coulrophobia, the fear of clowns, can include sweating, nausea, feelings of dread, fast heartbeat, crying or screaming, and anger at being placed in a situation where a clown is present.
For those infected with the panic, the monsters typically pounce with mammoth feet as high-pitched, almost-joyful squeals emanate from their frightful noses. Scarier still, these creatures tend to travel in tight clusters, often arriving in the same manner.
One teeny-tiny car.
Based on responses to a recent story on the TODAY.com about a 95-year-old clown named "Creeky,” many people harbor the heebie-jeebies for men and women who traipse around in greasepaint, frilly orange wigs and gigantic bowties.
Among the 83 people who commented on the Facebook post about the story, 20 used the word “creepy” and many others admitted to being spooked by clowns, posting confessions such as "clowns freak the hell out of me" and "I hate clowns, ever since I watched 'It' [the movie based on the Stephen King novel]."
“They just look evil to me!” says Sue Molitor, of Valley Park, Missouri, one of people who commented negatively about clowns.
“I honestly do not remember when I began to dislike clowns," she added in an email interview. "I've never encountered one where I turned around and left because I never put myself close enough to one."
Molitor says if she had her way, Ronald McDonald would be out of a job.
"I wouldn't be surprised if he hasn't scared a few children over the years and now they are in therapy," she says. “Also, the commercial from the U.S. Postal Service? Priceless!”
By definition, an irrational fear of clowns is known as coulrophobia, with the prefix "coulro" coming from the ancient Greek word for "one who goes on stilts." Symptoms of coulrophobia can include sweating, nausea, feelings of dread, fast heartbeat, crying or screaming, and anger at being placed in a situation where a clown is present.
According to Rami Nader, a psychologist and director of the North Shore Stress and Anxiety Clinic in North Vancouver, B.C., the psychological roots of the phobia may be traced to the fact that clowns are basically wearing disguises (albeit funny ones) while displaying artificial emotions (even silly ones) that perhaps hide their true feelings.
"You can’t really tell who they are," he says. "You can’t really see their face. You don’t really know what that all means behind the mask.”
Nader says he only rarely sees people with the disorder, however, coulrophobia is common enough to warrant at least one study, conducted by the University of Sheffield in England in 2008.
Researchers asked more than 250 children (ages four to 16) what they thought of the idea of using clown imagery to decorate a hospital children's ward. According to Dr. Penny Curtis, who helped conduct the study, "We found that clowns [were] universally disliked by children. Some found them quite frightening and unknowable."
How do you treat a clown phobia?
The same way you treat any other phobia, says Nader, the psychologist
“What we need to do is gradually come into contact with that thing – whether it’s spiders or heights, whatever you’re afraid of – and learn to cope with the anxiety, learn to recognize that what you’re afraid of won’t actually harm you," he says. "You won’t lose control, you won’t panic, you won’t embarrass yourself with other people."
Judy Chessa, LMSW and coordinator at the Anxiety & Phobia Treatment Center in New York’s White Plains Hospital, says she can’t recall ever treating any person with coulrophobia.
“But I wonder if that’s because this isn’t a phobia as much as a fear,” she says. “You can put the suffix ‘phobia’ after pretty much anything and define it as a phobia.
“Most likely, people with this fear can just easily avoid situations where they encounter clowns. So it doesn’t become an issue for them. They don’t see clowns during the day or at their jobs – except, I guess, those poor people who work at the circus.”
Do you have any phobias? Tell us on Facebook.
Want more weird health news? Find The Body Odd on Facebook.
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La Opinión senior political writer Marrero, an American citizen born in Venezuela, attempts to untangle the contemporary debate over illegal immigration.
The author provides an informed overview of the evolution of America's immigration policy from the Reagan administration to today, and she argues passionately and persuasively that, far from draining our resources and “taking” jobs from native-born Americans, illegal immigrants ultimately contribute to a more diverse, productive, competitive and prosperous America. In Marrero's view, the debate over immigration has been hijacked by anti-immigrant extremists relying on hateful rhetoric to breathe life into their floundering political careers. Rational, sober reflection on an economically and socially complicated issue has, she argues, fallen by the wayside. Though comprehensively researched and eminently sensible, this book is awkwardly written and frequently soporific. Marrero has a journalist's habit of leaching her prose of vitality by attempting to convey an evenhandedness she does not feel. Herself an immigrant, Marrero clearly has an opinion about and a stake in America's treatment of its immigrants, regardless of their legal status. Unfortunately, she goes to such lengths to avoid coming across as a rabid ideologue that she ends up looking mealy-mouthed and ineffectual instead. Though she provides several notable and outrageous examples of illegal immigrants victimized by the violent bigotry of their angry white neighbors, these stories are recited so mechanically that they barely register. Readers may sympathize with her desire to sound as rational and fair-minded as she wishes our national politicians did, but they will likely grow frustrated by her insistence on pirouetting away from real emotion. Marrero is long on glowing paeans to the immigrant spirit and legitimate grievances against willfully ignorant, shamelessly rabble-rousing politicians, but she is short on new ideas and practical solutions.
An overly cautious, platitudinous entry in the immigration debate.
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by Elana Schor
The myth that U.S. roads "pay for themselves" thanks to user fees is a subject that's likely familiar to many Streetsblog readers -- but just how much of the nation's highway funding is provided by charging drivers?
The answer may surprise even active critics of the current asphalt-centric transportation system. Between 1982 and 2007, the amount of federal highway revenue derived from non-users of the highway system has doubled, according to a study released today by Subsidyscope.
Analyzing Federal Highway Administration data dating back to 1957, the dawn of the Interstate system, Subsidyscope researchers found that non-users of the highway system contributed $70 billion for nationwide road construction and maintenance in 2007. In 1982, by contrast, highway contributions from non-users totaled just $35 billion (in 2007 dollars).
Today's study also found that the share of road funding generated by user fees fell to 51 percent in 2007, down from 61 percent just a decade earlier. (The accounting used by Subsidyscope, a joint project of the Pew Charitable Trusts and the Sunlight Foundation, accounted for the use of about one-sixth of federal gas tax revenue to pay for transit.)
Subsidyscope points out that the federal gas tax has stayed stagnant since 1993, rapidly losing value as inflation climbs, but the growing popularity of bond issuances as a way to pay for new roads is also a factor. According to Subsidyscope's research, the value of new bonds issued to pay for highways reached $24.7 billion in 2007, up from just $6 billion in new bonds issued in 1982 (converted to 2007 dollars).
Bond offerings, which often represent states and localities playing a greater role in transportation planning, do not guarantee that users will be paying for new highway construction -- rather, bonds depend on market conditions to allow a successful leveraging of debt, and the recent economic downturn has forced many governments to limit their bonding plans.
This piece originally appeared on Streetsblog New York City.
Image Credit: Subsidyscope
This analysis of course doesn't begin to consider the broader costs of roads - police patrols, the cost of accidents, air, water and noise pollution impacts, property values diminished (though in some cases property values are inflated as a result of a new sprawl inducing road), the weakening of bus and train systems, and on and on.
Using the data here to advocate modestly increased user fees is unlikely to significantly reduce demand for roads, given the inelasticity of demand of driving, but at least would free up public resources for other needed services.
Please note, all, that this refers to federal highways, which were always LESS subsidized than state and municipal roadways. For an example of the far higher subsidies for state and local roads, see this study from Texas DOT:
Everything is perception. We have all paid for something that we do not use. Have "non-road-users" ever ridden in a car with a "road-user?"
"I am here to serve."
The Window Man
As we all should know by now, former chairman of the Texas House of Representatives Transportation Committee Mike Krusee himself recently said this: "What we found was that no road that we built in Texas paid for itself. None." And we also know that Texas Transportation Institutes' statistics are commonly used to buttress pro-road arguments. But TTI actually has a pro-multimodal mentality, as evidenced by the below, which are just some of the things that can be found here: http://mobility.tamu.edu/ums/
• Providing more options for how a trip is made, the time of travel and the way that transportation service is paid for may be a useful mobility improvement framework for urban areas. For many trips and in many cities, the alternatives for a peak period trip are to travel earlier or later, avoid the trip or travel in congestion. Given the range of choices that Americans enjoy in many other aspects of daily life, these are relatively few and not entirely satisfying options
• In growing areas adding capacity of all types is essential to handle the growing demand and avoid rapidly rising congestion
• Commute trips generally cluster around the most congested peak periods and are from the same origin to the same destination at the same time of day. These factors make commute trips by carpooling, vanpooling, public transit, bicycling and walking more likely
• Peak period public transportation service during congested hours can improve the transportation capacity, provide options for travel mode and allow those without a vehicle to gain access to jobs, school, medical facilities, and other destinations. In the case of public transportation lines that do not intersect roads, the service can be particularly reliable as they are not affected by the collisions and vehicle breakdowns that plague the roadway system and are not as affected by weather, road work, and other unreliability-producing events
• Transit, like ridesharing, park-and-ride lots and high-occupancy vehicle lanes, typically have a greater effect on the congestion statistics in a corridor, rather than across a region. Transit and these other elements “compete” very well with the single-occupant vehicle in serving dense activity centers and congested travel corridors[viii]
• (Smart Growth) characteristics can be incorporated into new developments so that new economic development does not generate the same amount of traffic volume as existing developments. Among the tools that can be employed are better management of arterial street access, incorporating bicycle and pedestrian elements, better parking strategies, assessing transportation impact before a development is approved for construction, and encouraging more diverse development patterns
• If a region’s vehicle-miles of travel were to increase by five percent per year, roadway lane-miles would need to increase by five percent each year to maintain the initial congestion level
• This analysis shows that it would be almost impossible to attempt to maintain a constant congestion level with road construction only. Over the past 2 decades, less than 50 percent of the needed mileage was actually added. This means that it would require at least twice the level of current-day road expansion funding to attempt this road construction strategy. An even larger problem would be to find suitable roads that can be widened, or areas where roads can be added, year after year
Non-User. If you think of it, they are not really non users, because most of us are passengers in a car. I don't think there are too many people that haven't used a car to travel. Celebrity
I find it hard to believe that federal gas tax has stayed consistent since 1993. That's such a long time ago. Either way, this is a great article.
info on purity rings
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In the early '70s, Karl Marlantes sat down to write about his tour of duty as a Marine Corps officer in Vietnam, where he'd been awarded a Navy Cross, a Bronze Star, two Navy Commendation Medals for valor—and two Purple Hearts. He'd hoped to write a book that would be "the Great American Novel about the Vietnam War," but soon realized his first effort was "sheer psychotherapy drivel." He started over, intent on creating a coherent manuscript, and by 1977 he had completed the first draft of an actual novel. Now, after more than 30 years of rejections from publishers, editors, and agents—some of whom advised him to change it to be about the Gulf War or Afghanistan—the nearly 600-page Matterhorn has not only seen the light of day but has become a bestseller. The long road to getting it published reflects an unwillingness to confront the war's legacy, says Marlantes, noting that "Vietnam has been the alcoholic elephant parent in the room for 40 years. No one wants to talk about it." The 65-year-old first-time novelist spoke with Mother Jones about his literary influences, how readers are reacting to the book, and how the divisiveness of the Vietnam era still reverberates.
Mother Jones: Over the 35 years you spent writing and rewriting Matterhorn, you must have read a lot of other books. I'm curious about some of the other works that were important to you as a writer.
Karl Marlantes: Really important books to me are the classics. I try very hard to read them well— you know, especially once I got serious about writing. So, reading Tolstoy several times—War and Peace, The Kreutzer Sonata—all those were really important to me. And I also followed up with Solzhenitsyn—here's an old Russian, here's a new Russian, and they're both really big books. I really liked reading him, he just appealed to me for some reason.
MJ: What about The Iliad?
KM: Oh yeah, in several translations. The Odyssey is the great tale, and I was really taken by The Iliad, so I dig into those things, and when I was a kid I didn't. You've gotta have a certain level of understanding yourself before that stuff really starts to resonate.
MJ: Those classics that you mentioned—what did you take from them that helped you write Matterhorn? Did you draw structure from them?
KM: Actually, the structure for Matterhorn came more from the Percival myth, because the story is about a young man who has to leave his mother and then grow into a knight and grow beyond that by becoming compassionate. Other than that, there's the mechanical structure, which is of course the central metaphor of Matterhorn. Matterhorn is my metaphor of the Vietnam War—we built it, we abandoned it, we assaulted it, we lost, and then we abandoned it again.
MJ: Had you always planned on writing Matterhorn as a novel? Did you ever consider writing it as nonfiction?
KM: It's just weird, there's sort of a myth starting to surround this book, that it started as 1,700 pages long. When I first got back from the war, I said, "I'm gonna write the Great American Novel about the Vietnam War." So I sat down and wrote 1,700 pages of sheer psychotherapy drivel. It was first person, and there would be pages about wet socks and cold feet. I realized when I got done with it that it wasn't fiction—it was really journaling, and it was extremely therapeutic. That's where this myth of how big Matterhorn was in the beginning—it came from this different book. A friend of mine has it in his garage, he says, and he threatens to blackmail me with it. [Laughs] 'Cause it's bad! But it was good for the soul. It just never occurred to me to write a nonfiction book. My heart is in fiction and art—that's just what I want to do with my life, and I always wrote fiction.
MJ: So you had been writing fiction before that?
KM: Oh, my first, quote, "novel" was when I was nine. My cousin and I co-authored it. It was about space invaders coming to Earth, but they were whipped by a giant electric shield that this, oddly enough, 10-year-old invented and put all over the world. So, yeah, I wrote in high school, and I wrote in college. I won a literary prize in college. I've just always written.
MJ: You'll have to dig up that space-invader novel.
KM: I know. If that one was found, that would be really something.
MJ: Have you talked with people who've served in Vietnam and who've read the book? What have their reactions been?
KM: Exceedingly positive. A guy came up to me at a reading in Seattle and he had five books with him. I said, "Wow, how come you're buying five books?" He said, "I'm married, four kids, and I served as a Marine in the area the novel covers. And every time I try to tell them about the war, I'd start shaking or start to get nervous and clam up and I couldn't go through with it. I've been trying for four years and I'm gonna buy this book, because this book will tell it exactly the way it was." And that made me just almost cry.
MJ: You've talked at length about having the book rejected by publishers over and over again. That they told you no one wanted to read about Vietnam, and that they'd like to read about a more current war.
KM: Yeah. "Can you move the mountain to Afghanistan?" I can't believe it.
MJ: The overwhelmingly positive reception seems to suggest that people are, in fact, very interested in reading a nearly 600-page novel about the Vietnam War. How do you account for that interest?
KM: Well, I think there's a couple of things going on. First of all, we've got a war going on right now that is eerily parallel to it—they can go across the border, we can't. We stick out like sore thumbs, they don't. They're a local indigenous population that will fight forever. It's just so eerily familiar, but I think that people are at least cognizant of that, no matter what their politics are.
And I think there's been this enormous chasm in our country ever since Vietnam. I think it's influenced politics to this day. I was in the Democratic Party when I was a college kid, and when I came back, everyone was calling me names and spitting. I felt so horrible that I left the country. Then when I came back, most of those people were college students and became college professors, and I just didn't feel at home, and I stopped being involved—I just sort of backed out and I registered Republican because it was more of a home. It's interesting—who's that senator from Virginia, who wrote Fields of Fire? James Webb—it happened to him. He became a Republican. Now he's gone back to being a Democrat, but it's just interesting how it affected people. There was feeling of animosity, and this gap.
Now I think we're all starting to look back and say, "That was really stupid." First of all, the scapegoating of the kids that came back—they were young, they couldn't make policy. They couldn't even vote yet! And then the reaction of veterans who were vilifying others as sort of hippie, communist, protestor assholes, East Coast intellectual effete. It's so divisive now, and I suspect that's because it got divisive in the '60s, and it never went away, and the politicians are good at exploiting it. And now I think people are tired of it—they're thinking we're getting dysfunctional, that we've gotta solve this problem. And I think this enormous divisiveness started back then, when we were hurling epithets at each other.
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Boeing Breaks Ground on Second 787 Dreamliner Plant
The alacrity with which Boeing assumed control of the former Vought plant in South Carolina this past summer, secured the necessary construction approvals for an adjacent factory and reached a decision on the ultimate location of a second 787 Dreamliner assembly line had already led to skepticism about the company’s commitment to negotiating with its workers based around Washington state’s Puget Sound. Nothing management could say or do after announcing on October 28 that it would locate the new line in north Charleston, S.C., would change that fact.
So the company wasted no time breaking ground on a site directly adjacent to the existing Boeing Charleston plant this month, in time, it hopes, to roll out its first airplane from the new factory in 2012. Indeed, Boeing’s ability to promptly accelerate 787 production will prove vital to a program beset by technical glitches and organizational turmoil since management announced the initial delay to first flight some two and half years ago. Still yet to fly, the 787 nevertheless maintains a backlog of 840 airplanes. Along with getting the airplane in the air and certified by the end of next year, filling those orders–and mitigating the threat of ballooning late-delivery penalties–must now stand as among the program’s top priorities.
But despite its apparent enthusiasm for employing a nonunion workforce in South Carolina, Boeing insists that the move didn’t signal the start of any exodus from Washington state, but rather an expansion of its existing capacity.
“Some would call this a win for South Carolina and a loss for Washington state,” said Boeing Commercial Airplanes CEO Jim Albaugh. “But there are no winners or losers in this. Our decision to come to South Carolina will be good for our competitiveness, for our customers and for our country. And it will create jobs in both South Carolina and Puget Sound.”
Others, such as the leadership at the IAM, would call it shortsighted adherence to a strategy that has already proved itself a failure. “Boeing’s goal was not an agreement that would keep the work in Washington state,” said IAM general vice president Rich Michalski. “Its goal was to run out the clock on a charade that included blaming their own workers for a decision to establish operations in yet another distant and high-risk environment.”
Apparently, Boeing’s management calculated that the likelihood of yet another strike in the Puget Sound region outweighed any perceived risk of employing less-experienced workers in South Carolina and the redundancies associated with running duplicate lines nearly a continent apart from each other. In fact, Boeing CEO Jim McNerney unambiguously ranked the problems Boeing has encountered during negotiations with the IAM over the years as perhaps the top reason it seriously considered north Charleston as the site of its next line.
“The union and company have had trouble figuring it out between themselves over the last few contract discussions, and I’ve got to figure out a way to reduce that risk to the company,” he said. “So some of the modest inefficiencies associated with the move to Charleston are certainly more than overcome by strikes happening every three or four years in Puget Sound.”
The Boeing chief executive expressed frustration with “the very negative financial impact to the company” caused by such strikes, particularly the eight-week walkout of 27,000 machinists that effectively halted production at BCA last fall. “Our balance sheet would be a lot stronger today had we not had a strike last year,” he said. “Our customers would be a lot happier today had we not had a strike last year, and the 787 program would be in better shape had we not.”
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Please explain why we should ask Allah for protection when entering and exiting the bathroom. Maybe also give example of what one should say for ones who do not know. Thanks
The question has been closed for the following reason "The question is answered, right answer was accepted" by sadie Mar 26 at 03:23
A person should seek Allahs protection from the Devils (Shayateen) that usually are and go to places of impurities and uncovered private parts (Also Prophet said - Those are the places that devils haunt)
the Prophet (عليه الصلاة والسلام) used to say when entering and leaving:
Entering: A’oodhu Billaahi min al-khubthi wa’l-khabaa’ith
Meaning: I seek refuge Allaah from the male and female devils
Meaning: Your forgiveness
Note: Allahs name has and is not been said while entering & leaving.
When entering the toilet recite:
Bismillah "In the name of Allah" It is in the hadith that between the eyes of Satan and the private parts of man Bismillah is a barrier therefore, this dua should be recited.
