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
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
We've heard so much about the potential for Australia to benefit from "the Asian century" that it seemed right that two eminent Asian economists opened Wednesday's official conference on the Asian white paper with a warning: it might not be that good.
Malaysian-born, Melbourne-trained economist Jayant Menon, now with the Asian Development Bank, said that if all went well, Asia by 2050 could have living standards similar to those of Europe today. But it is also possible that countries such as China, India and Indonesia could reach middle-income levels, then lose momentum, as Malaysia and Thailand have.
Asia, too, has challenges to overcome, Dr Menon reminded us. It has been very successful in its "catch up" phase of growth, but to reach Western levels, Asian countries will need to spread the benefits to all their people, become innovators at the frontiers of technology and science, develop lower emission technologies, attractive cities, and deep financial markets — and in China, among others, cope with a fast-shrinking labour force.
Professor He Fan, of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, was similarly frank about China's future challenges, which include a fast-shrinking labour force, due to its one-child policy. China's workforce will peak next year, he said, then start shrinking — putting a serious brake on growth.
And while Australia could expand its exports to China to high-value agricultural produce, manufactured goods and services, he noted, they will have to compete there with manufactures and services from all over the world — and proximity will not be the big advantage it has been for exports of bulk minerals.
Professor Anne Krueger, former deputy chief of the International Monetary Fund, was also wary of assuming that Asia is set to continue its stellar growth path. She backed Dr Menon's warnings, saying Asian countries will face slower growth as they approach convergence with the West and in China and Korea, workforce growth reverses, and fewer workers have to support many more retirees.
The Gillard government appointed former Treasury secretary Ken Henry to head a taskforce to prepare a white paper (policy statement) on how Australia could best position itself to benefit from what it calls "the Asian century". Julia Gillard and Treasurer Wayne Swan constantly beguile us with images of Australian schools, health care professionals, farmers and niche manufacturers finding new markets among Asia's rapidly-growing middle class consumers.
At the seminar, hosted jointly by Treasury, the Reserve Bank and the International Monetary Fund, no one disputed the central thesis that Australia's future lies in developing closer ties with Asia. But there was a clear gulf between the optimism of officials' confidence that Asia will sustain high commodity prices for a decade or more, and the estimate of Victoria University professors Peter Sheehan and Bob Gregory that within a year or two, mining investment will start falling, and detracting from our growth rather than sustaining it.
Both the officials and the outsiders agreed that what we call the resources boom really has three distinct phases. To summarise Professor Gregory's version:
■ Phase 1: rising commodity prices. Between 2003 and 2011, the world decided to roughly double what it paid for our minerals. That added about 10 per cent to Australian incomes, and drove up the Australian dollar, making our imports cheaper. But that phase ended a year ago. Our minerals prices have fallen since, and could fall a lot more ahead.
■ Phase 2: rising mining investment. That began in 2003, and is still building to its climax, now expected to be in 2013 or 2014. Mining investment is now running at 10 times the levels of a decade ago. In the last year, in constant prices, it grew by $33 billion while the whole of GDP itself grew just $45 billion. It dominates the economy, but soon it will be shrinking, and we will need to find new drivers of growth.
■ Phase 3: rising mining exports. You might think that has happened already, but not that much. In the past decade, the volume of mining exports has grown just 3.9 per cent a year, not much faster than GDP. The next five years will see much more spectacular growth: Sheehan and Gregory estimate that it could add $100 billion a year to our GDP.
But on their scenario, that would be offset by a similar fall in the value of mining investment, as Phase 2 goes into reverse. And Sheehan and Gregory point out that there's virtually no jobs in mining — the vast Pluto LNG project will employ just 600 people, once it is up and running — and many of them are 100 per cent owned.
"An extreme example of these trends is the Shell Prelude project, which is a $15 billion wholly foreign-owned LNG project situated in waters offshore in Western Australia", their paper notes.
"Shell is constructing in Korea a massive platform which will be towed to the offshore site, and from which all drilling, liquefaction and shipping activities will take place. None of the gas will be piped to the Australian mainland. The domestic impact is likely to be minimal, other than through the tax paid."
They want the Federal government and the states to combine to create a new growth driver for Australia by setting a joint, semi-independent infrastructure authority, which could borrow under Federal government guarantee, and invest heavily in tackling Australia's infrastructure backlog, which has been estimated at $700 billion.
Treasury secretary Martin Parkinson was not impressed. He suggested that the private sector will provide the growth engine, and if the states need more money for infrastructure, they should stop exempting small business from payroll tax, and cut back their other tax concessions.
Presumably Parkinson is giving similar advice to Swan about the Federal government's own tax concessions, which Treasury last totted up at a cool $112 billion a year. There's enough money there to finance any number of initiatives to keep the economy ticking on.
Tim Colebatch is economics editor.
|
<urn:uuid:b82d7985-85c4-482d-a978-7b364b3f48d9>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.macleayargus.com.au/story/347324/the-asian-century-may-not-be-that-good/?cs=7
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00037-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.958827
| 1,214
| 2.125
| 2
|
The other day I asked the students in one of my classes to name their favorite living poets. Sadly (but expectedly), they met my request with the same kind of terrified, blank stares I get when I announce a pop quiz. Eventually, most of them grudgingly acknowledged that they didn't know the name of a single living poet (and these were English majors). Even those who managed to come up with the name of a poet or two had to strain to pull them from their memories. ("Oh . . . oh . . . that one guy!) All of this reminded me why I started this blog.
I believe writers matter. I believe ideas matter. I believe art matters. And if this blog exposes even a few people to contemporary literature who wouldn't otherwise see it, I'll be perfectly content.
So to all my readers who struggle to name living poets, today I offer you this -- a beautifully read poem titled "Some Days" by Billy Collins.
Incidentally, Billy Collins served as the Poet Laureate of the United States from 2001 to 2003. Collins doesn't try, as I suspect some poets do, to be intentionally abstract and weird. Instead, he's a populist, writing poetry for the common man and woman.
As always, your thoughts on poetry, Billy Collins, or the above poem are welcome in the comments.
|
<urn:uuid:c6b29492-96ec-4691-a33c-4d920f172419>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://notdeadwriters.blogspot.com/2009/03/poem-of-day-some-days.html
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00022-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.97035
| 276
| 1.820313
| 2
|
Of cancer, Gayle Olinekova, 50, a marathon runner whose muscular moneymakers were dubbed the "greatest legs ever to stride the earth" in the Jan. 5, 1981, SI. At the 1980 New Orleans Marathon, Olinekova, who began racing as a teen in Toronto, ran what was then the third-fastest time for a woman marathoner (2:35:12) despite her unusually stocky 5'6", 125-pound frame. "The Twiggy look is history," she said in '81. Originally a sprinter, Olinekova embarked on a drifter's life in Europe after missing the '72 Canadian Olympic team. At one point she was sleeping in the high jump pit at Rome's Stadio Olimpi-co, where she trained during the day. She returned to North America in '74 and began lengthening her runs, qualifying for the 1980 Moscow Olympics in the 1,500 meters before Canada boycotted the Games. About that time she said, "I decided to go crazy with weights." She also subsisted on a highly unorthodox diet, eating almost nothing but fruit. Olinekova settled near L.A., became a chiropractor and wrote five books promoting healthy lifestyles.
Anonymous letters threatening them with violence if they continue their relationships with white women, six African-American NFL players, including Eagles wide receiver Freddie Mitchell and Dolphins defensive end Jason Taylor. FBI agents in Cleveland have been investigating the letters, which have also been sent to roughly two dozen prominent black men in other fields, but after two years have no suspect. According to the FBI the letters, nearly all of which have been sent from the Cleveland area, are believed to have been sent by the same person. The letters, the FBI says, direct the men to terminate relationships with white women "or they're going to be castrated, shot or set on fire." Taylor is married to the sister of white teammate Zach Thomas. Mitchell, who is unmarried, appeared last year on the reality show A Dating Story, in which he accompanied a white model to an amusement park. "You can't do anything about it," Mitchell said last Friday. "There's racism on the team; I've heard racist remarks in Philly. It's sad that it's coming down to that, but it's reality. Racism is there, it's just disguised a lot now."
The 15 felony charges against Salt Lake Bid Committee members Tom Welch, 59, and David Johnson, 45, stemming from allegations that they brought the 2002 Winter Olympics to Utah by plying IOC members with $1 million worth of bribes. In throwing out the case, judge David Sam said he had "never seen a criminal case brought to trial that was so devoid of criminal intent." The pair's legal fees—reportedly more than $12 million—will be paid by an insurance company that was hired by the Salt Lake Olympic Committee shortly after the Games.
As a volunteer assistant coach for a Denver-area high school, Dave Bliss, 60. The ex-Baylor coach, who resigned in August after secretly recorded tapes revealed he tried to portray murdered basketball player Patrick Dennehy as a drug dealer to cover up NCAA violations, is helping out at Green Mountain High, where his son Jeff is a junior guard. "A coach is always a coach," Bliss told The Denver Post before Jeff scored 17 points in Green Mountain's opening-night win. "I enjoy working with young people. If I can help, I'll collect water bottles and won't yell at the referees."
|
<urn:uuid:b03b656a-c852-46a3-b702-1c5297083068>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1030817/index.htm
|
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
| 0.981036
| 728
| 1.507813
| 2
|
In 1870-72, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Aston like this:
ASTON, or Pipe-Aston, a parish in the district of Ludlow and county of Hereford; near the river Teme, 3½ miles WSW of Woofferton r. station, and 4 SW of Ludlow. Post Town, Ludlow. Acres, 920. Real property, with Burrington and Downton, £3,750. Pop., 34. Houses, 9. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Hereford. Value, £84. Patron, A. R. B. Knight, Esq.
A Vision of Britain through Time includes a large library of local statistics for administrative units. For the best overall sense of how the area containing Aston has changed, please see our redistricted information for the modern district of Herefordshire. More detailed statistical data are available under Units and statistics, which includes both administrative units covering Aston and units named after it.
GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth, History of Aston in Herefordshire | Map and description, A Vision of Britain through Time.
Date accessed: 18th June 2013
Click here for more detailed advice on finding places within A Vision of Britain through Time, and maybe some references to other places called "Aston".
|
<urn:uuid:5921d1aa-4214-4d83-be1e-65dd507e4996>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/place/place_page.jsp?p_id=2785
|
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
| 0.919991
| 277
| 2.53125
| 3
|
For the movie The Last Airbender, Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) was challenged with bringing to life, among other things, the fire-bending effects from the animated series of the same name (see “Well Bent,” pg. 26). One of the specific challenges we faced was to develop a pipeline to handle the fire-bending requirements of the show, both at the aesthetic level (our client wanted to anchor these effects in reality, while retaining some creative freedom) and at the production level (the shot count involving fire bending was fairly high).
For The Last Airbender, ILM had to create digital fire that met the film’s unique VFX requirements. This led to development of a new 3D fluid solver and volume renderer utilizing Nvidia’s CUDA.
Fire has always been an important part of the visual effects landscape. At ILM, mid-ground to foreground pyrotechnics typically would be done practically. However, it is increasingly difficult to tailor practical elements to their final-use motion and look in the shot. That said, filmed elements display an incredible amount of detail in a broad range of scales. This is one of the main reasons why it is difficult to simulate and render fire that holds up to the organic richness of practical elements. The simulation resolutions involved in accurately simulating the full range of scales are usually impractical for a given production schedule. In other words, the computational power required to fit a large quantity of hero fire simulations/renders in a production schedule has not really been available. One of the key factors for us is the number of iterations that an artist is able to produce and show to the client or supervisor before a shot gets finaled. Moreover, the computational fluid-dynamics models behind such simulations are complex enough that they often lead to a certain lack of control, which defeats one of our main goals of giving our clients as much creative control as possible. For these reasons, digital fire has been particularly challenging and an area which we have targeted in our research and development efforts. The advent of graphics processing units (GPUs) as high-performance computing devices helped us bite a sizable chunk off this hurdle.
For Harry Potter and The Half-Blood Prince, we successfully harnessed the power of the Nvidia graphics boards for high-performance computing purposes. The solver/renderer developed for that show, dubbed Verte, led to highly detailed fire renders computed in a fraction of the time they would have taken on traditional multicore workstations. Unfortunately, this frustum-based solution was not appropriate for the requirements of the The Last Airbender’s fire-bending effects. To satisfy the filmmaker’s vision, we knew we were going to have cameras orbiting around the fire as well as fireballs coming straight at the camera, and the fire was going to have a good deal of interaction with other elemental forces, such as earth, air, and water.
PC Graphics Shipments Increase Jon Peddie Research (JPR), a research and consulting firm for graphics and multimedia, announced favorable estimates for graphics chip shipments and suppliers’ market share for the first quarter in 2010. Also noteworthy is the fact that the year 2009 came in above expectations, with 11 percent year-to-year growth—an amazing comeback.
The first quarter of 2010 showed traditional seasonal slowdown, with everyone except Nvidia and SiS showing decline. Intel was the leader in unit shipments for the first quarter of 2010, elevated by Clarksdale, continued Atom sales for Netbooks, and strong growth in the desktop segment.
On a quarter-to-quarter basis, Nvidia gained in the notebook integrated and discrete segments as well as the desktop integrated segment. AMD gained a fraction in the desktop discrete segment and over four percent in notebook integrated. AMD reported that its graphics segment revenue for the quarter was $409 million, down from Q4’s $427 million and up significantly from a year ago ($218 million). Intel reported “revenue from chipset and other” of $1.761 billion in Q1.
Nvidia’s quarter, which straddles the calendar quarters, reported revenues of $982 million for its fiscal Q4 2010, which is from September to the end of January.
The fourth quarter of 2009 saw the first shipments of a new category, the Integrated Processor Graphics (IPG). With the advent of new CPUs with integrated or embedded graphics, JPR predicts that we will see the rapid decline in deliveries for traditional chipset graphics or IGPs (integrated graphics processors). However, for ease of reporting at this time, JPR is including these devices in its integrated numbers.
The Q1 2010 edition of Jon Peddie Research’s “Market Watch” is available now in both electronic and hard copy editions for $995.
By August 2008, Nvidia had released Version 2.0 of CUDA, its high-performance computing development framework, which greatly simplifies access to the power behind GPUs. With this framework becoming more mature and the success of our previous experience on Harry Potter, we decided to develop a more general-purpose 3D fluid solver and volume renderer using CUDA this time; we named it Plume. From the very start, we decided to limit the use of low-level hardware optimization to a strict minimum, and built a stable and easy-to-use “grid-based computing construct” in which we could express most of the algorithms we were going to need, at the risk of not always getting optimal performance. This approach allowed us to focus primarily on the fluid dynamics and rendering algorithms, and we rarely had to face hardware-level issues.
After six months of development, we were able to run fairly high resolution fire simulations: Our benchmark simulation had a grid resolution of 640 x 320 x 320 and ran in 25 minutes on an Nvidia Quadro FX 5800—more than 10 times faster than for roughly an equivalent simulation to run on our multi-CPU solution. We also implemented in CUDA an artist-friendly volume renderer, including features such as self-shadowing or multiple scattering for additional smoke and render-time detail-enhancement controls. The gain in performance allowed our artists to move from setting off overnight runs, only to have to wait until the following morning to see the result, to being able to see multiple iterations per day.
Using the new solver, ILM generated smoke and fire together at a grid resolution of 640x320x320.
Another feature we pushed forward was the integration of the simulation and rendering; it quickly became apparent, during the initial development phase, that saving simulation data to disk and loading it back for rendering took more time than both tasks when the resolution gets high enough; therefore, we designed the system so that it can optionally render as it simulates. Most of the time, we found that artists decided not to save their simulation and were more eager to evaluate their work directly looking at the render rather than through some intermediary simulation visualization. This helped reduce the iteration time even further. It also made it possible for less technical artists to use the system, since the simulation and rendering integration meant that they didn’t have to learn the many steps of our effects pipeline in order to be productive.
For Airbender, most of the fire visual development was shared between traditional assault fireballs and what we called fire trails, whereby a character would displace/bend fire from an existing source toward another character or object, thus forming a trail. We had to produce special fire events here and there, but these two types represent the vast majority of our work. For the fireballs specifically, the artists used a feature that enabled the simulation domain to move in space. For the fire trails, we also had some early look direction to try having the fire twist like a tornado.
Particles were the most popular choice for driving and sourcing into these simulations. Their dynamics were authored in our effects pipeline using Zeno, our proprietary 3D platform. In both cases, since the simulated quantities travel mostly in one direction, we were able to chain simulations together, which led to effective, extremely high resolution simulations. Shortly after full production started, we realized that artists were occasionally going to need more control of the simulation and provided them with an expression-based framework in which they could author simulation stages that run on the GPU alongside the hard-coded ones. This level of customization proved to be invaluable for certain shots.
Throughout the movie, Plume additionally was used as a velocity field generator for our air-bending pipeline. It provided a fast way for artists to generate motion for the many particles that would get rendered for this bending effect. We also ended up using it for simulating and rendering mist in some of our ocean shots, as well as for smoke and dust.
Moving forward, the system put in place for this film reinforced our belief in using GPUs in production for simulation and rendering purposes. It is hard to imagine any future effects development without considering harnessing their power in one way or another. This performance gain, coupled with the integration of the simulation and rendering in the same tool, has really helped democratize a traditionally more technical task among our artists.
|
<urn:uuid:e96149e6-10f7-48a1-9868-ae9d184702bb>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.cgw.com/Publications/CGW/2010/Volume-33-Issue-7-July-2010-/Viewpoint.aspx
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00062-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.961312
| 1,876
| 1.820313
| 2
|
Probably found everywhere in the world where the conditions are suitable for it.
Cercomonas clavideferens is abundant in soils and freshwater sediments, but has not been found alive in the sea.
There are probably millions of these organisms in every kilogram of soil.
Cercomonas species are thought to be among the commonest protozoans, eating bacteria in
Cercomonas species are likely to be extremely important in microbial food webs, on which all other life depends.
The more we find out about the number of different species of these organisms, and exactly what their ecological roles are, the more we will understand how different environments ‘work’. For example, interactions involving organisms like Cercomonas might help us to understand why some soils are better for some plant species than others.
Cercomonas clavideferens is a voracious predator of bacteria, but probably eats a much wider range of organisms.
Some Cercomonas species are known to gang up on and kill nematode worms, many times their size.
|
<urn:uuid:1e60a8a4-d7a2-4e77-aebc-4dc258a65516>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.nhm.ac.uk/print-version/?p=/nature-online/species-of-the-day/common-species/cercomonas-clavideferens/distribution-ecology/index.html
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00075-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.934853
| 229
| 3.671875
| 4
|
Since 2002, January has been recognized across the nation as National Mentoring Month, a campaign to raise awareness of mentoring in its various forms and recruit individuals to mentor.
For nearly 40 years, Family & Children's Agency has offered community-based mentoring through its youth development department.
The two divisions of the agency's mentoring program are Project Friendship, which provides children with adult mentors, and Jr. Project Friendship, which provides children with high school mentors.
Children in the mentoring program are between the ages of 6 and14 in the Greater Norwalk region.
The agency's staff carefully matches each mentor, or "Big Friend," with their mentee, "Little Friend," and monitors the relationship on an ongoing basis. The match meets weekly and enjoys activities throughout the community.
In September, the Six Pillars of Character was introduced as an educational component to the mentoring program.
For details, call 203-523-5784 or email firstname.lastname@example.org.
Each month, mentors are asked to focus on lessons that will teach and reinforce ethical principals in the children with whom they work. The Six Pillars of Character, which includes caring, citizenship, respect, fairness, responsibility and trustworthiness, will provide the mentees with the foundation to become productive, independent, and contributing members of their communities.
"I have been fortunate to see the direct impact mentoring can have on a child's life," said Jennifer Barahona, director of youth development at Family & Children's Agency. "I will never forget the expression on the face of one little girl who had been to her first live theater experience with her Big Friend. It was something that she may never have been exposed to if not for her wonderful, caring mentor. We know the proven long-term benefits of mentoring include improved self-esteem and school performance, greater expectations for one's future, and reduced incidents of crime, premature parenting and substance abuse, but to witness some of the more immediate, life changing moments is truly incredible. "
The agency's staff not only supports the mentors with ongoing communication and suggested activities, but the mentee and their family with regular home-visits. In many cases, the agency's staff refers the mentee or family members to other necessary services provided by Family & Children's Agency.
"The families feel truly supported as if they're part of something bigger," said Anne Schneider, coordinator of mentoring at Family & Children's Agency.
The youth development programs at Family & Children's Agency support children and teens throughout the Greater Norwalk area through after-school and mentoring services. Youth are encouraged to explore and build upon their strengths, develop and clarify values, and improve their social and emotional skills in order for healthy, successfully development. Family & Children's Agency believes that the investment of time, energy, and resources into the positive development of young people will have enormous benefits for them now and in the future.
For information, 203-523-5784 or email email@example.com.
|
<urn:uuid:05822306-0804-4fa6-8c5b-217d56129c78>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.newcanaannewsonline.com/news/article/Mentoring-rewards-are-many-says-FCA-4209667.php
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.962999
| 623
| 1.78125
| 2
|
The school is housed in purpose-built facilities in its own grounds in a residential suburb just south west of Lyon city centre. The building was designed in the 1970s for a French middle school (collège) and includes three science laboratories, two art rooms, a large music room, a library, and two ICT suites. Rooms are light and spacious and grouped in clusters.
Primary and Secondary school each have their own area, including separate ICT facilities , but share the library and the art and music rooms. The school has a small gym, but many sports activities take place outdoors in a local stadium or in the public gym and swimming pool of the neighbouring districts. The outdoor premises include a primary playground, a soccer/basketball field, a small amphitheatre and a beautiful alley of chestnut trees.
|
<urn:uuid:067b7381-8b64-40d0-8982-6c3c61f10fb3>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://fresnostatecareers.com/the-school/the-premises.htm
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.974438
| 164
| 1.742188
| 2
|
Private Space Habitat Could Launch by 2010
SAN JOSE, Calif.-If the planned Jan. 30 launch of Bigelow Aerospace's Genesis 2 space module on a Russian Dnepr rocket is successful, Las Vegas entrepreneur Robert Bigelow plans to send a human-rated habitat into orbit in either the second half of 2009 or the first half of 2010.
Bigelow's Genesis 1 module was launched July 12 and continues to provide data on its condition in low Earth orbit. But while it is hosting some experiments, Genesis 1 - and Genesis 2 - will not be capable of supporting low Earth orbit space tourism, Bigelow's ultimate goal.
But the module Bigelow plans to launch at the end of the decade would be capable of supporting visiting crews of up to three people.
At a luncheon speech today in San Jose, Calif., at the AIAA Space 2006 Symposium, Bigelow said his third module, dubbed Sundancer, would have a mass of 8,618.4 kilograms and be equipped with life support systems, attitude control, three windows, on-orbit maneuverability, reboost and de-orbit capability.
He plans to place it at an altitude of 250 nautical miles at an orbital inclination of 40 degrees. Bigelow said that while Sundancer will be a scale model of the large, human-rated habitat he eventually plans to launch into orbit, it will nonetheless have 180 cubic meters of habitable space.
"We're pretty damn serious," Bigelow said in his lunch address.
Initially Sundancer will require a six-to-nine month period to check out all of its onboard systems. After that, Bigleow said, Sundancer would be able to stay in orbit for several years, which may be necessary since he acknowledged that at present there are no commercially available spacecraft designed to take humans into orbit.
Sundancer will, in effect, be a destination waiting for a means to get there.
With a solution to that problem in mind, Bigelow and Lockheed Martin announced today that they will jointly fund and conduct a study to determine what it would take to get Lockheed Martin's Atlas 5 launch vehicle rated for human spaceflight.
"We appreciate the opportunity to work with the entrepreneurial and innovative company of Bigelow Aerospace to evaluate the market of space tourism and [conduct] research to determine if Atlas could be a part of this potential new market area," said George Sowers, Atlas Business Development and Advanced Programs Director at Lockheed Martin.
In a press conference following Bigelow's speech, Sowers said Lockheed Martin already has done extensive studies on human-rating the Atlas 5 for NASA programs.
Bigelow and Sowers both acknowledged that even if the Atlas 5 is human rated, what Bigelow would have at his disposal for a crew capsule is uncertain at this point.
Bigelow's goal is to have a commercial space station in orbit around 2012. Once Sundancer is in orbit, the plan is to launch a propulsion module that would dock at Sundancer. After the docking is completed, a full-sized module, called the BA-330 would be launched and dock with Sundancer and the propulsion module, completing the private orbital outpost.
- Close Encounter of the Bigelow Kind
- Bigelow's Big Gamble: Building a Space Station
- EXCLUSIVE: Bigelow Orbital Module Launched into Space
- Test Your Space Knowledge!
MORE FROM SPACE.com
|
<urn:uuid:f4169523-0467-47a3-a1ee-5d06a221cd93>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.space.com/2925-private-space-habitat-launch-2010.html
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.934413
| 709
| 2.3125
| 2
|
New library represents strong union between College, community
"I believe the library is the heart of a town. The heart of a library is its citizens."
Those words, spoken by Sue Ratcliff Drake '58 at the groundbreaking of the city of Grinnell's new Drake Community Library last spring, highlight the important role a library can have in the lives of the people it serves. Libraries today are in a unique position in our radically changing information environment, and the Drake Library is well prepared to serve its community in a variety of ways.
The new library is named for Sue and her husband, former Grinnell College President George Drake '56, in honor of their longtime support of the town's public library. The Drake Community Library will replace Stewart Library, where space has long been a problem. Library users will see many new features, including a large community room the public can use for meetings or other group events. A variety of spaces will be available for both group and individual study, including 12 computer workstations, as well as a children's area and a space for teenagers. "Serving families is a really important part of our mission," says city of Grinnell librarian Lorna Caulkins.
The library also represents a strong connection between Grinnell College and the wider community. The College contributed the land on the corner of Park Street and Fifth Avenue and made a significant cash gift at the beginning of the project. Faculty, staff, alumni, and others connected to the College have been working very hard on fundraising, a process that will continue as the library approaches its opening, likely in September or October 2009. George and Sue Drake have been especially involved in the fundraising, and the choice to name the library after the Drake family shows the strong bond between the College and the city of Grinnell.
Grinnell College faculty and Burling Library staff were also active in public meetings that provided a forum for dialogue on how the library should best serve the whole community. These meetings addressed various aspects of the library and ranged from architectural presentations to needs assessments for the schools. "The library will be a real asset to the College as well as to the community at large," says George Drake.
Both Drake and Caulkins hope Grinnell College students will use the new library as a place to study. "It's a lot closer to campus than Stewart, so it will be more on the students' radar," says Caulkins. "It could provide a good alternate space to do their work."
Grinnell College students can obtain a library card and check out items from the public library, which has a very different collection than that of Burling Library. "They have many things Burling doesn't have; people would be surprised," says Grinnell College Archivist Catherine Rod. "We often send students there who are looking for science fiction, mysteries, cookbooks, current bestsellers, or how-to-books."
The public library also has an extensive local history collection. "We'll have much more space and better conditions to store it," says Caulkins. She also noted that education students are especially interested in the public library's children's collection.
At the groundbreaking ceremony on May 29, 2008, Sue Drake expressed excitement. "Our citizens, especially the youth, will continue the visionary growth of Grinnell -- even more so because of their access to our new, updated, expanded library."
|
<urn:uuid:1be2a687-2ac6-42b5-93f2-710e26aa70a6>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.grinnell.edu/news/gno/gno/04_24_2009_4
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.971041
| 701
| 1.671875
| 2
|
Apr. 27 – In order to promote greater awareness of the ASEAN-China Free Trade Area (ACFTA), the intergovernmental non-profit organization the “ASEAN-China Center” will be inviting experts in the field of economics and business to give lectures.
In an interview with the China Daily, the center’s Secretary-General Ma Mingqiang raised concerns over the fact that many people, especially people in small business in China and the ASEAN nations, are not aware of the ACFTA and thus do not know how they can benefit from the cooperation agreement. The lectures provided by the Center will focus on informing businesspeople about what ACFTA is and what benefits it could potentially bring to their business.
The ASEAN-China Center was officially launched on November 18, 2011 at the 14th ASEAN-China Summit in Bali, Indonesia. The Center aims to become a one-stop information bank and activities center to promote ASEAN-China cooperation in trade, investment, tourism, education and culture. The Center is headquartered in Beijing, but it will gradually develop branches in other areas in China and set up offices in ASEAN member states.
Address: No. 43 Liangmaqiao Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing, China, 100600
Tel: 86-10-65321660 ext 655
Micro Blog: weibo.com/aseanchinacentre
Opening hours: 09:30 to 17:00, Monday to Friday (Closed on Public Holidays)
According to the organization’s website, the Center’s objectives are:
- To support the implementation of the Framework Agreement; and various agreements in the trade in goods, services, dispute settlement, investment and other agreements relating to economic cooperation signed under the umbrella of the Framework Agreement;
- To enhance two-way trade between ASEAN and China and further cultivate trade partnership in order to jointly promote exports to outside markets and achieve market expansion;
- To promote two-way flows of investment between ASEAN and China;
- To undertake activities to help investors and businessmen from less developed ASEAN member states, especially Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam, in exploring trade and investment opportunities in China;
- To promote flows of tourists between ASEAN and China;
- To enhance interaction among the business communities of ASEAN and China;
- To increase people-to-people contacts, public awareness, mutual understanding, as well as active participation among the ASEAN and Chinese peoples through cultural and educational exchanges; and
- To synergize the potentials of ASEAN and China in order to enhance the region’s appeal to external partners and facilitate access to ASEAN and Chinese ventures.
The ASEAN-China Free Trade Area
The initial Framework Agreement on Comprehensive Economic Cooperation between ASEAN and China was signed by both parties on November 4, 2002 in Phnom Penh, Cambodia with the hopes of establishing a free trade area among the 11 nations by 2010.
Under the Agreement on Trade in Goods which came into effect on January 1, 2005, the six original ASEAN members (Brunei, Indonesia, Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand) and China agreed to eliminate tariffs on 90 percent of their products by 2010, while the four newer members (Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos and Vietnam) agreed to do so by 2015.
Under the Trade in Service Agreement which came into force in July 2007, services and service suppliers/providers in the region shall enjoy improved market access and national treatment in sectors and sub-sectors where commitments have been made.
The ACFTA officially came into effect on January 1, 2010. Under the agreement, tariffs between China and the original six ASEAN members have been eliminated for roughly 7,880 product categories, which account for 90 percent of the imported goods. The average tariff rate on Chinese goods sold in ASEAN countries is reduced to 0.6 percent from the 12.8 percent, and the average tariff rate on ASEAN goods sold in China decreased to only 0.1 percent from 9.8 percent.
The ACFTA is the largest free trade area in terms of population and the third largest in terms of nominal GDP.
Dezan Shira & Associates is a boutique professional services firm providing foreign direct investment business advisory, tax, accounting, payroll and due diligence services for multinational clients in China, Hong Kong, Vietnam, India and Singapore. For more information, please contact email@example.com, visit www.dezshira.com, or download the firm’s brochure.
To obtain a complimentary subscription to our Asia Briefing weekly newsletter rounding up the week’s top business and regulatory updates from across emerging Asia, please click here.
Doing Business in China
Our 156-page definitive guide to the fastest growing economy in the world, providing a thorough and in-depth analysis of China, its history, key demographics and overviews of the major cities, provinces and autonomous regions highlighting business opportunities and infrastructure in place in each region. A comprehensive guide to investing in China is also included with information on FDI trends, business establishment procedures, economic zone information, and labor and tax considerations.
Doing Business in India (Second Edition)
This book aims to provide a basic overview of all topics related to doing business in India – history, business etiquette and culture, and how to invest into the country, in addition to a detailed, state-by-state demographic and geographic overview and a comparison with China.
Doing Business in Vietnam
The inaugural edition of Asia Briefing’s regional business guide “Doing Business in Vietnam” – offering business-minded individuals an up-to-date reference source for all of the key issues concerning setting up and successfully operating a business in the country.
The China Alternative
Our complete series on other manufacturing destinations in Asia that are now starting to compete with China in terms of labor costs, infrastructure and operational capacity. Our last report focused on India.
|
<urn:uuid:31679e9e-0455-40b4-862f-991286131759>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.china-briefing.com/news/2012/04/27/asean-china-center-to-raise-awareness-of-free-trade-area.html
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.926862
| 1,256
| 1.554688
| 2
|
Member of the European Commission
Responsible for Fisheries and Maritime Affairs
Press conference: EU Action plan on Sharks
Brussels, 5 February 2009.
Many people associate sharks with going to the cinema, more than with beaches or restaurants. But the latest information we have confirms that human beings are now a far bigger threat to sharks than sharks ever were to us. Between 1984 and 2004, world catches grew from 600,000 to over 810,000 metric tons. As a result, many shark species are now overfished, and some are being pushed to the verge of extinction.
This is not just a problem which is limited to tropical oceans, either. Sharks have become a significant fishery for the EU fleet, too. The current catch by EU vessels of sharks and related species now runs at around 100,000 tonnes each year. Of these, more than half are taken in the North Atlantic – including in the North Sea, and a sizeable number are also caught in the Mediterranean. According to figures from the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, as many as one third of the shark species found in EU waters are under threat due to overfishing.
This is bad news. Sharks and their close cousins, such as skates and rays, are more vulnerable to overfishing than many other fish, because their reproductive cycle is so long. Once stocks have collapsed it may take many decades for them to recover – if indeed they can recover at all.
That is why the European Commission has decided to adopt a plan of action that can help protect these vulnerable predators, and ensure that in so far as they are being fished, they are fished sustainably.
This means three things.
That, in a nutshell, is our project. If we follow the approach set out in this plan, then the result will be better knowledge, and more rigorous conservation measures, to protect these creatures from the deep. And if we do that, then we will also be protecting the livelihoods of those fishers who catch them.
Thank you for your attention.
|
<urn:uuid:e1042665-b496-4f53-8f99-cf0318a27762>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_SPEECH-09-38_en.htm?locale=en
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00061-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.960677
| 421
| 2.796875
| 3
|
Methods of protection against troyans...
Unfortunately, computer viruses like ILove You spreading
via World Wide Web are currently getting more and more
expanded. By the way of penetration into the system,
mostly these viruses are troyans (troy programs), as
it is the user who should initiate the initial code
of such virus to activate it. ILove You has become a
classic example for such virus. The text of a message
containing the virus prompts the user to launch the
attached file (which is the virus, in fact). Unfortunately,
the preventive interlocutions with users are rarely
effective. Warnings of the administrators just get forgotten
or are treated carelessly. All the more, sometimes it
is a problem for a user to differ potentially dangerous
DOC-file from harmless RTF-document.
The proposed method of protection against such viruses
has rather psychological effect. Its goal is to warn
the user of potential danger existing in income message,
and to help him to avoid collision with virus.
The mechanism is pretty easy by itself. It is supposed
that there is a number of types of documents which are
potentially dangerous, namely files with extensions
com, exe, bat, cmd, reg, doc, xls,
vbs (this list can be expanded). At receipt of
a message containing the attached document of one of
indicated types, the program marks the appropriate message
with red colour and notifies the user of potential danger.
