text
stringlengths 213
24.6k
| id
stringlengths 47
47
| dump
stringclasses 1
value | url
stringlengths 14
499
| file_path
stringlengths 138
138
| language
stringclasses 1
value | language_score
float64 0.9
1
| token_count
int64 51
4.1k
| score
float64 1.5
5.06
| int_score
int64 2
5
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Online Degree Program: Tuition Structure for Distance Students
Know Your Tuition Status & Enroll in the Proper Section
Online students (in-state and out-of-state) can pay distance-learning rates for all online classes, and avoid main-campus athletics and activities fees.
To take advantage of those tuition rates, you must enroll in the D-campus sections of your classes
If you are enrolled in the wrong sections of your courses
, you may be over billed for tuition and charged inappropriate athletics and campus activities fees. You may also be erroneously subject to the new health insurance requirement , which does not include distance-learning students.
To be enrolled in the proper section of general education courses:
- First enroll in the section that is open - your bill will not be correct at this point! .
- Then email your PHE advisor or the DCL registrar with your request to be switched into the correct sections of your classes.
- Include your full name and student ID number, as the registrars cannot fulfill a request for someone who is not positively identified.
Financial Aid & VA Benefits
The Department of Public Health Education is not qualified to discuss your financial aid or veterans' benefits.
Students wishing to receive federal student aid should file the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) and then follow up with the UNCG Financial Aid Office . Students attending more than one institution in the same semester should apply through the parent institution (the one where you intend to receive your degree), and must inform financial-aid counselors of all enrollments.
Online students are eligible for federal student aid (primarily loans) based on actual cost of attendance:
- tuition and fees,
- books and supplies,
- and an optional one-time adjustment toward the purchase of a computer.
As distance learning students at UNCG, online students are not eligible for federal aid to cover:
- living expenses,
- or transportation.
Thus, financial aid awards for online students are significantly lower than those for traditional on-campus or commuter students. If you have received a financial aid disbursement and declare your major as BS Health Studies Online during the same semester, you will immediately be required return up to 80% of your disbursement If you fail to do so, the Financial Aid Office can deny you further aid and block your ability to register for classes or graduate from the university.
Veterans' enrollment certification is handled in the University Registrar's Office. Contact the Veterans' Services Coordinator.
Tuition Payment Plans
- For students who early register the TuitionPay payment plan is available.
Please visit the Financial Services Payment Plan website.
|
<urn:uuid:2357831f-aae7-4e60-8f60-bca5bcfb80ad>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.uncg.edu/oao/online/tuition.html
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00065-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.914315
| 546
| 1.5625
| 2
|
by Cay S. Horstmann and Gary Cornell
Publisher: Prentice Hall
Publication Date: September 2007
"Since 1995, Sun Microsystems has released seven major revisions of the Java Development Kit... The Application Programming Interface (API) has grown from about 200 to over 3,000 classes," according to Core Java: Volume I, Fundamentals by Cay S. Horstmann and Gary Cornell. As you can imagine, this book has grown from the first edition of 672 pages to this eighth edition of 864 pages. This edition focuses on Java Platform, Standard Edition 6 (Java SE 6).
These authors know the platform well and have structured the book in such a way that it's easy to find exactly the information or code samples you seek. The authors explain on the first page, "We still target serious programmers who want to put Java to work on real projects." They assume that readers of this book have a solid background in programming in another language, and they assume that you don't like toy or silly examples. Instead, the book is filled with examples that demonstrate almost every library and language feature.
The book begins as you might expect, explaining a bit about the Java platform and how to download and install the JDK. It also provides examples so that you can be sure that you're up and running on your computer. By page 35, you get to the meat: programming structures and syntax.
Once you have the structures down, the book provides nice detail on object-oriented programming itself, vital to understanding this platform, then helps you expand your knowledge by detailing inheritance, interfaces, and inner classes. Next, the authors discuss the big topic of graphics programming and event handling, with plenty of sample code. Using user interface components with Swing takes up a good portion of the book, as you might expect. All of this will get you far in creating applications written in the Java programming language.
Of course, once you have these basics and have written a few applications, you'll need to package and deploy your application or applet so that others can use it. As a staff writer for java.sun.com, I frequently hear developers asking how they should package their applications, so I thought that Chapter 10, Deploying Applications and Applets (PDF) would be an excellent chapter to post as a sample for the book.
In this chapter, you learn how to package your application in a single file called a Java Archive (JAR) file and how to deal with resources. Next, you get a description of Java Web Start technology and learn to set it up to launch your application. In addition, you will learn how to use applets. Lastly, this chapter details how to store your application preferences.
The chapters are consistently formatted, so a look at Chapter 10 will give you a good idea of the authors' writing style. It will also help you see the kind of sample code that the book provides, as well as the level of programming acumen you need.
After Chapter 10, the authors discuss slightly more advanced topics such as exception handling, generic programming, collections, and multithreading. For topics such as files and streams, distributed objects, database, native methods, XML processing, and so forth, you'll have to wait for Core Java, Volume II.
This book strikes just the right balance of explanation of classes and features with sample code. Some authors explain concepts in such detail that they leave the reader confused or exhausted. But Horstmann and Cornell provide explanations that get to the point -- and no more. The code samples are excellent, with helpful comments throughout. The authors also provide the sample code online so you don't have to retype everything -- though if you're just learning, typing out the code is good practice.
This book is an excellent resource for learning, as well as a great reference book. With the many code samples and short explanations, Core Java: Volume I, Fundamentals is a book that you will often pull from the bookshelf to get quick information and syntax reminders.
Sun Microsystems Press Bookstore Sample Chapter
|
<urn:uuid:38f50b89-5d15-4f73-a1d7-cd721ac498c1>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/core-8th-140391.html
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00064-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.939221
| 834
| 2.328125
| 2
|
Turkish Shipbuilder Minimizes Risk and Maximizes Performance Well Before Launch Day
SOUTHPOINTE, Pa., Jul 20, 2009 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- ANSYS, Inc. (NASDAQ: ANSS), a global innovator of simulation software and technologies designed to optimize product development processes, today announced that Delta Marine Engineering Co., a merchant marine designer based in Turkey, uses Simulation Driven Product Development(TM) from ANSYS to optimize ships that transport cargo to all points of the globe. The company analyzes its designs with software from ANSYS to identify and correct troublesome vibration, in order to comply with international standards as well as ensure the safety of the crew and a long life for the ship.
One of the most basic tasks that marine engineers face is eliminating undesirable vibration. Each ship has natural frequencies dependent on the design of its structure, which includes parameters such as size and shape as well as the materials used. In addition, there are forcing frequencies that act upon a ship, most often generated by components that operate at different frequencies. As the propeller moves the water, for example, it exerts forces on the back of the ship, and these forces are large enough that they can cause vibration, particularly if they excite one of the structure\'s natural modes of vibration.
An ocean-going capesize bulk carrier, which can carry bulk cargo such as iron ore or coal up to 180,000 tons, is continuously slammed. The propeller alone can exert loads of 10 tons to 14 tons, and the engine can generate additional moments up to 200 tonmeters. Vibration in marine applications is especially complex because it also involves the behavior of the structure as it passes through the water. This fluid structure interaction (FSI) can fatigue the hull\'s components and cause vital equipment to malfunction.
\"Simulation analysis gives our engineers insight into the complexities of these interactions,\" said Dirim Sener, planning director, Delta Marine Engineering Co. \"Using ANSYS(R) technology, our engineers try to correct problems by modifying the ship during the design stage -- instead of discovering vibration problems after the ship is launched.\" He added that changes made after launch could cost millions of dollars, while changing the underwater form of a ship in the design stage can be done at almost zero cost. \"Engineers also have much more freedom when making design changes in the early stages.\"
Delta Marine engineers use software from ANSYS to calculate pressures induced by the propeller on the aft of the ship as well as the loads generated on the propeller shaft. If vibration values do not meet international standards, sometimes expensive changes must be made. By identifying vibration problems in the early stages of the design process, Delta Marine can make alterations such as adding pillars or strengthening structural components, or changing the propeller, revolutions per minute of the crankshaft, or number of blades in the propeller. Then, engineers can update the model to determine the effect of the changes on vibration displacement and velocity.
\"The marine industry is challenged to develop and produce new designs at an accelerating pace. Designing ships is not a straight-forward process: The changes are frequent and prototyping can be quite expensive. Delta Marine has shown how Simulation Driven Product Development can be extremely effective in designing vessels that mitigate risk -- helping engineers make critical decisions throughout the design process,\" said Dipankar Choudhury, vice president, corporate product strategy and planning, ANSYS, Inc.
Delta Marine also uses ANSYS technology to evaluate the structure and cargo tanks of ships against worst-case load scenarios involving forces exerted by the tank\'s contents against the tank itself. For example, the design and construction of sulfur- and bitumen-carrying tankers is complicated by complexity of the cargo tanks, which could either be built independently or as part of an integrated structure.
For downloadable images, visit http://www.ansys.com/newsimages.
About Delta Marine Engineering Co.
Founded in 1996, Delta Marine Engineering Co. provides engineering and consultancy services for the design of various types of ships including general cargo ships, container ships, oil and chemical tankers, passenger ships and ferries, yachts, and navy ships. The company\'s services include basic and detail design, product engineering, advanced engineering analyses, project and feasibility analyses, consultancy and control engineering services and software development. With its vast ship design experience, it is known as a leader in the field. For more information, visit www.deltamarine.com.tr.
About ANSYS, Inc.
ANSYS, Inc., founded in 1970, develops and globally markets engineering simulation software and technologies widely used by engineers and designers across a broad spectrum of industries. The Company focuses on the development of open and flexible solutions that enable users to analyze designs directly on the desktop, providing a common platform for fast, efficient and cost-conscious product development, from design concept to final-stage testing and validation. The Company and its global network of channel partners provide sales, support and training for customers. Headquartered in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, U.S.A., with more than 60 strategic sales locations throughout the world, ANSYS, Inc. and its subsidiaries employ over 1,600 people and distribute ANSYS products through a network of channel partners in over 40 countries. Visit www.ansys.com for more information.
ANSYS, ANSYS Workbench, Ansoft, AUTODYN, CFX, FLUENT, and any and all ANSYS, Inc. brand, product, service and feature names, logos and slogans are registered trademarks or trademarks of ANSYS, Inc. or its subsidiaries in the United States or other countries. All other brand, product, service and feature names or trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
SOURCE: ANSYS, Inc.
Kelly Wall, 724-514-3076
Annette Arribas, 724-514-1782
Date: July 20, 2009
|
<urn:uuid:2bb60e54-34c7-4a05-8953-a98f2d31cb41>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.nafems.org/media/news/industrynews1003/page299/
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.918435
| 1,241
| 2.09375
| 2
|
BANGKOK – World stock markets made limited gains Monday amid a holiday in the U.S. and nervousness over whether political leaders in Washington will be able to reach a deal on the government’s debt limit.
Congress must agree to raise the limit on how much debt the U.S. can have by the end of February otherwise the country risks default and could be slapped with damaging credit downgrades.
Even if the ceiling is raised, it would likely be at the cost of deep spending cuts demanded by Republicans in Washington.
“Markets remain optimistic, mainly because failure to forge a deal would be a disaster,” analysts at Credit Agricole CIB in Hong Kong said in a report. “However, the more time that passes the more nervous markets should become.”
European stocks rose in early trading, while Asian markets were more restrained. Britain’s FTSE 100 rose 0.7 per cent to 6,177.18. Germany’s DAX advanced 0.4 per cent to 7,735.52 and France’s CAC-40 gained 0.2 per cent to 3,748.46.
U.S. stock and bond markets are closed for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.
Dickie Wong, executive director of research at Kingston Securities in Hong Kong, said he was optimistic that an agreement on the U.S. debt ceiling would be reached because of the high price tag attached to failing to do so.
“Both parties will find some kind of solution because they all know that the debt ceiling will have to be increased,” Wong said. “At the very last minute they will sort it out.”
Japan’s Nikkei 225 index fell 1.5 per cent to close at 10,747.74 as the yen gained some ground against the dollar and the Bank of Japan began a two-day policy meeting.
The central bank has been under pressure from Japan’s new government to take more aggressive steps to fight the long deflationary slump in the world’s third largest economy. Some analysts say they expect the bank to expand its asset-purchasing program and set an inflation target.
South Korea’s Kospi dropped 0.1 per cent to 1,986.86. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 0.1 per cent to 23,590.91. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.1 per cent to 4,777.50.
In mainland China, the Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.5 per cent to 2,328.22 while the smaller Shenzhen Composite Index gained 0.7 per cent to 942.50. Property, coal and cement shares were among the big gainers.
China Vanke, the country’s biggest real estate developer by market value, hit the daily up-limit of 10 per cent on the Shenzhen bourse after announcing plans to shift trading of its foreign-currency shares to Hong Kong.
Among stocks on the downturn were Japanese export shares, which shot up in recent sessions as the yen slid against other major currencies. Suzuki Motor Corp. fell 2.5 per cent. Mitsubishi Motors Corp. shed 3.2 per cent.
National Australia Bank rose 1.9 per cent amid speculation that Spanish banking giant Santander was considering a bid for its U.K. business.
Benchmark oil for February delivery was down 23 cents to $95.33 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose 7 cents to finish at $95.56 per barrel on the Nymex on Friday.
In currencies, the euro fell to $1.3314 from $1.3320 late Friday in New York. The dollar fell to 89.46 yen from 90.03 yen.
Follow Pamela Sampson on Twitter at http://twitter.com/pamelasampson
|
<urn:uuid:e80b3dcc-ad13-424b-9fcd-299fdc791d13>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www2.macleans.ca/2013/01/21/stocks-tentative-as-bank-of-japan-meets-debt-ceiling-impasse-lingers/
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.936565
| 819
| 1.617188
| 2
|
New Weapons Systems Could Give Pentagon Unprecedented Power Over the Planet ... or Lead to Future Military Disaster
To stay on top of important articles like these, sign up to receive the latest updates from TomDispatch.com here.
It’s 2025 and an American “triple canopy” of advanced surveillance and armed drones fills the heavens from the lower- to the exo-atmosphere. A wonder of the modern age, it can deliver its weaponry anywhere on the planet with staggering speed, knock out an enemy’s satellite communications system, or follow individuals biometrically for great distances. Along with the country’s advanced cyberwar capacity, it’s also the most sophisticated militarized information system ever created and an insurance policy for U.S. global dominion deep into the twenty-first century. It’s the future as the Pentagon imagines it; it’s under development; and Americans know nothing about it.
They are still operating in another age. “Our Navy is smaller now than at any time since 1917,” complained Republican candidate Mitt Romney during the last presidential debate.
With words of withering mockery, President Obama shot back: “Well, Governor, we also have fewer horses and bayonets, because the nature of our military's changed... the question is not a game of Battleship, where we're counting ships. It's what are our capabilities.”
Obama later offered just a hint of what those capabilities might be: “What I did was work with our joint chiefs of staff to think about, what are we going to need in the future to make sure that we are safe?... We need to be thinking about cyber security. We need to be talking about space.”
Amid all the post-debate media chatter, however, not a single commentator seemed to have a clue when it came to the profound strategic changes encoded in the president’s sparse words. Yet for the past four years, working in silence and secrecy, the Obama administration has presided over a technological revolution in defense planning, moving the nation far beyond bayonets and battleships to cyberwarfare and the full-scale weaponization of space. In the face of waning economic influence, this bold new breakthrough in what’s called “information warfare” may prove significantly responsible should U.S. global dominion somehow continue far into the twenty-first century.
While the technological changes involved are nothing less than revolutionary, they have deep historical roots in a distinctive style of American global power. It’s been evident from the moment this nation first stepped onto the world stage with its conquest of the Philippines in 1898. Over the span of a century, plunged into three Asian crucibles of counterinsurgency -- in the Philippines, Vietnam, and Afghanistan -- the U.S. military has repeatedly been pushed to the breaking point. It has repeatedly responded by fusing the nation’s most advanced technologies into new information infrastructures of unprecedented power.
That military first created a manual information regime for Philippine pacification, then a computerized apparatus to fight communist guerrillas in Vietnam. Finally, during its decade-plus in Afghanistan (and its years in Iraq), the Pentagon has begun to fuse biometrics, cyberwarfare, and a potential future triple canopy aerospace shield into a robotic information regime that could produce a platform of unprecedented power for the exercise of global dominion -- or for future military disaster.
America’s First Information Revolution
This distinctive U.S. system of imperial information gathering (and the surveillance and war-making practices that go with it) traces its origins to some brilliant American innovations in the management of textual, statistical, and visual data. Their sum was nothing less than a new information infrastructure with an unprecedented capacity for mass surveillance.
During two extraordinary decades, American inventions like Thomas Alva Edison’s quadruplex telegraph (1874), Philo Remington’s commercial typewriter (1874), Melvil Dewey’s library decimal system (1876), and Herman Hollerith’s patented punch card (1889) created synergies that led to the militarized application of America’s first information revolution. To pacify a determined guerrilla resistance that persisted in the Philippines for a decade after 1898, the U.S. colonial regime -- unlike European empires with their cultural studies of “Oriental civilizations” -- used these advanced information technologies to amass detailed empirical data on Philippine society. In this way, they forged an Argus-eyed security apparatus that played a major role in crushing the Filipino nationalist movement. The resulting colonial policing and surveillance system would also leave a lasting institutional imprint on the emerging American state.
|
<urn:uuid:d20bf8d0-fe8b-4f89-9547-71e45e8df751>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.alternet.org/world/new-weapons-systems-could-give-pentagon-unprecedented-power-over-planet-or-lead-future?page=0%252C2
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00069-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.914548
| 974
| 1.835938
| 2
|
The value and volume of deals in the CIS or made by CIS companies is expected to rise in 2010
Moscow, 20 May 2010 — In 2009, cash was far more valuable than minerals for most of the mining and metals companies in the CIS. Large declines in the prices of and demand for ferrous and base metals, led to insufficient cash inflows generated by mining and metals companies in the CIS, placing enormous liquidity pressure on market players who were significantly over-leveraged. This is one of the main conclusions of 2009: the year of survival and revival, a study conducted by Ernst & Young.
Late in 2008, with the dawning recession in the global economy becoming real, prices in the mining and metals industry collapsed and access to credit was cut off, leading to a reduced deal activity. 2009 saw only 1,047 deals with a total value of $60b, compared with 919 deals valued at $126.9b in 2008 and 903 deals valued at $210b in 2007.
M&A activity of CIS-based companies over the year totaled just 21 transactions, with a cumulative value of US$5.9b. As a destination for mining and metals transactions, the region attracted 19 deals, with a total value of $3,8b.
A number of major metal and mining companies, which had accumulated large debts from massive acquisitions in 2005 to 2008, were forced to restructure their loan portfolios with the state-owned and Western banks, financing those acquisitions. Restructuring programs were supported by: loans from Russian state banks – VEB, Sberbank, VTB and Gazprombank; guarantees by the Government of the Russian Federation; and rearranged credit agreements of non-CIS bank consortia.
"Activity was mainly domestic or outbound due to the dampened appetite of foreign investors", says Alexei Ivanov, Ernst & Young Partner and CIS Industrial Products Leader.
M& A activity in 2009 was predominantly in precious metals, with miners taking advantage of strong gold prices.
"Gold's stability and low risk make it the most sought after commodity at 55%, with soaring prices", says Evgeni Khrustalev, Ernst & Young Partner, Head of the Mining & Metals Group in the CIS. "Coal came in at a distant second at 22%, driven by resource security and energy needs. The other commodities were marginal".
Those mining and metals companies that did not complete large acquisitions in 2005 to 2009 remained financially stable event at the peak of the crisis and continued to invest in developing and expanding their current production capacities and in fostering vertical integration.
There were 10 domestic deals valued at $2.4b, 10 outbound deals valued at $1.9b, and only one small inbound deal valued at just $1.0m.
Historically, Russian has not seen any large inbound foreign investment due to its recent nationalization policy and state rules that limit foreign investments to 25% equity interest in Russian strategic companies. Rather, foreign investors have tended to invest via joint ventures.
Top CIS mining and metals executives project capacity utilization reaching pre-crisis levels in 2011-2012. They predict the bulk of cash flows generated in 2012-2015 will be spent on interest and principal payments on the loans restructured and refinanced during the financial crisis. This will result in the following short-term and long-term trends:
а) CIS mining and metals companies with acquisitions in 2005-2009 will divest outbound business units that became low-marginal or unprofitable;
b) Russian majors will be shifting their finance raising activities to the markets of Asia and the Middle East.
According to the Development Program of Russian Mining and Metals Industry released by the Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade, the size of investments committed and proposed by the state and corporate sector for 2010-2015 accounts for more than $60b. About half of these investments are planned to be located in Russian Siberia and the Far East. These regions are home to some of the world's largest undeveloped mineral deposits of coal, copper, gold, uranium, zinc, manganese, diamonds and iron ore.
About Ernst & Young
Ernst & Young is a global leader in assurance, tax, transaction and advisory services. Worldwide, our 144,000 people are united by our shared values and an unwavering commitment to quality. We make a difference by helping our people, our clients and our wider communities achieve their potential.
Ernst & Young expands its services and resources in accordance with clients’ needs throughout the CIS. 3,400 professionals work at 16 offices throughout the CIS in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Novosibirsk, Ekaterinburg, Togliatti, Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, Almaty, Astana, Atyrau, Baku, Kyiv, Donetsk, Tashkent, Tbilisi, Yerevan, and Minsk.
For more information, please visit www.ey.com.
|
<urn:uuid:414ae456-930b-4321-9da5-288849d1a3aa>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.ey.com/RU/en/Newsroom/News-releases/Press-Release---2010-05-20
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00042-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.957073
| 1,027
| 1.578125
| 2
|
CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida — A first-of-its-kind commercial supply ship rocketed toward the International Space Station following a successful liftoff early Tuesday, opening a new era of dollar-driven spaceflight.
The SpaceX company made history as its Falcon 9 rocket rose from its seaside launch pad and pierced the pre-dawn sky, aiming for a rendezvous in a few days with the space station. The unmanned rocket carried into orbit a capsule named Dragon that is packed with 1,000 pounds (453 kilograms) of space station provisions.
It is the first time a private company has launched a vessel to the space station. Only major governments had done it before.
"Falcon flew perfectly!!" SpaceX's billionaire founder, Elon Musk, said via Twitter. "Dragon in orbit ... Feels like a giant weight just came off my back."
This time, the Falcon's nine engines kept firing all the way through liftoff. On Saturday, flight computers aborted the launch with a half-second remaining in the countdown; a bad engine valve was replaced.
The White House quickly offered congratulations.
"Every launch into space is a thrilling event, but this one is especially exciting," said John Holdren, President Barack Obama's chief science adviser. "This expanded role for the private sector will free up more of NASA's resources to do what NASA does best — tackle the most demanding technological challenges in space, including those of human space flight beyond low Earth orbit."
Flight controllers applauded when the Dragon reached orbit nine minutes into the flight, then embraced one another once the solar panels on the spacecraft popped open. Many of the SpaceX controllers wore untucked T-shirts and jeans or even shorts, a stark contrast to NASA's old suit-and-tie shuttle crowd.
The hopes of SpaceX employees were riding on that rocket, Musk noted, and everyone felt "tremendous elation."
So did NASA.
The space agency is banking on the switch from government to commercial cargo providers in the U.S., now that the shuttles no longer are flying. Astronauts could begin taking commercial rides to the space station in three to five years, if all goes well.
"The significance of this day cannot be overstated," said a beaming NASA Administrator Charles Bolden. "It's a great day for America. It's actually a great day for the world because there are people who thought that we had gone away, and today says, 'No, we're not going away at all.'"
The real test comes Thursday, when the Dragon reaches the vicinity of the space station. It will undergo practice maneuvers and it all goes well, the docking will occur Friday. Musk will preside over the operation from the company's Mission Control in California, where he monitored the liftoff.
NASA is looking to the private sector to take over orbital trips in this post-shuttle period, and several U.S. companies are vying for the opportunity. The goal is to get American astronauts launching again from U.S. soil — creating jobs at home and halting the outsourcing, as Bolden put it.
Until their retirement last summer to museums, NASA's shuttles provided the bulk of space station equipment and even the occasional crew member. American astronauts are riding Russian rockets to orbit until SpaceX or one of its competitors takes over the job. Russia also is making periodic cargo hauls, along with Europe and Japan.
Musk, a co-creator of PayPal, founded SpaceX a decade ago. He's poured millions of his own money into the company, and NASA has contributed $381 million as seed money. In all, the company has spent more than $1 billion on the effort.
Everyone, it seemed, was rooting for a successful flight — even Musk's rivals.
"The shuttle may be retired, but the American dream of space exploration is alive and well," said Mark Sirangelo, chairman of Sierra Nevada Corp.'s space systems, which is developing a mini-shuttle to carry space station crews in another few years.
The six space station astronauts were especially enthusiastic. The crew beamed down a picture on the eve of the launch, showing the two who will use a robot arm to snare the Dragon.
In December 2010, SpaceX became the first private company to launch a spacecraft into orbit and retrieve it. That test flight of a Dragon capsule paved the way for this mission, which also is meant to culminate with a splashdown of the capsule in the Pacific.
This newest capsule is supposed to remain at the space station for a week before bringing back experiments and equipment. None of the other types of current cargo ships can return safely; they burn up on the way down.
SpaceX and NASA officials stress this is a demonstration flight and that even if something goes wrong, much can be learned. Two more Dragon supply missions are planned this year, regardless of what happens during this week's rendezvous.
While acknowledging the difficult course ahead in the next few days, Musk and NASA officials savored Tuesday's triumph.
"I would really count today as a success, no matter what happens the rest of the mission," Musk said.
|
<urn:uuid:87efdeb9-f0fe-4988-9f60-1094cb1c8bc1>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.news-sentinel.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20120522/NEWS/120529913/1054/ENTERTAIN
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00024-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.954909
| 1,058
| 2.5
| 2
|
A new state of Venus's ionosphereDecember 27th, 2012 in Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Venus. Photo courtesy of NASA
Observations from NASA's Pioneer Venus orbiter, which reached Venus in 1978, suggested that Venus's ionosphere had two states: a magnetized state with a large- scale horizontal magnetic field and an unmagnetized state with no large-scale magnetic field but with numerous small-scale thin magnetic structures known as flux ropes. Venus's ionosphere was observed to be in the unmagnetized state most of the time, but strong solar wind pressure shifted it to the magnetized state.
Now, using magnetic field observations made in 2008 and 2009 from the European Space Agency's Venus Express, Zhang et al. report a third state: a magnetized state with giant flux ropes. The giant flux ropes, which form quite often, have strong magnetic fields and diameters of hundreds of kilometers.
They are considerably larger and have stronger magnetic fields than the flux ropes that were seen during the unmagnetized state. Although giant flux ropes have previously been seen in Venus's magnetotail, the authors believe this is the first observation of the phenomenon in Venus's ionosphere. It is not yet known how the giant flux ropes form.
More information: "Giant Flux Ropes Observed in the Magnetized Ionosphere at Venus" Geophysical Research Letters, doi:10.1029/2012GL054236 , 2012
"A new state of Venus's ionosphere." December 27th, 2012. http://phys.org/news/2012-12-state-venus-ionosphere.html
|
<urn:uuid:f7854094-c5a7-45cd-ae55-c98dfc27b14b>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://phys.org/print275843816.html
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00066-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.916426
| 338
| 3.296875
| 3
|
Renowned author Charles Dickens passed away on June 9, 1870. He had been working on The Mystery of Edwin Drood, and the work was not complete at the time of his death.
Dickens had written and published six chapters or installments of the serialized murder mystery novel before his death. He had intended to write six more chapters so the novel was only half finished at the time of his passing, which left the reader wondering who the murderer was intended to be.
A couple of years after the author�s demise, in 1872, a young printer from Vermont by the name of Thomas Power James announced that the ghost of Mr. Dickens had contacted him during a s�ance in November.
Those present at the s�ance reported that Thomas James went into a trance-like state and began writing automatic messages from the spirit world.
One of the messages included the phrase �private interview with James,� and it was signed �Charles Dickens.� The notes continued and James was reportedly urged by Dickens to be used �as the vessel for finishing his final novel.�
Mr. James moved into the boarding house in Brattleboro, Vermont where he had initially been contacted by Dickens. He was allowed to live there rent free by the owner, a woman very much into Spiritualism, while he completed Dickens� novel.
Beginning on Christmas Eve night, and each night for many weeks, James would fall into a trance and write for hours. Although the handwriting was said not to be that of James, reports also indicate that it was not Dickens� handwriting either.
The novel was completed and published in October of 1873 as The Mystery of Edwin Drood by Charles Dickens as continued by Thomas Power James. Although critics were in disbelief about James� claim that Dickens completed the book through him, it became a bestseller in America.
James declined several offers from publishers to write additional books. He said that Dickens had used him to complete his final book, and that �no further books would be forthcoming.�
One famous author who did believe James�s story was Arthur Conan Doyle. He believed that James didn�t �have a literary bone in his body.�
References and additional information:
Violini, Juanita Rose. The Almanac of the Infamous, the Incredible, and the Ignored. SF: Weiser Books, 2009.
Vitelli, Dr. Romeo. Ghostwriting Dickens atBellaOnline ALERT: Raw URLs are not allowed in these forums for security reasons. Please use UBB code. If you don't know how to do UBB code just post here for help - we will help out!
|
<urn:uuid:71308970-c85b-46a2-af68-36d99feacf97>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://forums.bellaonline.com/ubbthreads.php/topics/783714/Charles_Dickens_Ghostwriter
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.985965
| 535
| 2.015625
| 2
|
Q: What is the origin of Mary's title: 'Star of the Sea'?
A: Marian star symbolisms generally come in two versions: the six-pointed and the eight-pointed star. The six-pointed which is in fact the star of David (two superimposed triangles pointing in opposite directions, symbol of David's shield according to tradition) is used to highlight Mary's role in salvation as helper in the restitutio perfectionis or reparatrix parentum et totius orbis. It symbolizes the restitution of the original harmony between God and humanity brought about by incarnation and redemption--of which Mary is a 'helper'. The number eight symbolizes salvation and its meaning is derived from Gen 6,18: eight people escaped the deluge finding salvation in the ark (see also 1 Peter 3.20). The eight's day is--according to Augustine--like the first (restitution) with permanent character (perfection).
More generally (independently from the number of radiating points), the star symbolism may be used to articulate one or all of the following characteristics of Mary:
b) Her anticipatory or demonstrative role (forerunner, announcer ...) with regard to Christ ["she is the dawn, Christ the Rising Sun"] and the Trinity;
c) Her role as luminous and enlightening.
The biblical and/or theological foundation of this title (Mary, Star of the Sea) may be based on 1 Kings 18:41-45. This text refers to a little cloud appearing above the sea as a sign of hope, implying that rain will come and free the land from drought. The little cloud (small as a man's hand) seen from Mt. Carmel is believed to be the 'Star of the Sea' and Mary, thus, the sign of hope which announces freedom and renewal. The Carmelites built a church on Mt. Carmel and gave it the title Stella Maris.
The origin of the expression Stella maris is commonly attributed to St. Jerome (d. 420). However, Jerome called Mary stilla maris, meaning a drop of the sea. Perhaps a copyist transcribed this as Stella maris. Other authors recording the same Marian symbol include: Isidore of Seville (d. 636); Alcuin (d. 804); and Rhabanus Maurus (d. 856).
An explicit reference occurs in Paschasius Radbertus (d. 865):
Mary, Star of the Sea, must be followed in faith and morals lest we capsize amidst the storm-tossed waves of the sea. She will illumine us to believe in Christ, born of her for the salvation of the world.
Hincmar of Reims (d. 882) spoke of Mary as 'a star of the sea assumed into the heavens'.
There are also some ancient Marian hymns related to the title: Ave Maris Stella (eigth-ninth century); and Alma Redemptoris Mater (by Hermann of Reichenau, eleventh century).
Very important for this title is the following twelfth-century prayer from St. Bernard of Clairvaux:
If the winds of temptation arise;
See also, Stella Maris, The Apostleship of the Sea
This page, maintained by The Marian Library/International Marian Research Institute,
Dayton, Ohio 45469-1390, and created by
J. C. Tierney
, was last modified
Tuesday, 10/26/2010 10:45:05 EDT
. Please send any comments to email@example.com. URL for this page is http://campus.udayton.edu
This page, maintained by The Marian Library/International Marian Research Institute, Dayton, Ohio 45469-1390, and created by J. C. Tierney , was last modified Tuesday, 10/26/2010 10:45:05 EDT by Ramya Jairam . Please send any comments to firstname.lastname@example.org.
URL for this page is http://campus.udayton.edu
|
<urn:uuid:36c68c4d-ba12-47c8-b442-5a81c0a1d03b>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://campus.udayton.edu/mary/questions/yq/yq17.html
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00053-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.919533
| 862
| 3.15625
| 3
|
A young German-born Turk could possibly have carried out an attack in Afghanistan that killed two US soldiers. The Islamic Jihad Union claims 28-year-old Cüneyt C. from Bavaria was responsible for the March 3 attack, now the German authorities are desperately trying to find out the bomber's identity.
His last mission began at exactly 4.04 p.m. on March 3. The driver pulled up his blue Toyota Dyna truck in front of the Sabari district center in the eastern Afghan province of Khost. The motor was still running when he hit the detonator. The force of the blast shook the earth and caused the guard post to collapse, trapping dozens of US soldiers under the rumble. The explosion was so forceful that eye witnesses assumed there had been a rocket attack on the building that the US army had built just two months previously.
Chaos followed the explosion. Fighters armed with AK47s lunged at the US soldiers at the entrance hoping to storm the building, but the soldiers were able to defend themselves. Hours after the attack doctors and soldiers, who had been deafened by the blast, were digging in the rubble, while helicopters flew the injured away. Two US soldiers were pulled out dead, dozen others were seriously injured. It was the worst attack on the ISAF forces this year in Afghanistan, just one hour away from the Pakistan border.
Cause chaos and confusion with a bomb, then attack with armed fighters and try to storm -- this has been a typical Taliban tactic since the bloody and symbolic attack on Kabul's luxury Serena Hotel in January. And the script was followed after the attack too, with a spokesperson for the religious warriors quickly boasting about the attack. As is so often the case, he exaggerated the number of victims and was extremely pleased with the attack on one of the US army's symbolic projects in Khost.
Since March 6, German investigators have also been looking into the incident. Ever since experts at the Berlin-based Joint Counter-Terrorism Center (GTAZ) discovered an Internet message that included the photograph of a grinning bearded man they have been pulling out all the stops to investigate the case. There are indications that the Khost bomber was no Afghan or Pakistani radical. In fact it is likely that the perpetrator was a Turkish citizen from Bavaria, born in Freising and regarded as a dangerous Islamist. If it was him, it would be nightmare for the investigators -- the first suicide bomber from Germany.
'Exchanging a Life of Luxury for Paradise'
The investigators first regarded the Internet message as pure propaganda. The terrorist group Islamic Jihad Union (IJU) wrote in Turkish that they had attacked "the military camp of the occupying force of the unbelievers," with 4.5 tons of explosives, "fully destroying" the US camp. The site gladly quotes the Taliban, who helped prepare the operation, and its reports of helicopters that took away the bodies. Instead of the two dead US soldiers, the IJU speaks of 60 victims.
The text then gets more flowery but also very concrete when it comes to details. Cüneyt C., also known as Saad Ebu Furkan, had "successfully carried out" the attack -- "a brave Turk, who came from Germany and exchanged his life of luxury for paradise." According to the text, "our brother" always prayed "to cause great damage to the unbelievers." With this attack Allah had now heard Cüneyt C.'s prayer. The message is signed "the Press Office of the Islamic Jihad Union."
This possible martyr from Germany is no fictitious character. Cüneyt C., a 28-year-old German-born Turk, is known to be an Islamist and to have had links with the so-called "Sauerland Cell" led by Fritz Gelowicz and Adem Yilmaz. He had been regarded as dangerous since their arrest last year on suspicion of planning a terror attack (more...) in Germany. "Ismail from Ansbach," as C. was called by his friends had already left Germany by then. He left Ansbach with his wife and two children on April 2, giving up his apartment, quitting his job and even going to the local registration office to inform them he was leaving the area.
