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The yellow spots represent icy areas.
Ice? On the planet closest to the Sun? You heard right: Mercury’s northern pole may have craters containing frozen water.
The evidence, presented in three papers published last week in Science, comes from several sources. The Mercury Laser Altimeter, an instrument on the Mercury space probe, MESSENGER, helps scientists map the topography of the planet by firing lasers at its surface and recording the time it takes for the light to return. The instrument also records the intensity of the return beams, and the bright spots reflecting off Mercury’s surface suggest the presence of ice. Read More
Mercury is an odd little planet, tiny but incredibly dense, relatively close by but hard to study via telescope. The MESSENGER probe‘s latest findings, 57 papers presented two days ago at conference, bring new weirdness to our understanding of the planet closest to the Sun.
Take, for instance, the new revelations about Mercury’s core. We always knew that Mercury had a proportionally larger core than Earth does; geologists thought that it might make up a whopping 42% of the planet’s volume, in comparison to Earth’s 17%. The newest estimate, though, blows that out of the water: We now think the number is 85%. To boot, there appears to be an extremely dense layer more than a hundred miles thick encasing the core, perhaps a shell of iron sulfide. That makes the mantle and crust—to use the memorable analogy of a planetary scientist interviewed by Wired—like a mere orange peel on a giant orange of metal.
Another memorable finding: the largest crater on Mercury, Caloris Basin, isn’t actually much of a basin. It seems that the crater’s center gradually rose at some point in the not-too-distant past until it was higher than its edges. This has geologists revising their impressions that Mercury stopped being geologically active 4.5 billion years ago to something more like 2 billion years ago.
Image courtesy of Case Western Reserve University
What’s the News: After firing its thrusters for about 15 minutes on Thursday, NASA’s MESSENGER spacecraft lost enough speed to be pulled in by Mercury’s gravitational field, making it the first probe to orbit the Swift Planet. “Mercury’s secrets, and the implications they hold for the formation and evolution of Earth-like planets, are about to be revealed,” MESSENGER principal investigator Sean Solomon told Slate.
What’s the Olds:
Not So Fast: Don’t expect any stunning images by this weekend: MESSENGER’s first pictures in orbit are slated to arrive toward the end of the month.
The Future Holds: Engineers will continue checking how well the probe is withstanding Mercury’s hot temperatures, with plans of turning on equipment on March 23, and starting scientific studies on April 4. The spacecraft will carry out a one-year survey of Mercury in hopes of using close-up mapping to settle long-held debates, such as whether ice is hiding at the poles.
Image: Science/AAAS, Carnegie Inst.Washington/ Arizona State Univ. / Johns Hopkins Univ. Appl. Phys. Lab. / NASA
It’s no surprise that a chemical as potent as methylmercury harms wildlife when it enters an ecosystem in high concentration. In the case of wetland birds, researchers have found, it can even change sexual orientation, causing males to pair off with other males.
“We knew mercury could depress their testosterone (male sex hormone) levels,” explained Dr Peter Frederick from the University of Florida, who led the study. “But we didn’t expect this.” [BBC News]
Frederick and Nilmini Jayasena examined white ibises from South Florida for their study in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B. They gathered 160 of the birds and broke them up into four groups that ate food laced with different concentrations of methylmercury. Some ate 0.3 parts per million of mercury, some 0.1, some 0.05, and some none at all.
Birds exposed to any mercury displayed courtship behaviour less often than controls and were also less likely to be approached by females when they did. As the level of mercury exposure increased, so did the degree and persistence of homosexual pairing. Males that engaged in homosexual parings were also less likely to switch partners from year to year, which Frederick says ibises tend to do if they have been unsuccessful in mating during their first breeding season. [Nature]
We just won’t let Tycho Brahe be.
A colorful character and a father of modern astronomy, Brahe died in 1601 and was buried at Tyn Church near Prague’s Old Town Square. But the popular explanation for his expiration—a bladder infection—just doesn’t satisfy modern scientists seeking the truth about Tycho. So this week, Danish and Czech scientists (Brahe was Danish but died in Prague) got permission to exhume the long-dead stargazer to find evidence of his true cause of death.
His body has been exhumed before, in 1901. Tests on a sample of hair from his moustache, taken at that time, have been conducted as recently as the 1990s and indicated unusually high levels of mercury. Brahe was also an alchemist and some have suggested that he would have handled mercury and may have administered it to himself as medicine. Others have suggested he was poisoned. [BBC News]
Hello again, Mercury. This week in a trio of papers Science, the scientists behind the Messenger probe released their findings from the craft’s third and final flyby of the planet closest to the sun, which it executed last September. Mercury, they’ve shown once again, is full of surprises—and they’ll get the chance to explore them when Messenger returns and finally enters Mercury’s orbit in March 2011.
Scientists have now mapped 98 percent of the planet by combining the new observations with the first two flybys in January and October 2008, plus the Mariner 10 mission in the ’70s, [said Brett Denevi, coauthor of one of the papers]. The latest flyby filled in a 360-mile-wide gap that had never been imaged before.
“It wasn’t a huge amount of real estate, but there was a lot of really interesting stuff there,” Denevi said. The most exciting features include a 180-mile-wide basin filled with hardened lava, and a crooked bowl surrounded by glass and magma that may be the largest volcanic vent ever identified on Mercury. Together, these features suggest that Mercury had active volcanoes later in its history than scientists had suspected [Wired.com].
The first image above shows a smooth basin dubbed Rachmaninoff, which is one of the smoothest regions seen on Mercury—so smooth that it must have formed from volcanic material in the last billion years or so. The yellowish part in the upper right of this false color image is that volcanic vent.
When NASA’s Messenger space probe swung past Mercury on September 29, it snapped this picture of the innermost planet’s barren and strange landscape. The $446 million probe’s third flyby brought it within 142 miles (228 km) of Mercury’s surface to cover more uncharted terrain, leaving 98 percent of the planet now mapped [SPACE.com].
The images taken and the data recorded during the flyby are the last that will be acquired until Messenger finally slips into orbit around Mercury in 2011. The probe has now completed about three-quarters of its swooping 4.9-billion-mile journey that will eventually bring it into orbit.
Researcher Brett Denevi explains that this enhanced color shot shows a bright area surrounding an irregular depression, with steep sides and an odd shape, “all of which are hallmarks of something like a volcanic vent,” Denevi said [SPACE.com]. The double-ring basin in the center of the photo measures about 180 miles in diameter. It appears to be a relatively young impact crater–researchers believe it formed about 1 billion years ago–and the smooth stuff on the crater floor may be even younger volcanic material.
80beats: Space Probe Soon to Study Mercury’s Comet-Like “Tail”
80beats: Mercury Flyby Reveals Magnetic Twisters and Ancient Magma Oceans
80beats: Brand New Postcards From Mercury, Courtesy of Messenger Space Probe
Today in the innermost region of our solar system, NASA’s Messenger space probe will swoop past Mercury for the third and final time. The maneuver will give scientists a close look at the dense, iron-rich, oddball planet, and will also alter the probe’s trajectory and prepare it to begin orbiting Mercury in March 2011.
As Messenger travels within 142 miles of Mercury at 12,000 miles per hour, the spacecraft’s camera will swivel to stare at a succession of craters and other geological features…. One target will be an old 90-mile-wide crater. Another will be young 13-mile crater and a splash of light-colored soil surrounding it. A third crater of interest has materials of unusual color perhaps produced by violent volcanic eruptions [The New York Times]. When this third flyby is complete, 95 percent of the planet will have been mapped in high resolution.
Engines powered by chemical fuel? How passé. For the spacecraft with truly modern flair, an ion thruster is the only way to go. Such a system might not provide powerful and dramatic bursts of speed, but space agencies around the world are recognizing the benefits of its slow-and-steady approach, which is just what’s needed for cruising between planets.
Ion propulsion works by electrically charging, or ionizing, a gas and accelerating the resulting ions to propel a spacecraft. The concept was conceived more than 50 years ago, and the first spacecraft to use the technology was Deep Space 1 in 1998. Since then … there have only been a few other noncommercial spacecrafts that have used ion propulsion [Technology Review]. However, the technology has a clear advantage over chemical propulsion when it comes to long distance missions, because a very small amount of gas can carry a spacecraft a long way. Astronautics expert Alexander Bruccoleri explains that with chemical propulsion, “You are limited in what you can bring to space because you have to carry a rocket that is mostly fuel” [Technology Review].
Now, a European Space Agency (ESA) probe will use four ion thrusters to scoot all the way to Mercury, the planet nearest to the sun. That mission won’t launch until 2014, but ESA officials say the $37 million propulsion system will be the most efficient yet, and will also be the most ambitious test of the technology to date. The Mercury probe will be launched by a conventional rocket, and will continue to use chemical propulsion until it’s out of Earth orbit. When it begins its six-year cruise to Mercury, though, its ion thrusters will kick in. The system will draw electricity from solar panels; as the xenon ions pass through the electrified grids they accelerate to up to 50km a second (31 miles per second) and shoot from the rear in a parallel beam. On Earth, at sea level, the thrust would be just enough to lift a pound coin. In space, however, the same thrust will create a much much bigger lift [Telegraph].
Is planetary Armageddon just a matter of time? Will Earth meet its fiery doom when the orbits of the planets in our solar system become destabilized, leading Mars, Mercury, or Venus to crash into our home turf? A new study predicts that there is indeed a very slim possibility that such a cataclysm will rock our world, but notes that the possible collisions wouldn’t happen for more than 3 billion years, by which time humans may be long gone. “I see the results as a case of the glass being 99 percent full and 1 percent empty…. While it’s possible that a collision could occur billions of years from now, it’s actually very unlikely” [SPACE.com], says Gregory Laughlin, an astronomer who wasn’t involved in the current research.
Astronomers had thought that the orbits of the planets were predictable. But 20 years ago, researchers showed that there were slight fluctuations in their paths. Now, the team has shown how in a small proportion of cases these fluctuations can grow until after several million years, the orbits of the inner planets begin to overlap [BBC News]. The researchers simulated the interactions of the eight major planets, Pluto, and the moon over the course of 5 billion years, up until our sun is expected to expand into a red giant. The simulation, described in the study published in Nature, covered more than 2,500 possible futures. | <urn:uuid:173f2ed4-3b13-4571-8fa3-4a79d8aa5012> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/80beats/tag/mercury/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280266.9/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00498-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945131 | 2,709 | 4.03125 | 4 |
Disneyland Parks in Anaheim, California opened to the public in 1955. Walt Disney himself welcomed the first visitors with the greeting "To all who come to this happy place: Welcome. Disneyland is your land. Here age relives fond memories of the past, and here youth may savour the challenge and promise of the future. Disneyland is dedicated to the ideals, the dreams, and the hard facts that have created America, with the hope that it will be a source of joy and inspiration to all the world."
In celebration of 65 years of Disneyland Parks, this Pop! features Mr Toad from the 'Mr Toad's Wild Ride' attraction in Disneyland's Fantasyland. The ride is loosely based on Disney's adaptation of Kenneth Grahame's The Wind in the Willows; animated by Disney in 1949. Add Mr Toad to your collection today!
Official Disney licensed merchandise
If for any reason you are not 100% happy with your purchase, we can provide you with a full refund or exchange if you return it to us within 7 days after you receive the goods. Conditions apply, please see our terms and conditions. | <urn:uuid:a6412622-bb84-4eb2-bf32-dc6ea8413cf9> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.zingpopculture.com.au/product/toys-gadgets/263383-disney-disneyland-65th-anniversary-mr-toad-spinning-eyes-pop-vinyl-figure | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572215.27/warc/CC-MAIN-20220815235954-20220816025954-00674.warc.gz | en | 0.930183 | 225 | 1.671875 | 2 |
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20 Jun 2022 by Fairview
What is terracotta?
A building’s façade can feature an array of materials such as timber, masonry, fibre cement, metal, steel and aluminium. The design and performance characteristics of these materials vary significantly, and your choice of cladding should be based on a careful assessment of the project’s climate conditions, as well as the aesthetic design intent.
As a building product, terracotta has been in use for thousands of years however of late, terracotta has gained increasing interest by architects and designers looking for a compliant and durable material that adds texture, warmth and character with beautiful, rich and earthy-tone colours.
Terracotta cladding is made from clay ground to a fine dust, mixed with water, extruded to shape, then fired at incredibly high temperatures in order to create an architectural cladding material that offers resistance to extreme weather, thermal insulation, a natural texture and is recyclable.
“Fairview’s Argeton terracotta ventilated façade system is ideal for large scale landmark constructions,
designed to leave a green footprint with character for our future communities”,
Meena Somi, Fairview’s Senior Category Manager
Terracotta – Allowing you to achieve an eco-friendly design that makes an impact with its exquisite beauty.
The range of colours that can be achieved with terracotta are endless. Terracotta is well known for its red earthy colour, however, the options for colours range from white, yellow, blue, red, green, purple and black. almost any colour is possible. The colour finishes for terracotta generally fall into two categories – glazed and unglazed.