This way seems to be more preferable then the idea to
prohibit execution of all scripts in the system - which
is neither a panacea, as the malefactor can send executive
file, with destructive abilities exceed greatly the ones
of a program written on Word Basic.
However, the notorious "E-Mail
Security Patch" by Microsoft only prohibits execution
of all the scripts. Installation of this patch blocks
requests from any program (except Microsoft software,
of course) to your mailbox. Thus, when working with MAPInotify
in MAPI or CDO modes, you can see something like this:
This window will appear every time MAPInotify
checks your mailbox. However, if you are using CDO protocol,
you can evade this restriction, though giving up some
functionality (you would not see the sender's e-mail address).
Use "CDO Security switch" utility, which is
a part of MAPInotify distribution package.
|
<urn:uuid:8cff7f0d-cfcc-4db5-bfc4-4a8199873b9b>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.silmarilsoftware.com/mapinotify/novirus.htm
|
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
| 0.908845
| 520
| 1.890625
| 2
|
11 September 2011 proved that the logic of deterrence which had prevented a nuclear war during the Cold War era was incapable of dealing with challenges which had arisen thereafter. This realization held manifold implications for the US. Adapting itself to a new security environment which was riddled with adversaries that were not easily located, understood or threatened required the US to reconsider its time-tested reliance on nuclear deterrence. Post 9/11, the Bush administration released the National Security Strategy of the United States of America in September 2002 according to which the US would evolve a new strategy based on a more offensive military posture. One of the outcomes of this was an up-gradation of the US’ conventional war-fighting doctrine which took shape in the form of Prompt Global Strike (PGS) intended at destroying targets in as less as an hour. The other was a restructuring of the US Strategic Command (STRATCOM) which would ensure a prompt conventional strike if deterrence failed. Both these developments worked towards broadening the scope of deterrence by threatening a prompt conventional attack on the adversary using precision conventional weapons instead of nuclear. Long-range precision conventional weapons were touted as a credible deterrent post 9/11, a place traditionally occupied by nuclear weapons before 9/11.This article seeks to delve into the manner in which the US strategic command was transformed to suit the security environment post 9/11. To this end it is argued that the US has redefined its own conception of deterrence post 9/11 and included conventional deterrence and military offensive as a backbone of strategic planning.
According to the US Department of Defense, the STRATCOM which controlled plans and operations involving US strategic nuclear weapons was merged with the US Space Command in October 2002. After undergoing further changes in 2002 and 2003, STRATCOM established a Joint Function Component Command for Global Strike (JFCC-GS) in July 2006. Amy Woolf in a recent Congressional Research Service report emphasized that “this change in command structures highlights the growing emphasis on long-range, strategic missions in conventional war-fighting doctrine.” Hence, the STRATCOM now combines a high level of emergency preparedness which relies primarily on long-range conventional strikes to destroy targets while still maintaining the nuclear option as a last resort.
The vision of such an attack is encompassed in the US PGS system which would use the threat of such an attack to deter and target (in case deterrence fails) adversaries (both states and non-state actors) in far-away regions which are not easily accessible by US bases around the world. According to Leon Panetta, the US Secretary of Defense in the Obama administration since July 2011, the PGS effort is as relevant today as it was in the period immediately after 9/11. The current security environment demands that the US employ a PGS system against “regional adversaries considering an attack using Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMDs), high priority targets (non-state actors), or situations where a fleeting serious threat was located in a region not readily accessible by other means” Panetta argues. Thus, the restructuring of the STRATCOM along with the PGS mission has worked towards evolving a new level of strategic planning and response system for the US, one which is better suited to address the security environment as it has emerged post 9/11.
Moreover, the PGS mission is different from previous missions undertaken by the US to dissuade and deter its adversaries. Hans M Kristensen argues that PGS differs from previous missions in both, intent as well as capability as it is completely pre-emptive in nature and is rooted in the belief that deterrence in the present day and age will definitely fail. According to him, PGS has evolved into a massive conventional war-fighting doctrine rather than merely pertaining itself to deterrence. In addition to this, PGS is intended to locate and strike targets within one hour as compared to the days and weeks of planning which goes into other missions. More importantly, the PGS mission puts conventional deterrence at the forefront of overall deterrence instead of relying primarily on nuclear deterrence. Thus, a PGS would work towards deterring any potential adversary by threatening the use of conventional strikes using precision devices within an hour along with inducing the fear of conventional forces already stationed at various bases around the world.
This heightened level of conventional power projection is intended to broaden the scope of deterrence while simultaneously building pre-emptive capabilities. Therefore, PGS signals a change in the deterrence logic of the Cold War era brought forth by the unprecedented events of 9/11. As Karl Heinz Kamp points out, “the dissuasive effect (during the Cold War) came from the threat of unacceptable damage through nuclear destruction. Now, the option of nuclear retaliation remains, but it is complemented by the element of ‘circumvention’ with the help of conventional weapons.” The restructuring of the STRATCOM and the evolution of the PGS system prove that the US is yet again developing strategies to combat newer threats and challenges which have surfaced in the past decade. It also proves that the US does not shy away from abandoning or modifying strategies and command structures which have been successful in the past but have little relevance today. A conventional extension to an already strong nuclear deterrent has been a step in this direction.
|
<urn:uuid:72d26b63-b102-4c26-9f51-1593dbd473a7>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.ipcs.org/article/military/ten-years-after-prompt-global-strike-and-us-deterrence-post-3457.html
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.965915
| 1,064
| 2.578125
| 3
|
Privacy campaigner blasts FTC's federal limpness
Data-gobblers won't go on a diet on their own
The American Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is making a mistake by leaving web and data companies to regulate themselves, privacy campaigner the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) said today .
Responding to the FTC's report Protecting Consumer Privacy in an Era of Rapid Change (PDF ) published yesterday, EPIC said the FTC "mistakenly endorses self-regulation and 'notice and choice'" as the way to protect consumers from companies skimming their personal data.
The report (covered by The Register here ) lays out the "best practice" it hopes companies will follow to protect data, and pushes hard on "Do Not Track" recommendations.
EPIC also said that the FTC should explain why it doesn't use its Section 5 authority to enforce its decisions. ®
|
<urn:uuid:1e74c8bf-902f-4976-ba31-01508ca0d266>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/03/27/ftc_report_relies_too_much_on_self_regulation/print.html
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.932068
| 180
| 1.625
| 2
|
The Trick You Don't Learn in Film School
Behind the Scenes of Wild Justice: Operation Imposter
When the Wardens serve a search warrant or arrest warrant, the primary components are officer safety, speed and the element of surprise. They don’t want the suspect to have time to reach for a weapon, escape or destroy evidence.
As a producer, my primary concerns when we’re following Wardens in these situations are CREW SAFETY (don’t forget to wear your Kevlar ballistic vests!), SPEED (don’t lose the Warden you’re following) and STORY (don’t miss the shot)!
When the Wardens have to jump over fences to get to the suspect quickly, it’s extremely challenging for the crew to climb those fences fast and get a usable (let alone good) camera shot at the same time and then run to catch up with the Warden. Those shots usually end up all herky-jerky and pointing down at the ground. We never want to miss a single shot of action.
We’ve learned something that film schools never teach in TV Production 101—check if the gate is unlocked so you don’t have to climb any fences! That happened in our Warden Impersonator story this season. A (real) Warden jumped over two fences. While we were jumping over the two fences to catch up with him, we nearly missed the shot of a woman trying to get away. It turns out the gate was unlocked and we could have run in with cameras rolling smoothly and kept up with all of the action without all the unnecessary, herky-jerky climbing.
A few weeks later... we faced a similar scenario, but this time the gate was padlocked. As the Wardens jumped over fences to catch a suspect, we got smart and followed the one guy carrying bolt cutters. In less time than it would have taken to climb a fence with cameras and gear, we were in. They got their “bad guy,” we got our shots. And everyone went home safe.
The only thing worse than this terrible show is the fact we waste our tax dollars paying these dopes. The quote "We are hunters of men" should be "we are leaches of the tax payers". No wonder California cnt pay its teachers, we are paying these dopes to swarm homes with elk antlers and stake out dirt roads looking for people who run over snakes! Christ what has happened to common sense.
I watched the episode about the Mendocino pot bust with the so cal surfers. There were a number of dogs there. What happens to them? I hope Animal Control rescues them. Maybe I missed that. If animals such as dogs are in a scene where owners are removed, I would like to have comments made about what happens to the dogs.
|
<urn:uuid:350296b1-01db-459c-a95a-914dfcf2094b>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/channel/wild-justice/articles/the-trick-you-dont-learn-in-film-school/
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.965231
| 591
| 1.679688
| 2
|
The Obama administration’s decision to rescue General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler in 2008 spurred hyperbolic criticism from Republicans who viewed the financial aid as “the road to socialism” and “a war on capitalism.” However, as the Wonk Room’s Pat Garofalo reported, the companies are regaining strength and proving profitable once again. Indeed, not only is General Motors set to add 2,500 jobs at its Detroit plant, but Chrysler recently paid back $7.5 billion in government loans. In view of the auto recovery’s success, “the GOP hasn’t been advertising its previous denunciations.”
In fact, one outspoken critic is now actually trying to take credit for the auto rescue: GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney. Slamming Obama’s decision as “tragic” and “a very sad circumstance for this country” in 2009, Romney’s camp is now actually claiming that “Mitt Romney had the idea first“:
A Romney spokesman said on Tuesday that the president’s plan was modeled after one Mr. Romney advocated in 2008.
“Mitt Romney had the idea first,” said Eric Fehrnstrom, a Romney spokesman, citing the Times opinion article. “You have to acknowledge that. He was advocating for a course of action that eventually the Obama administration adopted.”
But Mr. Fehrnstrom also accused Mr. Obama of wasting billions of dollars “propping up” the auto companies as part of the government’s restructuring plans for the industry.
“Mitt Romney argued that instead of a bailout, we should let the car companies go through a restructuring under the bankruptcy laws,” Mr. Fehrnstrom said.
The degree of amnesia necessary for such a claim is pretty stark. After all, in 2008, Romney flatly stated that if General Motors and Chrysler “get the bailout,” “you can kiss the American automotive industry goodbye. It won’t go overnight, but its demise will be virtually guaranteed.” The title of his op-ed incidentally is “Let Detroit Go Bankrupt“:
A plan, Democratic officials noted, that had already occurred: “Chrysler and General Motors received the federal aid only after they entered bankruptcy — not before, as Mr. Romney’s spokesman asserted.” Because “the bankruptcy’s success depended on the federal money,” Romney’s model would have failed.
But such a 180 degree reversal seems only natural for Romney. Be it climate change, immigration, his own health care plan, or even Ronald Reagan, Romney has impressive credentials as a flip flopper. Thus, former Gov. Jennifer Granholm’s (D-MI) observation that “Mitt Romney is doing circuslike contortions to get out from under the damaging words he uttered in 2008″ should come as no surprise.
|
<urn:uuid:bb3709e7-3675-4051-8a4a-9ce01f178517>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://truth-out.org/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=1276&Itemid=228
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.959565
| 624
| 1.617188
| 2
|
Persons without a High School Education are Almost Twice as Likely to be Unemployed and Earn $9,725 Less Per Year Than High School Graduates
The Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES), through its Illinois Career Information System, provides several tools for use by Illinois students, parents, job seekers, educators and counselors to assist in improving career awareness and exploration.
The Career Information System (CIS), (or at www.ides.illinois.gov choose "Career Information" under the "Individuals" tab) delivers current, localized occupational and career information in a user-friendly online format. It includes tools to learn about occupations, financial aid, apprenticeship opportunities, post-secondary schools and colleges, and entrepreneurship for youth, adults, career changers, job seekers, counselors, educators and mentors. CIS can be used at Illinois workNet Centers and from any computer with Internet access.
CIS Junior is a career exploration website targeted for middle school students. Students start by selecting activities they enjoy in the Career Cluster Interest Survey which identifies where their strongest interests may be in 16 career clusters. They can get information about occupations such as how much they pay, what skills they'll need and which middle school and high school classes will be most helpful.
The IDES website also includes exploration tools and print materials to help job seekers and career changers. One of the most popular brochures is Kids and Careers: How Families Can Help Youth Succeed (Jóvenes y carreras: Como las familias pueden ayudar a triunfar a los jóvenes a tener éxito). It provides timelines for important targets from middle school through the senior year of high school: when to take the ACT or SAT as well as when to apply for financial aid or start a job search. It shows how parents' involvement can lead to their children's success with "Three Easy Steps to a Career Plan." Graphs (like the one above) make clear the link between education, earnings and lower unemployment.
Another helpful brochure is Learn More Earn More (Si Aprendes Más Ganarás Más). It highlights occupations expected to provide the most job openings each year, organized by education and training requirements. Job seekers, career changers, and students of all ages who have some idea of their future vocation tend to achieve more success in both their training and their work life by finding employment in good paying jobs with a future.
|
<urn:uuid:3a9f39cd-e2cf-4735-b09a-a4f621ad96c4>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.ides.illinois.gov/page.aspx?item=3828
|
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
| 0.937733
| 505
| 2.71875
| 3
|
MONTCOAL, W.Va. -- Rescuers continued a frantic race against time late Thursday night, hoping toxic gas levels dropped enough that rescuers could get back into a Raleigh County mine, but also plotting other efforts they hoped could save four miners still missing after a huge explosion four days ago.
"Everything is simultaneous," said Kevin Stricklin, coal administrator for the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration. "We've got four or five plans going on at the same time."
Toxic gas levels in the mine were trending downward, but were still too high to send rescuers in as of about 11 p.m. If they continued to drop, though, rescue coordinators hoped to send specially trained and equipped rescue teams back in as early as midnight to resume their search.
If gas levels don't come down enough, or if they go back up, crews plan to pump nitrogen into the mine to make the atmosphere inert. Also, they are continuing plans to lower a camera into a borehole to look for the miners.
Stricklin said officials were intent on getting rescue teams back in the mine late Thursday night or very early this morning, in the hopes of reaching the area where the four missing miners are believed to be within 96 hours of the explosion, which occurred at about 3 p.m. Monday. That mark -- the limit of water, breathable air and other supplies in airtight rescue chambers in the mine -- would be mid-afternoon today.
"We have to get people in there tonight," Stricklin said. "We committed to the families that we would get into the chambers within 96 hours and we're going to do everything in our power to do that."
Technically, if the miners made it to a rescue chamber, they would be able to survive longer than four days. The structures were stocked for 15 miners to survive four days, so four miners could survive longer.
The massive explosion deep inside Massey Energy's Upper Big Branch Mine has already claimed 25 lives, making it the worst U.S. coal mining disaster since 1984. Two more miners were injured, but one of them was released Thursday from a local hospital. The other remains in intensive care, but more information on his condition has not been made public.
Earlier Thursday, rescue teams were pulled from the mine after a roughly three-hour mission got them within 1,000 feet of a refuge chamber where they hope the miners took shelter. But the rescuers were called back from the mine this morning after repeated sampling showed unsafe air quality that could threaten another explosion.
Stricklin called that development a setback, while Gov. Joe Manchin said it was "the worst scenario" for rescuers hoping for a miracle.
Stricklin said the explosion has filled the mine with an "explosive mixture" of high levels of carbon monoxide and methane, along with low levels of oxygen, and that officials would not risk rescuers' lives in the search for the missing miners.
"It tells us it was a very violent explosion," he said. "There is so much gas built up in the area that it's taking us awhile to ventilate."
Stricklin said changes in barometric pressure, prompted by a weather front moving through the Raleigh County area, also could be complicating the rescue. Barometric pressure changes increase the natural tendency of geology in underground coal mines to release explosive methane. When a cold front moves in and the pressure drops, more methane is released.
Rescue crews were sent into the mine shortly before 5 a.m. Thursday, after being pulled early two days before because of dangerous gases.
They again reached about the same point -- an area near where the mine's longwall section begins, near one of two rescue chambers that have not yet been checked for potential survivors. Rescuers believe that the last location of three of the miners was in a separate tunnel north of there, and that one other miner was last known to be somewhere on the longwall section.
Crews on the surface planned to immediately resume drilling additional boreholes to try to speed up the ventilation of the mine and sweep the explosive and toxic gases out so that rescuers can resume their work, officials said.
Mine safety officials repeatedly called Thursday morning's development a setback, but also insisted that the operation remained a rescue effort, not a project to recover the miners' bodies.
"We couldn't let the rescue teams underground any longer based on the readings," Stricklin said. "But nothing has changed. It's still a rescue operation."
Officials have said Monday's blast was likely caused by an explosion of methane gas, and was possibly fueled by the presence of coal dust.
|
<urn:uuid:bdc7ce83-761f-449e-8c0f-bd0627aefbf4>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.wvgazette.com/News/montcoal/201004080092
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00069-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.977575
| 966
| 1.640625
| 2
|
May improve attention, brain function and self control
May help maintain normal brain development
May help maintenance of the retina in the eye
May be helpful with inflammatory skin conditions such as eczema
Melrose Omega-3 Kids Fish Oil is an easy-to-swallow liquid that is rich
in omega-3 fatty acids just like fresh fish. It is a delicious Tutti Fruity
flavour with Natural Orange and Pineapple flavors, which kids (and adults) will
love. Australian Dietary Guidelines recommends two serves of fish a week for
children. Omega-3 fatty acids are essential to the cerebral developments and
A deficiency of Omega-3 fatty acids EPA and DHA may cause problems with
learning, memory, vision and behavior. Supplementing EPA and DHA can improve
reading, spelling and behavior and may also improve attention, brain function
and self control in children with less than adequate intake of Omega-3.
Melrose Omega 3 Kids Fish Oil is derived from fish species containing high
amounts of Omega-3. The species most commonly used are anchovies and sardines.
Fish Oil has higher concentrations of EPA and DHA than Cod Liver Oil. Unlike
Cod Liver Oil, Fish Oil is obtained from the body of the fish, excluding the
Fish oils are processed using state of the art refrigeration and preservation
methods. The fresh fish are rapidly processed to remove the body oils by steam
distillation and further processed by vacuum separation of the low boiling
toxins and filtration to provide a standard uniformity. Modern processing
methods and the processing of smaller fish have kept both mercury and PCBs
(polychlorinated biphenyls) at less than 0.2ppm.
|
<urn:uuid:5808227c-3ef6-4e63-919e-f842621a4762>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.melrosehealth.com.au/health_products/Heart_Joint_Skin_Arthritis/Melrose-Kids-Fish-Oil.aspx
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00043-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.907773
| 360
| 2.546875
| 3
|
Hand washed dishes were more likely to contain traces of both bacteria and viruses than those cleaned in a commercial dishwasher
(UPI) -- Current protocols for washing dishware in restaurants may not be enough to guard against the highly contagious norovirus, or stomach flu, U.S. researchers say.
"We know that when public food establishments follow the cleaning protocols, they do a very good job at getting rid of bacteria," Melvin Pascall, associate professor at Ohio State University, said in a statement. "Now we can see that the protocols are less effective at removing and killing viruses -- and this may help explain why there are still so many illnesses caused by cross-contaminated food."
Pascall and Jianrong Li, an assistant professor of virology at Ohio State, led a team to test the ability of the norovirus and common bacteria to survive food service cleaning.
The research team infused cream cheese and reduced fat milk -- two foods that are known for being difficult to clean off -- with murine norovirus, E. coli K-12 or Listeria. The scientists applied the dairy products to stainless steel utensils, ceramic plates and glassware and put the tableware through a variety of chlorine and quaternary ammonium -- such as Pine-Sol Cleaner or Fantastik All Purpose Cleaner -- sanitary protocols via commercial dishwasher or hand washing.
The study, published in PLoS One, found both the commercial dishwasher and manual washing reduced bacterial loads of E. coli K-12 and Listeria enough to meet safety standards, but neither technique was able to significantly reduce the presence of norovirus. Overall, hand washed dishes were more likely to contain traces of both bacteria and viruses than those cleaned in a commercial dishwasher, the study said.
"Even though the protocols were able to kill some of the virus, norovirus is highly contagious and it takes only a few viral particles to infect humans," Li said.
|
<urn:uuid:a0071215-98e1-466b-86fc-10d3bf76135a>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.whtk.com/pages/healthandfitness.html?feed=104777&article=10629093
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.965151
| 405
| 2.8125
| 3
|
"Maybe she thought she could solve the mystery of love that way. Good luck and let me know."
"...you have to be clever to figure out how to be welcoming and defensive at the same time. When to love something and when to quit. If you don't know how, you can end up out of control or controlled by some outside thing..."
"You are th...more
I seem to be reading her major books in reverse. "Jazz" has been called the second part of a trilogy with "Beloved" and "Paradise" focusing on parental love, erotic love, and religious love. I've read "Paradise" but...more
Ero gi�� rassegnata all'idea di prenderlo in prestito in biblioteca, quando la settimana scorsa ho voluto provare ancora una volta a controllarne la disponibilit��, ancora su Amazon.
Ce n'era una sola copia, usata, ed io l'ho presa al volo.
Oggi mi �� arrivato un pacchetto dalla Ant...more
I was lucky enough to study this book during 6th form college with a good teacher. Instead of butchering its beauty she illuminated it; leading us through the more complex prose (their beauty all more appreciated due to a deeper level of understanding) and highlighting some of the more obscure elements that might have gone unnoticed (or perhaps not understood).
At 16, though not niave, I was perhaps unaware of the many elements and angles of understanding rela...more
Weaver: Her stories are intricate, complex, and beautiful, in a way that reminds me of high quality rugs. At a pace that feels both comfortable and natural, but is in reality only known to her, she introduces disparate narrative threads that she then weaves and intertwines with one another in the most unexpected ways, creating dozens of patterns of varying size and shape that...more
I felt rather disconnected from the story itself, never...more
Jazz embraces the vibrant music and lifestyle of 1920s Harlem, an urban renaissance of opportunity and glamour. A novel of murder, hard lives, and broken dreams, Jazz sways with a lyric medley of voices and human consciousness.
Joe Trace and his wife Violet were part of the migration of black southerners to Harlem; madly in love with each other and the idea of this urban mecca, they "traindanced into the city." But like so many of the marriages in Morrison's novels, th...more
"Sth, I know that woman. She used to live with a flock of birds on Lenox Aveune. Know her husband, too. He fell for an eighteen-year-old girl with one of those deepdown, spooky loves that made him so sad and happy he shot her just to keep the feeling going."
There is a school of literary criticism that holds to the belief that black women writers are doubly discriminated against in their quest for intellectual recogniti...more
The writing is dry.....more
As always, I have many positive things to say about the writing. Morrison has an amazing way of expressing romance and whimsy even in the most uncomfortable situations. There was some amazing writing in this story. Some lines were so deep I stared at them for a while before moving on. The characters' memories hold a lot depth and make you hungry for the rest of the story. Therein lies the problem.
I found the story to be so caugh...more
Overview: Joe Trace is a middle aged married man (Violet, wife) who has an affair with an 18 year old Dorkas and shoots her over anguish of her breaking up with him.
Characters: The first half of the book looked at Violet and touched on the affair and general growing up aspects in what I would call a simple to read type writing. However, the second half of the book was almost written by a different author. I actually had to read 10% of the book again because I had difficulty understandin...more
"'The way I want it?'
"'Yeah. The way you want it. Don't you want it to be something more than what it is?'
"'What's the point? I can't change it.'
"'That's the point. If you don't, it will change you and it'll be your fault cause you let it. I let it. And messed up my life.'
"'Messed it up how?'
"'Forgot it was mine. My life...more
But I can’t say that aloud; I can’t tell anyone that I have been waiting for this all my life and that being chosen to wait is the reason I can. If I were able I’d say it. Say make me, remake me. You are free to do it and I am free to let you because look, look. Look where your hands are. Now.
This is my favorite quote from Jazz. Morrison is one of my favorite authors, but the thing I like most about Jazz is its interesting way of handling voices, language, characters an...more
An affair, murder, violence, loss and love are all themes Toni Morrison blends with the skill of a musician in Jazz. Published in 1992, the novel took place in the 1920s, in the prime era of jazz. Joe Trace, a door-to-door cosmetics salesman has an affair with Dorcas, a young girl who thrives on attention and affection. In a fit of jealousy, Joe kills Dorcas, who will not speak or see him anymore. At the young girl's funeral, Joe's wife, Violet, is overtaken by another being she terms that girl...more
I will never forget the beauty of this book that starts with the statement that the heroine was an ugly young girl. She was young and ugly; and started to sleep with this old and disgusting married man that finally got obsessed with her and ended up wounding her on the shoulder with a small firearm. She didn't want anything to do with him and she decided that it was better to die than to give up; so she let herself bleed...more
Her novels are known for their epic themes, vivid dialogue, and richly detailed African American characters; among the best k...more
|
<urn:uuid:85761946-dd4f-4639-89da-5a22074e0cd5>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11341.Jazz
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00033-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.971172
| 1,320
| 1.5625
| 2
|
We want to share our latest insights regarding formal methods and requirements as well as the latest developments regarding our OpenSource tools, ProB and ProR. We will post new information roughly twice a month, so you won't be overwhelmed. You can either subscribe via email (below), subsribe to our RSS Feed or visit this page.
Manual Testing with ProR
Submitted by Michael Jastram on Tue, 10/09/2012 - 10:12
Automated test are great (we use them - the RMF project currently runs over 200 automated tests, all passing). But there are some situations where automating tests is just not worth the while - GUI tests are one example. So the manual tests and their results have to be recorded somewhere. An obvious, quick approach would be to use a spreadsheet. But there are advantages of using a more sophisticated tool, like ProR. We'll show here how this could be realized.
You can download the .reqif file used in this example (but please note that for production use, you would probably want to straighten is out considerably). Download Sample ReqIF File >>
A simple first approach would be to create a list of test descriptions, with one column for each test run. The following screenshot shows how this can be realized in ProR:
The top pane shows a table with three columns, "Description", "Expected" and "0.4.0". The first one briefly describes the test, the second describes the expected result. The "0.4.0" column shows the results of the test run for version 0.4.0 (in the last row it is shown how the value is selected from a drop-down, rather than typed in).
If you look at the Properties View (lower pane), you see that the entry has many more attributes that are not shown in the table view. This includes past test runs (0.1.0 to 0.3.0). These are kept for audits, but would only clutter up the table view. When a new version is prepared for release, a new attribute (0.5.0) would be created and shown in the table view. 0.4.0 would be removed from the table view, but of course it could always be accessed via the Properties View. The Properties View also contains a Note field for additional information.
Traces between Requirements and Tests
All this could also be realized in a Spreadsheet somehow. But the real power of a tool like ProR unfolds when traceability is used. Traceability could be used for tracing requirements or specification elements to their tests, as shown here:
You can see that there is an outgoing link from row 1.1. The link target (the requirement) has been selected in the right column, resulting in the full requirements text being visible in the properties view. In addition, the link has an annotation in the Description column: "On Linux, hold down Ctrl-Shift".
What has been shown here can be realized with the standard ProR tool and only touches the surface on what could be realized. With a little effort, this approach could be extended significantly, for example:
- More elaborate testing instructions could be linked to the individual test entries.
- Using the "suspect link" tool from ProR Essentials to double check test descriptions when a requirement changes.
- With a little scripting, unit test results could be added automatically to the test report.
- As ProR writes XML, graphical reports could be generated from the model with a standard XML processing tool. It would also be possible to build an Eclipse plug-in for generating these reports inside ProR.
There are many more possibilities, by leveraging both the power of the existing ProR features, the underlying XML data model, and Eclipse as an integration platform.
|
<urn:uuid:db17c059-909a-43ec-bfe7-acddde5d9dbc>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://formalmind.com/en/blog/manual-testing-pror
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00060-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.925999
| 784
| 1.609375
| 2
|
The Delhi walla's pretension in writing makes me want to lodge a bullet in his balls - Blogger Nimpipi, the woodchuck chucks
GO STRAIGHT TO MORE STORIES
Contact email@example.com for ad enquiries.
A mystery best left unsolved.
[Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi]
There are many buts about this place. It is thick with woods and grass, but the padding is too thin to screen off the traffic noise (Mathura Road is next door). It is opposite the touristy Purana Qila, but rarely a tourist comes here. It has hillocks, tombs and a ruin, but the entire area is so small that you could cover it in ten minutes.
The signboard outside calls this place a Delhi Development Authority (DDA) Park, but its character is too elusive for such an honour.
The imperfections begin from the start. No entrance gate. You have to jump over a hedge. Inside - trees, bushes, but no flowers, no lovers. The grounds are wrapped up with overgrown grass, but you would soon notice a narrow seemingly well-trodden path snaking through the terrain.
Looking around, it all seems untamed, but does not feel wild. Thanks to the sound of honking cars, this place can never be romanticised as one of those calm islands trapped amidst a stormy sea (think Lodhi Garden!).
Yet, it is so forest-ey. To your right: a hillock. Climb over the rocks: the top surrounded on all sides by giant Neem trees. Their branches bending down to three tombs; all draped with colourful chaadars. One tomb is said to belong to some Peer Saheb, a Sufi saint.
Who was this man? Why was he buried here?
While struggling with such questions, you might get distracted by the ruin, a few steps away, at the ‘far’ end of the park. Who built it? And why? And when? When I walked in there, three government clerks were playing cards under its chhatri. They had no idea about its history.
But is it necessary to seek enquiries, always?
One way to simplify a city is to strip it off its mysteries, to decode its secrets, to break it into chunks of information, to make it guidebook worthy. It is considered civilised to give a landmark a date, a narrative, a purpose. So, in a city having no ambiguities, a garden will always be quiet, a tomb will always belong to a saint, a wreckage will always own a history.
There is no patience with incomplete details.
But that precisely is the attraction of this DDA Park. It is right here, yet hidden in unknowns; its beauty as flawed as this city. Its serenity, sure, is corrupted, but that is because the serenity here is not artificially manufactured as in, say, Buddha Garden. It is an urban oasis, but it does not bar the urbanity’s less pretty intrusions. The smoggy Mathura Road never leave the senses completely. There even lurks a nervous thrill of bumping into an 'anti-social' element.
In a way, this DDA Park encapsulates Delhi’s essence – ruins, trees, tombs and men striking an unsatisfactory compromise with the Capital’s difficult life.
You must come here, but will you?
Where Just opposite Purana Qila, next to the cantonment
|
<urn:uuid:c7ca5cc6-852f-4c1c-b584-ca84ef9cee49>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://thedelhiwalla.blogspot.com/2009/08/city-secret-dda-park-opposite-purana.html
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.948937
| 746
| 1.640625
| 2
|
Thalomid is a popular treatment for a progressive blood disease known as multiple myeloma—a cancer of the plasma cells that is responsible for more than 10,000 deaths annually in the United States. The drug accounted for more than three-quarters of the $377 million in revenue generated last year by its manufacturer, New Jersey-based Celgene Corp. In fact, the global pharmaceutical company's Web site proclaims that Thalomid is "the current driver of Celgene revenue growth."
According to the Food and Drug Administration, which determines what drugs enter the U.S. market and also oversees their development, manufacturing, marketing and distribution, Thalomid (the brand name version of thalidomide, which in the early 1960s was prescribed in Europe and Canada for morning sickness in pregnant women, then withdrawn from the market after being traced to severe birth defects) was approved to treat a severe skin disorder in leprosy patients. As a result, Celgene may not legally market the drug for any other use, but physicians may prescribe it for other conditions. A Celgene spokesperson admits that Thalomid is most often for off-label uses, rather than the leprosy condition.
As the widespread "off-label" use of Thalomid and several other drugs indicates, the FDA's decree is often not the last word for the industry. In recent years, off-label sales have generated billions of dollars in revenue. Only in one instance was a drug maker penalized: In May 2004, Pfizer subsidiary Warner-Lambert agreed to plead guilty and pay more than $430 million to settle all Justice Department charges related to the off-label marketing of its epilepsy drug Neurontin, which the company promoted as a treatment for everything from migraine and attention deficit disorder to drug-withdrawal seizures and bipolar disorder.
But off-label marketing is not the only problem the FDA has faced lately: the agency has come under fire over drug-safety issues, a drop in enforcement actions and for its inability to force drug companies to meet such post-marketing commitments as conducting additional clinical trials.
FDA-watchers and consumer groups maintain that the agency's woes are symptomatic of its loosening grip over the drug industry. With pharmaceutical companies' profits increasing dramatically and their political influence growing apace, the FDA's capacity to effectively regulate them has progressively diminished, legislators and agency watchdogs contend.
According to critics, the FDA has been handcuffed by inadequate resources and legislation passed in the last decade and a half that produced a more industry-friendly regulatory policy.
Two such laws that gave the industry more clout are the Prescription Drug User Fee Act of 1992, which accelerated the new-drug approval process, and the FDA Modernization Act of 1997, which restructured the agency.
"[The FDA Modernization Act] was a bundle of gifts to the pharmaceutical industry," Marcia Angell, M.D., a former editor in chief of The New England Journal of Medicine, told the Center for Public Integrity. "Among other gifts was a dropping of standards for approving new drugs. In many cases, a drug only has to be tested in one clinical trial—Phase IV clinical trial—to show that the drug was reasonably safe and effective. In many cases, such drugs were supposed to be tested in post-marketing studies after they are on the market."
Safety issues have been the FDA's Achilles' heel lately. The agency's safety-monitoring system has come under increased scrutiny since last fall, as evidence emerged that three popular painkillers, known as COX-2 inhibitors, were found to cause severe side effects. Merck's Vioxx and Pfizer's Bextra were withdrawn from the market. Celebrex was kept on the market, although Pfizer was directed to add a prominent, "black box" warning to its anti-inflammatory drug—the FDA's strongest safety alert.
David Graham, an FDA whistleblower, estimated that Vioxx may have caused heart attacks in as many as 140,000 Americans and led to as many as 55,000 deaths in the United States.
In the wake of the Vioxx controversy, news organizations documented the inadequacy of the safety monitoring system as well as the FDA's inaction. Complaints about Vioxx, media stories revealed, had been trickling in since 2001.
"The fact is that doctors should have been warned [about the side effects of Vioxx]," Steven Findlay, a health care analyst focusing on prescription drugs at Consumers Union, told the Center. "Unquestionably, there should be a better system to warn doctors and patients of drugs, rather than waiting until you have more conclusive evidence about [their side effects]."
This was not the first time the FDA dragged its feet before pulling a drug off the market. In the late 1990s, the agency and Parke-Davis (now part of Pfizer) kept Rezulin on the market for two full years after the diabetes drug—which could cause severe liver problems—was banned in Britain.
To Findlay, "the horrible thing about Vioxx is more than half the people who were taking the drug did not need it," because they could have used cheaper drugs with longer-established safety records.
The agency depends on individuals, health professionals and companies themselves for input on the safety of the 10,000-plus drugs it regulates, along with medical devices, food, vitamins and other nutritionals, veterinary products and cosmetics. Adverse reaction reports from companies are mandatory, but those from consumers and health professionals are voluntary.