The investigators have since regarded C. as belonging to a group who have travelled from Germany to Pakistan in order to receive training as Jihadists. In the eyes of the German authorities this makes them extremely dangerous.
This group, some of whom have German passports, are friendly with each other. The young father from Ansbach was a friend of Adem Yilmaz from the Sauerland group. The investigators suspect that Yilmaz organized C.'s trip to Pakistan via Turkey and Iran. Yilmaz seems to have run a sort of travel agency, he knew the routes and the contacts to get to the terror training camps.
The Sauerland Connection
The Islamist from Bavaria even left his Renault Twingo with his Jihadist friends in southern Germany, which the police had already bugged. The plotters drove the car a few weeks later looking for Americans so they could smash up their cars, before selling it in June. By that stage the investigators were already hot on their trail, after receiving a tip from the US about the trio's terror plans.
Now this message on the Internet seems to have confirmed the investigators worst fears. Every thing fits: the young Turk, who went to Pakistan and then possibly met his fate in Afghanistan, and the message on a still highly cryptic IJU Web site which has also commentated on the arrest of the Sauerland Group. The German authorities have long assumed that the IJU leadership at least promoted the planned attacks in Germany and encouraged the trio to take action.
If it does turn out to be C. he would be the second Islamist from Germany to die in the fanatic fight against the unbelievers in recent months. Sadullah K. a young German from the state of Hesse, also recruited by Adem Yilmaz, was killed in October in an air strike by the US Air Force on the Pakistan-Afghan border after, like C., undergoing training in an IJU camp. In the case of K. the CIA provided the proof of his death. This latest case would confirm suspicions that those travelling to Pakistan are prepared to do anything.
The investigators assume that C. met up with the IJU in Pakistan by the end of April at the latest. A certain IJU commandant known as "Sule" sent an e-mail to Fritz Gelowicz on April 26, mentioning "two families" were with him and who had been sent by his brothers in Germany. The IJU camp is thought to have been in a place called Mir Ali, in the Pakistan-Afghan border region.
Then they lost his trail. The authorities did receive word that he had been killed in fighting along the border with Afghanistan, but this could not be verified. The first analysis of the pictures on the IJU Web site revealed that the man could definitely be the young Turk from Germany.
Since March 6 the German authorities have been doing everything possible to determine if it was "Ismail from Ansbach" who pushed the detonator. In Kabul the German Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) is working with local authorities in order to get all the possible information about the man who drove the lorry. Meanwhile attempts are being made through other channels to get DNA material or finger prints from the US troops and the Afghan intelligence agency (NDS) to make a positive identification. However, so far the NDS has only been able to say that the attacker probably wore black clothes.
'Not Just a Propaganda Gag'
So far the efforts to get definite proof have been without success -- particularly because the explosion was so big that there was hardly any evidence left. "We have no 100 percent proof that our man was there," a German official told SPIEGEL ONLINE, "but the story is too plausible to be just a pure propaganda gag."
For the German investigators the results of the current probe could also have some bearing on the case against the Saurland cell. Proof from Afghanistan of an IJU connection to Germany could be used in the prosecution case against the three men. So far the IJU has remained pretty nebulous. The prosecutors dont have much apart from some information from Uzbekistan and the cryptic e-mails to Gelowicz and Co. And the role of those giving the orders would be particularly important in securing a conviction.
Guido Steiberg, terrorism expert at the Institute for International and Security Affairs in Berlin, sees the current case as "further proof that this IJU organization actually exists." In his view the group is "young, numerically small and not very strong, but it exists." It is obvious too that the group is "trying to use its publications on the Internet to raise its profile."
The IJU has announced that it will provide further material and perhaps proof of the participation of Cüneyt C. in the attack. It says a video testament will be put online in the next few days
Click to view image: '163112-01020112200400.jpg'
In: Iran, Afghanistan, Middle East
Tags: germany, suicide, bomber, afghanistan, turk, Islamic Jihad Union
Location: Berlin, Berlin, Germany (load item map)
Marked as: approved
Views: 15567 | Comments: 48 | Votes: 0 | Favorites: 1 | Shared: 0 | Updates: 1 | Times used in channels: 1
|Liveleak on Facebook|
|
<urn:uuid:3f51160b-4a2c-4c73-9dec-bc2e971f87d8>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=a97_1205780838&comments=1
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.97792
| 1,992
| 1.671875
| 2
|
Nicholas County Assessor
Ernie Dennison, Assessor
The Assessor for Nicholas County is Ernie Dennison. His office is located in the basement of the Courthouse. The function of the Assessor is to determine the assessed value of real and personal property in the county for the purpose of determining the ad velorum taxes the property owner must pay. It is the responsibility of each county resident to report to the assessor's office information regarding real and personal property owned.
The Assessor is serving a four-year term that will expire in 2012.
The Assessor's office is also responsible for maintaining district tax maps which indicate approximate boundaries of all real property within the county.
Phone Number: 872-7800 Please call the Assessor's office if you have any questions regarding assessments of real or personal property.
Important Dates to Remember
Deadline for Homestead Exemption Request: December 1
Deadline for Payment of Taxes: April 1
Beginning of Assessment Year: July 1
Deadline for Filing Farm Report: September 1
|
<urn:uuid:8ed01f4e-05c0-40ef-a367-b8a3526505a0>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.nicholascountywv.org/county-offices/assessor.aspx
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.923553
| 218
| 1.59375
| 2
|
3200 block of O St.
Tag Archives: O St.
Last year, GM ran a series of articles where he took a photo from a pile of photos taken in 1993 and overlayed them with current photos. The series, dubbed “Now and Not So Long Ago”, was meant to highlight how much has changed in Georgetown over a very short amount of time.
Well, GM still has some photos left from that pile that he hasn’t used, but they’re all pretty boring at this point. So GM is going to use the same technology to compare photos from today with photos from a genuinely long time ago, in other words Now and a Long Time Ago.
And today, GM starts that series with a photo he’s discussed before. It’s a photo of poor children playing in the street from 1935. The house they’re standing outside of is 3617 O St. While in the 1930′s this neighborhood was home to working class, mostly Irish Catholic, families, today it is part of the Georgetown University campus.
According to the Census, in 1930 this house was occupied by George and Ethel Collins and their two children. George was a driver for the DC government and paid $22 a month to rent the house. Continue reading
|
<urn:uuid:53d5b629-a3f0-488d-a769-7187118679c6>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://georgetownmetropolitan.com/tag/o-st/page/2/
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00056-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.970864
| 266
| 1.617188
| 2
|
I found the page I referred to earlier. It was actually Scorpionking and not Bushsnake. Have look here
at what he said.
Thanks for the link Johann!
Wikipedia does have loads of info but I'm inclined not to always believe everything 100% on there. You must remember that the info can supplied by anyone and they might not necessarily be an expert on the subject. I know that Scorpionking and Bushsnake are experts by reputation so I would listen to what they've got to say.
Sure I agree with you, I'm also inclined not to always believe everything I read on Wikipedia, but that applies to other sources as well.
I’m not an expert on spiders so I have to rely on what the experts are saying!
According to Dr Ansie Dippenaar-Schoeman
, a Specialist Scientist at the ARC-Plant Protection Research Institute, Spider Research Centre, Pretoria, six species of button spiders belonging to the genus Latrodectus
of the family Theridiidae
are found in South Africa and that the button spiders can be divided into the black button spider complex (4 species) and the brown button spider complex (2 species.) She also states that button spiders are elsewhere in the world known as widow spiders.
According to the Australian Venom Research Unit
redback spiders are members of the widely distributed Latrodectus
genus known as widow spiders.
I therefore understand that button spiders (southern Africa) and redback spiders (Australia) are a common name use to refer to local members of the spider genus, Latrodectus
, the family Theridiidae
which spiders are also known as widow spiders elsewhere in the world. Can’t I then say that a redback, button and widow spiders are all the same thing?
It seems that there are three recognized species of black widow found in North America and the southern black widow (L.mactans
) is one of them. So I will agree that Africa doesn’t have a species of black widow spiders known as L. mactans
but we do have 4 species of black widow spiders known as L. cinctus, L. indistinctus, L. karooensis and L. renivulvatus.
I need help please!
What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.
bishop, I think you are spot-on!
(Sources: http://www.scienceinafrica.co.za/2005/a ... spider.htm
, http://www.rmgh.net/wiki/index.php?titl ... dow_Spider
|
<urn:uuid:371632ef-be84-40ea-ad15-0fe8d3e40e36>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.sanparks.org/forums/viewtopic.php?p=1441334
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.944977
| 557
| 2.203125
| 2
|
In 1834, Charleston was founded. Along with Evan Shelby and William and Lydia Franklin, many settlers bought land from the government and began to farm and improve the region. Included in this group were Dean and Read Ferson, Calvin Ward, Bela Hunt, and George and Ira Minard. These enterprising young men and women began to plot the town, establish the county, and sell land to new-coming settlers.
year 1836, construction was completed on the first dam, bridge, gristmill,
and sawmill. The building of the dam was a crucial point in
the establishment of the town due to its role in the production of natural resources. Where a town would be built was dictated by the natural course of the river, or where ever the river allowed for an ideal spot for a dam. A dam provided water control which allowed for a water-powered mills to cut wood or grind flour, which was crucial to the growth of the town.
By 1837, Charleston had its share of masons, millwrights, builders, and even a doctor, lawyer, and potter. In addition, churches also sprang up with the growth of the town, including the Congregationalist, Baptist, Methodist, Catholic, and Universalists.
During the late 1830s, it was discovered that there was another Charleston in downstate Illinois. The southern Charleston was slightly older than the northern. In 1839, it was suggested by S.S. Jones, a lawyer in town, that the name of the town be changed from Charleston to St. Charles.
The first bridge over Main Street was built in 1836. Between the days of March 11 and 12, 1839, a sleepy, ice-covered river turned into a raging torrent of water due to a sudden melting of snow. Consequently, every bridge in Kane County was swept away with the current. Many local people in St. Charles and the surrounding towns started private ferry services until new bridges were constructed.
There are competing stories of what happened to the bridge which replaced the original. One story claims it was again raging flood waters which washed the wooden timber bridge away, much like the fate of the first. Another story, however, tells the tale of an angry mob invading the town and permanently damaging the footbridge in the process. The raid was the Richards Riot that took place on April 19, 1849. In any case, the bridge was destroyed in April of 1849.
Once again, a new wooden timber bridge was built in place of the old, only to fall again to mother nature. In February 1857, the Fox River once again rose to a level that proved to be too much for the bridge. Learning from their first and second experiences, the settlers immediately constructed a temporary footbridge until a new bridge could be built. "Heavy wooden timbers" were used to reconstruct the bridge in 1857. However, being made of wood, the timbers were bound to rot, and rot they did until 1874 when the bridge was voluntarily replaced with iron.
Copyright © St. Charles Heritage Center
|
<urn:uuid:54d0e43b-aede-4eb1-beda-cff326fbcff8>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.stcmuseum.org/historic7.html
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00038-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.985315
| 628
| 3.171875
| 3
|
For Sandy Schreffler, associate professor of foreign languages at RWU, Spanish is more than just a language she teaches – it’s a part of who she is. Over the past two summers, Schreffler has had the opportunity to share a very personal cultural experience with her students by taking them on a language immersion tour of Guatemala, her native land.
A far cry from your typical study abroad semester, the Guatemala trip lasts only four weeks, but Schreffler and her students explore as much of the country as possible, often visiting up to 10 locations. “You don’t have to be a Spanish major to get something out of it,” Schreffler says. “If you’re interested in learning about a different culture or even seeing the natural beauty of Central America, this trip is for you.”
While Schreffler structures the group’s itinerary so that students are exposed to unfamiliar sights and sounds, the course’s main focus is on Central American literature. Through literary works, students learn about Mayan culture, religious beliefs and history. Stops along the way include everything from visiting Guatemala’s biotope for Quetzal birds and watching an Olive Ridley turtle lay its eggs on a black sand beach to visiting a local orphanage and exploring Mayan ruins.
The orphanage visit was a new addition this year, part of an effort to integrate the University’s commitment to service learning with its global study abroad programs. Prior to their departure, Schreffler and students raised funds and gathered supplies for the facility, a tradition she hopes to continue in future trips. In Guatemala, the students took a tour of the orphanage and presented donations, both monetary and in the form of school supplies and toiletries.
“It was amazing,” says Sarah Nahabedian, a senior marine biology major. “We brought school supplies and monetary donations, but what they really need are basic necessities like shampoo, conditioner and soap.”
Heading to Guatemala, Nahabedian didn’t know exactly what to expect from the trip. She came back energized: “It was the best month of my life – it was just an amazing experience.”
Schreffler plans to continue the program each summer. “I am very proud of this program and these students,” she says. “Each year I watch them change from the experience; it makes it all worthwhile. They can’t get this anywhere else.”
|
<urn:uuid:4b5083f3-f017-4547-b7f9-611790e8a168>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://rwu.edu/about/who-we-are/profiles/sandra-schreffler
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00032-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.962034
| 533
| 2
| 2
|
Either way, I'm always discovering ideas to incorporate gardening indoors. After reading many books, I've come to the conclusion that indoor gardening might actually yield better results. For instance, if you tried to plant an orange tree in this climate, (I live near Chicago...) it will most likely die a very quick death. However, with proper lighting and humidity that you can control while indoors, you would be able to sustain a small orange shrub. I kind of want to try this...
I love oranges for many reasons: they provide most of your daily servings of vitamin C, they add an awesome flavor to cookies, cakes, and other desserts, and they help maintain a healthy weight level; oranges contain pectin, a dietary fiber that decreases your body's exposure to toxins. Basically, oranges are your body's best friend, antioxidant, and free-radical scavenger!
I decided to infuse some of my sugar with orange zest.
I add it to pancakes, crepes, and whatever needs an extra boost of citrus-ey goodness.
Then, I found this recipe by Joy the Baker, one of my favorite bloggers and bakers of all time (hehe)!
I love to experiment, and this recipe seemed relatively simple. Also, I was given a loaf pan as a shower gift and hadn't used it yet; I couldn't resist. Then I saw the chocolate and orange mixture and I definitely had to recreate this!
Orange Chocolate Cream Cheese Pound Cake
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt1 1/2 cups sugar (recommend granulated)
2 tablespoons orange zest
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
4 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup dark chocolate pieces
Place a rack in the center of your oven and preheat to 350 degrees. Generously grease your loaf pan and dust with flour; set aside.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside.
In a bowl, add the orange zest to the sugar. With the back of the spoon, work the zest into the sugar for a few minutes. The sugar should turn slightly orange in color and become fragrant. Set it aside for later.
In a large bowl, cream together softened butter and cream cheese with a hand mixer. You can also use a stand mixer with a paddle attachment to cream the mixture. Stop occasionally to scrape down the bowl and make sure that the butter and cream cheese are evenly mixed. Add the citrus sugar to the butter and cream cheese mixture, and beat on medium speed until smooth and creamy, about 3 minutes.
After 3 minutes, stop the mixer and scrape the sides of the bowl. On medium speed, beat in one egg at a time, beating for one minute after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as necessary. Beat in vanilla extract.
Add dry ingredients all at once. Beat on low speed until dry ingredients are completely mixed. Fold in the chocolate pieces with a wooden spoon.
Spoon batter into prepared pan. Bake for 50-60 minutes, rotating once or twice during baking. Bake until a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean, or with just a few crumbs.
* I found that I had to keep my loaf in a little longer than the allotted time. If this happens to you, cover the bread with tin foil to prevent the bread from burning on the top of the loaf. If you need to lower the heat in the oven, do so and keep rotating until the skewer comes out clean.
I'm already thinking about my next culinary project: macaroons. The legit, French, beautifully round macaroons. I've borrowed many books and even bought a sieve (like a strainer, but more fine meant for getting zest of sugar, etc.), a candy thermometer, and a piping bag with three attachments. I'm obsessed.
|
<urn:uuid:8747854f-8403-46ce-a48f-440db4bf6e9e>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://impossiblyelise.blogspot.com/2012/04/orange-chocolate-cream-cheese-pound.html
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00051-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.93704
| 831
| 1.5625
| 2
|
EDWARD is an acronym and means Electric Diwheel With Active Rotation Damping. He is developed by students in the School of Mechanical Engineering, University of Adelaide in Australia. This purely electric diwheel was completely finished in 2010 and has some additional functionalities missing in other models, like a built-in dynamic lateral stability and slosh control to prevent tumbling in aggressive maneuvers or sharp braking. It also offers the unique possibility to drive the diwheel while your body is positioned upside down. This is achieved by combining swing-up and inversion controller, so you can keep the vehicle in its unstable state.
The basic maximum speed of this creature is approximately 40 km/h as it is limited by the drive ratio of the engine and drive wheels. You have the option to change this ratio to increase the top speed, but thereby reducing the acceleration and maneuverability. EDWARD has a high center of gravity in order to become susceptible to slosh and tumbling. This fact has limited the maximum incline that is possible to climb to a really humble level – approximately 12 degrees. Battery gives you nearly 1 hour of really aggressive driving, including rapid acceleration and deceleration, sharp turns and spins and so on. The driving time is much more if you are calm and attentive driver and if you don’t force Eddie to the maximum of his abilities.
|
<urn:uuid:d9160fb5-532b-491d-bb69-fb5324737c95>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.welldonestuff.com/2012/07/edward.html
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00074-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.96696
| 273
| 2
| 2
|
Click on a thumbnail to go to Google Books.
Welcome to Josefina's World, 1824
References to this work on external resources.
Wikipedia in English
No descriptions found.
Describes the daily life and activities of Mexican Americans in New Mexico during the early 1800s including information about their homes, community, and links to Spain and Mexico.
Is this you?
Become a LibraryThing Author.
|
<urn:uuid:de61ca4a-b47e-467d-8793-a68a2d968f60>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.librarything.com/work/119353
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00045-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.906965
| 87
| 2.3125
| 2
|
Water could be turned on sometime late next week, depending on how well the project goes Monday, Ken Hubbs, who operates the ditch, said.
Irrigation water to about 650 homes was turned off Aug. 11 when a rockslide toppled onto the irrigation canal operated by Farmers Mutual Ditch in Kirtland.
With high temperatures and little moisture of late, time is slipping away for the alfalfa farmers in the area who need to water their crop soon if they want to have successful second or third harvest this growing season, said Bob Bond, a member of the ditch association who farms about an acre of crops for recreation.
"They can't go three weeks (without water), I guarantee it," he said.
A week after the rockslide closed the ditch, construction companies have not been able to start clearing away debris.
The rock wall that rises above the damaged section of canal is unstable and sections of the cliff will have to be removed before construction can begin, Hubbs said.
A company from Dolores, Colo., was hired to assist with cleanup and on Friday work crews dug pits for explosives to blast the site, Hubbs said.
The homes without irrigation water together own 4,200 acres of farmland, Hubbs said.
Fixing the irrigation canal is estimated to cost $250,000, said Mike Stark, the San Juan County operations officer.
The resolution up for vote on Tuesday says the county can give Farmers Mutual Ditch up to $62,500 to repair the ditch.
"It's a significant amount of money so we have to get approval from our commission," Stark said.
Stark said the county and Farmers Mutual Ditch will negotiate an agreement for paying back the county funds.
In addition to threatening local crops, Stark said the ditch needs to be repaired because it is the primary source of water for the Lower Valley Water Association. Lower Valley provides domestic water to about 8,000 people in the Kirtland area.
"It has to get fixed, one way or the other," Stark said.
Lower Valley is pulling water from the San Juan River and relying on reserve water to keep providing water flowing at Kirtland homes.
In addition to the county's funds going to the project, county officials expect the state to provide the ditch association with emergency funds to pay for the additional cost to fix the ditch, Stark said.
In April of 2007, a rockslide closed the ditch for nearly two weeks, Hubbs said.
In response to that slide, the state of New Mexico Department of Emergency Management and Homeland Security paid for 95 percent of the cleanup and the county contributed $14,000, Stark said.
"Whenever you have citizens in need, especially those in the business of farming where you have caught them in the peak of their season, I think it's important for us to take a look at how we can assist," Stark said.
|
<urn:uuid:578410d6-b16f-4c52-b255-f8d432188e87>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.daily-times.com/ci_21340360/work-crews-begin-repairs-damaged-kirtland-pipe
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00025-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.963748
| 598
| 1.640625
| 2
|
This program is designed as an introduction to the sport of scuba diving. You’ll start off with a brief lecture followed by time in the pool getting familiar with the dive equipment for approximately 1½ hours. Then, once everyone is comfortable, make your way out of the pool and straight into the Caribbean Sea for a guided scuba dive over Casuarina Reef Marine Park. While experiencing the sensation of weightlessness in the underwater world, expect to encounter some amazing tropical fish, corals and creatures such as sergeant majors, angelfish, parrot fish, damsels, trumpet fish and maybe even a lobster or an eel.
Dive lasts approximately 30-45 minutes. Wear your swimsuit; bring a towel, sunscreen and a hat. Guests with heart problems, epilepsy, diabetes or asthma are not allowed to participate. Waiver must be signed and medical conditions disclosed. Minimum age is 12 years.
|
<urn:uuid:3bb675ef-a0d9-4e14-949a-8b2d9b6d4a74>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.hollandamerica.com/cruise-destinations/ExcursionDetails.action?excursionCode=192&portCode=GCM&destCode=&requestSource=ports
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00076-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.939159
| 186
| 1.804688
| 2
|
Mass layoffs in manufacturing, June 2008
July 24, 2008
In June, 541 mass layoff events were reported in the manufacturing sector, seasonally adjusted, resulting in 76,514 initial claims for unemployment insurance. Each mass layoff event involved at least 50 persons from a single employer.
Both measures were at their highest monthly levels since August 2003. Over the month, mass layoff events in manufacturing increased by 13 and initial claims increased by 4,456.
In the entire economy, U.S. employers took 1,643 mass layoff actions in June, seasonally adjusted, as measured by new filings for unemployment insurance benefits during the month.
Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Editor's Desk, Mass layoffs in manufacturing, June 2008 on the Internet at http://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2008/jul/wk3/art04.htm (visited May 23, 2013).
Spotlight on Statistics: Productivity
This edition of Spotlight on Statistics examines labor productivity trends from 2000 through 2010 for selected industries and sectors within the nonfarm business sector of the U.S. economy. Read more »
|
<urn:uuid:b3e7a910-9d69-4332-ba0e-cbb75e272601>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://stats.bls.gov/opub/ted/2008/jul/wk3/art04.htm
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.95177
| 243
| 1.726563
| 2
|
COLUMBIA, S.C. -- Essie Mae Washington-Williams, the bi-racial child the late South Carolina Sen. Strom Thurmond refused to publicly acknowledge his entire adult life, has died. She was 87.
Washington-Williams died Monday morning in Columbia, S.C., WLTX-TV in Columbia, has confirmed.
In December 2003, Washington-Williams shocked the political world when she revealed that she was the daughter of the late senator. Her announcement came six months after his death at the age of 100.
Washington-Williams' mother worked as a maid for the senator's family in Edgefield County, S.C., during the 1920s, and the two had a relationship that led to him fathering Williams. Her mother was just 16 at the time.
However, because her mother was black, he never acknowledged his child's birth to his family, friends, or the public.
Thurmond was a staunch advocate for segregation, and he made that a major part of his platform in his 1948 presidential bid. He fought civil rights efforts during the 1950s and 1960s.
The silence of her parentage continued up until she made her announcement. She didn't find out who her father was until she was 16, and Washington-Williams said she didn't tell her husband the story until after she was married.
"It wasn't to my advantage to talk about anything that (Thurmond) had done," Washington-Williams said in 2003. "It certainly wasn't to the advantage of either one of us. He of course, didn't want it to be known. Neither did I. We didn't have any agreement about not talking about it, we just didn't talk about it."
For more than 60 years, the two engaged in a clandestine relationship that included financial support, birthday cards, and occasional face to face meetings -- but no deep emotions. At one point, Thurmond used one of his nephews as a financial go-between, but that man was never told exactly who he was helping.
"I think he cared about me, otherwise I don't think he would have done the things that he did if he didn't care about me," she said. "I liked him very much. I was not around him, remember. I only saw him about once a year, so I didn't feel that close relationship that you normally would with a parent."
In the intervening years, he helped her gain admission to South Carolina State University. Eventually she moved to Los Angeles, where she worked in the school system as an English as a second-language teacher and a guidance counselor.
Still, during all that time, she said she often felt hurt by not truly being a member of his family. After her disclosure, Washington-Williams wrote a book: Dear Senator: A Memoir by the Daughter of Strom Thurmond. In it, she wrote about how he never told her he loved her, despite numerous encounters.
"As much as I wanted to 'belong' to him, I never felt like a daughter, only an accident," she wrote. "Something, some strong feeling was definitely there. ... That was what was drawing him to me, and me to him. But that feeling was all bottled up. We both felt it, from opposite sides of an invisible wall. It was segregated love."
Thurmond later softened his political stance and renounced racism. But he never publicly acknowledged his oldest daughter or the active role he played in her life. Thurmond and his first wife, Jean, were married in 1947; she died in 1960. They had no children. He had four children with his second wife, the former Nancy Moore, whom he married in 1968.
In 2004, Washington-Williams' name was added to Thurmond's monument on the State House grounds, along with the names of his other children.
Paul Thurmond, a South Carolina state senator and son of Strom Thurmond, said in an email to The Associated Press, "I was sorry to hear of the passing of Ms. Washington-Williams. She was kind and gracious and I have the greatest respect for her, her life and her legacy."
Contributing: The Associated Press
Copyright 2013 USATODAY.com
Read the original story: Strom Thurmond's bi-racial daughter dies at 87
|
<urn:uuid:4c617c07-8abc-4c8f-8359-c08cba187fa3>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://nky.cincinnati.com/usatoday/article/1891883?odyssey=mod_sectionstories
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00028-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.995481
| 893
| 1.664063
| 2
|
About climate-smart agriculture
Achieving food security and responding to the challenges of climate change are two goals that must be achieved together. That’s why agriculture, fisheries and forestry in developing countries must undergo a significant transformation
As population is on the rise food consumption patterns are destined to follow the same upward trend. Food production will need to increase by at least 70 percent to meet the demands of this growing population by 2050. Studies show that climate change is likely to reduce food productivity, its production stability and incomes in some areas that already have high levels of food insecurity.
Climate-smart agriculture promotes production systems that sustainably increase productivity, resilience (adaptation), reduces/removes GHGs (mitigation), and enhances achievement of national food security and development goals.
The recognition for the importance of adopting climate smart practices, policy and finance in the international arena has been growing. A number of countries lead by the Netherlands organized the Hague conference on Agriculture, Food Security and Climate Change in November 2010. Technical guidance and support was provided by FAO and the World Bank. The conference lead to the development of a roadmap of actions, see: http://www.afcconference.com/the-first-conference/135-final-roadmap-for-action
Although there is consensus on the need for climate smart adoption there are still knowledge and gaps at the methodological, policy and financial levels. These gaps hinder the ability of actors of development (farm smallholders, policy makers and development agencies) to successfully implement climate smart actions.
|
<urn:uuid:6976006f-11aa-4d90-aa38-79985ab91d0f>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.climatesmartagriculture.org/72610/en/
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.926873
| 312
| 2.96875
| 3
|
The term nano means very small. For example, a nanometer is one billionth of a meter and a nanosecond is a billionth of a second. The term reasonably applies to code because code runs digitallyalmost ephemeral appearances of electrons, which themselves are each at least as small as a nanometer. In fact, we soon should have autonomous, nano code generators: code generators that automatically write additional code based on patterns of use, operator behavior, changing environmental dynamics, or really, any reason their programmers desire. A nano code generator is a very small bit of code that generates a fragment, the smallest useful bit of code.
Code generation already is in wide use today. A code generator simply is metacode that generates executable code. You can write code generators quickly and easily because of research in refactoring and patterns, and languages such as C# and VB.NET that support parametric template classes, reflection, and CodeDOM code generators. Millions of programmers use this technology every day. For example, if you have ever used Microsoft .NET's XML Schema Designer, you have used a code generator. In fact, simple code generators have existed for a couple of decades.
So why no autonomous nano code generators yet? Despite the many tools for generating code, a few unmet technical requirements prevent these generators from working autonomously. This article describes where nano code generators are today, discusses some of their likely benefits and hurdles, and explains how such an evolution may impact the day-to-day lives of computer users and programmers.
How Would Autonomous Nano Code Generators Work?
A nano code generator generates a small fragment of code. For example, you might have a single generator that simply generates a conditional test. An autonomous, nano code generator would contain both the metacode for generating the desired output and the logic for deciding whether the code should be generated. Nano code generators could write small, whole fragments based on simple logical conditions: If A then B, where the predicate condition A must exist before the code B is emitted.
Then, in successively larger and more complex aggregate relationships, molecular assemblers could be designed. These assemblers could collaborate as temporal, cohesive smart mobs to solve algorithmic problems or be composited further to solve problems of increasing complexity and scale. For this to work, generators would have to be created from generatively larger and more complex rules of collaboration and orchestration.
Understanding Generative Code
Software can be grown organically and generatively. Generatively grown code is code that increases in capability and scope as programmers add to it over time. For a practical line programmer, this might be as simple as building critical sub-systems first and then adding additional sub-systems over time.
In this concept, patterns and refactoring technologies are used to ensure that code reaching an arbitrary complexity of n is continually capable of growing in scope and complexity. Patterns are sound solutions that have been demonstrated to resolve classes of problems, and refactoring is a predictable means of changing and improving code.
A few additional technologies help greatly in generative code too:
- Parametric templates (or Generics in .NET)
- Code generators
- Aspects (most recently)
Generics are whole algorithmic solutions that are known to work. Simply fill in the data type and the code works every time, reliably.
Code generators write code automatically but at present are initiated manually. If the generator is correct, the generated code is always correct.
Components are sub-systems big and small, which have been around for a couple of decades. The biggest obstacle to components is that too many companies suffer from the not-invented-here (NIH) syndrome. These companies are easily identifiable because their developers and managers march around saying, "We don't use third-party code."
Almost every aspect of modern life is invented by a third party, yet many developers would prefer to roll their own. This is an understandable byproduct of a keen intellect and is understandable from the programmer's point of view, but it is definitely not in the self-interest of companies.
Aspect-oriented programming (AOP) has to do with the separation of responsibilities in distinct, non-overlapping entities. AOP addresses modularization and the encapsulation of cross-cutting concerns; dividing and orchestrating solutions is critical to managing generationally grown code.
Code Generators Are the Tools
Generative code is not generated code, but code generators are its tools because they can generate code reliably and quickly every time. As most manufacturers know, time to market and reliability are huge factors for any successful endeavor, and they are hugely missing in our industry.
At this time in history, we are just beginning to depend on code generators. Most code is generated at design time. However, it is already possible to invoke code generators dynamically at runtime and load and execute them post-deployment. A functional example is the beta tool CodeDominator that my firm offers. While the tool is imperfect, it contains a huge library of atomic-, molecular-, and component-level generators, and it is capable of creating workingalbeit genericapplications.
|
<urn:uuid:6d04953c-d072-48fa-b232-c4dab8bfb28a>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.codeguru.com/csharp/csharp/cs_misc/designtechniques/article.php/c10499/Coming-Soon-Autonomous-Nano-Code-Generators.htm
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00075-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.929596
| 1,059
| 3.875
| 4
|
Paganism is an umbrella term for different faith paths that are non Judeo-Christian. Pagans in Mid-Missouri are working hard to educate people about their faith.
Music was heard throughout Rock Bridge State Park as dozens of people came out to celebrate Pagan Pride. The festival held each year is an opportunity for Pagans in Mid-Missouri to fellowship, network, educate the public about what the religion is and to address misconceptions that the public might have.
Aerica Angell says the main goal for Pagan Pride is education.
|
<urn:uuid:c57e7962-daeb-4e6c-b230-a670325f2d8f>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.kbia.org/term/rock-bridge-state-park
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00071-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.972958
| 111
| 1.90625
| 2
|
Alan Arnette has an excellent post on Outside detailing the costs of reaching Earth's highest summit, Mount Everest. I've never thought about it before but it totally makes sense that there are a lot of things that go on to make that climb, right? And all those things cost a lot of money! Like $83,000 a lot of money.
Arnette details the three ways you can climb Mount Everest: putting together your own expedition, joining a logistics only expedition or joining a fully guided expedition. Fully loaded fully guided expeditions sound fancy — sushi, five star chefs, open bar, espresso machines — but of course, all that pizazz comes with a price, as those climbs can reach more than $100,000 plus tip and bonuses. Logistics only expeditions are considerably cheaper and less fancy but come with very little included. You want oxygen? Pay more. You want to know what the weather will be? Pay more. You get the idea.
The most clear breakdown Arnette gives is in planning your own personal expedition:
Travel expenses: $2,375 - $6,225
Getting to Everest Base Camp: $2,150
Climbing fees and deposits: $19,700 - $37,700
EBC equipment and cooks: $9,300
Oxygen and climbing Sherpas: $8,525
Misc (medical kits, communications, evacuation): $8,250-$12,000
On the high end, that all totals up to $82,900. Is it worth that much money to see our world from its highest point? Maybe! But probably not for regular humans. I mean, as a reference, you can get a Porsche 911 Carrera for $82,100. Mount Everest or a Porsche? Hmm...
|
<urn:uuid:d0fa6011-8af5-4e33-98b9-5da1fae2989d>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://gizmodo.com/5887413/how-much-does-it-cost-to-climb-mount-everest-more-than-a-porsche
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00031-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.94051
| 365
| 1.554688
| 2
|
A video emailed by the center showed Morsi at a mosque in the Mediterranean town of Marsa Matruh, where the congregation answers "Amen" to a cleric who recites a list of prayers in a traditional ritual.
In one of the prayers, the cleric asked God to "destroy the Jews and their supporters and disperse them, rend them asunder." Morsi is then seen continuing to say Amen. The prayers were aired on state TV and caught on video by MEMRI, a pro-Israel media monitoring group.
In a statement, the Wiesenthal Center strongly condemned the video, saying it is a sign of growing anti-Semitism in Egypt.
"This is a slap in the face to America as Egypt's President Morsi pockets billions in U.S. aid and says Amen to principles that are repugnant to all Americans," the statement said, quoting Rabbi Marvin Hier, dean and founder of the Wiesenthal Center, and Rabbi Abraham Cooper, the Center's associate dean.
The center called for President Barack Obama to condemn "the growing chorus of anti-Semitism in Egypt, led by the Muslim Brotherhood" and to cut contacts with the group.
Morsi's office was not immediately available for comment.
It is the second statement on Egypt this month by the center, which earlier condemned comments made by the Brotherhood's leader, Mohammed Badie, who said that Jews were spreading "corruption," had slaughtered Muslims, and desecrated holy sites. He also called on Muslims to fight Israel, saying Zionists only understood force.
Prayers denouncing Israel or the Jews—two terms often used interchangeably in Arab countries—are not uncommon in hardline sermons, which were not a regular feature on state TV before the ouster of former President Hosni Mubarak.
Since taking office, Morsi has refused to meet with Israeli officials, or even use the word Israel in public statements. But his government has continued security cooperation with the Jewish state and says Egypt will continue to abide by the peace treaty signed between the two countries in 1979.
Last week, however, Morsi faced a chorus of angry critics when it emerged that the new Egyptian ambassador to Israel carried an endorsement letter signed in Morsi's name that referred to Israeli President Shimon Peres as "great friend."
Many of Egypt's revolutionary groups and prominent opposition figures criticized Morsi for calling his Israeli counterpart a "friend." Some demanded an explanation for the discrepancy between his group's public stance against Israel and the diplomatic note.
One former supporter of Morsi, prominent left-leaning TV personality Hamdy Kandil, subsequently quit a group supporting the president, citing the letter as one of the reasons. "Morsi must explain to us how his friendship was strengthened with his great friend," Kandil wrote on his Twitter account.
|
<urn:uuid:9b2ef535-e032-430a-aa7f-7a368334597b>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.yorkdispatch.com/nation/ci_21830414/websubscribe
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.972893
| 564
| 1.523438
| 2
|
Cloudless skies over Baja, California
Late November 2011 offered mostly cloud-free skies and a compelling view of the entire length of Baja California and the Pacific coast of Mexico. In the midst of the clarity, strong northeasterly winds stirred up dust storms on the mainland and the peninsula.