Glazed: Glazed terracotta starts with a body colour, normally white or off-white, a glaze is then applied to the surface prior to the firing process, giving you the ability to achieve different opacities and finishes. The glaze can be transparent allowing you to see the body colour underneath or be completely opaque.
The options for colour and finishes are endless.
The glazing process also provides an opportunity to add gloss, giving you the ability to create finishes that range from matte, all the way to high gloss. During the production process it’s also possible to combine two or three glazes on different layers to create other special effects including a process called digital engobing. Like digital printing, digital engobing involves applying a digital image on top of an engobed clay panel, in the firing process, the applied image fuses with the engobe and the panel to form an inseparable unit – allowing you to create patterns such as the one’s below:
Argeton’s Digital Engobing – adds a new dimension to terracotta finishes.
Unglazed: Various colours can be created by mixing different types of clay. Natural colours normally include white, sand, yellow, taupe as well as a range of red hues. In order to increase the range of colours on offer, pigments or oxides are added to the clay to give you an almost endless range of options to choose from.
Careful development work is involved in creating new colours as in most cases the final colour is a function of the clay, pigment, oxides and the heat applied during the firing process. The tile colour going into the firing process can be very different to the colour that emerges from the firing process.
This process of creating the colour and vitrification of the colour into the clay creates stable and ever-lasting colours that will easily endure over 50 or more years.
Argeton offer a range of standard and standard plus colours in the range.
Terracotta is renowned for adding warmth and texture to any architectural design. Within the terracotta cladding range a number of surface textures can be achieved, adding to the flexibility in design and the imagination of the architect.
The Standard surface textures available with the Argeton range includes 8 options:
Combining 8 textured surfaces and a limitless range in colour allow for endless possibilities for the design aesthetics of the building. Terracotta not only offers improved performance as a cladding product but also removed design constraints associated with other cladding products – making it the ideal option for contemporary buildings.
Profiles and Shapes
Argeton offers a range of classic standard profiles that offer classic to contemporary design flexibility with a choice of 6 profiles to choose from. The standard profiles range from the flat Tampa profile – a flat tile available to various sizes offers a clean and classic design to any building to the Altivo panel, a vertically oriented tile with vertical striation lines that bring a contemporary flair to the design.
The standard Argeton range include:
Traditionally, terracotta cladding used to be flat – however, with improvements in production technologies the options for profiles and specially shaped terracotta cladding have grown.
With over 130 extrusion dies developed, Argeton has a wide variety of profiles ready for extruding panels to suit many design – from flat to all sorts of three dimensional contemporary designs.
A comprehensive list of ready dies/profiles can be found at:- Argeton_dies overview compact
Within this range exists a series of baguettes and louvers that are perfectly suited to act as a sunscreen façade or to accentuate the façade by adding depth, shape and pattern.
Available in unglazed as well as glazed options, Argeton’s Barro range of baguettes and louvers are increasing becoming popular for use indoor and out due to their versatility, range and simplicity in installation.
The range consists of three Baguette types as seen below:
Historically – buildings in Australia have tended to rely heavily on metal cladding of various forms – there is a strong trend towards alternative cladding products that bring warmth, texture, dimensional variety and a shift towards natural and Earthy products.
There is still a lot of unexplored potential in using terracotta as a cladding material on buildings. The Argeton range of terracotta cladding is the right product for architects looking to challenge the status quo, reinvent building with a traditional building material that offer features that cannot be matched with typical building products.
With its excellent thermal and cooling efficiency, improvement of sound protection by 9dB, non-combustibility and frost-proofing, Argeton is not just a decorative cladding material, but a product that enhances the sustainability of the entire building.
Explore the sustainable, efficiency and performance benefits of Argeton’s terracotta rainscreen system at: Argeton Terrocotta Cladding (fv.com.au) | <urn:uuid:5c490453-7470-4352-9a42-bc866999a8e8> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.archify.com/au/product/fairview-architectural/updates/detail/how-to-specify-terracotta | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572581.94/warc/CC-MAIN-20220816211628-20220817001628-00069.warc.gz | en | 0.927424 | 1,469 | 2.8125 | 3 |
The number of people applying to go to university is at its highest ever according to figures released by UCAS yesterday – despite the rise in tuition fees.
Between January and March this year applicants from England rose by 34,000 (from 291,000 to 325,000) compared with this point in the application cycle in 2006. The figures take into account applications submitted to UCAS up until 24 March 2007.
Physics, chemistry and biology are also proving more popular, with applications having “increased significantly”.
Higher education minister Bill Rammell MP said: “These highest ever figures continue to show that tuition fees are not putting students off applying to university as many predicted. The critics of the new system are being proved emphatically wrong.”
He added: “With the improved student finance package all students, no matter what their background, should be confident that there should be no financial barrier to them studying at whichever university or college they choose.”
But National Union of Students president Gemma Tumelty warned the figures must be seen in context.
“NUS raises concerns about the disappointing increases in participation from poorer students. Widening participation must remain the most important part of the higher education agenda.”, she said.
Tumelty added: “In the face of the government’s campaign to broaden access to universities, elite public schools have actually increased the number of pupils they send to Oxbridge over the past five years, while ethnic minority students are twice as likely to attend modern universities as traditional universities.”
The government is due to review the current £3,000 cap on tuition fees in England in 2009 and several of the most popular universities are already pressing to be able to levy higher fees. | <urn:uuid:f25dba09-913c-4d4d-ab43-bf5b191ef767> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.personneltoday.com/hr/university-applications-rise-to-record-levels-despite-tuition-costs/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280410.21/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00450-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963078 | 362 | 1.804688 | 2 |
The company denies that they are focused solely on profits at the expense of their users' mental health
has several ideas in mind for how to better serve teens and protect them from known harms of social media, after a former employee disclosed documents showing that the company had been aware that nearly 20% of teens feel worse about themselves after using Instagram, which Facebook
In a conversation with CNN's "State of the Union" on Sunday, Facebook
Vice President of Global Affairs Nick Clegg claimed that despite the harms suffered by some teens, most derive benefits from Instagram. Still, he said, the company does intend to do more to provide a safer experience for teens.
"First thing is, we paused work on something called Instagram Kids," Clegg said. He maintained that ultimately that service would be a "solution" to current problems, but said the company is putting it on hold to "listen to experts, consult with others," and "explain our intentions."
"In the meantime," he continued, "We're going to introduce new controls for adults and teens on an optional basis, obviously, so that adults can supervise what their teens are doing online."
Clegg also said that when their system observes that a teenage user is viewing the same content repeatedly – particularly material "that may not be conducive to their wellbeing – Instagram will suggest that they view other content. Additionally, he said, Instagram will give an alert "prompting teens simply to take a break from using Instagram" after they have been on for a long time.
Host Dana Bash then asked if Facebook
has implemented any of these measures yet, given that according to whistleblower Frances Haugen, the company had been aware of the dangers for two years.
"Those are our future plans," Clegg said, while noting that the company has taken other measures in the past, such as allowing users to block out certain words and keep away from or limit communications with those with whom they do not want to be connected.
Clegg denied Haugen's claims that Facebook
brushed off their findings of negative impacts on teens in order to drive profits, claiming that if money was all they cared about they would not conduct the research in the first place.
"We cannot with a wave of the wand make everyone's life perfect," he said. "What we can do is improve our products so our products are as safe and enjoyable to use wherever we can improve them." | <urn:uuid:a4a03205-3e80-46c2-a61f-32559d78b1ed> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://bvi.org/facebook-exec-outlines-future-plans-to-implement-measures-to-protect-teens-on-instagram | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573699.52/warc/CC-MAIN-20220819131019-20220819161019-00274.warc.gz | en | 0.97417 | 500 | 1.71875 | 2 |
This is an archive of an old Google Buzz conversation (circa 2010?) on a variety of topics, including whether or not it’s inevetible that a closed platform will dominate social.
Piaw: Social networks will be dominated primarily by network effects. That means in the long run, Facebook will dominate all the others.
Rebecca: … which is also why no one company should dominate it. “The Social Graph” and its associated apps should be like the internet, distributed and not confined to one company’s servers. I wish the narrative surrounding this battle was centered around this idea, and not around the whole Silicon Valley “who is the most genius innovator” self-aggrandizing unreality field. Thank god Tim Berners Lee wasn’t from Silicon Valley, or we wouldn’t have the Internet the way we know it in the first place.
I suppose I shouldn’t be being so snarky, revealing how much I hate your narratives sometimes. But I think for once this isn’t, as it usually is, merely harmlessly cute and endearing - you all collectively screwing up something actually important, and I’m annoyed.
Piaw: The way network effects work, one company will control it. It’s inevitable.
Rebecca: No it is not inevitable! What is inevitable is either that one company controls it or that no company controls it. If you guys had been writing the narrative of the invention of the internet you would have been arguing that it was inevitable that the entire internet live on one companies servers, brokered by hidden proprietary protocols. And obviously that’s just nuts.
Piaw: I see, the social graph would be collectively owned. That makes sense, but I don’t see why Facebook would have an incentive to make that happen.
Rebecca: Of course not! That’s why I’m biting my fingernails hoping for some other company to be the white knight and ride up and save the day, liberating the social graph (or more precisely, the APIs of the apps that live on top of them) from any hope of control by a single company. Of course, there isn’t a huge incentive for any other company to do it either — the other companies are likely to just gaze enviously at Facebook and wish they got there first. Tim Berners Lee may have done great stuff for the world, but he didn’t get rich or return massive value to shareholders, so the narrative of the value he created isn’t included in the standard corporate hype machine or incentives.
Google is the only company with the right position, somewhat appropriate incentives, and possibly the right internal culture to be the “Tim Berners Lee” of the new social internet. That’s what I was hoping for, and I’m am more than a bit bummed they don’t seem to be stepping up to the plate in an effective way in this case, especially since they are doing such a fabulous job in an analogous role with Android.
Rebecca: There is a worldview lurking behind these comments, which perhaps I should try to explain. I’m been nervous about this because it contains some strange ideas, but I’m wondering what you think.
Here’s a very strange assertion: Mark Zuckerberg is not a capitalist, and therefore should not be judged by capitalist logic. Before you dismiss me as nuts, stop and think for a minute. What is the essential property that makes someone a capitalist?
For instance, when Nike goes to Indonesia and sets up sweatshops there, and if communists, unhappy with low pay & terrible conditions, threaten to rebel, they are told “this is capitalism, and however noxious it is, capitalism will make us rich, so shut up and hold your peace!” What are they really saying? Nike brings poor people sewing machines and distribution networks so they can make and sell things they could not make and sell otherwise, so they become more productive and therefore richer. The productive capacity is scarce, and Nike is bringing to Indonesia a piece of this scarce resource (and taking it away from other people, like American workers.) So Indonesia gets richer, even if sweatshop workers suffer for a while.
So is Mark Zuckerberg bringing to American workers a piece of scarce productive capacity, and therefore making American workers richer? It is true he is creating for people productive capacity they did not have before — the possibility of writing social apps, like social games. This is “innovation” and it does make us richer.
But it is not wealth that follows the rules of capitalist logic. In particular, this kind of wealth of productive capacity, unlike the wealth created by setting up sewing machines, does not have the kind of inherent scarcity that fundamentally drives capitalist logic. Nike can set up its sewing machines for Americans, or Indonesians, but not for everyone at once. But Tim Berners Lee is not forced to make such choices – he can design protocols that allow everyone everywhere to produce new things, and he need not restrict how they choose to do it.
But – here’s the key point – though there is no natural scarcity, there may well be “artificial” scarcity. Microsoft can obfuscate Windows API’s, and bind IE to Windows. Facebook can close the social graph, and force all apps to live on its servers. “Capitalists” like these can then extract rents from this artificial scarcity. They can use the emotional appeal of capitalist rhetoric to justify their rent-seeking. People are very conditioned to believe that when local companies get rich American workers in general will also get rich – it works for Indonesia so why won’t it work for us? And Facebook and Microsoft employees are getting richer. QED.
But they aren’t getting richer in the same way that sweatshop employees are getting richer. The sweatshop employees are becoming more productive than they would otherwise be, in spite of the noxious behavior of the capitalists. But if Zuckerberg or Gates behaves noxiously, by creating a walled garden, this may make his employees richer, in the sense of giving them more money, but “more money” is not the same as “more wealth.” More wealth means more productive capacity for workers, not more payout to individual employees. In a manufacturing economy those are linked, so people forget they are not the same.
And in fact, shenanigans like these reduce rather than increase the productive capacity available to everyone, by creating an artificial scarcity of a kind of productive tool that need not be scarce at all, just for the purpose of extracting rents from them. No real wealth comes from this extraction. In aggregate it makes us poorer rather than richer.