Critics such as Marcia Angell, author of The Truth About the Drug Companies: How They Deceive Us and What to Do About It, say that, because of the MedWatch program's largely voluntary nature, only a fraction of adverse events are reported to the agency. "The safety monitoring is simply catch-as-catch-can," Angell said. "That depends entirely on doctors informing the agency of instances of what they feel are adverse events. If they don't notify the FDA and drug companies, then the FDA never hears about them. I think that only a tiny percent of the adverse events are reported to the FDA." MedWatch, which aggregates reports by healthcare professionals, consumers and manufacturers, was created by the FDA in 1993 to help track serious side effects of drugs and other medical products.
Judging by the steadily declining number of "warning letters" the FDA has issued, in dealing with improper marketing, the agency seems ill-equipped to handle even the violations it is aware of.
A warning letter is the first step in the enforcement process. The number sent to companies over improper or unapproved marketing dropped from 140 in 1997 to 23 last year, the lowest total in the eight years FDA has been keeping records. While the agency issued an average of 122 letters a year from 1997 to 2000, in the four years that followed it issued an average of 36 letters a year.
Four of the five companies receiving the most marketing-related letters have received no more than two per year since 2002. Merck is among the ten companies issued the most marketing-related letters overall but has not received a letter since 2001, when it received three.
Even when the FDA has the power to discipline companies, it rarely does so.
Under the Federal Food, Drugs, and Cosmetic Act, Celgene, the maker of Thalomid, was carefully warned to only market the drug as a non-monotherapy, last-resort treatment for the skin condition associated with leprosy. Yet the company issued press releases touting Thalomid as a treatment for multiple myeloma and other oncological conditions, according to the FDA, which slapped Celgene with two warning letters for such "off-label promotions."
Although the agency has the power to pull drugs off the market for non-compliance by manufacturers, it has never done so. Instead, enforcement actions almost invariably end with warning letters like those issued to Celgene.
Lack of commitment
The accelerated drug approval program and prescription drug advertising are other areas where companies do not pay any price for defying the FDA.
Under the former program, whose regulations became effective in January 1993, the process to bring life-saving drugs to market was dramatically streamlined, although pharmaceutical companies are required to prove in follow-up clinical studies that these drugs are in fact safe.
But companies often do not meet these post-marketing commitments, and without any apparent consequences. Among those who questioned the FDA's ability to regulate the program are Angell and Rep. Edward Markey, D-Massachusetts.
"Drug companies don't bother to carry out [the studies]," Angell said. "The FDA doesn't bother to make sure that they do. In most cases, these commitment studies have not even started."
A recent investigation by Markey's staff concluded that the accelerated approval program is "broken and failing to ensure patient safety." Among the study's findings: 50 percent of the post-marketing studies that should now be underway have not even been started, even though companies have been selling the drugs in question for an average of 20 months, and in one case for as long as 6 years and 9 months. According to the Massachusetts Democrat, because product labels do not specify whether drugs have been granted accelerated approval, and because information about these drugs—including whether the FDA has asked for follow-up research—is difficult to find, consumers are often left in the dark about potential risks.
The FDA has been regulating prescription drug advertisements since 1962. Advertising for non-prescription drugs, like advertising for most other products and services, is regulated by the Federal Trade Commission.
Since the FDA Modernization Act of 1997 relaxed regulation of direct-to-consumer advertising, thereby fueling tremendous growth in drug advertising budgets, the FDA has determined that many drug promotional materials have emphasized the effectiveness of drugs while downplaying their adverse effects. At the same time, however, enforcement records available on the agency's Web site show that it has apparently lost its zeal to crack down on inaccurate and misleading ads.
"The FDA doesn't have authority to pull ads," Steven Findlay, of Consumers Union, told the Center. Even in exercising the power it does have, "it's not vigilant enough—not hard enough in punishing companies [that refuse to comply with its warning letters]."
Janet Woodcock, director of FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, acknowledged in 2000 that the FDA did not have the resources for a scientific evaluation of the impact of ads aimed at consumers. And the trend is unmistakable: since the FDA Modernization Act relaxed agency rules in 1997, the market for direct-to-consumer drug advertising has grown from $791 million to nearly $4 billion in 2004.
Lack of resources
In fact, a resource crunch is at the heart of many of the problems plaguing the FDA. The agency regulates more than $1 trillion worth of products—almost 10 percent of the country's GDP. Not only does it regulate the $280 billion U.S. drug industry, but also the food industry, cosmetics and any number of products that Americans use in their daily lives, from medical devices to lasers and microwave ovens.
But while the size and scope of the industries it regulates have increased substantially, FDA's resources have increased only modestly.
Pfizer, the world's largest pharmaceutical company, saw its revenues grow from $11.3 billion in 1996 to $52 billion last year. The global drug business has almost doubled since 1998, from $289 billion to $550 billion last year. The sale of prescription drugs more than tripled from 1990 to 2001, according to a study by the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Promotional spending on drugs more than doubled from $9.2 billion in 1996 to $19.1 billion in 2001, the study revealed.
By comparison, the FDA's growth has been much more modest. The agency employs almost 11,000 people today, up from 8,200 in 1979. The budget has increased from $327 million (a little less than $750 million in 2004 dollars) in 1980 to $1.7 billion last year, including user fees. (The FDA expects to collect more than $284 million in user fees this year.) The Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, the largest of the FDA's five centers with responsibility for assuring the safety and effectiveness of the drugs available to Americans, has a budget of less than $500 million—a fraction of the promotional spending by the drug industry.
Former FDA commissioner Donald Kennedy, who headed the agency for 26 months beginning in April 1977, blames Congress for being "stingy" with the agency . "They are quick to complain about it," he told the Center. "But they don't give it very much in the way of resources."
But Congress has made sure that at least one division of CDER is funded adequately: the drug approval division.
The Prescription Drug User Fee Act, enacted in 1992, imposed fees on companies applying for drug approval. The bulk of those fees go toward paying the salaries of employees hired to speed up that approval process. And because few of those user fees are channeled into safety monitoring, critics such as Angell complain that the FDA is putting more premiums on faster drug approvals than on drug safety.
"What we have is an FDA in which safety monitoring is woefully under-funded and under-supported in every way in favor of reviewing drugs faster," she said.
Victoria Kreha, Alexander Cohen, Kevin Boettcher and Emily McNeill contributed to this report.
|
<urn:uuid:09507260-ea20-45a5-98dc-8d77fc8dbfe4>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.publicintegrity.org/2005/07/07/5785/fda-shell-its-former-self
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.967184
| 2,796
| 2.09375
| 2
|
The English Department offers in-depth study of great works of literature by authors from many different periods and cultures. In addition to building critical reading and writing skills, we also encourage students to make connections between literature and the world around them. Students receive a strong foundation in the canonical texts as well as in contemporary works.
Ohio Dominican’s English Department offers a strong foundation in classic, contemporary and international literature. Students study works from Beowulf to Stan Lee. This breadth of coverage prepares them for many professions, such as teaching and graduate study in fields of English and law. Through diverse reading and writing assignments, students are prepared for many different writing situations. The Professional Writing minor is suggested for students who would like to focus on business and technological writing. Faculty are distinguished by their publication record, service to the University, community and commitment to students. Thanks to the strong classical and contemporary training, the devoted faculty, and the extensive curriculum, our students find jobs in the global economy.
We offer an English major with a traditional focus on literature; an English minor, for students interested in literature, but majoring in other areas; an Integrated Language Arts major, for students preparing to teach in secondary schools; and a Professional Writing minor, for students interested in pursuing a greater number of writing experiences.
ODU English majors find jobs in a variety of fields because they are flexible and prepared to meet the changing demands of today’s job market. Our majors have gone on to work in politics, public relations, law, education, writing, publishing, health care, the arts and other careers. However, the most important aspect to the study of literature is its ability to prepare students for many fields of study and many situations in life. English majors develop empathy, critical thinking, critical writing and wisdom through the study of literature. These qualities will help students find and retain work, and make life much more interesting and fulfilling. Internships are available and encouraged. In the past, students have worked at advertising and publishing firms. The English Department also sponsors one of the most active organizations on campus, the English Honors society, Sigma Tau Delta. In addition to many activities throughout the year, Sigma Tau Delta publishes the award-winning ODU literary journal, Gesture. Through the journal, students learn about the publishing, editing and creative writing fields. They are also invited to attend the national Sigma conference where they network with other English majors, faculty and writers.
Dr. Imali J. Abala is a novelist and poet. Some of her works include, "A Fallen Citadel and Other Poems," "The Dilemma of Jahenda the Teenage Mother," "The Disinherited" and "Move On, Trufosa." Some of her other works will appear in "African Women in Motion: Gender and the New African Diaspora in the United States," an anthology, and "Reflection: An Anthology of New Work by African Women Poets." She is working on her new novel, "A Fair Cry to Heaven."
|
<urn:uuid:024fc1db-34b3-4b77-b52d-780c05b34c29>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.ohiodominican.edu/Academics/Undergraduate-Areas-of-Study/English/English/
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00074-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.963406
| 616
| 2.21875
| 2
|
im from philippines, and we have a lot of medicinal plants here, but dont know what of these plants are aid to my Urinary track infection...I thought of bitter gourd(ampalaya in our dialect), is it a ...
Does anyone know of any herbal products that would rid of them completely not just the eggs? Ive heard alot that herbal meds dont work as good and take way to long, but the fda stuff is bad for you....
i think you should take your pills and consult a doctor
Honey is high in viamen E & does eleviate the pain. Also try Marmite its good.
no salt is it hurts for few seconds but no pain no getting rid of the ulcers
honey obviously has some healing properties but not sure about ulcers - its good for coughs - best see your gp eh?
No, you need to take your medication and you will be cured. don't screw around with herbal stuff you need your medication to heal, I know about that.
Umm. I don't know, try it and see.
Honey is good to eat, and it has been used to counteract hay fever, but it also can work well with leg ulcers.
Absolutly not its one of the worst things you can use because the sugars can aggrevate it and make it even worse.
Ulcers are 100% treatable these days with a course of pills to kill the bacteria that causes them.
This is the bacteria that cause the ulcers in most cases:
helicobacter pylori bacteria and is the cause of duodenal/gastric ulcers and some gastric cancer.
Plus you can get pills like "Nexium" that totally stop the heartburn while they're healing etc.
|
<urn:uuid:aef9e44e-ac14-4be0-bb1a-3bbce81fd1e0>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.healthexpertadvice.org/forum/Alternative-Medicine/Does-Honey-good-for-Ulcers-18635.htm
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00051-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.960036
| 377
| 1.71875
| 2
|
Investments in education and human capital have long been recognized as precipitators of future economic growth. Rapid development in Korea in the second half of the 20th century, for instance, has been traced by scholars back to high levels of investments in schooling and training, creating the enabling environment for industrialization and further specialization.
There is no doubt that commitment to education for economic development requires both long-term funding and the multiplying effects of time.
But what causes countries with similar levels of sustained spending to achieve vastly different outcomes? It's a question that burns in the minds and wallets of governments and development efforts around the world.
Kye Woo Lee, Professor of Economics at the KDI School of Public Policy in Seoul and a former World Bank executive, returned to the Bank to present his illuminating research on this complex issue. Lee began his study by pinpointing two countries with comparable levels of education spending but very different outcomes: Korea and Mexico. While Korea is often heralded as a model for development, Mexico struggles to achieve equitable educational attainment and the economic growth it can help spur. From these two opposite ends of the spectrum, Lee attempts to draw out lessons on what went right and went wrong.
Starting at the baseline, Lee asks, Why was education’s contribution to growth greater in Korea? He finds that over the past 40 years, Korea spent an average of 3.4% of gross national product (GNP) on public education expenses per capita. In contrast, other countries borrowing from the World Bank spent an average of 3.7% of GNP per capita in the last four decades—that is to say, a similar and even slightly higher level of spending than in Korea.
Since the levels of spending on public education per capita do not account for the gaps in attainment, Lee argues that the following variables play a major role in determining growth:
- The efficiency of educational investments and implementation
- The sequence of educational spending over time
- The linkage between education policies and national economic development policies
In particular, Lee points out a number of policy areas where Korea shone while Mexico lagged behind. Mexico’s uneven borrowing from various development partners decreased the harmonization of donor funds, while inconsistent national development plans hampered coherency and progress during political turnover. Meanwhile Korea’s sequence of educational spending followed a clear trajectory, with an early focus on achieving basic education for all that allowed for equitable development and subsequent investments in secondary, then higher education and training.
For donors and governments alike, Lee’s insights encourage new rethinking of how educational investments are nurtured over time and how they can be successfully linked to national economic policy.
|
<urn:uuid:23dc5e8c-0c81-47a2-826e-b96268d1bb6e>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://blogs.worldbank.org/education/node/507
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00043-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.94984
| 539
| 2.90625
| 3
|
Violence has been a part of life in Sudan since its independence in 1956. Two wars between north and south, the current conflict in Darfur, and skirmishes in other parts of the country have resulted in complex emergencies from which the nation has yet to emerge. In southern Sudan, 90 percent of the population lives in poverty. While the numbers for the remainder of the country are not nearly as dire, they are alarming nonetheless. Fifty percent of people in the north live below the poverty line. While people in Sudan are starting to benefit from the peace achieved by the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement in 2005, the situation across the south, in Darfur, and in eastern Sudan, and even in the areas surrounding Khartoum remains desperate for many.
Fifty InterAction members are working across the country to provide direly needed humanitarian relief and development programs. Click here to read more about the work of InterAction NGO members in Sudan.
Read a blog written by U.S. Special Envoy to Sudan, Princeton Lyman, on his experiences in South Sudan on CNN.com titled, South Sudan: Lessons learned at the negotiating table.
See below for more information and analysis of the referendum in Sudan and its impact on one of the poorest countries in the world.
|
<urn:uuid:07262d97-081e-4409-9406-01af4c05fa59>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.interaction.org/sudan-resources?page=2
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.953669
| 258
| 2.875
| 3
|
By Marisa Taylor
By now you’ve undoubtedly been tagged at least once for that “25 Random Things About Me” Facebook note that has spread across the social networking sphere like some kind of self-revelatory virus. Love it or hate it, its rapid proliferation is unprecedented in social networking’s young history — Facebook reports that nearly 5 million notes were created by its users during the week of January 26 through February 2, which was more than double the amount from the previous week and more than any other week in the company’s history.
But still, no one seems to be able to get to the bottom of who actually started it, or why Facebook users are suddenly so enamored with this particular means of sharing both intensely personal and highly mundane details about themselves with hundreds of friends and acquaintances in their news feeds. “We don’t have specific data on the types of Notes users are creating, but we think this growth has a strong correlation to the sharing of the 25 Random Things About Me Note,” wrote Facebook spokeswoman Brandee Barker in an email message. “Other types of content, like photos or news stories, have spread rapidly and widely on Facebook, but this is the first time I’ve noticed a Note gain such distribution.”
Several dozen Facebook groups and pages have been created in reference to the chain letter-style posting and each has thousands of members–one fan group cites as its goal to have President Barack Obama to create a “25 Random Things About Me” list; another group called “I refuse to list 25 things about myself!” provides the simple raison d’etre: “Resist!”
But not one page provides any evidence as to who might have been the original person or group to start the chain. Slate’s Chris Wilson has gone as far as creating a list of his own in order to get to the bottom of the mystery. He’s asking readers to submit information about how many times friends have tagged them in the “25 Random Things” list, when was the earliest date a friend posted the “25 Random Things” note, and whether users have theories as to how the whole thing got started.
Even more mysterious is the question of why is it that people are passing along this list so prolifically–is it just another means of self-aggrandizement through revelation of angst or quirkiness or humor, as often can be the case with Facebook status updates? As Facebook’s Barker says, “These Notes are not just being shared among the younger generation on Facebook. I’m anecdotally noticing that people of all ages and from all over the world are writing 25 very touching and insightful ‘things’ about their lives and tagging friends in order to share it more broadly.”
With more than 5 million notes created in a single week, the “25 Random Things About Me” note likely isn’t just limited to the self-involved types who post status updates all day long and
irritate their friends to the point of deletion. Surveys and lists were circulating all over MySpace before Facebook ever overtook it as the most popular social networking site; if nothing else, the “25 Random Things” phenomenon just reiterates that users really, really like sharing and spreading information about themselves online, no matter how personal or vulgar or trite.
Though some might say that Facebook user Carolyn Tillie said it best when she wrote on the wall for the Facebook group “I Refuse to Complete the 25 Random Things List:” “I have way more than 25 random things and most of them are extremely interesting and juicy. My close friends know some of them and the joy of our growing friendships is discovering what those random things are in each other — as part of building our friendships; not putting them out to the rest of the universe. Trust me, I am an intensely fascinating person and the 25 random things YOU discover by getting to know ME will be far more interesting than just reading a banal list that I put together.”
|
<urn:uuid:c3dff6c9-b7e6-48fb-8f01-436ac89fd3e3>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2009/02/10/facebook-mystery-who-created-25-random-things-about-me/
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.95837
| 853
| 1.695313
| 2
|
Why travel to India? There are too many reasons to count, really, but we’ve managed to narrow it down to the top 5. Your mileage may vary of course-if there’s something we should have included or something you think we should have left out, let us know in the comments!
1. The Taj Mahal
India’s most famous building, the Taj Mahal is practically the national symbol. Built by an emperor to immortalize his beloved wife, the Taj never fails to impress.
2. Indian Food
So much more than just curry, Indian food has countless regional variations, all of them delicious.
This countercultural playground is known for more than just its beach parties-the beaches themselves are stunning and the region’s rich history makes for interesting excursions.
Khajuraho is best known for the gorgeous statues that decorate its three groups of temples. Be forewarned-although many of the sculptures depict scenes from the lives of ordinary people, some of them are most definitely NSFW!
5. Elephanta Caves
Thousands of years ago, on an island in the ocean to the east of Mumbai, unknown builders carved a series of Hindu and Buddhist caves into the rock. The caves fell into ruin after the Portuguese took over the region, but they have since been restored and designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Gorgeous, intricate carvings and impressive rock-hewn architecture make these caves a must-see while you are in India.
If you are a US citizen, you will need both your US passport and an Indian visa to visit the country. You must apply for your Indian visa ahead of time, as visas on arrival are not permitted. For more information on what you need to get your visa, check out Indian Visa Requirements for Tourists.
RushMyTravelVisa can make applying for your visa much faster and more convenient. Let us help you expedite your Indian visa application today!
|
<urn:uuid:67d1e201-7942-42ea-8ea7-7a44c3b54853>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.rushmytravelvisa.com/blog/2010/06/
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00051-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.95512
| 404
| 1.734375
| 2
|
Bruton agammaglobulinemia is an X-linked genetic condition caused by an abnormality in a key enzyme needed for proper function of the immune system. People who have this disorder have low levels of protective antibodies and are vulnerable to repeated and potentially fatal infections.
An integral aspect of the body's ability to resist and fight off infections by microorganisms (bacteria, viruses, parasites, fungi) is the immune system. The immune system is comprised of specialized cells whose function is to recognize organisms that are foreign to the body and destroy them. One set of specialized cells used to fight infection are the B cells. B cells circulate in the bloodstream and produce organism-fighting proteins called antibodies.
Antibodies are made of different classes of immunoglobulin that are produced within a B cell and are then released into the bloodstream, where they attach to invading microorganisms. There are antibodies specifically designed to combine with each and every microorganism, very similar to a lock and key. Once the antibodies attach to the microorganism, it triggers other specialized cells of the immune system to attack and destroy the invader, thus preventing or fighting an existing infection.
In order for antibodies to be produced by the body, the B cells must develop and mature so they are capable of producing the infection-fighting antibodies. When this process does not occur normally, the immune system can not work properly to fight off infection, a state known as immunodeficiency. Bruton agammaglobulinemia (also called X-linked agammaglobulinemia, or congenital agammaglobulinemia) is an inherited immunodeficiency characterized by failure to produce mature B cells and thus to produce the antibodies needed to fight infections. The abnormality in this disorder resides in Bruton tyrosine kinase (BTK, also known as BPK or ATK), an enzyme needed for maturation of B cells. As a result, people with this condition have low levels of mature B cells and the antibodies that they produce, making them vulnerable to frequent and sometimes dangerous infections.
Bruton agammaglobulinemia was the first immunodeficiency disease to be identified, reported by the physician Colonel Ogden C. Bruton in 1952. Bruton's patient, a four-year-old boy, was first admitted to Walter Reed Army Hospital because of an infected knee. The child recovered well when Bruton gave him antibiotics, but over the next four years he had multiple infections. Just at that time, a new instrument was installed in the hospital's laboratory that was able to measure levels of antibodies in the bloodstream. At first the technician believed the machine was defective because it did not detect gammaglobulins (the building blocks of antibodies) in the boy, but Bruton recognized the significance of this finding, and remarked, "Things began to click then. No gammaglobulins; can't build antibodies."
Bruton agammaglobulinemia is inherited in an X-linked recessive manner; thus, almost all persons with the disorder are male. Females have two X chromosomes, which means they have two copies of the BTK
Mutations in the gene for BTK (located at Xq21.3-22) are responsible for the disease. Over 250 different mutations in BTK have been identified and they are spread almost evenly throughout the BTK gene. While this abnormal gene can be passed from parent to child, in half of the cases a child will show the disease without having a parent with the mutant gene. This is because new alterations in the BTK gene can occur. This new alteration can then be passed on to the affected individual's children.
Bruton agammaglobulinemia occurs in all racial groups, with an incidence between one in 50,000 and one in 100,000 individuals.
Signs and symptoms
Bruton agammaglobulinemia is a defect in the B cells, leading to decreased antibodies in the blood and increased vulnerability to infection with certain types of bacteria and a few viruses. Children with Bruton agammaglobulinemia are born healthy and usually begin to show signs of infection in the first three to nine months of life, when antibodies that come from the mother during pregnancy and early breast-feeding disappear. In 20-30% of the cases, however, patients may have slightly higher levels of antibodies present, and symptoms will not appear until later in childhood.
Patients with Bruton agammaglobulinemia can have infections that involve the skin, bone, brain, gastrointestinal tract, sinuses, eyes, ears, nose, airways to the lung, or lung itself. In addition, the bacteria may migrate from the original site of infection and enter the bloodstream, leading to an overwhelming infection of the body that is potentially fatal.
Besides signs of recurrent infections, other physical findings in patients with Bruton agammaglobulinemia include slow growth, wheezing, small tonsils, and abnormal levels of tooth decay. Children may also develop unusual symptoms such as joint disease, destruction of red blood cells, kidney damage, and skin and muscle inflammation. Increased incidence of cancers, such as leukemia, lymphoma, and possibly colon cancer, have
Infections seen with Bruton agammaglobulinemia are caused by bacteria that are easily destroyed by a normal-functioning immune system. The most common bacterial species responsible for these infections include Streptococcus pneumoniae, Streptococcus pyogenes, Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Neisseria meningitides, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Hemophilus influenzae, and Mycoplasma species. Chronic stomach and intestine infections are often linked to the parasite Giardia lamblia.
Patients with Bruton agammaglobulinemia can successfully defend themselves against infection from viruses and fungi because other aspects of the immune system are still functional. However, there are some notable exceptions—people with this disorder are still vulnerable to the hepatitis virus, poliomyelitis virus, and echovirus. Echovirus is particularly troubling, as it can lead to progressive and fatal infections of the brain, joints, and skin.
Recurrent infections or infections that fail to respond completely or quickly to antibiotics should prompt a diagnostic search for immunodeficiency and Bruton agammaglobulinemia. Another helpful clue to a diagnosis of Bruton agammaglobulinemia is the presence of unusually small lymph nodes and tonsils. Additionally, many patients with this disorder have a history of continuous illness; that is, they do not have periods of wellbeing between bouts of illness.
When a patient is suspected of having Bruton agammaglobulinemia, the diagnosis is established by several tests. The amount of immunoglobulin is measured in a small amount of blood from the affected individual by a technique called immunoelectrophoresis. In Bruton agammaglobulinemia, all of the immunoglobulins will be markedly reduced or absent. It should be noted that there is some difficulty in diagnosing the disease in a young infant or newborn because immunoglobulins from the mother are still present in the child during the first few months of life.
For those patients in which the exact diagnosis is still unclear, tests can be performed to determine if there has been any response to normal childhood immunizations (such as the tetanus, diptheria, and pertussis vaccines). Patients with Bruton agammaglobulinemia are unable to respond with antibody formation following immunization. Confirmation of the diagnosis can be made by demonstrating abnormally low numbers of mature B cells in the blood or by genetic studies that look for mutations in the BTK gene. When a diagnosis of Bruton agammaglobulinemia is made in a child, genetic testing of the BTK gene can be offered to determine if a specific gene change can be identified. If a specific change is identified, carrier testing can be offered to the mother and female relatives. In families where the mother has been identified to be a carrier of a BTK gene change, diagnosis of Bruton agammaglobulinemia before birth is possible, if desired. Prenatal diagnosis is performed on cells obtained by amniocentesis (withdrawal of the fluid surrounding a fetus in the womb using a needle) at about 16-18 weeks of pregnancy or from the chorionic villi (a part of the placenta) at 10-12 weeks of pregnancy. In some families, a BTK gene change cannot be identified. Other laboratory techniques may be available to these families such as linkage studies or X chromosome inactivation studies.
Other diagnostic tests have been advocated to track the ongoing health of the patient with Bruton agammaglobulinemia. X rays of the sinuses and chest should be obtained at regular intervals to monitor for the early development of infections and to determine if proper treatment has been established. Lung function tests should also be performed on a regular basis, when the patient is old enough to cooperate. Patients who have ongoing gastrointestinal tract symptoms (diarrhea) should be tested for the parasite Giardia lamblia.
Treatment and management
Current research into a cure for Bruton agammaglobulinemia is focusing on the ability of bone marrow transplantation or gene therapy to correct the abnormal BTK gene, however, there is no cure at this time. Therefore the goals of treatment are threefold: to treat infection effectively, to prevent repeated infections, and to prevent the lung damage that may result from repeated infections.
The main abnormality in patients with Bruton agammaglobulinemia is a lack of immunoglobulins, which are the building blocks of antibodies. Thus, treatment focuses on replacing immunoglobulin, thereby providing patients with the antibodies they need to fight infection. Immunoglobulin can be obtained from the blood of several donors and given to a patient with Bruton agammaglobulinemia. Treatment with immunoglobulin is given every three to four weeks and is usually effective in preventing infection by various microorganisms.
Side effects from or allergic reactions to immunoglobulin are infrequent, but about 3-12% of people will experience shortness of breath, sweating, increased heart rate, stomach pain, fever, chills, headache, or nausea. These symptoms will usually subside
If infection does occur in a patient with Bruton agammaglobulinemia, antibiotics (medications which kill bacteria) are also given to help fight off the infection. Recurrent or chronic infections will develop in some patients despite the use of immunoglobulin. In that case, antibiotics may be given every day, even when there is no infection present, in order to prevent an infection from forming. If chronic diarrhea is experienced by the patient, tests should be performed to look for the parasite Giardia lamblia, and proper antibiotics should be given to kill the organism.
Preventative techniques are also very important. Children with Bruton agammaglobulinemia should be treated promptly for even minor cuts and scrapes, and taught to avoid crowds and people with infections. People with this disorder and their family members should not be given vaccinations that contain live organisms (polio, or the measles, mumps, rubella vaccine) as the organism may result in the immunocompromised person contracting the disease that the vaccination is intended to prevent. Referral for genetic counseling is appropriate for female relatives seeking information about their carrier status and for family members making reproductive decisions.
Without immunoglobulin treatment, 90% of patients with Bruton agammaglobulinemia will die by the age of eight years old. In most patients who have been diagnosed early and are receiving immunoglobulin on a regular basis, the prognosis is reasonably good. They should be able to lead a relatively normal childhood and need not be isolated to prevent dangerous infections. A full and active lifestyle is to be encouraged.
While current therapy allows most individuals with Bruton agammaglobulinemia to reach adulthood, the prognosis must be guarded. Paralysis of the legs may result from the poliomyelitis virus. Despite what may appear to be adequate immunoglobulin therapy, many patients develop severe, irreversible lung disease. Fatal brain infections have been reported even in patients receiving immunoglobulin therapy, and patients who recover from these infections may be left with severe brain damage. Finally, some patients may develop leukemia or lymphoma.
Ammann, A. J. "Antibody Immunodeficiency Disorders." In Medical Immunology. Stamford, CT: Appleton and Lange, 1997.
Buckley, R. H. "T, B, and NK Cells." In Nelson Textbook of Pediatrics, edited by R. E. Behrman. 16th ed. Philadelphia: W.B. Saunders, 2000.
Cooper, M. D. "Primary Immune Deficiencies." In Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine, edited by A.S. Fauci. 14th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1998.
Nonoyama, S. "Recent Advances in the Diagnosis of X-linked Agammaglobulinemia." Internal Medicine 38 (September 1999): 687-688.
Immune Deficiency Foundation. 40 W. Chesapeake Ave., Suite 308, Towson, MD 21204. (800) 296-4433. (410) 321-9165. <http://www.primaryimmune.org>.
"Bruton Agammaglobulinemia Tyrosine Kinase." Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man. <http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/htbin-post/Omim/dispmim?300300> (May 24, 2001).
Oren Traub, MD, PhD
|
<urn:uuid:95a299e7-af51-473b-88a4-72c2f7b6b8e5>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.healthline.com/galecontent/bruton-agammaglobulinemia
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00052-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.92976
| 2,930
| 3.234375
| 3
|
Deborah Trout has spent her life helping to create artificial worlds. Maybe thats why she turns to the natural one when she isnt working. She is a costume designer in the School of Drama, and in her spare time she hits local waterfront parks as a beach naturalist.
Shes no expert on sea life, Trout emphasized, just one of many volunteers who have gone through training at the Seattle Aquarium. And she delights in aspects of the work that are perhaps less salient to her fellow volunteers.
“As a costume designer Im a visual artist, and seeing these amazing organic forms and colors has always been pretty interesting to me,” she said. “The day I decided to become a beach naturalist I was out on low tide with my camera taking pictures of these bright green and red anemones that looked like Christmas ornaments.”
Beach Naturalists, Trout explained, go out at low tides in the summer, where they provide information and answer questions. Each volunteer wears a vest with many pockets for carrying informational materials, as well as an identifying cap. Shifts run about four hours and Trout said the time goes quickly.
What do people ask? A lot of it is identification, Trout said. Then there are questions about what the creatures eat, who eats whom, how long they live.
“One of the things weve learned is to make it into a teaching moment as often as possible so you can pose a question and then ask them to suppose,” Trout said. “You can admit, ‘I dont know, lets look it up. We have guidebooks with us.”
Theres also a “beach captain” on duty — a volunteer with more experience who can be a good source of information.
Trout said she has always loved salt water, though she didnt grow up near it. She did spend a fair amount of time on the Oregon coast as a child and delighted in the tide pools on Cannon Beach. But shes spent her life in the theater, starting with working on sets in high school and moving on to costumes in college. She worked in a number of theaters in the West before moving to New York City, where she and a friend started a commercial millinery business, selling mostly to the theatrical world.
“We thought it would be part time but we soon discovered that a small business is 100 percent of your time,” Trout said. “I spent four years building that business, and I loved being a small business owner, but I did not love making hats non-stop.”
With her MFA in hand, Trout was ready to leave New York and looked for job in a city with a great theater community. She found it in Seattle.
“Its been wonderful,” she said. “I teach both undergraduate and graduate students and I work with the theaters here in Seattle as well as farther afield.”
Trout lives in West Seattle, where shes enjoyed roaming the beaches at Alki and Lincoln Park.
“I saw the naturalists there and I thought, ‘Oh, this is something Id love to learn more about—the sea life, this world I stroll by,” Trout said.
The training is eight sessions — six at the aquarium and two on the beach. At the aquarium, volunteers led by Janice Mathiesen and her team explore the exhibits and learn about the science of the Sound. On the beaches the volunteers get to see the creatures in their natural habitat.
Trout said many of the guest experts were UW professors. The program is co-sponsored by the aquarium, the King County Conservation District, the Boeing Charitable Trust, Forum for WRIA 8 and 9, Seattle Department of Parks and Recreation, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife and People for Puget Sound.
Once trained, volunteers are expected to sign up for at least three sessions at any of seven beaches.
She said she expects one day shell design a show inspired by the beautiful shapes and colors of sea creatures. She came close when she designed the recent Seattle Childrens Theatre production of “A Year with Frog and Toad,” which involved whimsical costumes inspired by but not literally like the animals themselves.
In the meantime, shes enjoying her time on the beach. “I love being outside. I love how your senses are assaulted when youre at the waters edge,” she said.
This was the final profile written by Nancy Wick before she left the UW at the end of December.
|
<urn:uuid:196b64a3-07a4-4dbd-a42c-1506c4937ad5>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.washington.edu/news/2012/04/03/for-volunteer-naturalist-the-beach-is-a-stage/
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00033-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.974068
| 939
| 1.65625
| 2
|
Patrick Henry College
Members of last year's mock trial team (2009-2010)
“We’ve been so busy preparing for moot court [Nationals], we couldn’t travel to compete in mock trial in the fall,” he explains. “Whether our students win or lose at this tournament, they’ll find out what they need to improve.”
So far, colleges from across the country have signaled that they plan to attend, including Weber State University, where Dr. Guliuzza used to coach moot court and mock trial before moving to PHC. Weber State, says Dr. Guliuzza, has sent multiple teams to national mock trial competitions in the past.
For those students, in particular, who hope to one day attend law school, mock trial competition provides exceptional training and serves as an important supplement to an applicant’s portfolio, says Dr. Guliuzza. Whereas moot court imparts a deeper expertise in appellate law, simulating real arguments before the Supreme Court, mock trial imitates the initial hearings that establish the judicial record.
In order to compete at a high level in mock trial, Dr. Guliuzza explains, participants must play the roles of their characters, whether witness, district attorney, or defense counsel. This type of competition is much more theatrical than most of PHC’s other public speaking platforms, as participants often use accents and dramatic flourishes to render the appropriate effect.
|
<urn:uuid:3e3ef658-ccb2-4871-8db3-d1a469f9920a>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.phc.edu/20110113_mocktrial.php
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.916292
| 303
| 1.523438
| 2
|
AK Clinic Have a Nice Facilities For Hair Transplant Result
This article is copyright free and is published in Hair » Beauty
Many people who are struggling for hair loss are investigating hair cloning or hair transplant as options. At first glance, they may appear to be viable options. Lastly, if the hair has been extracted and manages to reproduce in the lab, there is no current technique in place that would construct a natural hairline once the new follicles have been implanted into the scalp. However, there are a number of difficulties that exist which must be overcome for the procedure to be successful.
Hair cloning does not work in the same way as trying to make an identical genetic copy to clone a whole person or organism. What hair cloning theorizes doing is cell therapy; wherein through cell culture it is proposed to let a hair cell multiply into two, two into four and so on. Once these reach a viable enough number, they will then be injected into the scalp with an injection.
Hair Cloning is viewed these days since the best means to fix the age-old difficulty of hair loss. The idea of cloning the hair is founded on the actual findings that the two kinds of tissue that induce locks to cultivate may be cloned, with the results of the combination associated with both inserted in to the scalp. The process is likely to result in regular growth of locks. Both forms of stem tissues that induce Hair Transplant Result are located in the bulge region near the area of the sebaceous glands as well as in the actual skin papilla at the base of the head of hair.