The natural-color images required to make this oblique view were acquired on November 27, 2011, by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite. The Ocean Color Team at NASA Goddard processes images like this to help assess the presence of sediment and plankton in the sea. Dust storms interfere with that processing, as the sandy aerosols block much of the incoming sunlight and the outgoing, reflected light.
Dust storms can disturb human activity on land, but once they blow out over the Gulf of California and Pacific Ocean, they help fertilize the waters with nutrients that promote phytoplankton blooms. In winter, the waters around Baja are often full of whales, as the largest creatures in the sea often eat the smallest plankton.
Researchers at the University of Wisconsin put the storm to a practical use. They are working to calibrate measurements on two instruments on the GOES weather satellites, and the dust storm provided a nice event for comparison.
Image Source: http://visibleearth.nasa.gov/view.php?id=76891
|
<urn:uuid:3c08da92-eae3-4e85-b752-1026f57b4418>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://science.gsfc.nasa.gov/sed/index.cfm?fuseAction=highlight_image.imageview&navOrgCode=610&navTab=nav_about_us&imageId=253
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00050-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.90016
| 289
| 3.703125
| 4
|
Question on Jesus - AskTheAtheist.com
What evidence is there to support that Jesus never existed? What about all the evidence Christian historians point to?
First, I think it's important to understand the incredible amount of information one has to look over tediously before they can reach a conclusion of a historical or ahistiorical nature. The truth is, I've been researching this subject for seven years and there are things I'm just starting to skim over now.
Now that that is out of the way, let's tackle your questions. You ask, "What evidence is there to support that Jesus never existed?" First and foremost, if you can provide me evidence to support that fairies don't exist, I'm all ears. One can't ask to disprove a negative, because there is nothing to disprove. One must look at the available evidence that already exists (or doesn't...as in this case) and determine if that evidence is sufficient to establish historicity.
To help you better understand this lets use an example given by Christians where they assume that we mythicists assume the historicity of somebody famous without evidence. Aristotle is usually totted around the most by some ignorant or misinformed person as having no contemporary evidence of his existence - as a standard if you will to suggest that Jesus should be considered to be on the same level of accepted historicity as Aristotle. However when comparing the list of evidences between the two, there is no compatibility. Here's a brief list of the diffrences between Aristotle and Jesus:
- 1. Facts about Aristotle’s life are not in question. We know when he was born, when he died (384-322 B.C.E), who his parents were, (Nicomachus – father – who was a physician to King Amyntas III, and Phaestis his mother) who his friends were and who his teacher was (Plato).
- 2. Most importantly, over 45 works are attributed TO him, although some of those are said to be dictated by some of his students in one of his many schools which he taught at.
- 3. Aristotle never claimed to be perfect, or a God, or even a son of a God. Nobody has a dogmatic philosophy on the life of Aristotle. If Aristotle didn’t exist, nobody’s world view would change.
- 4. Aristotle changed the course of time, coming up with several new schools of thought, including new ways to look at math, science, philosophy, politics, and ethics. His original thoughts and views helped form and shape the politics of a world.
- 5. Alexander the Great was taught by Aristotle.
- 6. Every Greek philosopher and scientist throughout the ages has used Aristotle as a base for their works. Including Harpalus, Hephaestion, Nicomachus and Theophrastus. Even Aquinas used Aristotle.
- 7. All of the information we have about Aristotle does not conflict with history.
- 8. There is no reason to doubt the existence of Aristotle, because there is such a large amount of evidence for his existence, as well as nothing that conflicts with history and historical accounts of Aristotle and his life.
- 1. Jesus’ early life is obscure. We do not know his birth date, or even the year. We don’t have the year of his death. If you are claiming Jesus was just a man, of course nothing exists to prove a natural birth so this evidence is non-existent. We know nothing of his childhood, save at 12, then he vanishes again. And we know his parents first names.
- 2. Jesus never wrote one book, one sentence, not even as much as a letter.
- 3. Jesus claimed to be all three of these attributes, and more. And over 33 million people around the world follow the idea that Jesus was these attributes and more. If Jesus was shown not to exist, his message would be lost and people would no longer be Christian (Because the definition of a Christian is to believe in Christ as the Messiah, that he died for our sins).
- 4. None of Jesus’ supposed teachings are original. Justin Martyr also admits to Trypho that Jesus’ teachings and that of the Christians were documented earlier in the Greek philosophies of Aristotle (ironically), Socrates, and Plato. All of the teachings of Jesus can be found in religions that existed hundreds if not thousands of years earlier. In John 1:1, a similar passage can be found in Heraclitus.
- 5. No major figure in History ever had direct contact with Jesus. No historical commentary about any major figure in history ever places them near or around Jesus in any fashion. In all the volumes of Josephus, never once does it state that Herod murdered a great multitude of infants at the birth of some savior figure. Nor does it state anywhere that Pilate killed Jesus in any Roman record.
- 6. No great work of science or philosophy ever came from Jesus, or one of Jesus’ followers. All are void of intelligent thought, and contain evidence of following in the footsteps of servitude.
- 7. In the trial alone of Jesus, there contains anywhere from 14-27 infractions of Sanhedrin and Roman law. This does not include a large sum of historical contradictions outside of the trial, which traverse into the hundreds.
- 8. In every aspect of Christ’s supposed life, there is reason to question his existence because of the errors, contradictions and fallacies not only within the Bible, but concerning the utter lack of evidence concerning the events of his life.
And this is not the half of it. Aristotle not only wrote tomes of prose in his time, by his own hand, but also contemporary accounts exist of Aristotle. As Richard Carrier states on Aristotles contemporary accounts, "There is one fragmentary inscription dedicated to Aristotle still extant at Delphi that I believe was erected in his lifetime. We have substantial portions of the Elements of Harmonics by Aristoxenus, a contemporary of Aristotle, which mentions him briefly. Anaximenes of Lampsacus (not the presocratic of the same name), also a contemporary, wrote an Art of Rhetoric that survives, and it addresses Aristotle. Theophrastus was his pupil and contemporary and we have some few of his writings, but I don't know off hand if they mention Aristotle by name. Isocrates was his contemporary and sometimes opponent, and he may have mentioned him, too, but again I can't say for sure if he ever actually names him in extant works. There was certainly a great deal of contemporary writing about Aristotle, but as far as I know little to none was preserved, except in later sources. TLG shows a few hundred contemporary, named references to Aristotle, which are cited or quoted by later authors." Carrier also suggested a book, "Lloyd's book "Aristotle" would probably say what else there is."
This is vital because we have NO accounts of cointemporary evidence for Jesus. None. The earliest extant manuscripts for Jesus date to Paul, thirty years after Jesus supposedly died, written by a man who never met Jesus, knows nothing about him, or about any of his deeds, or miracles or speeches. Paul doesn't attribute any words to Jesus nor does he seem to - in any fashion - refer to Jesus in a physical, literal sense.
After Paul, we have a forty year gap of nothingness. At the very end of the first century CE, we have rumors (just rumors) of hearsay about a being Jesus. The earliest Gospel fragment we posess is the P52 fragment, and it's barely a scrap of parchment from what appears to be John. But it's too weak a source to use to compare. That is it. And when is this P52 fragment from? 130 CE and no earlier. That's a hundred years after the supposed death of Christ. Now here's the funny part, we have works from Aristotle that survived from 500 years before THAT, and yet we can't find one contemporary account of a man who is said to have walked on water, and preformed all these miracles, or even rose from the dead?
I hope that helps you understand a little bit as to the problems associated with the question of whether there can be a way to disprove a negative, and also with understanding what sorts of evidence is looked for when trying to determine historicity. Your second question is far easier to answer, as I have already written extensively on the subject.
At this link HERE you will find all you need to know about the supposed evidences for Jesus and why they hold no water. You can ALSO check out THIS LINK for additional information on the Mythicist position and the case against a historical Christ.
Oh, by the way....welcome to the campaign.
|
<urn:uuid:c550dfdf-1d31-4347-926c-1164251df0d6>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.rationalresponders.com/forum/rook_hawkins/the_jesus_mythicist_campaign/3276
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.97598
| 1,825
| 2.203125
| 2
|
In the year of Jubilee, every fiftieth year, all of the inheritances were to return to the original families. Because of that spirit of Jezebel and Ahab and Babylon it was only celebrated a few times.
"Evryman under his own vine and his fig tree" was an "iconic identifier" of blessing, freedom, wholeness and prosperity for EVERYONE IN THE LAND. During periods of restoration and expansion it was so- as in the days of Solomon.
1Ki 4:25 So Judah and Israel lived in safety, every man under his vine and his fig tree, from Dan even to Beersheba, all the days of Solomon.
Everyone in Israel and Judah knew this saying. It was like our "Land of the free home of the brave" or "pursuit of life, liberty and happiness". SO much so that when the Assyrians came to conquer Israel the propagandist at the walls spoke of it in mockery.
2Ki 18:31 'Do not listen to Hezekiah, for thus says the king of Assyria, "Make your peace with me and come out to me, and eat each of his vine and each of his fig tree and drink each of the waters of his own cistern,
Isa 36:16 'Do not listen to Hezekiah,' for thus says the king of Assyria, 'Make your peace with me and come out to me, and eat each of his vine and each of his fig tree and drink each of the waters of his own cistern,
When threatening chastisement God spoke in these terms through Jeremiah
Jer 8:13 "I will surely snatch them away," declares the LORD; "There will be no grapes on the vine And no figs on the fig tree, And the leaf will wither; And what I have given them will pass away."'"
What I have given them will pass away.
In the body of Christ the same is true. For through the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith. For just as we have many members in one body and all the members do not have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, each of us is to exercise them accordingly: if prophecy, according to the proportion of his faith;
but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love. So this I say, and affirm together with the Lord, that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind, being darkened in their understanding(head of gold), excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart;
Calling them to Himself, Jesus *said to them, "You know that those who are recognized as leaders of the Gentiles lord it over them; and their great men exercise authority over them. "But it is not this way among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant; and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be slave of all. "For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many."
As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. Whoever speaks, is to do so as one who is speaking the utterances of God; whoever serves is to do so as one who is serving by the strength which God supplies; so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belongs the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
This freedom and blessing was seen in abundance in the coming of the kingdom at Pentecost- "they were all as one soul....no one among them had any need".....
It will be the "iconic identifier" of the wonder and glory of the age to come......
Many nations will come and say, "Come and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD And to the house of the God of Jacob, That He may teach us about His ways And that we may walk in His paths." For from Zion will go forth the law, Even the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. And He will judge between many peoples And render decisions for mighty, distant nations. Then they will hammer their swords into plowshares And their spears into pruning hooks; Nation will not lift up sword against nation, And never again will they train for war. Each of them will sit under his vine And under his fig tree, With no one to make them afraid, For the mouth of the LORD of hosts has spoken.
It is manifested among us (IMO) in these verses :o)
Does a fountain send out from the same opening both fresh and bitter water? Can a fig tree, my brethren, produce olives, or a vine produce figs? Nor can salt water produce fresh. Who among you is wise and understanding? Let him show by his good behavior his deeds in the gentleness of wisdom. But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, do not be arrogant and so lie against the truth. This wisdom is not that which comes down from above(Jerusalem), but is earthly, natural, demonic. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every evil thing. But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy. And the seed whose fruit is righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.
"Thus says the LORD of hosts, 'If you will walk in My ways and if you will perform My service, then you will also govern My house and also have charge of My courts, and I will grant you free access among these who are standing here. 'Now listen, Joshua the high priest, you and your friends who are sitting in front of you--indeed they are men who are a symbol, for behold, I am going to bring in My servant the Branch. 'For behold, the stone that I have set before Joshua; on one stone are seven eyes. Behold, I will engrave an inscription on it,' declares the LORD of hosts, 'and I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day. 'In that day,' declares the LORD of hosts, 'every one of you will invite his neighbor to sit under his vine and under his fig tree.'"
|
<urn:uuid:75f63443-c32a-4b2b-98a3-76095693815a>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://tentmaker.org/forum/discussions-on-universal-salvation/is-universal-salvation-a-heresy/msg145652/
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00050-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.97479
| 1,447
| 2.609375
| 3
|
Are you a nerd? Chances are that if you clicked this link then the answer to that is a proud “hell yeah!”. Well I am too, and one of my most surprising nerd revelations was discovering that classical music is a perfect musical genre for people like us. I didn’t work this out until I was about 23, and until that point pretty much had no idea of all the delicious geeky goodness contained within.
If you’re like me then you’ve probably listened to quite a few classical pieces, but haven’t ever really, really gotten into them — at least not in the same way as your favorite non-classical pieces of music. Here are 7 reasons why if you are a true nerd you should seriously consider giving classical music a more serious listen:
1. We love discovering and understanding how things are put together. Classical music is a perfect genre for this – each piece is written in one of many basically standardized forms, sonata form, trios, rondos, theme and variations, and so on. However, these forms are stretched and contorted and copied and pasted into very different beasts by each composer. Understanding what they’ve done, and why, is a lot of fun.
2. We like classifying stuff. Each piece can be a sonata, or symphony, or concerto, or oratorio, or something else entirely. Each composer’s output is indexed with opus numbers (or something else if they’re extra special) and each piece has its own home key. Understanding what all this really meant and referred to was a huge part of the experience for me.
3. We love hearing new music. One of the reasons that online music sharing has taken off to such a magnificent extent is the innate attraction we seem to have to music. On pretty much any forum you’ll find dozens of threads devoted to people trying to find new music recommendations based on their current tastes, and hundreds of responses to those requests from people eager to spread their favorite groups to others. We are very open to hearing new pieces.
4. We enjoy an intellectual challenge. Nerds are the kind of people who will do math for fun. This is an area in which classical music kicks arse, compared to most popular music. A symphony is a story. You can listen to it as background music (which is probably what most non-classical people do when they hear classical) or you can try and follow its themes and motivation all the way through. While this is blindingly hard at first, it’s amazingly satisfying after you listen to a piece ten times and suddenly it jumps out at you. It’s a very similar feeling to when you finally “get” a physics or math proof.
5. We already have some exposure to classical. You often see posts on classical boards in which people will refer to music which they really like from the soundtrack of a computer game. Symphonic scores are also prevalent in films disproportionately popular in online world (e.g., the Lord of the Rings, Star Wars), all of which sneakily lead people toward the world of classical music.
6. We like having long and detailed discussions/arguments about stuff. Particularly when there is the potential to show off esoteric facts about arcane topics. Classical music is really fertile ground for this. We can argue about whether Beethoven’s Op.130 string quartet is better with or without the Grosse Fugue as the last movement, or why on earth there are all those enigmatic Wagner quotes at the end of Shostakovich’s 15th symphony, or… well, you get the idea.
7. We like open source stuff. You can walk into a music library and pull out a full orchestral copy of any of Beethoven’s (or anyone elses) symphonies. You can follow along while listening and discover all kinds of subtleties in the piece, or you can write your own software to analyze it or synthesize it. Anyone can put on a performance of a piece, and sell it, without fear of getting their asses sued off. In fact, one of the most satisfying things about classical music is being able to hear many different interpretations of a piece.
If you’re ready to start understanding how symphonies work, and who you like best out of Mozart, Bach, Beethoven, and the rest of them, click here!
|
<urn:uuid:09678e39-9896-46bd-b06e-79e4de52dc22>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.getintoclassical.com/7-reasons-nerds-should-listen-to-classical-music/
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00044-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.960932
| 932
| 1.867188
| 2
|
Texas Stream Team is a network of trained citizen monitors and supportive partners working together to gather information about the natural resources of Texas and to ensure the information is available to all Texans. Established in 1991, Texas Stream Team is administered through a cooperative partnership between Texas State University, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ), and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Currently, hundreds of Texas Stream Team citizen monitors collect water quality data on lakes, rivers, streams, wetlands, bays, bayous, and estuaries in Texas.
Texas Stream Team is a program of the Meadows Center for Water and the Environment at Texas State University-San Marcos.
Texas Stream Team's annual Partner meeting was held April 11, 2013 in San Marcos, TX. After the meeting, participants rode the glass bottom boats at Aquarena Center.
The Spring 2013 Hornaday Awards Weekend was a huge success!!
Jessica Snider of Texas Stream Team - The Meadows Center for Water and the Environment led an interprative talk on the different habitat types seen on Lake Bastrop. In this photo she is pointing out a red wing black bird.
Texas Stream Team hosted a booth at Earth Day Dallas - Fair Park - Dallas, TX.
NPR Living On Earth Clean Water Act @ 40 episode that aired at the end of Dec. 2012. (3, 16 minute audio tracks)
Also available is The Extension Volunteer Monitoring Network's latest factsheet, “Evaluating Your Volunteer Water Quality Monitoring Program”
February 2012 - Residents in Denton County are using Texas Stream Team water quality monitoring methods to collect data, which can be used by the city to find and fix problems. David Hunter, Watershed Protection Manager for the City of Denton, is teaching Denton, Lewisville and Flower Mound residents how to monitor creeks and streams in their neighborhoods. Watch Video here.
February 2012 - Community volunteers participate in the Texas Stream Team program by testing the water quality and collecting data of local waterways in the City of Irving. Karen Siddall, Drainage Program Coordinator, provides training, support, and equipment to the volunteers. Watch an informative video here.
April 2012 - Austin Youth RiverWatch was featured on KUT, the University of Texas public radio station. Austin Youth River Watch is a multi-year, after-school and summer program for high school students, combining peer monitoring with intensive environmental education. Support for this program is provided by the Lower Colorado River Authority, Colorado River Watch Network, (and others), one of our longest-standing and most pro-active partners.
Do you have a success story? Email story, photos and/or video.
Texas Stream Team Photos Available On Line: Photos from Texas Stream Team trainings and other events are now available to view online through our Flickr photostream.
Aquarena Center Wetlands Walk Podcast Texas Parks and Wildlife, in conjunction with Texas State University-San Marcos and Texas Stream Team, developed two podcasts for you: the Aquarena Center Wetlands Walk and a more general Texas Wetlands Walk. There is also an introduction and link to the podcasts by Cecilia Nasti of Texas Parks and Wildlife's Passport to Texas Radio Series. It is possible to read, play or download the podcast (see bottom of linked page).
|
<urn:uuid:811e38d0-93ca-4d40-ab46-f08c5393ad77>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://txstreamteam.meadowscenter.txstate.edu/
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00023-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.905074
| 674
| 2.21875
| 2
|
Health Promotion and Wellness: To Whom Does It Belong?
By Meridel I. Gatterman, MA, DC, MEd
With the growing trend for some groups to take a proprietary view of a current bandwagon, the popularity of health promotion and wellness has become a vehicle for furthering self-interest agendas.It would seem that health promotion and wellness should first belong to patients - not political organizations, entrepreneurs, academic institutions or doctors using it as a marketing tool. When doctors of chiropractic are patient-centered, this growing trend in health care focuses first on the promotion of health and wellness in the patients we serve. When promoted solely as a practice management tool or denigrated as outside the scope of practice of chiropractors, the best interest of the patient is ignored.
Political organizations that primarily develop programs to garner members or to make a profit from postgraduate seminars also have taken a wrong turn. If political associations operate to ensure their own survival at the expense of patients' interests, they do not serve their members or the profession well. In addition, taking a narrow view of what constitutes health promotion and wellness to further a philosophical agenda sells the patient short. Considering a routine maintenance adjustment all the patient needs to promote health and wellness may shorten the journey and the patient's life. That is not to deny the health-giving benefits of regular spinal care, but adjustments alone cannot compensate for a polluted environment, unwholesome food and risky lifestyles. Equally shortsighted is a view of health promotion and wellness that equates it with disease prevention, abandoning the health-giving benefits on which chiropractic has been based. Denial of the health-promoting effects of adjusting the organ of posture minimizes the importance of a healthy spine to the overall health of the patient.
Like technique peddlers, entrepreneurs who gouge for profit by disseminating educational material that should be included as part of their program are a pox on the chiropractic profession. Equally damaging are programs based on pseudoscience that purport to provide the latest evidence in support of health promotion and wellness, while making gargantuan leaps of faith, extrapolating well beyond given facts. The provision of resource material freely available from government and private agencies makes the promotion of healthy lifestyles cost-effective for both doctor and patient.
The rising cost of health care is one of the foremost issues facing a global economy. Promotion of health and wellness at a reasonable cost is a national imperative. Chiropractors can further this agenda by making it a pertinent part of their practice without sacrificing payment for services rendered. Billing third-party payers under established billing codes for health promotion and counseling can be facilitated by educating adjusters regarding the ability of doctors of chiropractic to promote healthy lifestyles.
Standardizing Health Promotion and Wellness
Moves by the Council on Chiropractic Education (CCE)1 and the National Board of Chiropractic Examiners (NBCE)2 to standardize health promotion and wellness undeniably can benefit patients, and also help doctors of chiropractic provide a valuable service. The adoption of health promotion and wellness competencies gives direction to teachers, students and clinicians to provide a program of health promotion and wellness based on recognized procedures. The goals of specific wellness competencies are designed to facilitate:
The CCE has taken a step forward that will promote standardization of material that can be included in practical fashion in daily practice, to the benefit of patients.
The NBCE included questions specific to health promotion and wellness in its Job Analysis of Chiropractic 2005. This summary of the practice of chiropractic in the United States analyzed the practice habits of those chiropractors surveyed. The analysis gives an indication of the percentage of doctors who offer counseling to promote healthy lifestyles. Not all patients seen by these doctors receive counseling, but responses indicate that more than 90 percent of doctors of chiropractic offer this service to over 50 percent of their patients. This includes counseling on physical fitness and exercise, nutritional recommendations, ergonomic and postural advice, changing risky and unhealthy behaviors, and self-care strategies, including advice on relaxation and stress reduction. Disease prevention and screening advice is provided to approximately 40 percent of patients.
Part I of the NBCE examination (public health section) also includes questions that focus on identifying risky behavior, taken from Healthy People 2010.3 Testing of health promotion and wellness competencies is imbedded in a number of sections, and the practical application of health promotion and wellness is tested appropriately in Part IV of the NBCE exam.
Chiropractic Undergraduate Courses That Promote Health and Wellness
A patient-centered partnership for promoting wellness is an important part of traditional chiropractic care. Chiropractic undergraduate training provides a basis for understanding the principles of nutrition. These include the biochemistry of proteins, enzymes, carbohydrates, lipids, vitamins and trace elements. Clinical nutrition courses discuss nutrient metabolism and nutritional needs throughout life. Nutritional management of common conditions encountered in chiropractic practice is emphasized. Pediatric, maternal and infant, and geriatric courses discuss the specific needs of these different age groups.4
Public health information is included for leading health indicators (tobacco use, substance abuse, responsible sex behavior, injury and violence, immunization, and access to health care). Screening and risk assessment, along with counseling for lifestyle modification and injury prevention, is included. The importance of a healthy spine receives emphasis mostly ignored by other health professions. Enhancement of function through physical activity and exercise is approached, considering individual variations and needs. Occupational health is considered in terms of work safety, environmental quality and ergonomics. Mental fitness that is dependent on sleep, rest and recreation, in addition to stress management, is part of a patient-centered approach to meeting individual patient needs.
Integration of Health Promotion and Wellness Into the Health Care System
Postgraduate programs have developed courses designed to integrate the practice of health promotion and wellness by doctors of chiropractic into the health care system.4 Medicine has achieved some diminution in the uncertainty associated with disease pathology by following a reductionist paradigm. The science of clinical medicine is based on precise observations and theories of causation, decision-making and evidence.5 Basing clinical care on a disease model has enabled the observation of a group of signs and symptoms into identifiable syndromes with somewhat predictable outcomes. This model is ideal for disease care, but has little relevance to health care or health promotion. The inadequacy of this model fails to encompass health promotion and wellness, which until recently has been left primarily to public health departments and health educators. Doctors of chiropractic who follow a traditional chiropractic model understand the need to emphasize to patients that their bodies have the capacity to heal, and that health comes more from within than from pills and potions.
A Chiropractic Consortium for Health Promotion and Wellness
It has been suggested that a consortium to promote health and wellness be formed, perhaps as a part of the ACC.6 Just as the Consortium for Chiropractic Research gave an impetus for more sophisticated research engaged in by a number of chiropractic colleges, a consortium to share pedagogical strategies and facilitate health promotion research is needed. It is important to establish dialectic between the science of health and the praxis. Health promotion research is needed to understand and act upon the interactions and relationships of individuals, not just a focus on the health of the public. Health promotion research needs to be dynamic, dealing with health as a process - one that changes health perceptions and lifestyles.
The science of health requires new assessment methods and thinking, far beyond the box that prescribes drug A for disease A. Outcome measures for health promotion are more difficult to measure, and disease prevention fits more easily within the still-dominant medical paradigm. There is a tendency to fall back upon disease prevention measures, rather than health promotion outcomes, a tendency that strengthens health education ideology. Health promotion is directed at people in all their variety, not at diseases or ideal patterns of health. Disease prevention may be, in part, a task of medicine, but health promotion is the challenge for doctors of chiropractic. Chiropractic principles can bring to health promotion more meaningful ways of describing and measuring health, including constitution and vitality, along with a rich source of ideas and a disciplined background for holistic studies.
The WHO initiatives to promote health should not be ignored by the chiropractic profession. The Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion (1986) defines health promotion as "the process which enables people to increase control over, and to improve their health to reach a state of well-being."7 It requires all health care professionals to contribute to the pursuit of health, and to reorient health services toward health promotion. The Ottawa Charter calls on authorities and individuals to advocate the promotion of health and to set up strategies and programs for health promotion.
Nothing is more powerful that an idea whose time has come. Health promotion and wellness are concepts that have grabbed the imagination of the public, and should be at the forefront of all health care professions. Public health policy should not be limited to disease prevention, nor should chiropractors be satisfied with treating back pain alone. Health promotion and wellness do not belong solely to health educators and public health departments.
So, who owns health promotion and wellness? The responsibility for promoting health and wellness lies with everyone. It is an active process that involves each and every one of us. It requires multidisciplinary integration without hierarchy. Let us take public recognition that our broken health care system can heal itself, at least in part, through health promotion and wellness, and then jump on this vehicle - in the best interest of the patient.
Click here for more information about Meridel I. Gatterman, MA, DC, MEd.
|
<urn:uuid:e1dd396a-b085-488b-86e3-a87a99b32954>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.dynamicchiropractic.com/mpacms/dc/article.php?id=52087
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.94904
| 1,999
| 2.109375
| 2
|
October 1, 2010 —
The Ozarks region is rich with authors and poets who lend diverse voices to children’s literature, religious topics, fiction, humor and history. The library is proud to represent them in our collections.
On Saturday, Oct. 9, the Library Center will play host to more than 40 such writers at the Authors’ Fair. It’s a great opportunity for visitors and budding writers to meet and talk with these authors and buy their autographed books.
The free event will take place from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the library concourse and meeting rooms A and B, 4653 S. Campbell Ave.
This is the third year that library community relations copywriter Sarah Jane Rosendahl has organized the Authors’ Fair. Here are just some of the authors you’ll get to meet.
With the American Civil War Sesquicentennial coming up in 2011, readers may be interested to meet Frances Carver Black, of “Marking Civil War History in the Ozarks: A Guide to Civil War Markers and Monuments in Twenty-Four Southwest Missouri Counties.”
Also coming is Jeff Patrick, who wrote “Three Years With Wallace’s Zouaves: The Civil War Memoirs of Thomas Wise Durham;” “Fighting for Liberty and Right: The Civil War Diary of William Bluffton Miller, 75th Indiana Infantry,” and more.
Wayne Hancock plans to be there with his most recent mystery thriller, “Up On Crowley's Ridge.” You may know his others including “Gotcha!” “30 Days in May;” and “The Unlikely Predator.”
Also coming are Dave Dickerson, author of “On Board: To a Safer, Smarter, Healthier America;” Carl James, of “Aux Arcs: Black & White Photography of the Ozarks Region;” Jean Stringham, of “The Hoarders,” and many more.
_ _ _
Genealogy continues to be a hot topic for library research, as one recent month showed. There were 6,375 searches or sessions from the library website on Ancestry.com, and 8,778 on HeritageQuest. The only site with more searches that month was NewsBank, with 10,015 searches.
If you need getting started or just want a boost with your research, the Ozarks Genealogical Society will sponsor a workshop by John Carter at 7 p.m. Monday, Oct. 4, at the Library Center on “Ancestry.com: What information is available to help with your research?”
Find this article at
|
<urn:uuid:b7f8a7c0-c0ad-4a9b-adc5-033a28414df4>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://thelibrary.org/press/article.cfm?aid=1105
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00045-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.946914
| 568
| 1.734375
| 2
|
The Difference Between Punishing And Disciplining My Child
What if we aimed for the same outcome for adults who do us wrong as we do our own kids when we discipline them?
I mean, instead of instantly wishing that a person suffers, what if we honestly hoped to see them restored to decency?
What if instead of wishing for annihilation for our enemies and frenemies, we wished for restoration and positive progress?
If I take away my son’s security blanket/girlfriend or put my son in time-out for no reason, then I am punishing him.
But if I do either of those things after I already warned him against something and he refused to cooperate, then I am simply following through with disciplining him.
To me, that is the difference.
It’s punishment if there is no cause. It’s discipline if it serves a purpose to make my child a better human being.
I’ve said it before: Disciplining a child is a weird thing.
Everyone has their own approach to it that they feel most comfortable with and find to be the most effective. But I’m for certain that no parent disciplines their child in secret hopes of making them suffer indefinitely for their offenses.
Instead, we want our children to mature and become less selfish. We want the best for them. By doing so, we make the world a better place.
So here’s something I think is messed up about us as adults: It’s way too easy for us to want to see other people cursed and suffer when they offend us, rather than them being blessed and enriched.
If someone cuts us off in traffic, they are automatically a jerk who deserves to be flipped off.
No matter how good of a person they may be outside of that single moment. Forget about how hard they work for their family and how they help others out of the goodness of their hearts.
For cutting us off, they become labeled as idiots who have no hope of redemption.
In fact, in that heat of the moment, the thought of that person being redeemed is absurd. It’s natural and easy to generalize them into an evil and moronic imbecile who intends to make your life hell; or at least annoying.
Simply said, we want that person to suffer. Who cares about forgiveness, redemption, or reconciliation.
And then, for all we know, the next day we coincidentally see them at the gas station and they say to us, “Excuse me, but you dropped this.”
They hand to you your debit card which slipped out of your wallet. You thank them; neither of you even aware of the incident the day before.
We discipline our children to help them, not privately wish bad things upon them. Yet we so easily want to judge and punish those who slightly offend us or have the opposite view as we do on a political or parenting issue that doesn’t even personally concern us.
By the way, if you live in Nashville, I’ve probably cut you off before on the road. But only because you seemed to be going slower than you actually were, but I realized it only after I had already pulled out in front of you.
Oops. My bad.
Here’s a quote from my favorite song right now, performed by 10th Avenue North:
“Why do we think that hate’s gonna change their heart?
We’re up in arms over wars that don’t need to be fought
But pride won’t let us lay our weapons on the ground
We build our bridges up but just to burn them down
We think pain is owed apologies and then it’ll stop
But truth be told it doesn’t matter if they’re sorry or not”
|
<urn:uuid:e27fed4f-d246-41e5-a4ff-bbfaaedba18a>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.parents.com/blogs/dadabase/2012/08/15/deep-thoughts/the-difference-between-punishing-and-disciplining-my-child/
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00070-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.953106
| 796
| 1.585938
| 2
|
If there is a middle line between political conservatives and liberals, what is it called or what should it be?
Let us eliminate the extremes of far left or far right and find the median between being liberal and conservative. If there is one, what would it be?
This question is in the General Section. Responses must be helpful and on-topic.
|
<urn:uuid:7ca2e2d2-fcd2-43b0-8d7c-0c164d91d262>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.fluther.com/148939/if-there-is-a-middle-line-between-political-conservatives-and-liberals/
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00055-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.959688
| 73
| 1.742188
| 2
|
Right that, a lot of anger. For me, some years ago, spending some days in the forest was enough to forget about it for some time, but now it seems it wouldnt work any more.
Now I'm becoming some kind of misanthropist in the context of civilization.
I think I've processed a lot of my larger mounds of guilt and shame.
I wish i could process mine somehow. Some times, when bad things happen to me, i just feel it is kind of fair compared to the amount of damage i make just by living in the civ way.
I also agree that while there are some things to be thankful for, I don't think we're in a time of luxury to be celebrating anything yet. I don't know about you or everyone else here, but personally I've been thinking more along the lines of what Derrick Jensen and Lierre Keith have said about how the longer we wait for civilization to end on it's own, it's going to devour everything to keep itself chugging along until there's just nothing left to feed it--or anyone else.
I think "luxury" is a really good word for it. Some times some civ "alternative" people ask me why I am so sad, "why not a smile?".... and I just think: is there anything to be happy about? Pretending that everything is alright will make any change?
Some times I think consuming more would be a nice way to help accelerating a collapse. Make some kind of huge propaganda net encouraging regular people to consume more worldwide
And about attacking the industrial system,... i think Theodore Kaczynski was right on thinking that helping it to collapse in a quick way would be extremely complicated. Moreover, who is right now ready to live out of civilization? And even worse, we the ones who try to learn, keep isolated and separated by thousands of kilometers, scattered the whole world around.
Seems as time passes, the influence of the civ way of thinking gets stronger in everybody and we become more and more individualistic... I mean, the more we wait to get together, the less chances for a rewild way of living to survive after an eventual collapse.
(sorry i went a bit out of the topic of the post)
... I've started to read that some rituals for healing don't address this, and so people just wind up feeling a little better temporarily (or just feeling better and thinking they don't need to worry anymore), but things which bring you and I shame will continue to happen.
I think this temporary relief could be compared to the feeling after a visit to a therapist
. Takes you out of reality for a moment "yeah, everything is ok, i dont need to worry anymore"
.... I think that thanking each other as a form of support (along with material support, like food, shelter, the things communities are supposed to share) does give us energy to keep doing our work to decolonize ourselves as well as the land we depend on. But there is a danger in becoming complacent. I think the work that some of us do can be satisfying, but we need to remember to remain humble, and always be learning how to expand on that little bit of satisfying work. This may sound like that determination to better ourselves, but I think if it is only done for the sake of ourselves and our own satisfaction, and not for the land that gives us life, then it is in the end, pointless.
I totally agree with that. One of the problems with living in a tribe when civilizations is still running could be becoming less aware of all the shit that's going on around. In the times when i was much more focused on attacking the civ, i was tempted to go with Thierry Sallantin to live in the French Guayana, but discarded this option as it would keep me away from any chance of acting against civ.
Now i just focus on learning how to live out.
I think calling it a 'ritual' sometimes confuses people (in that we think of a larger gathering, or large ceremony type deal), and there have been some ceremonies and such that bring strangers together to share their griefs or joys. It seems to me that some of these, while intending to help, don't do these griefs justice. I've found it's always better to just open them up to a close friend, or even agree with a group of close friends/family/partners to spend a day alone together, just opening up and expressing the shame or grief to it's fullest.
To tell the truth, I am quite against any kind of ritual. I feel they are just another way of separating things. Like when the christians stopped getting together in houses and started to make churches (and money
) I really like methods, effective ways of doing things. But i think anything beyond this is just some kind of protocol. Like written rules on how you have to do it. I feel good thanking a tree when I take some part of it for food or medicine (and when medicine, apologize for not taking enough care of myself) or thanking a catch for its meat... but I really dont like when all the stuff about feelings or spiritual gets somehow disconnected from everything else.
I don't think we should expect many people to get on board with understanding the need for grief and shame. All this knowledge of destruction takes a lot of emotional stamina, and I think that may be why so many people fear simple negative feelings. (That, and we've grown up under the influence of those who want to divert us from the negative so that we don't question or act to change their ways). I think there are some who have the capacity to begin understanding this though. I've found some friends who were relieved I was willing to bring it up, like they had things themselves they needed to spill out.
You mentioned talking with your friend about this. Do you think they or any other friends would agree to sharing their shame along with their griefs?
I would be very happy if i can ever find some friend with which i could do so.
It was just some kind of discussion what i had with my friend, i think probably rooted on her " fear of simple negative feelings" as you say.
Lately ive been slipping into a depression. I have really shut myself off the last years, because looking around at this world hurts. But some days ago i was trying to open up & really feel. What i felt was shame, anger and sadness. But mostly shame. I was watching the plants and trees growing and i felt really unworthy and ashamed of myself. I tried to make up to them by letting them know i'm sorry and lost here but yeah, i felt so uncomfortable.