Here’s where the kind of stunt that Google pulled with Android, that broke the iPhone’s lock, even if it made Google no money, should be seen as the real generator of wealth, even if it is unclear whether it made any money for Google’s shareholders. Wealth means I can build something I couldn’t build before – if I want I can install a Scheme or Haskell interpreter on an Android phone, which I am forbidden to put on the iPhone. It means a lot to me! Google’s support of Firefox & Chrome, which sped the adoption of open web standards and HTML5, also meant a huge amount to me. I’m an American worker, and I am made richer by Google, in the sense of having more productive capacity available to me, even if Google wasn’t that great for my personal wealth in the sense of directly increasing my salary.
Rebecca: (That idea turned out to be sortof shockingly long comment by itself, and on review the last two paragraphs of the original comment were a slightly different thought, so I’m breaking them into a different section.)
I’m upset that Google is getting a lot of anti-trust type flak, when I think the framework of anti-trust is just the wrong way to think. This battle isn’t analogous to Roosevelt’s big trust busting battles; it is much more like the much earlier battles at the beginning of the industrial revolution of the Yankee merchants against the old agricultural, aristocratic interests, which would have squelched industrialization. And Google is the company that has been most consistently on the side of really creating wealth, by not artificially limiting the productivity they make available for developers everywhere. Other companies, like Microsoft or Facebook, though they are “new economy,” though they are “innovative,” though they seem to generate a lot of “wealth” in the form of lots of money, really are much more like the old aristocrats rather than the scrappy new Yankees. In many ways they are slowing down the real revolution, not speeding it up.
I’ve been reluctant to talk too much about these ideas, because I’m anxious about being called a raving commie. But I’m upset that Google is the target of misguided anti-trust logic, and it might be sufficiently weakened that it can’t continue to be the bulwark of defense against the real “new economy” abuses that it has been for the last half-decade. That defense has meant a lot to independent developers, and I would hate to see it go away.
Phil: +100, Rebecca. It is striking how little traction the rhetoric of software freedom has here in Silicon Valley relative to pretty much everywhere else in the world.
Rebecca: Thanks - I worry whether my ultra-long comments are spam and its good to hear if someone appreciates them. I have difficulty making my ideas short, but I’m using this Buzz conversation to practice.
I’m am not entirely happy with the way the “software freedom” crowd is pitching their message. I had an office down the hall from Richard Stallman for a while, and I was often harangued by him. However, I thought his message was too narrow and radicalized. But on the other hand, when I thought about it hard, I also realized that in many ways it was not radical enough…
Why are we talking about freedom? To motivate this, I sometimes tell a little story about the past. When I was young my father read to me “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea,” advertising it as a great classic of futuristic science fiction. Unfortunately, I was unimpressed. It didn’t seem “futuristic” at all: it seemed like an archaic fantasy. Why? Certainly it was impressive that an author in 1869 correctly predicted that people would ride in submarines under the sea. But it didn’t seem like an image of the future, or even the past, at all. Why not? Because the person riding around on the submarine under the sea was a Victorian gentleman surrounded by appropriately deferential Victorian servants.
Futurists consistently get their stories wrong in a particular way: when they say that technology changes the world, they tell stories of fabulous gadgets that will enable people to do new and exciting things. They completely miss that this is not really what “change” – serious, massive, wrenching, social change - really is. When technology truly enables dreams of change, it doesn’t mean it enables aristocrats to dream about riding around under the sea. What it means is that enables the aristocrat’s butler to dream of not being a butler any more — a dream of freedom not through violence or revolution, but through economic independence. A dream of technological change – really significant technological change – is not a dream of spiffy gadgets, it is a dream of freedom, of social & economic liberation enabled by technology.
Lets go back to our Indonesian sweatshop worker. Even though in many ways the sweatshop job liberates her — from backbreaking work on a farm, a garbage dump, or in brothels – she is also quite enslaved. Why? She can sew, let us say, high-end basketball sneakers, which Nike sells for $150 apiece – many, many times her monthly or even yearly wage. Why is she getting a small cut of the profit from her labors? Because she is dependent on the productive capacity that Nike is providing to her, so bad as the deal is, it is the best she can get.
This is where new technology comes in. People talk about the information revolution as if it is about computers, or software, but I would really say it is about society figuring out (slowly) how to automate organization. We have learned to effectively automate manufacturing, but not all of the work of a modern economy is manufacturing. What is the service Nike provides that makes this woman dependent on such a painful deal? Some part of this service is the manufacturing capacity they provide – the sewing machine – but sewing machines are hardly expensive or unobtainable, even for poor people. The much bigger deal is the organizational services Nike offers: all the branding, logistics, supply-chain management and retail services that go into getting a sneaker sewn in Indonesia into the hands of an eager consumer in America. One might argue that Nike is performing these services inefficiently, so even if our seamstress is effective and efficient, Nike must take an unreasonably large cut of the profits from the sale of the sneaker to support the rest of this inefficient, expensive, completely un-automated effort.
That’s where technological change comes in. Slowly, it is making it possible for all these organizational services to be made more automated, streamlined and efficient. This is really the business Google is in. It is said that Google is an “advertising” business, but to call what Google does “advertising” is to paper over the true story of the profound economic shift of which they are merely providing the opening volley.
Consider the maker of custom conference tables who recently blogged in the New York Times about Adwords (http://boss.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/12/03/adwords-and-me-exploring-the-mystery/). He said he paid Google $75,124.77 last year. What does that money represent – what need is Google filling which is worth more than seventy thousand a year to this guy? You might say that they are capturing an advertising budget of a company, until you consider that without Google this company wouldn’t exist at all. Before Google, did you regularly stumble across small businesses making custom conference tables? This is a new phenomenon! The right way to see it is that this seventy thousand isn’t really a normal advertising budget – instead, think of it as a chunk of the revenue of the generic conference table manufacturer that this person no longer has to work for. Because Google is providing for him the branding, customer management services, etc, etc that this old company used to be doing much less efficiently and creatively, this blogger has a chance to go into business for himself. He is paying Google seventy thousand a year for this privilege, but this is probably much less than the cut that was skimmed off the profits of his labors by his old management (not to mention issues of control and stifled creativity he is escaping). Google isn’t selling “advertising”: Google is selling freedom. Google is selling to the workers of the world the chance to rid themselves of their chains – nonviolently and without any revolutionary rhetoric – but even without the rhetoric this service is still about economic liberation and social change.
I feel strange when I hear Eric Schmidt talk about Google’s plans for the future of their advertising business, because he seems to be telling Wall Street of a grand future where Google will capture a significant portion of Nike’s advertising budget (with display ads and such). This seems like both an overambitious fantasy; and also strangely not nearly ambitious enough. For I think the real development of Google’s business – not today, not tomorrow, not next year, not even next decade, but eventually and inexorably (assuming Google survives the vicissitudes of fate and cultural decay) – isn’t that Google captures Nike’s advertising budget. It is that Google captures a significant portion of Nike’s entire revenue, paid to them by the workers who no longer have to work for Nike anymore, because Google or a successor in Google’s tradition provides them with a much more efficient and flexible alternative vendor for the services Nike’s management currently provides.
Rebecca: (Once again I looked at my comment and realized it was even more horrifyingly long. My thoughts seem short in my head, but even when I try to write them down as fast and effectively as I can, they aren’t short anymore! Again, I saw the comment has two parts: first, explaining the basic idea of the “freedom” we are talking about, and second, tying it back into the context of our original discussion. So to try to be vaguely reasonable I am cutting it in two.)
I suppose Eric Schmidt will never stand in front of Wall Street and say that. When it is really true that “We will bury you!” nobody ever stands up and bangs a shoe on the table while saying it. The architects of the old “new economy” didn’t say such things either: the Yankee merchants never said to their aristocratic political rivals that they intended to eventually completely dismantle their social order. In 1780 there was no discussion that foretold the destructive violence of Sherman’s march to the sea. I’m not sure they knew it themselves, and if they had been told that that was a possible result of their labors they might not have wanted to hear it. The new class wanted change, they wanted opportunity, they wanted freedom, but they did not want blood! That they would be cornered into seeking it anyway would have been as horrifying to them as to anyone else. Real change is not something anyone wants to crow about — it is too terrifying.
But it is nonetheless important to face, because in the short term this transformation is hardly inevitable or necessarily smooth. If our equivalent of Sherman’s march to the sea might be in our future, we might want to think about how to manage or avoid it before it is too late.
One major difficulty, as I explained in the last comment, is that while the “automation of information,” if developed properly, has the potential to break fundamental laws of the scarcity of productive capacity, and thereby free “the workers of the world”, nonetheless that potential can be captured, and turned into “artificial” scarcity, which doesn’t set workers free, it further enslaves them. There is also a big incentive to do this, because it is the easiest way to make massive amounts of money quickly for a person in the right place at the right time.
I see Microsoft as a company that has made a definite choice of corporate strategy to make money on “artificial scarcity.” I see Google as a company that has made a similar definite choice to make money “selling freedom”, specifically avoiding the tricks that create artificial scarcity, even when it doesn’t help or even hurts their immediate business prospects.
And Facebook? Where is Sheryl Sandburg (apparently the architect of business development at Facebook) on this crucial question? A hundred years from now, when all your “genius” and “innovation,” all the gadgets you build that so delight aristocrats, and are so celebrated by “futurists”, will be all but forgotten, the choices you make on this question will be remembered. This matters.
Ms. Sandburg seems to be similarly clear on her philosophy: she simply wants as much diversity of revenue streams for Facebook as she can possibly get. It is hard to imagine an more un-ideological antithesis of Richard Stallman. Freedom or scarcity, she doesn’t care: if its a way to make money, she wants it. As many different ones as possible! She wants it all! Its hard for me to get too worked up about this, especially since for other reasons I am rooting for Ms. Sandburg’s success. Even so, I would prefer if it were Google in control of this technological advance, because Google’s preference on this question is so much more clear and unequivocal.
I don’t care who is the “genius innovator” and who is the “big loser”, whether this or that company has taken up the mantle of progress or not, who is going to get rich, which company will attract all the superstars, or all the other questions that seem to you such critical matters, but I do care that your work makes progress towards realizing the potential of your technology to empower the workers of the world, rather than slowing it down or blocking it. Since Google has made clear the most unequivocal preference in the right direction on this question, that means I want Google to win. This is too important to be trusted to the control of someone ambivalent about their values, no matter how much basic sympathy I have for the pragmatic attitude. Baris Baser: +100! Liberate the social graph! I wish I could share the narrative taking place here on my buzz post, but I’ll just plug it in.
Rob: Google SO dropped the ball with Orkut - they let Facebook run off with the Crown Jewels. Helder Suzuki: I believe that Facebook’s dominance will eventually be challenged just like credit card companies are being today. But I think it’s gonna come much quickier for Facebook.
There are lots of differences, but I like this comparison because credit card companies used great network effect to dominate and shield the market from competition. If you look at them (visa, amex, mastercard), all they have today is basically brand. Today we just know that “credit card” payment (and the margins) will be so much different in the near future.
Likewise I don’t think that social graph will protect Facebook’s “market” in the long run. Just like today it’s incredibly easier to set a POS network compared to a few years ago, social graph is gonna be something trivial in the years to come.
Rebecca: Yay! People are reading my obscenely long and intellectual comments. Thanks guys!
Piaw: I disagree with Helder, even though I agree with Rebecca that it’s better for Google to own the social graph. The magic trick that Facebook pulled off was getting the typical user to provide and upload all his/her personal information. It’s incredibly hard to do that: Amazon couldn’t do it, and neither could Google. I don’t think it’s one of those things that’s technically difficult, but the social engineering required to do that demands critical mass. That’s why I think that Facebook is (still) under-valued.
Rob: @Piaw - it was an accident of history I think. When Facebook started, they required a student ID to join. This made a culture of “real names” that stuck, and that no one else has been able to replicate.
Piaw: @Rob: The accident of history that’s difficult to replicate is what makes Facebook such a good authentication mechanism. I would be willing to not moderate my blog, for instance, if I could make all commenters disclose their true identity. The lowest qualify arguments I’ve seen on Quora, for instance, were those in which one party was anonymous. Elliotte Rusty Harold: This is annoying I want to reshare Rebecca’s comments. not the original post, but I can’t seem to do that. :-)
Rebecca: In another conversation, someone linked a particular point in a Buzz commentary to Hacker News (http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1416348). I’m not sure how they did it. It was a little strange, though, because then people saw it out of context. These comments were tailored for a context.
Where do you want to share it? I’m not sure I’m ready to deal with too big an audience; there is a purpose to practicing writing and getting reactions in an obscure corner of the internet. After all, I am saying things that might be offensive or objectionable in Silicon Valley, and are, in any case, awfully forward – it is useful to me to talk to a select group of my friends to get feedback from them on how well it does or doesn’t fly. Its not like I mind being public, but I also don’t mind obscurity for now.