اللُّهُمَّ إِنِّي أَعُوذُ بِكَ مِنَ الْخُبْثِ وَالْخَبَائِثِ
"O Allah. I seek refuge in You from the male female evil and Jinns".
(Mishkat, Hisnul Hasin)
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Washington Senate Votes to Allow Police to Search Students for Breaking School Rules
Appeals lawyer says law would be challenged as unconstitutional
By Helen Silvis Of The Skanner News
March 08, 2013Washington State Senate has passed a bill that will allow police to search students without their parents consent, if they are suspected of breaking a school rule. But Greg Link a defense attorney with the Washington Appellate project says that if the bill passes it likely will be struck down.
Senate Bill 5618 adds police to the list of school personnel (Pdf file) allowed to search students without parental permission. Previously school principals, vice-principals and school staff designated by the principal were allowed to conduct the searches. The bill was sponsored by Sen. Mike Carrell, R-Lakewood.
“These are not necessarily criminal matters,” says Aldo Melchiori, a staffer on the Washington State Senate Committee on Law and Justice. “It could be a pack of cigarettes that is against school rules and it could be taken away.”
The bill has not yet become state law. The next step is a House Judiciary Committee hearing scheduled for March 14.
Link says if the bill does pass in the Legislature, it will be struck down as unconstitutional.
“I would expect it to be challenged fairly quickly,” Link said. “I think it’s unconstitutional because it violates both the Fourth Amendment and Washington State law.
“The Washington state constitution says you can’t invade privacy without reason to suspect that a crime has been committed,” Link says. “Police officers can’t just conduct suspicionless searches just because they want to.”
The issue of police in schools has been controversial nationally, especially since the Connecticut school shooting. Even though the vast majority of shooting deaths have nothing to do with schools, NRA spokesman Wayne LaPierre called for arming teachers. And several cities have moved to increase police presence or security in schools.
After Sandy Hook school shooting the Obama administration allocated $150 million to schools, saying it could be used to hire up to 1,000 more on-campus police or counselors, or purchase security technology.
But civil rights advocates say more police in schools means more children of color caught in the school to prison pipeline.
The ask why we are spending more and more money on law enforcement in schools, instead of making schools safer by meeting the needs of students with inspiring teachers, counselors and staff who can help students with troubles at home?
Susan Ferris of The Center for Public Integrity looked at the issue in her report, “Controversy over cops in schools flares anew.” Ferris found that increasing numbers of police in schools has been accompanied by controversy over racial profiling and what critics say are unjustified arrests for minor discipline problems.
In Los Angeles, for example, more than 40 percent of police tickets went to children under the age of 14, most of them from low-income families. And high-profile cases in New York have found students handcuffed and chained to desks for infractions such as writing on a desk.
In fact, judges in Los Angeles and elsewhere have complained that students are being sent to court for discipline problems that schools should handle.
Lawsuits have followed, Ferris says. The NAACP has filed a civil rights complaint with the U.S. Department of Education. And the ACLU has filed several lawsuits against schools, including in New York, Salt Lake City, and Glendale, Calif.
Ferris cites this case: “In DeSoto County, Miss. officers and a school district were sued after a bus surveillance video — seen in part by a reporter — revealed officers unjustifiably arresting black students, the suit alleged, and threatening others with a “a bullet between the eyes.”
Still, across the country, politicians and state legislatures have been moving to add more police to schools. Ferris reports the Department of Justice found police presence in schools increased 40 percent between 19978 and 2007.
Mississippi, Alabama and Indiana are just three states proposing to fund more officers in schools. And Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Oklahoma and South Carolina are all considering bills to arm school staff.
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Feb. 8, 2006 A ribbon-like cochlear implant developed at the University of Michigan could greatly improve hearing for profoundly deaf patients, and simplify insertion to help surgeons minimize damage to healthy ear tissue.
A team led by U-M's Kensall D. Wise, director of the NSF Engineering Research Center for Wireless Integrated Microsystems (WIMS), made the implant using thin-film electrode sites that directly stimulate the auditory nerve.
The implant is currently being tested in guinea pigs and cats, said Wise, who has appointments in the departments of Biomedical Engineering and Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. The device may be available in four to five years for use in humans, Wise said, and could be used in current cochlear patients -- removing the old device first -- to improve their hearing. Additionally, the FDA approves implants for wider use as the technology improves.
Approximately 100,000 patients today have received cochlear implants worldwide. The current technology, Wise said, is bulky, difficult for surgeons to insert, and doesn't allow a great range of perceived frequencies. The present implants use electrodes formed from a bundle of wires fed into the snail-shaped cochlea of the inner ear, but difficulties in inserting such devices make it tough to achieve the deep insertion needed to stimulate lower-frequency sounds, and collisions with the cochlear wall can damage any residual hearing that still exists.
"The range of frequencies that can be stimulated depends on how far into the cochlea the implant can go, with the lower frequencies located further up toward the apex of the spiral canal," Wise said. In current technology, each implant has anywhere from 16 to 22 stimulating sites along its length. By contrast, the U-M implant will host up to 128 stimulating sites.
"More sites mean greater tonal range and better frequency perception," Wise said, "and the implant's flexibility will minimize damage to existing hearing."
The ribbon film technology lets researchers embed other functions in the implant, such as position sensors that allow surgeons to watch the implant's progress on a monitor as they're feeding it into the cochlea.
"With the position sensors, doctors can see, on a screen, a silhouette of the ribbon against the shape of the cochlea," Wise said. "Eventually the idea is to be able take the signals from the position sensors and use them to control actuators in an insertion tool, so that the electrode array can achieve deep insertion and navigate around any obstacles in its path.
"The idea is to use a pneumatic insertion tool that can be inflated or deflated, similar to a spiral party favor, and is pre-stressed to hug the inner wall of the cochlea," Wise said. "The position sensors set the stage for doing that because they give you feedback on what's happening when you insert these devices."
Researchers make the implant with the same processes used to make integrated circuits, which means they can be made in batch. The research is funded by the National Science Foundation and was to be presented on Feb. 6 at the International Solid-State Circuits Conference (ISSCC) in San Francisco. Doctoral student Pamela Bhatti was to present the paper, which is co-authored by Wise and by research fellow Sangwoo Lee.
For information on Wise, visit: http://www.eecs.umich.edu/~wise/
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Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
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VIDEO: Tufts Students Simulate Waterboarding to Protest Karl Rove Visit
A Tufts University junior was tied to a table with a towel on her face while another student poured water on her head.
Tufts University students conducted a symbolic waterboarding Wednesday evening to protest a visit on campus by former George W. Bush advisor Karl Rove.
Rove spoke on campus for a lecture cosponsored by Tufts Republicans and the national Young America's Foundation. The talk was part of Young America's Foundation's Wendy P. McCaw Lecture Series.
Outside the Cohen Auditorium, where the lecture took place, about 25 students held up signs, wore masks and chanted in protest, arguing Rove was complicit in what they considered torture because he was a leading member of the Bush administration, which used waterboarding and other so-called enhanced interrogation techniques on suspected terrorists.
The lecture took place at 6 p.m. and was open only to members of the Tufts community.
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My lama here in Greece practices releasing animals in order to save their lives. A powerful practice that accrues imense virtue and benefit. This practice works best for animals that are to be killed (not that releasing animals destined as pets is not a beneficial practice). It doesn't have to be a cow, it can be a much smaller animal (for example snails, quails and frogs that are being raised and sold for consumption). Smaller animals are easier for those living in cities. Live marine animals (fish, shellfish, prawns and crabs) is another option. Many fishing shops sell live bait which you can buy and release.
For those who want the practice I have made an electronic copy of The Essence of Benefit and Joy: A Method for the Saving of Lives
written by Jamgon Kongtrul and Loro Thaye. It's a 20mb zip file. Those who want a copy can PM me with their email address.
There are some other pracitces available on the net based on Avalokitesvaras six syllable mantra.
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Ever wanted to rule an empire? Well now you can, virtually at least. Register with Historvius and you can be the king of the castle, or the emperor of the Colosseum! Sign up now and start uploading comments and photos to historic sites you've visited. You'll get points for your activity and those with the most points on any historic site get to rule. Don't get complacent though, as any ruler knows, there's always someone waiting in the wings to usurp your crown…
Kelvedon Hatch Nuclear Bunker
- Kelvedon Hatch Nuclear Bunker
- Alt Name:
- Secret Nuclear Bunker
- United Kingdom
- Cold War
- Northern Europe
- 1900AD - 1999AD
- Kelvedon Hatch
about Kelvedon Hatch Nuclear Bunker
The Kelvedon Hatch Nuclear Bunker is an enormous Cold War-era subterranean shelter and former operations centre in Brentwood, Essex.
In 1952, the spectre of the Cold War loomed ever-more menacingly over Britain. With Europe already firmly divided into two hostile and ideologically opposed camps, and with the Korean War raging in East Asia, the nuclear arms race which had begun at the end of the Second World War became increasingly frenetic. In October 1952, Britain, strategically and ideologically aligned with the United States of America, became the third country to test successfully an independently developed nuclear bomb.
It was against this terrifying backdrop that construction work began on the Kelvedon Hatch secret nuclear bunker. The subterranean space, just 25 miles northeast of London, was first used as an RAF ROTOR station. ROTOR, a project initiated by the British Government in the early 1950s, was a complex air defence radar system which sought to repel potential attacks from Soviet bombers. The bunker then briefly became a Regional Seat of Government (RSG), before finally being turned into Essex’s Regional Government Headquarters (RGHQ).
The Kelvedon Hatch bunker was designed to house up to 600 civilian and military personal, including the prime minister and other high-ranking cabinet officials. In the event of a nuclear attack, the centre’s tasks would have consisted of supplying protection to nearby Ministry of Defence workers, coordinating the survival of the local population, and continuing the operations of the government.
The three-storey bunker measures 27,000 square feet and extends 100 metres below ground level. Its walls are made of ten-foot-thick concrete reinforced by tungsten rods. The structure contains roughly 80 tons of genuine Cold War-period equipment: original plotting boards, telecommunications apparatus and 1980s-era computer equipment. It is also replete with its own BBC studio, office space, living quarters, kitchen and medical room. It also contains a canteen, where refreshments are served to modern day visitors.
In 1992, following the collapse of the Soviet bloc and the geostrategic realignment of Europe, Kelvedon Hatch nuclear bunker was decommissioned. The local Parish family, whose land had been requisitioned by the state in the 1950s in order to construct the site, bought the fields back from the Government. It has now been converted into a fascinating, privately owned museum.
Contributed by Maria Thomas
Just as empires rise and fall so do entry fees and opening hours! While we work as hard as we can to ensure the information provided here about Kelvedon Hatch Nuclear Bunker is as accurate as possible, the changing nature of certain elements mean we can't absolutely guarantee that these details won't become a thing of the past. If you know of any information on this page that needs updating you can add a comment above or now.
Address: Kelvedon Hall Lane, Brentwood, Essex, CM14 5TL
Phone: +44 (0) 1277 364883
Road: The site can be accessed from the A128 ‘Chipping Ongar to Brentwood’ road at Kelvedon Hatch. If you have GPS, enter the postcode CM15 0LA and then follow the brown tourist signposts. From the M11: take the A414 (Chelmsford) to Ongar then the A128 to Brentwood. From the M25: at the interchange with the A12 (junction 28), take the A1023 to Brentwood and then the A128 to Ongar. Train: Take the train to Brentwood Station or Shenfield Mainline Train Station. From there, you can take a taxi (the distance is seven miles). From Brentwood you can catch the 501 Townlink bus to the site. Tube: Take the Central Line to Debden, Theydon Bois or Epping, and then a 7 mile taxi ride. There is also a bus service from Epping, which is the 501 Townlink bus.
Mar - Oct: Open daily 10am-4pm (5pm Sat/Sun). Nov - Feb: Open Thurs-Sun 10am-4pm. Adults: £7, Children (5-16 Years): £5, Family (2 Adults + 2 Children): £16.50 | Group Discount (15+): Adults £6.50 Child £4.50. Payment by cash only as credit and debit cards are not accepted.
There is a cafeteria on the site which serves light refreshments. At weekends, the cafeteria usually serves hot meals. Disabled access is limited, so the bunker’s staff should be contacted in advance sing the details given above.
Historvius is not responsible for the content of external sites.
?Kelvedon Hatch Nuclear Bunker is ruled by
Emperor : -
King : -
Prince : -
Duke : -
Lord : -
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Chinese consumers are brand-obsessed when they do their shopping, though not in the way some might expect.
According to a new study by Bain & Company and Kantar Worldpanel, Chinese consumers are adventurous shoppers who are constantly trying out new brands and are rarely loyal to one.
The findings are likely to disappoint the marketing departments at major consumer product companies, the researchers say.
“There’s always been an expectation that the Chinese will become more loyal as the market becomes more mature and we’re saying ‘no’ to that,” said Bruno Lannes, a Shanghai-based partner for Bain and the lead writer of the report.
“This may be sobering news for brand managers. The reality is that consumers in China, like in other countries, don’t think of brands when they shop.”
The researchers studied the shopping habits of 40,000 Chinese households by arming them with scanners to track their purchases in real time. Twenty-six types of consumer products were tracked in beverage, packaged food, personal care and home care categories.
Chinese shoppers are most often engaged in what Mr. Lannes calls “repertoire behavior,” which means that they consider and buy several brands when shopping rather than sticking to one favorite. For example, the average Chinese household bought yogurt 16.2 times last year. But shoppers chose one of the leading three brands just 4.6, or 28%, of those times.
And the more they shop in a category, the study found, the more brands they’ll try. The 20% of Chinese shoppers who shopped the most for biscuits, for example, bought 10 different brands of treats, while the average shopper tried six.
“Chinese do love brands. It’s a reassurance for them. But even though they love them, in most categories, it doesn’t mean they love one in particular.”
Certain products do inspire loyalty, including beer, soft drinks and chewing gum. Diapers and infant formula are also categories where consumers will stick with one brand, partially because of recent scandals of tainted products, Mr. Lannes said.
But with such little brand loyalty among most categories, what are marketing executives supposed to do? Mr. Lannes advises to scrap the idea of creating loyal customers and focus more on attracting shoppers in stores so they take notice of a particular brand.
“There was an expectation that loyalty would increase,” he said. “But we don’t expect China to really evolve this way.”
– Jason Chow. Follow him on Twitter @jjasonchow
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Twenty-four building projects were recognized during the Orchids & Onions Awards Ceremony.
While it may sound like a show to celebrate flowers and veggies, the ceremony held Nov. 12 was actually a fundraising event sponsored by the San Diego Architectural Foundation.
Building and design projects were recognized as Orchids or Onions—things that cause the heart to soar, or grant eyesores.
The big winners of the night was Downtown's Vantage Pointe and South Park's Station. Other winners of the night included the Bacon St. Offices of Hanna Gabriel Wells for Sustainable Deisgn (Orchid), Gateway San Diego, Airport Intermodal Transportation Center for Planning Policies (Orchid), and the Ryan Aeronautics Demolition for Historic Preservation (Onion).
While the Onions and Orchids are nominated by the public, a jury of design professionals and artists get the final word on who the official Orchids and Onions of the event. Categories include architecture, interior design, landscape architecture, historic preservation, sustainable design, urban design, planning policies and public art.
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Team Creates Simple Chemical System that Mimics DNA
The work, reported in the June 11, 2009 issue of Science Express, an advance, online publication of the journal Science, might also be a starting point on the way to exotic new materials that repair themselves or transform in response to their environment.
Scientists are both bemused and fascinated by the question of how life could have arisen on Earth. One of the most prominent theories is that, before the emergence of DNA, the earliest forms of life used RNA to transmit their genetic codes. The late Leslie Orgel, a co-author of the new paper, first suggested this idea, known as the "RNA World."
One of the theory's challenges is that RNA is still so complex that many researchers believer something still simpler must have preceded it. "I have been working for years to learn what replicators and genetic systems might have come before the advent of the RNA World," says team leader of the new research Professor Reza Ghadiri, a Scripps Research chemist.
One key focus for Ghadiri's team has been amino acids' potential primordial role. In 1996, the group showed for the first time that amino acid strands, or peptides, can self-replicate under enzyme-free conditions. In the current work, the Ghadiri lab extends this focus by creating another type of information system that might be capable of something akin to Darwinian evolution. "This work is a beginning step toward that goal," says Ghadiri.
Thioester bonds reversibly with the cysteine on the peptides to form thioester peptide nucleic acid (tPNA). This allows the nucleobases to attach and disassemble on their own without enzymes, so that a given peptide strand will hold a shifting array of nucleobases. This process is something like soldiers walking around a field achieving a certain formation then moving into a new formation.
If an unzipped segment of DNA is added as a template to a solution with the tPNA components, the nucelobase soldiers will automatically assume a formation on peptide strands that complements the DNA according to standard Watson-Crick pairing of adenine with thymine and cytosine with guanine.
The complementary tPNA and DNA strands bond, but these pairings can then be unzipped by adding to the mix complementary DNA strands, which outcompete the tPNA for space on the initial templates. The DNA-DNA pairings remain stable, causing the tPNA components to resume their unstable shuffling until a new DNA template is added and the process begins again.
The Ghadiri team was also able to show that a strand of tPNA can act as a template, causing complementary tPNA formation and strand pairing, though they have not yet achieved self-replication for tPNA, an ultimate goal.
Beyond origins of life questions, Ghadiri says the work also offers some distant but intriguing possibilities, especially considering that there are almost endless possibilities for creating systems similar to tPNA using differing chemical constituents. Such systems could lead to the formation of new enzymes or other chemicals capable of catalyzing reactions with biomedical or other uses. "The capacity to have nucleic acid-like folded structures with protein features will surely in my mind give us new functionalities," he says, though it is impossible to say yet what those new functionalities might be.
Ghadiri also imagines some science fiction-worthy options for tPNA-related materials such as plastics that can repair themselves when fractured. Another possibility, tied to the way that tPNA rearranges when exposed to differing templates, would be to create materials that can remodel themselves by similarly responding to changes in their environment.
"You can in principle do many things, and we're enthusiastic about the prospects," says Ghadiri. "This is just the beginning."
In addition to Orgel and Ghadiri, authors on the paper, entitled "Self-Assembling Sequence-Adaptive Peptide Nucleic Acids," are Yasuvuki Ura, John Beierle, and Luke Leman, all from The Scripps Research Institute.
This work was supported in part by the Skaggs Institute for Chemical Biology, NASA Earth and Space Science Fellowship Program, and the NASA Science Mission Directorate's Planetary Science Division. The paper is dedicated to the memory of Leslie E. Orgel.
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…but, I love a good strike.
ETA: Strike starts Sept. 10 unless a contract is negotiated in the meantime. Go read some more of the CTU blog, as well; it’s got lots of good stuff, such as advice that Teach for America teachers can strike along with their comrades.
And as the new school year approaches, it looks like Chicago’s public school teachers and other educational professionals (like school librarians, ahem) might be going out. Tomorrow they will file their 10-day strike notice. That doesn’t mean that they’ll definitely strike, but it does mean the option is definitely on the table. 90% voted to authorize a strike earlier this summer.
Wages, hours, and conditions of course. In this case a main issue is that the same number of teachers were being asked to cover an extended school day and larger class sizes. They seem to have made headway on that, but contract details have not been all straightened out yet. Also up for discussion are student services and what some might call elective or non-essential courses and activities — music, art, recess & P.E., libraries, etc. — aspects of education that are seen as essential to wealthy and high-performing schools, but somehow are always negotiable in poor schools. This, my friends, is one of the many way in which the playing field is not level, in which equal opportunity is not available, and in which inequality is perpetuated.