You are not alone in this depression state. Some times in the city i found myself almost crying hugging an old tree, thinking about the shitty life we forced it to live for so long years...
I have a different view of this. To hold oneself responsible for all the problems caused by civilization is feel responsible for you great uncle who beat up some little kid. It doesn’t mean that you don’t react and deal with the situation, but I cannot be held responsible for some other person’s actions. I am reacting to the situation I am in and that is my personal rewilding journey.
I don't mean what happened in the past is our responsibility , I mean as long as we participate in civilization we are responsible for any kind of damage it makes. But anyway, I feel responsible of the past as at a species level. I don't know how to explain it better. I am not responsible of the mutilations on this tree in the side walk, but it was somebody of my same species, somebody who participates in civ as much as i do. I am part of it, no matter how much i dislike it.
|
<urn:uuid:fe4f1712-fbd5-4e2f-974e-35c560cf5d94>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.rewildportland.com/Conversations/index.php?topic=1661.msg16184
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00070-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.979351
| 1,626
| 1.539063
| 2
|
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- adj. Having each expenditure or item justified as to need or cost: "Zero-base budgeting requires its practitioners to justify every dollar they spend” ( Wall Street Journal).
“But if you don't address them, and continually try to zero-base your schedule, it will end up managing you instead of the other way around.”
“One way to do this is to start from a zero-base, where ministries have to justify every yen, which the government has promised to do with Japan's so-called special accounts budget in the autumn.”
“Perhaps the most perverse reason for higher tuition costs is that institutions of higher learning rarely, if ever, zero-base their budgets.”
“So there were times when I wanted to zero-base budget, and to cut taxes even more, and I didn't have enough support in order to accomplish that.”
“But the new congressional leadership talks about "zero-base" budgeting, a worthy concept that requires every spending decision to be justified.”
“At PDF, I ask Vint Cerf — who said the FCC should die — to zero-base what government should or must do: regulation, incentive, investment.”
“So there were times when I wanted to zero-base budget and to cut taxes even more, and I didn't have enough support in order to accomplish that.”
“It is famous for "zero-base budgeting," in which managers must justify every expense anew each year.”
“When we contacted a senior HQ manager a few weeks ago about this decision, we were told that the decision was a response to recommendations by the Chief Medical Officer (CMO) and by a Non-Advocate Review (NAR) panel during a zero-base review performed last autumn.”
“The progress report should reflect a sense of ownership and, at the same time, analyze the trends in the chart and evaluate our operation from what we call a “zero-base.””
‘zero-base’ hasn't been added to any lists yet.
Looking for tweets for zero-base.
|
<urn:uuid:c75a40c8-abdf-4e81-8e1c-350a92142d27>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.wordnik.com/words/zero-base
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00042-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.96601
| 469
| 2.5625
| 3
|
She was born in Lima, Peru to diplomat Tomás Allende, brother of Salvador Allende, who was president of Chile from 1970-73. In 1945, her parents separated, and her mother relocated with the three children to Chile, where they lived until 1953.
Later the family moved first to Bolivia and after that to Lebanon. While in Bolivia, Allende attended an American private school, and while in Lebanon a British private school in Beirut. She returned to Chile in 1958 to complete her secondary education, and there met her first husband, Miguel Frías, whom she married in 1962.
From 1959-65, Allende worked with the United Nations' FAO in Santiago, and later in Brussels, Belgium and elsewhere in Europe. Her daughter Paula was born in 1963. In 1966, Allende returned to Chile, and her son Nicolás was born there that year.
Beginning in 1967, she was on the editorial staff for Paula magazine, and from 1973 – 1974 for the children's magazine Mampato. She published two children's stories, "La abuela Panchita" and "Lauchas y Lauchones," as well as a collection of articles, Civilice a su troglodita. She also worked in Chilean television production for channels 7 and 13.
In 1973, Allende's play El embajador debuted in Santiago. That same year (September 11), her uncle was overthrown and killed in a violent coup. In 1975, Allende went into exile in Venezuela. While there, she worked for the newspaper El Nacional in Caracas and as a teacher in a secondary school.
In 1981, she learned that her grandfather, age 99, was on his deathbed. She started writing him a letter which later evolved into a book manuscript: The House of the Spirits. The book was a great success and was later made into a film (1993) by Danish director Bille August, starring Jeremy Irons, Meryl Streep, Winona Ryder, Glenn Close, and Antonio Banderas.
Allende's book Paula (1994) is a stirring memoir of her childhood in Santiago and her years in exile. It was written in the form of a letter to her daughter Paula, who lay in a coma in the hospital (she died of porphyria in 1992). Her other books include:
- The House of the Spirits (1982)
- La gorda de porcelana (1984)
- Of Love and Shadows (1984)
- Eva Luna (1987)
- The Stories of Eva Luna (1989)
- The Infinite Plan (1991)
- Afrodite (1997)
- Daughter of Fortune (1999).
- Portrait in Sepia (2000)
- My Invented Country (2003)
|
<urn:uuid:9bb9d91f-e613-41ce-93f6-b12dd6418ba8>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.encyclopedia4u.com/i/isabel-allende.html
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00072-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.97519
| 575
| 1.757813
| 2
|
Books and Culture
Posted on: May 8, 2009
Across three great regions of the world—sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, and southern and eastern Asia—two trends are rearranging the social and political landscapes. One of these, the growth of democracy in civic life, politics, and governance, has attracted the attention of some of the most prominent scholars of public affairs. The late Samuel P. Huntington of Harvard famously called this movement “the third wave” of democratic revolutions in modern history. This trend is anything but inevitable, however. Despite dramatic advances, democracy in many lands is fragile, and there have been many setbacks, as any reader of the “world” section of the daily news can attest.
The other development, which until recently was nearly invisible to most scholars and pundits, is Christianity’s dynamic development in these regions, which is causing a seismic shift of the faith’s place and role in the world. Christianity, it turns out, is not just the fading tribal religion of the Europeans.
The faith is practiced worldwide, in many more places and languages than any other religion. The great majority of Christians now live outside Europe and North America.
|
<urn:uuid:bfa362d5-fe58-4326-9435-9382ce6cf2a1>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.calvin.edu/weblogs/minds/nation-world/now-what-revivalist-christianity-and-global-south-politics
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00060-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.951394
| 243
| 2.296875
| 2
|
The National Football League or the NFL is the biggest professional football league in the United States. The NFL has thirty-two teams that are based in a variety of cities across the country. Originally known as the American Professional Football Association when it was formed in 1920, the Association assumed the name “National Football League” in 1922.
At first, the most popular way people enjoyed their football was by watching their favorite college team play but the focus of the country changed in 1958. That NFL game went into overtime and captured a number of new fans who found that they enjoyed the professional football league just as much as if not more than their college football teams. Due to the rising popularity of professional football, the NFL merged with the American Football League in the 1960’s to form what is now the National Football League.
Over the years, some friendly and some not-so-friendly rivalries have come about due to a number of circumstances. These rivalries can be categorized into three separate groups. The first is the ‘intradivisional’, which is a rivalry between teams in the same NFL division. The second is interdivisional, which is a rivalry between teams in the different divisions but in the same conference. The third is the ‘interconference’, which is a rivalry between teams in different conferences. Many times fans will hear sportscasters refer to team rivalries as “divisional rivals”, “division rival” or “conference rival” instead of including the appropriate prefix.
For example, in the AFC North, there is a rivalry between the Baltimore Ravens and the Cleveland Browns based on the when the team’s owner, Art Modell, moved the Cleveland Browns franchise to Baltimore. Fortunately for Cleveland Browns fans, the “Dawg Pound” and its colors remained in Cleveland. The Cleveland Browns were reactivated as a NFL team in 1999. The “Dawg Pound” fans waited for their revenge and got a taste in 2001 when the Browns won against the Ravens after only four games.
Another famous rivalry began in the AFC East when the Buffalo Bills owner, Ralph Wilson, wasn’t allowed to base an AFL team in Miami and went on to establish the Buffalo Bills as a charter member of the AFL. The Buffalo Bills and the Miami Dolphins have maintained a rivalry based on this history since 1967. This particular rivalry has had a number of key moments that continued to fuel their contention over the years including playing against each other in the ultimate game of the football season- the Super Bowl.
|
<urn:uuid:0ab9f9ef-5b12-4994-aff3-a767ae71cad3>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.csun.edu/~jap56043/sports.htm
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00076-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.977956
| 526
| 2.609375
| 3
|
- Robert S. Mueller, III
- Federal Bureau of Investigation
- Statement Before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
- Washington, D.C.
- September 22, 2010
Good morning, Chairman Lieberman, Senator Collins, and members of the committee. Thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today to discuss the terrorist threats facing our nation and the efforts of the FBI to protect the United States from future terrorist attacks.
The FBI’s number one priority continues to be the prevention of terrorist attacks against the United States. To meet this mission, we have undergone a paradigm shift in the way we collect and use intelligence. Intelligence drives our investigative strategies, enhancing our understanding of national security threats and our ability to address these threats. Today, the FBI is a stronger organization, combining our national security and law enforcement capabilities while upholding the Constitution and protecting civil liberties.
Since 9/11, many of the terrorist threats facing the United States endure, but some are also evolving and transforming in ways that present new challenges. Despite significant counterterrorism pressure abroad, al Qaeda remains committed to advancing attack plans directed at the West, including plans against Europe and the homeland. The group’s efforts to recruit, train, and deploy operatives to execute attacks worldwide, but specifically in the United States, were demonstrated with the arrest of Najibullah Zazi, who was plotting to attack the New York City subway system. Groups affiliated with al Qaeda are now actively targeting the United States and looking to use Americans or Westerners who are able to remain undetected by heightened security measures—as seen with the attempted airline bombing on Christmas Day 2009 and the failed car bombing in New York’s Times Square in May. In addition, it appears domestic radicalization and homegrown extremism is becoming more pronounced, based on the number of disruptions and incidents.
Recent National Security Threats
The FBI has faced and disrupted an extraordinary range of national security threats since the committee’s hearing last year on the terrorist threat. We structure all of our investigations to maximize the intelligence that can be gained from them. Drawing on our intelligence and law enforcement tools, we strategically decide where and when to disrupt and dismantle these threats. Intelligence, in turn, drives investigative strategies to ensure our resources are targeting and collecting on the most pressing threats. The investigation of Najibullah Zazi is an example of how the FBI used its intelligence and law enforcement tools to collect valuable intelligence on a subject’s network. Zazi was arrested in September 2009 and on February 22, 2010 pled guilty to terrorism charges related to his plans to attack the New York City subway system. His two New York-based associates were indicted in January 2010.
Also in September of last year, FBI special agents arrested Michael C. Finton in Illinois and Hosam Smadi in Texas for unrelated bomb plots. The FBI used online undercover FBI agents and confidential human sources who continuously monitored the activities of these violent extremist subjects up to the time of their arrests.
U.S. citizen David Headley was arrested in October 2009 in Chicago for planning terrorist attacks against a Danish newspaper and two of its employees. During the course of this investigation, the FBI collected intelligence that uncovered Headley’s operational role in the 2008 attacks in Mumbai, India, and connected him to a separate plot to kill an individual in Denmark. On January 14, 2010, a superseding indictment was filed against Headley relating to his conspiring with others to plan and execute attacks in both Denmark and India, and in March 2010, he pled guilty on all counts.
In January 2010, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab was charged in a six-count criminal indictment for his alleged role in the attempted Christmas Day bombing of Northwest Airlines flight 253 from Amsterdam to Detroit. Within days of the Christmas Day attack, the FBI established a Yemen fusion cell to coordinate intelligence and counterterrorism assets in response to al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula’s (AQAP’s) threat to the United States homeland and United States interests overseas. The FBI gained critical intelligence from the questioning of Abdulmutallab and shared all relevant information with our partners in the intelligence and law enforcement communities.
In May 2010, Faisal Shahzad attempted to detonate a car bomb in Times Square, an attack for which Tehrik-e-Taliban in Pakistan (TTP) claimed responsibility. The FBI forensics and technical experts developed crucial evidence aiding this fast-moving terrorism investigation. Equally important, the intelligence gained from this investigation was voluminous and significant and shared expeditiously with our domestic and foreign partners.
Threats to the Homeland
These threats are merely a sampling of the intelligence we collected and terrorist plots the FBI disrupted during the past year. But they underscore the diversity of the threats facing the homeland and a troubling trend: the rise in U.S.-specific threats. In the past year, the United States has been center stage as the focus for a number of terrorist plots that primarily come from three sources: core al Qaeda, al Qaeda’s affiliates, and homegrown extremists.
Since the 2001 terrorist attacks, al Qaeda’s intent to conduct high-profile attacks inside the United States has been unwavering. Recent investigations reveal that the group has adapted its strategy for conducting such attacks. In the immediate aftermath of 9/11, al Qaeda’s plots and plans primarily focused on using individuals from the Middle East or South Asia for such attacks. More recent plots—beginning in August 2006 with the attempted plan to commit attacks against U.S.-bound aircraft using improvised explosives devices—suggest al Qaeda is also putting more emphasis on finding recruits or trainees from the West to play key roles for these homeland-specific operations.
The 2009 plot led by Najibullah Zazi to attack the New York subway was the first known instance since 9/11 that al Qaeda had successfully deployed a trained operative into the United States. The fact that Zazi and his associates had access to the United States and were familiar with the environment here from an operational security and targeting perspective demonstrates how al Qaeda can leverage Americans. The potential exists for al Qaeda to use and train other Americans for additional homeland attacks. Identifying these individuals is among the FBI’s highest counterterrorism priorities.
Al Qaeda Affiliates and Allies
We are also concerned by the growing threat to the West posed by al Qaeda affiliates and allies. Al Qaeda continues to exert its influence over these extremist organizations around the world, and we are increasingly concerned about the potential for some of these groups—operating in countries like Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia, and Iraq—to focus more on homeland attacks in the coming years. Several changes this past year suggest this homeland-specific agenda may be rising in prominence: collaboration and cooperation between some groups; two attempted attacks on the U.S. homeland; and the number of American extremists who have traveled or sought to travel overseas to fight or train with such groups.
The level of cooperation among al Qaeda and other terrorist groups has changed in the past year, suggesting that this collaboration and resulting threat to the homeland will increase. By sharing financial resources, training, tactical and operational expertise, and recruits, these groups have been able to withstand significant counterterrorism pressure from United States, coalition, and local government forces.
The failed attempt by Faizal Shahzad to detonate a vehicle rigged with explosive devices in Times Square in May 2010 was the first time we had seen TTP, a Pakistan-based terrorist group, expand its operational focus from attacks within its immediate region to plotting attacks against the U.S. homeland.
The attempted Christmas Day bombing of the Northwest flight to Detroit also represented the first time AQAP attempted an attack against the United States, already having demonstrated its ability to target U.S. interests in Yemen. Much like al Qaeda, AQAP was able to identify a willing recruit who was committed to attacking the United States and whose background did not raise traditional security scrutiny. Like core al Qaeda’s use of Zazi, TTP’s use of Shazhad—a naturalized U.S. citizen who had lived for years in the United States—to attempt to attack the homeland underscores the operational roles Americans can play for al Qaeda and its affiliates.
The number of persons from the United States who attempted to travel overseas to various conflict zones to receive terrorist training or combat experience during the past year also poses a challenge. While the motivations for such travel are diverse, as are the backgrounds of the individuals we see interested in such opportunities, we remain concerned about this development.
Once Americans are able to travel overseas and make the right connections with extremists on the ground, they could be targeted for participation in homeland-specific attack plans, as happened in the cases of Zazi and Shahzad.
In particular, Somalia has garnered the attention of many American extremists, as at least two dozen Americans have successfully made it there to train or fight over the past few years. Recent disruptions inside the United States show that some Americans still desire to travel there to receive training or even fight on behalf of al Shabaab, a designated terrorist organization.
Homegrown Extremism and Radicalization
Threats from homegrown violent extremists—those who have lived primarily inside the United States and commit acts of violence in furtherance of objectives promoted by a foreign terrorist organization, but who act without direction from a foreign terrorist organization—remain a concern. Like Finton and Smadi, these individuals are inspired by the global jihadist movement to commit violent acts in the United States and may use the Internet to connect with other extremists, but do not necessarily receive direct guidance from terrorist groups overseas.
During the past year, the threat from radicalization has evolved. A number of disruptions occurred involving extremists from a diverse set of backgrounds, geographic locations, life experiences, and motivating factors that propelled them along their separate radicalization pathways. Beyond the sheer number of disruptions and arrests that have come to light, homegrown extremists are increasingly more savvy, harder to detect, and able to connect with other extremists overseas.
Although no single factor helps to explain why the radicalization phenomenon now may be more pronounced inside the United States, several factors may be important in assisting our efforts to understand the current dynamic. The attraction of foreign conflict zones to American extremists is significant, and we have already seen a number of Americans travel overseas for extremist purposes. While difficult to measure, it is possible more American extremists are feeling increasingly disenchanted with living in the United States or angry about U.S. and Western foreign policy, making their decision to leave for extremist opportunities abroad all the more appealing. The increase in extremist propaganda in English may also have an impact.
Moreover, as the Internet continues to shape the way American society engages in so much of our daily lives and routines, so too has it had a profound impact on the radicalization dynamic. The Internet has expanded as a platform for spreading extremist propaganda, a tool for online recruiting, and a medium for social networking with like-minded violent extremists, all of which may be contributing to the pronounced state of radicalization inside the United States.
Addressing the Threat
Addressing our most critical threats requires a holistic picture and understanding of the threat environment at home and abroad. To enhance this understanding, the FBI issued 24 threat priorities, designed to help the FBI focus its resources on the development of a uniform national domain awareness and intelligence collection strategy. These priorities do not replace the eight operational priorities that have been in place since 2002; instead, they focus on sub-program threats that will help the FBI prioritize intelligence activities within each of the operational priorities.
Input from FBI field offices on the threats within their domain will continue to inform the national picture of these threats—their presence, intent and capabilities, our source penetration, and liaison contacts who can provide intelligence—and the focus and potential impact of our current investigations.
A key focus in the coming year will be using this understanding to develop national operational strategies to stay ahead of trends and protect our nation from the threat of terrorist radicalization in the United States.
Partnerships and Outreach
Our partnerships with local law enforcement are critical in gaining an understanding of the threat environment and protecting our nation and its citizens. In more than 100 locations nationwide, our Joint Terrorism Task Forces—composed of members from local, state, tribal, and federal law enforcement and intelligence agencies—share information and conduct operations to prevent and dismantle terrorist plots. The FBI, in coordination with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), is committed to having a nationwide approach to participating in state and local fusion centers.
The FBI, the National Counterterrorism Center, and DHS have joined together on an initiative to enhance our collective understanding of homegrown violent extremism in the United States. The effort leverages the key capabilities of the law enforcement community and includes enhanced information sharing, training, and analysis.
The FBI is also collaborating with DHS to issue joint intelligence products on radicalization to federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement personnel.
Intelligence-driven investigations also require a unity of effort with our partners overseas. Global cooperation is necessary to combat terrorism, and through more than 60 legal attaché offices around the world, the FBI has strengthened relationships with our international partners and expanded our global reach. The FBI’s assistance in investigating the recent bombings in Uganda provided greater insight and understanding of international terrorist networks that pose a threat to the United States.
Finally, the FBI understands that protecting America requires the cooperation and understanding of the public. Since the 9/11 attacks, the FBI has developed an extensive outreach program to Muslim, South Asian, and Sikh communities to develop trust, address concerns, and dispel myths in those communities about the FBI and the U.S. government. As part of this effort, in 2009 the FBI established the Specialized Community Outreach Team (SCOT), composed of special agents, analysts, community outreach specialists, and personnel with language or other specialized skills. This team assists field offices with establishing new contacts in key communities.
Events in Minneapolis involving U.S. persons being recruited in Somali-American communities to travel overseas and fight with the Somali-based terrorist group al Shabaab provided the opportunity to implement a pilot SCOT program. Representatives of the SCOT deployed to a select number of cities that have a high ethnic Somali population. These personnel bring a cultural awareness and sensitivity to the community and a professionalism that facilitates the first steps of engagement with local leaders, who have welcomed the opportunity. SCOT also provides recommendations to the field office for engagement strategy within the community. This program’s methodology can be implemented proactively with all communities.
Chairman Lieberman and Ranking Member Collins, I would like to conclude by thanking you and this committee for your service and support. The FBI is in a better position to understand the threats facing the homeland than we were even a year ago. Since 9/11, the FBI has evolved to meet the shifting terrorist threat. We must never stop evolving, but we can say that nine years later, our analysis is deeper, our operations more sophisticated, and our knowledge more three-dimensional.
For 100 years, FBI employees have dedicated themselves to safeguarding justice, to upholding the rule of law, and to defending freedom. On behalf of the men and women of the FBI, I look forward to working with you to enhance the capabilities needed to protect the United States.
|
<urn:uuid:d647f753-adb5-4505-9c6e-77a8dea88a02>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.fbi.gov/news/testimony/nine-years-after-9-11-confronting-the-terrorist-threat-to-the-u.s
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00031-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.95254
| 3,130
| 1.757813
| 2
|
Candida overgrowth is a relatively common health condition that requires some discipline to combat. For foodies, especially, the Candida diet can be difficult to adhere to because it is so regimented. Further complicating the matter is the fact that the Candida diet, just like most strict meal plans, can be relatively expensive. Fortunately, there are ways you can get the nutrients you need on a Candida diet while on a budget. Consider these options.
Use natural antifungal alternatives. Candida albicans, the microorganism you are battling, is actually a fungus. Therefore, antifungal products are a necessary element of the Candida diet. You can spend a lot of money on expensive brand-name antifungal products, but these products are really just manufactured combinations of nutrients that you can purchase separately in order to save a lot of money. Supplement your diet with antifungals like grapefruit seed extract, tea tree oil, coconut oil, and garlic oil, and leave the fancy commercial formulations on the shelf. (more…)
|
<urn:uuid:0f4a75ff-51d4-4368-8f40-713f1d87dfe7>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.carteleralibertaria.org/
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00037-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.928945
| 217
| 1.507813
| 2
|
Activated Carbon Basics
Activated carbon is like a radio: everyone knows it works, but few people know exactly how. This article is a brief summary of the sources of carbons, the activation process, the principle of adsorption, and the range of current applications.
The wide world of carbon
Carbon can exist in a number of forms with either crystalline or amorphous structures. The most well known crystalline forms are diamonds and graphite, the uses of which are widespread and well documented. The amorphous forms include carbon black, carbon fibers, and porous carbons, all of which are obtained by heating or burning under controlled conditions such carbonaceous materials as coal, coconut shells, wood, peat, lignite, and petroleum. The carbonaceous material is usually solid and naturally occurring.
Porous carbons are obtained as a residue after the volatile components of the carbonaceous material are removed by a thermal process in the absence of air. The most important products are cokes and charcoals, which are used in very large quantities in the iron and steel industry. Charcoal is the product that provides the raw material for activated carbon.
Charcoal has to be treated further in order to develop the extensive internal pore structure that categorizes activated carbon. Adsorption capacity is determined to a great extent by the degree of development of this internal pore structure, and also by the nature of the carbon's surface chemistry (acidic or alkaline).
How carbon is "activated"
The most common method is the steam activation process, which is accomplished in two stages. The material is first carbonized to an intermediate product, the pores of which are either too small or too constricted for it to be a useful adsorbent. Enlarging the pore structure to produce a more accessible internal surface area is then achieved by chemically reacting the carbonized product with steam at a temperature between 800°C and 1,000°C.
The reaction takes place on all of the internal surfaces of the carbons, removing carbon from the pore walls and thereby enlarging them. Control of temperature is critical. If the temperature is below 800°C, the rate of reaction is too slow to be economical (the energy cost to open up the pore structure increases while the yield decreases). Above 1,000°C, the reaction becomes erosive, concentrating on the outer layer of the carbon particles, reducing each particle is size, and leaving the interior unactivated.
Careful control of the steam activation process, therefore, allows the pore size to be readily altered to suit a wide range of specific applications. For the adsorption of smaller molecules from solution, i.e., water purification, the pore structure obviously does not have to be opened up to the same extent as for the adsorption of larger molecules.
Activated carbon can be manufactured in powder, granular, pellet, spherical and block forms. Rotary, vertical, and multiple hearth kilns are all used, depending on the individual preferences of each manufacturer. Activated carbon that has been determined through laboratory testing to be spent may often be reactivated in a kiln and reused.
Adsorption is the process by which fluid molecules become attached to a surface by physical or chemical forces (or a combination of both). In physical adsorption the impurities are held on the surface of the carbon by low level van der Waals forces, while in chemisorption the forces are relatively strong and occur at active sites on the surface. Physical adsorption is predominant when using activated carbon in water purification, and the efficiency of the carbon will depend upon its accessible surface. The activated carbon actually removes the impurity in bleaching operations where
a colored impurity is chemically changed to a colorless material.
A number of factors can affect adsorption such as pore size distribution, molecular size of the impurity, particle size of the carbon, temperature of the carbon treatment, and the pH of the solution. The following relationships, however, generally apply when other variables are held constant
- Adsorption efficiency increases as the particle size of the impurity decreases.
- Adsorption efficiency increases as the temperature decreases.
- Adsorption efficiency increases as the contaminant solubility decreases.
- Adsorption efficiency increases as contact time is increased.
Activated carbons which have been chemically coated or treated are referred to as impregnated carbons. These specialized adsorbents are available in both granular and pelletized forms, and provide advanced treatment technology for many commercial applications. Impregnated activated carbon adsorbs and
retains specific gases long enough for the chemical impregnant to react with the contaminant and form a stable or fixed compound within the carbon, thus eliminating the contaminant from the stream.
Impregnated carbons have been specifically formulated for many chemical compounds which have proven to be difficult to control with standard activated carbons. Examples of these compounds include ammonia, mercury, sulfur dioxide, hydrogen sulfide, ethylene, hydrogen chloride, chlorine, methyl iodide,
formaldehyde, and hydrogen cyanide.
Potable water carbons
Many specialty carbons have been developed specifically as filter media for the POU/POE industry. For example, Barnebey & Sutcliffe offers more than 30 NSF-approved grades of activated carbon for the removal of taste and odor, chlorine, chloramines, THMs, and other contaminants. Silver impregnated carbons are also available for the control of bacteria growth within the filter.
Purification with carbon is a centuries-old technique which in recent decades has become much more effective and economical through advanced production processes and chemical technology. Today, millions of tons of activated carbons are sold annually for uses ranging from air and water filtration to recovery of precious metals and industrial solvents.
Three groups of pores can be distinguished in an activated carbon
- 1. Micropores (0-20 Angstrom*)
- 2. Transitional pores (20-500 Angstrom*)
- 3. Macropores (> 500 Angstrom*)
*One angstrom = 0.0000001 mm, or one tenth the size of a sugar granule.
The major portion of the surface area is derived from the small diameter micropore and the medium diameter transitional pore regions. Micropores have been found to be the most effective in trapping small molecules in gas and liquid phase applications. The transitional pore region is most suitable for adsorbing large molecular species such as color molecules.
The raw material for an activated carbon plays a major part in determining the ability of the final product to adsorb certain molecular species. Activated carbons produced from coconut shells exhibit a predominance of micropores, while coal based carbons have a wider range of transitional pores. The development of an extensive macropore structure is found when either peat or wood is used as the raw material.
For carbons with a predominance of micropores, the internal surface area is incredibly large. Many activated carbons have internal areas in the region of 500 to 1,500 square meters per gram, and it is this enormous area which makes them effective adsorbents. Viewed another way, just one pound of activated carbon at 950 m2/g has the equivalent surface area of 100 football fields. All organic compounds will be selectively adsorbed in the activated carbon
pores dependent on their size.
|
<urn:uuid:1dc95ed6-cc7b-4af5-b9ca-269894d73346>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.wqpmag.com/activated-carbon-basics
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00030-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.934951
| 1,538
| 3.890625
| 4
|
Archive for the ‘Boomtown Rats’ Category
Twenty-six years ago today, on two different continents, the music world came together for a worthy cause: to raise awareness of famine in Ethiopia. Live Aid, a pair of concerts organized by Bob Geldof in London and Philadelphia on July 13, 1985 and broadcasted live on the BBC, ABC and MTV, was seen in person by some 172,000 people and on television by nearly 2 billion across the globe.
And, if you can believe it, none of it has ever been released on LP or CD.
Granted, it’s not entirely unsurprising. Geldof promised artists that the performances were very much a one-off, never to be seen past the initial broadcast. (That of course turned out to be untrue, with the release of a four-disc DVD set in 2004.) But you have to wonder, given not only the fiercely charitable nature of the organization as well as the capitalistic nature of the music industry, why a commemorative album was never put out to raise even more money for charities.
But if they did, this is how it might go down.
|
<urn:uuid:b1ef8ad9-6e6e-4e3b-b1cf-d97ddfb00a51>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://theseconddisc.com/category/boomtown-rats/
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.971909
| 240
| 1.796875
| 2
|
inflammation can be treated two ways, Heat or cold therapy.
Heat Therapy: Heat increases blood flow and makes connective tissue more flexible. It temporarily decreases joint stiffness, pain, and muscle spasms. Heat also helps reduce inflammation and the buildup of fluid in tissues (edema). Heat therapy is used to treat inflammation (including various forms of arthritis), muscle spasm, and injuries such as sprains and strains.
Cold Therapy (Cryotherapy) may help numb tissues and relieve muscle spasms, acute low back pain, and acute inflammation. The therapist limits the time and amount of cold exposure to avoid damaging tissues and reducing body temperature (causing hypothermia). Cold is not applied to tissues with a reduced blood supply (for example, when the arteries are narrowed by peripheral arterial disease).
A simple to use thermal pack is usually available in pharmacies or online drug store. Our favorite product to treat inflammation is Nature Creation herbal pack. This product is made of 9 essential natural herbs which can be used as hot or cold treatments. These flexibility allow us to adapt the functions to meet our treatments.
In addition, Nature Creation products are commonly used to relief headache/ migraine, back pain, neck pain, menstrual pain, carpal tunnel syndrome, and other joints pain. The website is very intuitive and will guide you to pick the right product for your needs.
|
<urn:uuid:83f9b0c3-2c31-4833-9497-dc312e65f411>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://naturecreation.com/blog/tag/treatments-for-hot-inflammation/
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00023-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.925397
| 276
| 2.03125
| 2
|
Descriptive Geography and Brief Historical Sketch of Palestine
By Rabbi Joseph Schwarz, 1850
A Short Description of Safed
This little town is situated on the summit of a high mount, in the mountains of Naphtali, in one of the handsomest districts of the whole country, with a very wide prospect all round, and with a clear and pure atmosphere, wherefore it is naturally very healthy. The name of the town is nowhere mentioned in Scripture, and it was therefore undoubtedly built at a period subsequent to the biblical records. Josephus, in his Jewish War, Book ii. chap. 25., mentions a town Seph or Zeph, in Galilee; unquestionably our modern Safed. So also we find in Yerushalmi Rosh Hashanah, ii., a town צפת Zefath. But except in these two places, I could find no vestige of the name in any other book of antiquity. So also I find no mention of Safed in all the middle ages before 4947 (1187); since the celebrated historian, Rabbi Joseph Hakkohen (דברי הימים דרבי יוסף הכהן) relates, that at the battle of Chatun, the Christians fled as far as the fort of Safid, undoubtedly Safed, where a small and ancient castle yet exists.
In the year 4930 (1170), when R. Benjamin of Tudela travelled through Palestine, he mentions no Jews as residing in Safed. Only in the year 5250 (1490), it commenced to be inhabited by Jews uninterruptedly to the present time; and since then the most distinguished and most learned men were residents of it. About the year 5330 (1570), the number of the Jews was so uncommonly great, that they had seventeen Synagogues, among which, one belonged to the Ashkenazim; they had even a Jewish printing office, that of R. Abraham Ashkenazi, in Safed, Birieh, and En Setun, two villages yet existing near Safed, although no Jews now reside there. I myself have seen a Midrash Agur printed in Safed in the year 5386 (1626). It would appear that the Jewish population had at that time reached its greatest extent, and commenced then gradually to diminish.
In 5518 (1758), Safed was visited by an earthquake, through which 200 houses were destroyed, and 140 Jews lost their lives. Those who escaped, deprived of their shelter, left it in consequence, settled elsewhere, and only 50 Jewish families remained behind. In 5520 (1760), there were yet standing five Synagogues. In the years 5525, 5537, and 5540 (1765, 1777, and 1780), many Jews from Poland settled in Safed, and it began to flourish a little in consequence of this immigration. In 5572 (1812), all Galilee was visited with a frightful pestilence, and in Safed the mortality was so great that scarcely one fifth of the entire population escaped with life. Many fled to Jerusalem; but the plague, having been carried thither by the fugitives, broke out subsequently there also, and raged with violence. It was only after the lapse of several years that Safed recovered in a measure; and the Jews lived very happily under the protection, or rather government, of the noble R. Chayim Pharchi, of Akko, until the tyrannical Abdalla Pacha commenced his misrule there, in 5580 (1820).
In the year 5594 (1834), during the rebellion of the Arabs and Bedouins against Abraim Pacha, Safed suffered from a fearful calamity. On Sunday, the 8th of Sivan (June), a very large number of Arabs and Bedouins from the environs of Safed, aided by those from the east of the Jordan, suddenly surprised the Jewish quarter of the town, and wasted and destroyed everything to such a degree that I am not able to paint accurately the scene of devastation which then ensued. Everything was carried off which could possibly be removed, even articles of no value; boxes, chests, packages, without even opening them, were dragged away; and the fury with which this crowd attacked their defenceless victims was boundless. One of the Bedouins in his eagerness dragged off so heavy a box that he was a corpse after a few hours in consequence of the violent exertions he had made. A good old Arab woman, who lived near the Jewish quarter, reproved her son for his barbarous proceedings against his worthy neighbour, who had always shown himself so friendly towards him, and begged him to spare the same. But the Arab became so incensed at this reproof, that he gave his own mother such a blow that she soon after expired.
The Jews in consequence left everything behind, and fled into the open country, some going to Birieh, others to En Setun, and others to Meron, where they found here and there some old acquaintances among the Arabs, who had compassion enough on them to permit them to take shelter for the moment in their courts, although it was merely under the bare sky, naked as they were, and deprived of all their possessions. There lay thus a crowd of several hundred men and women, old and young, nay, women who were expecting to become mothers, or who had just given birth to a child, all intermixed, with scarcely any garments to cover their bodies, since even their clothes had been stripped from them by the savages, and with scarcely a drink of cold water to quench their thirst. Nevertheless, on account of the very old acquaintance subsisting between them and many of their protecting Arabs, who at the same time were probably moved by the hope of a hundred-fold return, they received here and there in a few days a little Bedouin bread, the so-called Pitta, which is scarcely fit to eat, and this in such small quantities, that each individual obtained daily as much as the size of three fowls' eggs.
This miserable situation continued for six weeks, to the 22d of Tamuz (July). In addition to all this suffering, they were kept in constant danger of their lives, as it was all along reported that they were all to be killed by the roving band who had first attacked them; and they had thus to dread, the whole of this fearful time, that every day, every hour, might prove their last. Several, however, of the Jews, especially the Ashkenazim, who were perfectly familiar with the Arabic language, and thoroughly acquainted with the customs and habits of these Arabs, had the courage to procure the poor dress of the Bedouins with a few arms, through which means they resembled the robbers so thoroughly that they could not be recognised, and they therefore could mix freely among the miserable rabble, and commence plundering in their turn; they had thus a good opportunity to go to their own dwellings, and recover the gold, silver, and money, which they had hidden under ground.
While thus occupied, they often were met by the real robbers, and they had then to divide the booty equally and fairly with them; and it thus happened that many a one of these pretended Jewish robbers broke into his own house, where, but a few days or even hours before he had dwelt happily as the head of the family, surrounded by those dear to him, and now sat as a marauding Arab, in the midst of such society, speaking ill, quite indifferently and in a merry mood, of his own people, in order to play successfully his dangerous part, although his heart might be torn and bleeding all the time, and being compelled, after ransacking all, to divide his own property with these bloodhounds. Nevertheless, much was saved in this manner which otherwise would have been lost.