Rebecca: Speaking of which, Piaw, I was biting my fingernails a little wondering how you would react to my way of talking about “software freedom.” I’ve sort of thought of becoming a software freedom advocate in the tradition of Stallman or ESR, but more intellectual, with more historical perspective, and (hopefully) with less of an edge of polemical insanity. However, adding in an intellectual and historical perspective also added in the difficulty of colliding with real intellectuals and historians, which makes the whole thing fraught, so for that reason among others I’ve been dragging my feet.
This discussion made me dredge up this whole project, partly because I really wanted to know your reactions to it. However, you only reacted to the Facebook comments, not the more general software freedom polemic. What did you think about that?
Piaw: I mostly didn’t react to the free software polemic because I agree with what you’re saying. I agree that something like Adwords and Google makes possible businesses that didn’t exist before. Facebook, for instance, recently showed me an ad for a Suzanne Vega concert that I definitely would not have known about but would have wanted to go if not for a schedule conflict. I want to be able to “like” that ad so that I can get Facebook to show me more ads like those!
Do I agree that the world would be a better place for Facebook’s social graph to be an open system? Yes and No. In the sense of Facebook having less control, I think it would be a good thing. But do I think I want anybody to have access to it? No. People are already trained to click “OK” to whatever data access any applet wants in Facebook, and I don’t need to be inundated with spam in Facebook — one of the big reasons Facebook has so much less spam is because my friends are more embarrassed about spamming me than the average marketing person, and when they do spam me it’s usually with something that I’m interested in, which makes it not spam.
But yes, I do wish my Buzz comments (and yours too) all propagated to Facebook/Friendfeed/etc. and the world was one big open community with trusted/authenticated users and it would be all spam free (or at least, I get to block anonymous commenters who are unauthenticated). Am I holding my breath for that? No.
I am grateful that Facebook has made a part of the internet (albeit a walled garden part) fully authenticated and therefore much more useful. I think most people don’t understand how important that is, and how powerful that is, and that this bit is what makes Facebook worth whatever valuation Wall Street puts on it.
Baris: Piaw, a more fundamental question lurks within this discussion. Ultimately, will people gravitate toward others with similar interests and wait for resources to grow there (Facebook,) or go where the resources are mature, healthy, and growing fast, and wait for everyone else to arrive (Google?)
Will people ultimately go to Google where amazing technology currently exists and will probably magnify, given the current trend (self driving cars, facial recognition, voice recognition, realtime language translation, impeccable geographic data, mobile OS with a bright future, unparalleled parallel computing, etc..) or join their friends first at the current largest social network, Facebook, and wait for the technology to arrive there?
A hypothetical way of looking at this: Will people move to a very big city and wait for it to be an amazing city, or move to an already amazing city and wait for everyone else to follow suit? Or are people ok with a bunch of amazing small cities?
Piaw: Baris, I don’t think you’ve got the analogy fully correct. The proper analogy is this: Would you prefer to live in a small neighborhood where you sometimes have to go a long way to get what you want/are interested in but is relatively crime free, or would you like to live in a big city where it’s easy to get what you want but you get tons of spam and occasionally someone comes in and breaks into your house?
The world obviously has both types of people, which is why suburbs and big cities both exist.
Baris: “tons of spam and occasionally someone comes in and breaks into your house?” I think this is a bit too draconian/general though… going with this analogy, I think becomes a bit more subjective, i.e. really depends on who you are in that city, where you live, what you own, how carefree you live your life, and so forth.
Piaw: Right. And Facebook has successfully designed a web-site around this ego-centricity. You can be the star of your tiny town by selectively picking your friends, or you can be the hub of a giant city and accept everyone as a friend. If the latter, then you gave up your privacy when your “friend” posts compromising pictures of you that gets you in trouble with your employer.
Nick: Google is the only company with the right position, somewhat appropriate incentives, and possibly the right internal culture to be the “Tim Berners Lee” of the new social internet.
I’d agree that Google hasn’t done well at social, but surely are better than that!
Rebecca: Oh, you aren’t impressed with Tim Berner Lee’s work? Was it the original HTML standard you didn’t like, or the more recent W3C stuff? I would admit there is stuff to complain about about both of them.
Nick: It seems to me that TBL got lucky. His original work on the WWW was good, but I think it is difficult to argue he was responsible for its success - certainly no more than someone like Marc Andreessen, who has a pattern of success that repeated after his initial success with Mosaic.
Rebecca: @Piaw (a little ways back) So you found my free software polemic so unobjectionable as to be barely worth comment? Wasn’t it a little intellectually radical, with all that “not a capitalist” and “change in the nature of scarcity” stuff? When I told Lessig parts of basic story (not in Google context, because it was many years ago), and asked him for advice about how to talk to economists, he warned me that the words I was using contain so many warning bells of crackpot intellectual radicalism that economists would immediately write me off for using them without any further consideration.
It never ceases to amaze me how engineers will swallow shockingly strange ideas without a peep. I suppose in the company of Stallman and ESR, I am a raging intellectual conservative and pragmatist, and since engineers have accepted their style as at least a valid way to have a discussion (even if they don’t agree with their politics), I seem tame by comparison. Of course talking to historians or economists is a different matter, because they don’t already accept that this is a valid way to have a discussion.
Actually, it is immensely useful to me to have this discussion thread to us to show people who might think I’m a crackpot, because it is evidence for the claim that in my own world nobody bats an eyelash at this way of talking.
Incidentally, I started thinking about this subject because of Krugman. In the late nineties I was a rabid Krugman fan in a style that is now popular – “Krugman is always right” – but was a bit strange back then when he was just another MIT economics professor hardly anyone had ever heard of. However, when he talked about technology (http://pkarchive.org/column/61100.html), I thought he was wrong, which upset me terribly because I also was almost religiously convinced he was always right. In another essay (http://pkarchive.org/personal/howiwork.html) he said it was very important to him to “Listen to the Gentiles” i.e “Pay attention to what intelligent people are saying, even if they do not have your customs or speak your analytical language.” But he also said “I have no sympathy for those people who criticize the unrealistic simplifications of model-builders, and imagine that they achieve greater sophistication by avoiding stating their assumptions clearly.” So it seemed clear to me that he would be willing to hear me explain why he was wrong, as long as I would be willing to state my assumption clearly.
Before I knew exactly what I was intending to say, my plan had been to figure out my assumptions well enough to meet his standards, and then ask him to help me do the rest of the work to cast it all into a real economic model. Back then he was just an MIT professor I’d taken a class from, not a famous NYTimes columnist, Nobel-prize winning celebratory, so this plan seemed natural. Profs at MIT don’t object if their students point out mistakes, as long as the students are responsible about it. It took me a while to struggle through the process of figuring out what my assumptions were (assumptions? I have assumptions?). When I did I was somewhat horrified to realize that following through with my plan meant accosting him to demand he write a new Wealth of Nations for me! (He’d also left for Princeton by then and started to become famous, so my plan was logistically more difficult than I’d planned.) I had not originally realized what it was that I would be asking for, or that the whole thing would be so daunting.
I asked Lessig for advice what to do (Lessig being the only person I knew who lived in both worlds) and Lessig read me the riot act about the rules of intellectual respectability. So it seemed it would be up to me to write the new Wealth of Nations, or at least enough of it to prove the respectability of the ideas contained therein. I was trying to be a computer science student, not an economist, so that degree of effort hardly fit into my plans. I tried to ask for help at the Lab for Computer Science (now CSAIL) by giving a talk in a Dangerous Ideas seminar series, but of the professors I talked to, only David Clark was sympathetic about the need for such a thing. However, he also said very clearly that resources to support grad students to work with economists were limited and really confined to only the kind of very specific net-neutrality stuff he was pushing in concert with his protocol work, not the kind of general worldview I was thinking about. So I was amazed to find that this kind of thing falls into the cracks between different parts of academic culture.
I’m still not sure what to do, but I am more and more inclined to ignore Lessig’s (implicit) advice to be apologetic and defensive about my lack of intellectual respectability. That would entail a degree of effort I can’t afford, since I am still focused on proving myself as a computer scientist, not an intellectual in the humanities. (Having this discussion thread to point to is quite useful on that score.) I could just drop it (I did for a while), but I’m getting more and more upset that technology is moving much faster than the intellectual and social progress that is required to handle it. People seem to think that powerful technology is a good thing in itself, but that is not true: it is only technology in the presence of strong institutions to control its power that provide net benefits to society – without such controls it can be fantastically destructive. From that point of view a “new economy” is not good news – what “new” means is that all the old institutions are now out of date and their controls are no longer working. And academic culture is culturally dislocated in ways that ensure that no one anywhere is really dealing with this problem. Pretty picture, isn’t it?
Nick: @Rebecca: I don’t understand your argument. Why is Google selling advertising anymore about freedom than Facebook selling advertising?
It’s true that Facebook doesn’t make their social graph and/or demographic data available to third parties, but Google doesn’t make a person’s search history available to third parties either. Why is one so much worse than the other?
Piaw: Rebecca I think that having more data be more open is ideal. However, but I view it as a purely academic discussion for the same reason I view writing “Independent Cycle Touring” in TeX to be an academic discussion. Sure it could happen, but the likelihood of it happening is so slim to none that I don’t find the discussion to be of interest.
Now, I do agree that technology and its adoption does grow faster than our wisdom and controls for them. However, I don’t think that information technology is the big offender. Humanity’s big long term problems has more to do with fossil fuels as an energy source, and that’s pretty darn old technology. You can fix all the privacy problems in the world, but if we get a runaway greenhouse planet by 2100 it is all moot. Because of that you don’t find me getting worked up about privacy or the open-ness of Facebook’s social graph. If Facebook does become personally objectionable to me, then I will close my account. Otherwise, I will keep leveraging the work their engineers do.
Elliotte: Rebecca, going back and rereading your comments I’m not sure your analysis is right, but I’m not sure it’s wrong either. Of course, I am not an economist. From my non-economist perspective it seems worth further thought, but I also suspect that economists have already thought much of this. The first thing I’d do is chat up a few economists and see if they say something like, “Oh, that’s Devereaux’s Theory of Productive Capacity” or some such thing.
I guess I didn’t see anything particularly radical and certainly nothing objectionable in what you wrote. You’re certainly not the first to notice that software economics has a different relationship to scarcity than physical goods.Nor would I see that as incompatible with capitalism. It’s only really incompatible with a particular religious view of capitalism that economists connected to the real world don’t believe in anyway. The theological ideologues of the Austrian School and the nattering nabobs of television news will call you a commie (or more likely these days a socialist) but you can ignore them. Their claimed convictions are really just a bad parody of economics that bares only the slightest resemblance to the real world.
You hear a lot from these fantasy world theorists because they have been well funded over the last 40 years or so by corporations and the extremely wealthy with the explicit goal of justifying wealth. Academically this is most notable at the University of Chicago, and it’s even more obvious in the pseudo-economics spouted on television news. At the extreme, these paid hucksters expouse the laissez-faire theological conviction that markets are perfectly efficient and rational and that therefore whatever the markets do must be correct; but the latest economic crises have caused most folks to realize that this emperor has no clothes. Economists doing science and not theology pay no attention to this priesthood. I wish the same could be said for the popular media.
Helder: I don’t think I agree with the scarcity point that Rebecca made.
Generally, if a company is making money from something it’s because their are producing some kind of wealth, otherwise they won’t sustain economically. It doesn’t have to be productive wealth like in factories, it could be cultural (e.g. a TV Show), or something else.
Even if you think of artificial scarcity, that’s only possible for a company to make when they already have a big momentum (e.g. windows or facebook dominance). Artificial scarcity sucks when you look just at it, but it’s more like a “local” optimzation based on an already dominant market position.
Perhaps Facebook, Microsoft and other co. wouldn’t thrive in the first place if they weren’t “allowed” to make the most of their closed system. The world is a better place with a closed Facebook and proprietary Windows API than no with no Facebook or Windows at all.
TV producers try to do their best to create the right scarcity when releasing their shows and movies to maximize profit. If they were to adopt some kind of free and open philosophy that they would release their content for download on day 1, they would simply go broke and destroy wealth in the long run.
Rebecca: Thanks guys, for the great comments! I appreciate the opportunity to answer these objections, because this is a subtle issue and I can certainly see that the reasoning behind my position is far from obvious. I won’t be able to do it today because I need to be out all day, and its probably just as well that I have a little time to think of how to make the reply as clear and short as possible.
Rebecca: OK, I have about four different kinds of objections to answer, and I don’t want to keep this as short as I can, so I think I will arrange it carefully so I can use the ideas in one answer to help me explain the next one. That means I’ll answer in the order: Elliot, Piaw then Nick & Helder.
It actually took me much of a week to write and edit an answer I liked and believed was condensed as I could make it. And despite my efforts it is still quite long. However, your reaction to my first version has impressed on me that there are some key points I need to take the space to clarify:
I shouldn’t have tried to talk about a system that “isn’t capitalism” in too short an essay, because that is just too easily misunderstood. I take a good bit of space in the arguments below matching Elliots’ disavowal of the religious view of capitalism with an explicit disavowal of the religious view of the end of capitalism.