One of the reasons researchers have not yet been able to clone hair successfully is that, although they can create multiple cells, it is not yet sure whether these cells will in fact create a new hair follicle and thus new hair. The biggest challenge facing hair cloning is that of trying to keep the developed cells alive and after re-implantation getting these to actually make new hair. If instead of just multiplying cells, there was any way to actually grow hair out of these cells in a laboratory, then the hair loss problems of everybody would be solved.
The benefits of hair Vitamins for hair growth are innumerable. The hair is yours and therefore it will gain the same texture as the rest of your hair and will give you the same look. It wouldnít be discarded by your body as it includes your own genetic markers. The hair multiplication treatment is cost effective as it doesnít require a big team of doctors for surgery. And the most importantly, you can have all the hair you can dream of, as there is no limit of newly cloned donor hair. Even better, as you get the hair density just right, with one procedure and you know it will look natural or better.
Fighting hair loss is a common scuffle that many people are facing. Hair transplant are also known as hair multiplication which is a procedure in which a personís own hair and follicle is removed from the scalp and cultured in a lab where the end result is the production of additional hairs. Moreover, there has yet to be an atmosphere created in a lab that is established to produce the exact results needed to make the hair cloning procedure successful. Once hair cloning has been achieved, these new hairs will be inserted into the scalp by way of a surgical procedure. Most of the people want their natural growing hair back, but do not prefer to go through surgery so in order to restore their hair the demand for hair multiplication aroused.
Other article from Beauty
Seize the Day to Make Your Life Extraordinary
As a popular saying goes, "Time is money. "In fact, time is more precious than money. When money is spent, you can earn it back if you want to. However, when time is gone, it will never come back. As the pace of modern life continues to accelerate ,the time ...
New Jersey well known for Ulthera, Botox and Laser Hair Removal Treatments
Ulthera is a kind of process in which first they check your skin type, find the problems with your skin, find the main reasons and the causes for the problems and then they treat your skin to get it relieved from the various skin problems.
In this ...
What Hair Straighteners are Best to Buy
Straighteners or stylers are considered the easiest method to achieve smooth, glossy straight hair. They can get very hot so it's extremely important to utilize them properly and not an excessive amount as they can cause damage to your hair. Below is a rough ...
Gift Vouchers Online To Enjoy Hens Parties
The hens party, generally termed as a bachelorette party, is among the biggest occasions in a girl's life. This celebration is organised for a lady who's going to get wedded and it is known in order to say good bye to the single status and get ready for a ...
Are brand name cosmetics really better than generic discount cosmetics?
Many people believe that brand name products offer better quality then generic products because they cost more. We assume that the high price of a product has something to do with the quality of the ingredients contained in the product. However the truth is ...
|
<urn:uuid:c71d0f50-d1cb-4928-969d-bb5e5b1d7d88>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.zuarticles.com/article-details/ak-clinic-have-a-nice-facilities-for-hair-transplant-result.html
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.969644
| 1,056
| 1.890625
| 2
|
Apr 05, 2013
The Free market is the best system to allocate resources, because it uses tens of thousands of minds, each evaluating the value of the use of their money. ... If the Government demanded that living on beach front property was a right, they would still need a way to ration that resource. Does not matter how they ration it, by lottery, or Cronyism, there would be too many people pursuing too few goods. Price is what our current system uses to ration that resource... I encourage you to read "Basic Economics: A Common Sense Guide to the Economy" by Thomas Sowell...
It is very readable, with very few tables, equations and graphs. . .
|
<urn:uuid:46b586c6-03a6-461a-a2aa-299e5cc51340>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://utahgasprices.com/Profile.aspx?member=jimgraham
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.961875
| 140
| 1.90625
| 2
|
During Nebula reading I ran across several stories that explored the Many Worlds Interpretation of Quantum Theory.
The Many Worlds Interpretation addresses the idea that our universe is merely one of infinitely many possible universes, and that for everything that happens in our universe, there exists a universe somewhere in which something different happened. It's a fairly common theme in science fiction right now, possibly because the theory is new and shiny and begs to be played with.
I'm all for playing with new, shiny things. But so far, Many Worlds stories leave me with a vague dissatisfaction. This is not because the stories are badly executed -- they aren't! -- but because I simply can't get my brain to accept the validity of the interpretation.
If, for every me that got cancer, there is also a me who didn't...
And if for every me who is happily married to my husband there is also a me who divorced him...
And if for every choice I make, there exists a me who made the opposite choice...
Then not only is free will an illusion, but it is also irrelvent. The Many Worlds Interpretation, as frequently utilized in fiction, implies that agency means nothing, and that ludicrous worlds exist in which ludicrous combinations of decisions pile on top of each other. By that logic, there must exist, somewhere, a universe in which I spent my morning eating a flavor of ice cream I despise while standing on my head in the center of the living room. In some other universe, I am contemplating suicide. In some other universe, I am a murderer.
My brain recoils at this idea. In a very real sense, my identity is nothing more than the sum of my decisions. To claim that I have never really made any decisions, that all apparent decisions were really just an effect of the eternally branching nature of existence, is to claim that I have no identity.
But it gets worse. If we postulate that the Many Worlds Interpretation is correct, then I cannot take joy in anything good that happens me. How can I take pleasure in prosperity when hundreds of thousands of other me's languish in poverty? Conversely, if I have just been beaten and robbed, I am not at all consoled by the knowledge that an infinite number of me's have been spared this atrocity.
The Many Worlds Interpretation robs me of all joy when life goes well and does not ease my pain when life is hard. It denies agency and steals my identity.
And that is why I do not like it.
|
<urn:uuid:117f921f-ca0a-4905-84cc-a658f7e82e6e>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://nancyfulda.livejournal.com/338863.html?thread=1405359
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00024-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.959067
| 517
| 1.523438
| 2
|
THE MARINE & ESTUARINE ECOLOGY LAB AT SERC studies interactions among species and the ways that individual animals, communities and ecosystems respond to changes in the environment.
We are particularly interested in how responses of individual organisms and variation among species shape the patterns we see over large spatial scales and in complex biological assemblages. Our research addresses issues that are both theoretical in nature and have more immediate practical applications. Most or our studies center on Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries.
We work with a wide range of organisms, from fish to jellyfish. Topics of current interest in our lab include the effects of low dissolved oxygen on interactions and distributions of Chesapeake Bay organisms, potential effects of oyster decline and restoration on the Chesapeake Bay food web, how multiple stressors related to human activities influence coastal systems, how the complexity of food webs influences responses of coastal systems to stress, how links among regions of the estuarine landscape influence gelatinous zooplankton population dynamics, and how to improve oyster restoration.
|
<urn:uuid:97e355b1-ba1e-44e7-9e8f-f88496d9788b>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://serc.si.edu/labs/estuarine_ecology/index.aspx
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00024-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.900218
| 211
| 2.34375
| 2
|
Canada and the Canadian job market provide many opportunities to foreign nationals eager to come to Canada to live and work.Canada has a thriving and vibrant economy with plenty of room for growth and many opportunities for residents. At this time, employment opportunities are abundant as many cities and provinces in Canada have labour shortages in important sectors and industries. Canadian employers are eager to hire qualified and responsible workers.
In particular, those with training in the healthcare industry, IT, and engineering are highly sought after. Canadian employers are also in need of tradespeople with skills such as carpentry, electrical expertise, and plumbing. Workers from abroad (whether temporary or permanent) in these high-demand occupations have been helping Canadian employers staff their growing businesses. Employment opportunities are out there, but it is up to the applicant to search and apply for jobs.
Obtaining a job offer from a Canadian employer can fast-track the process of coming to Canada on a permanent or temporary basis. Either way, you must have legal status to work in Canada.
For those applying for Permanent Residency through the Skilled Worker Program, a permanent full-time job offer from a Canadian employer can reduce application processing times. Once you have Permanent Residency, you have the legal right to work in Canada and your dependants have the right to work and/or attend school.
For those interested in temporary employment in Canada, once you obtain a genuine job offer, you can apply for a Temporary Work Permit. This is often a quicker process and can improve your candidacy for Permanent Residency should you choose to apply at a later time.
Canada is in need of workers to come to Canada and participate in our society and economy. It can only benefit future immigrants to search for and apply for employment opportunities in Canada.
|
<urn:uuid:7adec104-d772-46f9-a34f-8949c9a8f9bd>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.canadavisa.com/employment-and-opportunities-in-canada.html
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00041-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.965279
| 356
| 1.953125
| 2
|
Pesticide Action Network Updates Service (PANUPS)
A Weekly News Update on Pesticides, Health and Alternatives
See PANUPS archive for complete information.
Dear PANUPS Subscriber,join PAN and receive the magazine. We'll return to our normal PANUPS reporting format next week. In the meanwhile, the links and leads below spotlight a few stories from the current magazine issue so you can see for yourself.
This issue celebrates spring’s approach with the theme Renewal, Hope and Hard Work. The thrilling transition in Washington signals that business as usual may be changing. It will take our hard work, but the opportunity is there to promote healthier food, social equity and environmental regeneration with sustainable investments and policies. Fundamental to this change must be a loosening of the grip that Monsanto and other multinationals have on food policy and practice.
The architects and builders of fair, healthy and green farming and food are right now at work in fields, orchards, forests and markets across North America and around the world. When you join PAN, you support their work and their harvest.
-- Kathryn Gilje, Executive Director
- Agriculture at the crossroads
- The rise of the domestic fair trade movement
- Sweet organic and visionary
- Spring 2009 table of contents
- Breaking news this week
The United States has spent decades building a chemical-intensive food infrastructure geared toward industrial production on a corporate model. That infrastructure, and the agrochemical industry it feeds, could be reshaped in fundamental ways if the food movement continues to broaden its base while maintaining an explicitly political edge and focus.
Early signals from the incoming administration indicate that the core issue on which food and agriculture activists must focus these next few years is corporate control of the food system. Tom Vilsack’s nomination to Secretary of Agriculture sent ripples through the food movement around two points that have enormous consequences for the future of who owns agriculture — Vilsack’s ties to agricultural biotechnology and his support for agrofuels. Agricultural biotech and agrofuels are also two arenas in which the corporate control of our global food system by giants like Monsanto is gathering speed. U.S. Department of Agriculture subsidies and government procurement contracts are the largest market levers currently incentivizing these agribusiness industry sectors. Policies and programs in the USDA could, if wisely revised and redirected, restructure our food system into one that supports green jobs, replenishes the environment, slows climate change and sustains rural livelihoods the world over. Change on the scale before us moves simultaneously though social movements, policy frameworks, farming practices, paradigms of science, and broad shifts in individual habits of consumption. An international coalition as broadly based as the food movement must remain active on many levels and in many different venues—from school cafeterias, city councils, boardrooms and family farms to the UN, USDA and Congress. Our voices arise from diverse life experiences and touch on an array of issues but they are united by the fundamental question: “Who will produce our food, how, and for whose benefit?” Full Article »
More in Renewal: Hope and Hard Work
- The Politics of Food
- The Food Gap: Ending Hunger & Income Disparity
- PAN's Agenda for a New U.S. Administration
- Slow Money: Feeding the Soil of the Economy
In the past 40 years, nearly four million small farmers have gone out of business in North America while big agribusiness firms have continued to thrive. Since 1995, under the North America Free Trade Agreement, there has been a 40% decrease in commodity prices paid to farmers while U.S. consumers have seen food costs soar 22%. Against this background, more than 70 activists representing 41 organizations—farmers, farmworkers, traders, processors, retailers and fair-food advocates--gathered for the second annual meeting of the Domestic Fair Trade Association (DFTA) on December 7–8, 2008, at the Organic Valley Dairy in La Farge, Wisconsin. Fair Trade was born in response to the failed promises of “Free Trade,” which has left millions of small farmers in poor countries unable to reach international markets. Under Fair Trade, these farmers can now sell their products (such as coffee and cocoa) at better prices in the affluent markets of industrialized nations. Domestic Fair Trade incorporates principles that promote healthy, chemical-free foods that meet social justice standards. Full Article »
When shoppers pay $3 for a pint of Swanton’s uniquely delicious strawberries, they are supporting “one of the most progressive farm operations in California,” according to the San Francisco Chronicle. In 1987, Swanton’s, a member of the National Family Farm Coalition, became the state’s first strawberry farm to be certified organic, which meant halting the use of methyl bromide--more than a decade before the soil fumigant was listed for phaseout under the Montreal Protocol. Without methyl bromide, neighboring farmers warned, Swanton’s crops wouldn’t last two seasons. Cochran proved them wrong, and EPA acknowledged this success by awarding Cochran its 2002 Stratospheric Ozone Protection Award for “pioneering” work raising strawberries “without relying on the soil fumigant methyl bromide.” Thanks in part to Cochran’s example, organic farming now accounts for 4.6% of the state’s strawberry crop. In 1998, Swanton’s became the first organic farm to sign a union contract securing workers’ wages and benefits. Full Article »
More in Solutions
Renewal: Hope & Hard Work
Stories from the PAN Network
We will return to our traditional PANUPS format next week. Meanwhile, we haven't stopped tracking the news. Below are straight-to-the-source links for three breaking news items that we plan to cover in more detail in next week's PANUPS.
- Lindane's last stand: In a letter to Secretary of State Clinton and Acting Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration Sharfstein, a coalition of groups urged support at the May Stockhom Convention meeting for listing lindane without exemption for children's lotions and shampoos. Source: PANNA
- McDonald's to take steps to cut potato pesticides: McDonald's Corp, the largest purchaser of potatoes in the United States, has agreed to take preliminary steps to reduce pesticide use in its domestic potato supply, shareholder groups said on Tuesday. Source: Reuters
- Pesticides linked to birth defects in United States: A study published in the April 2009 issue of the medical journal Acta Pædiatrica is the first to report that birth defect rates in the United States were highest for women conceiving in the spring and summer, which correlated with increased levels of pesticides in surface water. Source: Science Daily
|
<urn:uuid:349dadb3-5dc8-41c7-b330-8e43a307fa25>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.panna.org/print/553
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00052-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.933251
| 1,418
| 1.6875
| 2
|
For about a decade, doctors have recognized that certain medications can actually lower a woman's risk of developing breast cancer. These drugs all work by blocking the effects of the female hormone estrogen, which appears to stimulate the growth of breast cancer cells.
The drug tamoxifen was first used to treat women with breast cancer. Researchers found that tamoxifen could prevent breast cancer from coming back after surgery was performed. However, the researchers also noted that tamoxifen reduced the chance that a second cancer would develop in the unaffected breast.
Further studies have shown that women at high risk who take tamoxifen for five years can reduce the risk of breast cancer by as much as 40 percent. Tamoxifen is approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the primary prevention of breast cancer in high-risk women. This includes pre-menopausal and post-menopausal women.
Unfortunately, tamoxifen also has serious side effects, including an increased risk of life-threatening blood clots and cancer of the uterus. For this reason, most doctors recommend that only women who are at high risk of breast cancer take tamoxifen for its preventive benefits. Furthermore, the serious side effects of tamoxifen appear more common in older women than in younger women.
Raloxifene (Evista) is chemically related to tamoxifen. Both are in a class of drugs known as selective estrogen receptor modulators, or SERMs. Raloxifene was originally developed for the prevention and treatment of osteoporosis, but, like tamoxifen, it lowers the risk of breast cancer. Raloxifene is approved by the FDA for the primary prevention of breast cancer in high-risk women. However, it is only approved for use in post-menopausal women. Raloxifene also increases the risk of blood clots but not as much as tamoxifen. In addition, the risk of cancer of the uterus is much lower with raloxifene compared to tamoxifen.
Anastrozole (Arimidex) And Related Drugs
Anastrozole (Arimidex) and the related drugs exemestane (Aromasin) and letrozole (Femara) are in a class of drugs known as aromatase inhibitors. They were originally developed to treat breast cancer that had spread through the body, but preliminary studies suggest that they also can lower a woman's risk of developing breast cancer. Aromatase inhibitors may cause osteoporosis as well as bothersome side effects such as hot flashes, but they do not appear to trigger blood clots or uterine cancer. Studies are under way to see if these drugs are more or less effective than tamoxifen at preventing breast cancer in women at high risk.
Women who are concerned about their risk of developing breast cancer particularly if they have a strong family history of breast cancer or have had abnormal cells seen on previous breast biopsies should speak with their doctors about taking one of these preventive drugs.
|
<urn:uuid:8d2f2b31-3d66-4451-9e8d-de6d63d58cb4>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.intelihealth.com/IH/ihtIH/WSRNM000/8293/29472/371546.html?d=dmtContent
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00071-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.971089
| 639
| 2.984375
| 3
|
Terms such as Freeware, Free software, Open source, Shareware, Trialware, Adware, Nagware, etc are often used to define programs. Does one really know the difference between freeware and free software – although both are used interchangeably? I guess most computer users don’t! So, in this post we will try to clarify subtle issues related to these terms, and explain the other “ware” terms.
Freeware is software that is distributed without demanding a fee for its usage. These programs are available either as fully functional software for an unlimited period.
Ownership of any freeware is retained by its developer. The developer can change future releases from freeware to a paid product (freeware) if he wishes so. Also, a freeware is typically distributed without its source code. This is done to prevent any sort of modification by its users. Plus, the license with which a free program is distributed may permit the software to be freely copied but not sold. In some cases, one may not be allowed to even distribute the software.
Some software are offered as freeware – but with very limited features – or with the major feature missing. These are refered to as Crippleware. The ones that provides fully functional version has all the functions enabled and is mostly available either as a commercial program or as a shareware. In most cases, the free programs promote a commercial offering.
Sometimes, freeware is distributed to users with a regular reminder or request to make a donation to the author or to some third-party such as a charity. In such cases, freeware is referred as a Donationware.
Many computer users aren’t fully aware of this somewhat new and unrelated concept. Well, free software is software that gives a user freedom to run, copy, distribute, study, change and improve software. To be precise, free software is a matter of liberty, not price!
It essentially means a user can freely use, modify, and distribute a program stipulated to one condition: any redistributed version of the software must be distributed with the original terms of free use, modification, and distribution (known as copyleft). And unlike freeware, free software may be distributed for a fee.
Please note, to modify a program you need to access its source code which free software offers whereas a freeware does not. Also, free software gives freedom to redistribute copies however to do this, a user must include binary or executable forms of the program, as well as source code, for both modified and unmodified versions.
It is particularly noteworthy to mention here that sometimes government export control regulations and trade sanctions too limit the freedom to distribute copies of programs internationally. In such cases, refuse and do not obey to any export regulations as a condition of any of the essential freedoms since software developers do not have the power to override these restrictions. You can more details at the FSF.org website.
The term ‘Open Source’ is very close to ‘free software’ but not identical to it. We say this because, the source code of an open-source software is readily available to users 2 but under a copyright, and one is freely allowed to re-distribute the software.
The concept of open-source program relies on the fact that a user can review a source-code for eliminating possible bugs in it. This is something that we do not observe in commercially developed and packaged programs. Programmers on the internet read and modify the source-code by eliminating the possible bugs. Thus, in this way programmers helps in providing more useful and bug-free product for everyone to use. More details can be had at OpenSource.org.
Shareware is demonstration software that is distributed for free but for a specific evaluation period only, say, 15-30 days (Trialware). After the evaluation period the program gets expired and a user can no longer access the program. Only if you are interested in using the program further, the shareware provider may require you purchase a license for the software.
So, basically it is distributed on trial basis and with an understanding that sometime later a user may be interested in paying for it. Also, some shareware are offered as ‘Liteware’. In these programs i.e. ‘Liteware’ certain capabilities are disabled. One can access complete functions only after buying or upgrading to the complete version of the program. Thus, shareware software are used for marketing purposes.
Adware, better known as advertising software is software that automatically renders advertisements. Most of these advertisements appear in the form of annoying pop-ups. However, one can disable the ads by purchasing a registration key. It can even change your home page, default search or install a tool bar. Like freeware, Adware too is available for computer users at no cost.
Spyware goes a few steps further and surreptitiously installs another software on your computer. The spyware may contain a code that sends information about the user’s computer to the developer or to some other location whenever the user is connected to the Internet. This is done in order to display advertisements in the Web browser.
This is a program that routinely issues a reminder to a user to purchase an application or by a product before its trial period gets expired. The term derives its name from the idea that reminders, commonly referred as ‘NAGS’ keep on appearing on a user’s computer screen until he activates the desired application or quits it forcefully. While you would be able to use the program, it will continuously nag you to buy its full version or upgrade. In short, ff any program nags you constantly to upgrade to its full paid version or to donate, it is refered to as Nagware.
Typically referred as ‘Malicious Software’, Malware is any program with malafide intentions and which exploits data of a computer without its user’s consent. Once on a computer hard drive, it can hijack your browser and track the websites you visit – and cause even worse damage.
In addition to this, it can hide itself deep within Windows and even reinstall itself after being removed completely, making it the most difficult program to be removed or cleaned. Virus, Trojans, etc may all be considered as malware.
Malware that is designed to trick users into downloading and buying non-functional or a dangerous software is refered to as Scareware or Rogue Software. How does it do this? Simple, it alarms scares a user by making him falsely believe that his computer is infected by potentially harmful viruses.
Once downloaded and installed, the program displays false virus alerts and instructs him to buy the ‘full version’ to remove the infections (fictional). Ultimately, a user buys the software and wastes his hard-earned money. In short, Malware that preys on a user’s fear is called Scareware.
When the development of a software is abandoned by the Author and for whom no support is available, it is referred to as Abandoware. Abandonware could also include software whose copyright is unclear or in dispute.
Adds Jsg in the comments section: No support, updates etc offered. Purchases no longer have any bearing and, in may cases, registration codes are openly available on the Internet. The legality of using a registration code available on the Internet for abandonware is questionable, but generally requires the author to become active to do anything about it.
Have I missed any “-ware” term? Have you any comment to make on the definations? Or maybe some defination needs to be refined. Please do share in the comments section.
|
<urn:uuid:4a68379d-96e1-43a9-a85c-ac7412636f9f>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.thewindowsclub.com/difference-freeware-free-software-open-source
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00049-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.945292
| 1,585
| 2.8125
| 3
|
Musick and Poëtree Tour 2012
OMNIA is a PAGANFOLK band based around the varied works and compositions of the singer-songwriter / Shaman couple Steve "Sic" Evans van der Harten (Nijmegen 1967-) and his wife Jennifer "Jenny" Evans van der Harten (Mijdrecht 1980-), also known as Stenny. OMNIA plays a very unique form of religious Pagan, Celtic and World music in which Nature, the Living Planet and personal freedom of expression are the main themes. The rather unusual hand-built acoustic instruments played by Stenny and OMNIA have been heard on countless Mittelalter, Celtic, Gothic, World and Fantasy festivals throughout Europe, as well as during performances of special shows in theatres and clubs in Holland and Germany. OMNIA is a self-made, self-managed band with a definite message of anti-commercialism and warning concerning the destruction of the natural environment by the human race. This message is brought to their audience by means of the music pieces themselves as well as the many texts, poems and speeches in between songs, which take on the semblance of "preaching", by frontman and self proclaimed "pope of Paganism" Steve Sic. All the works written by this artists couple expresses a deep love for nature, personal liberty, their Bohemian lifestyle and freedom of thought. Their live performances are (aside from their music) known for satirical humour, visual richness and a very singular Anarchist approach to ancient European religion and musical tradition (including a yearly mass ritual with thousands of spectators involving sacrifice by fire in a wickerman). Despite the fact that they are a purely indie-underground band, unconnected to any of the standard record labels and the music industry, OMNIA has managed to win the respect of their peers and to capture the hearts and minds of audiences of all ages and musical preferences worldwide, inspiring many people to greater creativity and a deeper understanding of nature and of themselves. Unlike most modern bands, OMNIA is not merely a music project to make money (Stenny is 100% non-commercial), to them it is a way of life and all their compositions express this lifestyle which becomes evident when you see and hear them play. They are best known for their Pagan battle chant epic "the Morrigan", mind-exploring duets such as "Toys in the Attic" and the way they have put to music various literary classics of Lewis Carroll, Shakespeare and Edgar Allan Poe (such as the definitive musical version of "the Raven"). Their world view is best expressed in the songs "I don't speak Human" and "Free".
|
<urn:uuid:db906df2-d346-4e25-8f78-c72507bff4e9>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.essig-fabrik.de/index.php?view=details&id=422%3Aomnia&pop=1&tmpl=component&option=com_eventlist&Itemid=7
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00049-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.962368
| 546
| 1.507813
| 2
|
People & Places: China Elementary School
Flash Player Upgrade Required.
You must download and install the latest version of Adobe Flash Player to view this content. Click here to download.
Coming up next in 10 seconds
China Elementary School
Explore traveled to the rural village of Anwu, China, and were impressed with what they found. Explore.org co-founder Charles Annenberg Weingarten met students who already know a second language and have their sights set on future careers before even graduating elementary school.
|
<urn:uuid:ede3cfe5-fe07-4f20-a102-6ba09f771d42>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/kids/people-places-kids/china-anwu-school-eorg-kids/
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00029-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.939798
| 102
| 1.648438
| 2
|
Just a couple of questions: We have a large Meyer lemon tree in our backyard that has been very productive over the past few years. But this year, a lot of the fruit have rather large unsightly knots on the surfaces. What causes this and is there anything that we can do for it?
The condition you are describing is most likely a fungus infection called citrus scab, common in high rainfall areas.
The disease is often described as light brown, raised, warty scabs appearing on young stems, leaves and fruit. Spores are produced within these scabs and will spread to other tissues by the splashing rain or irrigation water. Citrus scab can reduce yield and the quality of the fruit. For home production, however, the fruit will still be sweet and juicy. In worse case scenarios, a copper fungicide may be applied. Highly susceptible citrus include Fremont, Clementine, Murcott and Frost Satsuma mandarins; Orland Tangelo; Tahitian lime and Rangpur lime. Immune citrus are as follows: sweet orange, navel orange, pummelo and grapefruit. See www.gardenguyhawaii.com for the complete article on citrus scab.
I don’t think your column on the African snail mentioned anything about killing them with salt. Can that be used as well? Mahalo, Teri
I neglected to mention salt, because slugs and snails are not fast-moving and can easily be scooped up and discarded, that is, if you’re not using baits. Now if you don’t want to handle them, then apply salt or other home remedies. Salt kills slugs and snails by dehydration. It is obviously easier to kill slugs than snails since the slugs have no protective housing. The one disadvantage to salt (sodium chloride) is that sodium is not good for the soil. Yet in small amounts and with ample rain, it should not be a problem.
Another home remedy is to spray these pests with a 4:1 solution of household ammonia. This works well and will break down into available nitrogen for the plants.
FYI: Here in Puna, the main issue with asparagus is maintaining a high pH while also fertilizing. They like lots of nitrogen which lowers the pH. I have had good luck with a foliar spray of potassium nitrate in roughly a 2 percent solution. Almost monthly applications of Dolomite helps. Mulching is very important to keep the plants happy and the weeds down. Aloha, Carol
The ideal pH range for asparagus is between 6.7 and 7.5. They do not grow well at a pH much less than 6. For this reason, adding lime before planting is recommended. The additional applications of lime, once the plants are in the ground, are also beneficial. Your point of fertilizing with a material which would maintain a higher pH (closer to 7 than to 5) is a good one.
Most nitrogen fertilizers are acid forming, meaning that, over time they will lower the soil pH, or at least, help maintain a low soil pH. Consequently, it would be wise to apply a fertilizer which will help raise the pH of the soil, thus help make it more alkaline. Soil applied potassium nitrate is a good fertilizer for this purpose. Calcium nitrate and sodium nitrate fertilizers are also good for raising the soils pH. In contrast, ammonium and urea fertilizers lower soil pH, making it more acidic. Triple 16 is made with ammonium and urea and is, therefore, acid forming.
Master Gardener Classes
The University of Hawaii Master Gardener Program will start a new 2013 class in February.
The Master Gardener Program trains individuals in science based gardening. Upon completion of the program, trainees volunteer to work on community projects and to help home gardeners with their gardening questions.
Classes will be held in Hilo from 9 a.m.-12 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays, Feb. 26-April 11. There is a class fee of $105. Application deadline is Dec. 15.
Contact Andrew Kawabata at 969-8251 or email him firstname.lastname@example.org.
Hilo resident Nick Sakovich is a professor emeritus of the University of California. He has worked in the field of agriculture for 30 years. Email your questions to Sakovich at email@example.com.
|
<urn:uuid:d619300f-9876-4c80-8d40-a379776c3396>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://hawaiitribune-herald.com/sections/news/features/bumpy-lemons.html
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00048-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.946346
| 935
| 2.859375
| 3
|
Not all of the narrow line, type 2 Seyfert galaxies are associated to absorption along our line of sight. A fraction of the Seyfert galaxies have shown a strong decrease of their X-ray flux, on time scales of several years, that is not associated to an increased absorption but to an intrinsic drop of their activity (eg. Bassani et al. 1999b). One of the best studied cases is NGC2992 (Weaver et al. 1996). The fraction of these ``fossil'' AGNs is about 10% (Maiolino et al. in prep.). However, this is actually a lower limit to their real fraction since the identification of this class of objects requires X-ray observations at different epochs and, in particular, the source had to be in a high, bright state during the observations performed by the early, low sensitivity missions. These conditions are met only for a limited number of Seyferts. Obviously, the conservation of the number of active nuclei requires fossil AGNs to revive after a certain period, as it is actually observed (eg. Gilli et al. 2000a).
Shortly after that an AGN turns off, the BLR fades and the nucleus appears as a type 2 Seyfert whose X-ray emission is dominated by the cold reflection component due to the circumnuclear torus (Guainazzi et al. 1998). Although the AGN appears as a Compton thick Sy2, these features are not due to obscuration. About 10 years later also the echo from the torus should fade. If the nucleus remains in a quiescent state for an even longer period then also the gas in NLR clouds can recombine. Yet, the high ionization regions of the clouds should recombine much faster and, therefore, the observed narrow line spectrum should be characterized by low ionization lines similar to LINERs (Eracleous et al. 1995). In this phase the X-ray emission should be dominated by the non-variable warm reflection component with, possibly a highly ionized Fe line at 6.7-7 keV, as indeed observed in several LINERs. Some of the LINER nuclei might actually be fossil AGNs.
|
<urn:uuid:37fef84c-44b0-40cc-a51b-2d735f683164>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://ned.ipac.caltech.edu/level5/Maiolino/Maio6.html
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.94473
| 458
| 2.453125
| 2
|
Feature - The forecast before the storm
How supercomputers and hybrid workflows helped beat tornadoes to the chase
Chasing tornadoes won’t get you very far, if your goal is to understand how tornadoes form. To get results, researchers need to get their instruments on the ground before the tornado touches down.
That’s the big catch 22 of VORTEX2 (Verification of the Origins of Rotation in Tornadoes Experiment), according to principal investigator Joshua Wurman. Current techniques predict tornadoes an average of only 13 minutes in advance, a fact that makes it difficult to evacuate or properly prepare for the impending disaster. To improve that lead time, or learn how to predict how destructive a tornado will be, scientists need data recorded as the tornadoes form.
“In order for us to collect good data we had to surround a supercell perhaps 40 or 50 minutes before the tornado,” Wurman explained. Yet, he added, “if we knew exactly when to surround the storm, one of the big motivations of VORTEX2 wouldn’t be there.”
The solution? For 35 days in 2009 and 45 in 2010, 110 researchers took to the field in search of tornadoes.
Their day typically began before 8 a.m., when the forecasters would consult their favorite weather models to decide where they were most likely to find a supercell, the storms which sometimes result in tornado formation.
At 11 a.m. they would leave their hotels for a day of fieldwork, driving en masse towards the most likely tornado site. After a long day of pursuing leads, they would head to a new hotel - selected based on availability and proximity to tomorrow’s likely storm locations - battening down for the night at 10 or 11 p.m.
“A lot of storms we followed didn’t make tornadoes, or made tornadoes before we got there,” Wurman said. Nonetheless, over the course of the two tornado seasons, the VORTEX2 team did succeed at getting data on about 25 tornadoes and 44 supercells.
The nomadic VORTEX2 effort is in stark contrast to more traditional tornado studies, where much smaller teams would make forays into the field from a single home base, bringing to bear far fewer scientific instruments.
Forecasting the distributed computing way
The forecasters used a variety of forecasts generated on high performance computing systems to facilitate their assessments of the weather. Most are well-established models generated regularly by agencies such as the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) or the U.S. National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR).
One relative newcomer to the list of models, the Center for Analysis and Prediction of Storms real-time analysis and forecast, was delivered courtesy of a hybrid computing project called Linked Environments for Atmospheric Discover II.
Every morning at 6 a.m., LEAD II would access the Big Red cluster at Indiana University to execute six one-hour CAPS forecasts using the latest weather data. Each succeeding forecast would cover a shorter time window, generating increasingly accurate forecasts. Forecasters in the field could access the resulting visualizations and data on their mobile phones, or a standard internet browser, by visiting the LEAD portal.
“The cellphone was useful because once you left the hotel you had very tenuous connections to live data,” explained Keith Brewster, one of three principle investigators in charge of LEAD II. “With the cellphone link I could look at weather data, including the latest LEAD model run.”
Brewster roved tornado country with the VORTEX2 team during the first two weeks of the 2010 season, serving as part of the forecasting team. During that time, he used the LEAD II system on a regular basis. For the remainder of the season, he regularly sent thunderstorm forecasts based on LEAD II and other models to the forecasters in the field.
LEADing the way for hybrid workflows
Although LEAD II was just a small part of the enormous effort involved in VORTEX2, from a computer science point of view, the project was particularly unusual.
“It’s the first time we demonstrated the hybrid workflow model of computing,” said Beth Plale, one of the LEAD II co-PIs.
The workflow they created used Microsoft’s Trident Scientific Worfklow workbench as the front-end workflow system, delegating pieces of the workflow to back-end Unix- and Linux-based resources such as Big Red.
“A lot of scientists use Windows tools such as Excel,” Plale explained. “We think that utilizing a Windows workflow system on a Windows box is a step towards providing broader flexibility, because of this affinity of a lot of scientists to use Excel and because of the emergence of the cloud-based Azure platform.”
Plale’s research team at the Data to Insight Center of the Pervasive Technology Institute at Indiana University had to tweak a number of different applications to get Trident to talk to Big Red. Trident would pass data to a program called XBaya, a workflow composer web service developed in-house.
Next, the workflow moved from XBaya to the Apache Orchestration Director Engine (ODE), which executed it on Big Red. Once completed, control transferred to a Windows HPC Server machine that carried out post-forecast processing and generated 2D visualizations. LEAD II also developed a new 2D visualization of helicity, which captures circular motion within the atmosphere.
It was the hybrid nature of the workflow that made the project an interesting exercise, Plale explained. “It’s a model of computing that makes workflow systems more flexible.”
As the LEAD II team generated forecasts, it automatically collected metadata and tracked the data’s provenance, carefully documenting it for future reference and study.