The whole Jewish quarter was thus demolished, and was uninhabited during full six weeks, so that wild beasts began to take up their abode in the same, and on the return of our people they actually found a tiger in a ruined cellar. As might be expected, many were greatly misused during this scene of rapine, others were wounded and maimed, and several were actually slain. The Synagogues were particularly exposed to the fury of the assailants; the rolls of the law were trodden upon and cut in pieces; Tephillin and Tallethim were used as straps and coverings for their cattle; books were torn into shreds; in brief, everything was blasphemously destroyed, so that even a cannibal might be ashamed of such doings.
During nearly all this time the robber-troop remained in Safed, first, in order to be able to search often among the ruins, in the hope of finding yet something not before discovered, till at length not a bit of wood was left, and doors, windows, and boards were all torn away; and secondly, to divide, by degrees, their booty among themselves. They were perfectly safe and unmolested; for they had learned that Abraim Pacha was, at the moment, so much occupied at Jerusalem and vicinity with his enemies there, that he could not go into Galilee. They also took the precaution to guard all the roads, and placed sentinels everywhere, so that the poor prisoners could not give any information abroad of their pitiful condition.
But “behold, the Guardian of Israel slumbers not and sleeps not;” and the chiefs of the congregation succeeded, notwithstanding the vigilance of the Arabs, to send an account of all that had occurred to the consuls at Chaifa, Akko, and Beirut. These now united as one man to inform Abraim Pacha at once of these events, and they represented to him the great danger in which the poor Jews were, and asked of him to interpose by force without delay. But as it was then impossible for him to make a campaign in Galilee, he commanded the chief of the Druses, Amir Abshir, with whom he stood in friendly relations, to advance in all haste to save the unfortunate Jews from the power of the Bedouins.
Abshir therefore appeared suddenly in Safed on the 22d of Tamuz, with a strong force of Druses, and the Israelites were relieved; they now returned, but found everything totally ruined and destroyed. But a new scene was now enacted, as severe measures were demanded against the robbers. Many of the Bedouins belonging to the east side of Jordan saved themselves by flight; still, many of them were taken by the Druses. The most respectable Mahomedans of Safed and its environs were arrested as the authors of the outrage, and some of them were afterwards publicly executed, and whatever could be found of the stolen property of the Jews was restored. Every Jew was believed, when saying that he recognised this or that Arab among the robbers. The person so accused was instantly arrested, and punished with blows till he at last confessed and gave up his booty. Even many of the richest and most respectable of the Arabs were arrested, loaded with chains, and punished, upon the mere assertion of a very poor and common Jew. The word of a Jew was regarded as equal to the command of the highest authority, and severe punishment was at once resorted to, without any previous investigation, without any grounds or proofs. In this manner much of the stolen property was discovered; since many, in order not to be exposed to the violence of the Druses, delivered up everything of their own accord. The Jews were now required, by order of the Pacha, through the intervention of the consuls, to make out a correct list of all they had lost, of whatever they missed, and to indicate the true value of the same, and to hand it in to Abraim Pacha through means of the European consuls. The losses thus ascertained amounted to several millions of piasters.* Abraim devised a plan to collect, by force, gradually, a sum equal to this amount, from the inhabitants of the country. It was divided into several terms of payment; and the Jews actually received a part of their losses. But through later mishaps by which the land was visited, such as earthquakes and deficiency of harvest, it became impoverished; and not long afterwards Abraim lost the government, everything got into confusion, and thus the Jews were repaid scarcely one-fourth of what they had lost. The whole Jewish community of Safed is accordingly impoverished.
Finally, the terrible earthquake of the 24th of Tebeth, 5597 (January, 1837), destroyed Safed completely. On this occasion 1500 Jews lost their lives, and were buried with all their possessions in a moment of time. The few who escaped alive settled elsewhere; and the town only commenced to recover a little, and to be rebuilt and again inhabited, after the lapse of several years. In addition to this, when, in 5598 (1838), Abraim Pacha was engaged in a violent contest with the Druses, these surprised Safed suddenly in the month of Tamuz, at the same time of the year in which they had appeared four years before as protectors and defenders, plundered and ill treated the Jews yet remaining there, and thus destroyed completely the last vestige of their prosperity. Under the present government, Safed is left entirely exposed to the pleasure of the surrounding Bedouins and Arabs, and its Jewish inhabitants lead a constant life of terror.
There are at present two congregations in Safed; 1, the Sephardim, numbering about 130 families, with one Synagogue; and 2, the Ashkenazim, numbering about 200 families, also with one Synagogue.
|
<urn:uuid:5fec6ff0-b90c-4aa9-a43b-0308e0dbda10>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.zionistmall.com/palestine/safed.html
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00048-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.987141
| 2,868
| 3.15625
| 3
|
Five Niagara University students learned the ropes and a whole lot more during a three-week environmental science program that took place aboard an authentic 19th century wooden sailing ship. Lauren Kapus,’13 (left), Jason Davis, ’13 (center), Danielle Graham, ’14 (right), Joe Grenga, ’12, and Carolyn Trabert, ’12, boarded the Flagship Niagara, a reproduction of Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry’s flagship from the Battle of Lake Erie during the War of 1812, in Erie, Pa., on July 26. While sailing the Great Lakes, the students studied a customized, credit-bearing curriculum that focused on biology, ecology, chemistry and natural history. They also served as vessel “trainees,” assisting the 18 professional crew members in hauling lines and setting sails. This amazing experiential learning experience, which concluded in Chicago, Ill., on Aug. 15, was a first of its kind.
|
<urn:uuid:935a3b61-6493-4a74-941b-17a15aa818fe>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://eagleonline.niagara.edu/1-000-words/
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00031-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.95528
| 208
| 2.359375
| 2
|
An Obama Halloween: The White House Prepares for the Spooky Holiday (Video)
Trick or treaters will apparently get nothing but treats on Saturday at the President's residence.
The White House is preparing for its annual Halloween festivities, which includes meticulous decorations and trick or treaters on Saturday.
According to The Huffington Post, President Barack Obama and the First Lady Michelle Obama will take a break from the campaign trail to welcome students from 17 area public schools, participants from the Boys and Girls Clubs, and children of military families to The White House on Saturday. It would be the Obamas’ third time they have opened 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue to children for Halloween.
The visit should be all treats for the children. The building’s North Portico, also known as The White House’s façade, will be lit orange. And the entertainment will include local theatre actors, a pumpkin carving demonstration and festive decorations.
The kids’ trick or treat goodies will include M&Ms especially made for The White House, sugar cookies, and dried fruit. After all it can’t all be candy as one of the First Lady’s biggest causes is decreasing childhood obesity in America. But, she’s apparently willing to compromise for Halloween… with moderation.
Watch the video below as the staff describes what goes into an Obama Halloween.
- MOST SHARED
- MOST POPULAR
|
<urn:uuid:227bd016-ab23-4b71-914e-d12a116dd65a>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/an-obama-halloween-white-house-254896
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00032-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.916318
| 290
| 1.59375
| 2
|
I continually push the young women in my classes to speak more.The author, Anne-Marie Slaughter, is a Professor of Politics and International Affairs at Princeton University. Somebody please tell me why Princeton University — Princeton University! — is admitting women who need to be continually pushed to speak more. In the 21st century. They don't deserve the seats they fill. They shouldn't be coddled. They should be flunked out. You get into Princeton and you sit there too timid — or too withholding — to speak? Unacceptable. The teacher shouldn't be prodding you.
They must gain the confidence to value their own insights and questions, and to present them readily.Is this kindergarten? This is Princeton! How many applications for admission did Princeton turn down in the process of matriculating these ladies?
Yesterday, I saw the old bumper sticker: "Well-Behaved Women Seldom Make History," and we had a conversation about whether the sentiment had any relevance today. I took the position that it did, because women still succumb to the cultural expectation that they should be pleasing and well-liked. It's a problem. Get over it or don't, but why are you occupying classroom space that could be used to good effect by someone who doesn't need a university professor to nurture her to the point where she can "present" her "insights" "readily"? If you'd confessed your limitation on your application form, the university could — and should — have rejected you.
My husband agrees...A classic feminist line!
... but he actually tries to get the young men in his classes to act more like the women—to speak less and listen more. If women are ever to achieve real equality as leaders, then we have to stop accepting male behavior and male choices as the default and the ideal.Yes, men. You need to back off and behave more like the women who need the professor to continually push them to value their insights so that they may present them readily. The future depends on your going beta.
We must insist on changing social policies and bending career tracks to accommodate our choices, too. We have the power to do it if we decide to, and we have many men standing beside us.Insist. Try a petite stamping of the foot while you insist. Yes, you can, little lady. And little men: Behave yourselves!
|
<urn:uuid:4a5f0bac-ca8d-45ea-bd49-8395ed8dc871>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://althouse.blogspot.com/2012/06/well-behaved-women-dont-deserve-spot-at.html?showComment=1340303606428
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00035-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.966858
| 488
| 1.804688
| 2
|
The title of Donald Rumsfeld's memoir, Known and Unknown, comes from a statement he made during one of his famous "must-see" press conferences otherwise known as "spanking sessions for defense nerds" that occurred between September 11, 2001 and the start of the Iraq War on March 19, 2003.
In February, 2002, Rumsfeld was asked whether Iraq had supplied terrorists with weapons of mass destruction. His response:
Reports that say that something hasn’t happened are always interesting to me...because, as we know, there are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns — the ones we don’t know we don’t know.
Rumsfeld's "weird foray into the previously known unknown of metaphysical epistemology," as one critic put it, has been the subject of much interpretation, serving, for instance, as the launch-off point for the philosopher Slavoj Žižek's mind-bending discourse The Reality of the Virtual, in which Žižek added an additional category, the "unknown known," to Rumsfeld's "epistemological puzzle."
Žižek's idea of the interrelation between the symbolic, the imaginary and the real is a fascinating, although quite dense, discussion of the way we view ourselves and our supposedly "post-political" world, a post-9/11 world in which Donald Rumsfeld is a key figure.
And in this sense, "Known and UnKnown" is also a very apt title for Rumsfeld's memoir, which aims, with the benefit of hindsight, to give Rumsfeld's version of the tumultuous events that marked the start of the 21st century. "Tell it like it happened, Don," Henry Kissinger advised his old friend when they discussed the book. "Don't gloss things over. I didn't," Kissinger added with emphasis. Rumsfeld will be appearing LIVE on Big Think this coming Wednesday, May 30 at 10:30 AM EST.
What is Known and What is New?
The most significant development since the publication of the hardcover addition of Known and UnKnown last year was the death of Osama bin Laden. In light of this, Rumsfeld has added a new preface to the paperback addition, so that bin Laden's death is an event that appropriately bookends his account of the War on Terror, an episode that occupies roughly half of this 800-page memoir.
And yet, I would warn any reader against the temptation to skip over the first few hundred pages to get to 'the good stuff.' After all, Rumsfeld was both the youngest and oldest Secretary of Defense. His career was marked by the dramatic evolution of U.S. foreign policy, from detente to the strategy of "we win, they lose."
In order to understand the full significance of recent events, Known and UnKnown presents the essential context in politics and foreign policy over the last half-century from a man who played a decisive role at nearly ever turn.
So now you've now been given fair warning. You've got a few days, so get reading, and we'll see you on Wednesday.
Image courtesy of Shutterstock
Follow Daniel Honan on Twitter @Daniel Honan
|
<urn:uuid:55c571ae-a01f-48e5-aae7-6050a64c0f39>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://bigthink.com/think-tank/known-and-unknown-donald-rumsfelds-reality-of-the-virtual
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.976577
| 703
| 2.28125
| 2
|
ST. PAUL, MN — Ecolab Inc. has joined the United Nations (UN) Global Compact, the world''s largest voluntary corporate sustainability initiative, according to a press release.
Ecolab Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Douglas M. Baker, Jr., also endorsed the UN Global Compact''s CEO Water Mandate, furthering the company''s commitment to sustainable water policies and practices, the release stated.
"The 10 principles of the UN Global Compact align with Ecolab''s values regarding human rights, fair labor practices, environmental protection and anti-corruption," said Baker.
"The CEO Water Mandate aligns with Ecolab''s efforts to advance sustainable water solutions around the world through our partnerships with our customers, nongovernmental organizations, suppliers and other groups to help ensure sustainable water management," Baker added.
According to the release, the UN Global Compact was created in 2000 as part of the United Nation''s efforts to increase support of the Millennium Development Goals; more than 8,700 companies around the world are now participants.
The CEO Water Mandate is a public-private initiative under the UN Global Compact designed to assist companies in the development, implementation and disclosure of sustainable water policies and practices; more than 80 Global Compact participants have endorsed the CEO Water Mandate, the release noted.
Click here to read the complete release.
|
<urn:uuid:b9dd1e58-fcab-4d36-9879-c2f74fb4b2ea>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.cmmonline.com/articles/ecolab-commits-to-un-global-compact-2
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.927783
| 283
| 1.742188
| 2
|
Vote As If Your Life Depends On It: Especially for US, It Does!
Toxic Exposure and the Importance of Civic Engagement in Communities of Color
In response to the disturbing information crossing my desk about the disproportionate dumping of oiled waste from the BP Oil Drilling Disaster in communities of color, I called our friend at the EPA and asked that he set up some visits for us to tour these landfills, as well as the waste processing centers, a.k.a. “staging areas” so that we can get a sense of what’s going on, why, and how it’s impacting communities of color.
What we discovered in our visits is the systemic and structural set up that makes it almost inevitable that this waste would find its way into communities of color, as so much other waste does. Of course, this is not news to the environmental justice mavens who have been fighting these battles for decades.
In fact BP didn’t just wake up and say, “we’re going to dump this waste in communities of color”, though they certainly did have choices as to where to dump. However, what governed those choices is where we begin to see the age old dynamics that result in disproportionate exposures to a variety of toxins in communities of color.
BP chose its sites based on existing permitted sites for the type of waste they were disposing. They also chose the sites based on minimizing the transport distance for the waste. A third determining factor was which facility was able to offer the lowest cost for waste disposal. The result of their selection process was that out of the nine sites selected to process the waste, six were in communities that were predominantly people of color.
Why? Because permitted landfills are already predominantly in communities of color and the owners of the landfills in those areas are able to benefit from depressed land values and can therefore outbid competitors when vying for the contracts to process waste. Conversely in the one community that was not disproportionately populated by people of color, Harrison County, in Mississippi, citizen’s action resulted in the waste not going there.
The oil drilling disaster is just one example of scores of situations that were touched on last year in our “Poisoned Communities” feature story, where multiple scenarios were shared illustrating the health impacts of exposures to landfills, industrial facilities like coal plants, etc. According to studies led by Dr. Robert Bullard, “Godfather of the Environmental Justice Movement”:
Seventy-one percent of African Americans live in counties in violation of federal air pollution standards, as compared to fifty-eight percent of the white population. Seventy-eight percent of African Americans live within thirty miles of a coal-fired power plant, as compared to fifty-six percent of non-Hispanic whites. Asthma, which has a strong correlation to many of the same airborne pollutants that drive climate change, affects African Americans at a 36 percent higher rate of incidence than whites. African Americans are hospitalized for asthma at three times the rate of whites and die of asthma at twice the rate of whites.
Sheila and her family in Dickson, TN who drank water contaminated by landfill seepage for years and are now afflicted with various forms of cancer, the New Albany IN families of the deceased coal plant worker and the family matriarch who lived two miles from the same plant, both of whom died of lung cancer never smoked a day in their lives, are just two of the many other examples of the combination of toxic exposure and lack of civic engagement needed to protect these communities.
On the victory side, the families in Chicago who surround the toxin emitting coal fired power plants and also experience a disproportionate level of respiratory diseases according to the Harvard School of Public Health studies, led by the Little Village Environmental Justice Organization are fighting back. They have organized together and are now in the process of passing an ordinance regulating the toxic emissions from the two most toxic coal plants in the nation. That’s the power of civic engagement!
What can we do to ensure that our interests are being served in zoning, permitting, and other decision making that is central to our health, economic security, and general wellbeing? We can make sure we are in hose decision making spaces, whether it’s the zoning boards, the city councils, the school boards, the disaster planning committees, etc. We need to make sure we are at every table representing the needs, the interests, and the rights of our communities. We also need to make sure we hold folks in those positions, folks we need to be responsible for putting in the places that will impact our lives, accountable for how they act and in whose interests. Thirdly we need to get involved even when we are not directly in those positions, such as what LVEJO helped the residents in Chicago do in developing and advancing that ordinance.
However, foremost, and most immediately, we need to vote. That’s something that we can all do, that we have a right to do and that we must do! Through the candidate selection process, which should be based on candidate records and actions on the issues that serve the interests of the communities, we can ensure that those in place have a history of making choices that are in the interest of our communities. By voting and demonstrating that communities of color are a formidable bloc that can be responsible for the rise and fall of elected officials, we can ensure that those in elected office are accountable to the needs of communities of color.Explore posts in the same categories: Uncategorized
|
<urn:uuid:5f8e8d2f-8967-403a-88b9-7f8a4d3890ea>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://climatejusticeinitiative.wordpress.com/2010/11/01/vote-as-if-your-life-depends-on-it-especially-for-us-it-does/
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.96714
| 1,139
| 2.546875
| 3
|
[SciPy-Dev] Expanding Scipy's KDE functionality
Thu Jan 24 10:41:49 CST 2013
<josef.pktd <at> gmail.com> writes:
> On Thu, Jan 24, 2013 at 9:49 AM, Daniel Smith <smith.daniel.br <at> gmail.com> wrote:
> > Ok, let's see if I can respond to everyone's comments.
> > >From Jake:
> >> 2) The algorithm seems limited to one or maybe two dimensions.
> >> scipy.stats.gaussian_kde is designed for N dimensions, so it might be
> >> difficult to find a fit for this bandwidth selection method. One option
> >> might be to allow this bandwidth selection method via a flag in
> >> scipy.stats.gaussian_kde, and raise an error if the dimensionality is
> >> too high. To do that, your code would need to be reworked fairly
> >> extensively to fit in the gaussian_kde class.
> > In principal, this method can be applied in N dimensions. However, I
> > think it would be unwise to do so. The method requires that you
> > simultaneously estimate the density and the bandwidth. Because of
> > that, you have to implement the method on some mesh, and mesh size
> > grows exponentially with the number of dimensions. The code certainly
> > could be reworked to work in N dimensions, but I don't think it would
> > be effective enough to be worth the effort. The results are also
> > primarily used for visualization, which is useless beyond 2-d.
> > >From Ralf:
> >> My impression is that this can't be integrated with gaussian_kde - it's not a bandwidth estimation
> method but an adaptive density estimator.
> > It's both. The bandwidth estimate falls out of the density estimate.
> > That bandwidth estimate could be easily used to generate an estimate
> > on a different mesh.
> >> My suggestion would be to implement the density estimator and do a good amount of
performance testing, at
> least show that the performance is as good as described in table 1 of the paper.
> > I can certainly do that. I will post here when the tests are up and running.
> > >From Barbier de Reuille Pierre:
> >> It should be easy to separate them and use the estimation of the bandwidth without the density
> > Unfortunately, that is not the case. The bandwidth estimate is
> > generated from a fixed point calculation based on the norm of a
> > derivative of the estimated density. Unless I am missing something, it
> > would not be possible to estimate that derivative without an explicit
> > density estimate. Fourier coordinates are used because the derivative
> > estimate is simpler in those coordinates.
> >> For example, as stated in the paper, the method is equivalent to a reflexion method with a
> kernel. But the renormalisation method gives very similar results too, without enforcing
> >> that f'(0) = 0 (i.e. first derivative is always 0 on the boundaries).
> > I have not currently implemented any boundary corrections, but it
> > would not be difficult to implement the renormalization method using
> > the bandwidth estimate from this method. It would require a second
> > density estimate, but the estimate would be much, much better than the
> > current code.
> >> Also, can you generalise the bandwidth calculation to unbounded domains? or at least half-
> (i.e. [a; oo[ or ]-oo; a])? It seems that it all depends on the domain being of finite size.
> > In fact, the method currently only works on unbounded domains. The
> > exact domain you calculate the density on is an optional parameter to
> > the density estimator function. The actual domain you calculate on has
> > to be finite because a finite mesh is needed.
> >> I have a different concern though: is it normal that the density returned by the method is not
> (i.e. the integral of the density is far from being one).
> > That's a bug. I can fix that with one line of code. I have always just
> > used the density estimate without units, because they aren't
> > particularly informative. However, the output should be normalized, or
> > at least a flag included to make it so.
> > It seems like the next step is to set up a testing regime for
> > comparison to the two existing methods to compare speed and reproduce
> > the data from Table 1 in the paper. Also, it seems likely that
> > statsmodels is the more appropriate setting for this project. In
> > particular, I want to generalize the method to periodic domains, which
> > appears to be a novel implementation so more intensive testing will
> > likely be needed.
> Related to this part:
> I would like to have in statsmodels a collection of commonly used
> examples processes, and I'd like to add the Marron, Wand examples
Do you have existing code in statsmodels for this? If I'm already
writing up such a thing for testing, it's worth
my time to integrate it into statsmodels. A lot of things are already
in np.random, but I could
extend that in statsmodels with the examples from the Botev paper
and those from the Marron
and Wand paper.
> For kernel regression, I started with this during the nonparametric merge review
> (some of those examples show that also for kernel regression we need
> adaptive bandwidth in cases with uneven "smoothness")
> I had looked at the Marron Wand examples before, but IIRC, it was for
> either orthogonal series or spline estimation.
> Statsmodels is using cython to do the binning for the fft based kde,
> but I never checked how much the speed gain is compared to
> np.histogram for example. (Skipper's work)
> > Thanks,
> > Daniel
> > _______________________________________________
> > SciPy-Dev mailing list
> > SciPy-Dev <at> scipy.org
> > http://mail.scipy.org/mailman/listinfo/scipy-dev
More information about the SciPy-Dev
|
<urn:uuid:7bd600d0-528b-4cc6-bf41-811d33cbe5c7>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://mail.scipy.org/pipermail/scipy-dev/2013-January/018222.html
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00050-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.902456
| 1,407
| 1.882813
| 2
|
Saudi relics reveal details of centuries-old civilization
Travel Agent Search
Use our search to find travel agents in the Columbus area.
A bronze head dating to before the second century is part of the display.
WASHINGTON — There is more to Saudi Arabia than sand, oil and camels.
The proof is at the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery in Washington with the “Roads of Arabia” exhibit, on display until Feb. 23.
The exhibit has more than 300 objects. It draws on treasures discovered during the past 40 years at 10 different sites on the Arabian Peninsula.
Ali al-Ghabban, vice president of antiquities and museums in Saudi Arabia, said it shows civilization dating back thousands of years: “We are not a closed civilization.”
The exhibit is broken into three parts. The first part covers the history starting with stone axes going back to the fourth millennium B.C.
Al-Ghabban points out that Arabia “at that period wasn’t desert. The weather was different, having all these types of animals.”
At the time, what made Saudi Arabia important were the networks of oases for the desert caravans. “We controlled the international trade,” Ghabban said.
Then came Islam in the seventh century, and the trade routes changed. Saudi Arabia was no longer a place to cross but a destination as the pilgrimage roads converged at Mecca. Artistic influence was applied to script, as covered in the second part of the exhibit.
The last part covers the founding of modern Saudi Arabia in 1932.
|
<urn:uuid:3de20cc2-03e7-4ac0-9fb8-00130ca3daf2>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/travel/2012/12/02/1-saudi-relics-reveal-details-of-centuries-old-civilization.html
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00066-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.953982
| 330
| 2.78125
| 3
|
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY
How to Construct Four Paper Models that Describe Island Coral Reefs
Coral landforms are unique because they are the only known landforms composed of living material. Coral attaches to any hard surface; it grows in large colonies and can develop reefs several thousand feet thick. Coral grows best in the western oceans, on the coastlines of continents and islands between latitude 250N and 250S where ocean temperatures are above 68°F. Coral grows where its food supply (plankton) is brought in by the west-blowing trade winds and where the water is clear and free of suspended sediment. The coral reef develops from coral animals that secrete lime to form their skeletons, and from algae, plants that also make limy encrustations. Coral develops as large colonies of individual animals. As the coral colonies die, new colonies are built upon them, and so a coral limestone evolves, made up almost entirely of strongly cemented limy skeletons. During strong storms, the coral is broken up and transported to form beaches, spits, and bars, which later are cemented into limestone.
Island coral generally grows on volcanic islands built up by
. Shield volcanoes can evolve to be the largest of the Earth's landforms. They are found on continents as well as in oceans. In the ocean environment, examples of island volcanos are the Hawaiian volcanoes. The Hawaiian volcanoes are huge; their submerged base is 100 mi (160 km) across and they rise more than 25,000 ft (7,620 m), to an altitude of 13,000 ft. (4,000 m) above sea level. The summit crater of the shield volcano is a wide, steep-sided crater that may be 2 mi (3.2 km) or more across and several hundred feet deep. Island shield volcanoes continue to grow by repeated lava flows both above and below sea level that issue from cracks or fissures and flow down gentle slopes.
These voluminous lava flows have low viscosities and spread out into thin sheets. With repeated lava flows, the island volcano grows, advancing a new shoreline. With time this shoreline is eroded by the ocean, and a wave-cut platform develops. As coral grows on this rocky wave-cut platform, it forms a
. Fringing reefs are coral reefs that are attached to the shore; they grow best where there is an abundant food supply and clean freshwater, and poorly near the mouths of streams where the water is muddy.
Gradually because the island is sinking, the reef grows upward along its outer margin and is called a
. Between the island and the barrier reef is a lagoon that is too deep to permit coral growth. Wave erosion along the growing edge of the coral produces fragments that are carried down the seaward slope as talus and toward the lagoon, where it forms a sediment apron along the lagoon margin. As the sinking of the island continues below sea level, the reef keeps growing, forming a ring of coral around the lagoon called an
. The upper surface of an atoll is a nearly flat surface called the reef flat, situated at or near low-tide level. Cracks are common on reef flats.
Crescent-shaped segments fall away, possibly owing to submarine slides on the slopes of the shield volcano, or to collapse of the coral because of oversteepening. Breaking off of large blocks of the coral reef by storms can result in tens of feet of relief on atolls, but the highest hills are sand dunes.
|
<urn:uuid:70ec3cb3-8173-4be5-8829-2015c2e574f9>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://geomaps.wr.usgs.gov/parks/sea/4reefs2.html
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00037-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.942842
| 743
| 4.25
| 4
|
Heart of Oak / Flickr
The sidewalk altars to the victims of violence in Oakland are an ever-present reminder of the city's desperation.
A new Dicovery Channel documentary titled Gang Wars: Oakland estimates that there are 10,000 gang members in the city of only around 400,000.
That number is much, much higher than estimates from the Oakland Police Department, which bases its numbers on people identified as gang affiliated under state anti-gang statutes.
But community activists have a more nuanced view, saying there's a difference between organized criminal "gangs" and smaller, more loosely affiliated "crews" that are responsible for the majority of the violence.
Either way, the Oakland Police Department's gang unit was disbanded due to budget cuts by the city.
But while it can be argued that more police are what's needed for the city, it would likely be more effective to look into the root cause of young people turning to lives of crime.
The criminalization property and non-violent offenses and the abject injustice of high incarceration rates paired with little educational opportunity, for instance.
Sensationalizing the issue to appeal to a national audience that seems to see Oakland as a lost cause can't be helping.
Photo by Flickr user Heart of Oak.
Jackson West can't wait to see the documentary, but generally argues that anti-gang statutes are unconstitutional restrictions on freedom of assembly and association.
|
<urn:uuid:d9abf261-87ca-49a5-8648-21ff156dcc2a>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/Oakland-Gangs-Explored-in-Documentary-jw-59388487.html
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00043-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.958963
| 289
| 2.46875
| 2
|
For those who enjoy collecting postcards, deltiology is the name of the game, and although it’s not as popular as stamp or coin collecting – postcards are actually the third largest item that collectors choose for their hobby. It is a memorable way of tracking one’s travels to different cities, countries, or continents. It was also a way for families and friends to keep in touch.
What is interesting about postcards is the history that dates back more than 150 years. In 1840, postcards were already being developed with the direct ancestor considered to be simply envelopes with pictures on them. Although these envelopes were often printed with comics, Valentines, or music on them, thousands of patriotic pictures appeared on these U.S. envelopes during the Civil War.
Four years later, in 1869, the first postal card was suggested by Dr. Emanuel Herrmann, an Austrian technical professor. It was also accepted by the Hungarian government the same year. The following year, a historical card and the first of the regularly printed cards, appeared throughout Europe. The earliest known exposition card in the U.S. appeared in 1873, a card that showed the Inter-State Industrial Exposition building in Chicago. The marks for mailing on the card depicted the bust of Liberty and a circle with the postage amount of one cent.
It wasn’t until the Columbian Exposition in 1893 that these cards were sold for souvenir purposes, and the “Golden Age” of postcards followed as millions were sold and used.
Another important part of the postcard history is that previous to 1901, writing on postcards was limited to the front part of the postcard, what we recognize today as the picture. When other countries began to permit writing on the back of the postcard, the U.S. finally consented, and in 1907, senders could write on the back, but only on the left side, as the right side was reserved for the address of the receiver. During this time, it cost one cent to send a postcard domestically and two cents overseas.
Postcards have been printed on leather, wood, plastic, and even fine silk. We send postcards to highlight our travels, to make the receiver laugh, and even to remember history. Even though the increase in postal rates has jumped to $0.23 today, postcard popularity can be seen in every kiosk and souvenir shop around the world. With varying costs from $0.20 to more than $1, postcards are a great way to send home well wishes or become a keepsake of a memorable time in one’s life.
|
<urn:uuid:673a50ed-e6bc-48c4-8b6d-c07355d9a475>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://hrshotelsgroup.com/blog/the-history-of-the-postcard
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.978592
| 545
| 3
| 3
|
It may seem difficult to choose the best city to learn English, but it can be quite easy. You will just have to write down what you are looking for in a city, such as being close to home or going abroad. Also, you would have to consider what time of the year you would like to study. The city that you would like to study in may not have any available seats during that particular time of the year.
Learn English Belfast since it is one of the main cities that use the English language. Other places include the United States and United Kingdom. In Belfast, you can take an intensive English course where you will be in a class of less than 10 people.
When it comes to accommodations, you can stay with a host family. You can choose to live in an apartment that is close to restaurants and shops. In the apartment, you can choose to have a suite mate or private room. Some of the apartments provide bedding and amenities. Another place you could stay is in a residence hall on campus. This may be a good option for someone coming from another country. You will get to socialize with other students that are learning English as well. Plus, you will not have to feel alone, especially when you are coming from another country and you do not know anybody. For all three, there is a weekly fee in order to live there. (more...)
|
<urn:uuid:50f6378d-1917-43c8-82ce-dcb781fdbd19>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.deiep-int-off.org.uk/
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00064-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.9817
| 280
| 1.914063
| 2
|
By Jessie Lawrence posted Aug 20th 2010
Let's face it. Floppy drives are so 1992 and CDs and DVDs don't conveniently fit into most people's pockets. USB flash drives are the ultimate in pocket sized storage and the possibilities for using them are virtually limitless. However, creating a flash drive that is a convenient and bootable tool is not as easy as making a bootable floppy or bootable optical disk. That is, until now.
The Corsair Flash Survivor™ GTR is already an outstanding drive with superior durability and performance.
Corsair has provided an easy to use utility that will convert your USB flash drive into a versatile bootable tool. Developed by Pendrivelinux.com, the simple installation makes the drive bootable allowing the user to boot directly to Memtest or to a FreeDOS prompt. The drive is also still fully usable as a standard USB flash drive.
The License Agreement
Once you have downloaded the tool, unzip it and run the application. If you accept the agreement and wish to use the utility to create the tool, select the I Agree option and move to the next step.
Select the Drive and Format
Next, select the USB flash drive from the dropdown menu. We recommend formatting the USB drive using this utility to ensure best results. You cannot use NTFS with this tool if you decide to manually format. Select Create and the utility will run.
The Installation is Complete
This is typically a very short procedure but the time taken can vary depending upon your drive size and speed.
Select Finish and the process is complete. The next steps illustrate how to boot to the drive and to select the utility you wish to use.
To use the utilities on your drive, you will need to boot your system with this USB drive as opposed to booting to your system's hard drive. There are 2 ways to do this:
- Option 1 below shows how you would manually select the boot menu and select the drive to which you want to boot. Refer to your manual as the key for this varies across different motherboards.
- Option 2 shows you how to set the USB flash drive as the first item in your boot order as shown below.
Either method works equally well:
Option 1, Manually Select the Boot Device
Option 2, Set the USB Flash Drive as the First Boot Device
Select the Utility you Wish to Use
Once you boot to your USB flash drive, you will see the boot menu as shown above. Select the utility you wish to use and it will be loaded. The versatility of this tool is apparent once you begin to use it. The two default utilities, Memtest86+ and FreeDOS, are invaluable during system builds and trouble shooting.
Your flash drive can become a virtual toolbox of utilities that you can carry in your pocket as opposed to carrying archaic floppy disks or bulky CDs and DVDs. You also have the option of far greater storage capacity when using a USB flash drive. Your USB flash drive will still be fully functional as a removable storage drive. This is a great tool for testing memory or running programs from a DOS prompt such as firmware or BIOS updaters. The only real limits are the drive size and your creativity.
|
<urn:uuid:1d81ec25-2306-4dae-9653-0cc73c479184>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.corsair.com/it/blog/how-to-create-the-ultimate-bootable-usb-flash-drive/
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00064-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.928295
| 658
| 2.03125
| 2
|
The Bush administration has told the Supreme Court that it believes the Constitution protects an individual's right to possess firearms. This is a first. It reverses decades of Justice Department policy.
At the same time, the administration's top Supreme Court lawyer said the high court need not test that principle now.
The administration's view represents a reversal of government interpretations of the Second Amendment going back some 40 years.
"The current position of the United States ... is that the Second Amendment more broadly protects the rights of individuals, including persons who are not members of any militia or engaged in active military service or training, to possess and bear their own firearms," Solicitor General Theodore Olson wrote in two court filings this week.
That right, however, is "subject to reasonable restrictions designed to prevent possession by unfit persons or to restrict the possession of types of firearms that are particularly suited to criminal misuse."
Olson, the administration's top Supreme Court lawyer, was reflecting the view of Attorney General John Ashcroft that the Second Amendment confers the right to "keep and bear arms" to private citizens and not merely to the "well-regulated militia" mentioned in the amendment's text.
Ashcroft caused a stir when he expressed a similar sentiment a year ago in a letter to the National Rifle Association.
"While some have argued that the Second Amendment guarantees only a `collective' right of the states to maintain militias, I believe the amendment's plain meaning and original intent prove otherwise," Ashcroft wrote.
Critics accused him of kowtowing to the NRA and of undermining federal prosecutors by endorsing a legal view 180 degrees away from what has been official Justice Department policy through four Democratic and five Republican administrations.
At the time Ashcroft wrote the letter, it was unclear whether he was expressing his personal view or stating a new policy position for the government. That question was mostly answered last November, when he sent a letter to federal prosecutors praising an appeals court decision that found "the Second Amendment does protect individual rights" but noting that those rights could be subject to "limited, narrowly tailored specific exceptions."
That opinion by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals went on to reject arguments from Texas physician Timothy Emerson that a 1994 federal gun law was unconstitutional. The law was intended to deny guns to people under judicial restraining orders.
"In my view, the Emerson opinion, and the balance it strikes, generally reflect the correct understanding of the Second Amendment," Ashcroft told prosecutors.
Emerson appealed to the Supreme Court, putting the Justice Department in an awkward position. Although the government won its case in the lower court using the old interpretation of the Second Amendment, Ashcroft had switched gears by the time the case reached the high court.
Olson's court filing Monday urged the high court not to get involved and acknowledged the policy change in a lengthy footnote. Olson also attached Ashcroft's letter to prosecutors.
Olson made the same notation in a separate case involving a man convicted of owning two machine guns in violation of federal law. In that case, the government also won a lower court decision endorsing a federal gun control law.
The Justice Department issued a statement Tuesday night saying its latest comments reflect the attorney general's position in the November letter to prosecutors.