Piaw also asked a good question “why is this important?” It isn’t obvious; its only something you can see once it sinks into you how dramatically decades of exponential technological growth can change the world. Since this subject is pretty crazy-making and hard to see with any perspective, I try to use an image from the past to help us predict how people from the future will see us differently than we see ourselves. I want to impress on you why future generations are likely to make very different judgements about what is and isn’t important.
Finally, I said rather casually that I wanted to talk about software freedom in the standard tradition, only with more intellectual and historical perpective. As I write this, though, I’m realizing the historical perspective actually changes the substance of the position, in a way I need to make clear.
And last of all I wanted to step back again and put this all in the context of what I am trying to accomplish in general, with some commentary on your reactions to the assertion that I am being intellectually radical.
These replies are split into sections so you can choose the one you like if the whole thing is too long. But the long answer to Piaw contains the idea which is key to the rest of it.
Rebecca: so, first, @Elliot – “I’m not the first to notice that software has a different relationship with scarcity than physical goods” But my take on the difference is not the usual: I am not repeating the infinitely-copyable thing everyone goes on about, but instead focusing on the scarcity (or increasing lack thereof) of productive capacity. That way of talking challenges more directly the fundamental assumptions of economic theory, and is therefore more intellectually radical: in a formal way, it challenges the justification for capitalism. But you didn’t buy my “incompatible with capitalism” argument either, which I’m glad of, because it gives me the chance to mention that just as much as you want to disown the religious view of what capitalism is, I’d like to specifically disown the religious view of the end of capitalism.
Marx talked about an “end of capitalism” as some magic system where it becomes possible for workers to seize the means of production (the factories) and make the economy work without ownership of capital. He also was predicting that capitalism must eventually end, because after all, feudalism had ended. But if you put those two assertions together, and solved the logical syllogism, you would get the assertion that feudalism ended because the serfs seized the means of production (the farms) and made an economy work without the ownership of land. That isn’t true! I grew up in Iowa. There are landowners there who own more acreage than most fabled medieval kings. Nobody challenges their ownership, and yet nobody would call that system feudalism. Why not? Because their fields are harvested by machines, not serfs. Feudalism ended not because the landowning class changed their landowning ways. It was because the land-working class, the serfs, left for better jobs in factories; and the landowners don’t care anymore, because they eventually replaced the serfs with machines. The end of feudalism was not the end of the ownership of land, it was the end of a social position and set of perogatives that went along with that ownership. If your vassals are machines, you can’t lord over them.
Similarly, in a non-religious view of the end of capitalism, it will come about not because the capitalist class, the class that owns factories, will ever disappear or change their ways, but because the proletariat will go away – they will leave for better jobs doing something else, and the factory owners will replace them with machines. And in fact you can see that that is already happening. Are you proletariat? Am I? If I create an STL model and have it printed by Shapeways, I am manufacturing something, but I am not proletariat. Shapeways is certainly raising capital to buy their printers, which strictly speaking makes them “capitalists,” but in a social sense they are not capitalists, because their relationship with me has a different power structure from the one Marx objected to so violently. I am not a “prole” being lorded over by them. It isn’t the big dramatic revolution Marx envisioned; it is almost so subtle you can miss it entirely. What if capitalism ended and nobody noticed?
Rebecca: Next @Piaw – Piaw said he didn’t think information technology was the biggest offender in the realm of technology that grows faster than our controls of it; for instance he thought global warming was a more pressing immediate problem.
I definitely agree that the immediate problems created by information technology and the associated social change are, right now, small by comparison to global warming. It would be nice if we could tackle the most immediate and pressing problems first, and leave the others until they get big enough to worry about. But the problems of a new economy have the unique feature of being pressing not because they are necessarily immediate or large (right now), but because if they are left undealt-with they can destroy the political system’s ability to effectively handle these or any other problems.
I’m a believer in understanding the present through the lens of the past: since we have so much more perspective about things that happened many, many years ago, we can interpret the present and predict our future by understanding how things that are happening to us now are analogous to things that happened long ago. Towards that end, I’d like to point out an analogy with a fictional image of people who, very early on in the previous “new economy,” tried to push new ideas of freedom and met with the objection that they were making too big a deal over problems that were too unimportant. (That this image is fictional is part of my point – bear with me.) My image comes from a dramatic schene in the musical 1776 (whose synopsis can found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1776_%28musical%29, scene seven), in which an “obnoxious and disliked” John Adams almost throws away the vote of Edward Rutledge and the rest of the southern delegation over the insistence that a condemnation of slavery be included in the Declaration of Independence. He drops this insistence only when he is persuaded to change his mind by Franklin’s arguments that the fight with the British is more important than any argument on the subject – “we must hang together or we will hang separately.”
In fact, nothing like that ever happened: as the historical notes on the Wikipedia page say, everyone at the time was so totally in agreement that the issue was too unimportant to be bothered to fight about it, let alone have the big showdown depicted in the musical, with Rutledge dramatically but improbably singing a spookily beautiful song in defense of the triangle trade: “Molasses to Rum to Slaves.” The scene was inserted to satisfy the sensibilities of modern audiences that whether or not such a showdown happened, it should have happened.
Why are our sensibilities so much different than reality? Why are we imposing on the past the idea that the fight ought to have been important to them, even though it wasn’t, that John Adams ought to have made himself obnoxious and disliked in his intransigent insistence on America’s founding values of freedom, even though he didn’t and he wasn’t, that Franklin ought to have argued with great reluctance that the fight with the British was more important, even though he never made that argument (because it went without saying), and that Edward Rutledge ought to have been a spooky, equally intransigent apologist for slavery, even though he wasn’t either (later he freed his own slaves). We are imposing this false narrative because we are looking backwards through a lens where we know something about the future the real actors had no idea about. This is important to understand because we may be in a similar position with respect to future generations – they will think we should have had a fight we in fact have no inclination to have, because they will know something we don’t know about our own future. The central argument I want to make to Piaw hinges on an understanding of this thing that later generations are likely to know about our future that we currently have difficulty imagining.
So forgive me if I belabor this point: it is key to my answer both to Piaw’s question and also to Nick & Helder’s objection. Its going to take a little bit of space to set up the scenery, because it is non-trivial for me to pull my audience back into a historical mentality very different than our own. But I want to go through this exercise in order to pull out of it a general understanding of how and why political ways of thinking shift in the face of dramatic technological change – which we can use to predict how our own future and the changing shape of our politics.
What is it that the real people behind this story didn’t know that we know now? Start with John Adams: to understand why the real John Adams wouldn’t have been very obnoxious about pushing his idea of freedom on slaveowners in 1776, realize that his idea of freedom, if restated in economic rather than moral terms, would have been the assertion that “it should be an absolute right of all citizens of the United States to leave the farm where they were born and seek a better job in a factory.” But making a big deal about such a right in 1776 would have been absurd. There weren’t very many factories, and they were sufficiently inefficient that the jobs they provided were unappealing at best. For example, at the time Jefferson wrote in total seriousness about the moral superiority of agrarian over industrial life: such a sentiment seemed reasonable in 1776, because, not to put too fine a point on it, factory life was horrible. Because of this, the politicians in 1776, like Adams or Hamilton, who were deeply enamored of industrialization, pushed their obsession with an apologetic air, as if they were only talking about their own personal predilections, which they took great pains to make clear they were not going to impose on anyone else. The real John Adams was not nearly as obnoxious as our imaginary version of him: we imagine him differently only because we wish he had been different.
We wish him different than he really was because there was one important fact that the people of 1776 may have understood intellectually, but whose full social significance they did not even begin to wrap their minds around: the factories were getting better exponentially, while the farms would always stay the same. Moore’s Law-like growth rates in technology are not a new phenomenon. Improvements in the production of cotton textiles in the early nineteenth century stunned observers like the improvements in chips or memory impress us today – and after cotton-spinning had its run, other advances stepped into the limelight each in turn, as the article at www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1999/10/beyond-the-information-revolution/4658/ tries to impress on us. We forget that dramatic exponential improvements in technology are not a new phenomenon. We also forget that if exponential growth runs for decades, it changes things… and it changes things more than anybody at the beginning of such a run dares to imagine.
This brings us to the other characters in our story who made choices we now wish they had made differently (and they also later regretted). Edward Rutledge and Thomas Jefferson didn’t exactly defend slavery; they were quite open about being uncomfortable with it, but they didn’t consider this discomfort important enough to do much about. That position would also have made sense in 1776: landowners had owned slaves since antiquity, but slavery in ancient times was not fantastically onerous compared to the other options available to the lower classes at the time – there are famous stories of enterprising Greek and Roman slaves who earned their freedom and rose to high positions in society. Rutledge and Jefferson probably thought they were offering their slaves a similar deal, and that all in all, it wasn’t half bad.
They were wrong. American slavery turned out to be something unique, entirely different than the slavery of antiquity. My American history teacher presented this as a “paradox,” that the country that was founded on an ideal of freedom also was home to the most brutal system of slavery the world has ever seen. But I think this “paradox” is quite understandable: it is two parts of the same phenomenon. Ask the question: why could ancient slaveowners afford to be relatively benign? Because they were also relatively secure in their position – their slaves knew as well as they did that the lower classes didn’t have many other better options. Sally Hemmings, Jefferson’s lover, considered running away when she was in France with him, but Jefferson successfully convinced her that she would get a better deal staying with him. He didn’t have to take her home in chains: she left the possibility of freedom in France and came back of her own free will (if slightly wistfully).
But as time passed and the factory jobs in the North proceeded in their Moore’s Law trajectory, eventually the alternatives available to the lower classes began to look better than in any time before in human history. The slaves Harriet Tubman smuggled to Canada arrived to find options exponentially better than those Hemmings could have hoped for if she had left Jefferson. As a result, for the first time in human history, slaves had to be kept in chains.
In the more abstract terms I was using before, slavery was relatively benign when the scarcity of opportunity that bound slaves to their masters was real, but as other opportunities became available, this “real scarcity” became “artificial,” something that had to be enforced with chains – and laws. That is where the slaveowners transformed into something uniquely brutal: to preserve their way of life they needed not only to put their slaves in chains, they also needed to take over the political and legal apparatus of society to keep those chains legal. There came into existence the one-issue politician – the politician whose motive to enter political life was not to understand or solve the problems facing the nation, to listen to other points of view or forge compromises, or any of the other natural things that a normal politician does, but merely to fight for one issue only: to write into law the “artificial scarcity” that was necessary to preserve the way of life of his constituents, and play whatever brutal political tricks were necessary to keep those laws on the books. Political violence was not off the table - a recent editorial “When Congress Was Armed And Dangerous” (www.nytimes.com/2011/01/12/opinion/12freeman.htm) reminds us that that the incitements to violence of today’s politics are tame compared to the violence of the politics of the 1830’s, 40’s and 50’s. The early 1860’s were the culmination of the decades-long disaster we wish the Founding Fathers had foreseen and averted. We wish they had had the argument about slavery while there was still time for it to be a mere argument – before the elite it supported poisoned the political system to provide for its defense.
They, in their old age, wished it too: forty-five years after Jefferson declined to make slavery an important issue in the debate over the Declaration of Independence, he was awakened by the “firebell in the night” in the form of the Missouri compromise. News of this fight caused him to wake up to the real situation, and he wrote to a friend “we have the wolf by the ears, and we can neither hold him, nor safely let him go. Justice is in one scale, and self-preservation in the other…. I regret that I am now to die in the belief that the useless sacrifice of themselves by the generation of ‘76, to acquire self government and happiness to their country, is to be thrown away by the unwise and unworthy passions of their sons, and that my only consolation is to be that I live not to weep over it.”
So, forty-five years after he declined to engage with an “unimportant,” “academic” question, he said of the consequences of that decision that his “only consolation is to be that I live not to weep over it.” He had not counted on the “unwise and unworthy passions” of his sons – for his own part, he would have been happy to let slavery lapse when economic conditions no longer gave it moral justification. However, the next generation had different ideas – they wanted to do anything it took to preserve their prerogatives. By that point the choices he had were defined by the company he kept: since he was a Virginian, he would have had to go to war for Virginia, and fight against everything he believed in. He would have wanted to go back to the time when he could have made a choice that was his own, but that time was past and gone, and no matter how “unwise and unworthy” were the passions which were now controlling him, he had no choice but to be swept along by them.
This is my argument about why we should pay attention to “unimportant” and “academic” questions. In 1776 it was equally well “academic” to consider looking ahead through seventy five years of exponential growth to project the economic conditions of 1860, and use that projection to motivate a serious consideration of abstract principles that were faintly absurd in the conditions of the time, and would only become burning issues decades and decades later. Yet we wish they had done just that, and in their old age they also fervently wished that they had too. This seems strange: why plan for 1860 in 1776? Why plan for 2085 in 2010? Why not just cross that bridge when we come to it? Let the next generation worry about their own problems; why should we think for them? we have our own burning issues to worry about! The projected problems of 2085 are abstract, academic, and unimportant to us. Why not leave them alone and worry about our present burning concerns?