“We are using this curated data collection now as an example for our university’s effort to archive curated scientific data,” Plale said. Examples of effective data curation through automated metadata collection are necessary if researchers are to meet the National Science Foundation’s mandate, which dictates that beginning this fall all proposals must include a data management plan.
From data to improved forecasts, and beyond
In the aftermath of VORTEX2, there remains a great deal of work to be done. At the moment, research groups that participated in VORTEX2 have returned to their home institutions to analyze the data their scientific instruments recorded. Although a few papers are already on track towards publication, according to Wurman, some of the most interesting papers that will integrate large swathes of the VORTEX2 data, probably won’t see the light of publication until 2014 or 2015.
In the meantime, some scientists are using the data to test theoretical computer models of tornado formation.
“We are assimilating VORTEX2 observations into the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model,” said Yvette Richardson, a scientist based at Pennsylvania State University.
Most of the data assimilation experiments conducted by Richardson’s research group make use of the NCAR supercomputer, although analysis of the results and some of the simpler simulations are performed using local desktops or clusters. The conclusions they reach could ultimately lead to improved forecasts.
“We will have to wait and see,” Richardson said. “To the extent that forecasters base their impressions of likely scenarios on high resolution models, the improvement of those models in terms of developing the correct types of storms and better representing the interactions of those storms with the environment and with other storms should lead to improved forecasts.”
“I anticipate there will be a potential lull in field programs over the next couple of years,” Wurman said. “We’ll probably be focusing on supporting analysis efforts on these terabytes of data we’ve gathered.”
The first VORTEX project concluded in 1995. And despite the fact that the VORTEX2 data will likely be exhausted in the next five or so years, it could very well be more than a decade before people start to entertain the notion of doing VORTEX3.
“You don’t want to repeat an experiment you just did,” Wurman explained. In order to make VORTEX2 worthwhile, the mobile radar observing systems pioneered by Wurman at the tail-end of VORTEX1 had to mature. A similar leap forward in technology would probably be necessary before anyone would consider organizing VORTEX3.
“We have all these things that can measure these conditions on the ground, but if we want to know these things above the ground, the only thing we’ve been able to come up with is unmanned aircraft,” Wurman said. “There were a couple of test deployments of these systems at the end of VORTEX2... I think the technology holds great promise.”
Or for a more light-hearted VORTEX2 fix, check out The Weather Channel’s series of short segments, in which they followed VORTEX2 throughout both tornado seasons.
—Miriam Boon, iSGTW
|
<urn:uuid:1a40d91d-06ec-4f21-a62f-612a86dd11e4>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.isgtw.org/feature/feature-forecast-storm
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00060-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.937586
| 1,932
| 3.953125
| 4
|
The Royal Spanish Academy
is the official royal institution responsible for regulating the Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
. It is based in Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
, Spain, but is affiliated with national language academies in twenty-one other hispanophone
Hispanophone or Hispanosphere denotes Spanish language speakers and the Spanish-speaking world. The word derives from the Latin political name of the Iberian Peninsula, Hispania, which comprised basically the territory of the modern states of Spain and Portugal.Hispanophones are estimated at...
(Spanish-speaking) nations through the Association of Spanish Language Academies
The Association of Spanish Language Academies is the entity which regulates the Spanish language. It was created in Mexico in 1951 and represents the union of all the separate academies in the Spanish-speaking world....
. The RAE's emblem is a fiery crucible, and its motto
A motto is a phrase meant to formally summarize the general motivation or intention of a social group or organization. A motto may be in any language, but Latin is the most used. The local language is usual in the mottoes of governments...
is "" ("[It] cleans, sets, and casts splendour").
The RAE is a major publisher of dictionaries
A dictionary is a collection of words in one or more specific languages, often listed alphabetically, with usage information, definitions, etymologies, phonetics, pronunciations, and other information; or a book of words in one language with their equivalents in another, also known as a lexicon...
In linguistics, grammar is the set of structural rules that govern the composition of clauses, phrases, and words in any given natural language. The term refers also to the study of such rules, and this field includes morphology, syntax, and phonology, often complemented by phonetics, semantics,...
s, and has a formal procedure for admitting words to its publications. Its website includes an online dictionary and other resources, all in Spanish. Its most famous publication is the
(Dictionary of the Spanish Language of the Royal Spanish Academy), the "DRAE".
The was founded in 1713, modelled after the Italian (1582) and the French (1635), with the purpose "to fix the voices and vocabularies of the Castilian language with propriety, elegance, and purity". King Philip V
Philip V was King of Spain from 15 November 1700 to 15 January 1724, when he abdicated in favor of his son Louis, and from 6 September 1724, when he assumed the throne again upon his son's death, to his death.Before his reign, Philip occupied an exalted place in the royal family of France as a...
approved its constitution on 3 October 1714, placing it under the Crown's protection.
Its aristocratic founder, , Marquis of Villena
Villena is a city in Spain, in the Valencian Community. It is located at the northwest part of Alicante, and borders to the west with Castilla-La Mancha and Murcia, to the north with the province of Valencia and to the east and south with the province of Alicante. It is the capital of the comarca...
and Duke of Escalona
Escalona is a municipality located in the north part of the province of Toledo, which in turn is part of the autonomous community of Castile-La Mancha, Spain...
, described its aims as "to assure that Spanish speakers will always be able to read Cervantes
-People:*Alfonso J. Cervantes , mayor of St. Louis, Missouri*Francisco Cervantes de Salazar, 16th-century man of letters*Ignacio Cervantes, Cuban composer*Jorge Cervantes, a world-renowned expert on indoor, outdoor, and greenhouse cannabis cultivation...
" – by exercising a progressive up-to-date maintenance of the formal language.
The RAE began establishing rules for the orthography of Spanish beginning in 1741 with the first edition of the
from the second edition onwards). The proposals of the Academy became the official norm in Spain by royal decree in 1844, and they were also gradually adopted by the Spanish speaking countries of Latin America.
Several reforms were introduced in the
(1959), and since then the rules have undergone continued adjustment, in consultation with the other national language academies. The current rules and practical recommendations are presented in the latest edition of the
In 1994, the RAE ruled that the Spanish consonants "CH"
would hence be alphabetized under "C" and under "L", respectively, and not as separate, discrete letters, as in the past. The RAE eliminated monosyllabic accented vowels where the accent did not serve in changing the word's meaning, examples include: ("gave"), ("saw"), both had an acutely-accented vowel ; yet the monosyllabic word ("I know", the first person, singular, present of , "to know"; and the singular imperative of , "to be") retains its acutely-accented vowel in order to differentiate it from the reflexive pronoun .
Criticisms of the Academy
The Royal Academy has , especially in the Spanish-speaking Americas
Hispanic America or Spanish America is the region comprising the American countries inhabited by Spanish-speaking populations.These countries have significant commonalities with each other and with Spain, whose colonies they formerly were...
, been criticized for being excessively conservative
Social Conservatism is primarily a political, and usually morally influenced, ideology that focuses on the preservation of what are seen as traditional values. Social conservatism is a form of authoritarianism often associated with the position that the federal government should have a greater role...
and slow to change; for excessively concentrating upon linguistic usages of the region of Castile
A former kingdom, Castile gradually merged with its neighbours to become the Crown of Castile and later the Kingdom of Spain when united with the Crown of Aragon and the Kingdom of Navarre...
, while dismissing variant usages from other parts of Spain and other Spanish-speaking countries; and for being slow in revising its authoritative .
Moreover, the dictionary has been criticised for its partial definitions and somewhat limited coverage. For example, the DRAE definition for ("dinosaur") only covers Sauropodomorpha
Sauropodomorpha is an extinct clade of long-necked, herbivorous, saurischian dinosaurs which includes the sauropods and their ancestral relatives. Sauropods generally grew to very large sizes, had long necks and tails, were quadrupedal, and became the largest animals to ever walk the Earth. The...
, just one of the many groups of dinosaurs that existed.
Supporters respond that the RAE's purpose is not registering ephemeral Spanish usages, but to protect a united Castilian language and prevent national variants from becoming incomprehensible to other Spanish speakers.
Critics have acknowledged, however, that recent editions of the
(the 20th, 21st, and current 22nd editions) show distinct improvement. One innovation was its publication of a paperback
Paperback, softback or softcover describe and refer to a book by the nature of its binding. The covers of such books are usually made of paper or paperboard, and are usually held together with glue rather than stitches or staples...
edition in 1992. Partnerships with companies such as , IBM
International Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas...
, and Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
, enabled the RAE to update and adapt to the current information-technology era, offering a free on-line version of its Diccionario
, which may be consulted free of charge at its website.
Members of the Academy are known as
(Academic Numerary), chosen from among prestigious persons in the arts and sciences, including several Spanish-language authors
, known as
(the Immortals), similarly to their counterparts. The Números
are elected for life by the other academicians. Each academician holds a seat labeled with a letter from the Spanish alphabet; upper- and lower-case letters are separate seats.
, sorted by date of induction:
- (H) , Count of Casa Dávalos (1965)
- (g) (1972)
- (e) vacant
- (M) (1980)
- (A) (1980)
- (Z) vacant
- (n) (1985)
- (O) (1985)
- (q) (1987)
- (p) (1987)
- (r) (1988)
- (s) (1988)
- (J) (1990)
- (d) (1991)
- (F) (1991)
- (c) (1992)
- (U) (1994)
- (l) (1994)
- (C) (1995)
- (L) (1996)
- (b) (1996)
- (u) (1996)
- (V) (1997)
- (t) (1997)
- (K) (1998)
- (ñ) (1998)
- (I) (2001)
- (N) (2001)
- (k) (2002)
- (E) (2002)
- (f) (2003)
- (i) (2003)
- (T) (2003)
- (G) (2003)
- (Q) vacant
- (j) (2004)
- (o) (2006)
- (X) (2006)
- (h) (2006)
- (a) (2006)
- (R) (2008)
- (P) (2008)
- (m) (2008)
- (D) (2008)
- (B) (2008)
- (S) (2008)
Notable past academicians
- Dámaso Alonso
Dámaso Alonso y Fernández de las Redondas was a Spanish poet, philologist and literary critic. Though a member of the Generation of '27, his best-known work dates from the 1940s onwards. -Early life and education:...
- Vicente Bacallar y Sanna
- Pío Baroja
Pío Baroja y Nessi was a Spanish Basque writer, one of the key novelists of the Generation of '98. He was a member of an illustrious family, his brother Ricardo was a painter, writer and engraver, and his nephew Julio Caro Baroja, son of his younger sister Carmen, was a well known...
- Camilo José Cela
Camilo José Cela y Trulock, 1st Marquis of Iria Flavia was a Spanish novelist and short story writer. He was awarded the 1989 Nobel Prize in Literature "for a rich and intensive prose, which with restrained compassion forms a challenging vision of man's vulnerability".-Biography:Cela published his...
- Armando Cotarelo Valledor
- Miguel Delibes Setién
- Leandro Fernández de Moratín
Leandro Fernández de Moratín was a Spanish dramatist, translator and neoclassical poet.-Biography:Moratín was born in Madrid the son of Nicolás Fernández de Moratín, a major literary reformer in Spain from 1762 until his death in 1780.Distrusting the teaching offered in Spain's universities at...
- Antonio Machado
Antonio Cipriano José María y Francisco de Santa Ana Machado y Ruiz, known as Antonio Machado was a Spanish poet and one of the leading figures of the Spanish literary movement known as the Generation of '98....
- Christopher Herman Maurer
- Julián Marías
Julián Marías Aguilera , was a Spanish philosopher. His History of Philosophy is widely accepted as the greatest work written in Spanish on the subject of the history of philosophy...
- Ramón Menéndez Pidal
Ramón Menéndez Pidal was a Spanish philologist and historian. He worked extensively on the history of the Spanish language and Spanish folklore and folk poetry. One of his main topics was the history and legend of The Cid....
- Eugenio d'Ors
- Benito Pérez Galdós
Benito Pérez Galdós was a Spanish realist novelist. Considered second only to Cervantes in stature, he was the leading Spanish realist novelist....
- Manuel José Quintana
Manuel José Quintana y Lorenzo , was a Spanish poet and man of letters. He was born at Madrid. After completing his studies at Salamanca he was called to the bar....
- Epifanio C. de los Santos
Joint publications of the RAE and the Association of Spanish Language Academies
- Diccionario de la lengua española (Dictionary of the Spanish Language) (1st edition: 1780, 22nd edition: 2001, the 23rd edition will be published in 2013 to mark the tricentennial of the founding of the RAE). The first edition is in public domain
Works are in the public domain if the intellectual property rights have expired, if the intellectual property rights are forfeited, or if they are not covered by intellectual property rights at all...
- The Diccionario esencial de la lengua española (Essential Dictionary of the Spanish Language) was published in 2006 as a shortened work to span between the 22nd and 23rd editions.
- Ortografía de la lengua española (Orthography of the Spanish Language, 1st edition: 1741, latest edition: 2010). The edition of 1999 was the first orthography to cover the whole Hispanic world, replacing the Nuevas normas de prosodia y ortografía (New Rules for Prosody and Orthography) of 1959. The first edition is in public domain.
- Nueva gramática de la lengua española (New Grammar of the Spanish Language, 1st edition: 1771, latest edition: 2009). The latest edition is the first grammar to cover the whole Hispanic world, replacing the prior Gramática de la lengua española (Grammar of the Spanish Language, 1931) and the Esbozo de una Nueva gramática de la lengua española (Outline of a New Grammar of the Spanish Language, 1973). The first edition is in public domain.
- The Nueva gramática de la lengua española will be published in 3 different versions: The Edición completa (Complete Edition) includes 3,800 pages in two volumes to describe morphology and syntax (published December 4, 2009) plus a third volume of phonetics and phonology and a DVD (early 2010). The Manual edition is a single 750-page volume, which was presented at the 5th Congress of the Spanish Language which convened virtually in Valparaiso
Valparaíso is a city and commune of Chile, center of its third largest conurbation and one of the country's most important seaports and an increasing cultural center in the Southwest Pacific hemisphere. The city is the capital of the Valparaíso Province and the Valparaíso Region...
, Chile, due to the earthquake
The 2010 Chile earthquake occurred off the coast of central Chile on Saturday, 27 February 2010, at 03:34 local time , having a magnitude of 8.8 on the moment magnitude scale, with intense shaking lasting for about three minutes. It ranks as the sixth largest earthquake ever to be recorded by a...
, and will be published on April 23, 2010. The Gramática básica (Basic Grammar) is a 250-page pocket reference intended for school use, to be published in late 2010.
- The RAE has also published two other works by individual editors: Gramática de la lengua española (Grammar of the Spanish Language, by Emilio Alarcos Llorach, 1994) and Gramática descriptiva de la lengua española (Descriptive Grammar of the Spanish Language, 3 volumes, directed by Ignacio Bosque and Violeta Demonte, 1999).
- Diccionario panhispánico de dudas (Pan-Hispanic Dictionary of Doubts, 1st edition: 2005). Resolves doubts related to the use of the Spanish language.
- Diccionario del estudiante (Student's Dictionary, 1st edition: 2005). Replaces the Diccionario escolar de la RAE (RAE Scholastic Dictionary, 1996).
- Diccionario práctico del estudiante (Practical Student's Dictionary, 1st edition: 2007) is an adapted version for Latin America, and is for sale only in the Americas.
|
<urn:uuid:d2ed2869-d27a-42c9-b844-4e596b06f7e4>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Real_Academia_Espa%C3%B1ola
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.931953
| 3,781
| 2.984375
| 3
|
A recent research paper by Jeffrey Clemens of Harvard helps to quantify what might happen if the federal government forbade insurers from taking people’s health into account when deciding whom to cover and how much to charge — but the government did not mandate that everyone had insurance. He finds:
In the early 1990s, several states strictly regulated premiums and product offerings in the markets where small firms and individuals acquire insurance. Within 3 years of adopting these regulations, private coverage of children had fallen by 9 percentage points in the regulated markets relative to equivalent markets in other states (as estimated using the large-group markets within each state as an additional control). Subsequent public insurance expansions covered millions of pregnant women, disabled individuals, and sicker-than-average children. During these expansions, private coverage rates rose by an excess of 7 percentage points in the regulated markets relative to control markets. The analysis reveals an important complementarity between regulations and public insurance: without substantial public insurance programs, strict regulation of premiums and product offerings can lead to significant coverage losses due to adverse selection.
The paper makes a more rigorous version of the point about Massachusetts that’s in my column today. Without a mandate, insurance regulations can sometimes be quite problematic.
|
<urn:uuid:ed9b0dee-c68f-4526-a169-edf4c562aedc>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/12/15/the-insurance-market-without-a-mandate/
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00048-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.95535
| 247
| 2.484375
| 2
|
From the IPKat's old friend, the much-admired and highly original Mario Franzosi, comes this delicious little confection -- which has greatly amused him. The starting-point for this little essay is a dictum of Lord Justice Jacob (noted by the IPKat here) in European Central Bank v DSS EWCA Civ 192 to this effect:
"[This litigation] illustrates yet again the need for a one-stop patent shop (with a ground floor department for first instance and a first floor department for second instance) for those who have Europe-wide businesses. The case illustrates another point too: Kitchin J records at that "the positions adopted by DSS before this Court and the CFI are radically different." As he went on to say:Now, says Professor Franzosi,
This case therefore seems to me to be a very powerful illustration of why it is desirable to try infringement and validity issues together, where at all possible. If they are tried separately it is all too easy for the patentee to argue for a narrow interpretation of his claim when defending it but an expansive interpretation when asserting infringement.
Professor Mario Franzosi likens a patentee to an Angora cat. When validity is challenged, the patentee says his patent is very small: the cat with its fur smoothed down, cuddly and sleepy. But when the patentee goes on the attack, the fur bristles, the cat is twice the size with teeth bared and eyes ablaze".
"When a patent applicant is confronted with the objection of the office that the claim is too broad, he or she (he, once and for all) says that in reality, from the body of the patent, it is absolutely clear that the term has to be understood in a narrow sense. For instance the word "purified" means, he would argue, "purified at 95.33 x 100 or higher", as it appears from the description. So he is able to obtain the patent, with such a broad term.
When it comes to infringement, the patentee would attack a poor infringer (infringers are always poor, so they have all my sympathy) that purifies at 80 x 100, saying that one cannot read unnecessarily limitations into the claims. Since, as Neuberger (judge, as he was) said (I believe in the erythropoietin case, Kirin Amgen) that "life is too short to consider the file history", his argument may fly.
This is the same story that applies to Angora cats (hence, the title). This is the recipe:
1. Take an Angora cat, preferably female (hereinafter, "she-cat"), preferably white, aged 40 to 60 years or higher, colour of eyes: irrelevant (but, if available, one blue; the remaining 3 should be red, yellow and grey, and any combination thereof).
2. Measure the size of the she-cat (of course, in all 5 directions) with a Peabody width-caliber S 22 AA (once in Upssala an old professor in the audience interrupted me and said: "we do not have a Peabody S 22 AA". I replied: "nonsense! Do not create unnecessary difficulties! Use a Peabody S 22 B, instead!").
3. Drop the she-cat into a container that contains (if not, what is the use of containers?) 5 pints (litres, for some other countries) of water. Temperature of water, 22 degrees (I do not remember whether celsius or fahrenheit: one or the other. Preferably, both). If the water freezes, break ice with hammer toefl 66/3KK or equivalent. Keep she-cat in water for 43 seconds or longer. Extract (with a Mausolino manoeuvre).
4. Measure the wet she-cat with the same Peabody apparatus (Vorrichtung, in German: it is an indispensable word for patent people [the IPKat believes this to be the German for 'widget']. Germans have plenty of Vorrichtungen. If you do not have Vorrichtungen, change profession). Repeat the operation 2.6 times (or twice and a quarter).
5. Compare the figures you got under 2, above, with the figures you got under 4, above (by the way: if it is "under" why it is "above"?). You will see that the size of the she-cat as taken under 4 (above) is 35 x 100 (+/- 22 x 100) of the size under 2 (above).
The ANGORA CAT argument shows that a patent can be broad or narrow, depending - now you know!! -whether the patent is wet or dry.
P.S. I forgot to say. It is almost inevitable that you will be scratched when performing the operation under 3 (above, as usual). Don't panic: it is mostly curable. Deaths following infection are recorded in 37 x 100 of instances only (2002 Lancet 456, at 488, 489).
If you want to repeat the experiment more than once, perhaps you may want to wear gloves of the American standard EE33/6F1WW/gloves/R32656.sunflower".Expanding cat here
|
<urn:uuid:04c3ff47-9ba6-4dce-980a-131a8222a765>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://ipkitten.blogspot.com/2010/01/more-on-that-angora-cat.html
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00065-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.931991
| 1,103
| 1.53125
| 2
|
[Permission is granted to duplicate this article in its entirety,
but only without additions, alterations or omissions of any kind,
including the ministry name and address at the end.
Nothing may be removed from this page including links to other pages.]
To have peace with God should be our chief pursuit. Someone might object and say our chief pursuit in life should be to keep seeking first the kingdom of God and his righteousness (Mt. 6:33, Greek tense). Actually each is saying the same, but in different words.
Many people are not even aware that they don’t have peace with God and, therefore, would never desire to seek/pursue such. Furthermore, the same don’t realize that God has wrath for those who do wrong.
Here are some precious truths about peace with God to remember:
Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ (Rom. 5:1).
For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross (Col. 1:19, 20).
At the point of being Biblically justified we have peace with God. This is also when our heavy sin load is forgiven, we are cleansed spiritually and are born again. All of that was made possible because of Jesus’ blood shed on the cross. But now, for the Christian, the question remains: Is it possible for events to occur after getting saved that would destroy or at least interfere with this precious peace with God? The answer is a definite yes.
It is sin that always causes trouble between us and God and that can severely damage and even destroy our precious peace with God.
Notice what Peter wrote:
For, whoever would love life and see good days must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from deceitful speech. He must turn from evil and do good; he must seek peace and pursue it. For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil (1 Pet. 3:10-12).
Peter said we should pursue peace (with God). It is significant that he wrote that to people who have already been redeemed and born again (1:18-23). Paul, similarly, taught we should also pursue peace (with God) among other things:
Flee the evil desires of youth, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart (2 Tim. 2:22).
Certainly, a passage that infers we can lose our peace with God after getting saved is found here:
So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him (2 Pet. 3:14).
This verse also shows that a Christian’s future sins are not automatically forgiven (as Charles Stanley and some others teach), for if they were there would be no chance that we could not have peace with God (which sin destroys).
The Christian life is a spiritual battle that requires serious effort on our part. Grace doesn’t change this. We are to make it our goal to be found by the Lord in a spotless and blameless condition, as well as, at peace with him. This is what was taught and magnified in first-century Christianity, even though it is ignored and even rejected in our day.
To have peace with God can be associated with having a clear conscience. Notice what Paul revealed about his own personal Christian life:
There will be a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked. So I strive always to keep my conscience clear before God and man (Acts 24:15,16).
Paul put forth serious effort to keep a clear conscience. If he sought for such, we should too. Notice the following:
I am afraid that when I come again my God may humiliate me before you, and I may mourn over many of those who have sinned in the past and not repented of the impurity, immorality and sensuality which they have practiced (2 Cor. 12:21, NASB).
This passage proves, among other things, that real Christians can afterwards turn from the Lord and start to practice sin again, something the never saved to begin with grace changing eternal security teachers deny.
Also, when we join that stirring truth to the following one from this same epistle, we can easily see that sin destroys our peace with God and creates the need for us to be reconciled to God:
We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God (2 Cor. 5:20).
NOTE: Unsaved people need to be reconciled with God (2 Cor. 5:18). That is also shown here:
But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation—if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant (Col. 1:22, 23).
Question: Do you have peace with God now? If not, turn from your sins that are robbing you of this (and dragging you to hell at the same time). Make things right before God and man. Remember: No sin is worth going to hell over regardless what it may be.
GOD BLESS YOU.
The Exact Point of the Rapture (Post Tribulation Rapture)
Should You Pray About The Book of Mormon?
Angels, Demons and Satan
The Real Blessed Mother of Jesus, Mary
PO Box 265
Washington, PA 15301
|
<urn:uuid:4b8fa19c-410f-4267-b3b9-6b591e0f38ba>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.evangelicaloutreach.org/peace.htm
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00042-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.96817
| 1,268
| 1.898438
| 2
|
One would think as Moses complains and questions the Almighty that the Lord might offer reassurances or at the very least, an Ian MacKellan inspired vision of how wonderful death is. Instead, Moses is told he will fail, miserably. Well yes, eventually he will succeed. But first he will show Pharaoh signs and Pharaoh’s necromancers will mimic them. Even when he causes plagues the magicians can’t fully imitate or counter, still, the Pharaoh withholds consent.
While not good for Moses’ self confidence as he walks up the steps to the royal court, G-d was teaching Moses a lesson. This wasn’t going to happen in 22 minutes or less, plus commercial breaks. Not even in 2 plus hours and an intermission. This was going to take work.
And there would be setbacks. Some G-d planned for and some unsought. But imagine how much worse it would be for Moses to think it’ll be quick and easy only to have struggled along for weeks, months (eventually, including the desert sojourn, over forty years) beset by obstacles before and aft, on his right and left. To find himself each day stymied again by a stubborn Pharaoh.
But to know from the get go that this would happen, that there is a plan, is much easier.
In politics and government, there is a long game; reforming institutions: prisons, the welfare system, education. Or, to steel a nation for a long struggle ahead. The most famous speech of Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., whose death we commemorated – and whose life we celebrated – this week was not I have a short, quick path to freedom and national reconciliation. It was “I Have a Dream.” Dreams take long to fulfill. That’s why they are dreams.
Elected officials and leaders must have staff – policy experts, generals, spymasters and educators who give them the long view, along with the expected obstacles. Of course, there’s still the unexpected.
And then, it is up to elected officials to sell their constituents on the long road ahead. It is up to constituents, i.e., the voters, to recognize progress (or decline) is slow going, with obstacles.
So too, in our own lives, with those who ask our counsel and those we ask advice of, we must, as G-d did with Moses, let them in on the plan.
Words to consider. Ideas to ponder. Politics and the parsha.
|
<urn:uuid:8d9a58b6-e7f2-472c-8525-17e1613fa8a3>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.ou.org/index.php/torah/article/politics_parsha_planning_ahead1/zmanim-tab
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.964619
| 530
| 2.0625
| 2
|
Hong Kong to Return Rare Philippine Turtles
Thirty-six turtles seized from smugglers, including 20 of one of the world's rarest species, are to be returned from Hong Kong to the Philippines, an official said Wednesday.
It will mark the first time a protected Philippine species seized from the illegal wildlife trade abroad has been returned, Philippine environment department deputy chief Luz Corpuz told Agence France Presse.
Wildlife authorities in Hong Kong will hand the 20 pond turtles and 16 South Asian box turtles to Philippine enforcement officers on Friday, she said.
"They are Philippine species, and returning them back to their natural habitat is a big accomplishment for our conservation efforts," Corpuz said of the Philippine pond turtles, which are found only in the island of Palawan.
"In the past we had routinely allowed protected wildlife confiscated abroad to be turned over to their local shelters because we do not have money.
"This time we're lucky because we have a little money left and we would like to enhance our enforcement activities."
Swiss-based International Union for the Conservation of Nature lists the 21-centimetre (8.3-inch) pond turtle, Siebenrockiella leytensis, as "critically endangered" and "one of the rarest and least known turtles in the world".
The 20-centimetre box turtle, Cuora amboinensis, is listed by as "vulnerable" in the Philippines, though it is also found in other tropical countries of Southeast Asia.
Corpuz said airport authorities in Hong Kong seized the 36 turtles in February after a flight from Manila.
They will be released back into the wild in Palawan, she added.
Trafficking in pond turtles is punishable by a six-year prison term and a million-peso ($23,447) fine in the Philippines, but Corpuz admitted the government did not have enough resources to enforce the law.
"We don't know who were responsible for smuggling them to Hong Kong, but the turtles could have most likely ended up as medicine, as pets, or as food in Chinese restaurants," she said.
|
<urn:uuid:ae6c958f-1cb8-4506-afb4-ed828fab46a6>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.naharnet.com/stories/en/38031-hong-kong-to-return-rare-philippine-turtles
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.965115
| 434
| 2.484375
| 2
|
DLNR photo calendar features reef life
"Papa Ko'a - The Reef and Hawaiian Culture" is the theme of the 2006 Department of Land and Natural Resources calendar.
Colorful photos show the vital beauty of the Hawaiian reef seen from the air, at sea level and beneath the waves. They picture reef fish weke, ulua and alaihi, as well as monk seals, limu, turtles, seabirds at Mokumanamana (Necker Island), fishing koa, pencil urchin, koloa and the reefs at Kapoho, Nualolo Kai, west Maui, Anahola, Hanauma Bay and Hookipa.
Calendar text highlights the value of the reef in traditional Hawaiian culture. The Hawaiian creation chant Kumulipo tells that life begins with the coral polyp, and all other life forms follow. In addition to biological and cultural information about Hawaiian reefs, the calendar is a tide chart and gives boating and ocean recreation safety tips.
"Papa Ko'a" calendars may be purchased for $10 from the DLNR Division of State Parks office at 1151 Punchbowl St., Room 310, in Honolulu. No mail orders are available.
The calendar was produced with the Hawaii Heritage Center, in conjunction with the "Hawaii's Living Reef" awareness campaign.
Police, Fire, Courts
By Star-Bulletin staff
Man dies after falling from Big Island bridge
A 20-year-old man died yesterday after falling 50 feet from the Big Island's Piihonua Bridge to a pond below.
The man was identified as Puna Kamelamela.
Police said the man was attempting to dive from the bridge about 3 p.m. when it apparently gave way, sending the man plunging into the pond's 10-foot waters. The man's exact cause of death was not immediately clear, police said.
Firefighters got to the pond, in the Kaumana district, about 3:12 p.m. The victim was pronounced dead at the scene.
Man allegedly tries to run over 3 men
Big Island police have charged a 56-year-old man with second-degree attempted murder and three counts of first-degree terroristic threatening after he allegedly tried to run over two teenagers and a 21-year-old man on New Year's Eve.
The incident happened about 12:20 p.m. on Mahiai Street in Hilo after John Damo, Sr., allegedly threatened to run over an 18-year-old man, his 17-year-old brother and 21-year-old cousin.
Damo drove down the roadway, made a U-turn and then drove on the shoulder towards the men. The 18-year-old was forced to jump out of the way, sustaining a minor scrape to his right foot.
Damo then allegedly made a second U-turn, making his way back towards the three and passing by them closely.
The suspect was released after posting a $23,000 bail.
Driver arrested after crash kills pedestrian
The 43-year-old man who ran over a pedestrian with his pick-up on New Year's Eve on Hawaii Belt Road was arrested for first-degree negligent homicide and driving under the influence.
The pedestrian, a 65-year-old Hilo man, was pronounced dead at the Hilo Medical Center.
He was identified yesterday as William Alika Travis.
The crash happened near the Wainaku Scene Point about 3:30 p.m. when the 2000 Ford pick-up that the suspect was driving ran off the side of the road and struck the victim.
The driver of the vehicle was released pending an investigation.
The traffic fatality was the 36th on the Big Island in 2005, compared to 41 at the same time in 2004.
|
<urn:uuid:77a383a5-dffb-4935-bbc4-d020f91de24f>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://archives.starbulletin.com/2006/01/02/news/briefs.html
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00059-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.959094
| 791
| 1.875
| 2
|
How many of you have read The Very Hungry Caterpillar or Brown Bear Brown Bear to a child? Guess what? They are both a part of The World of Eric Carle. Those are two of my all time favorite Early Childhood books. While at the Time to Play Holiday Toy Showcase I walked right into the The World of Eric Carle. I felt like I was in a candy store especially for early childhood teachers. That’s literally how I felt. While there I was introduced to many of their new games and toys that are out on the market and of course I saw books, puzzles and games that I’m already using in school.
Lucky me, I walked away with a new game to try and share with you guys. Introducing the Very Hungry Caterpillar Match and Munch Game. This is the perfect game to review math skills, memory skills and even some speech and language skills with your child. Oh and I can’t forget to mention that it’s the perfect travel game. It comes in the cutest caterpillar bag, so it makes clean up and travel easy. The actual caterpillar is a bag. My students had fun playing the game and they even enjoyed the clean up process (definitely because of the cute bag). You can even use the playing cards to play a simple memory game.
Definitely a game to try out with your little ones. It’s teacher approved! Enjoy! Does your family enjoy any books, games or puzzles from the World of Eric Carle? Do you often play games at home with your child or with nieces or nephews?
Here are some images from the Time to Play Holiday Showcase. The World of Erica Carle was in the house and I was happy.
Here’s the fun game I was given to try out with my students. It’s the Very Hungry Caterpillar Match and Munch Game.
|
<urn:uuid:276cfbb8-6c1a-49a6-b270-f781eddf380b>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.sofamilyonline.com/teacher-talk-the-world-of-eric-carle-very-hungry-caterpillar-match-munch-game/
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00038-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.968072
| 395
| 1.65625
| 2
|
"It's something that is probably one of the dumbest and bluntest instruments I've seen in a long time. It severely impacts our community and the state of New York. If it does happen, it would be extremely unfortunate and I'd like to see it undone. We truly need to get our debt under control but to do it this way would absolutely throw our economy in reverse," says Rep. Richard Hanna, Congressman (R) 22nd district.
Sequestration stems from the 2011 impasse between the president and the congressional republicans over raising the nation's debt limit. And these automatic spending cuts will go into effect March 1st if there is no action by congress to stop them.
|
<urn:uuid:411eb178-cab0-4d78-a434-aab955384f0f>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://cnyhomepage.com/fulltext/?nxd_id=173172
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00035-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.970679
| 141
| 1.71875
| 2
|
On Tuesday, Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano released a report by Dr. Dora Schriro (about whom I've posted here) describing and recommending reform of the United States' immigration detention programs-- just a month after Schriro announced that she would step down as the Department of Homeland Security's Director of the Office of Detention Policy and Planning. The result of an intensive eight-month study of the system, the report is transparent, thorough, and sensible, which might seem baselines for government operations, but represent an enormous step forward for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). While I would still quarrel with the decision to detain many of the immigrant groups described in the report, its recommendations are a vast improvement on what's come before, and underline the urgent importance of naming Schriro's replacement.
Despite its measured tone, the report is littered with stunning facts and statistics that illustrate the gravity of the flaws of the immigration detention system. For starters, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), responsible for enforcing civil immigration law, operates the largest detention system in the country. In FY 2008, ICE detained nearly380,000 non-citizens, almost 90% of whom came from Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean. ICE holds 50% of the detained immigrant population in county jails alongside criminal detainees, but does not require these county jails to uphold national detention standards. The detained immigrant population includes non-criminal asylum seekers, 1400 of whom are jailed daily. ICE outsources not only detention but also monitoring and evaluation functions, which were performed primarily by the private sector at a cost of $31 million in FY 2009. One might think that such a delegation of authority would include written policies and procedures or technical manuals specific to detention -- but ICE has failed to create any such written guidance. The existing detention standards are based on criminal incarceration, so are more costly and restrictive than necessary for non-criminal populations. It is not a surprise but still a shame to learn that officials in the Office of Detention and Removal Operations (DRO) are primarily law enforcement personnel who hold limited expertise in design and delivery of detention facilities and alternatives to detention.