"This action is proof positive that the worst fears about Attorney General Ashcroft have come true: his extreme ideology on guns has now become government policy," said Michael Barnes, president of the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence, which promotes gun control.
Barnes noted that other federal appeals courts and the Supreme Court have not found the same protection for individual gun ownership that the 5th Circuit asserted in the Emerson case.
The Supreme Court last ruled on the scope of the Second Amendment in 1939.
The amendment protects only those rights that have "some reasonable relationship to the preservation of efficiency of a well-regulated militia," the high court said then.
The cases are Emerson v. United States, 01-8780 and Haney v. United States, 01-8272.
|
<urn:uuid:c71a0f7b-766a-44bf-83b2-d19d5826cd7a>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.policemag.com/channel/vehicles/news/2002/05/08/gun-rights-for-individuals-broadened.aspx
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.963583
| 819
| 2.03125
| 2
|
Hot Topics In The Community
Too Much To Do
Picking up the phone, the lovely lady on the other end of the line asked me about programs where her child would "actually learn something."
"How old is he?" I inquired.
"Four," she responded.
From there, our conversation weaved in and out of exploring the multitude of arts programming the non-profit organization I work for offers. The challenge was, this particular parent felt it was time for her kiddo to dive into something, to start to become an expert in an area versus an explorer.
The one part of me wanted to tell her, "Lady, he's four. His job is to explore the world and find joy in learning anything and everything."
I held my tongue. I understood where she was coming from.
I want to give my child the world. I want her to have every opportunity.
Don't we all?
As soon as my munchkin turned six months old, I swished her into swimming class. Soon after came "gym" programs, art classes, dance, more swim, and now, gymnastics. On top of this, there is preschool and play dates.
What is the value of these "extracurricular" activities?
Obviously, I am a believer. There are the relationships we've formed with other families. There is also the exposure to new activities, ideas, places, and faces. If you've been reading long enough, you know I'm a believer in the "it takes a village to raise a child" philosophy and I intend to use the resources I can to give her the best shot at being everything she wants to be as she grows up.
With all this said, this summer, we have been on overload. There's clay class and dance on Tuesdays, gymnastics on Wednesdays, and swimming on Sundays. Adding to this are evenings at the pool, plenty of play dates, and all the fun that comes with summer.
I'm whipped from all this running around.
Don't get me wrong, I've definitely seen her grow as a result of these programs. However, at times, I begin to wonder:
How many activities are too many activities when it comes to supporting your child's growth and development?
What is the right mix of scheduled activities and just time to play that will best support growth and development?
My rule was 2 + 1 + 1 = a balanced family.
What does that equation mean?
It means no more than two regularly scheduled activities (like a class) a week for the kiddo, one activity for me (yoga!), and one for the hubby (his woodworking hobby).
Obviously, my math ability has failed this summer.
Where and how do you find balance of activities and down time in your family's life?
As for me, I'm counting down and going back to my basic math as fall comes around.
Jeannie Fleming-Gifford is a mama to one little lady, freelance writer, and the director of education for a non-profit community school of the arts. Graduating with a B.A. in Music and a M.A. in Child Development, Jeannie began her career in quality child developme...Read More
|
<urn:uuid:783af329-9c53-4c83-877a-ac0af211a00d>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.everydayfamily.com/blog/too-much-to-do/
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00063-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.973997
| 677
| 1.835938
| 2
|
What’s in your bottled water? A comprehensive new Environmental Working Group (EWG) report found that you really don’t have any way to know. What’s on the labels? Bucolic scenes of mountain streams and crystal clear lakes adorn the plastic bottles along with vague claims about the pristine source and purity of the water. The unfortunate reality is, there is no such thing anymore. All drinking water needs to be properly treated before it is consumed.
EWG studied the “transparency” of 173 varieties of bottled water. That is, they evaluated how well the bottled water companies provided information about the water’s source, purification methods and results of purity testing. Turns out, for over half of the brands, very little is revealed about where the water came from, how it was treated, and what’s actually in it. The bottled water companies like it this way. They have been fighting hard against labeling even in the midst of serious public criticism for lack of accountability.
The most shocking finding was that 8 of the 10 best-selling domestic brands earned a D or an F. So the mainstream brands (can you say Coke, Pepsi, and Nestle?) that you may have thought you could trust are resisting accountability. What do they have to hide? What is in their water?
In 2007, California passed a law requiring basic information on bottled water labels. Of the 96 brands inspected there, only 24 complied with this new law. Surprisingly, the California bottled water labels were less forthcoming than brands sold elsewhere!
The only A went to filtered tap water. If you are drinking bottled water because you think it’s “better” than tap water, think again! Unlike bottled water, tap water quality is strictly regulated. Consumers have access to reports about their water’s source, testing protocol, and test results. If you want to drink the best tasting, healthiest, cheapest, and most carbon-conscious drink, fill your reusable stainless steel water bottle with your own tap water, filtered if you like!
|
<urn:uuid:a544b587-3f80-4903-acff-9a27fdbad573>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.back2tap.com/category/bottled-water/
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.957127
| 423
| 2.625
| 3
|
Protections For Endangered Wolves Still Up In Air
US District Judge Donald Molloy in Missoula, Montana has halted a state proposal to lift the endangered species protections for wolves in Montana and Idaho, the Associated Press (AP) reports. The plan would have resulted in public hunting of up to 1,300 wolves in the two states.
Molloy cited the court’s lack of authority to put part of an endangered species population under state management exposing that population to hunting. The judge noted, “Congress has clearly determined that animals on the ESA (Endangered Species Act) must be protected as such,” and the court couldn’t “exercise its discretion to allow what Congress forbids.”
Molloy claimed he couldn’t approve the proposed settlement because not all of the parties agreed with it. Although a portion of the argument for the settlement was that it could end litigation, Molloy explained it was not likely due to opposition by some to the proposed settlement.
On the same day, Montana Democratic Sen. Jon Tester and Idaho Republican Rep. Mike Simpson announced the wolves in question would be removed from the endangered list under the pending congressional budget bill.
One of the reasons the 10 conservation groups entered into the settlement with the US Fish and Wildlife Service was hopes that a favorable court decision would provide greater protection for wolves than lawmakers might provide. Wolf attacks on livestock and game herds have been increasing in number for the last several years resulting in pushback of the ESA from ranchers in the states.
The fears of the conservation groups concerning lawmakers removing federal protections for wolves also became more real with the ruling.
Andrew Wetzler of the Natural Resources Defense Council explained to AP: “The congressional threat was very much on people’s minds when we negotiated the settlement. In light of the court ruling, it’s going to make it more difficult to derail the rider that may well be attached to the budget deal that will provide much fewer protections for wolves than the settlement would have.”
“I can’t blame Molloy for the ruling. It’s a very tortuous situation. We entered into a settlement agreement we didn’t love but thought it was the lesser of two evils,” claims Kieran Suckling of the Center for Biological Diversity, one of the 10 conservation groups favoring the settlement.
The Alliance for the Wild Rockies, one of the four plaintiffs in the lawsuit that did not agree to the settlement, said Molloy’s rulings have consistently followed federal law, and his rejection of the settlement followed those same principles. Just because some of the plaintiffs agreed to the settlement doesn’t make the deal any more legal, said Michael Garrity, the group’s executive director.
“We think the fastest way to remove (wolves) is for everybody to work together so they can be legally removed from the endangered species list,” Garrity told AP’s Keith Ridler.
Suckling said the center wouldn’t appeal Molloy’s decision, but was making plans to stop the wolf rider on the budget bill pending before Congress.
Wetzler said his group would do the same, but was reserved about the possibility of success. “Idaho and Montana have long maintained that they can responsibly manage wolf populations,” he said. “They may get the chance to prove that. And we’ll be watching.”
Garrity said of the rider, “Bad news for wolves. We don’t think congress should gerrymander the Endangered Species Act.”
On the Net:
|
<urn:uuid:1225ccad-b486-4203-b130-674b14e0d598>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/2027226/protections_for_endangered_wolves_still_up_in_air/?source=r_science
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.958026
| 761
| 2.328125
| 2
|
mighty (adj): possessing might; powerful.I am a fan of small beers. However, unlike many of my fraternity, the reason isn't because I particularly care about long sessions in a pub. For me, the reason is purely aesthetic: small beers taste great. Aesthetics is something we don't often apply to beer, but we should. We should approach each beer with an eye toward a kind of artistic mark of perfection and say: how does this beer perform against an ideal? In this way, best bitters are not judged ill because they lack the roasty heft of an Imperial stout.
mite (n): a very small object or creature.
Beer geeks are generally pretty good about this, except when it comes to beers that ring in at under 5%. They are then dismissed as lesser substances, like diet soda, skim milk, or frozen yogurt. (And indeed, in America the small beer has been roughly treated--it's often a throwaway beer aimed to appeal to Bud drinkers.) Yet a small beer by its nature is not a compromise. It exists as a fully-formed beer, ready to be judged on its own merit.
Many small beers are vivid with flavor. The virtue of small beers is that they have less molecular density; the flavors have room to unfurl and blossom in the mouth. Certain styles have taken full advantage of this: Bavarian weizens have remarkable complexity (and are just psychedelic, period); Irish stouts can be sharp and intense with roast and hop bitterness; Berliner Weisses are so sour that Berliners developed the practice of cutting them with sugar syrups. And on cask, British ales reveal flavors you can never find on regular taps, sometimes with such bell-like clarity you feel you've found a fourth dimension of beer. Unlike heftier beers, the flavors in these little ones are distinct, particular, and knowable.
With this in mind, I have helped nudge along a wee fest of wee beers. The idea was to find examples that showcased how much flavor a brewery can pack into a low-alcohol beer. I will reveal the full, final list later, but breweries include Hair of the Dog, Block 15, Coalition, Oakshire, Upright, Double Mountain, Breakside and several others. (Also, full disclosure, although I solicited beers for the event, I am not involved on the business end of it at all. No dollars spent or earned on the event will come near me.) This year we're starting out small, but I hope we see a recurrence of the fest in the future as the inevitable groundswell for small beer builds. I'm also very excited that it will be happening as a part of this year's inaugural Portland Beer Week, August 19-28th.
Saturday, August 27, noon - late
Coalition Brewing, 28th and Ankeny (in the parking lot behind the pub with the Grilled Cheese Grill)
Bring a mug or glass from a past fest (or buy one at the door), tix $1 a pour.
Also bring: an open mind about how tasty small beers might actually be.
Finally, we need a few volunteers who are OLCC-certified as servers and alcohol monitors. Would you please email me [the_beerax @ yahoo (dot) com] and I'll put you in touch with Elan Walsky at Coalition. As usual, the brewery will ply you with free beer for your labor.
|
<urn:uuid:1086b352-88b1-4a76-855e-db5b20c4923f>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://beervana.blogspot.com/2011/08/get-ready-for-some-big-little-beers.html
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00059-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.961855
| 718
| 1.71875
| 2
|
The 8-Circuit Model of Consciousness
Galactic Archives by Robert Anton Wilson
Although the HEAD Revolution transformed the Terran primates at the time of his ancient Romance, nobody knows when it actually began. Some trace it to certain Alchemical cults of the early Dark Ages (i.e., just before the time of this epic novel [Schroedinger's Cat]); some try to find its origins in primitive shamanism and yoga.
What is clear is that *some* primates on Terra began to transcend genetic four-circuit limitations many centuries, or even millennia, before true neuroscience appeared among then. Whether this was due mutation, empirical hit-or-miss experimentation with alkaloid herbs, or other factors is unknown. In Egypt and China and other places, a few primates reported fifth-circuit raptures - the dawning of neurosomatic consciouness - two thousand or even three thousand years before the Space Age began.
The picture is the same on all planets. A few biots [= biological units] suddenly rise above the eat-it-or-flee-it imprints of the amphibian biosurvival circuit, above the dominate-or-submit imprints of the mammalian territorial-emotional circuit, above the either/or logic of the hominid semantic circuit, above the "good" and "bad" values of the tribal sociosexual circuit. They have transcended infantile feeding programs, adolescent philosophizing, and adult "responsibility" (pack role) all at once.
What has happened, of course, is that these biots have formed a fifth circuit in their brains. This is called the neurosomatic circuit because it allows conscious feedback between the nervous system ("mind," in prescientific primate language) and the soma ("body"). In the larval stages of this Hedonic Revolution, every planet exhibits the same monotonous pattern:
*Mysticism and monomania appear.* Many of the mutated biots become convinced that they control everything (the "I-am-God" syndrome), not realizing that they merely control their own perceptual field.
*"Miracle healings" are reported.* The neurosomatic ("mind body") feedback loop allows the mutant biots to become healthier, younger-looking, and sleeker ("handsomer") than average. They soon believe, and are encouraged by their admirers to never doubt, that they can "cure" everything.
*Neurosomatic intolerance appears.* The mutated biots grow annoyed, and became extremely critical about, the robot mechanisms of first-circuit approach-avoidance, second-circuit domination-submission, third-circuit either/or logic, and static fourth-circuit sex roles. They call on everybody to flot free like themselves, or like the wind.
The other biots usually declare these five-circuit mutants to be divine, or else they kill them. Sometimes they do both.
The condition was just becoming understood on Terra at the time of this Quantum Comedy, as neuropharmacologists slowly traced links between neurochemistry and the creation of perceived reality-tunnels.
(R. A. Wilson: Schroedinger's Cat, pp. 298-299.)
[Index] [A Lurker's Guide] [The Eight Basic Winner/Loser Scripts] [More On The 8-Circuit Model] [John Lilly and Metaprogramming]
|
<urn:uuid:cd97da92-dea9-4e8d-a7fe-45a73d191a57>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.phinnweb.org/neuro/8-circuit/galactic.html
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00038-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.917016
| 712
| 2.0625
| 2
|
When Child Support Ends
Under Wisconsin law, a parent’s duty to support his or her child continues until age 18, or age 19 if the child is still enrolled in high school or working on a high school equivalency course (GED). If past-due child support is owed, the support case is still enforceable.
Notices Sent to Parents
"Emancipation Notices" will be sent to both parents 90 days before the verified date of graduation of the 18th birthday of their youngest child. The order for current support will end when the youngest child turns 18 unless a parent shows documentation to the child support agency that the child is still attending high school or is enrolled in a program to obtain his or her GED.
When Past-Due Support is still Owed
If past-due support is owed when current support ends, the support case is still enforceable. Parents should check with the child support agency to make sure he or she has a court order for payment on the past-due support. Income withholding may continue at the same level until past-due child support is paid in full. Cases with past-due support may be enforced up to 20 years after the youngest child reaches the age of 18.
|
<urn:uuid:bf16972d-3242-42cf-9ad6-cabf87f6906d>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://dcf.wisconsin.gov/bcs/ends/default.htm
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.960249
| 252
| 1.835938
| 2
|
With a legacy of 600 years, Pulicat, also known as Pazhaverkaddu, is situated 55 km north of
. Pulicat was a major settlement of the Dutch on the
. They had built a fort called ‘Geldira’ here in 1609 to trade with the East Indies. The Dutch and the British waged several wars over Pulicat and finally, the British captured it in 1825. The place is renowned for the eco-tourist spot of Pulicat Lake
The Buckingham Canal, lighthouse, villages on the seaside, fisher folk, bullock carts and ferry boats forms the back drop to Pulicat. The Dutch and the British is believed to have berthed their ships at
Karinmanal village, which is a historical site nearby. The highly guarded Sri Harikota Island located here houses India’s space center. Jamilabad is a nearby village totally dedicated to boat building and Senjiamman Nagar is a tribal hamlet. Church of Our Lady of Glory, and the Dutch cemetery protected by the Archaeological Survey of India, which has beautifully carved tombstones and mausoleums are the other interests.
Fancy and utility articles, made out of palm leaves by women, are a specialty of Pulicat. Sea food export is another major activity.
The nearest airport and railhead are at Chennai. Pulicat is well connected by road to Chennai.
|
<urn:uuid:a92224e8-8dd1-47ff-9adc-b6e770d63582>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.india9.com/i9show/-Tamil-Nadu/Pulicat-30644.htm
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00071-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.972213
| 300
| 2.765625
| 3
|
Ohio Wesleyan University is a national liberal arts and sciences university with a major international presence. It is located in Delaware, Ohio, a small community just 20 miles from Columbus, the nation’s 16th-largest city. OWU offers 93 majors, sequences, and courses of study, as well as 23 varsity sports. OWU is one of only 40 institutions featured in the highly regarded book Colleges That Change Lives.
The academic community includes 142 full-time faculty and some 1,850 students from 41 states and 45 countries. All full-time tenure-track professors hold Ph.D.s or the equivalent. All classes are taught by professors, not teaching assistants.
OWU’s 200-acre campus includes 11 buildings on the National Register of Historical Places. Our newest building, the Meek Aquatics and Recreation Center, is LEED-certified and uses geothermal wells to help with heating and cooling.
One of the oldest residential facilities on campus, the landmark Stuyvesant Hall, received a $14 million renovation in 2012-2013, making it a premier OWU student address. Housing choices include traditional residence halls, themed housing, small living units, and fraternity houses. (OWU’s sorority houses are nonresidential.)
OWU’s science facilities include the state-of-the-art Schimmel/Conrades Science Center, two observatories, two nature preserves, a greenhouse, and a vast science library.
Arts facilities include Chappelear Drama Center, which features two stages; Edgar Hall for 2-D art; Haycock Hall for 3-D art; the Richard M. Ross Art Museum; and three smaller exhibit spaces. The campus also includes the elegant Sanborn Hall, the hub for Ohio Wesleyan’s extensive music programs. Perhaps the most well-known performance space is the 1,100-seat Gray Chapel with its Klais organ, one of only six such instruments in the United States.
Selby Stadium, which houses football and men’s and women’s track and field and men’s and women’s lacrosse, is the fourth-largest privately owned Division III stadium in the nation. It seats 9,100 spectators and is believed to be the oldest facility in the United States constructed to Olympic specifications and remaining in its original configuration.
Our Shared History
Click the banner below to access the Our Shared History: Delaware, Methodism, and Ohio Wesleyan University website:
|
<urn:uuid:244cb9aa-225b-4271-b12d-3aef1b11b0bc>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.owu.edu/NewHomepage/landingPages/aboutOWU.php
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.943146
| 515
| 1.726563
| 2
|
Traditional agro-systems in arid areas are a bulwark for preserving soil stability and fertility, in the sight of “reverse desertification”. Nevertheless, the impact of desert farming practices on the diversity and abundance of the plant associated microbiome is poorly characterized, including its functional role in supporting plant development under drought stress.
We assessed the structure of the microbiome associated to the drought-sensitive pepper plant (Capsicum annuum L.) cultivated in a traditional Egyptian farm, focusing on microbe contribution to a crucial ecosystem service, i.e. plant growth under water deficit. The root system was dissected by sampling root/soil with a different degree of association to the plant: the endosphere, the rhizosphere and the root surrounding soil that were compared to the uncultivated soil. Bacterial community structure and diversity, determined by using Denaturing Gradient Gel Electrophoresis, differed according to the microhabitat, indicating a selective pressure determined by the plant activity. Similarly, culturable bacteria genera showed different distribution in the three root system fractions. Bacillus spp. (68% of the isolates) were mainly recovered from the endosphere, while rhizosphere and the root surrounding soil fractions were dominated by Klebsiella spp. (61% and 44% respectively). Most of the isolates (95%) presented in vitro multiple plant growth promoting (PGP) activities and stress resistance capabilities, but their distribution was different among the root system fractions analyzed, with enhanced abilities for Bacillus and the rhizobacteria strains. We show that the C. annuum rhizosphere under desert farming enriched populations of PGP bacteria capable of enhancing plant photosynthetic activity and biomass synthesis (up to 40%) under drought stress.
Crop cultivation provides critical ecosystem services in arid lands with the plant root system acting as a “resource island” able to attract and select microbial communities endowed with multiple PGP traits that sustain plant development under water limiting conditions.
|
<urn:uuid:8bfc4780-1082-44d1-87be-6f56ecccf15f>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://pubmedcentralcanada.ca/pmcc/solr/reg?pageSize=25&term=author%3A(%22Puglia%2C+Anna+Maria%22)&sortby=score+desc&filterAuthor=author%3A(%22Sorlini%2C+Claudia%22)
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00065-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.936035
| 409
| 2.921875
| 3
|
Attorneys for R-CALF USA have filed a petition with the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals requesting a rehearing of that court's decision to overturn the preliminary injunction entered by Judge Cebull in the Montana District Court.
R-CALF wants a rehearing on the opinion handed down by a three-judge panel in July that allowed the U.S. to resume imports of live Canadian cattle and additional beef products, despite the recent detection of four cases of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in Canada under limited testing.
In March, the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana had granted R-CALF USA a preliminary injunction to keep the border closed to imports due to Canada's problems with BSE. USDA appealed that decision to the Ninth Circuit, and on July 14, a three-judge panel on the 9th Circuit reversed the preliminary injunction.
R-CALF USA's petition states that the three-judge "panel's conclusion that the Secretary of Agriculture has a vast amount of discretion to allow imports of pest-infested or diseased animals and animal products, and the panel's proffered findings about the underlying facts in this case, create a precedent that is highly prejudicial to the public's right to judicial review of critical decisions affecting U.S. agriculture and its consumers. Moreover, since the statutory authority at issue here is very similar to other statutes giving the Agriculture Secretary responsibility for preventing imports of pests and diseases affecting plants and unsafe food, the decision creates a precedent that also could be applied to limit judicial review of critical USDA actions under those other statutes."
The petition also states: 'The three-judge panel attempted a detailed review of facts not even fully developed in the district court, nor fully presented on appeal, and as a result, the panel missed or misunderstood numerous key aspects of this case.'
"Because this case involves questions of national importance and because consideration by the full court is necessary to maintain consistency among the court's decisions, we hope the full court will agree that a rehearing is warranted," says Bill Bullard, R-CALF CEO.
It won't be known until the end of September whether a rehearing will take place.
|
<urn:uuid:32fd435f-9465-416c-9198-8388f2ee9d1f>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://farmprogress.com/story-rcalf-requests-border-rehearing-0-7597
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00044-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.957657
| 461
| 1.5
| 2
|
"All nuclear weapons states must reciprocally play their part in reducing nuclear weapons as part of an agreement by non nuclear states to renounce them.
"This is exactly what the Non-Proliferation Treaty intended. In line with maintaining our nuclear deterrent I have asked our national security committee to report to me on the potential future reduction of our nuclear weapon submarines from four to three."
He added the UK would insist non nuclear states proved they are not developing weapons and could offer civil nuclear power to non nuclear states which were ready to renounce any plans for nuclear weapons.
But he said one of the greatest risks was that terrorists would acquire nuclear weapons.
Mr Brown also warned Iran and North Korea that the world would be even tougher on nuclear proliferation and was ready to consider further sanctions.
US President Barack Obama is chairing a Security Council meeting as part of the process of drawing up a replacement for the Non-Proliferation Treaty, designed to stop countries developing nuclear weapons.
David Miliband: "The long-term aim is a world free of nuclear weapons"
He has said he will try to negotiate with Moscow to reduce US and Russian nuclear warheads - which make up the vast majority of the world's total - from more than 2,000 each to 1,500.
The UK government says it has cut its stockpile of Trident warheads from 200 to 160 but many Labour MPs would like it to scrap the weapons altogether.
Earlier, Mr Brown told BBC Radio 5 live there were "no proposals at the moment about warheads".
The government estimates the cost of renewing Trident at about £20bn but Greenpeace says it could cost £34bn and, once lifetime running costs are included, would cost nearly £100bn in total.
Professor Ron Smith, a defence economist at Birkbeck College, told the BBC that reducing the number of submarines would probably have little effect on Britain's nuclear capability because one was essentially "a spare".
The four Vanguard submarines which host Trident missiles can attack targets within a range of just over 4,600 miles (7,400km). The example above shows this range if the sub were located in the mid-Atlantic.
Britain keeps at least one submarine armed and at sea at all times. Normally, the remaining three - or two, should one be scrapped - will be undergoing maintenance, taking part in training exercises, or docked at port.
He added that losing one submarine would only save "a couple of billion" in about 2020 as there were a lot of fixed costs upfront and each boat cost less to build than the last one.
Foreign Secretary David Miliband said: "We reject unilateral nuclear disarmament for ourselves precisely because the world cannot end up in a situation where responsible powers get rid of their weapons, but the danger of nuclear proliferation by other powers remains."
But the former defence secretary John Hutton, in whose Barrow and Furness constituency the submarines are built, said it was "very, very important" that Britain could have "absolute confidence and the knowledge that we can maintain one of those submarines - at least one of those submarines - on continuous deterrent patrol".
The existing Trident submarines are housed at the Faslane naval base on the Clyde, but the Scottish National Party has firmly opposed their replacement.
Shadow defence secretary Liam Fox said reducing the number of submarines was not a new idea as it was an option set out in the government's 2006 White Paper.
He told the BBC: "If we can maintain our nuclear deterrent and make a contribution to disarmament that's all very well but the prime minister is not planning to reduce the number of warheads from 160 ... merely to have them in fewer submarines."
He said it was "reasonable and sensible" to look at doing that if the technology was available to make it possible.
The Liberal Democrats say they would not seek a "like-for-like replacement" for Trident - which is due to need replacing by 2024.
Leader Nick Clegg said it was good the prime minister had acknowledged the need for alternatives to a "like-for-like" replacement but he might have to go "a lot further".
However the party's foreign affairs spokesman Edward Davey told the BBC that the suggestion "looks like tinkering at the edges" of the nuclear weapons issue.
Bruce Kent, the vice-president of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, said multilateral reductions "don't mean anything".
He added: "What does it matter if you have 100 nuclear weapons or 200 nuclear weapons - you could do horrendous damage, numbers don't really matter at all.
"British nuclear weapons have no function, apart from encouraging other people to get nuclear weapons."
All numbers are estimates because exact numbers are top secret.
Strategic nuclear warheads are designed to target cities, missile locations and military headquarters as part of a strategic plan.
Israeli authorities have never confirmed or denied the country has nuclear weapons.
The highly secretive state claims it has nuclear weapons, but there is no information in the public domain that proves this.
The International Atomic Energy Agency reported in 2003 there had been covert nuclear activity to make fissile material and continues to monitor Tehran's nuclear program.
US officials have claimed it is covertly seeking nuclear weapons.
This page is best viewed in an up-to-date web browser with style sheets (CSS) enabled. While you will be able to view the content of this page in your current browser, you will not be able to get the full visual experience. Please consider upgrading your browser software or enabling style sheets (CSS) if you are able to do so.
|
<urn:uuid:788b9c4a-70cf-4132-b4d6-8cc2b0559d2c>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/8270092.stm
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00050-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.967195
| 1,139
| 2
| 2
|
The Level 2 Award in Sports Leadership will give candidates the chance to develop their organisation, motivation and communication skills, whilst also focusing on positive role models in sport, how to mentor others, and how to use leadership skills in a variety of settings.
Students will need to pass a first aid qualification and also complete 10 hours of leading within the community in their own time.
Unit - Unit Title - Guided Learning Hours
1 - Plan, lead and evaluate a sport/activity session - 21 hours
2 - Developing leadership skills - 3 hours
3 - Lead a session to improve fitness - 5 hours
4 - Adapting sports activities - 4 hours
5 - Establish and maintain a safe sport/activity session - 2 hours
6 - Organise and deliver a sports event or competition - 4 hours
7 - Pathways in sport and recreation - 3 hours
|
<urn:uuid:afb14102-f1cc-40e6-8201-54cf1692dbfe>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.kinged6nun.ac.uk/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&layout=item&id=216&Itemid=533
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00068-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.908884
| 175
| 1.921875
| 2
|
Samsung started mass producing OLED panels in January 2007 and after six years, the Korean company has managed to produce over 300 million OLED panels cumulatively. To put this in perspective, Samsung has been producing more than 470,000 panels every day and if 300 million OLED panels are stacked onto one another, it would be equal to more than 68 times the height of Mt. Everest.
Samsung Display says they took four and a half years to reach the first 100 million panels landmark, the next 100 million in the next 11 months and the last 100 million panels in just 7 months.
Samsung Display currently has 98 percent of OLED panel market share.
After six years of nearly constant production, we have achieved a monumental milestone in producing 300 million panels, which represents the vast majority of OLED panels produced during that time.Samsung Display will accelerate its leadership in OLED production by introducing the next generation OLED technology, including large-sized TV panels and flexible displays.
|
<urn:uuid:6912f5d6-8864-4fe4-ac62-aa7d0a30d309>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://sammyhub.com/2013/01/24/samsung-display-surpasses-300-million-oled-panel-production/
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00072-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.954023
| 190
| 1.851563
| 2
|
Unai Garro (uga) - Summer 2008
|The original image used in this tutorial can be found here.|
This is possibly one of the most widely used and most simple method to adjust an image. It's so simple and effective that you will want to use it on all your pictures from now on, so keep an eye on this, and have fun.
Lets see this sample photo from Akademy 2008, kindly donated by Sebastian Kügler:
Why is it dark? Lets open the photo in Showfoto (Digikam's editor) and see what's going on:
On the top right, you can see the image's histogram. (I have pushed thehistogram button to see it more clearly). So "What's the histogram?", you'll, ask. The histogram is just a pixel count. It counts how many pixels there are for each gray level, and shows them in a graph. The left part of the histogram are dark/black colors, and the right part of the histogram are brightest colors.
You can see that our image has the histogram concentrated on the left part. Thus, it's mostly black. The right part of the histogram isn't used at all, as shown in the figure. Why did this happen? Just because the camera failed exposing the image properly, or was inappropriately configured.
If a photo is visually pleasing, usually (not always), it covers most of the histogram, from black, to white.
So, is there a way to fix this, then? Of course there is, and it's a very easy one. Select the menu:
You will see a new popup showing a tool to adjust the histogram output. There are several parts in it. On the top right, there are two histograms. The first one is the output/new histogram, and the second (bottom) one is the input/original histogram.
As you can see, I have adjusted the output histogram to cover it all, see? So how have I done this? Very simple:
There are 4 sliders in this tool. The first two sliders mark the beginning and end of the part of the histogram that I am interested in. I have moved them to match the full histogram of our original image.
The other two sliders mark the range of the histogram we want as output. We want the histogram to cover from black to white, so just move the sliders to the left corner and to the right corner.
|
<urn:uuid:ec44a4f2-cb6a-489c-aaa8-05aead7ad022>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://userbase.kde.org/index.php?title=Showfoto/Levels_Adjust&oldid=69085
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00064-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.940594
| 526
| 2.375
| 2
|
Robert Redford is speaking out against the Pebble Mine, a huge copper and gold deposit poised for development in southwest Alaska, which also hosts the world's last and best wild salmon streams.
Redford posted a blog entry Thursday morning saying he's not against mining but is against "putting mega-mines where they don't belong."
He also is speaking out in a New York Times advertisement paid for by the Natural Resources Defense Council asking mining companies Rio Tinto and Anglo American to leave Bristol Bay alone.
Redford describes Pebble as a disaster-in-the making. But the mining companies maintain they can develop the mine responsibly and without harming fish.
[Image via WENN.]
|
<urn:uuid:cae084db-7354-49df-a0b7-8422ba449e4b>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://perezhilton.com/teddyhilton/2011-04-22-redford-speaks-out-on-behalf-of-the-fish?relate=
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00065-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.955961
| 140
| 1.507813
| 2
|
This falls under the category of no good deed goes unpunished. Treval Hall, 17, saved a drowning boy in Kenosha, Wisconsin and was taken to a hospital with the boy. His reward for saving Aaron Puente, 14, was a bill from Aurora Medical Center for more than $2000.
Hall pulled Puente to safety after finding him face down in the water. Both Hall and Puente were taken to the hospital. Hall was taken just as a precaution because he swallowed a little water during the rescue.
Aurora Medical Center spokesman Adam Beeson insisted “Our goal is to work with the patient to find an equitable solution.’’
What is particularly notable is the ridiculous level of bill inflation perpetuated by these hospitals. A teen swallows a little water in a rescue and leaves with a $2000 bill for just having doctor’s examine him. The hospital insists it performed a battery of tests, including chest X-rays, an electrocardiogram and blood work.
The question is who will now rescue Hall.
Source: Sun Times
|
<urn:uuid:cb43a5e0-00b2-4a59-b82c-fd651fd610a7>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://jonathanturley.org/2010/08/26/teen-saves-drowning-boy-and-then-receives-2000-bill-from-hospital/
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00032-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.976027
| 223
| 1.796875
| 2
|
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images North America
John Pistole prepares to testify during his confirmation hearing to become director of the Transportation Security Administration.
For those of you who don't want your "junk" touched by TSA screeners, the head of the TSA wants to remind you that "the threats are real."
Transportation Security Administration head John Pistole tells All Things Considered today that the goal is to find the best balance between security and privacy.
"Reasonable people can disagree," he says. "But in the final analysis everyone wants to be safe and secure on that flight."
Pistole addresses an issue that has enraged some parents: pat-downs of kids. It sounds like the TSA recognizes there is some room for improvement here.
Pistole tells ATC's Melissa Block:
We did not do frankly a very good job of communicating initially that there would be an exemption, if you will, from the thorough pat-down for children 12 and under. That was under review when the policy came out, and so we have clarified that. It does not apply to children 12 and under.
So, 13 and up — there's no exemption.
Pilots and others have also raised worries about radiation with the new scanners. Pistole says scientific studies — by the FDA, the National Institute for Standards and Technology, and Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab — show the technology is safe. The TSA says radiation you're exposed to through the scanners is equivalent to the radiation you're exposed to during two minutes of flight at 30,000 feet.
In other words, if you're worried about radiation, flying is the much greater risk.
Some scientists, however, still say there is room for concern. As NPR reported back in May, some researchers believe the government has miscalculated the dose of radiation that X-ray scanners deliver to the skin.
Whatever the TSA says, it will likely remain the subject of anger — and the butt of jokes. Yesterday, All Things Considered heard from humorist Dave Barry about his own pat-down by the TSA.
We told him the TSA says enhanced pat-downs are not punitive.
His answer: "Whoever wrote that it's not punitive was not having his or her groin fondled at the time."
Alison MacAdam is senior editor at All Things Considered. This was posted by Eyder Peralta.
|
<urn:uuid:194c75b4-443c-4fd8-b1cd-a59553413864>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2010/11/16/131364772/tsa-head-defends-enhanced-pat-downs-and-safety-of-scanners
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00054-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.974341
| 491
| 1.765625
| 2
|
Wake-Up Call: Mom's Trip to the Emergency Room
A trip to ER has unexpected benefits for senior and family
by Carolyn L. Rosenblatt, RN, BSN, JD
Mikol's Mom, Alice, is doing fine at age 89. She is with it enough to get on a plane by herself and arrive in good condition. We enjoy our time together. We go on drives around our beautiful county and just hung out together. How fortunate we are that she has a great memory, exercises, and eats a healthy diet. She also remembers to take her medications and keeps track of every one. She knows the dosages and understands why she needs them.
Not everyone is so lucky as we are.
Take Thomas, whose mom is developing some problems with her memory. He is a loving son and lives near his parents. He checks in on them and they are doing pretty well so he really does not worry about them. Dad is 87 and Mom is 82. They are independent. They still drive. They take care of themselves. Except Mom was forgetting to take her pills. She had six left over at the end of the month, so she decided to take them all at once.
She ended up in the emergency room and is lucky to have survived! Thomas just got a wake up call that all is not fine and he needs to pay more attention.
It is great that medical advances allow us to live longer than ever and to enjoy our lives but it comes with a price. One aspect of that price is that we need medication to control various chronic conditions, such as heart disease or high blood pressure. Then, once we take one medication, it can have side effects. We may need another medication to offset those side effects, and so on. Pretty soon, dear old Dad is supposed to take 6 or 7 pills more than once a day.
It gets really complicated when aging parents are supposed to take some of them three times a day. Like anyone, our parents get distracted. They lose track of time. They have an appointment or an event and they forget to put the pills in a pocket or purse. What's the worst that can happen? They can take a fatal overdose or they can end up in the hospital.
Thomas did a search and found an electronic pill dispenser with an auditory alarm as well as a flashing light alarm. It can be set for twice a day. It lights up when it's time to take a pill and then the electronic alarm goes off for 5 minutes and repeats until the person opens the dispenser.
As both parents spend a lot of time at home, he can feel better about the fact that something is going to remind them when it's time for their medications.