The difficulty is that if we don’t leave them alone, if we don’t project the battle over our values absurdly into the future and start dealing with the shape of our conflict as it will look when transformed by many decades of time and technological change, we may well lose the political freedom of action to solve these problems non-violently – or to handle any others either. We will have “a wolf by the ears.” We wish the leaders of 1776 had envisioned and taken seriously the problems of 1860, because in 1776 they were still reasonable people who could talk to each other and effectively work out a compromise. By 1860 that option was no longer available. The problem is that when these kinds of problems eventually stop being “academic,” when they stop being the dreams of intellectuals and become burning issues for millions of real people, the fire burns too hot. Too many powerful people choose to “take a wolf by the ears”. This wolf may well consume the entire political and legal system and make it impossible to handle that problem or any other, until the only option left to restore the body politic is civil war. Once that happens everyone will fervently wish they could go back to the time when the battles were “merely academic”.
I worked out this story around 2003, because starting in 1998 I had wanted to have a name to give to a nameless anxiety (in between, I thrashed around for quite a while figuring out which historical image I believed in the most). When I was sure, I considered going to Krugman to use this story to fuel a temper tantrum about how he absolutely had to stop ignoring the geeks who tried to talk to him about “freedom.” But I was inhibited: I was afraid the whole argument would come across as intellectually suspect and emotionally manipulative. Besides, the immediate danger this story predicted – that politics would devolve into 1830’s style one-issue paralysis – seemed a bit preposterous in 2003. Krugman wasn’t happy about the 2002 election, but it wasn’t that bad. But now I feel some remorse in the other direction: it has gotten worse faster than I ever dreamed it would. I didn’t predict what has been happening exactly. I was very focussed on tech, so I didn’t expect the politicians in the service of the powerful people with “a wolf by the ears” to be funded by the oldest old economy powers imaginable – banking and oil. That result isn’t incompatible with this argument: that very traditional capitalism should gain an unprecedented brutality just when the new economy is promising new freedoms, is, this line of reasoning predicts, exactly what you should expect. I’m afraid now that Krugman will be mad at me for not bothering him in 2003, because he would have wanted the extra political freedom of action more than he would have resented the very improper intellectual argument.
Rebecca: Now that I’ve laid the groundwork, it is much easier for me to answer Nick and Helder. Both of you are essentially telling me that I’m being unreasonable and obnoxious. I will break dramatically with Stallman by completely conceding this objection across the board. I am being unreasonably obnoxious. However, there is a general method to this madness: as I explained in the image above, I am essentially pushing values that will make sense in a few decades, and pulling them back to the current time, admittedly somewhat inappropriately. The main reason I think it is important to do this is not because I think the values I am promoting should necessarily apply in an absolute way right now (as Stallman would say) but instead because it is a lot easier to start this fight now than to deal with it later. The reason to fight now is exactly because the opponents are still reasonable, whereas they might not be later. Unlike Stallman, I want to emphasize my respect (and gratitude) for reasonable objections to my position. My opponents are unlikely to shoot me, which is not a priviledge to be taken for granted, and one I want to take advantage of while I have it.
To address the specifics of your objections: Helder complained that companies needed the tactics I called “exploitation of artificial scarcity” to recoup their original investment – if that wasn’t allowed, the service wouldn’t exist at all, which would be worse. Nick objected that 80 or 90% of Facebook’s planned revenue was from essentially similar sources as Google’s, so why should I complain just because of the other 10 or 20%? That was what I was complaining about – that a portion of their revenue comes from closing their platform and taxing developers – but that is only a small part of Ms. Sandberg’s diversified revenue plans, and I admit that the rest is fairly logically indistinguishable from Google’s strategy. In both cases it can easily be argued I am taking an extremely unreasonable hard line.
Let’s delve into a dissection of how unreasonable I’m being. In both cases the unreasonableness comes from a problem with my general argument: I said that Mark Zuckerberg is not a capitalist, that is to say, he is not raising capital to buy physical objects that make his workers more productive – but that is not entirely true. Facebook’s data centers are expensive, and they are necessary to allow his employees to do their work.
The best story on this subject might also be the exception to prove the rule. The most “capitalist” story about a tech mogul’s start is the account of how Larry & Sergey began by maxing out their credit cards to buy a terabyte of disk (http://books.google.com/books?id=UVz06fnwJvUC&pg=PA6#v=onepage&q&f=false) This story could have been written by Horatio Alger – it so exactly follows the script of a standard capitalist’s start. But for all that, L&S did not make all the standard capitalist noise. I was a fan of Google very early, and may even have pulled data from their original terabyte, and I never heard about how they needed to put restrictions on me to recoup their investment. A year or so later when I talked to Googlers at their recruiting events, I thought they were almost bizarrely chipper about their total lack of revenue strategy. Yet they got rich anyway. And now that same terabyte costs less than $100.
That last is the key point: it is not that the investments aren’t significant and need to be recouped. It is that their size is shrinking exponentially. In the previous section, I emphasized the enormous transformative effect of decades of exponential improvement in technology, and the importance of extrapolating one’s values forward through those decades, even if that means making assertions that currently seem absurd. The investments that need to be recouped are real and significant, but they are also shrinking, at an exponential rate. So the economic basis for the assertion of a right to restrict people’s freedom of opportunity in order to recoup investment is temporary at best. And, as I described in the last part, asserting prerogatives on the basis of scarcity which is now real but will soon be artificial is … dangerous. Even if you honestly think that you will change with changing times, you may find to your sincere horror that when the time comes to make a new choice, you no longer have the option. Your choices will be dictated by the company you keep. I didn’t say it earlier, but one of the things that worries me the most about Facebook is that they seem to have gotten in bed with Goldman Sachs. The idea of soon-to-be multibillionare tech moguls taking lessons in political tactics from Lloyd Blankfein doesn’t make me happy.
I am glad that you objected, and gave me licence to take the space to explain this more carefully, because actually my point is more subtle and nuanced than my original account – which I was oversimplifying to save space – suggested. (Lessig told me I had to write an account that fit in five pages in order to hope to be heard, to which I reacted with some despair. I can’t! There is more than five pages worth of complexity to this problem! If I try to reduce beyond a certain point I burn the sauce. You are watching me struggle in public with this problem.)
There is another part of the mythology of “the end of capitalism” that I should take the time to disavow. The mythology talks as if there is one clear historical moment when an angel of annunciation appears and declares that a new social order has arrived. In reality it isn’t like that. It may seem like that in history books when a few pages cover the forty-five years between the time Jefferson scratched out his denunciation of slavery in the Declaration of Independence, and when he wrote the “firebell in the night” letter. But in real, lived, life, forty-five years are most of an adult lifetime. When Jefferson wrote “justice is in one scale, self-preservation in the other,” could he point to a particular moment in the previous forty-five years when the hand of justice had moved the weight to the other side of the scale? There was no one moment: just undramatic but steady exponential growth in the productivity of the industrial life whose moral inferiority seemed so obvious four decades earlier. He hadn’t been paying attention, no clarion call was blown at the moment of transition (if such a moment even existed), so when he heard the alarm that woke him up to how much the world had changed, it was too late.
In a similar way, I think the only clear judgement we can make now is that we are in the middle of a transition. There was some point in time when disk drives were so expensive and the data stored on them so trivial that the right of their owners to recoup their investment clearly outweighed all other concerns. There will be some other point, decades from now, when the disk drives are so cheap and the data on them so crucial to the livelihood of their users and the health of the economy, that the right to “software freedom” will clearly outweigh the rights of the owner of the hardware. There will be some point clearly “too early” to fight for new freedoms, and some point also clearly “too late.” In between these two points in time? Merely a long, slow, steady pace of change. In that time the hand of justice may refuse to put the weight on either side of the scale, no matter how much we plead with her for clarity. We may live our whole lives between two eras, where no judgement can be made black or white, where everything is grey.
But people want solid judgement: they want to know what is right and wrong. This greyness is dangerous, for it opens a vacuum of power eagerly filled by the worst sorts, causes a nameless anxiety, and induces political panic. So what can you do? I think it is impossible to make black-and-white judgements about which era’s values should apply. But one can say with certainty that it is desirable to preserve the freedom of political action that will make it possible to defend the values of a new era at the point when it becomes unequivocally clear that that fight is appropriate. I’m really not very upset if companies do whatever it takes to recoup their initial investment – as long as it’s temporary. But what guarantee do I have that if Facebook realizes its 50 billion market capitalization, they won’t use that money to buy politicians to justify continuing their practices indefinitely? Their association with Goldman doesn’t reassure me on that score. I trust Google more to allow, and even participate in, honest political discussion. That is the issue which I’m really worried about. The speed and effectiveness with which companies are already buying the political discourse has taken me by surprise, even though I had reason to predict it. When powerful people “have a wolf by the ears” they can become truly terrifying.
Rebecca: You could have a point that this kind of argument isn’t as unorthodox as it once was. After all, plenty of real economists have been talking about the “new economy” – Peter Drucker in “Beyond the Information Revolution” (linked above), Hal Varian in “Information Rules”, Larry Summers in a speech “The New Wealth of Nations”, even Krugman in his short essay “The Dynamo and the Microchip”, and a bunch of younger economists surveyed in David Brooks’s recent editorial “The Protocol Society.” But I don’t share Brooks’s satisfaction in the observation “it is striking how [these “new economy” theorists] are moving away from mathematical modeling and toward fields like sociology and anthropology.” There is a sense that my attitude is now more orthodox than the orthodoxy – though the argument I sketched here is not a mathematical model, it was very much designed and intended to be turned into one, and I am vehemently in agreement with Krugman’s attitude that nothing less than math is good enough. Economics is supposed to be a science where mathematical discipline forces intellectual honesty and provides a bulwark of defense against corruption.
I’m in shock that this crop of “new economy talk” is so loose, sloppy and journalistic … and because it is so intellectually sloppy, it is hard even to tell whether it is corrupt or not. For instance, though I liked the historical observations and the conclusions drawn from them in Drucker’s 1999 essay as much as anything I’ve read, his paean to the revolutionary effects of e-commerce reads so much like dot.com advertising it is almost embarrassing. Though, to be fair, there are some hints at the essay’s conclusion of a consciousness that an industrial revolution isn’t just about being sprinkled with technological fairy dust magic, but also involves some aspect of painful social upheaval – even so, his story is so strangely upbeat, especially since, given his clearly deep understanding of historical thinking, he should have known better … one wonders whom he was trying not to offend. Similarly, can we trust Summer’s purported genius or do his millions in pay from various banks, um, influence his thinking? and it goes on… Krugman is about the only one left I’m sure I can trust. People who do this for a living should be doing better than this! Even though I understand Lessig’s point about my intellectual radicalism, it’s hard for me to want to follow it, because some part of me just wants to challenge these guys to show enough intellectual rigor to prove that I can trust them.
To be fair, I admit part of Brooks’s point that there is something “anthropological” about a new economy: it tends to drive everyone mad. Think about the new industrial rich of the nineteenth century – dressed to the nines like pseudo-aristocrats, top hat, cane, affected accent, and maybe a bought marriage to get themselves a title too – they were cuckoo like clocks! Deep, wrenching, technologically-driven change does that to people. But just because it is madness doesn’t mean it doesn’t have method to it amenable to mathematical modeling. Krugman wrote (http://pkarchive.org/personal/incidents.html) that when he was young, Azimov’s “Foundation Trilogy” inspired him to dream of growing up to be a “psychohistorian who use[s his] understanding of the mathematics of society to save civilization as the Galactic Empire collapses” but he said “Unfortunately, there’s no such thing (yet).” Do you think he could be tempted with the possibility of a real opportunity to be a “psychohistorian?”
I never meant for this to be a fight I pursue on my own. The whole reason I translated it into an economic and historical language is that I wanted to convince the people who do this for a living to take it up for me. I can’t afford to fight alone: I don’t have the time to spend caught up in political arguments, nor can I afford to make enemies of people I might want to work for. I’m making these arguments here mostly because having a record of a debate with other tech people will help convince intellectuals of my seriousness. I’m having some difficulty getting you to understand, but I think I would have a terribly uphill battle trying to convince intellectuals that I am not “crying wolf” – they have just heard this kind of argument misused too many times before. I have to admit that I am crying wolf, but the reason I’m doing it is because this time there really is a wolf!
Piaw: Here’s the thing, Rebecca: it wasn’t possible to have that argument about freedom/slavery in 1776. The changes brought about later made it possible to have that argument much later. The civil war was horrifying, but I really am not sure if it was possible to change the system earlier.