So, let’s see some support for our sisters and brothers in Chicago, trying to maintain fair working conditions in their public school system, so that they can best serve their hundreds of thousands of students.
So, we here at the Library have been sitting on this for a while, but the cat’s out of the bag now, thanks to the Village Voice. In short, the city and Brookfield (owners of Zuccotti/Liberty) are pointing fingers and loudly yelling, “nuhuh!”
A friend of the library sends along the following call for papers:
ANARCHISM: THEORY, PRACTICE, ROOTS, CURRENT TRENDS
Science & Society is planning a special issue on the broad theme of anarchism, as appearing in both past and present-day political movements. While contributors will of course shape the content and perspectives of the issue as it develops, we especially encourage contributions within the following subject areas:
1. The nature of anarchist theory and practice, from the standpoint of historical materialism. Anarchism as a laboratory for the study of the material roots of ideology. Does the existing body of anarchist writing contribute to Marxist understandings of the state? Of the nature of ruling-class hegemony? Of the balance between spontaneity and organization in the struggles of working and oppressed classes and strata? Of transformations in capitalism related to globalization, neoliberalism, financialization, cognitive commodities, creative labor, etc.?
2. The classical roots of anarchist thought in the works of Bakunin, Kropotkin, Emma Goldman, and others, especially in relation to the position of Marx and Engels in the International Working Men’s Association and the individual-country working-class movements of the 19th century.
3. The specific features of present-day anarchist thought. Survey of books, journals, websites, blogs. The role of new information technologies in contemporary social and political debate.
4. Anarchism in today’s new social movements: the anti- and counter-globalization protests; the uprising against the WTO, Seattle, 1999; the World Social Forum and its regional and national counterparts; and the present-day Occupy movement, in the United States and internationally. What is the nature of anarchism’s influence, and how has it evolved? How is anarchism conceptualized in today’s Occupy movement, and how do these conceptions differ from classical anarchism?
5. Anarchism and “black shirt” practices on the left, old and new, from the 19th century to the Spanish Civil War, to the 1960s peace movements and up to the present. How central is anarchist theory to these practices? Can it be separated from them?
6. The relation between anarchism and libertarianism. Does anarchist thought transcend the distinction between political right and left? Does anarchism have a distinctive post-capitalist vision?
While we expect contributors to innovate and shape their papers according to specific interests and views, we encourage them to contact the Guest Editors (email parameters provided below), so that completeness of coverage can be achieved, and duplication avoided, to the greatest extent possible.
We are looking for articles in the 7,000-8,000 word range. Projected publication is Spring 2014, so we would like to have manuscripts in hand by January 2013. Discussion about the project overall, and suggestions concerning content, should begin immediately.
The Guest Editors are: Russell Dale (email@example.com); Justin Holt (firstname.lastname@example.org); and John P. Pittman (email@example.com).
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There’s really no questioning the fact that Schindler’s List is one of the greatest American films ever made. It’s a piece that's chock full of emotionally powerful moments that stay with you long after the lights have come up. One image in particular, however, stands out for me as a truly iconic and haunting at the same time… the little girl in the red coat.
As with most great scenes, you really need to understand its context to truly appreciate it. The film opens up during the early stages of World War 2 after Nazi Germany has invaded Poland and is in the process of relocating Polish Jews to the Kraków Ghetto. A German businessman by the name of Oskar Schindler intends to profit off of the war effort and bribes Nazi officials in order to win military contracts. With the help of Jewish businessmen, Schindler is able to procure funds to start a factory and hires Polish Jews to work in his factory for wages that are in turn given to the Germany army. Although Schindler’s workers are allowed to leave the Ghetto and are somewhat protected from the horrors other Jews face, Schindler himself is still doing all of this for his own personal benefit rather than out of some altruistic intention. The sequence with the little girl in the red coat marks a turning point in the story for Schindler, which only adds to the emotional complexity of the piece. Check out the scene:
The first thing you notice, of course, is that the film was shot in black-and-white. This choice was made to heighten the documentary style feel of the cinematography. It also makes the introduction of color in this scene an extremely powerful moment. The girl’s red coat is the only time (not including the credits sequence and Shabat candles) that color appears in the film. Before I delve any deeper, here’s a quote from Spielberg himself about the image:
America and Russia and England all knew about the Holocaust when it was happening, and yet we did nothing about it. We didn't assign any of our forces to stopping the march toward death, the inexorable march toward death. It was a large bloodstain, primary red color on everyone's radar, but no one did anything about it. And that's why I wanted to bring the color red in.
Spielberg has stated many times that shooting this film was a deeply emotional process for him, and you definitely get a sense of that from the quote above. Using Spielberg’s quote as a jumping off point, the girl in the red coat is the most obvious symbol in the entire film. In this scene, she walks around seemingly oblivious to the horrors unfolding around her. In a way, she represents Spielberg’s own feelings on the inaction of world powers in stopping this genocide from unfolding. They were blind to the horrors unfolding right before their very eyes. And, as Spielberg mentions, red is symbolic of a “bloodstain”. By bringing in such a distinct color over a relatively small area in a black-and-white film, you really feel that this is a stain you can never wash away.
Children are associated with innocence and, in this scene, the little girl also represents the innocence of the Jews being rounded up and murdered in the streets of the Ghetto. Getting back to Oskar Schindler for a moment, this scene is a literal representation of what his character is starting to understand and finally accept. He sees the innocence and purity in this young girl in the midst of all this chaos (which is a very striking contrast) and realizes that these people are just as innocent as her. It’s a horrible reality that’s made all the worse for him a later in the film as he sees the girl’s dead body being carted off. For Schindler, these are not merely strangers or workers in his factory anymore, they’re human beings who are being murdered by a truly sinister force. His internal conflict is playing out right before his eyes in the external conflict taking place below him.
The cinematography seen here beautifully heightens these emotions. Much of the scene is filmed in long shots. We as an audience are seeing things unfold from Schindler’s POV atop the overlook. We view action unfolding, but are never directly in the middle of them. It quite literally turns us into onlookers as these unspeakable horrors unfold and we feel as Schindler does in this very moment… completely helpless. It also makes a very bold statement to the audience. It's as if the camera is asking what you would do at the moment? In an indirect way, it makes us take on a level of guilt as we stand there and watch with Schindler. Again, it's the exact emotion our main character is felling as well. Schindler’s POV is also from an elevated position, which mirrors his feelings prior to this point. He’s a businessman and turning a profit is his sole concern. He’s above all of the conflict and bloodshed going on with this war, because he’s merely an opportunist. The use of the camera here directly serves his dramatic character shift.
You also can’t ignore the music played throughout the scene. Like the little girl, it’s in sharp contrast to the brutality of the images displayed onscreen. It’s also not an accident that children are singing the song. It really hammers home the theme of innocence that the little girl encapsulates. The somber tune also sets the tragic tone of the scene and creates a very haunting mood. It’s definitely designed to work together with the other elements at play here to make the moment stick with you long after the credits roll.
Another interesting note is that the little girl in the red coat is based on an actual person named Roma Ligocka, who, unlike the character, survived the Holocaust. She, however, was not actually involved in the making of the film. Instead, the character was constructed from the memories of Holocaust survivors Spielberg had interviewed prior to filming. Roma was known around the Ghetto for her unmistakable red coat. She actually saw the film without knowing she was in it and was shocked to see "herself" on the big screen. All of this happened purely by accident, since Spielberg was piecing bits and pieces together from many sources.
Schindler's List is a monumental piece of filmmaking. It's a harrowing and extremely powerful film that has brought many grown men to tears. Seriously, the final scene with Oskar is one of the most moving endings I have ever seen. Schindler's List a testament to just how great of a filmmaker Steven Spielberg truly is. It's one that I think everyone should watch at least once.
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Yes, you read that correctly. But one major clarification is needed. Only look at this relationship between gold and the dollar since 2000 when gold entered into a bull market. The best time to buy gold is when the Dollar Index is in an uptrend.
Figure 1 shows a weekly chart of gold (cash data). The indicator in the lower panel is analogue representation of a simple Dollar Index model that has been bullish since September 30, 2011. To see more about this model for trading the Dollar, go to this article: “Dollar Index: Bullish”. The Dollar has been in an uptrend, and based upon the past 11 years, this is the best time to buy gold.
Figure 1. Gold v. Dollar trend/ weekly (2006 to present)
Figure 2 shows the same relationship for the 2001 to 2007 time period.
Figure 2. Gold v. Dollar trend/ weekly (2001 to 2007)
For the record and as stated above the Dollar model turned bullish on September 30. On that day, the SPDR Gold Trust (symbol: GLD) closed at 158.06. As of Friday’s closed, GLD was trading at 155.23.
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In the world of online audio and video there is a group of technologies and techniques refered to as streaming. Streaming, at its simplest, is the delivery of audio and video over the internet in realtime. Traditionally streaming has been used for delivering live internet radio, or for broadcasting events over the internet so you can watch them at home.
Streaming is often talked about using terms from the broadcasting industry as live internet audio and video are often seen as being analogous to broadcast television and radio. Hence you might talk about 'internet radio' to refer to live online audio. Sometimes people refer to sending live audio or video using streaming as 'broadcasting on the net' or as a 'internet broadcast'. These terms are helpful for helping us understand the intended purpose of streaming but don't take them too literally. However it is useful to refer to these models when explaining the role of Icecast.
With broadcast television or radio there is transmitter that distributes the signal sent from the studio, to your television or radio.
With internet broadcasting (streaming) you replace the transmitter with a streaming server, which is really a kind of software.
Icecast is this kind of software. It enables you to distribute live audio and video across the internet in realtime. Note that this is only part of the equation. You also need a stream encoder that can send the original audio or video stream to Icecast. Icecast distributes the stream, it does not create the stream - that's the job of the encoder.
Icecast is a very mature technology and very robust. It supports the delivery of many different formats of streaming audio (including MP3 and Ogg Vorbis) and it supports the delivery of Ogg Theora for streaming video. Icecast runs on Linux and Windows. If you wish to install it on Linux you will need to have some experience with Linux; specifically you will need to know a bit about how to install software from the command line, and be comfortable editing text based configuration files. The Windows installation process is a little bit more straight forward but you still need to be comfortable editing text based configuration files.
Installing and running Icecast is not recommended for inexperienced users.
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by Art Campos
Bee Staff Writer, May 13, 1993, Davis, California
John Hessler's spirit could have been destroyed along with his spinal cord that day in 1957 when he dove into a swimming hole. But the 6-foot-7 inch Hessler wasn't one who wanted to spend the rest of his life in hospitals or sitting in a wheelchair at home.
He went on to help revolutionize the nation's attitudes toward disabled people - first by entering the University of California, Berkeley, and later by helping create the Center for Independent Living, a program now run in 27 cities.
Hessler's 30 years of service to people with disabilities came to an end Monday when he died of heart failure in Sacramento hospital. He had been in a coma since a heart attack April 8, according to his brother, Tony, of Antioch.
The 52-year-old Hessler, chief of expanded access to primary care programs for the California Department of Health Services, was remembered by his friends for his determination to improve daily living conditions for people with disabilities. "Many programs would not exist today or at least be in the form they are in if it hadn't been for John," said David Rhodes of the attorney general's office, a long-time friend of Hessler's.
"When John started at Berkeley, there was really nothing for disabled students. All the independent living programs, all the college disabled students programs - he impacted all of those. he helped lay the groundwork for it to happen." Another friend, Nora Brusuelas, assistant director of the state Department of Corrections, said Hessler "just wanted to be like everybody else."
He and Ed Roberts were the two pioneers," she said. "They became the advocates in the 1960s that created the disabled student movement at Berkeley. And it quickly spread across the country."
Brusuelas recalled with a laugh how Hessler and Roberts, who required an iron lung, literally turned the university's hallways into their own private speedway. "They'd race up and down in their wheelchairs, scaring nurses and generally raising hell," she said. "They were so glad to be out of hospitals, rest homes or back bedrooms." Hessler and Roberts pulled disabled and visually impaired students together at Berkeley to develop the Physically Disabled Students' Program.
Hessler was in charge of the program, which offered such services as van transportation, wheelchair repair, referrals for personal care and couseling for students both on an d off campus.
In 1972, Hessler and Roberts formed a similar program for disabled East Bay residents. Roberts headed the office in Berkeley, and it was called the Center for Independent Living.
Three years later, Gov. Jerry Brown named Roberts director of the Department of Rehabilitation and Hessler as the top deputy. Together they persuaded the state to help people with disabilities become independent through financial assistance to the Center for Independent Living.
Hessler's brother said he was someone who wouldn't take no for an answer. "He'd try to figure out ways to do something and he'd stay with it," Tony Hessler said. "And he had a way about him so that he didn't tick people off. He'd then get things done."
Though paralyzed from the neck down, Hessler, with practice, learned to extend his arm and use leverage to pick things up.
He taught himself to drive, to cook and to remove his tall frame from his wheelchair and place himself in bed.
"He loved to travel," said Tony Hessler. "He went on cruises and airplanes. He visited Switzerland, Germany and Austria a few years ago. He took an ocean cruise to Alaska. And he loved to fish whenever he could."
Hessler also is survived by his mother, Elizabeth, of Antioch.
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"I found it rude. I didn't want to see personal views on sidewalks. It really offended me as a woman," she said.
Markowitz said informational chalking messages do not bother her, but when they become too opinonated regarding social issues it does.
"That's not something I care to think about on my way to get food. I found it insulting. It wasn't information about their meetings or anyway to contact them to inquire further," she said.
Tulane Students For Life, a campus anti-abortion group chalked the messages as part of National Pro-Life Chalk day.
"We just stated facts and our views on the issue and we believe any other group should have the right to express their views as well," Megan Alfonso, President of Tulane Students For Life, said.
Campus policy states chalking is reserved only for recognized student organizations and University departments. Chalking is only permitted on concrete or asphalt sidewalks where rain can wash away the residue. Under no circumstances may groups or individuals chalk on horizontal or vertical parts of campus buildings or structures including steps, porches, patios, posts or pillars. No liquid or spray chalks are allowed.
Tulane Students For Life is a recognized national and campus group. No where does the policy say anything about the type of messages that can be written, but if they are deemed inappropriate then they will be dealt with through the Code of Student Conduct.
Even though the messages were allowed to be there, Markowitz believes the anti-abortion messages are offensive and shouldn't be there. She said she understands college is a place for various viewpoints on different issues, but doesn't believe sidewalks are the best place to put those opinions.
"It's just straight up, a controversial topic right on the ground," she said.
"We are sorry the messages angered Danielle, but we feel we have the right to let the student body know what we think on the sidewalks," Alfonso said.
Markowitz wrote an editorial in Tulane's campus newspaper, The Hullabaloo describing her opinions on the chalking.
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The Privileged Information Secrets Revealed gives an elementary understanding of personal finance for the unarmed reader. In his book, Parker implies that during the recession of 2008, one of the main reasons that so many people loss their life savings was because of the scarcity of financial knowledge. He further suggests that a person of knowledge can almost never be fooled or tricked on a subject they are knowledgeable about.
In the Privileged Information Secrets Revealed, Parker classifies the term “crack card” as a powerful form of addiction for out of control shoppers. He goes on as far as to insinuate that a person who will excessively use the credit card often will display similar behaviors as a person who is hooked on drugs. He appears to believe that neither the person hooked on drugs nor the excessive credit card user will stop without help.
The Privileged Information Secrets Revealed is undoubtedly a break from the more traditional financial books that somehow always seem to be a day late and dollar short. It is clear that Parker plans to be viewed outside of the norm as he seeks to rationalize why he believes that most budgets fail. This is a huge risk that could prove to be a benefit for the author or it could ruin his credibility as a writer.
It seems as though the “Privileged Information Secrets Revealed” might just have a little something for everyone looking to make a change. Dwon Parker is a military veteran who lives in southern California with his wife and two children.
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A Healthy Diet - Your Key to Health and Well-being
There is a smorgasbord of healthy diet information published in the media that promotes a dizzying array of food cures, so-called healing or healthy diets and tips for healthy eating and effective weight loss. Unfortunately, the information can be confusing, sometimes conflicting and, at worst, inaccurate or unreliable.
What to eat, or what not to eat? - That is the question.
If you were like me, instead of clarifying what foods and supplements my family and I should eat or avoid in order to address a specific medical concern or maintain a healthy diet, you could feel more in the soup after hearing the latest nutritional advice than before.
After trying to educate myself, I often had no idea what the best foods or supplements were to maintain a healthy weight; deal with a thyroid condition, infertility, constipation, hemorrhoids, or, for that matter; avoid osteoporosis, cancer, diabetes or heart disease. What was a healthy balanced diet anyway and why did it have to sound so complicated?
So much for that essential question so many seek to answer.
"What should I eat to live a long and healthy life, slow the aging process and prevent and manage illness?"
Why something so simple as eating should be so complicated?
Because my search for health and vitality for me and my family and readers resulted in sometimes contradictory information about healthy diets and healthy eating; I've been grateful to anyone who could make sense of the mystery dishes on the buffet table of scientific and nutritional research and explain - in straightforward terms - what to eat and not eat.
Healthy-Diet-Healthy-You.com is the resource I wished I had when I’ve wanted concise clear answers to these complex nutritional issues.
As a freelance health writer and mother of a young child who's had to deal with several of her own and her family’s health conditions over the years, this web site stems from a curiosity and passion for how diet and the food we eat affect how we feel and function.
What you eat, drink and breathe matters.
Of the top 10 causes of death in the US - heart, stroke, cancer and diabetes are acknowledged by experts to be lifestyle diseases where unhealthy diet, along with being overweight and
physically inactive, are major risk factors in the development and progression of these killer conditions.
- For heart and stroke; diet, obesity and physical inactivity are a whopping 90 to 95 % risk factor;
- For cancer they are a 30- 35% risk factor;
- For diabetes mellitus or type 2 diabetes an 80% risk.
The jury is in.
Diet, including both healthy and unhealthy diets, affects mental health too; something you'll agree with, if you've ever skipped breakfast or lunch and experienced growing irritation, loss of concentration, fatigue and possibly brain fog. Scientists have demonstrated that certain foods and nutrients affect the production and function of neurotransmitters, hormones and enzymes, the proper functioning of which are key to mental well-being.
It's no surprise that food and drink and the air you breathe – the fuel for all cells in the human body - affect how a person feels and functions, for better or worse. A healthy diet or nutritious diet plan, along with exercise, plays a key role in overall health as well as the development and progression of specific medical conditions.
The good news about a healthy diet plan
Diet and exercise are two factors which you control, unlike bad genes, bad germs, bad environment and other factors that may lead to illness or premature aging. With the right information you can make changes in your diet that can result in positive changes to your health.
A healthy diet and a healthy you are certainly worth the effort.
- Healthy Diet News Blog
- Healthy Diet News Blog keeps you up to date on the latest medical research and commentary on what foods and nutrients are part of a balanced healthy diet.
- A Healthy Balanced Diet - Six Tips to Achieve One
- A healthy balanced diet - an easy road if you follow six simple nutrition tips.
- The New Food Pyramid is now a Plate called My Plate - The USDA's MyPlate
- USDA'S New Food Pyramid becomes a plate - Myplate – how Harvard's Healthy Eating Plate and PCRM's Power Plate improve on it.
- Calories in Food – How to Calculate and Why?