The report offers five main recommendations, which again illustrate the fundamental nature of the problems of immigration detention. These may still be challenging to implement in a dysfunctional bureaucracy, especially if the position of Director of DRO is filled by a less capable hand than Schriro. The first recommendation is that detention be consistent with assessed risk, requiring a step rarely taken -- for ICE to ascertain non-citizens' propensity for violence and likelihood of absconding. Second, Schriro's report recommends that DRO assess and respond to detainee's needs, such as medical care, legal materials, visitation, and religious practice, paying particular attention to special populations such as women, families with children, and asylum seekers. Third, the report suggests that DRO implement clear standards of medical care, including thorough initial assessments, monitoring, and ongoing management. Fourth, the report recommends federal oversight of key detention operations, including tracking performance and outcomes, placing federal officials on-site, and ensuring accessible and effective grievance and disciplinary processes. Finally, Schriro suggests that DRO implement the simplest of reporting systems, including a daily count of all detainees and a list of detention facilities. Just these basic changes could represent an enormous improvement in the lives of thousands of immigrants every year, and may well be more cost-effective than the current system (though we await the report's recommended comprehensive analysis of detention costs, including evaluations of less restrictive detention and alternatives to detention, for the final word on that front). If non-criminal immigrants are to be detained at all, the report offers a far more humane approach than today's detention system, but one that will require tremendous shifts in culture and competence at DHS.
|
<urn:uuid:58a4e1de-c01d-4fcf-8022-0c03335abc77>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.intlawgrrls.com/2009/10/reforming-immigration-detention.html
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00067-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.943615
| 769
| 1.664063
| 2
|
Houston Daily Telegraph - Houston, Texas, June 14, 1864. The front page includes an article entitled: "A Capitol Hit - The Lincoln Catechism Questions and Answers", a series of disparaging question and answers about Lincoln. Sample question and answers: "What is the Constitution? A compact with Hell now obsolete. By whom has the Constitution made obsolete? By Abraham Africanus the 1st. To what end? That his may be long in office and that he may make himself and his people equal of negroes. What is a President? A general agent for negroes." Also included is a reprint of an article from the New York News where General Grant is not allowing General Lee the time to temporarily stop fighting long enough to bury the dead. General Grant strategy is reported to be not only to defeat the enemy, but also to demoralize it. Also included are stories about how Generals Jackson and Longstreet were injured during battle. Also included are reports from the Baylor Guard (of Texas) that gives a long account of the regiments actions at and around Mansfield and Pleasant Hill.
6125 Boydton Plank Rd.Petersburg,Virginia 23803
Pamplin Historical Park and the National Museum of the Civil War Soldier
|
<urn:uuid:67138f04-cb42-41d6-aa22-4015b6003f53>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.americanheritage.com/category/collection-keywords/us-longstreet-general-longstreet-general-jackson-stonewall
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.954793
| 252
| 2.25
| 2
|
Better for Water, Better for Landowners, Better for Wildlife
The Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP) is a voluntary cropland-retirement program that helps landowners improve drinking water quality, protect public health, improve wildlife habitat and conserve soil and water in watersheds serving public drinking water supplies.
CREP achieves all of this by reducing pesticides in drinking water supplies, reducing sediment inflow and erosion rates, helping farmers meet nutrient reduction goals and providing wildlife habitat enhancement for the preservation of natural diversity in the state.
CREP projects are unique because they partner federal and state agencies with local interests to provide annual rental payments and incentives to landowners.
Missouri’s first CREP agreement was put into action in 2000 through a partnership with the Missouri Department of Agriculture, the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, public drinking water systems, landowners and the USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA). Through this CREP project, Missouri enrolled more than 14,000 environmentally sensitive cropland acres. These areas are in watersheds of public drinking water supply reservoirs.
Eugene Keats, county executive director for FSA, oversees the administration of CREP in DeKalb County. “People are usually confident their drinking water is safe, but are often unaware of what it takes to make it safe,” said Keats. It is costly for cities and rural water providers to treat water for contaminants, and this translates to higher water bills for citizens.
“CREP creates the proverbial win-win situation,” said Keats. “Cities win because good vegetative cover is filtering potential contamination from public reservoirs, reducing treatment expense and helping meet regulatory guidelines. John Q. Public Taxpayer wins because he is using safer, cleaner, more affordable drinking water. Government wins because it does not have to legislate more programs to clean up water supplies downstream from reservoirs, and the farmer wins because he receives just compensation for renting land that is protected from erosion while it enhances water quality.”
Plattsburg City Manager D. J. Gehrt agrees: “Missouri CREP is a major factor in assuring the long-term availability of a quality water supply for all patrons of Smithville Lake.” Smithville Lake, just north of Kansas City, provides the drinking water for residents of Plattsburg, Smithville and Edgerton. Gerht says tests of the water in Smithville Lake have shown that levels of the corn herbicide atrazine have steadily dropped. This
has saved the city and water customers the added cost of filtering this herbicide from their drinking water.
Donald Graeff of Osborn raises corn and soybeans in the watershed that
|
<urn:uuid:711ff4d6-236e-4b2b-848b-3b0e456dacc8>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://m.mdc.mo.gov/conmag/2006/12/better-water-better-landowners-better-wildlife
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00039-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.932163
| 554
| 3.1875
| 3
|
By Al Pessin ,franklin & marshall
30 May 2008
The U.S. Defense Department says it is committed to launching its new Africa Command on time in October,casque dr dre, and with the same capabilities as other major U.S. military commands. Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Theresa Whelan made the comment in a VOA interview. VOA's Al Pessin reports from the Pentagon.
The Defense Department's top Africa official says Africa Command,ralph lauren, which has been operating in a preparation phase for eight months,franklin and marshall, will be ready to take responsibility for all U.S. military engagement with the continent on schedule.
"We are confident that by 1 October AFRICOM will be enabled, and will be able to carry out the existing missions of the current combatant commands that are responsible for Africa. And the leadership here in the Pentagon is very committed to doing whatever it takes to make that a reality," she said.
Some military officers outside the Africa Command team have expressed concern about whether the new organization will have the structure and staff necessary to supervise the full spectrum of activities that usually fall under U.S. military regional commands. Those range from training foreign militaries to humanitarian operations to combat. But in an interview for VOA's Press Conference USA, to be broadcast this weekend,polo ralph lauren disocunt, Secretary Whelan said Africa Command will be ready.
"As far as the kinetics, yes, because that area of the world will fall under Africa Command, to the extent that we find ourselves in a position of having to do things like that it will certainly be the Africa Command commander who will be responsible and will make the recommendations to the secretary of defense,doudoune moncler pas cher," she said.
Africa Command is to handle all of the continent, except for Egypt, taking over areas now covered by the U.S. commands for Europe, the Middle East and Asia.
But officials have said AFRICOM will not have any combat forces permanently assigned, and does not plan to station troops on the continent, beyond the contingent already in Djibouti. One concern is related to U.S. and coalition naval operations off the east coast of Africa, and a senior officer tells VOA decisions about that have not yet been made.
A decision that has been made is related to the controversial issue of where Africa Command's headquarters will be. U.S. officials had wanted it on the continent by October,casque beats, but that has been delayed. Theresa Whelan says the headquarters will remain in Germany for now, but she hopes AFRICOM will be able to have offices in several places on the continent before long.
"If we are to be able to engage in partnership with African nations we obviously have to be present there. We can't phone it in. Partnership requires being able to look people in the eye and being able to work with them side by side. So,ralph lauren pas cher, there are certain things that will require, in order for us to be effective, we will have to be present there for sustained periods of time," she said.
She says in addition to the public offer by Liberia to host an AFRICOM site,franklin et marshall, seven other countries have privately said they would be willing to do so.
AFRICOM is being structured differently than other U.S. combat commands. It has a senior State Department official as one of its deputy commanders, and a sizable contingent of diplomats and aid officials on its staff. Officials say the command's focus will be on development and security assistance, and on helping African countries keep terrorists out.
But Secretary Whelan acknowledges the command will have to demonstrate that to African leaders and their people, many of whom are concerned that the creation of AFRICOM will result in a more militarized U.S. policy toward the continent.
"I think we also recognize that words only go so far and ultimately it's what you do that counts. And so we're fully prepared that the Africans will take a wait-and-see attitude and it'll be up to AFRICOM after 1 October to prove itself to them," she said
Secretary Whelan says Africa Command should have the resources to make its mission clear. She expects it to be provided more money for engagement with the continent than has been possible under the current system,polo ralph lauren, but she could not say exactly how much more money.
Among the 1,073 visitors, many made the trip for cosmetic surgery. South Korea is attracting medical tourists from China with its short distance and advanced technology, ROK's Yonhap News Agency reported.
|
<urn:uuid:7ff5a9f4-1da0-4f3e-a2aa-eac8d69dd862>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.philip-pullman.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=2102
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00061-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.965127
| 986
| 1.539063
| 2
|
How creating an Alert turned into a Fight with a Demon
I was tired of developers and business analyst running monstrous SQL, eating up a
20 GB TEMPDB database, and still wanting more. Rarely am I asked for
assistance with the SQL before it causes problems. Having such a large
TEMPDB would allow poorly written SQL to run but consume more resources
than it really needs. Running more than one of these queries at the same
time would cause problems. It is time to be proactive and create an
First, I shrink TEMPDB to 1 GB in size. Next, I need to create an alert
to e-mail me when it starts growing again. This will allow me to catch
the troublesome SQL while it's running and perhaps find the means to make
it more efficient. Being this is my first attempt at creating an alert in
SQL Server 2005, I try Books Online, but it's no help. Next, I switch to
using the Internet to find some SQL Server 2005 examples.
I find a site with SQL for creating SQL Server 2000 demo
alerts in 2005. A quick cut and paste, removing some unknown commands,
and then execute. Wallah, I get a bunch of alerts with names containing
some unrecognizable characters. Ah! I can't update or delete them because
of those characters. The source SQL split the names across lines so those
characters were probably a carriage return or line feed. My mistake, I
should have examined the SQL more closely.
This being a development server with no one currently using it, I restore
the MSDB database to last nights backup. To accomplish this, I stop the
SQL Agent and kill the remaining SA connection. The restore is
successful. Next, I fix the names in the SQL and create the demo alerts.
These alerts do not provide what I am looking for. I decide to
create alerts using WMI. Searching the Internet, I find some sample
alerts on site1 and site2. My
attempts to create them fail with the message:
"The @wmi_query could not be executed in the @wmi_namespace provided.
Verify that an event class selected in the query exists in the namespace
and that the query has the correct syntax."
Well that's as clear as mud.
I Google the message and get two hits. One has a Microsoft fix for
computer names longer than 15 characters. No good, my server name is only
8 characters. Another link blamed the problem on moving the MSDB database
files, which I have not done.
Searching with part of the message gives me a hit on another site that recommends running wbemtest.exe to confirm
WMI is working. I run it and it works with the command "SELECT * FROM
CREATE_DATABASE". So WMI is working but not from SQL Server.
It's time for Plan B. I verify that I can create alerts with WMI on other
SQL Server 2005 instances. Next on a fresh install of SQL Server 2005, I
successfully create an alert with WMI, drop the alert, restore MSDB, and
try creating the alert.
It fails with the the dreaded "@wmi_query" error message. Shaking my
head, I decide to confer with a coworker who is a Unix Oracle DBA. He
smiles while I recount what happens when I restore the system database. I
knew he would not be much technical help but talking out technical
problems can be useful. Being it is Friday afternoon; I decide to wait
until Monday before giving Microsoft Tech support a call. Calling
Microsoft for support can be let's just say tiresome.
So back to my original goal, I need to create an alert to e-mail me when
TEMPDB starts growing. This is something I know I can do in SQL Server
2000 so it does not matter that WMI for SQL Server 2005 is not working.
Since Books Online doesn't have the answer, it's time to try another
resource. I try the book "SQL Server 2000 High Availability" and find
what I am looking for.
I create the alert and go to Database Mail to check on the configuration.
Clicking on manage accounts; I get a pop-up saying the service broker
needs to be enabled. What, I never enabled it before. I click "Yes" to
enable it and it hangs. Ahhhh. After killing the hung window, I reboot
the server and check every setting I could think of. No luck.
Back to the Internet, I find a hit on the SQL Server Central blog by Haidong Ji. It describes my problem and
how to fix it. Thanks Haidong Ji.
- Stop SQL Agent
- Execute SQL "ALTER DATABASE MSDB SET ENABLE_BROKER"
After executing the SQL, I check Database Mail and it is working. Now I
create an alert using WMI. Success, it worked! Shouting, "I am Beowulf"
in my head for I had just defeated a demon.
If you restore MSDB on a SQL Server 2005, remember to:
- Stop SQL Agent
- Execute "ALTER DATABASE MSDB SET ENABLE_BROKER"
- Howl in triumph for you have just defeated a demon.
|
<urn:uuid:b546cbfc-6c84-4de1-b683-6911d1064b8b>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/Administration/61823/
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.911205
| 1,140
| 1.585938
| 2
|
By STEFFI PORTER
Hearst Newspapers Washington Bureau
As the U.S. Supreme Court prepares to release its opinion on the constitutionality of the law widely known as ObamaCare, the Obama administration is spreading the word about some of the benefits of the in-jeopardy law.
Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced Wednesday that new grants, which will be utilized in the expansion of community health centers, are being made possible by the Affordable Care Act.
Twenty health centers in New York were awarded $10,541,702 in an effort to help increase access to health care for 180,886 more patients. This increase will help to employ about 5,640 more people including doctors, nurses and dental providers nationwide through the formation of new health center service delivery sites.
“The health care law is making our community health centers stronger and ensuring more Americans get the care they need,” Sebelius said in a statement on Tuesday.
Community health centers exist nationwide, and their work helps to ensure quality health care services to people throughout the nation.
Community health centers in 41 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the Northern Mariana Islands are the recipients of $128.6 million that will go towards helping give people access to quality health care.
Health centers are known to create employment and economic growth in low-income communities, according to the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA).
According to a 2011 poll, over 138,000 people were employed by health centers that year, including 9,900 physicians, 6,900 nurse practitioners, physicians’ assistants and certified nurse midwives, 11,800 nurses, 10,300 dental staff, 4,400 behavioral health staff and over 12,500 case managers, health education, outreach and transportation staff.
Since early 2009, more than 25,300 full-time positions have been created by health centers. Today’s announced award will give money to health centers and communities that surround them, further strengthening the health centers’ ability to tend to patients and create jobs throughout the country.
“Health centers serve more than 20 million patients nationwide and are an integral part of our health care system,” said Mary K. Wakefield, Ph.D., R.N., administrator of HRSA. “These awards demonstrate our commitment to increasing access to quality health care through the creation of new health center sites.”
According to the HRSA website, it is a part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and is responsible for providing improved access to health care services for “uninsured, isolated or medically vulnerable” people.
|
<urn:uuid:4ad1a51d-a2c8-4b0c-adc2-5781dae36fbc>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://blog.timesunion.com/capitol/archives/136510/as-supreme-court-decision-nears-administration-touts-new-york-benefits-of-obamacare/
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00035-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.955812
| 552
| 1.945313
| 2
|
Year after creation
||Finished the 30 days of mourning for Aharon the
|Chagai's first prophecy, in regards the upkeep of
||Yechezkeil the Prophet, receives his prophecy
(see Yechezkeil ch.8-10).
||The spies (that Moshe Rabeinu sent to see the
land of Israel) died, they were punished with a plauge
that started on the 9th of Av and lasted till today.
||Dan the son of Ya'akov was born today, and died on
this date at the age of 125.
|The Ramban arrived to Yerushalayim.
||The Maharal of Prauge (creater of the Golem)
|The Ba'al Shem Tov, founder of the Chasidic
movenent, was born today.
||Hashem awakens Zerrubabel & Yehoshua son
of Yehozedek, to start preparing the building of
the second Temple.
||Hashem created the world (according to Rabbi
Eliezar, according to Rabbi Yehoshua Hashem
created the world the 25th of Adar).
Today Hashem created - Heaven, Earth,Light, water.
|The walls around Yerushalayim (in the days of
Nechemyah) were completed.
|Rabbi Eliezar the son of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai,
who hid with father in the cave for 13 years, died.
||Today Hashem created - the sky, and seperated the waters
between heaven and earth. [The Angles were also created today].
||Today Hashem created - rivers, grass and trees.
||Today Hashem created - sun, moon & stars.
||Today Hashem created - fish, marine life & birds.
|
<urn:uuid:5422537f-020d-449e-998c-8eb895aa6335>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.torah.net/eng/kids/month/elul.htm
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00059-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.919305
| 399
| 1.898438
| 2
|
The popular television drama "CSI" follows investigators who study crime scenes. Business students from the College of Business Administration have launched a business called CSI - short for College Student Insights - that studies something different from crimes and of keen interest to many companies: college students' purchasing habits and behaviors. This target market is a very popular age group for companies wanting to sell their products and services.
Not only is this a unique opportunity for business students to receive hands-on experience by operating a student-run business, but the students are being graded on it as part of their course, Marketing 4010, taught by Dr. David Reid, marketing.
The eight students "employed" by this business are currently working on getting all of the details in place. They are responsible for not only finding companies to do research for and creating CSI's Web pages and advertising materials, but also finding students to participate in the various research projects and hiring students to insure the continuation of the business into future semesters.
There are a limited number of student-run businesses at universities throughout the U.S., but what makes this business launch at BGSU even more unusual is that it is tied to the academic curriculum. Eventually, CSI will be part of a capstone experience for all business students before graduation, offering employers graduates with outstanding job experience.
CSI has a board of directors made up of BGSU faculty members and business executives from a variety of area companies to advise students through the start-up process and the continued operation into future semesters.
According to Meghan Hosmer, vice president of marketing, "Whether CSI thrives or falters and the grades the students will earn for the experience are intimately linked. It's a huge responsibility, but offers students a learning experience that can't be had from reading a book."
BGSU shares in grant to reduce substance abuse
BGSU is aiming to reduce alcohol and prescription drug abuse among 18-25- year-olds on campus with the help of a $514,500 grant from the Ohio Department of Alcohol and Drug Addiction Services. The University's Drug Alcohol Sexual Offenses coalition worked with the Wood County Prevention Coalition, Wood County Educational Service Center and the Wood County Alcohol Drug Addiction Mental Health Services board to submit the proposal.
Around $400,000 of that money is coming to BGSU to help deliver and sustain effective substance abuse prevention on campus. According to Dr. Faith Yingling, Wellness Connection director, the goal is to create drug and alcohol abuse educational programming and prevention programs.
Yingling says they are very early in the implementation process. The next step is the release of a community readiness survey in June with the help of BGSU's community partners to solicit feedback.
BGSU has a long history of building alternative energy vehicles. On Saturday (May 7) students from the University's Motorsports Club and the College of Technology's sustainability technology class will enter their all-electric powered racer in the Collegiate evGrandPrix at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS). The multi-event weekend focuses on developing and showcasing green energy automotive technology.
Kenneth "KC" Heschel, a sophomore from Port Clinton majoring in middle childhood education, will pilot the racer. Heschel is the current two-time defending kart track champion at Lil' Indy in Attica, Ohio, and has over 160 wins to his credit. Supporting KC at the race will be crew chief Shawn Thomas, a senior from Rudolph majoring in engineering technology; Joshua McGinnis, a senior from Fairfield majoring in mechanical design; Troy Weaver, a junior from Tiffin majoring in engineering technology; Austin Griffith, a senior from Bucyrus majoring in sports management, and John Grote, a senior from Bowling Green majoring in engineering technology.
The team has equipped the racer with a state-of-the-art electric propulsion system and quick-change lithium ion batteries. To keep battery costs manageable, the event limits the total electrical energy to the equivalent of about one quart of gasoline.
Financial support for the BGSU team came from cash and in-kind donations from corporations, the Bowling Green Utility Green Initiative and the BGSU Green Fund. Bowling Green Municipal Utilities and AMP Ohio also offered the team support by demonstrating the potential of electric vehicles and promoting clean energy solutions.
All the news 'In Brief'
Learn about the start of State Fire School, along with news of Dr. Mary Ann Roberton's national honor.
Zoom News is provided as a service to BGSU faculty and staff.
|
<urn:uuid:64d0fcf0-5fc6-49f6-b24e-63b05c4fde53>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.bgsu.edu/offices/mc/zoomnews/page96111.html
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00024-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.955039
| 923
| 2.21875
| 2
|
This year Labor Day and Women's Equality Day bookend the week: a timely conjunction, since tension over what properly constitutes women's work is the crux of much of our current public discourse.
That concern feeds the babble about baby bumps that fills the celebrity magazines, lies at the root of the Supreme Court's rejection of Lilly Ledbetter's suit for fair pay restoration, of the push to pass legislation to reverse that judgment and for pay equity overall, and of the efforts by the current administration to cut access to sex ed and to birth control wherever they can find an opportunity. The Democratic primaries operated in part as a labor debate over what kinds of jobs women are allowed to hold (president or clothes presser, in one formulation). The endless stories on fertility and Mommy Wars play into the debate as well.
It's the change in definition that "women's work" has undergone in the past 50 years that generates the controversy. For ages, women's labor, apart from sex and reproduction, was largely limited to care work, whether it was done in the home for free or outside it for pay. Within the family, care work is viewed as private and personal. But this work has a very public aspect too: the nation and the business community depend on mothers to bear and raise children to be good citizens, reliable workers and avid consumers.
In effect, mothers have been underwriting the national bottom line by raising their young for no pay.
Insofar as the business world presumes their efforts, mothers have always been part of the larger economy, but their contributions have been invisibilized by the economists who segregate "production" from "reproduction" and calculate the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by omitting the work that goes on in that most domestic of spheres, the home, because it is unpaid. A more-apt acronym would be GIDP, since it's fundamentally Grossly Inaccurate.
What's more, instead of being recognized for their generosity, mothers have been further punished economically, with low pay and limited benefits when they work outside the home, and with small protection when they divorce. Motherhood is a big predictor of poverty in old age.
Jobs available to women in general have been paid less than the same or comparable jobs done by men. Women's work has been considered just worth less--not because it was but because women didn't have the status to command better treatment. Or the time to fight for it: they were too busy tending the torrent of babies, many of whom died young of ailments now treatable.
But since the advent of hormonal birth control in 1960, the social fabric woven over millennia around the assumption that women were baby machines has been undergoing quick redesign. When offered the chance, women and their partners in the US and around the world have chosen to start their families later and to keep them smaller. Most have kids, but some do not, by choice or default. Birth control has allowed large numbers of women to enter the universities and the workplace in an ever-expanding range of fields. In so doing these women have doubled our national talent pool and strengthened our skilled workforce. When mothers are well educated, the children are too, and the population lives longer in better health. The playing field has changed utterly.
In this new arena, women combine raising the next generation of workers and citizens (often in active partnership with the dads) with actively contributing as workers and citizens themselves -- an overall increase in efficiency.
The new gender realities of employment and national interest call for equal pay for equal work as well as workplace policy that allows people who wish to be parents to build both families and careers. But though women's status has been rising, we're not there yet: women still make just 78 cents for every dollar men make, and 80 cents on the dollar adjusting for occupation and rank. Oppression anyone?
Gradually, the work rules have been changing, as women trickle up into positions in business and government that either allow them to institute change themselves or cause their colleagues to make change in order to retain them. Two much ballyhooed pay-equity bills have made it through the House, and we'll soon see if they make it through the Senate and past the likely veto.
Those who blame feminists for focusing on women's workplace rights and failing to tend the family side of the struggle in the early days might consider whether it wasn't necessary for women first to establish the clout they now have in order to be heard around equity and work/life issues at all.
In the face of the ongoing redesign, there's plenty of push back by the forces of yore. This is exercised both around opposition to pay equity and work-place flexibility and in the recently very-pressurized discourse around that specifically female version of labor -- the work of child-bearing.
A network of real supports for people of both genders would promote the maximization of our potential, as workers and as parents, for personal and national benefit. It would include the usual suspects like fair pay protections, access to affordable good child care, affordable access to and information on birth control and abortion, and paid sick days, and it would expand to fund FMLA, mandate infertility coverage, and create real on and off ramps for women and men who need time off from a career to focus on family, and more.
We've just had a fine example of what a business model focused on short-term profits does for us. A better model would focus on long-term growth and honor all the work that women have done and will do in the home and outside it.
For millennia women's work has been underwriting the bottom line for business and the nation. It's time for some return on that investment.
Follow Elizabeth Gregory on Twitter: www.twitter.com/egregory
|
<urn:uuid:157d6a58-17da-46e3-bd42-a3a4fd0a3817>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/elizabeth-gregory/never-done-and-under-paid_b_122003.html
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.973546
| 1,186
| 2.078125
| 2
|
Linux 3.0, moving on without much change
We're getting Linux 3.0. The kernel is not a revolutionary change, but we welcome the moniker change. It's apt for Linux's 20th birthday, and the older 2.6 naming scheme became complicated. It became like my second phone number.
It's hard to make revolutionary changes, especially when you have the open-source community making so many contributions. Just like a democratic political process, the changes are going to be incremental, but user driven. That's why free software is so good.
So what are the big changes?
"NOTHING. Absolutely nothing," said Linus Torvalds, in the LKML mailing list. He goes on a giant dictatorial ego trip on how great he is a Linux founder, and threatens free developers to write good drivers and software. Not a way to treat people who are helping him out.
The giant changes will be around drivers, with new and shiny ones written up for the new hardware, devices, software and other connectors. Other updates include:
- VFS cleanup
- VM fixes (better virtualization)
- ARM consolidation (so better support for non-x86 devices)
- An update to Xen, with the ability to run as primary layer
- UEFI support, can work on devices with the new BIOS, much like the UEFI BIOS used in Apple Macs
- New JIT compilers for faster network packet inspection, new WLAN wakeup capabilities
These are just some of many minor updates.
To those curious, most of the changes to Linux 3.0 were made by a Microsoft developer. Does anyone care? Perhaps not. Most of the Linux developers need to have a day job.
|
<urn:uuid:b927604f-1a01-4906-b4a8-73d4c176c1bc>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://freeos.com/node/15362/1181
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00055-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.939526
| 359
| 1.992188
| 2
|
Parent challenge for January
Make a list of the things you did for fun when you were a kid. Building forts, playing tag with the neighbors, jumping rope, biking to school – whatever it may be. Take a few minutes and really make the list, thinking about some of your fondest childhood memories. Then, pick 3 things off that list and vow to do them with your child this month! The only thing better than making sure your child gets active 60 minutes a day is playing right alongside them.
There really are quite a few things we ask our children to do — make your bed, do your homework, pick up your toys, stop fighting with your sister, and the list could go on. But it turns out there is one more very important thing we should be asking our children to do — go play.
That’s right. Play. And there’s more than one reason why.
First, more play leads to healthier kids. Many of us have heard the startling statistics about the childhood obesity epidemic. We know that over the last 30 years, obesity rates among our youth have tripled and that 1 in 3 children born in the year 2000 will grow up to have diabetes. Even scarier, it is predicted that this generation of youth will be the first in the history of our country to live shorter, sicker lives than their parents. These seem like some tough odds, but research has shown us that there are a few key things that we can do to prevent all of this. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that all youth be active for at least 60 minutes a day. If putting your child on a treadmill or signing him or her up for fitness class doesn’t sound all that appealing, then take heart. The easiest way to help your kids meet that 60 minutes a day is to encourage them to play. Running around outside, riding bikes, building snowmen, hula hooping — it’s all physical activity.
Second, making sure your child spends enough time playing every day will not only prevent him or her from becoming another diabetes or obesity epidemic statistic, it will also lead to higher academic achievement. A recent study published in the Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness confirmed what many studies before have shown. The fittest middle school students in grades 6-8 received better grades and higher scores on standardized tests than their less fit counterparts.
There is only so much time in the day, and youth are under increasingly high demands to perform well and achieve more. As a result, P.E. classes and recess have steadily decreased in recent years. As adults in the workforce we see that to succeed we need to work smarter not harder. This same rule applies to children. We need to ensure that they have at least 60 minutes a day to play and be active, which makes the time they spend academically engaged even more productive.
So if having our kids play more keeps them healthy and makes them smarter, what’s stopping us?
We’ve engineered physical activity right out of the day. Between less P.E. and recess, very few kids walking and biking to school, and an endless supply of electronic devices – we’ve actually made it hard for our kids to be active. Knowing that physical activity is important, parents sometimes resort to putting their children on treadmills and signing them up for fitness classes rather than just letting them play.
Just as our community needs to create a healthy food environment so that it is easier to eat fruits and vegetables instead of junk food, we need to create an active community environment. Urge your child’s school to follow national guidelines, requiring regular P.E. and daily recess. Make sure your child care provider allows plenty of time for physical activity and play. Encourage your child to walk or bike to school. And at the end of the day and on weekends — send your child out to play!
The Live54218 column will be featured monthly in the Saturday ‘Family Time’ section of the Press-Gazette. Feedback and suggestions for future column topics can be sent to info@Live54218.org. To learn more or to get involved, visit www.Live54218.org.
|
<urn:uuid:8fa9f6c4-be7e-4890-a97a-516a840acdcd>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://greenbayhub.greenbaypressgazette.com/article/20130112/GPG04/301140076/-1/VIDEONETWORK/Live54218-column-your-kids-playing-enough-?odyssey=nav%7Chead%20%20title=GPG
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.95765
| 865
| 2.546875
| 3
|
In order to protect persons aged forty and older, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act was enacted in 1967. This act protects applicants and employees forty years of age or older from discrimination due to age in hiring, promotion, discharge, compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment. The law covers applicants to, and employees of, most private employers, state and local governments, educational institutions, employment agencies, and labor organizations. Employers are prohibited from failing to hire persons in this age group, and they may not limit, segregate, classify, discharge, or force retirement upon their employees so as to discriminate against persons in this age group. Both federal and state laws protect these persons. Any employer who intentionally discriminates on the basis of age is subject to a civil lawsuit for damages, including emotional distress. There are, however, administrative remedies that must be exhausted under both state and Federal law before bringing an action in court. If you have any questions on age discrimination, please contact an attorney in your area.
|
<urn:uuid:5fb45ebb-5ec7-49b1-8050-229af406199f>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.utv44.com/guides/legal/general/story/Age-discrimination/6lW21PeK4Ey4Tx_2UCC7UA.cspx
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00031-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.944985
| 203
| 2.5625
| 3
|
The other side of history: Chuasiriporn finds happiness outside golf
Birdwood Golf Course is set within the heart of Virginia, tucked into 500 acres of wooded hills just west of the University of Virginia in Charlottesville.
Within those hills, in the sticky heat of a late Southern June, two of the game's most promising amateurs squared off. University pride was on the line – the most precious currency college golfers have to risk.
The contest was simple. Make the fewest putts, you win.
A simple shirt – colored in Cavalier orange and navy – must be worn on Sunday of the United States Women's Open at Blackwolf Run in Kohler, Wisc.
Jenny Chuasiriporn laughed.
No way. No self-respecting Duke Blue Devil would ever agree to that.
Alright. The ball, then. A Dukie would have to knock around a Titlelist emblazoned with "VIRGINIA" in blue letters on championship Sunday
That was more like it.
Those Virginia balls found the hole, and Lewis Chitengwa won the bet.
The native Zimbabwean's smile was more magical than his golf swing, a mechanic so smooth it beat Tiger Woods head-to-head in a junior tournament and allowed him to become the first black player to win South African Open.
Chitengwa was destined for something more – something historic – but golf is about the moment, and in that moment, there was nothing like watching a dozen UVA logo's get stuffed into a Duke bag.
That magical smile was flashed in that June heat, and perhaps a little pixie dust went along with those golf balls a week later when Chuasiriporn honored the wager, and teed them up at the 1998 U.S. Women's Open.
No doubt that smile beamed across the country when Chuasiriporn rolled in a 45-foot birdie putt just ahead of a finishing Se Ri Pak, sabres and all.
"That was the ball that was used when I made the putt," she said.
Thing was, Pak missed her par putt minutes later, forcing a Monday playoff. Eighteen more holes, at least, to decide a winner.
How much magic was left?
"I remember that I could not lose that ball after Sunday's round, that's for sure," said Jenny's younger brother Joey in an email interview. He was her caddie for the week. "That definitely brought her some luck. A Duke player relying on UVA – that was not normal."
Jenny Chuasiriporn, the 20-year-old senior-to-be, was on fire early in the playoff and took a four-shot lead. As the round wore on however, Pak closed the gap, leading up to yet another showdown on the 18th green. Pak got up and down from the water, Chuasiriporn could not from off the green.
On to the 10th, the 91st hole of golf played that week.
Jenny turned to her brother.
"OK, give me a Virginia ball."
The reply was unexpected.
"Uh, we're out – I don't have any more."
Jenny couldn't believe it.
"I feel like that was when my luck started to run out," she said. "Then we played the 10th and 11th hole and that was when she won."
Fourteen years later, Chuasiriporn is back in Virginia, though the clubs are long since stashed away.
To say the magic she captured those two weeks in 1998 has faded would be shortsighted. Working in the Virginia Commonwealth University cardiac surgery intensive care unit in Richmond, Va., one should recognize those two weeks set her on a far more important, tangible path – but one where that pixie dust sprinkled about in Charlottesville still lingers.
"I love what I do and I think it was just as difficult, switching into a new career and walking into nursing school for the first day and walking into a patient's room," she said. "Some days I think that was more difficult than anything I ever did in golf because it was just a totally new challenge and a new everything. I'm glad I did it now because I think this is way more natural for me to do and I think that for sure is what my heart tells me to do."
Giving up golf about a decade ago was hard, yet it wasn't. Golf was what she was supposed to do, but she quickly realized it wasn't what she was meant to do.
Page 1 of 2 (view all on one page)
Post a comment / write a review.
Disclaimer: Please note that Facebook comments are posted through Facebook and cannot be approved, edited or declined by OnMilwaukee.com. The opinions expressed in Facebook comments do not necessarily reflect those of OnMilwaukee.com or its staff.
|
<urn:uuid:3f39cc2c-edff-4020-a50b-450956e33248>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://onmilwaukee.com/sports/articles/usopenjennychuasiriporn.html
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.980755
| 1,026
| 1.507813
| 2
|
By Michael Spindelegger, Karl Erjavec, Eamon Gilmore and Villy Søvndal, Special to CNN
Editor's note: Michael Spindelegger, Karl Erjavec, Eamon Gilmore and Villy Søvndal are the foreign ministers of Austria, Slovenia, Ireland and Denmark, respectively. The views expressed are their own.
Over the months, we have been following the events in Syria with growing concern. We support the aspirations of the Syrian people to freely choose a government that represents all the enriching diversity of this multi-confessional nation, one that respects the rule of law, human rights and democracy. It is deplorable that the current regime in Damascus has not heeded the repeated calls for a peaceful transition of power. As do our colleagues from the Arab League, we strongly condemn the violence by the al-Assad regime against the Syrian people. We call on all sides to end the violence and to genuinely support the U.N.-led efforts to achieve a political solution.