Ruchira: Hi Rebecca,
I haven’t yet read this long conversation. But if you’re not already familiar with the concepts of rivalrous vs nonrivalrous and excludable vs nonexcludable
these terms might help connect you with what others have thought about the issues you’re talking about. See in particular the “Possible solutions” under Public goods:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_good Daniel Stoddart: I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I wouldn’t be so quick to count Google out of social. Oh, I know it’s cool to diss Buzz like Scoble has been doing for a while now, saying that he has more followers on Quora. But that’s kind of an apples and oranges comparison.
Ruchira: Rebecca: Okay, now I have read the long conversation. I do think you have an important point but I haven’t digested it enough to form an opinion (which would require judging how it interconnects with other important issues). Just a couple of tangential thoughts:
1) If you fear the loss of freedom, watch out for the military-industrial complex. You’ve elsewhere described some of the benefits from it, but this is precisely why you shouldn’t be lulled into a false sense of comfort by these benefits, just as you’re thinking others should not be lulled into a false sense of comfort about the issues you’re describing. Think about the long-term consequences of untouchable and unaccountable defense spending, and about the interlocking attributes of the status quo that keep it untouchable and unaccountable. They are fundamentally interconnected with information hiding and lack of transparency.
2) There exists a kind of psychohistory: cliodynamics. http://cliodynamics.info/ As far as I know it’s not yet sufficiently developed to apply to the future, though.
Ruchira: Rebecca: On that note, I wonder what you think of Noam Scheiber’s article “Why Wikileaks Will Kill Big Business and Big Government” http://www.tnr.com/article/politics/80481/game-changer He’s certainly thinking about how technology will cause massive changes in how society is organized.
Helder: (note: I didn’t read the whole thing with full attention) In the case of some closed systems. the cost of making it open (and lack business justification for that) and a general necessity to protect the business usually outweighs the need of return on investment by far. So it’s not all about ROE.
Also, society’s technology development and the shrinking size on capital needs for new business (e.g. terabyte cost), don’t usually favors closed system business in the long run, it probably only weakens it. You can have a walled garden, but as the outside ground level goes up, the wall gets shorter and shorter. Just look at how the operating system is increasingly less relevant as most action gravitates towards the browser. Another example (perhaps to be seen?) is the credit card industry as I mentioned in my first comment.
Rebecca: Thanks for reading this long, long post and giving me feedback!
Ruchira: Helder: Facebook makes the wall shorter for its developers (I’m sure Zynga think they’ve grown wealth due to Facebook). This directly caused an outcry over privacy (the walled garden is not walled any more).
Rebecca: Hope you find it food for thought! You might also be interested in David Singh Grewal’s Network Power http://amzn.to/h72nNJ It discusses a lot of relevant issues, and doesn’t assume a lot of background (since it’s targeted at multiple disciplines), so I found it very helpful, as an outsider like you. After that, you might (or might not) become interested in the coordination problem–if you do, Richard Tuck’s free riding http://amzn.to/f9goyT may be of interest.
Rebecca: Thanks, Ruchira, for the links. | <urn:uuid:d1cffc14-2650-4136-8d3e-776bd7d337b0> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | https://danluu.com/open-social-networks/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280266.9/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00504-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968095 | 17,426 | 1.695313 | 2 |
In 1903 Pasadena's burgeoning Christian Science community built its first church at the southeast corner of Colorado Boulevard and Madison Avenue:
It was expanded in 1905:
1905 was also the year the land at Green and Oakland was purchased. After years of fundraising drives and proposals from various architects, Burnham was hired and construction began in 1910. It was completed the following year.
The church had the largest number of square feet of any building in Pasadena at the time. It was designed to be completely fireproof and was topped by one of the earliest examples of a reinforced concrete dome.
Nearly a century after this church was built, structural work revealed the need for a large-scale seismic upgrade. The project team, led by Architectural Resources Group, analyzed the building’s condition, installed a major structural system that is virtually invisible, and restored historic finishes. And they did it all in 18 months with a budget of only $3.5 million, without disrupting a single church service.
The retrofit and restoration project received the prestigious Preservation Award from the Los Angeles Conservancy in 2009.
Pasadena's rich history includes incredible architecture of churches throughout the community, past and present.
The City of Pasadena has dozens of partners in the faith community that are actively engaged in helping us tackle issues ranging from homelessness to violence prevention. | <urn:uuid:bfd77485-a45b-4448-9e3b-72d57f52c92b> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://pasadenapio.blogspot.com/2011/04/mystery-history-solved.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560281419.3/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095121-00487-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976089 | 269 | 2.5 | 2 |
This year has brought unbounded upheaval right across the globe; between the impacts of coronavirus, followed by economic upheaval (now an official recession), Brexit (more economic upheaval), the ongoing social and political unrest in the call out for equality across all races and genders, and a strong call to action towards more sustainable practices, this really has been a year when it is ALL happening.
These many and varied campaigns are paving the way for a new era in consumer and corporate responsibility. As a business, if you haven’t already, now is definitely the time to take action, or risk being left behind.
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), or whatever label you prefer to put on it (corporate responsibility, social responsibility, corporate accountability or creating shared value, the list goes on and on) has been evolving over the last decade, but current events have brought about the rapid need for change. As a result, consumer expectations have shifted and intensified.
The customer has long held the expectation that business uses their power, resources and influence to ‘give something back’, to contribute to a greater good, or at the very least, work to ensure that they negate any detrimental impacts that they might have on society or the environment, but given the current climate, the general public is looking towards businesses, companies and organisations to help create solutions to the problems that are now so prominent.
Ongoing calls for racial justice as well as equality across the genders highlight that CSR should be ingrained into every level of the business and that we need to make room at the table for a more diverse and enriched workplace and executive board.
It is no longer enough for big brands and businesses to pay lip-service to their consumers and employees with tick-boxing, insincere communications as to all the ‘great work’ that they have been doing, whilst just a little scratching at the surface may reveal very little depth to this work, or at worst, that there is no truth in the statements at all.
With the world of social media making every platform a news feed that can reach a worldwide audience within minutes, consumers and employees quickly see through the greenwash and are not only prepared to call these business out, but to boycott their products and services, creating long-term collateral damage for the organisation.
So what should businesses do now?
Companies are starting to sit up and listen; they are beginning to examine their hiring practices for diversity and inclusion; they are starting to look into their supply chains to ensure best environmental and social practice; they are looking at how they can forge partnerships to achieve the best possible outcome towards achieving the net zero carbon targets.
Yes, the current climate does present many challenges, especially as many businesses are simply fighting for survival right now, but looking at your businesses CSR strategy can be an important part of recovery.
CSR can power profitability for the following reasons:
- You are inviting a more diverse skillset to sit around the management and leadership table
- You can find ways to lower operational costs or negate supply chain risk
- You may discover new value propositions that meet your changing customer and employee expectations and needs
- You may attract lead talent who can help you achieve your goals
As a business mentor, a sustainability professional and the owner of my own business, I constantly look for ways to improve upon my own CSR, and having worked with many companies to help them plan and execute their own business strategies, regain their footing during economic instability and forge ahead I can offer five main pointers on how best to approach your CSR goals:
Being small doesn’t mean you can’t contribute (and it doesn’t have to ‘cost’ your business):
In the words of Christine Todd Whitman:
“Anyone who thinks that they are too small to make a difference has never tried to fall asleep with a mosquito in the room.”
Regardless of whether you are a one person show or a large multinational corporation, there are many ways that we can all contribute towards a better society or environment; whether this is through the way we use energy, manage our waste or engage with the community, we can all do something to help create a positive impact. I suggest checking out the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals and aligning your business with the ones that resonate with you and your overall business goals.
Another myth that needs to be dispelled is the idea that CSR needs a big budget, or that it will be at the cost of generating revenue.
Profit can align with purpose to create shared value across the business and community. Statistics shared by Impact Reporting have shown that CSR functions are responsible for 40% of a company’s reputation and that an effective CSR strategy can increase market share by 4-6%
Doing nothing for fear of getting it wrong is not a better option:
We’ve all heard the phrase ‘paralysis by analysis’ and this is true of this scenario. Companies have finally cottoned on to the fact that their consumers and employees are not easily fooled (as mentioned above), and this is a good thing as it is making companies dig that bit deeper in coming up with some real, and relevant values.
However, what can often happen here is that companies opt out of talking about CSR altogether for fear of getting it wrong. There are many companies out there who are doing some great things but who choose not to share these good works with their stakeholders, which is such a shame as these stories can really help build long lasting and loyal relationships with the customer, and build a sense of community.
But here is the thing – your customers and employees want to see authenticity, not necessarily perfection. They realise that the people within the corporation are only human. Be transparent in your actions, admit failings as and when they happen and share successes when you can. If you make it clear that you are striving for your best your stakeholders will usually understand.
Become a problem-solver. Become a leader:
CSR is asking companies to think more broadly about their impact. The traditional approach to CSR has been a corporate beach clean or a group of employees coming together to plant out trees or paint a community wall of some description. And this is great, these things need to be done, and depending on the size of your organisation it is a great way to give something back.
But, where additional resources exist, now is the time to consider taking these efforts up a level and start asking some bigger questions, for example, how we can have a greater long-term impact on issues such as reducing carbon emissions; ensuring a fair price is paid to suppliers or tackling issues surrounding poverty or hunger?
As touched on earlier, CSR shouldn’t be about ticking a box. If your business has the expertise, the resources and the partnerships needed to create meaningful change then be the one who leads the way forward.
True CSR is a top down, and bottom up approach:
For CSR to be truly integrated into the fabric of your business you need to align your plans with your overall businesses vision and goals, and you will need employee buy-in and engagement.
This cannot be solely delivered by a management team who don’t understand operational minutia, nor can it be done by employees who don’t hold the purse strings or make the big decisions. All levels of staff, across all departments, need to be engaged from the start if your strategy is to work well.
Whilst it is perfectly reasonable for the executive team to have an ultimate vision for their CSR strategy it will need the input of staff who understand what it will take to make it work, whether this is from a budget, operational or HR perspective. And of course, you can’t expect staff to be enthusiastic about living the values of your CSR strategy, if there is no top-down, leadership buy-in – no one wants a ‘don’t do as I do, do as I say’ approach.
This approach offers businesses a chance to build trust with employees, particularly millennials and Generation Z, through CSR. Employees want to work for companies that take a stance on important issues, which also makes it a valuable recruitment tool. Employees want you to give them opportunities to make a difference, not only for the company but for communities.
Adopt the kaizen approach:
Kaizen is a term that originated in Japan and translates as change (kai) for the good (zen). It is based on the philosophical belief that everything can be improved over time by adopting small, incremental changes.
Kaizen adopts the idea that all employees at all levels of a company work together proactively to achieve regular, incremental improvements to the businesses processes. In a sense, it combines the collective talents within a company to create a powerful engine for improvement.
Utilise this model to engage your CSR team in monitoring and reviewing your overall strategy on an ongoing basis; assessing which areas are working well, what needs to change course or what simply isn’t working at all and assessing the ‘why’ behind those issues. By holding regular update meetings, and strong record-keeping, you will be able to ensure continuous improvement within the company and adapt to an ever-changing marketplace.
Hopefully this article has provided you with some food for thought, but ultimately my main message to you, just in case you missed it, is to make a change towards adopting a CSR strategy today, if you haven’t already.
This doesn’t have to be a huge undertaking when you are starting out – it’s fine to begin small – and it doesn’t have to accrue a huge, separate budget to get things going, so long as your heart and values are in the right place this is a good enough starting point.
For those of you who have some sort of policy, or strategy in place; great work! However, perhaps now is a good time to shake the dust off it and take another look?
Either way, my main takeaways for you are:
Small is a good place to start
Don’t be afraid to do something and don’t be afraid to lead
Align your CSR with your overall company goals
Get everyone involved and engaged
Be transparent and honest in your actions
Keep re-evaluating and striving for improvement | <urn:uuid:95e254d2-5f11-42ea-9ca3-bcb6f2df6251> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.triterra.co.uk/new-builds/2020-the-year-of-csr/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572304.13/warc/CC-MAIN-20220816120802-20220816150802-00476.warc.gz | en | 0.954154 | 2,161 | 1.851563 | 2 |
- Product Description
Understanding the origin of high-mass stars is central to modern astrophysics. We shed light on this problem using novel radiation-hydrodynamic simulations that consistently follow the gravitational collapse of a massive molecular cloud, the subsequent build-up and fragmentation of the accretion disk surrounding the nascent star, and, for the first time, the interaction between its intense UV radiation field and the infalling material. We show that ionization feedback can neither stop protostellar mass growth nor suppress fragmentation. We present a consistent picture of the formation and evolution of H II regions that explains the observed morphology, time variability, and ages of ultracompact H II regions, solving the long-standing lifetime problem.
|Number of Pages||152|
|Country of Manufacture||India|
|Product Brand||Südwestdeutscher Verlag für Hochschulschriften|
|Product Packaging Info||Box|
|In The Box||1 Piece|
|Product First Available On ClickOnCare.com||2015-01-08 00:00:00| | <urn:uuid:36933437-5562-4083-8816-76752b10eb33> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | https://www.clickoncare.com/ionization-feedback-in-massive-star-formation | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560279368.44/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095119-00325-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.686628 | 227 | 2 | 2 |
Do you know your debt-to-income ratio? Is it 120 per cent? 165? 200? And what does that number even mean?