- Calories in Food – their role in weight maintenance and weight loss
- Healthy Diet Tips for a Healthier You
- Ten Healthy Diet Tips to help you lose weight and find energy
- Reading Food Labels – Understanding How Food Labels Work
- Understanding and Reading Food Labels and Nutrition Facts
- Low Glycemic Diets and the Glycemic Index Food List
- How the Glycemic Index Food List can help achieve Low Glycemic Diets
- Orac Values – What are they? Your key to understanding the power of Antioxidants
- Orac Values – Your key to Comparing Anti-oxidant in Foods and Navigating the Road to Antiaging Nutrition
- Vitamin Benefits - Health in a Pill? Are multivitamins worth it or a waste of m
- Are multivitamins and supplements a waste or worth it? Your guide to Vitamin Benefits and precautions
- Omega 3 Benefits - The Skinny on Omega 3 oils, Omega 3 Supplements and Other Fat
- Omega 3 Benefits you can Experience through Food and Supplements – The skinny on dietary fat
- Benefits of Vitamin C from Diet and Supplements
- How to best achieve the Benefits of Vitamin C - Should you use Vitamin C Supplements or Not
- Benefits of Vitamin D – an essential hormone we often lack and how to get enough
- Getting enough of the Sunshine Vitamin through sun, diet and Vitamin D Supplements – Obtaining the Benefits of Vitamin D
- The Health Benefits of Zinc are widespread – Make sure you get enough
- Don’t be zinc deficient and lose out on the many health benefits of zinc
- For the benefits of calcium, get your calcium intake and co-factors just right
- The benefits of calcium involve getting enough and absorbing what you get
- Benefits of Magnesium – a key mineral we often lack and how to get enough of it.
- Magnesium is an essential mineral often deficient in our diet – Learn about the Benefits of Magnesium
- The Anti-Inflammatory Diet - Your road to Better Health
- The Secrets to an Anti-inflammatory Diet
- Inflammatory Foods – The Foods That Can Harm Your Health
- Inflammatory Foods to limit or avoid in your diet
- Cancer and Nutrition – a Potential for Prevention and Healing
- The Cancer and Nutrition Connection - How Diet Can Promote Cancer and Prevent it
- Cancer Prevention Diet – Five Basic Strategies
- Five tips to achieve a cancer prevention diet
- Cancer Fighting Diet - A Game Plan For Defeating Cancer
- Implementing a cancer fighting diet
- Cancer Foods as part of a Cancer Fighting and Cancer Prevention Diet
- Cancer foods that should have star billing in any cancer fighting and cancer prevention diet
- Breast Cancer Diet – How Foods Can Help Prevent and Manage Breast Cancer
- Breast Cancer Diet – healthful eating strategies to combat breast cancer and conditions of excess estrogen
- Lung Cancer Diet – Dietary Strategies for Making Lung Cancer Go up in Smoke
- Lung cancer diet strategies for lung cancer prevention and management
- Your Healthy Diet Guide - Healthy-Diet-Healthy-You.com brought to you by health
- How a Healthy Diet inspired freelance writer Mary Bradley to start a web site about diet and health
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By David Eisner
Marking the anniversary of the U.S. Constitution's signing on Sept. 17, 1787, Constitution Day is a young holiday, and you will be excused if you were not prepared to observe it. After all, it was only established in 2004 with passage of a bill by the late senator Robert Byrd. But we should all observe this important date, especially now. Here's why.
Partnering with the Associated Press, the National Constitution Center recently conducted its third annual poll of Americans' views on constitutional issues. The bad news is that trust in our governing institutions has reached new lows, and few Americans express confidence in any of the 18 institutions tested — from banks and major companies to media, organized religion, and the scientific community. Congress received the highest "not confident at all" rating at 26%, while 24% of Americans report that they have zero confidence in the leadership of our entire federal government.
The good news? Individuals all along the ideological spectrum believe our nation's founding principles are still those upon which we should rely. Three quarters of Americans agree that the Constitution is an enduring, relevant document; and 60% believe the rule of law should be followed and the rights of everyone protected, even in the face of vocal majorities and short-term public safety considerations. In fact, majorities of both parties —Democrats and Republicans— believe that government is inadequate in promoting the well-being of all Americans over special interests.
The challenge is to translate our shared values and concerns into political accomplishments. Clearly this is no small task, and a general consensus on the value of our constitutional framework and an inadequate status quo may not seem like much to build on. But this is also why it is so important to observe Constitution Day.
The Constitutional Convention came to a close 223 years ago today, marked by the ingeniousness of its pragmatic compromises. When the convention began four months earlier, however, there was no reason to feel confident that such compromises were possible. With armed rebellion in Massachusetts, states at each others' throats over land rights and trade, and Britain and Spain waiting to pounce on our borders, it is hard for us to fathom the desperation of that time.
From the outset and throughout, there were profound disagreements among the Framers. But they persevered, painstakingly building consensus until that fateful day when they were able to settle on a document that none of them were entirely happy with. In an effort to persuade his colleagues to commit their signatures, Benjamin Franklin shared, "I agree to this Constitution with all its faults, if they are such, because I think a general government necessary for us." He then implored every member of the convention who still harbored objections to join with him and "doubt a little of his own infallibility." Additional business followed, and later that day most of them signed.
It's hardly a Hollywood ending, but therein lies one of the best lessons of the Constitutional Convention. Under trying circumstances — when inaction or stalemate is certain to lead to disaster — sometimes we need to let go of our ideas of perfection to do the best that we can with the consensus we have, however incomplete.
Regardless of how Congress looks after the November 2 elections, the problems facing America will still be here. The financial crisis, immigration, and health care reform will be no less polarizing. Countering the threats of inaction and stalemate will require Americans and their elected representatives to collectively doubt a little of their own infallibility and embrace the spirit of consensus-building and compromise.
As courses of action are determined to address our nation's most pressing concerns, none of us may be entirely happy with the specifics. But maybe that's all right. The 41 delegates who gathered at Independence Hall on Sept. 17, 1787, weren't entirely happy either. And yet, 223 years later, millions of Americans still have faith in the basic principles of the document signed that day.
David Eisner is president and CEO of the National Constitution Center, an independent, nonpartisan and nonprofit organization located on Independence Mall in historic Philadelphia.
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Animal Diaries Archive
Progress for Nuebi and Djagarna
27 October 2006
It has been a busy week this week. We have had numerous birds advance in the training programs and this has made our midday training session quite full. Djagarna the Jabiru has advanced to flying from her aviary at the Rover Headquarters to the Crocoseum. A total distance of around 200 metres. Once she takes of, this flight only takes her around one minute before she touches down in the Crocoseum - it is a very impressive flight for such a large bird.
Two of our macaws, Raeka and Jussari, have also progressed to learning their show routines. This should be the last step before they make an appearance for the crowds.
Nuebi the Barking Owl has started doing his full routine again and is showing signs of being just about ready for a show. Nuebi has also been doing much film and educational work as well. You can see in this week's photo Jason, Alex and Nuebi during the school talk that we took part in last week. You may remember us talking about it in last week's article. Nuebi is moving along fantastically and seems to take to new people very well, and he doesn’t seem to worry too much about new objects either. In fact, we have only found two things that Nuebi does not like. One is the swallows in the Crocoseum (they dive-bomb him during breeding season), and the other is people with exceptionally deep voices. Maybe he gets threatened by their voice as it is similar to his own bark.
Anyway, must get back to the birds as I can hear them calling in the distance.
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November 2011 saw the publication of a great new addition to the bookshelves of those of us who long to know more about how our female ancestors lived their lives and experienced the world in the 19th and early 20th centuries.
Women’s Lives Researching Women’s Social History 1800–1939 (Pen and Sword Books, £12.99), written by Jennifer Newby, Editor of Family History Monthly, offers fascinating insights into the world of our female ancestors , examining not just their apparently undocumented lives but their active roles in history. Focusing on the 19th and early 20th centuries, this book takes the fascinating research she does for her blog www.writingwomenshistory.co.uk further, allowing us to take advantage of the many hours she has spent at The National Archives painstakingly piecing together the lives of so-called ‘invisible’ women, millions of whom had to work in the most lowly occupations (many of the more fulfilling ones being closed off to them) to support large families.
There are individual chapters on domestic servants, aristocrats, criminals, factory workers, middle class women and agricultural labourers. Engaging case studies of celebrities, aristocrats and obscure but feisty women are presented alongside practical guidance and hints and tips for researching women in your family. Having had a chance to read it I can heartily recommend it as a present for anyone interested in the role of women in the history of the past 200 years –whether feminist, family historian or both – or simply for yourself. Full of wonderful illustrations it is a book to read cover to cover or dip into.
I have been lucky enough to interview Jen about her book for Women’s Views on News, where she reflected on the inspiring women she met in her research and the relevance of our female ancestor’s history to the world women inhabit today. She also kindly agreed to offer an extended version for my blog.
Hi Jen. Thank you so much for giving me an interview for my blog. First question - in your research for your book were there stories of individuals that particularly resonated with you as a 21st century woman?
Definitely! And there were so many interesting stories and funny or touching quotations from these women’s memoirs that it was really difficult deciding which stories to include. I came across a surprising number of women with what we might perceive as a ‘modern’ outlook and many who were fiercely independent and bold.
I loved reading memoirs of domestic servants, who regularly took a sharp, perceptive view of their employers, like Edith Hall, who was determined to get beyond working as a skivvy in service and in factories during the 1920s. I admired the working class women I came across who seemed so eager to gain an education – women like Dolly Davy, a teenage Yorkshire woman who was incensed that she was allowed to dust her employer’s books, but never to read them. We often think of servants as cowed and slavish, but there were plenty of bright young women, who would have been doctors and teachers today, but had few options for education back then. I think I felt closer to these women, who sought to better themselves, than perhaps middle class female university students, who were largely there because their families could afford to pay the fees.
While some women, like suffragette Margaret Wynne were told by their family that “a bad husband was better than none”, others carved out their own lives. Rosina Harrison, a working class girl from Ripon, became lady’s maid to Nancy Astor and travelled the world. Eventually she chose her career over her fiancé of nine years. And there’s Elizabeth Ness Macbean Ross, the young Scottish doctor who headed off to become a doctor to Persian mountain tribes in the 1890s.
The woman I’m probably most inspired by is Lady Colin Campbell. Her husband infected her with syphilis and they divorced in 1885 (he, claiming that she had committed adultery with three other men), creating a huge scandal. Despite being called a ‘harlot’ in the press and having her life blown apart, she acted with great decorum and went on to become a journalist and art critic – even writing a book on etiquette. How many modern female ‘celebrities’ have equal dignity?
You stress how important it was to you to include women’s own ‘voice’ in your work. We know of the most famous campaigners for women’s rights, but how easy was it to find women who had worked for equality out of the limelight? Were women actively discouraged from telling their story?
I felt that women’s struggle for the vote has already been told by far more knowledgeable historians (like Jill Liddington in her excellent Rebel Girls) and writers than me, so I covered this only briefly. Rather than focus on the suffragettes, I wanted to show how ordinary women felt about the (to us) deeply unfair conditions they lived in and fought to gain independence. I wanted to reveal what life was like for the women who benefitted from gaining the vote – the scullery maids who spent their days in airless kitchens scraping potatoes, the agricultural labourers weeding fields and stone picking in all weather, the middle class women expected to stay and home and wait for a husband to arrive.
There’s a huge amount of original material, particularly memoirs of domestic servants. Some of the most fun were Dolly Davey’s A Sense of Adventure and Edith Hall’s Canary Girls and Stockpots. I also found Manchester Made Them, Katherine Chorley’s memoirs of her middle class upbringing in Manchester illuminating and it expressed well the frustrations of an intelligent young woman kept at home. There were original accounts from agricultural workers and factory women interviewed by government commissioners in parliamentary reports, and I enjoyed reading the testimonies of female criminals.
Women weren’t necessarily actively discouraged from telling their stories, but I think that most felt that they were ‘ordinary’ and no one would want to know about their lives. But there have always been women keen to tell their stories, like Mary Ashford, a servant in the late 18th century, who wrote her memoirs; or Hannah Cullwick, a maid of all work who created a fascinating diary and memoir, encouraged by her middle class lover.
When you were undertaking the research for the book were you struck by any issues faced by women in the 19th and early 20th C women that still affect the lives of women across the world today?
I found it incredibly scary to think that if I had lived 150 years ago, as a working class girl leaving school (if my parents could afford to pay for me to go) I would have had the choice of domestic service or factory work, perhaps a job in a shop if I was lucky. I think we forget that while things have moved on for us, millions of women all over the world still have these limited choices. So, when I was researching female factory workers, who frequently worked for half a man’s wages in the same role, I was always strongly aware that this wasn’t simply ‘history’. There were women living this life all over the world in the 21st century.
Many women in the period covered by the book were forced out of school at a young age due to family poverty. While living in China I saw firsthand a similar division between rich and poor. The students I taught English, whose parents paid for their education contrasted with the teenagers working in shops, or, worst, the young girls who sat in the street corner brothels (thinly disguised as hair dressing parlours) all over the small town I lived in, who weren’t so lucky.
Closer to home, I felt that I was hyper-conscious of historic class distinctions while writing, and in some ways this hasn’t changed as much as we might think. We can be as blinkered as Victorian ladies ‘visiting the poor’ to distribute patronising advice, which working class women put up with for a bit of charity money.
Why do you think it is important that we understand the roles our recent ancestors played in fighting for the rights we take for granted today?
I think that women are still fighting – for equal wages, for a better balance between motherhood and work, for control of our body image (are we really any different, with the modern obsession with women’s weight, from corset-wearing Victorians?).
Understanding how women lived in the past is essential to see how far we’ve come, but it also reminds us that in some ways, so little has changed. We might not have to give up work, like our ancestors, if we have a child, but it still affects our careers. We might have better education, but still relatively few women are in positions of power.
Thanks Jen. The book really deserves to be a bestseller.
Women’s Lives is published by Pen and Sword and is available at £12.99 (ISBN 978 1848843684).
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Association ou organisation à but non lucratif
Dernière mise à jour: 13 juin 2012 21:35:21
The ACLU is our nation's guardian of liberty, working daily in courts, legislatures and communities to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties that the Constitution and laws of the United States guarantee everyone in this country.
These rights include:
The ACLU also works to extend rights to segments of our population that have traditionally been denied their rights, including people of color; women; lesbians, gay men, bisexuals and transgender people and people living with AIDS; prisoners; and people with disabilities.
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In this activity, your child will march to a steady beata metronome is ideal, or you can clap your hands. Ask your child to march to the beat, swinging his arms wide and lifting his feet high for slow beats, short and low for faster beats. Try slowing down the beat and also making it faster. See how your child adjusts his or her marching to the tempo changes. When the beat stops, stop marching. Let your child create the rhythm while you march. Try marching together to a song with a strong drum beat. Then, stop marching while the song goes on and continue to clap the beat that you were walking to, then resume marching in time with the music. It's also fun to count the beats together, or count to ten and then start over.
From 365 Days of Creative Play by Sheila Ellison & Judith Gray. Copyright © 2005 by Sheila Ellison & Judith Gray. All rights reserved. Used by arrangement with Sourcebooks, Inc.
Buy the book at www.amazon.com.
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Be on the lookout for a brown monkey about 21 inches tall and weighing 15 pounds. Fugitive has whiskers and light brown eyes. Monkey hangs out in treetops and jay walks when travelling on foot.
One wily monkey's ability to elude trappers for more than a year as it traipsed across the Tampa Bay area is drawing legions of curious spectators and adoring fans. The rhesus macaque was last seen Wednesday in St. Petersburg's Lakewood Estates neighborhood, but there have been sightings in Hudson, Temple Terrace, Town 'N Country and Clearwater. Authorities have tried luring him into traps with fruit, grabbing him as he scrambles a few feet away and twice shot him with tranquilizer darts. All to no avail. The monkey can cover vast distances quickly, which explains why it has been seen in three counties and covered hundreds of miles in a year. It is shy and not considered a threat to humans. Still, it's a wild animal and could attack if it feels threatened, officials warn. Trappers are trying to capture the monkey mostly for its own protection.
"You expect to see the birds. You expect to see the squirrels. We sure didn't expect to see a monkey.
Diane Flore, Seminole resident, February 13, 2010
"Monkeys' social behavior can be pretty lewd ... They're infamous for throwing feces at things they don't like."
Gary Morse, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, January 15, 2009
Video: Spring 2012
Average life span in the wild: Four years
Size: Head and body, 17.75 to 25 inches; tail, 7.5 to 12.5 inches
Weight: 8.75 to 26.5 pounds
Group name: Troop
Rhesus macaques are familiar brown primates with red faces and rears. Rhesus monkeys are Asian, Old World monkeys. Their natural range includes Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Southeast Asia, and China. A troop of introduced rhesus monkeys now lives in the wild at Silver River State Park in Florida. These intelligent animals can adapt to many habitats, and some can even become accustomed to living in human communities. The rhesus monkey's typical diet includes roots, fruit, seeds, bark, insects and small animals.
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Amid debates over whether Christians should tithe to their local church, a Christian author says churches that teach tithing as a mandate is a "growing scandal."
In his new book Should the Church Teach Tithing?, Russell Early Kelly insists that biblical tithing was never commanded as an eternal moral principle of the New Covenant to the Church. Although he supports freewill-offering, he clearly stated that a mandatory 10 percent is unscriptural.
His statements come as a recent study - "The State of Church Giving Through 2004" - revealed church members giving less of their income. The figure decreased from 3.11 percent in 1968 to 2.56 percent in 2004, which are both well below the 10 percent tithe.
Tithing, as Kelly describes in four ways, is the tenth part of produce or other income, free-will offerings, ten percent of gross income, or, on a specific biblical note, an ordinance of the Mosaic Law for the use and benefit of national Israel under the Old Covenant. In any case, Kelly stresses the "biblical fact" that the poor did not pay any tithes.
"Circumstances are different from household to household. God understands. Let us not forget the saying 'little is much if God is in it," said Kelly in his book. "The grace principle of 'equality giving' refers to giving as much as one is able. This does not mean that everybody is to give the same percentage."
Kelly references the apostle Paul, indicating that giving to the churches is "voluntary" and that there is no set percentage.
"Compulsory giving cannot possibly produce the level of giving which is
prompted spontaneously by the Holy Spirit when the gospel is preached with power and authority!"
Kelly goes on to criticize churches for teaching tithing out of context as a biblical mandate.
"No Christian is under any curse of the Old Covenant Law! It is simply un-ethical to preach out-of-context proof texts about tithing sermons only from Malachi and Genesis 14."
Research among clergy and laity earlier in the year found that while most ministers say Christians are under a biblical mandate to tithe, most people in the pews do not believe the same.
Ellison Research released a study in March that also revealed mixed responses on what the 10 percent should be figured on. Churchgoers were nearly equally split on whether tithe should come from net income or gross income while clergy agreed more on the "gross income."
Both groups were also mixed on where tithing should go, whether it's limited to religious organizations or open to any organization regardless of religious connection or lack thereof.
A Barna Group study last year found that most Americans donated money to non-profit organizations but few tithed in 2004. According to the research group, 23 percent of evangelicals gave tithe and only 9 percent of born again adults tithed to churches.
As giving to churches continues on a downward trend, Kelly urges, "We simply request a close re-examination of God's Word concerning tithing."
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Australia Buys Sixth C-17A Globemaster III Transport for A$280M
Minister for Defence Stephen Smith and Minister for Defence Materiel Jason Clare today announced that Australia will purchase a sixth C-17A Globemaster III heavy-lift aircraft.
The aircraft will be purchased through the United States Foreign Military Sales program, at a total acquisition cost of around $280 million.
The purchase of the sixth C-17A will double the number of C-17A aircraft available for operations at any one time from two to four.
It is expected to arrive in Australia early next year.
The C‑17A aircraft can lift very large and heavy cargoes over long distances providing a significant contribution to Australia’s ability to reach and respond to events.
One C‑17A can carry up to four C-130 Hercules loads in a single lift and cover twice the distance in three-quarters of the time of a C‑130.
The additional C-17A will greatly increase Australia’s capacity to respond to natural disasters and provide humanitarian aid.