This whole medication-forgetting incident is a red flag warning. A trip to the emergency room does not always end well. If a parent takes six days' worth of pills at once, it's a tip-off that something is going wrong with her judgment. Could it be an early sign of developing dementia?
Perhaps, or perhaps not, but it is definitely time to check out the reasons behind Mom's episode. "Just forgetting" is not an inconsequential thing. Some testing by a neuropsychologist may be in order. The emergency room physician is not going to suggest it. She or he is busy making sure that the elder is out of immediate danger and the doctor then moves on to the next patient. It's up to the family to take the follow up steps.
I am a huge fan of all the electronic devices that help us help our aging parents. New products are coming on the market all the time, given our aging population. And, with that, we still need to attend to the fact that our parents are aging and they are not going to be the same year after year. Devices can't take the place of our own observations and actions to help.
Thomas gets a free warning with few personal consequences when it comes to his Mom's episode. As we do at AgingParents.com, I encouraged him to use this as a reason to have the necessary conversation with his parents about their future. Of course, they hadn't discussed it at all. Does either parent have a Durable Power of Attorney? "No," says Thomas. How about a discussion about what would happen if either parent needed help at home? "Never talked about it yet", he says.
He will get some coaching from us on how to approach these topics and what he needs to cover. He will develop the confidence he needs to think ahead and be a watchful and responsible son. The trip to the ER has turned out to have unexpected benefits for Thomas.
We hope you will view Thomas' story in a positive light with confidence that you are doing the right thing, being concerned about and caring for your aging loved ones. We are with you.
Carolyn and Mikol of AgingParents.com
Published August 16, 2012
|
<urn:uuid:d489602a-dc43-4c87-a66c-fcc0392fdf07>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.silverplanet.com/mpa/forums/wake-call-mom-s-trip-emergency-room/58437
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00046-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.982101
| 1,012
| 1.953125
| 2
|
Berkeley - Scientists have discovered the secret behind geckos' ability to walk up walls and dangle from the ceiling, and to prove it, have synthesized the very tips of the toe hairs geckos rely on to stick.
The minute artificial hair tips, though rudimentary, work nearly as well as the millions that line the geckos' own feet, showing that it is possible to mimic nature and build nano-scale structures that stick to many different surfaces and in environments where glue-like adhesives fail.
"This is the first step, this is the pathway to synthesizing the first self-cleaning dry adhesive," said Robert J. Full, professor of integrative biology at the University of California, Berkeley. "It's going to take a lot of work to figure out the best way to make a biologically inspired adhesive, but this demonstrates that the path to manufacturing them is there."
A self-cleaning dry adhesive would have many uses, such as moving semiconductors around in a vacuum chamber, and could stick to surfaces underwater or in space.
Full, along with colleagues at Lewis & Clark College in Portland Ore., UC Santa Barbara and Stanford University, report their findings this week in the on-line edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The article will be published on the PNAS Web site sometime during the week of Aug. 26.
"We have solved the puzzle of how geckos use millions of tiny foot-hairs to adhere to even molecularly smooth surfaces such as polished glass," said Kellar Autumn, assistant professor of biology at Lewis & Clark College and lead author of the study. "Our new data prove once and for all how geckos stick."
The proof is in the pudding, though. Engineers at UC Berkeley created synthetic hair tips that stick almost as well as the geckos' own.
"We've synthesized the smallest part of the entire foot, but now we've got to make billions of them to get significant adhesive force," said UC Berkeley's Ron Fearing, professor of electrical engineering and computer science. "We don't have a Post-it(r) yet."
Full and Kellar reported two years ago the secret of getting gecko toe hairs to stick without the use of suction, glue or static electricity. They found that the angle the hair makes with a surface is critical for controlling both sticking and release. The hundreds or thousands of pads at the end of each hair interact on a molecular level with the surface, generating a combined attraction that keeps the gecko attached.
The tiny pads, called spatulae, are like split ends, Full said, each only 200 billionths of a meter wide - below the wavelength of visible light. With up to 500,000 hairs per foot and hundreds to a thousand split ends per hair, the sum total of intermolecular forces, known to chemists as van der Waals forces, can amount to 1,000 times the weight of a gecko.
"Intermolecular forces come into play because the gecko foot hairs split and allow a billion spatulae to increase surface density and come into close contact with the surface. This creates a strong adhesive force," Autumn said.
A single seta can lift the weight of an ant, he said. A million setae, which could easily fit onto the area of a dime, could lift a 45-pound child. If a gecko used all of its setae at the same time, it could support 280 pounds.
At the time of its earlier paper, the team could not rule out several physical effects that might also play a role in gecko adhesion. For example, various animals, including frogs, insects and some mammals, stick to surfaces by capillary adhesion, taking advantage of the surface tension of a film of liquid. Many of these animals have glands on their feet that secrete liquids that help them stick. Geckos, though, have no such glands. Nevertheless, the spatulae at the ends of the hairs on their toes could be interacting with the thin water film - only a molecule thick - that covers almost all surfaces.
To explore this adhesive mechanism, the two biologists expanded their team to include Stanford engineer Thomas Kenny, who precisely measured the forces exerted by toe hairs; theoretical chemist Jacob Israelachvili at UC Santa Barbara, who modeled toe hair adhesion to see if prediction matched measurement; and UC Berkeley's Fearing, who made synthetic spatulae.
They tested the sticking power of gecko feet and toe hairs on different types of polarizable surfaces, i.e., surfaces where the molecules can shift around to attract or repel charged molecules, such as water. Those that repel water are called hydrophobic surfaces, while those that attract water are called hydrophilic. If capillary adhesion were partly responsible, gecko feet would stick better to water-loving or hydrophilic surfaces than to hydrophobic surfaces.
Using nine separate Tokay geckos - one of the largest geckos and a native of Southeast Asia - the researchers found that the geckos' toes, though hydrophobic, stuck equally well to the hydrophobic semiconductor gallium arsenide on silicon and to the hydrophilic semiconductor oxidized silicon. Kenny's lab showed also that single setae stick equally well to hydrophobic and hydrophilic MEMS (microelectromechanical system) sensors. The two experiments confirmed that van der Waals forces are the most likely adhesive mechanism.
Using a well-known theory of adhesion, Israelachvili predicted the size of spatulae required to make geckos stick, and obtained an answer exactly in the range observed with gecko hairs.
The clincher was creation of synthetic split ends that stick almost as well as the real spatulae of Tokay geckos. With the help of an atomic force microscope to punch wax molds of the right size, Fearing cast little spatulae of two separate materials - silicone rubber and polyester resin. He then used the microscope to measure the adhesion force of these rubber feet.
"One bump at the end sticks with 200 nanoNewtons of adhesive force," at least half of which is due to van der Waals forces, Fearing said. "We confirmed that it's geometry, not surface chemistry, that enables a gecko to support its entire body with a single toe."
A nanoNewton is the weight of a single blood cell, that is, the force exerted on a blood cell by Earth's gravity. The force exerted by sunlight on a satellite orbiting the Earth is on the order of 200 nanoNewtons.
Since fabricating the initial nanobumps, Fearing and post-doctoral fellow Metin Sitti have found a way to make arrays of 10,000 rubber bumps. Though the centimeter-square arrays don't yet adhere to surfaces better than rubber without bumps does, the team sees this as proof of concept.
"We can apply the underlying principles and create a similar adhesive by breaking a surface into small bumps," Fearing said. "These preliminary physical models provide proof that humans can fabricate gecko glue."
Added Full, "We've shown directly that something manufactured out of different materials works by the same mechanism proposed for gecko toe hairs. We think that the deformable nature of these tiny tips, and perhaps the whole hair, allow you to get very close to any kind of surface. That's the advantage."
Geckos aren't the only creatures to evolve this sticking technique. Anoles, skinks and insects use dry adhesion also, which means that nature converged on the same solution several times, Autumn said.
The key design principle, discovered numerous times during evolution, is that you can get very effective adhesion by simply taking advantage of skin structure - keratin in the case of geckos, anoles and skinks; chitin in the case of insects - and subdividing it to create an array of microstructures that stick phenomenally, he said. The animals didn't have to develop structures with specialized surface chemistry, they simply took advantage of the geometry.
Fearing continues to explore the synthetic possibilities, including what types of hair shafts make the best synthetic pads. Meanwhile, Autumn and Full are exploring the natural variety of hairs and pads to see what characteristics seem critical to a successful dry adhesive.
The research was funded by grants from the federal government's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.
NOTE: Robert Full can be reached at (510) 642-9896 or firstname.lastname@example.org. Kellar Autumn is at (503) 768-7502 or email@example.com.
For photos and further information, check out Kellar Autumn's Web site .
|
<urn:uuid:69ab4f21-09c1-4f5d-884e-475f08298ee6>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/news/article/4657
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.948682
| 1,818
| 3.40625
| 3
|
WASHINGTON - The punishing battle over healthcare is still unresolved, but the Obama administration is quietly laying plans to take up another issue that could generate even more controversy and political division—a major overhaul of the nation's immigration system.
Already, senior White House aides have privately assured Latino activists that the president will back legislation in 2010 to provide a road to citizenship for the estimated 12 million undocumented workers now living in the United States.
In a conference call with proponents, White House deputy chief of staff Jim Messina, political director Patrick Gaspard and others recently delivered the message that the White House is committed to seeing a substantial immigration bill pass and wants to make sure allies are prepared for the fight.
In addition to the citizenship provision, the emerging plan will stress increased efforts to harden borders to make illegal entry more difficult. But that two-track approach has been rejected in the past by Republicans and other critics who insisted a border crackdown demonstrate its effectiveness before any action on citizenship could be considered.
As recently as the George W. Bush administration, efforts to win congressional approval for coupling the two issues were repeatedly stymied. And whatever proposal Obama eventually puts forward is likely to trigger equally determined opposition, especially with next November's congressional elections looming.
That makes embracing an immigration bill a significant gamble for the White House, which already has job creation, global warming curbs, and new regulations for financial institutions on the agenda for 2010.
Adding to the difficulty, polls show that the public is far more worried about the 10% unemployment rate and the fragile economy than anything else. By pushing an immigration bill, Obama risks appearing out of step with the everyday worries of the typical voter.
Geoff Garin, a Democratic pollster, said the issue is difficult in virtually any environment.
"We know from a lot of experience that immigration reform has been and can be a very polarizing issue. There are heated differences about whether there ought to be some kind of pathway to citizenship for people who entered the country illegally," he said.
"And my sense from the public opinion research is people care more about vindicating their position than they do about getting the issue solved.'' But the White House has apparently decided to press ahead, with Homeland Security secretary Janet Napolitano designated to lead the effort. She has begun talking privately with lawmakers in an effort to hash out a strategy.
In an effort to enlist the kind of support from business groups that helped drive its healthcare initiative, the White House has also reached out to the National Restaurant Association, which represents an industry that employs thousands of immigrants, asking if they could be counted on as an ally.
Earlier this year, the new head of the association, Dawn Sweeney, met with Cecilia Munoz, a White House aide involved in the issue, and expressed interest in cooperating.
"It's an extremely important issue for our members," Sweeney said. Her association could be a force in exerting grassroots pressure on lawmakers.
As a presidential candidate, Obama vowed to take up immigration in his first year in office. It's now too late to make good on that commitment.
If they delay once more, Obama and congressional Democrats could anger the Latino voters who came out in force for them in 2008. Exit polls show Obama won two-thirds of the Latino vote in the 2008 election compared to 31% for his Republican opponent, Sen. John McCain.
No one anticipates that a core element of the Democratic base will defect to the Republican Party next November. But even a significant drop in turnout – which often happens anyway in non-presidential elections—could frustrate Democratic efforts to preserve their congressional majority.
"The bulk of the people needing immigration reform are Latino,'' said U.S. Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-AZ). "It was a major motivating issue during the election. … There's a level of disenchantment about where we're going. There's some frustration and disappointment, and if you don't give the Latino community a reason to participate (in the elections) you weaken your base even more.''
Unlike healthcare, which has played out over most of a year, an immigration bill would be constrained by a tight deadline next year. For a bill to have a realistic shot of passing, political analysts say, the particulars would have to be hashed out and agreed upon by next spring.
Delay would increase the likelihood of the issue getting derailed by the November elections.
Henry Cisneros, a former cabinet secretary in Bill Clinton's administration who took part in the conference call with the White House, said: "It gets much more difficult as the year goes along. So everyone has to be very sober about the prospects. But the president and congressional leadership understand it's important to start the ball rolling."
"It was clear that the administration intends to put this in the first rank of their legislative priorities in 2010,'' he said.
An immigration bill was introduced in the House earlier in the month and Sen. Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat who chairs a subcommittee on immigration, is heading the effort to cobble together a coalition in the Senate.
Bipartisan support is possible. Schumer's office said he is working with Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) to develop a bill and wants Graham to sign on as a co-sponsor. Graham's office did not return calls for comment.
Democrats may not have a lock on one prominent Republican who wanted to revamp the immigration system in the past: McCain, who backed George W. Bush's failed attempt to overhaul immigration in the second term. The Arizona senator has not committed to supporting the Obama bill, saying he worries that the president will not endorse a temporary guest worker program.
Organized labor, an important part of the Democratic base, has voiced opposition to a guest worker program under which more immigrant workers could enter the country on a temporary basis. Critics argue that there is no effective system for assuring that such workers leave the country when their entry permits expire.
"From everything that we hear right now, the temporary guest worker program won't be addressed in immigration reform. And unless that is an essential part of the reform program, it's something that Sen. McCain can't work on,'' said Brooke Buchanan, a spokeswoman for McCain.
The White House would not reveal its position on the issue of guest workers. A White House spokesman, Nick Shapiro, said in a prepared statement: "The president has asked secretary Napolitano to work with stakeholders and leaders on this issue in the House and Senate to move the legislative process forward on this important issue.''
Should an immigration bill gain traction, White House chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel would likely become a central player in the negotiations. Emanuel has had a long history with the issue.
As a young aide to Bill Clinton, Emanuel co-wrote a memo showing great concern for the political dynamics of immigration. Emanuel and Ron Klain, now the top aide to Vice President Joe Biden, wrote in 1994: "We must be seen as taking proper, forceful steps to seriously address the immigration problem without alienating the Hispanic and civil rights constituencies.
"Our goal is not to out-do the Republicans, rather to use our achievements and proposals to prevent them from using this as a wedge issue against us.'' The former head of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, Doris Meissner, recalls that she once received a phone call from Emanuel berating her over a news story about lax border enforcement in Arizona.
"This kind of press is killing us," Meissner recalled Emanuel saying , as he instructed her to send border agents to the area immediately. "He had no authority whatsoever to give me orders," she said. "My boss was the Attorney General."
But Emanuel was constantly pressing his White House colleagues to push what he termed a "balanced" immigration policy, which included both enforcement and stepped-up grants of citizenship.
|
<urn:uuid:77dcd465-d4f4-464a-98c1-5a8c2c7bc848>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.fox44.com/holiday-events/obama-readying-immigration-overhaul
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00046-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.970162
| 1,607
| 1.742188
| 2
|
Give up? They are none other than marine turtles, more commonly known as sea turtles. Seven existing species of sea turtles exist in the world today of which at least four (the Olive Ridley, Green Hawksbill, Leatherback and Flatback) are fairly common in the waters of the Indian Ocean. The sea turtle, or the Leatherback is the largest living turtle. It can grow up to a length of six feet and is known to weigh about 700 kgs!
Sea turtles live mostly in warm waters around the world and are graceful swimmers, with limbs modified into long flippers that enable them to migrate long distances. Among the many natural phenomena that we are yet to understand, is the mass nesting by sea turtles, known as 'arribada'.
The word 'arribada' is derived from the Spanish word 'arribadas' which means 'arrival'. There are four such mass nesting sites (or arribada sites) in the world- two in Costa Rica, one in Mexico and the largest in Gahirmatha beach on the Orissa coast.
Each year, from December to April, Gahirmatha plays host to hundreds and thousands of female Olive Ridley turtles. These turtles lay their eggs on the same beach where they were born. Turtles always return to the same nesting site year after year, even if they migrate thousands of kilometres. This particular phenomenon has baffled scientists for years now and no one has any clue as to why they do so.
Sea turtles rarely venture out of the deep and they never seem to have a permanent habitat for they are continuously on the move. Unlike the male Olive Ridleys who prefer the anonymity (and safety) of the sea, female Olive Ridleys brave predators as they drag themselves to the shore to lay their eggs. Each year more than one lakh Olive Ridley turtles lay about 100 eggs each in the sands of Gahirmatha beach.
Mama turtle lays her eggs in pits and covers them with sand using her flippers. However the slightest disturbance can result in mama turtle returning to the sea without laying eggs. Her task complete, she heads off to the sea, only to return next year to the very same beach, again during the nesting season.
Meanwhile the eggs are easy targets for predators. Stray dogs often manage to ferret out the catch and gobble up the eggs. Those that aren't eaten hatch after 50-70 days and the teeny baby Olive Ridleys immediately begin moving towards the sea. How do they do that?
Researchers and biologists say that the hatchlings are attracted by the bright horizon or the moonlight sparkling on the water. Recent studies show that the glow of neon lights and brightly lit buildings has been misleading the babies, making them lose their bearings.
In the last few years, the number of turtles nesting at Gahirmatha (and the smaller adjoining beaches) has reduced. Environmentalists point out that the indiscriminate fishing by local villagers results in turtles getting entangled in the huge nets and few fisherfolk release the animal back safely. Instead, they kill it and toss the carcass into the water.
Protests by wildlife activists forced the government to take action and in the year 1998, Gahirmatha became a protected wildlife sanctuary with the coast guard and the forest department monitoring the coastal waters.
Sea Turtles [Earth facts for kids]
By Rama Kumaraswamy Thoopal; Illustration by Anup Singh
Online Mind Games Tic Tac Toe News for Children Antonyms Kids' Magazine Word Play Poems for children Mind Games Discover Earth Ganesh Coloring Pages Tongue Twister Science Magazine Word Search Game Children's Craft Activities Reference Quotations Stories Folktales Learning Math Fiction for Kids Art for Kids Educational Games Coloring Books Quiz Flash Cards Did You Know? Famous People Computer Quiz Coloring Pages Math for kids Children's Books Environment Kids' Activities 5WH Science for Kids Games for Little Kids Riddles Word Match Children's Crossword Jokes for kids Science Quiz
|
<urn:uuid:6223e532-a75e-4907-8b27-78a7909cbfeb>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.pitara.com/discover/earth/online.asp?story=102
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00059-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.936294
| 815
| 3.578125
| 4
|
Computerized Re-Mastering in the Manufacture of Slow Speed Tape Records
With instruction on a CRT display to guide him, the re-mastering engineer attacks the idiosyncracies of the slow speed tape record consistently and reliably using an algorithm that relates the continuous output of a spectrum analyzer to an empirically derived signal shaping matrix stored in a mini-computer's memory.
Click to purchase paper or login as an AES member. If your company or school subscribes to the E-Library then switch to the institutional version. If you are not an AES member and would like to subscribe to the E-Library then Join the AES!
This paper costs $20 for non-members, $5 for AES members and is free for E-Library subscribers.
|
<urn:uuid:7518c139-6f9b-49fc-adaa-59103b076850>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.aes.org/e-lib/browse.cfm?elib=1252
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00058-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.922716
| 154
| 1.65625
| 2
|
It's a tiny little town, population about 4200 people, and about 11 blocks long. It's a gorgeous village with lots of history behind it. There's even a maritime museum right there at the village in the heart of the festival. The houses are small cottages with commercial boats and fishing gear in the yards. A couple blocks down is a number of fish houses where local fisherman sell their catches.
The serious fishermen who live in the village have the true workingman's spirit...They appreciate the simpler things in life. We didn't get to see much of the village today as the commercial fishing festival--"Better Fish to Fry" took over the town today and will again tomorrow. Not quite sure what the significance of the slogan is, but maybe they are trying to tell the festival goers that here is where the better fish is fried!? Not that anybody has better things to do than go to a seafood/fishing festival, right? The festival's proceeds (3.00 to get in) go to restoring and preserving wetlands and uplands just east of Cortez Village. Now THAT'S a great cause!
There was great live music today...The maritime museum is there, but we didn't visit it today....
Nautical arts and crafts.......Over 50 vendors.....Sparky LOVES crafts...and anything nautical...
Children's activities...Just loved this little girl's painted cat face!
A touch tank for young and old.....Talks and more exhibits down at the docks.....Ew-w-w-w--w! Octopus! A delicacy to some, but not to Sparky! They look like mummified octopi to her!
Sparky thought these stone crab claws were COOL! But she wouldn't want to eat them....
And more seafood than you can imagine...TONS of fresh seafood from local vendors and suppliers.
They even had squid fries, we kid you not!
We think there were lots more food booths than arts and crafts booths today.....(It IS a commercial fishing festival, ya know, chimes in Eldo, not really a craft show.)
Sparky wanted to sit and sample lots of food, but people were not emptying the picnic tables after they were finished so you could sit down and eat!
No idea what kind of seafood this is!
About 25,000 people are expected to attend the festival..Parking is limited and fills up early..Best way to find a parking place is to drive to Coquina Beach in Bradenton on Anna Maria Island, and hop on the city bus and for $.60 for seniors (60 and up), ride the bus back into Cortez where they drop you off right at the park. When you've eaten all the seafood you can eat, seen everything you wanted to see, hop back on the bus, and for another $.60, back to the beautiful Coquina Beach you go! Or, you can park at the G.T. Bray Park (5502 33rd Ave. Dr. W., Bradenton) Coquina Beach is absolutely beautiful...We're going to go back for a picnic lunch one of these days. Nice shady parking lot, a bike path to ride along the ocean...WOW!
Tomorrow, severe cold hits Sarasota...We'll probably stay inside to keep warm! For the adventurous and hardy souls, the Sarasota Art Fair is tomorrow as well as the Cortez Fishing Festival, both for the second day. Would you believe a high of 58 and a low of 36? (Say it ain't so! says E.) Yep, but it won't last long...Monday, back up to 70 and a low of 52. But Sparky will LOVE the one day cold spell.....She'll probably go ride her bike some....See you later!
|
<urn:uuid:586821e5-cd6b-4de8-8077-ac436dd4f02e>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://whereseldo.blogspot.com/2013/02/better-fish-to-fry.html
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00059-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.966277
| 789
| 1.539063
| 2
|
Windows 8 interface called 'disappointing' by usability expert
An expert on user interface design has called Windows 8 “disappointing” for novices and power users alike.
Jakob Nielsen, principal of the Nielsen Norman Group, studied how a dozen experienced PC users interacted with Windows 8, and the conclusion was not good.
“Windows 8 on mobile devices and tablets is akin to Dr. Jekyll: a tortured soul hoping for redemption,” Nielsen wrote. “On a regular PC, Windows 8 is Mr. Hyde: a monster that terrorizes poor office workers and strangles their productivity.”
Although the sample sizes of Nielsen's studies are small, he argues that they provide more insight than larger studies focused on metrics. Even if you don't agree with that assertion, Nielsen does make some good points about how the design of Windows 8 needs improvement.
Windows 8's dual nature
Nielsen's main gripe, unsurprisingly, is the dual nature of Windows 8, which combines desktop and touch-friendly environments into a single operating system. Not only is the user interface inconsistent, it also requires users to remember where to go for which features, and to waste time switching between interfaces. Also, when users are running a Web browser in both interfaces, they can only access a subset of their open Web pages at any given time.
But even the Modern-style interface on its own has some major problems in Nielsen's view. He felt that the inability to open multiple windows of a given application creates a “memory overload” for complex tasks, because users have no way to see all the information they've collected. The charms panel, he said, hides generic commands such as search and individual app settings, so they're “out of sight, out of mind,” especially for novices.
Nielsen also pointed out a quirk in the Windows 8 settings menu: While most of the options are presented as flat, monochrome icons, the option to change PC settings is shown in plain text, so it “looks more like the label for the icon group than a clickable command.”
As a layman, I don't agree with all of Nielsen's assertions. He knocks some Modern-style apps for having “low-information density”—for instance, the Los Angeles Times app, which shows little more than a large image and a headline on its opening screen—but I actually find those sparser layouts to be refreshing. Nielsen points to the Times' website as a better use of space but, in my opinion, it's too cluttered and does nothing to draw the reader in.
Windows 8 frustrations
Still, the study does point out some frustration points that I've noticed on my own. For instance, Nielsen claims that some Live Tiles in Windows 8 are too active for their own good, so it's hard to tell at a glance which apps you're actually looking at. Indeed, it can be frustrating to hunt down a particular app when confronted with a series of thumbnail images, none of which displays the name of their respective apps.
At the end of the report, Nielsen notes that he's not a Microsoft hater—he praises the sometimes-maligned Ribbon of Microsoft's desktop apps—and hopes for a better Windows 9, noting that the company has a history of correcting its mistakes. Also, keep in mind that nitpicking user interface issues is Nielsen's job. He's previously done the same for Apple's iPad and Amazon's Kindle Fire.
Disagree if you like, but I think it's interesting to read a close analysis of the Windows 8 user interface. It's a big change for Windows, and it's obviously going to need some tweaking. Hopefully Microsoft takes some of Nielsen's suggestions to heart.
For more on the Windows 8 interface, check out our report on what several UI experts think.
|
<urn:uuid:f0a3e77d-dca0-4845-b176-d7821898c441>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.pcworld.com/article/2015073/windows-8-interface-called-disappointing-by-usability-expert.html
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.945914
| 802
| 1.507813
| 2
|
About the Foundation
The James Graham Brown Foundation, Inc. was established under a trust agreement in 1943 and formally incorporated in 1954. James Graham Brown was a lumberman, horseman, and entrepreneur. The majority of his wealth was made in the timber industry in several southern states including Arkansas, Mississippi, Georgia, Florida and Alabama. He died in 1969 with no heirs leaving the bulk of his estate to the Foundation. His estate at the time of his death was valued at an estimated $80 million. Since 1954, the Foundation has awarded over 2,700 grants totaling approximately $462,816,066.
Mr. Brown believed that the national and local perception of the state of Kentucky should be improved, creating a desire in the citizens of Kentucky and the City of Louisville to enhance the image of Louisville and Kentucky. He instructed the trustees to "promote the well-being of the citizens of Louisville and Kentucky".
Mr. Brown, besides his generosity to the community, is also remembered for the development of the Brown Hotel and his passion for the thoroughbred industry and Churchill Downs.
During his lifetime, he helped establish the Louisville Zoo, the acquisition of land for development of the University of Louisville, the area's first blood bank for the American Red Cross and he supported countless other nonprofit beneficiaries.
|
<urn:uuid:d2f66730-a9d5-4481-94e9-b52639f7d8a4>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.jgbf.org/Home/About-the-Foundation.aspx
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00021-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.970355
| 262
| 1.625
| 2
|
As Brazil continues to emerge as a global offshore and shipbuilding powerhouse, are its local content laws hindering progress?
Brazil’s Oil & Gas industry is in the midst of an unprecedented growth curve, with major new reservoirs being found in deepwater, the so-called pre-salt. This growth in the O&G industry has had a major influence in the growth of the nation’s shipbuilding industry, which until only a few short years ago was stagnant.
The main reason for this massive increase in shipbuilding and also in the construction of new shipyards is that the O&G industry demands various kinds of ships and support vessels in order to properly operate and maintain growth. Although it is always possible to buy ships of foreign make, the Brazilian government policy is determined to strengthen local industry in order to avoid what many call the oil curse, where countries rich in oil fail to develop their local manufacturing industries and end up completely dependent in foreign equipment and manufacturing capabilities, therefore strangling their own growth potential and usually sustaining high unemployment levels, along with increasing costs of related to Oil and Gas E&P. Unfortunately, good examples of countries that have this problem abound, in Latin America, including Mexico and Venezuela, as well as most West African oil producers.
Local Content in the Oil & Gas industry
The local content policy introduced by the Brazilian government is intended to strengthen local manufacturers that supply the O&G industry in such a way as to make them competitive with foreign suppliers.
The local content policy includes a wide range of materials, equipment, systems and services, which are necessary for the different industries, in this case specifically the O&G and shipbuilding industries in Brazil. The purpose of local content requirements is to allow local goods and service providers to participate in the O&G supply chain and increase their market share in a competitive basis. The system is intended to foster the development of Brazilian industry, high-end technological development, human resources development, employment and income.
In short, local content is the percentage of materials, equipment, systems and services produced locally in relation to the total amount of purchases made by a concessionaire currently operating in Brazil.
Brazilian concession contracts for exploration and production contain a clause requiring operators to purchase a certain percentage of goods and services from locally established providers.
Local providers are required to offer conditions of price, term and quality equivalent to those offered by foreign competitors. The percentage required may vary depending on the product and the amount of goods and services available in relation to the demand, in some cases local content requirement have been lowered in order not to negatively influence an industry’s growth. This usually only occurs when there are not enough qualified local workers for a given job or when specialized goods required are not locally available or do not have the necessary quality standards that the industry demands.
Brazil’s National Petroleum Agency (ANP) is responsible, among other things, for formulating and overseeing the country’s local content policy in relation to the O&G industry. The ANP has been using local content criterion when assessing business proposals ever since the first bidding round of blocks for exploration and production, which took place in 1999.
According to the ANP, up until the fourth bidding round in 2002, local content percentages were free. As of the fifth and sixth rounds in 2003 and 2004 respectively, however, ANP has established minimum percentages based on whether blocks were located onshore, offshore shallow water or offshore deepwater.
From the seventh round in 2005 onwards, contracts have included minimum and maximum percentages of local content for a set of specialized items used in the exploration and production development phases.
To ensure compliance with the local content policy, ANP monitors local content requirements by quarterly auditing investments and operations of each concessionaire. The ANP will inspect local content compliance during three phases of the Exploration and Production cycle:
1) Upon completion of the exploration phase;
2) At the end of the production development phase.
3) When the exploration block is returned and the concession contract is ended.
Block operators provide ANP with contracts and invoices showing their investments on all three phases. The documentation is then audited by the ANP and if local content percentages reach or exceed the set value, the ANP will give its approval and if not the block operator may be penalized by a hefty fine. In 2007, after a protracted and heated process of public consultations and hearings, ANP finally released the Local Content Certification System (ANP Resolutions 36 through 39/2007), which establishes local content rules for all contracts signed since Round 7.
Certification activities involve collecting data on the origin of components supplied, measuring local content and issuing certificates. By attaching these certificates to all invoices, concessionaires will testify to ANP that goods and services have been produced or provided locally. According to this system, ANP accredited independent firms are responsible for checking and subsequently certifying the local content of goods and services in the oil industry based on the Local Content Primer, which was developed by the Brazil’s Program for Mobilization of the Oil and Gas Industry (Prominp).
There are currently 21 ANP accredited certification firms, and by 2011 over 7,500 certificates had been issued to more than 400 local providers, evidencing more than $2 billion worth of investments in Brazil.
This investment is a direct spin-off from the government’s local content policy and it helps local industry to become more competitive and fosters all levels of workforce training including specialized geologists and engineers, a variety of technicians, and all sectors basic workforce, which is a significant gain for a country such as Brazil which deals with high levels of poverty.
The building of shipyards in very poor areas such as the EAS shipyard in Ipoyuca, Ceara, has also brought tangible social and economic gains to these locations, therefore the importance of the local content policy must be emphasized even considering the drawbacks and bottleneck the policy may cause in the industry. The main problem is the lack of a workforce pool from which to draw.
Local Content in the Shipbuilding Industry
In the late 1970’s the Brazilian shipbuilding industry was the second largest in the world. It directly employed 40,000 workers with an additional 100,000 indirect jobs supporting the industry. The debt crisis in the 1980s led to limitations on capital availability leading buyers to redirect orders to upstart firms in Japan, Singapore, South Korea and later China, who were able to offer lower costs and better schedule reliability. By the late 1990s the industry had all but disappeared; shipyards closed, unfinished projects were abandoned on the ways; and only about 2,000 jobs remained.
Circumstances changed in the late 1990s with the discovery of significant oil reserves in the Campos basin off the coast of the state of Rio de Janeiro. The Brazilian government auctioned off exploration blocks and through the initiatives of the national operator, Petrobras, along with other firms in the global oil industry, there were multiple discoveries of deepwater oil reserves.
In the early 2000s discoveries in the “pre-salt” area off the Northeast coast led to anticipation that Brazil would become a major exporter of oil as these reserves were developed to their full commercial potential. Around 2007, major pre-salt plays were discovered in the Santos Basin, mostly located in deep waters, far from shore.
This confirmed that the country had a true potential to become a major oil exporter. It brought to earth the need for a variety of rigs, drillships, crude and LNG tankers and support vessels to serve the O&G industry and as a direct consequence a rebirth of the local shipbuilding industry was required.
The Brazilian shipbuilding industry has been embarked on an impressive growth curve, growing from a low of less than 2,000 jobs in the year 2000 to the current level of around 60,000 jobs. Shipyards that had been mothballed are now revived, and new purpose built facilities -- everything from small yards that build only modules for rigs to major shipyards which intend to compete with the big shipyards in China and Korea which currently dominate the world market. All firms involved in shipyard construction, shipbuilding, including equipment manufacturers and service providers are required to fulfill local content demands.
Shipbuilding policy in Brazil is overseen by SINAVAL, which is the Brazilian shipbuilders union.
SINAVAL and ONIP (National Organization of the Petroleum Industry) developed a local content database for the shipbuilding industry which includes equipment, products and materials needed by shipyards, these are based on real case purchases for a PSV, a Tanker and an FPSO.
The database is shared with the supply chain in order to increase local production (see Table below).Franco Papini, SINAVAL’s executive vice-president, coordinates the local content initiative. Policy on local content in the workforce is decided by the Brazilian government and implemented by Sinaval. Local content production for tankers, drillships, rigs and support vessels involves training of human resources for workforce and supply of equipment. The compliance with local content commitments are monitored by Sinaval, along with the ANP and the Ministry of Mines and Energy (MME). The supply of equipment includes 11 groups of equipment, 111 subgroups and a total of 534 items.
SINAVAL has signed agreements for the development of partnerships with institutions that represent industries in Argentina, Spain, Korea and Japan, in order to expand the options of Brazilian shipyards in the development of their activities.The new phase of expansion of the Brazilian shipbuilding industry aims to comply with Petrobras’ investment plan, as well as preparing the industry for the expansion of oceangoing shipping, coastal shipping and inland waterway transport. The increase of local content in shipbuilding is still a priority and the expected increase in workforce demand by the new shipyards and new orders from operational shipyards, places technical training and qualification of human resources as one of the main challenges of the industry along with increasing the amount and quality of local content in maritime equipment manufacture. There is still a long hurdle ahead of the industry in order to adequately maintain local content levels that comply to the demands of the industry, major training programs are underway, from federal technical training to private technical training such as the OSX sponsored ITN (Institute of Naval Technology). In both the O&G industry and the Shipbuilding industry, the main risk is that a bottleneck may be created in the industries if local content availiability does not reach the parameters demanded by each segment of the industries. This may cause serious delays in E&P efforts which force both the Brazilian government and regulatory agencies to be more flexible with local content demands; which is something that has already happened in some instances.
In the next five years we should have a good idea on how well the local content policy is working in Brazil, for now all that can be done is to increase the effort of training the workforce and preparing the equipment industry to compete with foreign brands well established in the market. The fact that many of these foreign firms are making joint ventures with local manufacturers and offering technology transfer is definitely positive, however we are still to see if all these efforts will be enough to keep up with the demand.