But recent developments have given reason for even more serious concern. U.N. peacekeepers were seriously injured when a convoy of the UNDOF peacekeeping operation on the Golan Heights was attacked. Reports about possible preparations for the use of chemical weapons circulate. The al-Assad regime is preparing Damascus for confrontation with the rebels and we know that these situations of last stand urban fighting often result in the most terrible atrocities being committed in armed conflict, with particular dangers for civilians. Concerned that the crisis in Syria may soon reach a new level of violence, we publicly appeal to all parties to the conflict to abide by international law, especially international humanitarian law and human rights law, and to recall that all those that commit or order war crimes and crimes against humanity will be held accountable. This principle cannot and will not be negotiated.
As we know from the work of the U.N. Commission of Inquiry on Syria, horrendous crimes have already been committed during the conflict in Syria, but there have been no consequences for the perpetrators. It is precisely for situations like this that the international community established the permanent International Criminal Court (ICC) ten years ago. This independent judicial body can provide justice when a state is unable or unwilling to prosecute the most terrible crimes. Since Syria is not a party to the ICC Statute, jurisdiction of the Court requires a decision of the U.N. Security Council. In view of the grave concerns mentioned above, and the lack of prosecution in Syria, we call on the U.N. Security Council to urgently refer the situation in Syria to the ICC. In this respect, we welcome the Conclusions of the European Union Foreign Affairs Council on December 10, 2012 and the Swiss initiative at the United Nations to achieve this goal.
A referral to the ICC -- which has repeatedly been suggested by the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay -- has several advantages. The Court is a neutral and impartial institution that investigates and prosecutes the most serious crimes on all sides. A referral would give the leaders of the Syrian opposition a strong argument to call for discipline among its diverse forces. It would give the members of the al-Assad regime a further reason to question their allegiance. And it could assist the search for a political solution to the conflict. As we saw in other crises, parallel political and judicial processes are mutually supporting. There is no decision to be taken here between either peace or justice -- a sustainable, long-term solution requires both.
Most important, however, a referral to the ICC would make clear to every fighter on all sides of the conflict that the gravest crimes will eventually be punished. We owe this not only to the victims and their families, but also to future generations of Syrians who want to live in a free state founded on the principles of peace and justice. And we owe it to the future of humankind: After thousands of years of sometimes gruesome history, human civilization must no longer accept impunity for the most atrocious crimes. Only if we make absolutely clear that these crimes will not go unpunished, can we reduce the likelihood that humankind will have to suffer from them in the future.
|
<urn:uuid:4098e5b5-6485-48ee-910b-6852461be80d>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.wcyb.com/news/Time-to-refer-Syria-crisis-to-ICC/-/14590844/18080376/-/4jvsob/-/index.html
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.949005
| 848
| 1.976563
| 2
|
Thursday, March 18, 2010 - 10:21 in Earth & Climate
The world's oldest trees show that the region was once plagued by drought and fire.
- Giant sequoias yield longest fire history from tree ringsThu, 18 Mar 2010, 9:44:30 EDT
- Old-growth tree stumps tell the story of fire in the upper MidwestMon, 14 Mar 2011, 12:06:26 EDT
- Trees facilitate wildfires as a way to protect their habitatWed, 28 Oct 2009, 17:08:05 EDT
- 20th century one of driest in 9 centuries for northwest AfricaTue, 25 May 2010, 18:34:01 EDT
- Climate change causing massive movement of tree species across the WestThu, 3 Nov 2011, 9:36:50 EDT
|
<urn:uuid:ba6ddee2-6c9d-4e54-87ea-fb95b2755c26>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://esciencenews.com/sources/live.science/2010/03/18/giant.redwood.trees.endured.frequent.fires.centuries.ago
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00046-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.903868
| 162
| 3.109375
| 3
|
On the 28 March 1904 the Laboratory and Baths were destroyed by fire, but it was agreed that the work of the Laboratory should continue. In 1906 the local landowner, geologist Wilfred Hudleston, FRS, offered not only to make the site of the old Baths available for newer, larger, facilities, but also offered to finance their construction. He was reluctant to publicise his generosity, and asked that the building be named after one of his ancestors, Eleanor Dove, when it opened by the Duke of Northumberland in September 1908.
The Laboratory became a department of Armstrong College when the building and land was purchased by the college following Hudleston's death in 1909, and soon grew in reputation, acquiring its first boat in 1911. The Laboratory also operated a public aquarium and once housed the coble in which Grace Darling and her father rescued passengers from the SS Forfashire in 1838.
In 1967 responsibility for the Laboratory was transferred to Newcastle University.
As a research facility the Laboratory is normally closed to the public, but opens for visitors on certain days as part of the European Heritage Open Day scheme.
|
<urn:uuid:5672f45c-8c3a-463c-84a7-156d93a35ddc>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.reference.com/browse/Dove+Marine+Laboratory
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00047-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.983482
| 231
| 2.390625
| 2
|
Giving agency to those who own the story is an important part of building capacity in others. Think about it, who has the best perspective to tell a story? The person who lived through the experience of course. But sometimes, it can be hard because those stories…they never have a chance to be told. They never have a chance because of so many factors that were never really in their control to begin with. But, thanks to sustainable efforts around the globe, those stories do have a chance of being told now.
Stories like those of children that now have a Shot@Life because they have received a life saving vaccine. The stories of their mothers that can rest easier knowing that their children that, thanks to a simple vaccine, that so many of us take for granted. Just think if instead of telling the story of the remaining 1% of polio cases, the voices of the 100% of the population that successfully eradicated polio could be told instead. Stories like the ones of ten girls whose from around the globe, surviving and overcoming obstacles each day to become self sufficient.
The question remains…what can you do to help build capacity in others so that one day, they can share their story by rising to their own microphone?
- You can help support the effort to give children a Shot@Life with the new Moments Matter App for both Iphone and Android. The new mobile app lets parents rise to their own microphone to tell the story of their child’s “firsts,” by capturing photos and childhood moments from 0 to 5 through the milestone tracker as well as building awareness about the Shot@Life campaign and the life-saving vaccines that help give children around the world a shot at a healthy life.
- Involve your family with the Trick or Treat for UNICEF campaign where children and trick or treaters can raise funds in their own unique ways with a special kit from UNICEF.
- Support World Polio Day on October 24, 2012 by sending a letter (that is already created for you!) to your member of Congress.
- Be active with the 10×10 and the International Day of the Girl by taking action to empower and educate girls around the world. Find out how to support the movie Girl Rising coming out in the spring of 2013.
- Get involved in #GivingTuesday, a day to remind us that the giving season is more than just about wrapped presents and shopping. November 27, 2012 will be the day that reminds us that giving can happen all year round, and can look like so many different things to different people. The most important thing is that we give. As individuals, families, or communities. Of our time, our resources, or even our kindness, to help support others that maybe one day can rise to the microphone themselves to inspire and empower others.
Empowering others to rise to the microphone is the best way we can foster self sufficiency in others. Girls, children, moms around the globe…there is so much potential for the future. Whether we are encouraging others to share milestones, or engaging in development or social action…what could be better than fostering the voices of many to tell their own stories?
.I participated in the Social Good Summit as a Shot@Life Social Good Fellow. My expenses to attend #SGSGlobal were provided. No other compensation was received. All opinions are my own—because well, this is important. This is what Live.Do.Grow. is all about.
|
<urn:uuid:da430129-73a4-49ab-bd92-1e5744135630>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.ciaomom.com/five-ways-to-build-capacity-in-women-and-children/
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.969641
| 710
| 2.359375
| 2
|
Banks and online retailers are struggling to protect their customers from criminals who covet their personal financial information and account details. But as problems like phishing scams change from phenomenon to endemic threat, technology companies are launching products and services to end, or greatly reduce, the threat of online identity theft.
There are five main technologies aimed at curbing online identity theft:
These lightweight applications were some of the first tools designed to stop online scams like phishing. AOL, eBay and others offer these programs free to customers. Usually plug-ins adding an extra toolbar to a user's web browser, the programs verify website URLs and warn about websites that hide their true addresses.
Antiphishing tools are effective against the use of spam to direct internet users to websites controlled by thieves but designed to look like legitimate sites. But such tools do nothing to secure sensitive financial information online.
Designed to spot and thwart new threats, phishing prevention services include MarkMonitor's FraudProtect, Symantec's Online Fraud Management Solution, VeriSign's AntiPhishing Solution and services by NameProtect. Most use a distributed network of sensors to monitor e-mail traffic, newsgroups and web domain registrations, spotting new scams such as phishing attacks.
Antiphishing services promise to allow companies to move quickly in cracking down on fraudulent websites that use their names and also give customers advanced warning about scam e-mails making the rounds.
Payer authentication and smartcards
Online security advocates often cite smartcards as a cure-all for online fraud. The cards contain chips that can store far more information about the cardholder than older, magnetic-strip cards. Among other things, they can store PINs or biometric identifiers that can be used at the point of purchase to verify the purchaser's identity, making theft of an account number or credit card inconsequential.
Smartcards are ubiquitous in Europe, and the UK banks have recently rolled out a chip and PIN smartcard programme to replace magnetic-strip cards and do away with signed receipts for "card present" purchases. Obstacles to the widespread use of smartcards in the US include the inability of existing card readers to support them.
Fraud screening and prevention
Without strong authentication at the point of purchase, most US companies turn to fraud screening technology as their first and best defence. Companies such as VeriSign, ClearCommerce and CyberSource use a variety of filters to analyse transaction patterns for individuals or groups, and to identify suspicious activity.
For example, companies might flag up a pattern of rapid, high-value transactions and spot discrepancies between the geographical location from which the order was placed and the invoice address, or look askance at transactions with different invoicing and delivery addresses, according to ClearCommerce co-founder and vice-president Julie Ferguson.
Consumer authentication services
Recent deals between security technology companies and major ISPs and software suppliers could bring multifactor authentication technology into the mainstream. Since September, AOL has encouraged its customers to use RSA SecurID tokens to protect account information. And RSA has released SecurID for Windows, a secure token that will make it easier for users to log on and off Windows machines using multifactor authentication.
Consumer strong-authentication programs could also create an infrastructure that banks and online retailers build on to strengthen interactions with their own sites, according to Gil Danieli, vice-president of technology at online bank EverBank National. For now, SecurID for Windows doesn't protect access to online banking or e-commerce services, but such applications aren't out of the question in the future, according to Ned Brody, senior vice-president of premium services at AOL.
Paul Roberts writes for IDG News Service
This was first published in November 2004
|
<urn:uuid:29bdd85a-7690-4f4e-83f2-5bad59021569>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.computerweekly.com/feature/Many-medicines-but-no-cure-for-online-ID-theft
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00054-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.930305
| 757
| 2.515625
| 3
|
Chapter 33: Post 9/11 GI Bill and Yellow Ribbon Program
Chapter 33 Post-9/11 GI Bill The Post-9/11 GI Bill provides financial support for education and housing to individuals with at least 90 days of aggregate service on or after September 11, 2001, or individuals discharged with a service-connected disability after 30 days. You must have received an honorable discharge to be eligible.
The Post-9/11 GI Bill will pay all or a portion of your tuition and required fees based upon the type of institution you enroll in and your level of eligibility. The amount of support that individuals may qualify for depends on where they live and what type of degree they are pursuing.
At St. Catherine University the Post 9-11 GI Bill will pay eligible individuals:
Please read the letter to students from the Director of the VA Education Service regarding changes to the Post 9/11 GI Bill for 2011-12: Changes to Post 9/11 GI Bill for 2011-2012.
This benefit provides up to 36 months of education benefits. Generally, benefits are payable for 15 years following your release from active duty.
Chapter 33 Post-9/11 GI Bill Information:
Transfer of benefits.
- Tuition and fees directly to the school not to exceed the cap of $17500 for students enrolled at a private institution of higher learning.
- For more expensive tuition, a program exists which may help to reimburse the difference. This program is called the "Yellow Ribbon Program."
- A monthly housing allowance based on the Basic Allowance for Housing for an E-5 with dependents at the location of the school.
- An annual books and supplies stipend of $1,000 paid proportionately based on enrollment.
- A one-time rural benefit payment for eligible individuals.
Veteran’s eligible for the Post-9/11 GI Bill may also transfer unused portions of their benefit to eligible dependents. For more information and application instructions review Transfer of Benefits
Children of service members who die in the line of duty. The Marine Gunnery Sergeant John David Fry Scholarship (PDF)
amends the Post-9/11 GI Bill (Chapter 33) to include the children of service members who die in the line of duty after September 10, 2001.
Yellow Ribbon ProgramAn admitted student receiving 100% eligibility under Chapter 33 benefits may also be eligible for the Yellow Ribbon program. Under this benefit, up to 50% of any remaining tuition and fees not covered under Chapter 33 would be paid on behalf of the student by St. Kate’s. The VA would then match St. Kate’s Yellow Ribbon contribution. Under this program, most, if not all, tuition and fees would be covered.
Participation in the Yellow Ribbon program is at the discretion of St. Kate’s, and is reviewed annually. For more details
|
<urn:uuid:f67d1285-71f5-4816-9f4e-189f1cd4c650>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://minerva.stkate.edu/financialaid.nsf/pages/va_post911
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00071-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.92686
| 584
| 1.679688
| 2
|
Press release from PR Newswire
Student Transportation Inc Joins Movement to Stomp Out Bullying
Monday, October 03, 2011
Employees across North America rally around 'World Day of Bullying Prevention' by wearing blue shirts and learning prevention, reduction techniques
WALL, NJ, Oct. 3, 2011 /PRNewswire/ - The drivers, monitors, mechanics, and staff of Student Transportation Inc (STI) might be looking a little blue today. But they are not sad. All across North America, employees are joining the Stomp Out Bullying campaign by wearing blue shirts today to promote the reduction and prevention of bullying on the school bus. October 3 is recognized as 'Blue Shirt Day' by Stomp Out Bullying.
Bullying can take place in the classroom, in the hallways, in the cafeteria, and many other places. However, bullying on the school bus can be just as prevalent. "Students can spend up to 90 minutes on the bus each day, whether it is during their home to school routes or traveling to extracurricular activities," says Peter Pearson, Executive Vice President of STI. "We want our staff to be aware of the signs and to aide in the prevention of such a common problem."
In conjunction with the occasion, STI released a new two-part instructional program on its employee distance learning system, ST University. It focuses on the telltale signs of bullying, how to work with parents and school districts to prevent it, and effective actions to manage bullying on the bus. The company will roll out the program to many of the staff, drivers, and monitors with hopes that it will create a better environment for the over 600,000 students the company transports each day.
For more information about the Stomp Out Bullying campaign, visit www.stompoutbullying.org. To see some of local efforts to support this cause and to keep up with Student Transportation Inc., you can visit www.RideSTA.com or "Like" the company on Facebook at www.facebook.com/StudentTransportation.
About Student Transportation Inc. Founded in 1997, Student Transportation Inc. (STI) is North America's third-largest provider of school bus transportation services, operating more than 7,000 vehicles. STI's family of local companies delivers safe, reliable and cost-effective transportation solutions to school districts throughout the U.S. and Canada. Services are delivered by drivers, dispatchers, maintenance technicians, terminal managers and others who are caring members of their local communities. For more information, please visit www.rideSTA.com.
SOURCE Student Transportation Inc.
For further information: <p> <b>Media Inquiries:</b><br/> Nick Pizzo<br/> Director of Organizational Development<br/> (843) 884-2720 - Office<br/> <a href="mailto:npizzo@RideSTA.com">npizzo@RideSTA.com</a><br/> <a href="http://www.ridesta.com/">www.RideSTA.com</a> </p>
|
<urn:uuid:4c5033a8-8656-4534-9e24-5e3d0e72961d>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-investor/news-sources/?date=20111003&archive=prnews&slug=TO754
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00029-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.930413
| 652
| 1.820313
| 2
|
mikejuk writes "Microsoft Research is currently having a Techfest at Redmond where it is showing off a lot of new work. The latest work on the Kinect uses the same sort of machine-learning approach to distinguish between an open hand and a clenched fist. Although there are no details, its general method was to use a large number of images of people's hands and supervised training to distinguish between open and closed hands. The learning algorithm is based on a forest of decision trees, which is the same general method used to implement the skeleton tracking. Being able to detect an open or closed hand might not seem to be much of an advance, and certainly not as good as a multi-gesture touch screen interface, but it is enough to allow the user interface to distinguish a "pick up" or "grip" gesture. So you can move the hands within an image, close both hands to grip the image points and move apart to zoom. You can't get the software at the moment, but it has been promised for the next version of the Kinect SDK for Windows along with the long awaited 3D scanner Kinect Fusion."
|
<urn:uuid:2e9bf726-abe7-4291-94d4-039df96790e4>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://games.slashdot.org/story/13/03/07/1635248/kinect-can-detect-clenched-fist?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Slashdot%2Fslashdot%2Fto+%28%28Title%29Slashdot+%28rdf%29%29
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00044-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.971723
| 227
| 2.03125
| 2
|
For various reasons we're doing a reaction time study involving images that runs on unstandardized equipment: patients' personal computers (unless they don't meet certain requirements).
It's not about vision or individual differences, but group-level intraindividual change in reaction times (attention retraining), so it's not that important that participants all have the same experience as long as it's not confounded with the experimental condition.
Most reaction time studies run on standardised equipment, with a standardised distance from the monitor etc.
We can at most ask participants to keep a certain distance to the screen, but we can't ask them to buy new monitors of course.
So, three basic options arise (assuming our images are in a sufficiently high resolution):
Use constant number of pixels.
Positive: We can use the same images for everyone, if we use a medium number of pixels, we can accomodate most resolutions. Also, potentially everyone sees the same amount of information (i.e. no information lost due to down-scaling).
Negative: With high resolutions, images may look pretty small, and with large monitors, participants may usually position themselves further away from the monitor habitually, so some see "less information".
Use constant display size (i.e. 7 cm wide).
Positive: On large and small monitors with different resolutions, images are the same size.
Negative: Apparently the information used to compute actual display size can be unreliable, so we may end up with different display sizes. We'll probably need different images and people with larger monitors and higher resolutions will be able to see more details.
Use constant fraction of display (i.e. 70% percent wide).
Positive: Fraction of display may do the best job of letting people perceive considering that people probably sit further away from bigger monitors.
Negative: Need images in different sizes (dynamically computed with JS). They may see different levels of detail.
These options could be combined (i.e. constant pixels unless that is less than 50% of the monitor) and there's also the option of letting users zoom (will result in somewhat blurry images though).
Is there any research into this matter and if not, which option sounds best perception-wise?
|
<urn:uuid:429431a0-d3f6-45d0-930b-850a0639961e>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://cogsci.stackexchange.com/questions/2079/images-on-personal-computers-which-aspect-of-size-to-keep-constant?answertab=active
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.921303
| 471
| 2.375
| 2
|
Motorcycle safety training takes many different forms and is
a continuous process that lasts a lifetime. If you ever start thinking
that you know it all -- watch out! You're probably in for a big shock.
The process for training new motorcycle riders in the U.K.
is very different than it is here in the U.S.A. One type of training
that is rarely used in the States is the approach developed by the Police
Advanced Motorcycle Instructors in the U.K.
Trainees are taught to "talk through" their ride, narrating
everything that they see as they ride and talking through the process as it
I first became aware of this system in the book "Motorcycle Roadcraft: The Police Rider's Handbook" (see the wBW review), used by U.K.
motorcycle police for training.
The narration forces the rider to
observe what is happening, because, as the book says "if you do not know
something is there, you cannot react to it."
This is an extremely important point, because many
motorcycle accidents are caused by the rider traveling faster than he or she
can react to what's ahead. "Don't override your eyes" is one of the
best pieces of advice for any rider.
Actually, the practice of narrating the ride is also used by
police automobile pursuit drivers. It's a good practice, and I've been
fortunate enough to witness how it works in real life, during a visit to the
U.K. If you'd like to see it for yourself, you can take the Advanced
Motorcycle Training course from Nigel Bowers, an Advanced Skills Instructor
based in Staffordshire.
And no, you don't have to be a resident to take the course -
anyone is welcome, including us right-hand-side Yanks! But if you
can't make the trip, you can order one of Nigel's DVD's. Every rider
assessment is filmed, and it's used to point out corrections to the trainee.
Nigel sent a couple of DVD's over and I must say, they are a thrill to watch
-- and I actually learned a thing or two!
The voice-over narration points out threats, approaches,
strategies and tips. It it once more drove home the importance of lane
positioning for setting up the best sight lines to ensure the maximum
awareness possible. Many riders do not understand or use proper lane
positioning to see around the bends, and the DVD illustrates how important
Advanced Motorcycle Training is an independent Advanced
Rider Assessment and Training Consultancy. They offer a one-on-one
rider skills assessment from a Police Advanced Motorcycle Instructor, and
the courses are tailored to meet individual requirements.
never seen a U.K.-trained Police Advanced Motorcycle Instructor ride a
motorcycle in pursuit, all I can say is you definitely do NOT want to have
one of these blokes chasing you! They are expert high-speed -- really
high speed -- motorcycle riders.
The trainees are also provided with feedback and a written
assessment after every session.
The addition of on-board video, using
either a helmet or bike mounted camera has added an extra dimension to the
assessment sessions, providing the rider with a recording of their good or
bad riding habits. The recorded footage is put onto DVD or VHS for the
rider to keep.
Nigel says that "one of the best ways to view the footage is
to discuss the ride over dinner or tea. On a one day course I copy the
footage onto 2 DVD’s, the morning session and the afternoon session.
About 4 hours in total. On a 10 session course you have a DVD after
every session. The DVD can be posted to you before your next session."
Here are some comments from motorcyclists who have taken the
training: "Firstly let me just say that I cannot thank you enough for
the course. It has enabled me to ride my bike in a controlled safe manner,
which in turn means I used it more than I ever planned too. The
confidence skills and knowledge which has come through on this course is
plain to see in the DVD’s."
"I know that in the short time I come a long
way and I hope to keep up and build upon this foundation I feel I know have.
When I set out on this journey with you it was with the aim of build a
foundation that I could build upon and I feel that not only has that been
achieve but surpassed." (Andrew Gralton, 10 Session Course)
"Hi Nigel, the DVD arrived yesterday, seems strange to see
yourself riding along, your assessment was spot on. I went for a run
last night and put into practice your suggestions, I found the ride a lot
more comfortable, less strained, smoother and quicker, but most off all a
lot more enjoyable." (Alan Thomas One Hour Assessment Session)
Although the DVD that Nigel sells is not intended as an
instructional aid, it does provide an insight into the courses that Advanced
Motorcycle Training offers.
|
<urn:uuid:9956b3e2-bda1-4c84-8e41-1eccf99ad6f0>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.webbikeworld.com/motorcycle-training/motorcycle-safety-training.htm
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00044-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.954064
| 1,088
| 1.882813
| 2
|
Art Pottery (American and European art pottery other than mid century items)
Pottery and Porcelain (Figurines, plates, vases, etc.)
Mid-Century Design (Mid Century pottery, currently featuring one of the best selections of studio and W. German pottery in the U.S.)
Studio Pottery (While many of these items can be found in other categories, they are also gathered here for those with a special interest in studio work.)
Glass (art glass, stemware, EAPG, Depression, Elegant, etc.)
Metalware (Various metal items and misc. vases, inkwells, etc.)
Paintings (oils, watercolors, prints, 19th and 20th century American and European)
Essays and Information:
Book Review: Fat Lava, West German Ceramics of the 1960s & 70s
West German Picture Gallery and Identification Aid (pictures of items we've had over the last 3 years)
Get the Picture Straight: The Basics of Selling Glass and Pottery on the Internet (how to write item listings, matters of photography, etc.)
Pedagogy, Philosophy and Nonsense (my "other" site: writing, learning, and odd ideas like long hair and fairy god-princesses)
West German Pottery
The Fat Lava Collectors Club is on a longterm hiatus. Here is the last message I received:
FYI: Just wanted to reiterated that the collectors group is alive and well, but on hiatus until the Fat Lava exhibition gets underway at the Canadian Clay and Glass Museum, Waterloo, Ontario, September 26, 2010-January 7, 2011.
Founded in December 2006, the purpose of the Fat Lava collectors club is to expand the appreciation and knowledge of West German pottery. The club has monthly meetings, gives donations to museums, and organizes exhibitions. Members include collectors, dealers, curators and other West German pottery fans from around the world. The club has a relaxed organizational structure, but is diligent about keeping its members connected and informed by a frequent and regular e-newsletter called LAVAflow.
Pages (on hold while I figure out where I
put the catalog or the pictures, oops)
The meaning of Fat Lava: The term fat lava has become increasing common since the London exhibition and Mark Hill's catalog/book of the exhibition used the phrase in their title.
I don't know of an official history of the term, but I think it's a translation quirk. Most of the top sellers of West German pottery on eBay are in Germany, and while many of them have a fine command of English, there are always words that are just a bit off.
Some pieces of West German pottery, especially after 1965, have a thick, volcanic, or pumice, or lava-like glaze on all or part of the vase. It seems that "thick" came through as "fat" and a thick lava glaze became fat lava.
It's a fun term, much more descriptive than saying West German pottery, and it rolls off the tongue much easier. Unfortunately, it leaves out the majority of West German pottery. Even in the Fat Lava book, many of the vases pictured have nothing that can be called a lava glaze, fat, thick, or otherwise.
So enjoy the term, the images it conjures, and the cultural quirk it represents. Just don't take it too firmly or as an absolute.
|
<urn:uuid:966ec3ce-748f-464f-914b-c547311c7484>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.ginforsodditiques.com/flcc.html
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.950162
| 738
| 1.585938
| 2
|
Phenotypical characterization of alpha-galactosidase A gene mutations identified in a large Fabry disease screening program in stroke in the young.
; ; et al
in Clinical Neurology & Neurosurgery (2012)
OBJECTIVE: In the Belgian Fabry Study (BeFaS), the prevalence of Fabry disease was assessed in 1000 young patients presenting with stroke, unexplained white matter lesions or vertebrobasilar ... [more ▼]
OBJECTIVE: In the Belgian Fabry Study (BeFaS), the prevalence of Fabry disease was assessed in 1000 young patients presenting with stroke, unexplained white matter lesions or vertebrobasilar dolichoectasia. The results of the BeFaS suggested that Fabry disease may play a role in up to 1% of young patients presenting with cerebrovascular disease. However, the clinical relevance was unclear in all cases. We report on detailed phenotyping in subjects identified with alpha-galactosidase A (alpha-Gal A) enzyme deficiency or GLA mutations identified in the BeFaS (n=10), and on the results of family screening in this population. METHODS: Family screening was performed to identify additional mutation carriers. Biochemical and/or clinical evaluation of all subjects (BeFaS index patients and relatives carrying a GLA mutation) was performed. RESULTS: Genetic family screening revealed 18 additional GLA mutation carriers. Bloodspot alpha-Gal A enzyme activity was normal in all GLA mutation carriers, even in 2 males with the p.A143T mutation. Plasma Gb3 and lyso-Gb3 levels were normal in all subjects. Elevated Gb3 in urine was detected in 2 subjects. Some classic clinical signs of Fabry disease, like angiokeratoma or cornea verticillata, could not be detected in our population. Cardiac symptoms of Fabry disease were found in 6 out of 10 p.A143T carriers. No signs of cerebrovascular disease were found in the relatives with a GLA mutation. CONCLUSIONS: We could not identify mutations causing the classical clinical phenotype of Fabry disease in our cerebrovascular disease population. Enzyme activity analysis in bloodspots and plasma may fail to identify late-onset variants of Fabry disease. We recommend genetic testing when an atypical, late-onset variant of Fabry disease is suspected in a male cerebrovascular disease patient. However, this may lead to the identification of non-disease causing or controversial genetic variants. [less ▲]Detailed reference viewed: 24 (0 ULg)
Belgian Fabry study: prevalence of Fabry disease in a cohort of 1000 young patients with cerebrovascular disease.
; ; et al
in Stroke (2010), 41(5), 863-8
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Data on the prevalence of Fabry disease in patients with central nervous system pathology are limited and controversial. In this study, we assessed the prevalence of Fabry disease ... [more ▼]
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Data on the prevalence of Fabry disease in patients with central nervous system pathology are limited and controversial. In this study, we assessed the prevalence of Fabry disease in young patients presenting with cerebrovascular disease in Belgium. METHODS: In this national, prospective, multicenter study, we screened for Fabry disease in 1000 patients presenting with ischemic stroke, transient ischemic attack, or intracranial hemorrhage; unexplained white matter lesions; or vertebrobasilar dolichoectasia. In male patients, we measured alpha-galactosidase A (alpha-GAL A) activity in dried blood spots. Female patients were screened for mutations by exonic DNA sequencing of the alpha-GAL A gene. RESULTS: alpha-GAL A activity was deficient in 19 men (3.5%), although all had normal alpha-GAL A gene sequences. Enzymatic deficiency was confirmed on repeat assessment in 2 male patients (0.4%). We identified missense mutations in 8 unrelated female patients (1.8%): Asp313Tyr (n=5), Ala143Thr (n=2), and Ser126Gly (n=1). The pathogenicity of the 2 former missense mutations is controversial. Ser126Gly is a novel mutation that can be linked to late-onset Fabry disease. CONCLUSIONS: alpha-GAL A deficiency may play a role in up to 1% of young patients presenting with cerebrovascular disease. These findings suggest that atypical variants of Fabry disease with late-onset cerebrovascular disease exist, although the clinical relevance is unclear in all cases. [less ▲]Detailed reference viewed: 23 (3 ULg)
|
<urn:uuid:6b939e98-fd92-4625-bced-2762f8ee3348>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://orbi.ulg.ac.be/browse?type=author&rpp=20&value=Eyskens%2C+Francois
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.914236
| 1,000
| 2.453125
| 2
|
A Bahraini protester flashes "V" sign for victory in front of riot police during an anti-government demonstration in the village of Abu Saiba, west of Manama on June 8, 2012.
Bahraini protesters have condemned the Al Khalifa regime for imposing a ban on opposition rallies, blocking the streets in the villages of Dair and Sitra using burning tires, Press TV reports.
Since the early hours of Saturday, protesters have started flooding the streets in several villages.
Saudi-backed regime forces fired tear gas to disperse the protesters. No injuries have been reported yet.
Amnesty International has criticized Bahrain for banning opposition rallies, urging Manama to allow peaceful protests.
Although Bahraini authorities claim that the move is aimed at preventing disruption to traffic and street violence, the opposition describes it as a new attempt to silence them.
Opposition groups, including al-Wefaq party, have called for rallies across the country to protest the ban.
On Friday, Bahraini forces also fired tear gas and rubber bullets to break up a rally in the northwestern village of Bani Jamrah.
Similar protest demonstrations were also held in several other villages, including Sitra and Daih.
In Daih, Bahraini demonstrators expressed solidarity with Saudi anti-regime protesters and called for the immediate release of top Saudi Shia cleric Sheikh Nemr al-Nemr.
Bahrainis have been staging demonstrations since mid-February 2011, demanding political reform and a constitutional monarchy, a demand that later changed to an outright call for the ouster of the ruling Al Khalifa family following its brutal crackdown on peaceful protests.
Scores of people have been killed and many others have been injured in the Saudi-backed crackdown on peaceful protesters in Bahrain.
Bahrainis hold King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa responsible for the death and arrest of protesters.
|
<urn:uuid:9a685229-665d-4206-85b1-6a49a75fe354>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://presstv.com/detail/2012/07/14/250800/bahrainis-condemn-ban-on-protest-rallies/
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.946015
| 379
| 1.5
| 2
|
Letters to Campus Community
Virginia Tech Tragedy
April 17, 2007
To the Campus Community:
As we learn more about the awful tragedy that has befallen Virginia Polytechnic Institute, our hearts go out to those who have lost classmates, colleagues, family members and friends. A tragedy of this scope and scale is almost unthinkable, and we are just beginning to fully grasp the impact of what has occurred. Our thoughts and prayers are with all those affected by these terrible circumstances.
Whether or not you are directly touched by these events, they bring great sorrow and stress to our own campus at a time when students are already adjusting to the increased pressures of exams. Many in our University may be feeling vulnerable as more information comes out about the shootings and the events that led up to the tragedy. It is important that we share a sense of community and offer one another the maximum amount of support and tolerance.
I want to remind our students, faculty and staff that resources are available to assist you with any feelings of distress:
- Students may contact Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) at 764-8312.
- If you live in campus housing and you need to talk to someone, you may also reach out to a student staff member.
- Faculty and staff may contact the Faculty and Staff Assistance Program (FASAP) at 936-8660.
Any community member who has a question or concern about the wellbeing of a U-M student may contact CAPS and speak to a counselor about how best to be helpful. More information about helping students in distress can be found on the CAPS website.
I also want to assure you that University officials and safety officers have planned in advance for a wide range of emergencies. Our public safety officers, in particular, are extensively trained and have well-established procedures in place to address any instances of violence. We hope they won’t need to use this training, but we ensure they practice regularly so they will know how to respond in the event of a disaster. We also have mutual aid agreements with regional law enforcement agencies, who would quickly assist us if additional personnel were needed.
Our Department of Public Safety officers tell us the most important thing we can do to keep ourselves safe is to be alert to our surroundings, and call police at 9-1-1 immediately if we see any behavior that seems unusual or suspicious. More safety tips can be found in the Campus Safety Handbook.
In an emergency, we would use a range of communication tools to reach our campus community including building-to-building announcements, phone callouts, e-mail, website postings, radio and other mass media, and outreach to key staff including building managers, Housing staff, etc.
You can help us to make sure these channels are effective by visiting Wolverine Access and updating your emergency contact information. It is important that we know your main phone numbers, including cell phones, in case we need to do an emergency callout. We also encourage you to identify contact information for your family members who can be reached in the event of an emergency. The City of Ann Arbor also maintains the CodeRED Emergency Telephone Calling System to notify residents within minutes of an emergency or a potential hazard. The system will call each number and will leave messages on answering machines and cell phones. For more information or to register for CodeRED, visit the Code Red website.
A safe, secure campus will always be a priority at Michigan. If any good is to come from this week’s tragedy, let it be that we learn more about how to prevent such thoughtless violence.
President Mary Sue Coleman
|
<urn:uuid:88994fbf-c08d-4dd6-9378-6fc747f980e3>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://president.umich.edu/speech/letter/070416vtech.php
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.954753
| 738
| 1.546875
| 2
|
Browser does not support script.
Skip to main content
Find out how we produce our information|
Being involved in your care can help you feel more in control.
When you feel well enough you could:
Understanding your illness and its treatment means you’ll be better prepared to cope with your situation. If there’s anything you don’t understand about your treatment, its side effects and possible outcomes, it’s important to ask. It’s also important to tell the doctors and nurses if you have new symptoms or side effects and also how your mood is.
Content last reviewed: 1 December 2011
Next planned review: 2013
For answers, support or just a chat, call the Macmillan Support Line free (Monday to Friday, 9am-8pm)
If you have any questions about cancer, need support or just want someone to talk to, ask Macmillan.
If you have any questions about Macmillan we would love to hear from you| .
You can also follow us| on Facebook, Twitter, Flickr or YouTube.