This has been made even more apparent through the Australian Defence Force response to the 2011 Victorian Floods, Cyclone Yasi and the Queensland floods, as well as the earthquake in Christchurch and the tsunami in Japan.
The existing C-17 fleet has performed key roles in responding to these disasters, including the transport of:
-- First sandbags, then levees, then Navy personnel and equipment for flood relief in Victoria;
-- Patients from Cairns area hospitals prior to Cyclone Yasi and to deliver groceries after the cyclone;
-- Army Resupply Vehicles capable of carrying people and cargo to support Queensland flood relief;
-- Civilian urban search and rescue personnel, paramedics and equipment to provide assistance in the aftermath of the earthquake in Christchurch
Last year C-17 aircraft flew more than 1.2 million nautical miles (2,222,400 km) on approximately 141 missions, including:
-- delivering more than 755 tonnes of supplies and equipment to Australian troops in Afghanistan;
-- delivering more than 500 tonnes of cargo to Japan following the tsunami in 2011;
-- delivering 320 tonnes of cargo, including more than 200 tonnes of food supplies to Queensland after the floods and cyclone.
A sixth C-17 will give the Government increased options to support a wider range of contingencies that might require heavy-lift aircraft and will extend the life of the C-17 fleet by reducing the use of each aircraft.
The acquisition of the fifth C-17A was announced by the Government in March 2011 at a cost of around $260 million. It arrived in Australia in September 2011.
Source: 19 March 2012 - Australian Department of Defence News
Photo:Royal Australian Air Force take delivery of 5th Boeing C-17 Globemaster III (Photo by www.planetalkinglive.com)
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By Robert Evans
Scientists predicted this weekend that sighting of the first strong signs of a particle vital to support Einstein’s ideas on the working of the universe will be reported Tuesday by the CERN physics research center.
While warning there would be no announcement of a full scientific discovery, they said even confirmation that something like the long-sought Higgs boson had been spotted would point the way to major advances in knowledge of the cosmos.
“I am feeling quite a level of excitement,” Oliver Buchmueller, a senior member of one of the two teams seeking the particle amid vast volumes of data gathered in CERN’s Large Hadron Collider (LHC) this year, told Reuters.
And science bloggers with close contacts among the tight-lipped front-line research groups, known as ATLAS and – Buchmueller’s – CMS, said their understanding was that both had found signals that look very much like the Higgs.
“The anticipation among physics enthusiasts is almost palpable,” said theoretician Sascha Vongehr on his blog, http://www.science20.com. The observation of a “light Higgs” would be announced at a December 13 CERN seminar, he said.
CERN’s director general, revealing the seminar would be given updates on the Higgs search by the heads of the ATLAS and the CMS groups who work independently and in secret from each other, said there would be no discovery announcement.
For that, there would have to be a high degree of certainty – measured at 5 sygma – by both. Informed bloggers are saying it is hovering at about 2.5 sygma for CMS and 3.5 for ATLAS – enough to qualify the sightings as “an observation.”
CONCLUSION EARLY NEXT YEAR
But, said Buchmueller, without confirming that reading for his own team, if the ATLAS group had found signals similar to those seen in CMS, “then we’re moving very close to a conclusion in the first few months of next year.”
The boson was posited in 1964 by British physicist Peter Higgs as the agent that gave mass to matter in the wake of the Big Bang 13.7 billion years ago, making possible the formation of stars and planets, and eventually the appearance of life.
But efforts since the mid-1980s to find the particle in the U.S. Tevatron collider and the LHC’s predecessor at CERN, the LEP, and prove Higgs correct by smashing particles together and creating mini Big Bangs, have until now failed.
The boson has been called the “capstone” of Albert Einstein’s universe of elementary particles and three fundamental forces that control the cosmos under the “Standard Model” finalized by physicists in the 1970s.
The Higgs particle was the missing linking brick in this architecture.
Its discovery, if eventually confirmed and especially if it is at the low mass levels where bloggers are saying ATLAS and CMS have found it, would open the way to what CERN calls the “New Physics” of super-symmetry and dark matter.
Some top scientists, such as Briton Stephen Hawking, have long voiced doubt that the boson exists and should be replaced in the Standard Model by something else.
But in an interview in the December edition of the British monthly Prospect, the 82-year-old Higgs – who has been tipped for a Nobel prize – said that “if you tried to modify the theory to take it out, the whole thing becomes nonsense.”
© Thomson Reuters 2011
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Just two days after its navy suffered a demoralizing defeat against Turkish forces at the Dardanelles, the British government signs a secret agreement with Russia regarding the hypothetical post-World War I division of the former Ottoman Empire.
By the terms of the agreement, signed on March 20, 1915, Russia would annex the Turkish stronghold of Constantinople, the Bosporus Strait (a waterway connecting the Black Sea with the Sea of Marmara and marking the boundary between the Asian and European halves of Turkey), and more than half of the European section of Turkey. Britain also promised Russia future control of the Dardanelles (the crucially important strait connecting the Black Sea with the Mediterranean)—which the British navy had unsuccessfully attacked two days earlier—and the Gallipoli peninsula, the target of a major Allied military invasion (which would also result in failure) launched late the following month. In return, Russia would agree to British claims on other areas of the former Ottoman Empire and central Persia, including the oil-rich region of Mesopotamia.
The Anglo-Russian agreement of March 1915 illustrated the vast degree to which traditional relationships between nations had been changed by World War I. The agreement represented a complete turnaround from past British policy toward Russian control of Constantinople, which they previously thought threatened the British dominance in the region that had been achieved through its colonial administration of India. As part of a coalition including France, Sardinia and Turkey, Britain had in fact gone to war with Russia in the Crimean Peninsula in 1854 (a conflict known as the Crimean War) to prevent Russia from claiming Constantinople and the strait. In 1878, Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli had sent the British fleet to the Dardanelles to warn the Russians away from Constantinople during the Russo-Turkish War. Now, in a secret agreement, Britain was promising away the very territory it had so assiduously defended—territory it was simultaneously trying desperately, with little success, to win.
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Consortium will address harm caused by suburban sprawl
April 26, 2012
The Northeast Ohio Sustainable Communities Consortium (NEOSCC), a nonprofit coalition of 32 local and regional government and nonprofit agencies and foundations, will release a report on Northeast Ohio's land use in June. The report will examine the region's challenges caused by outward migration from urban centers to distant suburbs, plus the implications for everything from affordable housing to transit, energy and the environment. NEOSCC is funded by a $4.25 million federal planning grant and received funding from the Fund for Our Economic Future.
Read more in the Plain Dealer article.
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Tikkun Magazine, September/October 2010
The Race to Save Civilizationby Lester Brown
If we look at early civilizations that declined and collapsed—the ones whose archeological sites we now study, such as those of the Sumerians and Mayans—more often than not it was a shortage of food that brought them down. Until recently I had rejected the idea that food could be the weak link in our modern civilization; I now think it probably is. I'd like to look at global environmental issues through a food lens. If we look at the environmental trends that are undermining our future, almost all of them affect the food prospect. Deforestation, soil erosion, falling water tables, deteriorating grasslands, expanding deserts, collapsing fisheries, rising temperatures, melting ice sheets and rising sea level, melting mountain glaciers that disrupt river flows, and disappearing species—almost all of them affect the food prospect.
Three Major Threats to Global Food Production
Let's consider three of these threats to our food supply: falling water tables, melting ice sheets, and melting mountain glaciers. Water tables are now falling in countries that contain half the world's people, including the big three grain producers: China, India, and the United States. Water tables are falling because of overpumping, mostly from irrigation. Seventy percent of all the water we use in the world is for irrigation. Industry uses about twenty percent and we have ten percent for residential use. What we are doing is inflating food production in the short run by overpumping aquifers. But once the aquifers are depleted, then pumping is necessarily reduced to the rate of recharge. So in effect we're creating food bubbles in at least fifteen, maybe twenty countries in the world, including the two big ones, China and India. A World Bank study indicates that 175 million people in India and 130 million in China are being fed with grain produced by overpumping. This is a way of measuring the size of the food bubble. There are a number of other countries where the food bubble is either bursting or about to burst. One is Saudi Arabia, which has been pumping from a fossil aquifer and has been self-sufficient in wheat production for twenty years. That aquifer is now largely depleted. Fossil aquifers do not recharge. Saudi Arabia's wheat production has dropped 70 percent in the last three years and will probably be at zero by the year after next. Saudi Arabia is the first country where we've actually seen the food bubble burst and production begin to decline. Yemen is not far behind.
The second environmental threat to food security is melting ice sheets. If the Greenland ice sheet were to melt entirely—and that would not happen overnight—it would raise sea level some twenty-three feet. If the west Antarctic ice sheet, which has started to break up, breaks up entirely, that will raise sea level another fifteen feet. The latest projections are of a rise of up to six feet during this century. But even a three-foot rise in sea level would inundate many of the rice-growing river deltas in Asia. A three-foot rise in sea level would put half the rice land in Bangladesh underwater. A three-foot rise would cover much of the Mekong Delta, which produces half the rice in Vietnam, which is the world's number two rice exporter. There are another nineteen rice-growing river deltas that would be affected in varying degrees by just a one-meter rise in sea level. It's an indication of the complexity of our modern world when ice melting on an island in the far north Atlantic can shrink the rice harvest in Asia, where half the world's people live.
The third threat is melting mountain glaciers in the Himalayas and on the Tibetan Plateau. It is the ice melt from those glaciers that sustains the major rivers of Asia during the dry season: the Indus, Ganges, Mekong, Yangtze, Yellow, and many smaller rivers. This ice melt sustains the flow of these rivers and the irrigation dependent on them. So what happens to those mountain glaciers in Asia is going to affect food prices for everyone in the world. Again, the idea that glaciers melting on the Tibetan Plateau could affect prices in U.S. supermarkets as China comes into the world market for massive quantities of grain is not something that's intuitively obvious unless you think a bit about it. But we're living in a very complex world now, with the interaction between the environmental system, the economic system, and the political system.
Why Demand for Grain Is Increasing
Now consider the demand side of the food equation. Population growth is at 80 million more people a year. That means that tonight there were 216,000 people at the dinner table who were not there last night, and it means that tomorrow night there'll be an additional 216,000 people at the dinner table.
Population growth is not new, but large populations moving up the food chain is a relatively recent development in human history and evolution. It's only since World War II that livestock products—beef, eggs, milk, pork, and poultry—have begun to be produced largely with grain. Moving up the food chain takes more grain.
The third factor in increasing demand for food is the capacity we now have to convert grain into oil, i.e., ethanol. Last year we harvested 415 million tons of grain in this country. One-hundred-and-six million tons of that harvest went to ethanol distilleries. What this means is that the world price of grain is now tied to the price of oil, because if the fuel value of the grain exceeds the food value, the market will move the grain into the energy economy. This is new, and I don't think most economists have yet quite realized that if oil goes from $80 to $100, $120, $150, even $200, the price of grain will follow it up in the absence of government intervention. If we leave it to the market, that's where things will go.
These three factors all generate an additional demand for grain. That's why we saw a few years ago a tripling of world grain prices, while grain prices right now are about 50 percent above the historical level. They've not gone back to the historical level, nor do I expect they will. So food is the weak link in the system. We see this not only with grain prices but also with the number of hungry people in the world, which declined until about the turn of this century and for the last decade has been increasing. That's exactly what happened with the Sumerians and the Mayans. The number of hungry people began to increase.
This is a trend that deserves far more attention than we're giving it. With rising food prices and more hungry people, the number of failing states is increasing, typically by another two or three countries a year. That lengthening list raises a disturbing question: how many failing states before we have a failing global civilization? The answer: we don't know. We haven't been here before. This is new territory for us.
A Viable Strategy
In response to this situation, we've devised Plan B, now described in a new edition Plan B 4.0: Mobilizing to Save Civilization. Lets consider two components of Plan B (and there are more in the book):
1. Cutting Carbon Emissions 80 percent by 2020
We need to make this cut not by 2050, which is what politicians like to talk about, but by 2020. We didn't ask what would be politically feasible. We asked how much and how fast we need to cut carbon emissions if we want to save the Greenland ice sheet. And I use that as a metaphor for saving civilization, because if we can't save the Greenland ice sheet, we are in trouble. And it is still doable. For example, if we just went to the most efficient lighting technologies available now, worldwide—in most cases that's compact florescent bulbs, in some situations like streetlights it's LEDs, light-emitting diodes—we can close 705 of the 2,500 coal-fired power plants in the world from electricity savings, just completing the transition that's already under way, of shifting to the most economically available lighting technologies on the market today.
2. Restoring the Earth's Natural Systems
Forests, grasslands, fisheries, soils, and so forth all need to be restored. It's entirely doable. We worked out a budget. Restoration of natural systems, soil conservation, reforestation, eradication of poverty—which is one of the major components—and stabilization of population all together budget out at about $200 billion of additional expenditures a year. That's quite a bit. But we're spending $1.2 trillion (six times that) now for military expenditures. We need to redefine security. We have a mindset based in the twentieth century, which was dominated by two world wars and a cold war, so we think the threats to our future are military. The real threats to our future security and political stability are climate change, falling water tables, and rising food prices.
Let me talk for a minute about cutting carbon emissions. It takes a lot of effort.
Things are beginning to happen fast on the energy front in the transition from fossil fuels to renewable sources of energy, going from oil, coal, and natural gas to wind, solar, and geothermal. For example, China, a latecomer to wind energy, has been doubling its wind-generating capacity each year for five years. Last year it installed more new wind capacity than we did. The Chinese government is now committed to developing seven wind mega-complexes with a total generating capacity over 130,000 megawatts, equivalent to 130 coal-fired power plants. That's like building a new coal-fired power plant every week for the next two and half years. It is huge. We've never seen energy thinking in any field on this scale before.
And last year, while the governments of Europe were preparing for Copenhagen, a consortium led by Munich Re, a reinsurance company, and including Deutsche Bank, Siemens, and a dozen other leading companies, announced the Desertec Project. This is a project to harness the solar resources of North Africa and integrate them into a European–North African grid that would also include the wind resources of Northern Europe and the North Sea to largely power the economies of Europe and North Africa with renewable sources of energy. The potential here is huge. The Algerians point out that in their desert they have enough harnessable solar energy to power the world economy. That sounds like a mathematical error but it's not. Those of you who read the energy literature know that the sunlight striking the earth in one hour will power the world economy for one year. So it's not a question of whether we have enough renewable energy, be it solar or wind (and I haven't even talked about geothermal). A recent U.S.-Chinese survey reported that China has enough harnessable wind energy to increase its current electricity consumption sevenfold. In this country, three of our fifty states—North Dakota, Kansas, and Texas—have more harnessable wind energy than we could ever consume. So the resources are there. The question is how to quickly make the shift from fossil fuels to renewables. Can we do it? I think we can.
There is one other major development in the energy field that does not get very much attention: the extraordinarily successful grassroots movement in this country, coordinated nationally by the Sierra Club, to ban new coal-fired power plants. As a result of that effort we now have a de facto moratorium on building new coal plants. I doubt we'll ever license another coal plant in this country. But beyond that the campaign is now moving into phase two, which is to close existing coal plants. I was working on a list a few weeks ago. There are now at least thirty, maybe more, coal plants in this country scheduled to close, either to convert to natural gas or to be replaced by wind farms or by investments in efficiency. We've still got a ways to go because we've got some 600 coal plants altogether, but thirty is a good start.
Can We Move Fast Enough?
So we're beginning to move in the right direction but we've got to move faster. When I see how much we have to do and how little time in which to do it, I go back and read the economic history of World War II. First, the extraordinarily successful—in military terms—surprise attack by the Japanese on the U.S. Pacific Fleet, part of which was anchored at Pearl Harbor. One month later, President Roosevelt laid out U.S. arms production goals. He said, "We're going to produce 45,000 tanks, 60,000 planes, at least a few thousands ships." We were still in the Depression mode economy at the time, and people could not grasp this, but what he and his colleagues realized was that at that time the single largest concentration of industrial power in the world was in the U.S. automobile industry, because even during the Depression we'd been making 2 million or 3 million cars a year. He called in the leaders of the automobile industry and said, "Because you represent such a large share of our industrial capacity, we're going to rely heavily on you to help us reach these goals." They said, "Mr. President, we'll do everything we can, but it's going to be a stretch, producing cars and all these arms too." He said: "You don't understand. We're going to ban the sale of cars in the United States." And that's exactly what we did, and we exceeded every one of those goals.
We're now in a race between tipping points—between natural tipping points and political tipping points. Can we cut carbon emissions fast enough to save the Greenland ice sheet? Can we close coal-fired power plants fast enough to save at least the larger glaciers in the Himalayas in the Tibetan Plateau? Can we arrest the deforestation of the Amazon before the forest dries out to the point it becomes vulnerable to natural fire, when it will not be savable? Scientists think we're getting very close to that point now. So we're in a race between tipping points and time is everything. One of our difficulties is that nature's the timekeeper. Nature sets these thresholds. We don't know where they are. We don't know when the Greenland ice sheet melting becomes irreversible. The problem is we can't see the clock. We don't know how much time we have left.
We talk about saving the planet. Those of us working on environmental issues have been talking about the need to save the planet for some time. But the planet's going to be around for a while. The question is, can we save civilization? That's what's at stake now, and I don't think we've yet realized it. But we're seeing the stresses building. Climate stresses, food stresses, energy stresses, all of the environmental trends I talked about before are imposing more stresses, and the weaker governments are starting to break down under them. That's the bottom line.
Saving civilization is not a spectator sport. We all have a stake in the future. Most of us have children. Many of us have grandchildren. We all have a stake in the future, but we all have to get involved. Many of us are already involved, but if you're not, pick an issue that's important to you. Is it stabilizing world population? Work with some of the groups that are working on that. Is it closing coal-fired power plants? There's a campaign under way and they could use your help to close existing plants. Or what about developing a world-class recycling program in your community? Save enormous amounts of energy. We forget how much energy we save having good recycling plants.
So my challenge to you is a very simple one. It is to get involved in these issues. This is not something that may happen at some distant point in the future. These are things that are already happening. We are now on a path that's headed toward economic decline and collapse. The question is, can we move off that path? Can we restructure the world energy economy quickly enough to stabilize climate, for example? These are our challenges.
Lester Brown is founder of the Worldwatch Institute and founder and president of the Earth Policy Institute. BBC Radio commentator Peter Day calls Brown "one of the great pioneer environmentalists." He is the author or co-author of more than fifty books on global environmental issues, most recently Plan B 4.0: Mobilizing to Save Civilization.
Source Citation: Brown, Lester. 2010. The Race to Save Civilization. Tikkun 25(5): 58
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Matt Cutts has a strong background in mathematics and computer science with twin degrees in both subjects from The University of Kentucky. He followed this up with an MS Chapel Hill-UNC. After his post-graduation, he enrolled for a Ph.D. program in computer graphics at Chapel Hill centre at University of North Carolina. In January 2000, he started his career as software engineer with Google. He has authored the original version of Safe Search, the family filter that belongs to Google.
Currently, he works with issues in search engine optimization. He heads Web spam at Google. While at Safe Search he was given the nickname “Porn Cookie Guy” because he would reward anyone working in Google with cookies baked by his wife if they could search out pornography results that were not supposed to appear in the safe search results.
Plain Commonsense Needed
Matt Cutts is of the opinion that it is really simple building or making a website in a way that it gets attention from Google. All that you need to employ is good old common sense is what he says. The first attribute that you need is that the content has to be good. Most visitors are trying to see what your website says. Google is on the lookout for original content and not reworked stuff. Google has the interests of its visitors at heart and tries to please them first.