Workforce by segment
Engineers 10% 1,500
Technicians 10% 1,500
Specialized Workers 70% 10,500
Administrative 5% 750
Others 5% 750
*Source: Sinaval - January 2012
Shipyard Distribution and Workforce by State
State Jobs %
Rio de Janeiro 25,020 42.29
Amazonas 11,987 20.26
Pernambuco 9,798 16.56
Rio Grande do Sul 5,500 9.30
Santa Catarina 2,125 3.59
Bahia 2,125 3.59
Others 2,612 4.41
Total 59,167 100.00
*Source: Sinaval - January 2012
Shipyard Workforce: Last 50 Years
*Source: Sinaval - January 2012
Content by Vessel Type
Type Local Imported
Tanker 70.8% 29.2%
PSV 61% 39%
FPSO 64.2% 35.8%
*Source: Sinaval - January 2012
Brazilian Shipbuilding Figures
• 6.2 million DWT order book
• 11 New yards under construction
• 18 Offshore Oil Platforms
• 21 Offshore Deepwater
Drilling Rigs Bid
• 47 Shipyards operational
• 59k Workers directly employed
Petrobras Investment Program:
From 2011–2020 undertaking the world’s largest E&P
• 50 Production platforms
• 50 Drill rigs
• 500 Offshore supply vessels
• 130 Oil tankers
About ITN – the Institute of Naval Technology
Aimed at promoting research and development, projects, and sponsoring initiatives focused on technological development and innovation, OSX created the ITN – Institute of Naval Technology, which will is being developed in four phases. In the first phase of its development, ITN is training professionals in careers required to make up the teams that will work in the UCN Açu Shipyard and OSX Serviços. Under a contract with the Rio de Janeiro Industrial Federation, Firjan, facilitated by Senai-RJ, the Program for Professional Qualification in Shipbuilding was created to train 3,1 thousand professionals by 2013. The initiative is ITN´s first partnership and will invest approximately R$ 13 million to qualify professionals for the project.
* Source: OSX website
(As publsihed in the November 2012 edition of Maritime Reporter - www.marinelink.com)
|
<urn:uuid:641615f0-a02c-424a-987c-15f88b4731d5>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.marinelink.com/news/content-local349862.aspx
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.950821
| 2,816
| 2.125
| 2
|
The biological name for the daylily is Hemerocallis. The plant is called a fan,consisting of four main parts--the roots, the crown, the foliage (leaves), and the scape, which bears the flower. The roots are fibrous tubers that absorb water and minerals needed by the plant. The crown is the stem of the plant which joins the roots and leaves together. The leaves are long and grass-like with a rib on the underside. The leaves form fans and in time the plant multiplies and produces more fans which can be separated into two or more plants. The scape is the stalk that bears the flower. Scapes can be single leafless stalks or have two or three branches. Sometimes the scape may have a "bract" at the junction of the branch, where another small plantlet may grow. This small plantlet is called a "proliferation".
The daylily flower comes in many color patterns, flower forms, and sizes. The bloom lasts for only a day, hence its botanical name "Hemerocallis" which is derived from the Greek language and translates to "beauty for a day." Each plant may have many scapes, and in turn each scape may have many buds, which is referred to as a "high budcount." The flowering period for a plant can last from two to three weeks with some varieties flowering more than once. These plants are referred to as "reblooms".
The bloom season for daylilies are the months of March through December, with the peak bloom season in the Tallahassee area around the last week of May. Some varieties bloom early, starting in April. Others do not start blooming until late May or early June. Many daylilies have a flush of bloom and then don't bloom again until the following year. Others are recurrent or have repeat bloom cycles, sending up a flush of scapes, blooming out, resting two or three weeks, and sending up another flush of scapes. Then others seem to never stop blooming, sending up a new scape just as old ones bloom out.
The plant is introduced and registered by the hybridizer, who cross-pollinated it to form the seed for the new daylily. The hybrdizer is allowed to choose the name, but it must be accepted by the National Registrar of the American Hemerocallis Sociatey. There are over 35,000 named varieties of daylilies and perhaps another 100,000 seedlings.
Daylilies fall into two basic categories,dormant and evergreen, with intermediate points between: Dormant--Semi-dormant--Semi-evergreen--Evergreen. Evergreen daylilies thrive in North Florida and their foliage remains green during the winter months. In spring, if the tips of the foliage show signs of frostbite, it is a good idea to cut off this old foliage. The foliage of dormant daylilies dies back to the ground in winter and sometimes in the extreme heat of summer. Dormant daylilies do not grow very well farther south. In selecting dormant daylilies, many people rely on the experience of their friends or fellow daylily club members before purchasing expensive varieties. Dormant daylilies will perform better in north Florida if planted in partially shaded locations with wetter, cooler ground temperatures. The advantage in growing some dormant daylilies is that they start blooming later in the season, after many evergreen varieties have bloomed and are "resting" before rebloom.
All daylilies can be further identified into either tetraploid (44 chromosomes) or diploid (22 chromosomes.) If you are interested in flowers only, forget the last sentence, but if you are interested in hybridizing, you can only cross like (same quantity) chromosome counts.
|
<urn:uuid:827626c1-8231-42db-a724-ea85918f64e3>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.thsgardens.org/ths/about/index.html
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.948893
| 805
| 3.40625
| 3
|
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) - State forestry officials say an invasive wood-boring beetle has spread to more than a dozen counties in Virginia, threatening millions of ash trees.
The emerald ash borer is a native of Asia first detected in the U.S. 10 years ago. It has now spread to the following counties: Pittsylvania, Halifax, Charlotte, Mecklenburg, Lee, Buchanan, Hanover, Warren, Caroline, Prince Edward, Giles, Loudoun and Stafford.
The pest had previously been confirmed in three northern Virginia counties: Arlington, Prince William and Frederick.
Chris Asaro is a forest health specialist with the Virginia Department of Forestry. He says the beetle is capable of killing all 187 million native ash trees in Virginia.
Ash is valued statewide at $170 million.
|
<urn:uuid:f999d8f1-82b8-4794-a1e9-c1c5fbf91c6a>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.wusa9.com/news/virginia/article/212464/188/Ash-Boring-Beetle-Spreading-In-Virginia
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00034-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.938205
| 169
| 2.59375
| 3
|
By William Breathes
By Patricia Calhoun
By Michael Roberts
By Patricia Calhoun
By Michael Roberts
By Michael Roberts
By Michael Roberts
By Melanie Asmar
Four Aprils ago, as investigators strung yellow crime-scene tape and boarded up bullet-riddled windows around Columbine High School, snow began to fall -- a wet, heavy spring storm that masked the carnage in merciful white.
But the snow couldn't quite obscure the spontaneous memorials that were already surfacing on and around Rebel Hill, just northwest of the school in Clement Park. Overnight, it seemed, the park became the focal point of public grieving for the attack on Columbine that left fifteen dead and two dozen injured -- the worst school shooting in American history. Rebel Hill was soon festooned with flowers, crosses, stuffed animals. There were Hallmark cards, long rolls of paper with scrawled messages from schoolchildren, placards that asked "WHY?" in foot-high letters.
Thousands of people trudged through the mud. Read the messages. Pondered the questions. And left without answers.
The impromptu tributes are gone now, collected and put in storage by the Colorado Historical Society and other area archivists. Last week, though, reporters and camera crews returned to Clement Park, amid sharp winds and swirling snowflakes, to tour the site of a future $3 million memorial.
The quest for a permanent remembrance of Columbine has consumed four long years, and like almost every aspect of the public debate over the attack and its aftermath, it has been, at times, a contentious process. "We've tried to do the right thing," says Bob Easton, director of the Foothills Park and Recreation District, who's spearheaded a 28-member committee that has worked with Columbine families to come up with a suitable design. "But with the passage of time, it's become clear that this is a journey without a clear start or end."
Yet the journey is almost complete. Easton's group has collected more than $600,000 toward the cost of the project and hopes to raise the rest from local businesses, foundations and individuals over the next few months. It hopes to break ground in August and complete the memorial by April 20, 2004 -- the fifth anniversary of the tragedy.
Along the way, the choices made have been surprising and revealing. They say a great deal about the determination of the victims' families to find a deeply personal way to honor their loved ones, to celebrate life rather than death. At the same time, the memorial will provide the community a place to reflect on what was lost one April day, and what must never be forgotten.
Consider, for example, the site chosen for the project. Jefferson County school district officials balked at the idea of a memorial within the school itself, for both practical and political reasons. A public exhibit would be "disruptive," the officials said, and the district had gotten crosswise with the families soon after the shootings by inviting them to paint memorial tiles, then refusing to display the ones that contained religious expressions. (The impasse triggered a federal lawsuit that ultimately cost the district hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees.) So the high school, which now has few of the teachers and none of the students who were there four years ago, was quickly eliminated from consideration.
The obvious choice, then, was Clement Park, already the scene of so much public sorrow. The memorial will be tucked into an isolated area at the southeast corner of the park, flanked by Rebel Hill and a smaller slope -- a short walk from the west doors of Columbine, where the shooting began.
The site was selected almost three years ago, and Easton's group planned to have a memorial in place by mid-2001. But the project was put on hold at the request of the victims' families. It was too soon, they said, and many of them were already occupied by a more pressing project: raising millions in private donations to build a new school library. Budget-minded school officials had proposed a "renovation" of the existing library, the scene of most of the executions as well as the suicides of the teenage gunmen, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold; after the families objected and came up with the money on their own, it was razed and turned into an atrium.
The wait was worth it, says Brian Rohrbough, whose son, Daniel, was killed at Columbine, because it gave the families the opportunity to become more involved in the details of the project. "Memorials have a tremendous effect on people's emotions," he notes. "They give people a chance to examine what happened and come to terms with it. A bad memorial is about the most harmful thing that anyone could do to those of us who lost someone at Columbine."
The conceptual design for the site, developed by Denver's DHM Design and Oregon artist Tad Savinar, calls for transforming a bare hillside into a place of seclusion and reflection. Visitors will stroll past a waterfall to a grove of trees. Within the grove, a circular stone wall will feature thirteen stations of inscribed text -- one for each of the dozen slain students and teacher Dave Sanders. An outer wall will carry quotations from survivors about the impact of the massacre, based on Savinar's interviews with injured students, as well as teachers, parents and emergency-rescue personnel. Walkways will lead from the stone rings to hilltop areas with sweeping views of the Front Range, the school, the city and the plains.
Mindful of the tile debacle with the school district, the families of the dead insisted on having complete editorial control of the texts dealing with their children. The intent is to allow for each of the thirteen to be presented as individuals, in the words of those who knew them best. Media portraits and church sermons have tended to blur the distinctions, lumping them together, but it was individuals who died, and it is their glorious particularities that the families want to commemorate.
Two sample texts were presented at the unveiling of the conceptual design. One spoke of Kelly Fleming's shyness and resounding laughter, her crush on 'N Sync and efforts to be a "big kid." The other describes Kyle Velasquez's love of Coke and pizza and his eagerness to make friends: "He saw good in everyone, even some people that didn't seem to have any in them."
The victims' families will also review the comments destined for the outer wall, which Savinar plans to blend into an episodic first- person narrative, without annotation or identification of individual sources -- a sort of collective community voice. That will be no easy task, yet the memorial will be remarkable not only for its text-heavy content, but for what will not be found there. No mention of specific police agencies, for instance, or individual officer heroics and command failures, the source of so much controversy surrounding the rescue effort.
And no mention of the names Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold.
Ever since Rohrbough and others took down the crosses that had been planted on Rebel Hill for Harris and Klebold, as if the two were victims of a natural disaster along with the other dead, the killers have been quietly excised from any memorial plans. Their legacy lies elsewhere: in fading magazine covers and moribund Web sites devoted to their memory; in homemade videotapes and ranting diaries currently under court seal; in the pain and shrapnel still carried by the people injured in their rampage.
For those not directly affected by the shootings, does the tragedy still resonate? Raising funds for a Columbine memorial so long after the event may seem like a risky enterprise; after all, the world has moved on to fresh horrors. I remember standing on Rebel Hill two summers ago with a friend from New York. She wanted to see the school, to grasp the physical reality behind the terror she'd watched on television. A few months later, my friend was watching from a window in lower Manhattan as the World Trade Center's twin towers exploded and collapsed. Now New Yorkers are preoccupied with their own losses and memorials.
Yet there are monuments to Columbine all around us. Books and scholarships in memory of the dead. The new school library. The release of almost 30,000 pages of investigative records that police and school authorities never wanted to release -- a record of "warning signs" ignored or missed, of unheeded anger and threats, of bureaucratic ineptitude and parental blindness and the chaos that followed. Anonymous hotlines and dramatic changes in police response tactics that may well have prevented worse school shootings.
What is lacking, perhaps, is what only a permanent memorial can provide: A place to try to make sense of it all. To glimpse the innocence and vitality of those caught in the gunfire that day, to try to fathom the loss of lives cut so short, a loss that diminishes us all. To meditate on a society so prosperous and promising, yet maimed by senseless rage and violence.
A place for generations to ask why, even if the answers remain elusive.
For related stories please see the Columbine Reader
Find everything you're looking for in your city
Find the best happy hour deals in your city
Get today's exclusive deals at savings of anywhere from 50-90%
Check out the hottest list of places and things to do around your city
|
<urn:uuid:4c6b5e0d-1fb8-4533-95a2-1f6549f93f56>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.westword.com/2003-04-17/news/a-lasting-tribute/full/
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00052-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.96747
| 1,924
| 1.9375
| 2
|
Here are the details about the item. If you wish to request this item, just click on "request this item", below. Otherwise, you can go back
to the previous page by clicking "back" on your browser toolbar or by clicking on "return to resource list", below.
Title: The NEw Language of Toys - Teaching Communication Skills to Children with Special Needs
Author: Schwartz, Sue, PhD.
(2004 iParenting Media Award Winner) Many young children with special needs experience language delays and need additional help to build language skills. What better way to encourage communication development than through play? The completely updated third edition of THE NEW LANGUAGE OF TOYS, a perennial favorite of parents, speech-language pathologists, and early interventionists, offers a plan for doing just that.
The new edition presents sixty-five new toys and accompanying toy dialogs to use with children with a wide range of special needs from birth through age six. These sample toy dialogs show parents how to play purposefully with their child--using store-bought and homemade toys--to provide language learning opportunities and stimulate language development. The exercises are fun and educational, too, as parents help their child build receptive language skills (understanding), expressive language skills (communicating), and speech.
THE NEW LANGUAGE OF TOYS is organized by language developmental ages and each section includes:
toy dialogs; numerous photographs; a toy list; a list of suggested vocabulary and communication concepts; children's book bibliography; a checklist to track progress.
In addition, this book provides important background information about language, its sequential development, the causes of language delays, and how play can enhance language development. It also explains the use of videos, DVDs, television, and the computer as language enhancers. The resource lists are extensive, offering toy manufacturers and catalogs, support organizations, children's book information, and suggested materials for homemade toys.
[Return to the Resource List]
[Request this Item]
|
<urn:uuid:e7ab314f-034b-4ac8-8cf8-dab0cdcbd85d>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www2.oakland.edu/sehs/forms/oucares/oucares.cfm?orderby=Title&ID=348&operation=view
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.920657
| 411
| 2.890625
| 3
|
A learning specialist shows you how to raise a successful reader and writer.
Learn creative ways to bring differentiated instruction and guided reading to life in your classroom.
Learn response to intervention (RTI) strategies that ensure the struggling readers in your classroom get the help and education they need.
Get the professional development training you need to improve student literacy as an accomplished teacher shares the secrets of turning guided reading strategies into opportunities for teaching writing.
In this teacher-training course, you'll learn from an experienced educator how to motivate and assist developing writers.
Complete the form below and click the Reset Password button. If
we find your password, we'll send password reset instructions to the e-mail address
we have on record for you.
|
<urn:uuid:75717c3f-f8fb-40b1-961b-33d36cde1df7>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.ed2go.com/gtcc2go/SearchResults.aspx?CurrPage=1&CategoryId=62&Sort=RELEVANCE&PrevSort=RELEVANCE&SortAsc=True
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.909793
| 149
| 1.953125
| 2
|
From Wikipedia: In photography, bokeh is the blur,or the aesthetic quality of the blur, in out-of-focus areas of an image, or “the way the lens renders out-of-focus points of light”. Differences in and shape cause some lens designs to blur the image in a way that is pleasing to the eye, while others produce blurring that is unpleasant or distracting— “good” or “bad” bokeh, respectively. Bokeh occurs for parts of the scene that lie outside the depth of field. Photographers sometimes deliberately use a shallow focus technique to create images with prominent out-of-focus.
What lenses are best for a good bokeh? A large aperture lens with a fast or very fast aperture (smaller numbers=larger maximum aperture) would be necessary so a lens with a maximum aperture of 1.8 or 1.4 will be very good, I use most of times a Canon EF 85mm f1.2L II USM, which is indeed super fast and bright but again 1.4 or 1.8 is good already and it won’t break your bank account!
Bokeh, bokeh shapes and boke filters:
Recently, photographers have found how to exploit the shape of the bokeh by creating a simple mask out of card with the shape that the photographer wishes the bokeh to be, and placing it over the lens. Common shapes are stars and hearts, but it is possible to create it with almost any shape imagined.
After owning that fast lens ( and a camera..DUH!) you will need the following:
- Spare Camera lens cap to fit the size of the lens you will be using to do bokeh shots with
- Squeeze paper Punch (pictured here is a 3/4″ x 3/4″ square puncher)
- One thin sheet of black carboard
- Tape or glue
- Black Marker (if using a light color cardboard)
Light up a candle and after your knife is super HOT cut the rectangular shape in your lens cape roughfly in the middle of the cap. Don’t worry if it’s not super straight or super smooth, since the cardboard mask that you have previously made with the puncher is what is gonna give you the clean bokeh edges that you want. Do not try to cut the bokeh shape/mask with scissors or an exacto knife, otherwise your bokeh will look fuzzy and imperfect (not what we want). All you need to worry is that the cut in the cap will be fairly large and larger than your actual carboard mask with the bokeh shape. The puncher shown here has a hole of 3/4″ x 3/4″. Since its hole is square and I wanted a rectangular bokeh, I folded my carborad in half , so my cutout shape will be rectangular.
Do keep in mind that the smaller the bokeh mask hole you ‘ll make, the less the light it’s going to get to your lens, forcing you to either:
- Shoot with a higher ISO and therefore getting a grainier (more noise) picture
- Use a tripod or even worse get a blurry shot instead
After you cut the lens cap sand it off and make smooth on the inside (the side facing the lens) so you can glue your bokeh mask in there, you really only have to worry about placing the bokeh perfectly leveled, since you are gonna be able to rotate the lens cap and make it horizontal as you please, once your bokeh “filter” is on the camera.
Last but not least, do not forget that to get the most evident bokeh you’ll always need to keep these 3 very simple rules in mind and try to apply all of them when shooting for bokeh, and you will become a bokeh king like myself!
- Use the brightest lens you have and use it wide open (with the smallest numer, set to that number) 2.0, or 1.8, or even 1.4
- Stay as close as possible to the subject, as close as your lens allows you to focus that is!
- Try to keep your subject as far as possible from the highlights in the background that will become your bokeh, move the subject, when possible, further for the background, or position yourself somewhere else so the background will be further from your subject.
|
<urn:uuid:24264814-6939-4d3a-a539-fc14fa3defec>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.pompo.com/tag/best-bokeh/
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.925902
| 940
| 2.53125
| 3
|
Who do you think should manage Ferriday water?|
Story Archives: Corps says Cocodrie drainage study will cost $500,000
- 2013 - 300 articles
- 2012 - 856 articles
- 2011 - 635 articles
- 2010 - 1276 articles
- 2009 - 1591 articles
- 2008 - 1763 articles
|Corps says Cocodrie drainage study will cost $500,000|
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has estimated that a drainage feasibility study on Cocodrie Bayou could cost as much as $500,000, a figure Police Jury President Melvin Ferrington says is too high.
Ferrington said $100,000 would be fully funded federally and that the Jury would have to pay $200,000 of the remaining $400,000 cost.
"But we can't afford $200,000," said Ferrington.
The Jury has been exploring ways to improve drainage on Cocodrie for the past years, and has held meetings with federal and state authorities and with the public. The problem was heightened last year when 20 inches of rain fell during Hurricane Gustav, causing widespread flooding. That was followed by heavy rainfall last April, which also caused flooding.
Cocodrie became the only interior drainage outlet in Concordia after the construction of the ring levee which cut off drainage through Buckner Bayou, the Tensas River and other outlets in the northern end of the parish. Cocodrie was placed in the Natural and Scenic River Act in 1970 and put under the jurisdiction of the Louisiana Department of Wildlife & Fisheries.
Ferrington said that in September Corps officials toured parts of Cocodrie and looked at the weirs on Cocodrie and on Wild Cow Bayou.
"Cocodrie has silt bars, log jams, bank sloughing and a narrow channel," said Ferrington. "We know what needs to be done and don't think a $500,000 feasibility study is the answer. But we'll have to work through it."
Meanwhile, Ferrington said "all of the paperwork has been filed" for construction of a new roof on the old courthouse. He said the cost of the work is $220,000.
"Everything is on go as far as we're concerned," he said. "We're waiting on the governor's office right now to complete their paperwork."
Funding for the project is coming through a $472,000-grant from the Louisiana Recovery Authority. The Jury will collect $250,000 of that total and the rest will go to the Town of Ferriday for construction of its water plant.
Work to upgrade the parish jail in the basement of the courthouse is also continuing.
Ferrington said the Jury has spent about $45,000 for the upgrades required by the State Fire Marshal.
"Once we complete all of this work we will be completely up to code and the Fire Marshal will be satisfied," said Ferrington.
|Frank Morris Murder Series|
|
<urn:uuid:d274a404-7236-4856-b8b5-004da4078ec5>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.concordiasentinel.com/archives.php?id=4474
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.966611
| 614
| 1.976563
| 2
|
Keyword association manipulation (KAM) - an experiemental SEO technique
Keyword Association Manipulation (KAM) is an advanced, experimental SEO technique used to solve the problem of multiple keyword focus. The idea came from an observation in my blog about how a site optimised for Lincolnshire SEO came top of google for Cleethorpes SEO. The besic premise is this:
Google uses complex natural language models to associate words with similarly related words in specific contexts. A recent google blog illustrates the problem of contextualising language. Essentally, these articles introduces the concept of using words in context to get the intended meaning of the word. For example, if you type into google 'pupil'- you would expect to get a mix or results for eye anatomy, the fillipino band of the same name, student and teacher resources, and related topics. If you then type in 'pupil dilation' - google will correctly assume that you are interested in eye related sites and bring back results accordingly. This is because the words 'pupil' and 'dilation' often appear together in the context of 'eyes' topics.
This seemingly prosaic task that humans do effortlessly - almost unconsciously - is very difficult to perfect in a software environment. See the diference in meaning between 'arm reduction' (a cosmetic surgery technique) and 'arms reduction' (reducing the amount of weaponry) - computers have a hard time with these sorts of things.
There are times when ambiguity in association results in unintended, and sometimes humerous, results. Put in 'miserable failure' into google and the first page is filled with results about George Bush - this is because in September 2006 a group of people performed a technique called Google bombing. They set up links on websites to George Bush's blog using the keyword text 'miserable failure', so the google algorithm assumed that the link target page was about 'miserable failure' and therefore a search for the phrase returned the blog as the top result. Now if you search for the phrase, you are more likely to get news articles about the incident itself, in a way, self perpetuating the association. Another name for this technique is Googlewashing.
The KAM technique uses a slightly different methodology, but the intention is the same: to manipulate the search results so that a particular page comes up top for a particular, non related phrase. In SEO there is a problem which I call the Keyword Shift Phenomenon (a play on words of the risky shift phenomenon which is an theory of group polorisation by Stoner 1961). This problem occurs when you change the focus of your SEO efforts. Normally this is from a long tailed keyword to a higher frequency keyword like in the SEO Zooming technique, but can also be in response to seasonal variations or trends in search patterns. The keyword shift phenomenon occurs when rankings in the original keyword will drop faster than the rankings in the new keyword will rise, thus leading to a lower overall ranking and lower traffic and conversions in the process.
Consider the following example: my shop - Mykes Mojos - sells two types of products, widgets and gizmos. Widgets sell really well because all the kids want them, therefore, I optimised my Ecom site for the phrase widgets. Now, it transpires that a celebrity was seen using a gizmo, so all the kids now want gizmos, and the sales of widgets drops, whereas the market for gizmos has increased sharply. In response to this, we want to change the focus of the SEO from widgets to gizmos to improve market share and sales and to make up for the fall in sales of widgets. What we do then is change the metatags and site content to make gizmos more salient, change the focus of link building so that the keyword 'gizmos' is used instead of widgets. Over time, rankings for widgets drops, and gizmos increase. But what is we wanted to maintain the rankings for widgets, say, if we knew that the new widgets we have in will sell like hot cakes next season, but we also want to push gizmos? What we can do then is take advantage of the google language model to make google think that gizmos and widgets are actually the same thing- a false synonym. If google thinks that the two products are semantically similar, then any link with 'gizmo' in the title would also count towards the 'widgets' keyword and vice versa. A win-win situation forus then if we can pull it off.
So how do we do this? well, its not easy. Keyword association manipulation requires you to do everything you can to associate the keywords. There are a few tricks you can do. One is to use the keyword 'gizmos' to link to pages about widgets - these pages do not even need to be on your own site. If you link to one on wikipaedia, this has more effect because google confers a high trust rank to wikipaedia. You should also create links with the keyword 'widgets' to pages about gizmos. Again, off-site linking will have greater believability. Another trick is to use the two keywords side by side in linking - eg 'get your widgets / gizmos here' [link to either widget or gizmo page]. You can also use keyword searches to manipulate the results - type in 'gizmos' into google, then find a page about widgets in the results and click on that. If you do it enough times, then eventually, google will use the agregate search data to infer relationships between the synonyms.
At present, this technique is a theoretical model, and large scale experimentation is required to test the hypothesis that KAM can be used to improve your site's search engine relevancy for multiple, simultanious keywords.
|
<urn:uuid:5e8bab37-17c2-4c3a-9397-4a865e9bb674>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.mykeblack.com/seo/Keyword-association-manipulation
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00074-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.912877
| 1,216
| 2
| 2
|
Friday, May 24, 2013
How being fat really affects youNadine Wilson
A proliferation of North American media images profiling stick-thin women as the new sexy has not done much to deter the average Jamaican man from seeking out a woman with a little fat on her bones when searching for a mate.
In fact, male specialist Marlon Moore noted that while Jamaican men usually exhibit different tastes based on their socio-economic backgrounds and personal preferences, local men "generally go for the big bottom, broad hips and small waist".
The jury is still out as to why this continues to be the case, with some of the view that the attraction to fluffy women is based on pre-conceived notions dating back from slavery.
"The perception of the pelvic area is that when you have a certain type of appearance it suggests a woman being far more fertile," explained part time lecturer in the Department of Cultural Studies at the University of West Indies, Mona campus, Horace Williams.
But while fat is still considered sexy in some quarters, the extra pounds do add up to a lot of challenges for overweight women who are seldom immune from the raft of social, medical and psychological issues brought on by their extra weight.
Policymakers continue to take issue with the fact that more than half of Jamaican women are obese, that is, they are over 20 per cent more than their ideal body weight. The country is also ranked 14th on the 2011 World Health Organisation list of countries with the highest levels of overweight females which leads to, among other things, increased pressure on the health sector.
"If we can do something about obesity then we would be addressing most of the other health problems — cancer, stroke, heart disease," said Dr Fitzroy Henry, director of the Caribbean Food and Nutrition Institute at the University of the West Indies.
If you are a woman and you are obese, here is why you ought to be concerned:
Obesity can lead to infertility or can put you and your baby at risk for pregnancy-related complications. During pregnancy, overweight women are at risk for miscarriage, preeclampsia, diabetes and hypertension to a greater degree.
"With obesity, you are actually increasing the inflammation in the body and this triggers diabetes," explained general practitioner Dr Jacqueline E Campbell. Uncontrolled diabetes can lead to other health complications such as hypertension, heart attacks, kidney failure and problems with vision.
3. Lowers self-esteem.
Some obese women are teased about their weight, which results in them lacking confidence during social situations. It sometimes also affects the confidence level of loved ones such as children. Stephanie Rowe, who recently shared her success at losing 180 pounds with All Woman, pointed out that her daughter being teased at school for having an overweight mom was one of the driving factors behind her decision to lose the weight.
A recent Mayo Clinic study found that rheumatoid arthritis was more featured in obese women. The researchers were not quite clear of the reason for this, however, they speculated that it was due to the fact that rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disorder that causes inflammation of the joints. Chronic inflammation is usually caused by excessive fat.
5. Curtails physical activities.
Excess weight sometimes helps to restrict movement. As a result, some obese women experience difficulties in doing otherwise normal things such as engaging in sporting activities with their children.
6. Makes sleeping less fun.
Some obese women develop sleep apnea as a result of their excessive weight since respiratory functions are compromised while sleeping. Not sleeping has also been shown to result in more weight gain.
7. Loss of sex drive.
According to a study carried out by researchers at the Duke University Medical Centre, obese women were shown to be far more likely to report dissatisfaction with their sex life than those women with normal weight. In fact, some overweight women avoided sex because of dissatisfaction with how their bodies looked.
Home | Lifestyle | Teenage | Regional | Environment | Editorial | Columns | Career | Food | All Woman | Letters | Auto | Video | Weather | Contact Us
Mobile | View Standard Version
Subscribe to our RSS Feeds
Follow us on Twitter!
Copyright © 2012 Jamaica Observer. All Rights Reserved.
Terms under which this service is provided to you.
|
<urn:uuid:89180438-c1e5-4aeb-8962-11b2b9dc6639>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/mobile/magazines/allwoman/How-being-fat-really-affects-you_12034210
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00060-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.960033
| 876
| 1.695313
| 2
|
Sport & Auto
- About Future
- Digital Future
- Cookies Policy
- Terms & Conditions
- Investor Relations
- Contact Future
© Jazzsign/Lebrecht Music & Arts/Corbis
Mamie Smith was the ‘Queen of the Blues' but Ida Cox was known as ‘The Uncrowned Queen of the Blues.’
Coronation issues aside, Ida was a terrific performer and one of the greatest singers of the classic female blues period. Often billed in the pre-politically correct 1920s as the Sepia Mae West, Ida recorded some fantastic sides including the chilling Coffin Blues and her still shocking, racially charged 1930 release What Did I Do To Be So Black And Blue.
After several years in retirement Ida was persuaded to record one last album in the 60s with the Coleman Hawkins Quintet. The result is a treat for fans of old school blues ballads and torch songs. The album can be downloaded from Amazon here.
|
<urn:uuid:ba427736-faed-4490-aaa6-749b3b607f7c>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.musicradar.com/news/guitars/the-25-best-female-blues-artists-ever-264300/9
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00028-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.925083
| 204
| 2.046875
| 2
|
The principles of democracy and equity require that good food is available to everyone, not just those who can afford to pay for it. Nor is it acceptable that BC’s food policy is based on the exploitation of people or the environment in Canada and other countries.
We work to ensure that the voices of grassroots organizations and marginalized groups are heard in the process of policy formation at all levels. Our Network therefore includes people who experience hunger and food insecurity, who produce food, who work to protect the environment, and who develop policy frameworks that foster food security for the whole population.
We link provincially, nationally, and internationally with organizations and networks committed to the same goals.
|
<urn:uuid:a935f6f8-c85d-4998-952f-35b2fe879d66>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://fooddemocracy.org/social-justice/
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00073-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.957172
| 137
| 2.234375
| 2
|
Skene, Aberdeenshire, ScotlandEdit This Page
From FamilySearch Wiki
This is a guide to the history and major genealogical records of Scotland as they pertain to the parish of Skene. To learn more about how to use these records to search for your ancestors, go to the Scotland: Research Strategies.
The New Statistical Account of Scotland (pub. 1834-45) offers uniquely rich and detailed parish reports for the whole of Scotland, covering a vast range of topics including history, agriculture, education, trades, religion and social customs. The reports, written by the parish ministers, are available online at http://edina.ac.uk/stat-acc-scot/. Click on ‘Browse scanned pages’ then search the parish reports for your parish of interest. Also available at the Family History Library.
A census is a count and description of the population, taken by the government, arranged by locality and by household. Read more about census records.
Here is a list of the Family History Library microfilm numbers for the census records of Skene as well as the library numbers for any surname indexes available:
|| FHL Film Number
|| Surname Indexes|
|| 6086502 (12 fiche)|
The 1901 census of Scotland is indexed on www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk. To use it, you must register and pay a small access fee. All available censuses, 1841-1901, are indexed on this website. It may be easier for you to pay to use the website rather than access the separate indexes through the library.
The Established Church of Scotland was Presbyterian. Read more about church records.
Here are the pre-1855 records that exist for this parish.
Established Church—Old Parochial Registers
|Record Type||Years Covered||FHL Film Number|
Condition of Original Registers—
Index: For an index to these records, see the Scottish Church Records Index available on computers at the Family History Library and family history centers. The records may be indexed in theInternational Genealogical Index.
Births: Entries July 1729–February 1734 are somewhat irregular. Mothers’ names are recorded after 1744.
Marriages: Except for twenty one transcribed entries relating to proclamations 1681–1683, and one entry for 1685, there is no record previous to January 1756. Records are blank except four entries 1812–1813, March 1793–June 1819.
Deaths: Record 1721–1756 transcribed only entries of Mortcloth Dues. They are blank November 1756–January 1767, when a record of burials commences. These records are blank October 1787–July 1819.
Source: Key to the Parochial Registers of Scotland, by V. Ben Bloxham, pub. 1970. British Book 941 K23b.
Monumental Inscriptions: FHL Book 941.25/S2 V3s.
Established Church—Kirk Session Records
The Kirk session was the court of the parish. The session was made up of the minister and the land owners and business men of the parish, chosen to serve on the session. The Kirk session dealt with moral issues, minor criminal cases, matters of the poor and education, matters of discipline, and the general concerns of the parish. Kirk session records may also mention births, marriages, and deaths.
Here is a list of the surviving Kirk session records for this parish:
Minutes and Accounts 1720–1744, 1785–1832
Minutes 1744–1785, 1833–1886
List of Male Heads of Families in Communion 1834–1841
Note: Available at the National Archives of Scotland, Edinburgh, record CH2/1021.
Nonconformist Church Records
A nonconformist church is any church that is not the Established church. Read more about nonconformity in Scotland in the article on the Scotland Church Records Union List.
Skene Free Church
The minister of the parish professed sympathy with the Evangelicals, but after some vacillation stayed in the Establishment at the Disruption. Many of his people, however, “came out” and formed the Free Church congregation. Church and manse were built. The manse was afterwards enlarged, and a church hall was erected. The congregation suffered through the closing of a local wool factory, and the depopulation of the district.
Membership: 1848, 313; 1900, 156.
Source: Annals of the Free Church of Scotland, 1843–1900, ed. Rev. William Ewing, D.D., 2 vols. pub. 1914. Film #918572. More details are given in the source.
Note: Available at the National Archives of Scotland, Edinburgh, record CH3/1006.
Blackhills Westhill Congregational Church
This church began in 1805. In 1845 the church ceased to be connected with the Congregational Union and ultimately in 1862 joined the Evangelical Union with which it remained connected until the union of 1896. Church was known as Westhill from 1867 and closed in 1960.
Source: The Scottish Congregational Ministry, by Rev. Dr. William D. McNaughton, pub. 1993. FHL Book 941 K2mwd. Additional details in the source include list of ministers.
The extent of Records is unknown. For information, write to:
The United Reformed Church Synod of Scotland
340 Cathedral Street
Glasgow G1 2BQ
Civil Registration Records
Government or civil registration of births, marriages, and deaths (also called statutory records) began on January 1, 1855 in Scotland. Each parish has a registrar's office and large cities have several. The records are created by the registrars and copies are sent to the General Register Office in Edinburgh. Annual indexes are then created for the records for the whole country.
See the article on Scotland Civil Registration for more information and to access the records.
Skene was under the probate jurisdiction of the Commissary Court of Ab erdeen until 1823, and since then has been under the Sheriff's Court of Aberdeen. Probate records for 1513- 1901 are indexed online at www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk. You must register on the website but use of the index to probate records, called 'Wills & Testaments,' is free. You may then purchase a copy of the document or, if the document is before 1823, it will be on microfilm at the Family History Library. To find the microfilm numbers, search in the library catalog for the 'Place-names' of Aberdeen and the subject of 'Probate records.' Then click on the link to the records of the Commissariat of Aberdeen.
The library also has some post-1823 probate records for Aberdeen. Look in the library catalog for the 'Place-names' of Aberdeen and the subjects of 'Probate Records' and 'Probate Records - Indexes.'
Read more about Scotland Probate Records.
Return to Aberdeenshire parish list.
|
<urn:uuid:9169c903-69f8-4f9f-8bca-4dd45798be6a>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/index.php?title=Skene,_Aberdeenshire,_Scotland&oldid=814184
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00053-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.912787
| 1,509
| 2.25
| 2
|