© Macmillan Cancer Support 2013
what are these?|
|
<urn:uuid:52007afd-9eef-424f-93d2-6d0ff186fd76>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.macmillan.org.uk/Cancerinformation/Cancertreatment/Treatmenttypes/Stemcellbonemarrowtransplants/Allogeneic(donor)stemcelltransplants/Sideeffects/Helpingyourself.aspx
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00063-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.932712
| 238
| 2.015625
| 2
|
Te Waka Kai Ora
Dine out in Hamilton and there's a very good chance you'll be enjoying some of Kaiwaka Riki's gourmet vegetables. And Kaiwaka himself would tell you with an enthusiastic grin that that's not even half the story.
More than 10 years ago, when Kaiwaka was serving time for growing cannabis, he decided to learn how to run a small business and become self-sufficient. On release, with a broken spade and $20 a week from the dole he planted vegetables in a small garden, and to his delight produced hearty vegetables. His whānau agreed that family land could be used for organic gardening and Kaiwaka and his wife Lynne have never looked back. They call themselves Kaiwhenua Organics and now grow about 50 kinds of kai all year round on frost-free terraces overlooking Raglan Harbour.
Kaiwaka is only one of a growing number of gardeners who are turning under used tribal land into flourishing gardens to supply local supermarkets and restaurants and provide healthy kai for their families. Already whānau are being taught the best of organic and Māori gardening pratices and the income stream is returning to the community.
The driving force behind the initiative is Te Waka Kai Ora (TWKO) a national organisation wanting economic, social and health benefits for Māori. TWKO gives its Hua Parakore (pure product) brand award to growers whose land and practices have met tikanga Māori standards. The indigenous brand and methods were recently presented at the global Terra Madre innovative food conference in Italy.
True to TWKO philosophy Kaiwaka and Lynne use rooting kunekune pigs to help clear and fertilise the land for planting. Each of their seven gardens uses 15 tonnes of compost each year, and the couple make their own using a stacking method and manure from the resident horse and chooks. They also make their own seed-raising mix and liquid fertilisers, and save and use their own seed. The only outside input is organic hay for compost and sand from a village relative's backyard, skinks eat the bugs, companion planting encourages productivity, crops are rotated every four years, planting follows a lunar calendar, and the whole operation uses local climate and landscape to full advantage.
|
<urn:uuid:682952de-ed27-45b8-8e2b-18402e5db4bd>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.jrmckenzie.org.nz/stories/te-waka-kai-ora
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00028-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.957084
| 476
| 1.84375
| 2
|
Conditions of Use
Well I started off in the bottom of an extremely hot magma chamber. Then after what felt like a decade I crystallized then went into igneous rock formation. This was caused because I left the magma chamber and cooled off. This called the intrusive step witch is a rock cooling below the surface and changing into an igneous rock. Then a very slow and painful process changed me into something else called metamorphic rock. This was called caused because I was put into very hot temperatures and high pressure. Then I got to hot and melted and was back in the magma chamber. Then I left the chamber and did step called uplift and exposure. Witch Is when you go through weathering witch in I got rained on and it snowed it hailed on me then I got moved for a week by wind that was a step called transportation, and weathering. By this time I was just a pile of sand this is called deposition. Then I stopped moving and became hard rock this step is called lithified. Now I am a sedimentary rock. Then I went back through the uplift and exposure stage after I went under the earth and went under high temperatures and pressure changing me into a metamorphic rock. I then back through the uplift and exposure stage again! Soon I melted and there I was magma again.
I was starting to feel at home again then I left and went out of the chamber and I did something called consolidation. Witch is rock leaving the ground and going above the surface. This turns me into igneous rock again. This time the step is called extrusive because I cooled off above ground. Once it turns into igneous rock it can change into metamorphic rock if it goes deep into the earth and goes into hot and high pressure.
Once I was cooled off the elements started to start it rained very hard. Then the wind carried me for at least a day. That was a step called weathering and transportation witch is crucial for the formation of sedimentary rocks. Then the rocks start to break apart and dissolve. After a little bit they stop breaking apart and moving that step is called deposition. Then the rock turns into hard rock that step is called lithification. New rock is called sedimentary rock. After it has changed it goes through the weathering stage again that is called uplift and exposure.
After it turns into sedimentary rock again it goes through a stage called metamorphism. When the sedimentary rocks go deep into the earth and have high temperatures and pressure it turns into metamorphic rock. Once it is a metamorphic rock and it reaches high temperatures and melts it turns back into magma. Well as time goes on this stage keeps going on and never stops that is the tuft life of a rock.
Article posted May 6, 2010 at 03:52 PM •
comment • Reads 209
Return to Blog List
Add a Comment
About the Blogger
|
<urn:uuid:5721141f-379d-4d99-9eb9-839659264304>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://classblogmeister.com/blog.php?blog_id=1150866&mode=comment&user_id=&blogger_id=
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00047-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.973214
| 602
| 2.125
| 2
|
There is nothing quite like the color yellow to make our homes feel cheerful and sunny. Maybe a full yellow room isn’t your taste, but with some inspiration and fresh ideas, you just might want to consider incorporating shades of yellow in new ways in your home. There are so many fresh yellow color schemes available to try, that you just might find yourself decorating with yellow before you know it.
The Color Yellow Is…
The color yellow is a warming and cheerful color, and has the ability to lift spirits, adding a bright contrast with darker colors and cool tones.
Think about how it makes you feel to see the sun rays beaming through your window at daybreak. Bright spring daffodils bringing the first sign of spring. You can live with the warm shades of yellow all year ’round. Just simply add pops of the color yellow throughout the rooms of your home.
Where should you use a Yellow Color Scheme?
Any room can have some yellow color scheme depending on your preferences.
If you live in a gray or cold climate most of the year, shades of yellow are a great choice for you. They will make you feel happy and warm.
Yellow hues are always a great choice for kitchens as they bring a cheerful atmosphere to an active room.
The color yellow comes in many different hues and values anywhere from a bright lemon shade to a rich earthy gold.
Did you know?
Yellow is the first color that your eye will notice, and if you want someone to notice your home, paint it yellow, or welcome guests with a bright yellow door. There is no doubt that the color yellow makes a statement and gets noticed.
Decorating With Yellow In Every Room
Aqua and yellow color scheme is a beautiful color combination that works in most rooms. Here is a soft version, perfect for the bedroom.
This yellow kitchen island is a great example of how a pop of the color yellow can go a long way, and is a dramatic addition to this space.
If you don’t like a lot of yellow in your room, consider adding touches of the color that are “just enough” to brighten up the earthy tones as in this classy dining room.
Soft lemon yellow is a definite cottage style color. This shade of yellow is easy on the eye, and works well with soft blue and greens.
Brown and yellow color scheme are a great contrast between dark and light. This bedroom is a fresh modern take for adding the color yellow to your home.
Fresh country cottage colors of pink, yellow, and white are sweet and cheerful as in this guest bedroom ready to welcome anyone who comes to stay.
You can take shades of yellow to the warm side and add them with orange for a big splash of sunshine to your home.
This room is a great balance of cool and warm colors. I like the way the mediterranean blue, orange and yellow color combination work so well together. This living room just says “happy”!
A classic bathroom is a great place to add a shade of yellow. I love the way this yellow and white bathroom is simple and fresh in style.
Are you feeling happy after all those beautiful images? Maybe you will want to add some shade of yellow to your home.
What do you think? How do you use the color yellow in your home?
|
<urn:uuid:ce2c53c1-3c74-4b81-9474-899c57c303c4>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.deniseinbloom.com/yellow-color-scheme/
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00031-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.916467
| 690
| 1.601563
| 2
|
The conventional practice when cooking dried legumes is to soak them before cooking and to refrain from adding salt or acidic ingredients during cooking. One of the charms of lentils is that they don't need to be soaked. We wondered if this noncomformist status would also apply to the restrictions on salt and acid.
We wanted to determine the best cooking times and uses for three varieties of : French Le Puy, peeled red, and whole red masoor (red lentils with the brownish seed coat left on).
We found that the addition of salt to the cooking water significantly developed the flavor of each lentil. The use of vinegar, however, was not such a hit. It doubled the cooking time and gave the lentils a rather grainy texture. Subsequent tests with wine and tomato yielded similar results. This is because acids interfere with lentils' ability to bind with water. This in turn causes them to take longer to soften and to have a rather dry taste. So unless you're using lentils in a slow-cooking dish and want to lengthen their cooking time, avoid cooking them with acidic ingredients.
|
<urn:uuid:159eb331-c715-464e-b9bb-ac94ce0dd104>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://recipes.cooksillustrated.com/salads-recipes/french/beans/french-lentil-salad-with-caraway-and-radish-recipe/
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00043-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.954824
| 229
| 2.4375
| 2
|
Do you have questions about nutrition? Do you have special dietary needs? University Housing and Dining Services' registered dietitian, Tara Sanders, can assist you with special dietary considerations including food allergies and nutrition education. Additionally, nutrition counseling services are available with the OSU Student Health Services.
Food Allergy/Intolerance Disclaimer: UHDS is committed to identifying ingredients that may cause reactions for those with food allergies and intolerances and trains employees on safe handling procedures to minimize risk; however, because foods are prepared in a commercial kitchen, there is always some risk of cross contact of allergens and gluten. Consumers should also be aware of the risk that manufacturers of the commercial foods OSU uses may change the formulation of ingredients or substitute other ingredients at any time, without notice.
We recognize that many of our students and other guest choose to eat foods that are vegan or vegetarian for a variety of health, ethical, faith-based, and other reasons. As such we have developed a list of vegan and vegetarian items that can be found in each of our dining locations.
We understand that if you prefer or require gluten-free food items, you may need some additional assistance in seeking those options out. As such, we have developed a list of gluten-free entrée options that can be found in each of our dining locations.
If you practice a halal diet, you may need some additional assistance in seeking those options out. As such, we have developed a list of halal entrée options that can be found in each of our dining locations.
- Ask the Dietitian - Q&A sections by subject, from Alcohol to Zinc.
- American Dietetic Association - One of the largest nutrition-oriented organizations in the US, their Web site has a variety of Nutrition Resources, info on nutrition In the News, and its own selection of related sites.
- Food Safety and Nutrition
- Eating healthy on a budget
If you have suggestions for recipes or menu items that you believe would enhance our efforts to provide a balance of choices please let us know.
|
<urn:uuid:f0f20437-de9e-4f7a-bfc1-1cada88d0949>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://oregonstate.edu/uhds/nutrition
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.938652
| 422
| 1.890625
| 2
|
Google Inc's Android mobile platform has not infringed Oracle Corp's patents, a California jury decided, putting an indefinite hold on Oracle's quest for damages in a fight between the two Silicon Valley giants over smartphone technology.
In a case that examined whether computer language that connects programs and operating systems can be copyrighted, Oracle claimed Google's Android tramples on its intellectual property rights to the Java programming language.
Google argued it did not violate Oracle's patents and that Oracle cannot copyright certain parts of Java, an “open-source” or publicly available software language.
In addition to finding for Google on patents, the jury foreman told reporters that the final vote on a key copyright issue earlier in the case had heavily favored Google.
David Sunshine, a New York-based intellectual property lawyer who advises hedge funds, said the outcome of the Google trial was humbling for Oracle, which had it won, could have gained handsome payouts given the growing market for Android devices.
“It's a huge blow,” Sunshine said.
For Oracle and its aggressive CEO Larry Ellison, the trial against Google over Java was the first of several scheduled this year against large competitors. Another trial is set to begin next week between Oracle and Hewlett-Packard Co over the Itanium microprocessor.
The verdict was delivered on Wednesday in a San Francisco federal court.
Oracle spokeswoman Deborah Hellinger said the company would continue to defend and uphold Java's unique functionality.
“Oracle presented overwhelming evidence at trial that Google knew it would fragment and damage Java,” she said.
Attorneys for Oracle looked grim after the verdict, while Google lawyers smiled and shook hands. Google general counsel Kent Walker said the company felt it was important to send a message by taking the case to trial.
“We didn't want to back down when we felt the facts were on our side,” Walker said in an interview with Reuters.
Although the jury found earlier that Oracle had proven copyright infringement for parts of Java, it could not unanimously agree on whether Google could fairly use that material.
Without a finding against Google on the fair use question, Oracle cannot recover damages on the bulk of its copyright claims. And US District Judge William Alsup has not yet decided on several legal issues that could determine how a potential retrial on copyright would unfold, if at all.
Jury foreman Greg Thompson, 52, said that at times he was the only holdout for Oracle on that fair use copyright question. When the jury finally declared itself deadlocked, the final vote count was 9-3 in favor of Google, Thompson said.
According to Thompson, a retirement plan specialist, one of the other jurors used a food analogy to describe Oracle's evidence.
“He said he was waiting for the steak, and all he got was the parsley,” Thompson said, adding that in his opinion, Google's arguments in favor of open software collaboration swayed more tech savvy jurors.
All the other jurors filed past reporters outside the courtroom and declined to comment.
Walker said he was briefing a group of Google engineers about the company's legal issues when news of the verdict came in. “There was a real round of applause,” he said.
While Oracle is seeking about $1 billion in copyright damages, the patent damages in play were much lower.
In the event it lost on patent liability, Google offered to pay Oracle roughly $2.8 million in damages on the two patents remaining in the case, covering the period through 2011, according to a filing made jointly by the companies before trial.
For future damages, Google proposed paying Oracle 0.5 percent of Android revenue on one patent until it expires this December and 0.015 percent on a second patent until it expires in April 2018. Oracle rejected the proposal.
During trial, Judge Alsup revealed that Android generated roughly $97.7 million in revenue during the first quarter of 2010.
Shares in Oracle closed 1.2 percent higher at $26.68. Google stock was up 1.4 percent at $609.46.
Colleen Chien, a professor at Santa Clara Law in Silicon Valley, said the result shows the risks of IP litigation.
“Oracle came in this thinking it was going to win billions, now it will probably walk away losing millions in legal fees,” Chien said.
The case in US District Court, Northern District of California, is Oracle America, Inc v. Google Inc, 10-3561. - Reuters
|
<urn:uuid:274dd31a-efe0-4729-861f-fc2a404104af>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.iol.co.za/business/international/oracle-takes-hit-in-android-case-1.1303797
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.956163
| 925
| 1.601563
| 2
|
KOTA Territory middle school students celebrated Veterans Day early on Friday with a special assembly and a visit from veterans.
Students at Sturgis Williams Middle School spent an hour with veterans, listening to their stories and asking questions.
After the question and answer session the school gathered in the gym for an assembly to honor our veterans; where the students performed songs, and read poetry.
The students say it was a chance for to thank those who fought for our freedom.
"To honor the veterans because they don't have to do it, it's their choice to do it and some of them paid the ultimate price," Max Lyle a seventh grader.
"It's great that the kids are willing to sit there and listen to us talk about our experience in basic training being shipped overseas it just makes you proud that they can respect us," said Mike Mullen a Vietnam Veteran.
Even some of the students' teachers served our country and the students were able to thank some of their teachers who served our country.
|
<urn:uuid:4b0c6339-f45d-4e9c-8bbe-70960a0d4da6>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.kotatv.com/story/20057440/students-in-kota-territory-honor-our-veterans
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00040-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.977977
| 206
| 1.546875
| 2
|
Presence of dieldrin in human body can be measured in blood, urine, and body tissue. Special equipment is needed to measure dieldrin in such bodily tissues or fluids thats why they are not usually available at a doctor's office. However, a sample taken in the doctor's office can be properly packed and shipped to a special laboratory, if necessary. Dieldrin can stay in the body for months, and measurements of dieldrin can be made long after exposure to either dieldrin. The test results cannot be used to predict if amount of dieldrin present in the body will have any adverse health effects. Exposure to other chemicals at the same time as exposure to dieldrin could cause some confusion in understanding test results for it.
|
<urn:uuid:88fc6bb1-ebfe-4244-b982-ac3a2c47a523>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.unido.org/what-we-do/energy-and-environment/capacity-building-for-the-implementation-of-multilateral-environmental-agreements/the-stockholm-convention/facts-and-figures/what-are-persistent-organic-pollutants-pops/dieldrin/medication.html
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00033-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.950701
| 152
| 3.046875
| 3
|
The history of the Vatican as a papal residence dates from the 5th cent., when, after Emperor Constantine I had built the basilica of St. Peter's, Pope Symmachus built a palace nearby. The pope usually resided in the Lateran Palace until the "Babylonian captivity" (14th cent.) in Avignon, France. After the return of the papacy to Rome (1377) the Vatican became the usual residence. The Renaissance popes, principally Sixtus IV, Innocent VIII, Alexander VI, Julius II, Leo X, and Clement VII, were great patrons of the arts, and it was they who began to assemble the great collections and to construct the wonderful galleries. Gregory XIII and Sixtus V spent huge sums on the Vatican and also began the Quirinal, a palace that served as the papal residence from the 17th to the 19th cent., was the Italian royal palace from 1870 to 1946, and is now the home of the president of Italy.
Sections in this article:
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2012, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.
|
<urn:uuid:c131cc2a-6cab-4771-b546-8195d48519ec>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.factmonster.com/encyclopedia/world/vatican-city-history.html
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00028-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.957287
| 236
| 3.6875
| 4
|
Here we go again. For the third weekend in a row another coastal storm is poised to affect the area. There are some differences between this storm and the past two. Prior to this storm warm air will try to flow north and will impact the position of the rain/snow line. As the storm moves up the coast snow this weekend, snow and rain will break out across the area later in the afternoon Saturday. If you have errands to run, it should remain dry most of the daylight hours. Saturday night and Sunday morning will be the worst of the storm. Power outages and coastal flooding are both possible from this upcoming storm. I'll be updating the forecast all day on Twitter at @growingwisdom please send me your reports there.
Major coastal storms in the winter have both cold and warm air as part of their formation. In simplistic terms the left side of the storm is cold and the right side is warm. The closer the center of the storm comes to the coast, the closer the warm air. For our weekend storm, the track is going to be critical. While the track of the storm is certainly important, there are many other factors besides the exact track that can impact the type of precipitation an area ultimately receives. First, if there is a lot of cold air before the storm begins then it can take longer for any change to rain to occur and for warm air to move inland. Second, this time of the year the ocean water is nearing its yearly minimum. Unlike 6 weeks ago when ocean temperatures were running above normal, ocean temperatures now are colder and are quite typical for the latter half of February. The colder ocean means if we do see a wind coming from the east, off that water, the mild marine air wonít move as far inland and the precipitation remains all snow closer to the coast. Third, the time of day the storm occurs can be very important. Itís much easier to have a stormís precipitation remain all snow at night than it is during the day.
Our storm this weekend will begin later Saturday afternoon with the bulk of the storm coming at night and the first part of Sunday. Based on some of the reasoning above, areas close to the coast may start as rain and then change to snow as the night progresses. We have had storms in the past where the rain/snow line moves west towards Worcester and then turns around and collapses to the coast several hours later. The stakes are high with this storm. Current model forecasts give up to an inch and a half of precipitation which can translate into over a foot of snow if rain was not involved with the storm. The best chance for the heaviest amounts of snow will be west of Route 128 and north of the Massachusetts Turnpike. This doesn't mean Boston, Plymouth, Providence and New Bedford arenít going to see snow or even significant amounts of snow, it just means the most likely areas to get all snow and no rain are north and west of those areas. We will have a wind off the water, especially in the first few hours of the storm. I am concerned that areas like Boston and even parts of Cape Ann will experience a period of rain, or mixed snow and rain, for several hours as the storm begins. This will cut down on accumulation.
The trend Sunday will be for any rain or mixed snow and rain to change to snow. The snow will be heavy and wet and stick to everything. With the wind, power outages might be an issue. Additionally, the strong winds could cause some coastal flooding around the time of high tide, about 10 AM.
The storm will wind down on Sunday and end as a period of snow everywhere. I expect even Cape Cod to get an inch or two at the end of the storm. Dry weather will return later Sunday and continue into Monday before the next storm threatens the area Tuesday night and Wednesday. The current pattern of these storms looks to continue for about another week to 10 days. I canít say how strong any future storms will be after this weekend, but I can tell you that the jet stream remains very active and that March will enter like a lion across much of the country.
Gardening this week
With another storm on the horizon for the weekend you might feel like spring is still very far away. The reality is that in just a few weeks, many of you will be able to get into your gardens and start growing for another year. Earlier this month I went to New England Grows which is a trade show for those who work in the industry. Although not open to the general public, in this week's video I share some of the latest trends and newest plants for 2013.
I'll be updating the forecast all day on Twitter at @growingwisdom please send me your reports there.
The author is solely responsible for the content.
|
<urn:uuid:2a108df2-b9aa-4ccd-a1da-7ad2afa27a93>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.boston.com/news/weather/weather_wisdom/2013/02/another_weekend_another_noreas.html?p1=Well_MostPop_Emailed2
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00046-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.95565
| 977
| 1.695313
| 2
|
This week marks the 30th anniversary of the publication of my first book. Titled, Office Hazards: How Your Job Can Make You Sick, it chronicled the transformation of office environments and office-based work that was taking place at the time. Looking back three decades later, a lot has changed — and some things haven't.
First, some context. When I wrote the book, in 1980-81, several trends were taking place in offices. Buildings were being sealed tight to save energy; windows were no longer operable. Interior walls were being demolished to make way for "systems furniture," the open offices that derisively became known as the "cubicle culture." Synthetic materials were being introduced: carpeting, wallcoverings, particleboard furnishings, and more. Computers were being introduced (primarily as workstations connected to mainframe computers; personal computers would come along shortly).
The result: Workers could no longer open or close doors or windows, or turn on or off lights. The temperature was controlled by a computer in the basement. Workers were adjusting themselves to accommodate the newfangled computer terminals, rather than the other way around. (Ergonomic furniture was just being introduced.) Some of the work itself was becoming machine-paced, broken down into "processes," much like in a factory.
The impact of all these changes was being felt increasingly on office workers. As I wrote in the book's intro:
The nature of the problem is such that the individual hazards in offices are often rather small, seemingly trivial things. Office workers rarely drop dead or lose limbs on the job. An uncomfortable chair does not seem like a major calamity; neither does stuffy air or a few ringing telephones. But put an office worker in a bad chair in a noisy, stuffy office, require that worker to perform a dead-end job for low pay on a video display terminal with a dirty screen made worse by the harsh glare from fluorescent lights, add a dash of pressure — a ruthless supervisor, for example, or economic pressures or family problems — and you’ve got an explosive situation, the stuff from which headaches and heart attacks are made.
OK, three decades later, I’ll admit to a little hyperbole. But the overall trend was unmistakable. Companies were beginning to offshore data processing and other rote chores to office factories. Office workers, overwhelmingly female, were beginning to organize. The movie Nine to Five, starring Lily Tomlin, Jane Fonda, and Dolly Parton, came out as I was writing the book. The first office workers union — Local 925 — was formed in 1982 by the Service Employees International Union. (The woman who would become president of Local 925, Karen Nussbaum, wrote the foreword for my book while she headed the working women's group 9to5.) It was time to reexamine what had become known as the “cushy office job.”
Thirty years later, much has changed. Indoor air pollution (or, in its extreme, "sick building syndrome"), while still a problem, especially with legacy buildings, is being addressed through more effective and energy-efficient heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning equipment. (Also from office smoking bans: According to research I cited in 1981, fully 35 percent of office employees still smoked at their desks.) The aches and pains of computer work have been partially mitigated by ergonomic furniture and, in some companies, preventive wellness programs that train employees how to work more comfortably. Office furnishings are much more flexible; some workstations have controllable lighting and air conditioning.
|
<urn:uuid:12c9f402-eafa-4c63-b3af-3c02e1a43794>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.greenbiz.com/blog/2011/07/01/future-and-past-office-future?page=0%2C0
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.98193
| 749
| 1.890625
| 2
|
Geomechanical and geotechnical research
The research is focused on two major areas: Relations of stress field forming and its progressive strain behaviour in various types of rock mass and in zones of interaction of natural and/or artificial (i.e. created by human intervention) structural units are studied. The research is performed using both direct in-situ measurements (hydrofracturing, tensometric measurements, CCBO, convergence of underground workings, deformation of boreholes) and mathematical modelling. The topics are both forming of original regional and induced stress fields in given locality and their effects on underground spaces, and changes in surface profile, i.e. formation and development of subsidence depressions in time, induced by human activities in the Earth crust.
Research on possibilities and methods of qualitative improvement and intentional modifications of rock mass properties for its utilization as active structural element of underground geotechnical structures represents another part of the research. It concerns in particular use and research on effectiveness of latest geotechnical methods of grouting and anchoring of rocks with regard to required properties of newly created material, behaviour of such modified rock mass with respect to stability, safety and serviceability of underground geotechnical structure, refining research on physical, mechanical and strength properties of new geocomposite materials, research on methodology and conditions of their preparation from the point of view of in-situ application.
|
<urn:uuid:c4dc464b-3f20-4de4-8030-f5bb6376cdeb>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.ugn.cas.cz/?l=en&a=&p=about/about2.php
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00038-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.923542
| 286
| 2.109375
| 2
|
Homeland security, what is it? Homeland Security is anything that is done to keep our homeland safe. It can be as complicated as the Department of Homeland Security and that office fighting terrorism in Afghanistan, or as simple as you protecting your home or your neighborhood. With the unemployment levels so high, crime is up. Are you aware of what is going on around you? Air conditioner units are being stolen at an alarming rate, for the copper wire. They are stolen stripped down and the copper wire is being sold for scrap metal, and the crooks are making money! Homes are being broke into, robberies are rampant. Watch what is going on, are there suspicous activities in your neighborhood? If so call the local authorities, you can help keep America safe and secure.
To learn more about homeland security training go to: http://www.abchs.com/about/
United for Truth: An ACFEI Story, be sure to read about the history of ABCHS. Published by Dr. Robert O’Block
|
<urn:uuid:ca3b3b6c-db45-43af-b39d-2775409d8d4d>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://certifiedhomelandsecurity.com/?p=15
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00040-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.971595
| 210
| 2.5
| 2
|
It all started in August of 2010, when the miners got trapped 2,000 feet underground after a minor earthquake. They were trapped for more than two months, as Chilean government officials and experts from around the world tried to figure out a way to locate and bring the miners to safety.
Greg Hall of Drillers Supply International says he knew there was a way to drill through the more than 2,000 feet of solid rock to save their lives and proposed Plan B, an operation that eventually brought the miners to back to the Earth's surface alive.
"It was tremendous pressure because I've done a lot of different drilling in harsh conditions for profit, and I failed many times, but I've never had a situation where failure might mean somebody's life, so it was extremely intense," said Hall.
Hall says just locating the miners was nothing short of a miracle since they were drilling blindly. When it comes to taking credit for the rescue, he says, "God drilled the hole, I just had a good seat."
Now West Texans are getting a chance to hear hall speak in person, learn how they actually made the rescue, and see footage of of the initial contact that was made with the miners. Hall will be speaking at an event benefiting Centers for Children and Families Friday beginning at 6pm at the Horseshoe Arena.
If you would like to reserve a seat or a table, you can call Centers for Children and Families 432-570-1084. You can also find more information on their website, www.centerswesttexas.org.
For More Energy News:
Facebook: Mycah Glover - KMID
|
<urn:uuid:f3b1229d-50e7-4d8b-a719-cc6cad7cfcae>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://permianbasin360.com/fulltext/?nxd_id=201122
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.977936
| 334
| 1.835938
| 2
|
Vladimir (vlədyēˈmĭr) [key], city (1989 pop. 350,000), capital of Vladimir region, W central European Russia, on the Klyazma River. A rail junction, it has industries producing machinery, chemicals, cotton textiles, and plastics. Tourism is also important. Founded in the early 12th cent. by Vladimir II of Kiev, it was (c.1157–1238) the capital of the grand duchy of Vladimir-Suzdal, which became the chief principality after the breakup of Kievan Rus. Vladimir was destroyed (1238) by the Mongols under Batu Khan, who killed the grand duke in battle. The dukes of Moscow emerged as the most powerful Russian princes, and in 1364 they acquired Vladimir; they assumed the title of grand dukes and for a time afterward had themselves crowned there. The city's landmarks include the Uspensky (Assumption) Cathedral (1158–61) with a museum of religious art and tombs of the early princes of Vladimir; the Demetrius Cathedral (1193–97); the Golden Gate, a city gate erected in 1164; and several monasteries built (12th–13th cent.) of white stone in the Vladimir-Suzdal style (see Russian art and architecture).
|
<urn:uuid:c57a8e61-9df1-4a25-91dc-31023c3dcff3>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.infoplease.com/encyclopedia/world/vladimir.html
|
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
| 0.949019
| 281
| 3.109375
| 3
|
There’s No Such Thing as an Illegal Immigrant
The United States has a well-functioning system of guest workers, whether or not it’s enshrined in law.
Photo by John Moore/Getty Images
An estimated 11 million people live in the United States illegally. Everyone agrees that this is intolerable, and—deportation being impossible and possibly unfair—Congress appears on the verge of granting them a path to citizenship. But legal reform is not going to solve the problem of illegal immigration. That’s because illegal immigration is not really a problem, or if it is a problem, it is a problem that no one wants to solve.
It is common to think that the huge pool of illegal immigrants reflects a failure of government. Congress has established rules that determine who gets in and who stays out, but has failed to spend the money to enforce the law. The solution is more enforcement resources, symbolized by the huge wall being constructed among the Saguaros in the Sonoran desert.
But the reality is that the United States has long been well served by a three-tiered system of immigration. The top tier consists of highly desired foreign workers, who are offered green cards, which typically lead to citizenship. The second tier consists of skilled and semi-skilled people who can obtain short-term visas, usually for three years. Some of them prove themselves while here, and end up acquiring a green card as well. Then there is a third tier, typically unskilled people, who can be removed at any time and for any reason, yet are frequently permitted certain privileges, such as a driver’s license. They are also permitted to work—while in practice being denied the protection of employment and labor laws. We call these people “illegal immigrants” but that is a misnomer. Little effort is made to stop them from working or to expel them. And those who proved themselves by staying employed, learning English, and making enough money to afford a moderate fine, were given a path to citizenship in 1986, as may occur again if Congress passes immigration reform this year.
Illegal immigrants do break the law, but they break the law in the sense that everyone breaks the law. Think of traffic laws, which everyone breaks but which are also only enforced selectively—largely against people suspected of committing drug crimes or other misdeeds. The law against illegal entry is (sort of) enforced at the border, but hardly at all against people once they arrive, except if they commit serious crimes, in which case they are sent to jail and then deported.
It is an open secret that illegal workers are, or have been, employed by some of the country’s largest and most important companies, like Tyson Foods. Yet the number of worksite enforcement actions—where federal immigration authorities raid a worksite and drag away illegal workers—has been minuscule. In 2011, worksite raids resulted in the arrest of 1,471 illegal workers out of an estimated 8 million. In the same year, only 385 employers out of 6 million were fined for hiring illegal workers. And this counted for an increase from 2006, when precisely zero employers were punished. In other words, the odds of being punished for participating in the illegal immigration economy are something like the odds of being given a ticket for driving 56 mph in a 55 mph zone. Despite the federal system E-Verify, efforts to force employers to check the status of job applicants have mostly foundered because of their cost and the risk that lawful residents will be mistakenly deemed illegal (though this is in fact rare). Which is just to say that we are unwilling to incur the enforcement costs because we don’t actually want to enforce.
What we have is a de facto quasi-guest-worker system, where foreign workers who overstay their visas or sneak across the border are permitted to stay and work as long as they do not commit a serious crime, look like terrorists, or cause other trouble. In many places, authorities take pains to assure illegal immigrants that they will not be turned over to federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement so that they will cooperate with the police and social services. Anxious to attract new residents, Baltimore, for example, prohibits its employees, including police, from asking anyone about his or her immigration status. Of course, Arizona, which has suffered from violent crime associated with border crossings, has tried to crack down, but it is an exception.
The system exists because it serves America’s interests. Americans have a voracious appetite for unskilled labor—in the form of nannies, gardeners, restaurant workers, agricultural laborers, construction workers, and factory hands. And foreign countries contain huge pools of unskilled labor. Unskilled Mexican laborers would rather pick strawberries in the United States for a pittance than pick strawberries in Mexico that are exported to the United States, and for which they are paid even less than a pittance. U.S. businesses would rather pay illegal workers a pittance than Americans a pittance and a half.
What is ingenious about our system is that it allows us to take advantage of unskilled labor at low cost; exile those people who cause trouble; and ultimately grant amnesty to those who prove their worth by working steadily, learning English, and obeying criminal law. They will leave on their own when unemployment rises, and come back when labor is in demand. In this way public policy recognizes a sliding scale of legal protections for aliens, offering the strongest protections to those we want the most, and the weakest protections to those we are less sure about.
Why not recognize this guest-worker system in law? The bipartisan framework for immigration reform hints at such a change without explicitly endorsing it. But others have proposed this, and it was seriously considered in 2007 immigration reform negotiations.
The idea of making our guest-worker system official is to move potential illegal workers into legal channels, where they can be tracked and also protected from exploitation. Liberals have long opposed any system that creates second-class citizens, but because liberals also oppose harsh immigration enforcement measures, they end up reaping the benefits of a pool of low-wage second-class citizens without calling them that. Unions oppose guest-worker programs because union organization requires a long-term commitment, which temporary workers cannot make, while they compete with union members for jobs.
But these are not the real obstacles to a guest-worker program. Enshrined in law, such a system could solve the problem of illegal immigration only if it authorized the same low wages and bad working conditions that illegal workers currently accept. The demand for such workers is so high precisely because they lack legal protections, and can be paid little and often treated poorly. The more generous the guest-worker program is, the more likely that it will be evaded. At the same time, however, neither Republicans nor Democrats will support a guest-worker program that permits foreign workers to be paid less than the minimum wage. And guest workers, like illegal immigrants, integrate themselves here and have children who become American citizens. It would be difficult to demand or force them to leave if they do not want to. In the end, they are not really guests.
Here’s a prediction. A path to citizenship will be offered to the current 11 million, and if it is not too onerous, most of them will take it. But others will not, planting the seeds of a new illegal population. Possibly a guest-worker program will be put into place, but even if so, it will be too small and too entangled with bureaucracy for employers and workers to want to use. Over the years, millions more people from Mexico and especially (as Mexico’s economy continues to improve) Central and South America will illegally enter the United States. They will be partly drawn by jobs, and partly by waiting family and friends, and the law will not deter them because they expect that sooner or later another path to citizenship will open up. Ten or 20 years from now, everyone will recognize a new illegal immigration “problem,” which we will again “solve” by removing the “illegal” label from the foreheads of the migrants and affixing the “legal” label in its place.
Eric Posner, a professor at the University of Chicago Law School, is a co-author of The Executive Unbound: After the Madisonian Republic and Climate Change Justice. Reach him on Twitter at @EricAPosner.
|
<urn:uuid:8722c2eb-6f37-467c-9db5-349708a81773>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/view_from_chicago/2013/02/immigration_reform_illegal_immigrants_are_really_guest_workers.single.html
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00047-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.97015
| 1,733
| 2.296875
| 2
|