The Importance of the Title Tag
According to Matt Cutts, Google considers the site’s title tag equally important. This is so because when people search for keywords using a search engine, the first thing that catches their eye is the title tag. The content of the page and the title tag should be relevant to each other. This draws visitors who matter to the website. Seeing traffic of irrelevant visitors will not do any good to the site.
Cutts goes on to talk about meta-description that the people at Google consider relevant when it comes to rankings. Look out for the meta-description right below the title tag as part of the results of the search. Meta-description is a summing up of all that your website is about and this should contain the keywords that you want to aim at on the page.
The other thing that Matt Cutts talks about is back links to the website which according to him is very relevant to Google. Back links is a way of declaring that other websites consider your site is valuable. Much of Google’s ranking swings on this. There are other ways to boost your ranking on Google and that’s by having a presence on social media websites. Make sure that your website is a welcoming one that is friendly to visitors.
Everyone will have to agree that most of what Matt Cutts says is what we will readily agree with. If you have an online business, a peg measure of commonsense and a heap of hard work will see you through. There is no magic wand to bring success to your door step. Unique content that is completely original and interesting will help you to be ranked higher. Matt Cutts has often expressed his displeasure at content that has obviously been reworked in several sites.
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Evaluating & Cleaning-Up School Sites
DTSC's School Property Evaluation and Cleanup Division is responsible for assessing, investigating and cleaning up proposed school sites. The Division ensures that selected properties are free of contamination or, if the properties were previously contaminated, that they have been cleaned up to a level that protects the students and staff who will occupy the new school. All proposed school sites that will receive State funding for acquisition or construction are required to go through a rigorous environmental review and cleanup process under DTSC's oversight.
School districts conduct environmental assessments to provide basic information for determining if there has been a release of hazardous material at the sites, or if a naturally occurring hazardous material that presents a risk to human health or the environment may be present. Outreach activities integrated into the process allow a more active role for stakeholders in the selection process for school sites. Through the environmental review process, DTSC ensures protection of children, staff and the environment from the potential effects of exposure to hazardous materials. As the only comprehensive school environmental evaluation program in the United States, the DTSC School Property Evaluation and Cleanup Division continues to set the national standard.
“To assist school districts in the assessment of school properties by ensuring that environmental conditions are expeditiously investigated, evaluated, and if necessary, remediated in order to protect public health and the environment.”
The things that matter most in our organization are:
We recognize that all our actions must be guided by a set of principles:
School Projects or Environmental Review Process
DTSC is available to address any questions or problems that may arise during the environmental review process. Please contact the DTSC project manager with your concerns. If you do not know the assigned project manager or the project manager is unable to satisfactorily answer your questions, please contact:
Thomas M. Cota
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Register with us or sign in
I have a leylandii hedge that is too tall. Is it safe to reduce the height by 18 inches or so? I live in a rental property and can't mess about too much. The hedge is about 10 feet high facing the house and about 8 feet high facing the road ( I live on a hill and our garden is below street level.
I am not quite sure what you mean by is it safe?
You won't harm the hedge if you cut it-but if you go into brown wood it will not grow out again-it may look a bit unsightly
You can trim it with no problems, and the top will re-grow from young growth, so the hard line will soften quickly.
We did this a few years ago with a conifer hedge, taking off about 6'. It helps to use large loppers or a pruning saw if needs be to cut the stems at a diagonal facing down and inwards so they are less visible. As long as there is green growth left at the outer edges of the hedge it will regrow and cover up the cut stems and be easier to keep trimmed with normal hedgecutters.
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Then the people of the land weakened the hands of the people of Yehudah, and troubled them in building,
and hired counselors against them, to frustrate their purpose, all the days of Koresh king of Paras, even until the reign of Daryavesh king of Paras.
In the reign of Achashverosh, in the beginning of his reign, wrote they an accusation against the inhabitants of Yehudah and Yerushalayim.
In the days of Artachshasta wrote Bishlam, Mitredat, Tav'el, and the rest of his companions, to Artachshasta king of Paras; and the writing of the letter was written in the Arammian [character], and set forth in the Arammian [language].
Rechum the chancellor and Shimshai the Sofer wrote a letter against Yerushalayim to Artachshasta the king in this sort:
then [wrote] Rechum the chancellor, and Shimshai the Sofer, and the rest of their companions, the Dinites, and the Afarsatkhi, the Tarpelites, the Afarsi, the Arkevi, the Bavlites, the Shushankhites, the Dehites, the Elamites,
and the rest of the nations whom the great and noble Asnappar brought over, and set in the city of Shomron, and in the rest [of the country] beyond the River, and so forth.
This is the copy of the letter that they sent to Artachshasta the king: Your servants the men beyond the River, and so forth.
Be it known to the king, that the Yehudim who came up from you are come to us to Yerushalayim; they are building the rebellious and the bad city, and have finished the walls, and repaired the foundations.
Be it known now to the king that if this city is built, and the walls finished, they will not pay tribute, custom, or toll, and in the end it will be hurtful to the kings.
Now because we eat the salt of the palace, and it is not appropriate for us to see the king's dishonor, therefore have we sent and informed the king;
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Invest $10 billion per year in early intervention educational and developmental programs
"Barack Obama and Joe Biden will invest $10 billion per year in early intervention educational and developmental programs for children between zero and five. Their plan will help expand Early Head Start to serve more children with disabilities, and will spur states, through programs like Early Learning Challenge Grants, to expand programs for children with disabilities, such as IDEA Part C, and integrate these programs with other early childhood programs."
Mixed record on early intervention educational programs
Updated: Tuesday, September 21st, 2010 | By Lukas Pleva
Early childhood education reform was a major component of President Barack Obama's platform during the campaign. He promised to work with schools to create more healthful environments for children, promote more early education, and double funding for afterschool programs. He also pledged to invest $10 billion a year in early educational and developmental programs, a promise that we last reviewed in January 2010. We found that while the total new funding increased substantially compared to previous years, it was short of the $10 billion that Obama promised. The Early Learning Challenge Fund was also still awaiting action in the Senate, so we rated the promise Compromise.
Since then, Congress has passed the much-debated health care bill, and President Obama has released his 2011 budget proposal, so we decided to revisit the promise.
First, let's take the Early Learning Challenge Fund, which would have provided competitive grants to states to improve the quality of services for children under five. In his budget request for 2010, Obama asked for $300 million but received zero during the annual appropriations process. The experts we spoke with said that Congress made the decision knowing that the House had already passed a student-aid reform bill that would have provided $1 billion for the program over eight years in September 2009.
By the time the Senate was ready to vote on the proposal, however, things had taken a turn for the worse. The student-aid bill had become attached to the health care legislation, and when the Congressional Budget Office lowered its estimate of how much money the final health care package would save, the Early Learning Challenge Fund was axed.
By the time President Obama signed the final health care legislation in March 2010, the early learning funding was gone, but the legislation did provide $1.5 billion over five years for an evidence-based home visitation program for new and expectant at-risk families.
In July of this year, the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services and Education approved a bill appropriating $300 million for the early learning program. That's despite Obama not asking for any funding in his 2011 budget request (because the White House had assumed that the Senate would pass the House bill) and the House Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations Subcommittee not including the program in its annual markup. Both the House and the Senate still have to approve the proposal voted out of the Labor, Health and Human Services and Education appropriations subcommittee before it becomes law.
Congress is still in the midst of considering Obama's 2011 budget request, so it's hard to tell how the final numbers will play out. Compared to the 2010 fiscal year, Obama asked for an increase of $989 million in funding for the Head Start program and $800 million for the Child Care and Development Block Grants. Proposed funding for IDEA Part C, the program for children with disabilities, is set to remain the same as in fiscal 2010, but the final decision lies with Congress. Obama also asked for a $250 million increase in Special Education Grants to States, which school districts may use to improve educational outcomes for children between 3 and 21 years old with disabilities. Add it up and you get a little over $2.2 billion in proposed new funding for 2011, including the home visitation program in the health care bill. As we pointed out in our last update, the promise doesn't specify that the administration will spend $10 billion in new dollars, but the experts say that's the only way to interpret it, since federal funding for these purposes already exceeds $10 billion annually. But even if we include spending increases from last year, that still only puts Obama at $7 billion, $3 billion short of the promised $10 billion.
It remains unclear whether Congress will end up funding Obama's Early Learning Challenge Grant, and Obama has yet to reach the $10 billion mark, so for now, the rating remains unchanged.
New America Foundation, Reconciliation Bill Sets Sail Without Early Learning Challenge Grants, by Lisa Guernsey, March 19, 2010
New America Foundation, House Clears the Way for Early Learning Challenge Fund, by Lisa Guernsey, Sept. 17, 2009
National Institute for Early Education Research, Early Learning Challenge Fund Dropped from Health Care Reform but Home Visitation Survives, May/June 2010.
New America Foundation, A Look At Proposed Federal FY 2011 Funding for Early Education: Part 2, by Laura Bornfreund, July 29, 2010
New America Foundation, A Look at Proposed Federal FY 2011 Funding for Early Education, by Laura Bornfreund, July 19, 2010
U.S. Department of Education, Fiscal Year 2011 Budget Summary and Background Information, accessed Sept. 10, 2010
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, FY 2011 Budget Request, accessed Sept. 10, 2010
E-mail interview, Laura Bornfreund, Early Education Initiative analyst at New America Foundation, Aug. 1, 2010
Phone interview, Cornelia Grumman, Director of The First Five Years Fund, Aug. 3, 2010
'Dramatic progress' on early childhood programs, but not the promised $10 billion
Updated: Friday, January 8th, 2010 | By Louis Jacobson
During the presidential campaign, Barack Obama said his administration would "invest $10 billion per year in early intervention educational and developmental programs for children between zero and five. Their plan will help expand Early Head Start to serve more children with disabilities, and will spur states, through programs like Early Learning Challenge Grants, to expand programs for children with disabilities, such as IDEA Part C, and integrate these programs with other early childhood programs."
This promise proved difficult to rate, for several reasons.
First, the Obama team's wording was less than precise. The promise doesn't specify that the administration will spend $10 billion in new dollars, for instance. However, experts say that's the only way to interpret it, since federal funding for these purposes already exceeds $10 billion annually, meaning that the administration could reach $10 billion in total spending by making massive cuts.
In addition, the promise is worded vaguely enough to be unclear about whether the $10 billion in new money is to be be spent specifically on disadvantaged young children with disabilities or disadvantaged children generally. Experts in the field have operated under the assumption that it's for disadvantaged children generally, not just the disabled.
If we accept these two assumptions, the task boils down to figuring out how much the key programs were increased either in the economic stimulus bill or in the regular appropriations process.
The stimulus bill, which was passed in February 2009, allocated $1.1 billion in new funds to expand the Early Head Start program (for ages birth to three) and $1 billion to expand the regular Head Start program (which covers preschool).
Another program referenced in the president's promise -- IDEA Part C grants, which aid infants and toddlers with disabilities -- received $500 million from the stimulus bill.
Yet another program -- Child Care and Development Block Grants to states, which supplement state funds in providing child care assistance for low-income families -- received $2 billion from the stimulus.
In the meantime, the regular budgeting process provided an inflation increase of $122 million for Head Start over fiscal year 2009.
All told, the administration has made "dramatic progress" on providing funds for early childhood programs, said Eric Karolak, executive director of the Early Care and Education Consortium.
The one program cited in the promise that did not get funded this year was Early Learning Challenge Grants, but that's a complicated story. Obama had asked for $300 million in regular appropriations for the program but received zero. However, experts said that decision was made knowing that House-passed legislation (H.R. 3221) that is now awaiting consideration by the Senate would provide $8 billion over eight years for a new Early Learning Challenge Fund.
When combined with other new Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) allocations in the stimulus, the total increase so far enacted by the stimulus bill and the regular process is about $5 billion -- a substantial increase, but only half the promised $10 billion. A major piece of the promise, the Early Learning Challenge Fund, is awaiting action in the Senate, and that could theoretically boost the amount closer to the $10 billion goal. But reaching it would require an amount five times higher than what's provided for in the House bill, which seems unlikely. So we're rating this promise a Compromise.
Text of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act
Department of Health and Human Services, budget figures for Children and Families Services Programs, accessed Jan. 6, 2010
Education Department, "Department of Education Fiscal Year 2010 Congressional Action," Dec. 14, 2009
Interview with Eric Karolak, executive director of the Early Care and Education Consortium, Jan. 6, 2010
Interview with Danielle Ewen, director of child care and early education programs at the Center for Law and Social Policy, Jan. 6, 2010
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Zevachim 9 - 15
A Question of Precedence
The Korban Pesach - the paschal lamb whose blood and fats are sacrificed on the altar and whose flesh is eaten on the night of Pesach - must be slaughtered on the fourteenth day of the Month of Nissan, the day before the Pesach Festival. Whether the time period designated for this slaughtering is limited to the afternoon or extends to the morning as well is a matter of dispute between the Sages.
The Sage Ben Besaira's view is that it may be slaughtered in the morning as well. But if one did not slaughter it until the afternoon and the time already came for the daily afternoon sacrifice - the Korban Tamid - to be offered, then precedence must be given to the Tamid.
How can it be, asks the Talmud, that a sacrifice which could have been offered earlier must now give way to another sacrifice whose time is later?
The precedent for such a ruling, comes the response, is to be found in a law of Tefilah taught by Rabbi Yochanan. The Mussaf Service, which is said on the Sabbath, Festivals and Rosh Chodesh, may be said all day long, from the morning on. But if one did not yet say Mussaf and the time for the Mincha Service arrives in the afternoon he must first say Mincha.
The reason for the precedence both in regard to the korban and the tefilah is that something which is more regularly done at a certain time has priority over something of lesser regularity, in the same manner that a talis, which we wear daily and even on Shabbos, is donned early morning before tefilin which are not worn on Shabbos.
- Zevachim 12a
"I received a tradition from seventy-two elder sage," said the Sage Shimon be Azzai, as he quoted a ruling concerning sacrificial animals slaughtered with improper intention.
Why does he use the singular term sage, asks the Talmud, when he is referring to so large a number of sages? Because, is the explanation, all of the seventy-two sat together in one session and there was such unanimous agreement on this point as if they were all just one person.
This number, seventy-two, appears in one other place in the Talmud (Megilah 9a) in the story of the Greek King Ptolemy who gathered together seventy-two sages of Israel. He locked them in separate rooms and ordered each of them to translate the Torah into Greek. Although there was a need to make some changes from the literal translation in order to avoid misunderstandings a miracle occurred and all the translations were exactly the same.
In both cases we find seventy-two sages in perfect unity. Perhaps this number represents the totality of the Jewish People with six sages for each of the twelve tribes. When Moshe was commanded (Bamidbar 11:16) to gather seventy elders of the people his understanding was that this number represented six from each tribe. Although Hashem limited the number to seventy because He wanted the Sanhedrin to consist of seventy-one members including Moshe the concept was perhaps established of 72 sages as a unit personifying unity.
- Zevachim 12b
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My father arrived in Marseilles in late July 1948, as a lace salesman from Belgium. Gloria Kessler, a nurse working at a hospital in Chicago, had decided to give up her career to smuggle herself into Palestine to help. She, too, received falsified documents from Teddy Kollek at the Hotel Fourteen and remembers sailing with my father to Marseilles from New York. Once they arrived in France, my father met three more American volunteers: Frank Perlman, Jack Shulman and Ralph Lowenstein.
Lowenstein I knew originally from the only photograph I had of my father from this period, and he was the first person I tracked down. Today, he is dean emeritus of the College of Journalism and Communications at the University of Florida, heads the American Veterans of Israel in Florida and helped to build the only museum in the world dedicated to Machal. He has also written a book about his time in the war, “Bring My Sons From Far: A Novel of the Israeli War,” later republished in paperback as “A Time of War.”
Upon arrival in Marseilles, my father, Lowenstein, Kessler and the rest of the American volunteers slept in a camp alongside Holocaust survivors: The displaced persons, newly rescued from the camps, still lived in a state of heightened anxiety and fear. They were yet to feel “free.” Lowenstein recalls that since these men and women had just escaped the nightmare of the camps, where they were forced to “live like animals,” a fight would invariably break out every time food was rationed out. The DPs, afraid that every meal might be their last, would hide bread under their mattresses.
After three weeks in Marseilles, during the second week of August 1948, my father, Lowenstein, Kessler and the 25 American Machalniks boarded the Pan York, a dilapidated Panamanian boat originally built to ship bananas. For carrying passengers, the ship was rebuilt with three floors in each of its three holds.
On the Pan York’s first voyage from Bulgaria, it carried 7,500 people. On that voyage, the ship was captured by the British. The passengers were interned in a camp in Cyprus until Israeli independence was declared on May 15.
Paul Kaye, whom I wrote about in the last installment, was a crew member of another Aliyah Bet ship, the Hatikvah. He also experienced capture and internment in Cyprus; however, Kaye eventually escaped, along with the crew of the Hatikvah, and continued his mission. The incredible story of his escape is featured in the documentary “Waves of Freedom,” which the Forward and the JCC in Manhattan will be screening in May. Kaye recalls the first time his crew picked up DPs. Coming onto the ship, each survivor hugged him and thanked him in Yiddish. He recollects the profound feeling that he was rescuing not just victims, but also family members whom he had lost in the camps.
My father sailed on the Pan York during its second voyage, its first having taken place after Israel’s War of Independence had begun. On my father’s voyage on the Pan York, there were about 2,800 people on board. On each of three floors of the Pan York, wooden shelves 5 1/2 feet deep and three tiers high were constructed to carry the human cargo.
This meant that typically, each passenger had a shelf space 20 inches wide and 5 feet deep; there were no pillows or mattresses. As my father was 6 foot 1, more than half a foot of him stuck out over the edge of his shelf when he would lie down to sleep. During the five-day trip to Palestine, there was no fresh water; my father was rationed one glass of water a day. Lowenstein recalls the experience:
Food consisted of cheese and crackers for breakfast, broth and crackers for lunch, sardines and crackers for dinner. There were no toilets with running water for the 2,800 passengers, just 10-hole outhouses. The five days on the Pan York were the most miserable of my entire life. Yet, for the Holocaust survivors, it was not that bad. They had seen the same and worse — for years, often without food.
The Pan York was one of the many boats involved in what was known as Mossad l’Aliyah Bet (Aliyah Bet for short), a network of ships from around the world whose purpose during the British Mandate for Palestine, which lasted until May 1948, was to smuggle more than the sanctioned 1,500 Holocaust survivors into Palestine per month. On these ships, alongside the DPs, Machalniks like my father were also being smuggled in to defend Israel. The ambition of Aliyah Bet was to break the back of the British blockade. At the time, hundreds of ships were carrying DPs toward Palestine. Most were European, with only 10 ships (plus three or four smaller boats) sailing from the United States.
Machalniks were not just smuggling themselves and others past the coastguard; they were facing off with the pre-eminent global naval power — Great Britain. In control of its mandate, Britain had seemingly promised a Jewish state in the Balfour Declaration of 1917. But the MacDonald White Paper of 1939 — created to placate the oil-rich Arabs — seemed to countermand that agreement. David Ben-Gurion, in response, declared, “We will fight the war as if there were no white paper and fight the white paper as if there were no war.”
Aliyah Bet was part of Ben-Gurion’s fight. On the face of it, Aliyah Bet was intended to keep the world spotlight on the need for a Jewish state. But British actions convinced Machalniks and others that regardless of the mandate, the British government was setting up Israel to fail as a nation. At the time, the British were allowing in only 1,500 DPs each month and constructing naval blockades, all the while allowing the surrounding Arab nations to enter and attack, including the Transjordan army, which was even trained and equipped by the British.
Most of the men I interviewed believed they were fighting for Israel’s very survival and that their actions had more profound strategic implications. One Machalnik, who wishes to remain unnamed, told me of Jon Kimche’s contemporary political analysis. Kimche argued that carrying DPs to Palestine from Europe served a more important purpose than mere publicity. Ernest Bevin, the British foreign minister, had acted to effect the Morrison-Grady Plan between 1945 and 1947. This plan, agreed upon by the British and the Americans, called for a single sovereign state with British military control and Arab sovereignty, in which there would be a number of cantons, including a Jewish canton.
According to Kimche, Bevin had calculated that there were about 200,000 Jews capable of military action in Palestine and that 100,000 British soldiers could control and manage any Jewish uprising. Bevin thus took great pains to block any further Jewish immigration. He turned back ships carrying DPs and facilitated the deportation of the passengers back to Cyprus, Eritrea or even Europe.
Eventually, however, the number of ships carrying DPs, among them the Pan York and the Hatikvah, overwhelmed the capacity of the Cyprus and Eritrea internment camps and ultimately broke the will of the British. Bevin eventually gave up on the Morrison-Grady plan and agreed to abide by the recommendations of the United Nations Special Committee on Palestine. Aliyah Bet, in essence, broke the Allied will to resist the emerging alternative of the partition of Palestine, which included a Jewish state in control of Jewish immigration. The men of Aliyah Bet forced Bevin to honor Balfour’s promise.
The Pan York, with my father aboard, docked in Haifa on August 14, 1948. When the ship reached port, most of the American volunteers did not speak Yiddish fluently enough to get past the U.N.’s inspectors. Lowenstein recalls that my father and the other American volunteers had to jump down to a tugboat on the starboard side of the ship in order to be smuggled into the country. The tugboat sailed to another secure dock, and my father was taken by bus to a kibbutz so that he could clean up and eat. From there, he and Lowenstein were driven directly to a DP camp in Tel Aviv called Tel Letvinsky. At the time, Tel Letvinsky was a former British army base; today it is the site of Tel Hashomer, an Israeli hospital.
My father and Ralph spent five days at Tel Letvinsky before they parted ways and journeyed to different units, never to see each other again. Before they left, they took a picture together with some other volunteers; it was that same sepia photo that my brother and nephew found by chance, and the same photo that started this journey for me. Ralph remembers the photograph being taken by an older man using a camera with no shutter. In order to capture the image, the man removed the lens cap for a second or so and then replaced it. In the photo, all the men are smiling. I can only imagine what was going through my father’s mind. He was 22 and had never seen a day of combat, but he was in Palestine illegally, ready to fight and risk his life for an idea: a Jewish state were Jews could live free from persecution.
What follows is a video that includes interviews of soldiers who fought for Israel as part of Machal.
Jonathan Kesselman is a screenwriter and film director (“The Hebrew Hammer”), and an adjunct professor at Yale University.
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Consumers 'will pay for CSG ban'
- From: AAP
- February 19, 2013
A DECISION to ban coal seam gas mining in residential areas will add to the gas supply crisis in NSW and could cause gas and electricity prices to rise, AGL says.
"The absence of multiple new sources of supply in NSW will add to substantial upward pressure on gas and electricity prices in the state," the gas and electricity retailer said today.
The decision to ban all coal seam gas mining within two kilometres of residential areas across the state passed cabinet late yesterday.
The Government is expected to announce details of the decision, which includes a buffer zone around industry clusters, later today.
AGL said it has already relinquished prime agricultural land in the Hunter in response to community concerns about CSG activity.
The company is seeking an urgent meeting Premier Barry O'Farrell to get more details about the proposals.
"Natural gas production from coal seams in NSW remains a low impact and low risk industry," AGL said.
"Natural gas from coal seams can be safely produced without harm to the environment or human health and can comfortably coexist with other land uses."
Chief Scientist and Engineer Mary O'Kane will also be tasked with reviewing all CSG activity in NSW, and will report on any risks by July.
The Australian Greens congratulated anti-CSG activists for standing up against the mining industry.
But Leader Christine Milne said the ban was "too little too late" and designed to curry political favour in Sydney's west while failing to protect farmers.
"Barry O'Farrell is using coal seam gas as a political football to facilitate votes for Tony Abbott in Western Sydney," she said today. "He's not concerned at all about agricultural land, water or the environment."
The decision would have major implications for investment confidence and energy security, Dart Energy said.
"The decision will impact gas users and risk thousands of jobs, pushing industry out of NSW," Dart Energy Australia chief executivev Robert de Weijer said today.
Mr de Weijer said the proposal would exacerbate a looming gas supply shortage in NSW with existing contracts set to expire between 2014 and 2017.
"This will impact the supply and cost of gas to industries and households, putting pressure on energy prices in the state with flow-on effects to the cost of goods and services."
Petrol producers also said NSW was now on track for higher energy prices. The Australian Petroleum Production & Exploration Association (APPEA) said NSW imported 95 per cent of its natural gas from interstate, and the decision would have major ramifications for business as well as householders.
"Today's decision creating no-go zones will strangle efforts to safely source natural gas," APPEA eastern region chief operating officer Rick Wilkinson said. "That's bad news for all users."
He said the introduction of blanket "no-go" zones wasn't based on sound science.
APPEA had joined other stakeholders in requesting an emergency meeting with Mr O'Farrell to discuss the announcement, Mr Wilkinson said.
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I agree with Hooded Utilitarian blogger Robert Stanley Martin that Siegel and Shuster were better-treated by DC than the histrionic mythology perpetuated by the comics press would lead you to believe.
Where Martin’s “The Superman Case, and Best Outcomes for Writers in Comics” falls apart is where he calls reversion rights — the legal mumbo jumbo that Superman’s heirs have used to regain some control over the Superman franchise — “idiotic.”
“Apart from public-domain laws, I personally see little difference between a copyright and a piece of tangible property such as a car or a house,” says Martin. He goes on to compare the situation to buying a Camaro and having General Motors want it back after a few years.
Note: “Apart from public-domain laws,” says Martin.
That’s like saying, “Apart from the blueness of the sky, I see no reason not to say that the sky is orange.” You can’t argue with that, but you also can’t let somebody get away with saying it, either. (Well, actually, I can argue a little bit: there are no public domain laws. There is only the public domain, and there are copyright laws.)
To have a conversation about copyright — and copyright reversion — and leave the public domain out of it is not playing fair ball. The public domain can’t be brushed aside. Copyright, like patent law, was intended originally to give creators a limited-time monopoly on the use of their creations, but not, at all, eternal ownership of those creations. Here’s what the Constitution says (emphasis added by me): “The Congress shall have Power … To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries.”
In other words: the public domain is the natural state for all ideas and their expression. Copyright is a temporary reward for the people who created those ideas and expressions, instituted by Constitutional fiat, and changeable at will by Congress, but always — by design and conception — temporary. Once the creators (or the people the creators assigned their rights to, like DC Comics) have had a chance to exploit a property as long as legally permissible thanks to this convenient and useful legal construct, the material goes back to the culture itself, where it would have been all along except for this legal construct, owned by everybody, along with the works of Shakespeare, Homer, and Da Vinci.
The fact that items of intellectual property like Superman (or, more specifically, the stories Siegel and Shuster created featuring him — you can’t copyright ideas, only expressions of ideas) are supposed fall into the public domain after a certain period of time is the crux of the matter, the dog that wags the tail, not the other way around.
When Congress, at the request of Disney and other megacorporations, extended the period of time that it would take for an item to fall into public domain — not once but several times, and not in small increments but by decades — it was very aware of the fact that it was retroactively changing the value propositions of the past deals that creators like Siegel and Shuster had made, too. If I think I’m selling you something that is going to last you 25 years (or whatever the term was), and can’t possibly do you any good after that 25 years is up, I might sell it to you for a fairly low price. If I had known you were going to be able to legally exploit it for an extra 50 or 75 years, or even 100 (Superman will be 100 before most of us reach retirement age) I would probably have asked for more money, because something that lasts 25 years is fundamentally less valuable than something that lasts 100.
While it’s true that a Camaro has an expected lifespan, which its owner can expand or shrink based on how he treats the car, the term of copyright is a legal construct and will be precisely what the law says it is, no matter what. If copyright law had stayed the same, no amount of spit and polish and oil changes would have kept the copyright to Action Comics # 1 in DC’s exclusive hands for as long as it stayed there. It’s not a car. It’s just not. It was, literally, an Act of Congress that extended the lifespan of this property, not anything DC had done.
By changing the term of copyright retroactively — not just for future works but for things created in the past, like Superman — Congress caused every copyright sale prior to the change to be weighted far more heavily in the buyer’s favor than either buyer or seller had originally intended. Rights reversion opportunities were meant to remedy this situation, by allowing creators, presumably, to negotiate for more money to reflect the new reality.
Which the Superman heirs did do, and did receive. But that’s another story for another day.
Edited to add: I hadn’t read the comments thread below Martin’s post when I wrote this. Many of the points I make here were made better by Kurt Busiek and Noah Berlatsky over there. One final bone of contention, though: in the course of arguing with Busiek, Berlatsky and others, Martin argues that Congress clearly intends, with its recent changes in copyright law, to make intellectual property permanent, like “real” property. But it doesn’t matter what Congress (or Sonny Bono, whom Martin seems especially fixated upon) intends, because Congress can’t exceed its Constitutional mandate here. The Constitution doesn’t give Congress the power to do anything except to secure copyright “for limited Times.” To make “intellectual property” a real thing, as permanent and enforceable and solid as “real” property, you’d have to amend that document. I don’t think it’s going to happen.
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From Booklist, Copyright © American Library Association. Used with permission.
The second volume in Manchester's planned three-volume biography of the great British statesman, following The Last Lion: Winston Spencer Churchill: Vision of Glory, 1874-1932 [BKL Mr 15 83]. The previous volume covered Churchill from his birth to his apparent washout as a politician in the early 1930s. This latest volume sees Churchill through his exile from political life prior to World War II and his advent as prime minister. Guided by his view of Churchill as one of history's giants, Manchester narrates and analyzes his subject's activities during the 1930s-- Churchill's years in the wilderness, during which he occupied himself with writing and with trying to convince the British public that Adolf Hitler was a menace and not at all interested in maintaining peace in Europe. A masterful biography, written with great fluidity and insight. Bibliography, notes; to be indexed. Book-of-the-Month Club main selection. To be serialized in Reader's Digest and American Heritage. BH.
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The Felt Alphabet Stickers are a fun learning tool for teachers and kids! These packs include 81, 2 inch letters and numbers that can easily be peel and stick to almost any surface. In each pack there are two sets of uppercase letters from A - Z, 2 sets of numbers from 0 – 9 and the remaining characters include various glyphs such as +-=,?!.(). Teach your kids or students to spell, count, add or decorate their walls and doors with these felt pieces. Made of 100% Acrylic Felt and adhesive backed, these letters will go where magnets cannot. Available in many different colours.
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HEADLINES : Indiana
Right-to-work laws associated with lower levels of state debt
The last state to enact right-to-work legislation was Oklahoma in 2001, when it joined 21 others. Some in the Indiana legislature hope the Hoosier state becomes the first in more than a decade to pass right-to-work legislation in the coming week. A State Senate committee passed a right-to-work bill this past Friday, and a full House vote on the issue is expected before the week's end. While debate on the merits of right-to-work legislation has largely focused on the policy's ramifications for economic growth and union membership, the potential impact on state budgets should also be considered.
Right-to-Work and State Debt
A look at the numbers suggests at least some correlation between the existence of right-to-work legislation and a healthy state budget. State Budget Solutions compiles an annual state debt report, and overall, right-to-work states fare much better in terms of absolute state debt and state debt per capita.
Average state debt per capita
Average state debt per capita ranking
Average total state debt (in thousands)
On average, state debt in both absolute and per capita terms is much lower in right-to-work states. When state debt per capita is ranked from 1-50, with 1 representing the lowest state debt per capita, the distinction is similarly clear. The average ranking of a right-to-work state was 15.2, compared to 33.5 for non right-to-work states.
Right-to-Work and the Economy
Right-to-work laws deal exclusively with the private sector, so they do not have the direct impact on state budgets that public sector unionization does. However, a correlation is hard to ignore. Instead of directly attributing right-to-work to a lack of state debt, it can be argued that right-to-work protections play a vital part in a strong state economy, which in turn serves as a key driver of state budget health.
One example of this is in state private industry gross domestic product, as reported by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. In the ten-year period from fiscal year 2000-2001 through 2009-2010, private industry in the 28 states without right-to-work protections grew an average 3.82 percent. Right-to-work state economies, by comparison, grew at a pace of 4.69 percent. Employment statistics similarly favor the existence of right-to-work laws. According to the Washington Post, right-to-work states created 3.6 million net jobs over the past decade. States without right-to-work saw a net loss of 900,000 jobs.
Population migration over the last several decades shows that millions of individuals and families have fled to states with right-to-work protections on the books. According to the economist Dr. Richard Vedder, since 1970, "the population living in right-to-work states more than doubled, compared with a modest 25.7 percent increase in non right-to-work states." In the shorter period from April, 2000 to July, 2008, "4.7 million Americans moved from the non-right-to-work states to right-to-work states."
Although a direct connection cannot be made between right-to-work laws and the well being of a state budget, the case can be made that right-to-work has played a substantial albeit not exclusive, role in promoting economic expansion. Further, none of this suggests that a strong economy and sound state budget cannot exist without right-to-work legislation. Indiana for example, even without right-to-work laws, ranks third in state debt per capita.
With the protections afforded to individual workers under right-to-work legislation, however, millions are able to hold onto thousands of dollars a year that would normally be taken out of their paychecks in the form of union dues. Right-to-work laws afford businesses a level of certainty not as prevalent in non right-to-work states, as the potential for forced unionization and employee strikes is lowered. These factors feed broader economic expansion, including increased employment and productivity, that can increase state revenues and eliminate dependency on state government as a basic provider of services.
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Release Date: 3/5/2013
Over 260 Ozarks students and staff took advantage of the opportunity to meet with representatives from businesses and other organizations at the spring career fair, held on Tuesday, February 26 in the university's Rogers Conference Center.
The spring fair featured booths from 28 organizations which provided information on a wide range of career and educational opportunities. Among the organizations represented at the fair were:
Plans are already underway for the fall 2013 Career Fair, and Ozarks' director of career services, Kimberly Spicer, reminds students that the career fairs are an excellent opportunity for them to make connections with potential employers and to get a head-start on applying for various internships.
"Networking is the #1 source of job leads for job seekers," Spicer said. "The career fair is a convenient opportunity for students to visit with recruiters to learn about current openings and to receive insider tips on applying."
The fairs are also a great way for students considering graduate school or other professional programs to learn more about options available to them. "It provides students who are considering graduate school with the opportunity to talk directly with grad school professors, Deans, and graduate students about their programs and experiences," she added.
To learn more about the services offered by Ozarks Career Services, contact Spicer by email at email@example.com or by phone at 479-979-1320. You can also follow Career Services on Facebook to find out more about events like the fall and spring career fairs, and for helpful tips on the job search, securing an internship, or preparing for graduate school.
Regina Wilson and Leslie Walter, recruiters from the Arkansas Department of Parks & Tourism, discuss internship and job opportunities with students at the annual spring Career Fair, held on Tuesday, February 26th.
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–This post is written by UHP student Andrew Hori, who served with Thomas Josephson (another UHPer) as research assistants to Prof. Christov this semester.
If I were to tell you that those textbooks that you used for that Introduction to International Affairs classes were partially wrong, would you believe me? I’m sure that a statement like that requires some explanation. Anyone that’s taken a course in political science, international affairs, philosophy, or even just Origins and Evolution of Modern Thought for that matter, are probably familiar with the work of Thomas Hobbes. Among his contributions to ethics and political philosophy, Hobbes is probably known best for his theory of an absolute sovereign established through a social contract and his conception of the natural state of the individual in his Leviathan. According to this theory, individuals are in a constant state of war and anarchy that persists until they establish an absolute sovereign over themselves.
So how does this apply to your international affairs textbooks? Well, in short, it doesn’t! The school of realism in international affairs characterizes the international realm as a realm that is anarchic in its natural condition. States act like individuals in the Hobbesian state of war—they are constantly driven by fear and a need to protect themselves from each other. What is often misunderstood is that Hobbes probably never intended for this conception of the state of the individual to be applied to the international realm. While it may be perfectly valid for scholars to characterize the international realm in this way, to associate this theory with Hobbes is inaccurate.
This is Professor Christov’s argument in a nutshell. In order to put this idea to the test, Professor Christov, Thomas Josephson (another RA), and I are examining hundreds of documents relating to international affairs, realism, and anarchy, in order to gain a comprehensive understanding of how scholars may have misappropriated Hobbes since the 1950s. In addition to having the opportunity to explore the scholarship on international affairs theory, this experience has been invaluable in learning about what research often entails. When you are trying to create an original argument that disagrees with decades of scholarship, it sometimes feels like you are wandering in the dark until you bump into something that helps you find your way. And for much of the time, that’s what it felt like as we sifted through hundreds of documents across several databases. While it was rewarding to find those articles that misappropriated Hobbes, it was also quite frustrating when I realized how commonly he was misperceived. Regardless of whether you believe this argument is up to you. But the next time Hobbes is brought up in your international affairs or political science class, don’t be afraid to bring up this objection!
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Getting a pink slip in today's job market is like being evicted from your home in a hurricane. The horrific head winds facing job seekers today will make finding shelter with a new employer all the harder.
Not only is unemployment still stuck above 9%, it's also lasting longer. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average length of unemployment has skyrocketed to 40.3 weeks in August this year compared to 17.7 weeks in August 2008.
The difficult labor market isn't lost on Americans. In The Conference Board's most recent Consumer Confidence Index, 44.1% of Americans said jobs are "hard to get," while only 5.1% said they were "plentiful."
In Bankrate's August Financial Security Index poll, nearly a third of Americans said they felt less secure in their job than a year ago.
"Companies right now are going as lean and mean as they can," says Linda Rolie, author of "Getting Back to Work: Everything You Need to Bounce Back and Get a Job After a Layoff." "They have absolutely stripped out all the fluff. Anything that's not totally pushing the coal or creating revenue or finding significant value for the company is getting stripped down."
While it's not always possible to know when you're about to be laid off or fired, here are some telltale signs that can help you prepare for, and possibly head off, a job loss.
Company has Financial Troubles
f your employer is struggling financially, it's a safe bet staff cutbacks aren't far behind, Rolie says.
Layoffs are especially likely when employers' costs are heavily weighted toward human resources, because that's where they have room to cut costs.
"Employers have significantly different amounts of their total expense that are comprised of labor costs," says Steve Kane, managing director of HumanResourcesExpert.com and retired human resources executive. "If 70% or 80% of their costs are related to staffing and things aren't going too well, they don't have a lot of choice."
How to fight back: Acquiring a diverse set of skills and performing a variety of different roles at your company can keep the target off your back when it's time to make cutbacks, Rolie says.
"If it's between two equally qualified employees, it comes down to who's more likable and getting along with others or doing some of those extra chores, duties or technological components that others don't want to do," Rolie says. "Look for ways to strategically snatch up a couple of niches that you enjoy and are good at."
A Merger or Acquisition Occurs
Mergers and acquisitions involving your company don't augur well for job security, Rolie says.
"There (are) just so many duplicate positions. There (are) only so many (human resources) people a company needs (for example)," Rolie says.
That's because they typically create redundancies on the payroll, with two or more people fulfilling essentially the same role at both companies having to compete for that role within the new organization created by the merger or acquisition.
Typically, that's a battle won by whoever works for the company that came out on top in the merger or was the acquirer rather than the acquisition, she says.
Middle management is especially susceptible to cutbacks resulting from mergers and acquisitions because managers often perform similar duties and can be easily consolidated.
How to fight back: If your company is being absorbed or reorganized, one of the most important things to learn about new managers is how they measure employee performance, Kane says.
"However the employer defines performance in your particular role is the key," he says. "You have to count performance the way your employer wants to count it, not the way you think it ought to be counted."
Doing that successfully can help you stand out to new bosses and keep your place in the company, he says.
A Noticeable Change in Your Boss' Behavior Toward You
Bosses are people, too, and many of them aren't gifted with a strong poker face.
Watching your boss' behavior, especially when he or she is interacting with you, can tell you a lot about how secure your job is, Kane says.
"If they used to socialize and now they don't, if they're not as friendly as they used to be, if they won't look you in the eye and they used to look you in the eye, then you can pretty well guess that something is going on," Kane says.
How to fight back: Of course, it's better if you and your boss maintain a good relationship, but if you sense some social weirdness from your boss, the best thing to do is to step up your game at work, Kane says. Regardless of how they feel about you as a person, the No. 1 metric bosses use to decide who to keep and who to let go is job performance, he says.
"There are a lot of managers who don't necessarily have a good personal relationship with a person one or two levels down, but if they're producing, they're not going to cut off their nose to spite their face," Kane says.
Unusual Requests for Documentation
If a manager is looking to let you go, they'll want to perform some legal due diligence, including reviewing key documents related to your work, such as important documents you've produced, application materials or your employment agreement.
Employers who aren't great at holding onto paperwork may end up having to ask you for one or more of these documents. If they do, that's a red flag, Kane says.
How to fight back: By the time an employer is legally vetting your dismissal, your job is probably as good as lost. Rolie says if you're fairly sure your days at a particular job are numbered, working on your resume and reaching out to contacts at other companies to see who's hiring before you're let go can help you get your next job.
"Prepare for your job search early," says Rolie. "The average job seeker takes at least four months once you've got your resume, your cover letter and references document done. It's going to take at least three and sometimes seven interviews."
Being Kept out of The Loop by Co-Workers or Clients
If you find yourself left out of critical conference calls, emails, meetings and project assignments, it can be an indication your manager is preparing to let you go, says Kane.
"It's (being left out of) memos, it's when the boss calls three or four folks together to give them the update on something, and you used to be in that group, and all of a sudden you don't find yourself being in that group, or if they never would have had that meeting without you and all of a sudden you're not there and they say, 'We couldn't wait,'" Kane says.
How to fight back: Sometimes good job performance isn't enough if the people you work with aren't aware of it. Making sure clients, bosses and co-workers know what you bring to the table can help you avoid being cut out the loop and ultimately save your job, says Kane.
"Do your customers, your clients, your co-workers, and obviously your boss, respect what you do and how you do it?" Kane says. "If they don't, you're in trouble. No matter how many widgets you produce, if they don't have the respect for you, then you're vulnerable."
Delays and Disruptions in Workplace Cycles
Changes in the regular rhythms of how your workplace operates that put you out of step with your co-workers are a dead giveaway management is considering letting you go, Kane says.
A classic example is a disruption in the timing of performance reviews that seems to apply only to you, Kane says. Often, companies will try to avoid doing a performance review if they're considering terminating an individual because a positive review could give employees ammunition in a wrongful termination suit. Getting a performance review earlier than your co-workers also can be a bad sign, as the company may be trying to build a case against you as a worker, he says.
Employees on the bubble also may see raises or bonuses delayed by employers to save money and to avoid giving any overt sign your performance is satisfactory.
How to fight back: Don't wait for a performance review. Instead, ask your supervisor regularly for honest feedback on your job performance, Kane says. Not only will that make it tougher to justify letting you go, but it may address whatever problem an employer might have with you in the first place.
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Last few Minn. Pearl Harbor vets gather to share storiesby Tim Pugmire, Minnesota Public Radio
St. Paul, Minn. — Three of Minnesota's remaining Pearl Harbor survivors were on hand Wednesday for a ceremony in St. Paul marking the 70th anniversary of the surprise Japanese attack.
There aren't very many survivors left. But one of them presented a detailed account of his experiences aboard the USS Ward, the ship that's credited with firing the first American shots of World War II.
A crew of 140 was aboard the destroyer USS Ward on December 7, 1941. Among them were 84 Minnesotans, who were serving in the Naval Reserve. Richard Thill of St. Paul said he and his shipmates were on a routine patrol of restricted waters outside the harbor's mouth.
"We were on patrol, and we had just gotten a new captain the day before Dec. 7. He came on board and took command on Dec. 6, and then we went on patrol on the seventh. He started out with a bang, I can tell you that," Thill said.
Thill is now 88, but his memories from 70 years ago remain vivid. As the guest speaker of the Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day Ceremony, Thill had the audience of mostly veterans and state officials hanging on his every word.
He described the Ward's encounter that morning with an unmarked Japanese midget submarine. He said his captain had initially planned to ram the sub's exposed conning tower, but he decided instead to fire the ship's guns. One of those 50 caliber guns sits on the State Capitol grounds, near the Veteran Service Building in St. Paul.
"The sinking of the submarine was an hour before the airplanes came," he said. "We didn't know who it was. We really didn't know who, because it didn't have any identification. We were wondering was this just a trick to test our new captain?"
Thill said the Ward also stopped a fishing boat that morning, and its Japanese-speaking crew mysteriously surrendered. He soon heard explosions in the distance, saw smoke rising from the harbor and watched the sky above fill with airplanes. But Thill said there wasn't much anyone could do.
"A lot of these planes flew right over us after they had gotten rid of their bombs and ammunition," Thill said. "We didn't have any — we had two machine guns on there, and they jammed up."
One of Thill's shipmates that day on the USS Ward was Donald Pepin. The now 90-year-old Maplewood resident said he remembers it was hard to absorb what was unfolding before his eyes.
"The surprise attack is definitely a big surprise. It's difficult to handle," Pepin said. "But you have a duty to do at a certain position aboard the ship, and that's all you can do."
Back at Pearl Harbor, George Vandersluis was a Marine onboard the USS Honolulu. The 95-year-old Hastings resident had a much closer view of the attack, but he escaped unharmed.
"We took one hit, not the ship directly. But it hit the dock along side of us and went into the side of our ship down below. So, we ended up in dry dock the next day, but that was just about it," he said.
Vandersluis, Pepin and Thill are members of the Minnesota Pearl Harbor Survivors Association. Thill also serves as president and chaplain. There used to be 500 members and three active chapters in the state. But it's been 70 years since the day that tied these men together, and Thill says time has taken its toll.
"The other two chapters have already dissolved because they died off or they got too old to be able to come any more," Thill said. "Our chapter, there's 10 of us, but there's only four of us that are up and around."
The story is the same throughout the United States. The national association of Pearl Harbor survivors is set to disband at the end of the year. Officials say there are simply not enough members left to keep it running.
- All Things Considered, 12/07/2011, 5:46 p.m.
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A bit of timelessness in this passage, I feel. In the sense of this being a collection of small anecdotes that just remind us of a few things that happened.
First, the Angel of the LORD turns up at a place called Bokim, and tells the Israelites that they weren’t supposed to make covenants with the people who already lived in Canaan; and now, because they have, things aren’t going to be as good as they could have been.
Then Joshua dies – again – just running through the tale in case we forgot it in the past month since I finished Joshua.
Then finally another generation grows up, and forgets God – and it gives a broad introduction about the Judges who had God on their side, and led the people of Israel through times of difficulty.
This is, though, just the reason why there was all the talk about cleaning things out.
“Now therefore I tell you that I will not drive them out before you; they will be thorns in your sides and their gods will be a snare to you.” ~ Judges 2:3
And it’s exactly what happened.
Then the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD and served the Baals. They forsook the LORD, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of Egypt. They followed and worshiped various gods of the peoples around them. They provoked the LORD to anger because they forsook him and served Baal and the Ashtoreths. ~ Judges 2:11-13
I think, sometimes, we tend to take God for granted. It’s so easy to think that we don’t need to worry too much, that we just need to do the minimal effort to keep him happy, that as long as we go to church on Sunday, maybe a bible study through the week, we’re all good – the rest of our lives aren’t really that much of a big deal, right? I can imagine this being a justification as the Israelites went through their lives, as those who had witnessed the events in the wilderness and conquering the promised land died out, others took over and for them, things were different.
It’s so easy to be committed to God when you first come to him. It’s a passionate, enthusiastic, exciting time. However, as time goes on, that passion wanes, the excitement wears off and the enthusiasm fades. That ‘honeymoon phase’ wears off…
And it’s like anything – once the ‘newness’ factor starts to wear off, then other things become shiny whilst that thing, no matter how much we loved it to begin with, starts to become something we take for granted.
And it’s a lot easier to walk away from the things that don’t excite us, and that we take for granted, than it is to walk away from something new, shiny and exciting.
When there’s other things around – Baals and Ashteroths, if you will – then it’s harder to maintain that close connection with God. We can’t afford to take God for granted – and I say that from real life experience of my own – we need to ensure that he’s always number one, because if he’s not, then he can tumble down that priority list pretty quickly, and soon he stops being even a blip on our radar… Is that really a risk worth taking?
Wow, so a whole month has almost managed to pass by. Time goes so quickly!
As I read this chapter, it felt like a revision of the latter half of Joshua, actually. We have Judah going out and conquering the land that was given to them, and as they go out, then the records continue for the rest of the nation of Israel until they’re all able to settle in their lands.
And that’s what they do: settle.
Back when I read through Joshua 15-21 I noticed how Judah, Ephraim and Manasseh all managed to get into the lands that they were promised and allotted, but they didn’t actually dislodge all of the Canaanites in those lands. In this chapter, this fact is reiterated, but it goes on to talk about the other tribes as well.
Nor did Asher drive ou tthose living in Acco or Sidon or Ahlab or Aczib or Helbah or Aphek or Rehob. ~ Judges 1:31
Neither did Naphtali drive out those living in Beth Shemesh or Beth Anath; but the Naphtalites too lived among the Canaanite inhabitants of the land. ~ Judges 1:33
And so it goes on.
At church this weekend, we had an amazing time where God moved powerfully through both services, it was an amazing time spent with family and father. One of the focal points, though, was breakthrough. Taking a step further into the things that God has for us.
As I read this, though, I can’t help but wonder – and probably reiterate some things that I’ve considered and written here before – about how deeply into God’s destiny we actually walk. Throughout this year, with the references to the Promised Land, God’s continually used that term in my heart as a metaphor for the destiny that he has for my life, and for others’ lives too. The thing is, though, that to really be able to walk in the freedom and destiny that he’s given us, then we need to destroy the corruption in our lives and in our hearts. We need to be free from the distractions that can come upon us.
I’ve heard people use the term ‘In the world, but not of the world’ in the past – and one of my favourite clothing brands, NOTW is founded on that entire message. However, I’ve noticed that some people seem to take that message to the extreme. They consider themselves living in the world as being a holding bay, somewhere that we just live out our lives until we die and can get to heaven.
I feel, as I’m writing this, that there’s more to it than that; and that this nation of Israel – and what was supposed to be for them – is the great example. I can imagine that Israel was meant to settle in their land, and then be the shining light of God’s love, of his faithfulness, of his truth and so much more to the entire world. They would, though, have to interact with the world. It’s not like they were put there to then be neutral and insular – they were put there to be the light on a hill that Jesus spoke about.
But therefore, at the same time, they weren’t meant to be in bed (so to speak) with everyone else. They needed a safe zone, a place where they could be protected and watched over by God.
Imagine this: A million candles, all lit and spread out over a field. The light would be intense, bright and radiant. Then imagine, though, that there are a bunch of people wandering through that field and blowing them out. If you’ve had experience with candles, it’s generally easier to blow them out than it can be to relight them.
This is why we all need our safe place, not so that we can hide there and wait for God to take us to heaven – but so we can have somewhere that we’re refreshed, where if we’re running short on fuel, we can be refilled, where we can have our light rekindled without it being blown out – so that when we DO go out into the world, we can shine God’s light, and reflect his love to everyone else.
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Overthinking My Teaching
Library Home || Full Table of Contents || Suggest a Link || Library Help
|Blog by a community college math teacher "interested in hard questions about teaching." Posts, which date back to July, 2009, have included "Wump hats," "An unnoticed rule for number language," "The end of word problems," "Cubeyness," "Cardinal and ordinal numbers," "More on fraction division (you know you love it!)," "Place value and the Lattice Algorithm (or A Simple Task, Years in the Making)," "A five-year old explores infinite loops," "Further adventures in Kindergarten fractions," "Important Ootsie-related news," a series entitled "Questions from middle schoolers," and "Can a number be bigger than anything you can count?" and "How many degrees in a polygon?" Danielson came to college faculty by way of graduate studies that included work on the revision of the Connected Mathematics (CMP) materials after teaching seventh and eighth grade math for six years.|
|Levels:||Elementary, Middle School (6-8), High School (9-12), College|
|Resource Types:||Web-Based Discussions|
|Math Ed Topics:||Problem-Solving, Specific Math Concepts/Techniques, Teaching Styles/Practices, Technology in Math Ed, Reform|
© 1994-2013 Drexel University. All rights reserved.
The Math Forum is a research and educational enterprise of the Drexel University School of Education.
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For one large mould of cream, use half a package of gelatine, one gill of milk, two quarts of whipped cream, one gill of sugar, and two and a half ounces of Walter Baker & Co.'s Chocolate.
Soak the gelatine in cold water for two hours. Whip and drain the cream, scrape the chocolate, and put the milk on to boil.
Put the chocolate, two tablespoonfuls of sugar and one of hot water in a small saucepan, and stir on a hot fire until smooth and glossy. Stir this into the hot milk.
Now add the soaked gelatine and the remainder of the sugar. Strain this mixture into a basin that will hold two quarts or more. Place the basin in a pan of ice-water, and stir until cold, when it will begin to thicken.
Instantly begin to stir in the whipped cream, adding half the amount at first. When all the cream has been added, dip the mould in cold water and turn the cream into it.
Place in the ice-chest (refrigerator) for an hour or more. At serving-time dip the mould in tepid water. See that the cream will come from the sides of the mould, and turn out on a flat dish.
Serve with whipped cream.
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Industrial and human waste being dumped from foreign factories and worker stations have reportedly caused nearby paddy farms to become uncultivable in Kyaukpru in Arakan State.
Many acres of paddy farms in a number of villages that include Pyatae, Kapthapyay and Semaw in Kyaukpru Township are said to have been damaged because of the undisciplined dumping of waste by the foreign companies.
U San Tha Kyaw, a farmer from Pyatae Village, told Narinjara that about 200 acres of paddy fields are damaged by the waste that are being excreted from the factory and worker station of the Indian Punj Lloyd Company that are based near the village.
“There are 600 acres of paddy farms around the factory and worker station of the Indian Punj Lloyd. About 200 acres of the farms are now totally uncultivable because they are already damaged by the waste thrown away by the factory and workers of the company and by the mud flowing down from those sites”, said U San Tha Kyaw.
The farmers who are working at their farms located near the factory could not work due to the bad smell coming form the trash and excrement discarded of the factory.
The villagers who own the farms are said to have complained of the damages of their farms to the township administrator, but the administrator is said to have threatened the villagers for making their complaint without taking any action against the company to stop undisciplined dumping of waste onto their farms.
According to local farmers, they have already suffered great losses since their farmlands were forcibly confiscated for the foreign companies that are arriving in Kyaukpru Township for their investment and now again the construction of factories, oil and gas pipelines and roads by those companies have caused great damage to the remaining farmlands in the township.
The local people are now defenseless and have to tolerate all kinds of abuse being perpetrated by the foreign companies because the projects being implemented by the foreign companies in Kyaukpru are state-shared businesses and the local authorities have no power to rule over those companies, said a local social activist.
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Whenever I hear the name of Turner Prize-winning artist, Chris Ofili, I unfortunately think of the old Monty Python joke: “What’s brown and sounds like a bell? Dung!” For Americans who still remember Rudy Giuliani’s dung-inspired demagoguery in the mid-1990s, Ofili remains defined by that single word and single, controversial moment. A new exhibition at the Tate Britain and a revelatory new book, however, look to redefine this anger- and thought-provoking artist.
In 1996, as part of a group exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum titled Sensation, Ofili’s painting The Holy Virgin Mary raised the ire of then-New York City mayor Giuliani, who cried blasphemy at the elephant dung lacquered, painted, and included in the work. (Giuliani apparently didn’t look closely enough to notice the tiny photographs of female genitalia Ofili had pasted all over the painting. Or at least he never mentioned them.) Giuliani “seized control of the event, set the terms in the public arena, and constructed the painting’s meaning from his own ignorance,” Carol Becker writes of the incident in the monograph. The art world worked overtime “to get the media to recontextualize, redefine, redescribe, and reinscribe it with the meaning the artist had intended.” The battle, even 14 years later, wages on in Ofili’s work between artistic intent and public reception. The fact that the debate continues attests to the value of Ofili’s work in modern art and, however silently, modern, multinational, multiethnic culture.
“I don’t think religion is a springboard for spiritual enlightenment,” Ofili confesses in an interview that closes the monograph, perhaps thinking of The Holy Virgin Mary’s effect. “I don’t think it necessarily takes you to a greater place, but it can put you in the mood.” Likewise, Ofili’s works may not take you to a “greater” place, but at least they leave you in a pensive mood, wondering what they mean and what they should mean to us. Becker describes Ofili’s approach as “the mercurial imagination—a type of creativity that can’t resist sullying what has become oppressively sanctified, pure, and at times hidden and inaccessible.” Ofili pulls our idols off their pedestals, dirties their faces, and hands them to us—more human and more immediate than before. It’s a dirty game, but Ofili demonstrates how necessary it is to play. The Giulianis of the world may refuse to look, but most of us cannot afford that luxury if we aim to survive with one another.
Ofili’s 1998 painting No Woman, No Cry (pictured) stands as just one example of the artist sullying on the surface what is already sullied within. Borrowing the title of Bob Marley’s reggae hit, Ofili dedicated the work to the mother of London teenager Stephen Lawrence, whose racially motivated murder revealed the racist underside of the London police force that tried to cover it up. Tiny photos of Lawrence make up the tears that fall from the woman’s face as the title appears in colored pins inserted into balls of dung at the foot of the painting. In an image both specific and universal, Ofili plays with multiple meanings to show us the face of racism as well as its consequences.
It is this “deep historical ambivalence” of Ofili over the alleged progress made in human rights, Okwui Enwezor writes in his essay, that led Ofili to challenge the nationalist tradition when representing Britain at the 50th Venice Biennale. With the work titled Within Reach, Ofili “began from the point of dismantling and remaking imperial British memory as well as enumerating its postcolonial history,” Enwezor writes, “so as to shift its horizon and bend it towards the line of a transnational African and disporic imagination.” Whether a single teenager killed just yesterday or the holocaust of the African slave diaspora centuries ago, Ofili shifts our imagination to a different level to reveal the evils without as well as those that, perhaps unconsciously, lurk within us.
“The process of making art is like crafting a key that can open a door to freedom,” Ofili argues in his interview. Together, this exhibition and this monograph offer a key to unlocking the potential for contemplation within Ofili’s art as well as for freeing ourselves from the bonds of racism we many of us cannot admit still hold us.
[Image: Chris Ofili, No Woman, No Cry (1998). Acrylic, oil, polyester resin, pencil, paper collage, glitter, map pins and elephant dung on linen. 243.8 x 182.8 cm. Photo: Tate. © Chris Ofili.]
[Many thanks to the Tate Britain for providing me with the image above from the exhibition Chris Ofili, which runs from January 27 through May 16, 2010, and to Rizzoli for providing me with a review copy of the first monograph on the artist, Chris Ofili.]
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