Each quarter, Statistics Canada publishes the average Canadian's debt-to-personal-disposable-income ratio. It's a stat that gets cited often in stories about Canadians' onerous and rising debt loads. ( Click here to read a recent one.)
The latest debt-to-income report from Statscan shows that as of the third quarter of 2011, the average Canadian's debt-to-personal-disposable-income ratio was 153 per cent. That's up from 150.6 per cent in the previous quarter and higher than 148.3 per cent a year ago. Seeing that makes me wonder how I compare.
Turns out, calculating your own ratio is not that difficult. To get your debt-to-personal-income percentage, add up your total debt (including mortgages, loans, credit lines and credit cards) and find out what per cent that is of your annual after-tax income. If you really don’t want to do the math, try using this online calculator. Plug in the numbers and voila! Your ratio. For example, if your total debt is $120,000 and your after-tax income is $85,000, your debt-to-income ratio is 141 per cent.
Your next question might be: If my ratio is lower than the national average, does that mean I'm in better financial health than most? Or if I'm higher, am I in trouble?
Not necessarily. Though it's bandied about frequently in the press, the debt-to-income ratio is limited when it comes to measuring one's own financial health. For one thing, it doesn't take equity or assets into account. Also, as Globe and Mail personal finance columnist Rob Carrick noted in this story, it measures things that are not directly comparable, namely your entire debt load vs. one year's net pay (one would hardly be expected to pay off all your debt in one year, right?).
“Another flaw in the debt-to-income ratio is that it lumps together people who have no debt with those who are heavily indebted,” wrote Mr. Carrick. “So you get seniors who have paid off their mortgages combined with Vancouver and Toronto residents and their mega-mortgages.”
Mr. Carrick pointed out that the debt-to-income ratio is used by economists for a “big picture” view on debt, and unless you are able to compare your ratio with others who are like you – say, young families with mortgage debt or boomers preparing for retirement – measuring yourself against the average number is largely meaningless.
So are there better ways to calculate whether your debt load is financially sound?
Consolidated Credit Counseling Services of Canada has another way to determine your debt-to-income ratio and gauge whether you are in a good position to borrow money or if you are spending too much paying off debt.
Take your total monthly debt payments, including rent or mortgage, minimum credit card, car payments, etc., and divide by your total household monthly income. Multiply by 100. Here is a calculator you can use for that. Because this way of calculating your debt-to-income ratio compares two numbers that are more directly comparable – what's coming in each month versus what's coming out each month – it might give you a better idea of whether your current situation is a healthy one.
According to Consolidated Credit, your debt-to-income ratio should be 36 per cent or less. At 37 to 49 per cent, you should be concerned about your level of debt, and at 50 per cent or more, you should seek out professional assistance to severely reduce your debt.Report Typo/Error
Follow us on Twitter: | <urn:uuid:123b0226-8e5f-4a57-af8a-d10d56ecdf2f> | CC-MAIN-2016-44 | http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-investor/personal-finance/home-cents/do-you-know-your-debt-to-income-ratio/article2294623/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-44/segments/1476988719027.25/warc/CC-MAIN-20161020183839-00302-ip-10-171-6-4.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95345 | 797 | 2.390625 | 2 |
Judges 3Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
The Lord Tests Israel
3 These are the nations the Lord left in order to test Israel, since the Israelites had fought none of these in[a] any of the wars with Canaan. 2 This was to teach the future generations of the Israelites how to fight in battle, especially those who had not fought before.[b] 3 These nations included: the five rulers of the Philistines and all of the Canaanites, the Sidonians, and the Hivites who lived in the Lebanese mountains[c] from Mount Baal-hermon as far as the entrance to Hamath.[d] 4 The Lord left them to test Israel, to determine if they would keep the Lord’s commands He had given their fathers through[e] Moses. 5 But they settled among the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. 6 The Israelites took their daughters as wives for themselves, gave their own daughters to their sons, and worshiped their gods.
Othniel, the First Judge
7 The Israelites did what was evil in the Lord’s sight; they forgot the Lord their God and worshiped the Baals and the Asherahs. 8 The Lord’s anger burned against Israel, and He sold them to[f] Cushan-rishathaim[g] king of Aram-naharaim,[h] and the Israelites served him eight years.
9 The Israelites cried out to the Lord. So the Lord raised up Othniel son of Kenaz, Caleb’s youngest brother, as a deliverer to save the Israelites. 10 The Spirit of the Lord came on him, and he judged Israel. Othniel went out to battle, and the Lord handed over Cushan-rishathaim king of Aram to him, so that Othniel overpowered him. 11 Then the land was peaceful 40 years, and Othniel son of Kenaz died.
12 The Israelites again did what was evil in the Lord’s sight. He gave Eglon king of Moab power over Israel, because they had done what was evil in the Lord’s sight. 13 After Eglon convinced the Ammonites and the Amalekites to join forces with him, he attacked and defeated Israel and took possession of the City of Palms.[i] 14 The Israelites served Eglon king of Moab 18 years.
15 Then the Israelites cried out to the Lord, and He raised up Ehud son of Gera, a left-handed Benjaminite,[j] as a deliverer for them. The Israelites sent him to Eglon king of Moab with tribute money.
16 Ehud made himself a double-edged sword 18 inches long.[k] He strapped it to his right thigh under his clothes 17 and brought the tribute to Eglon king of Moab, who was an extremely fat man. 18 When Ehud had finished presenting the tribute, he dismissed the people who had carried it. 19 At the carved images near Gilgal he returned and said, “King Eglon, I have a secret message for you.” The king called for silence, and all his attendants left him. 20 Then Ehud approached him while he was sitting alone in his room upstairs where it was cool. Ehud said, “I have a word from God for you,” and the king stood up from his throne.[l] 21 Ehud[m] reached with his left hand, took the sword from his right thigh, and plunged it into Eglon’s belly. 22 Even the handle went in after the blade, and Eglon’s fat closed in over it, so that Ehud did not withdraw the sword from his belly. And Eglon’s insides came out. 23 Ehud escaped by way of the porch, closing and locking the doors of the upstairs room behind him.
24 Ehud was gone when Eglon’s servants came in. They looked and found the doors of the upstairs room locked and thought he was relieving himself[n] in the cool room. 25 The servants waited until they became worried and saw that he had still not opened the doors of the upstairs room. So they took the key and opened the doors—and there was their lord lying dead on the floor!
26 Ehud escaped while the servants waited. He crossed over the Jordan near the carved images and reached Seirah. 27 After he arrived, he sounded the ram’s horn throughout the hill country of Ephraim. The Israelites came down with him from the hill country, and he became their leader. 28 He told them, “Follow me, because the Lord has handed over your enemies, the Moabites, to you.” So they followed him, captured the fords of the Jordan leading to Moab, and did not allow anyone to cross over. 29 At that time they struck down about 10,000 Moabites, all strong and able-bodied men. Not one of them escaped. 30 Moab became subject to Israel that day, and the land was peaceful 80 years.
31 After Ehud, Shamgar son of Anath became judge. He delivered Israel by striking down 600 Philistines with an oxgoad. | <urn:uuid:c0df6436-bcef-4661-8bfe-c012ace2b3fd> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Judges+3&version=HCSB | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280410.21/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00451-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.984799 | 1,134 | 2.09375 | 2 |
Boy, do I sound like my parents with that headline, or what?
Apparently, two kinds of compression are changing the sound of recorded music. The first is digital compression, such as we use to get a bunch of mp3's on an iPod. I still buy CD's, and then rip them myself so I can control the bit rate and compression, but a lot of folks are buying mp3's online of all kinds of quality. (I actually rip every CD twice -- once as a VBR MP3 for my iPod and once as a loss-less FLAC file for my home audio server).
The second type of compression, perhaps more insidious because it is impossible for the individual listener to control, is use of audio compressors that reduce the dynamic range of music - basically making soft parts louder and vice versa. NPR discusses it here, via Flowing Data. While the second form of compression is as old as vinyl (the revenge of Phil Specter?) these two types of compression are related as apparently louder music gives more room to hide digital compression artifacts, so producers are compressing music and increasing loudness.
The best test I have of dynamic range is listening to music in a noisy car, say with the windows open. Many classical disks can't be listened to this way, as the variation from soft to loud causes one to keep having to fiddle with the volume knob. I have a few old rock disks that have the same kind of range (some old Genesis albums come to mind) but most of my newer disks will play just fine in a loud car, probably meaning that they indeed do have much narrower dynamic ranges.
To some extent, this is counter intuitive to me given the prevalence of headphone listening, since headphones are great for listening to music with big dynamic ranges. But what do I know? I grew up listening to 8-tracks so it all is an improvement for me.
Here is a very good, succinct example of how compression works and why it makes music suck: | <urn:uuid:18b70fcf-cfb1-4d5e-953f-7231932b5eff> | CC-MAIN-2016-44 | http://www.coyoteblog.com/coyote_blog/tag/flac | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-44/segments/1476988719843.44/warc/CC-MAIN-20161020183839-00292-ip-10-171-6-4.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963582 | 407 | 2.171875 | 2 |
How could nanotechnology affect the organic industry?
A new report from BCC Research shows that the worldwide nanotechnology market will reach about $15.7 billion this year and will grow to $27 billion by 2015 (1).
From pharmaceuticals to certain fabrics to some sunscreens, nanotechnology is all around us. The question is, how might it affect the organic food manufacturers and suppliers?
The Nanorganic Debate
Nanoparticles are extremely small molecules that measure one to 300 nanometers. This developing science is intended to make new substances with properties that are different from their larger natural or synthetic counterparts.
This technology is so new that we have no knowledge of how nanoparticles could negatively affect the environment over the long term. Some also believe that the particles are so small that they could wreak havoc in our bodies, crossing individual cell membranes or even the blood–brain barrier. Such potential has made some players in the organic industry raise the strong viewpoint that nanotechnology has no place in this marketplace whatsoever.
This viewpoint has merit. There are a lot of unanswered questions about nanotechnology that could have some potentially scary answers. “How is it produced? How is it used? And, what is its impact when it is being produced, when it’s being used and when it’s disposed? asks Katherine DiMatteo, an organic expert and a senior associate at Wolf, DiMatteo and Associates, New Castle, VA.
The anti-nanotechnology camp has raised these questions to the National Organic Standards Board, asking them to prohibit nanotechnology outright. There’s some precedent for such a ban. Canada, for instance, will not allow nanotechnology to be used in its organic foods. And earlier this year, the Committee on Environment, Health and Consumer Protection of the European Parliament voted to exclude nanotechnology from its list of allowable novel foods in the European Union.
But, there’s an opposing view. Others in the industry feel that there could be some merit for nanotechnology, even within natural or organic food production. Such technology may help improve the gas barrier properties of certain food packaging (leading to better shelf life), improved nutritional property of food ingredients, antibacterial properties and better mouth-feel of some foods (2). The technology could one day also help improve nutrient bioavailability or even the targeted delivery of certain nutrients (2).
Plus, not all nanoparticles are engineered. Technically, the corrosion of metal can be considered nanotechnology (under a broad definition). Nanomaterial can also be a natural byproduct of standard food production processes such as homogenizing milk and grain milling (2). Given that a broad ban of nanotechnology could be problematic for some important organic foods like milk and grain, DiMatteo asks, “Can we find out as much as we can about this technology, and then prohibit it in ways that fit?”
For the past several years, organic food manufacturers and suppliers have argued about whether the industry should support or discourage nanotechnology. Recently, one major voice in the mix announced some middle ground.
The National Organic Board Materials Committee decided to change its rules to clarify its stance on nanotechnology. In September of this year, the group released a guidance document, Engineered Nanomaterials in Organic Production, Processing and Packaging, detailing some of its recommendations (which will be discussed at October 26–28, 2010 public symposium).
In reaction to the proposed guidelines, DiMatteo states that the group isn’t giving up its standards or principles, but it is investigating how the organic industry can look at this new technology within its parameters.
“I think what’s really important,” say DiMatteo, “is to understand what we’re prohibiting and to define it clearly…I’m glad that this is something we’re still discussing in the U.S. because we should make sure that we are not eliminating something that may already be in use and has no negative implications.”
For instance, the guidance document bans engineered nanomaterials in products bearing the USDA Organic seal unless they’re on the National List of Allowed and Prohibited Substances. The Committee is suggesting defining “engineered nanomaterials” as follows:
“Substances deliberately designed, engineered and produced by human activity to be in the nanoscale range (approx. 1–300 nm) because of very specific properties or compositions (e.g., shape, surface properties or chemistry) that result in that nanoscale” (3).
Of note, the definition excludes certain nano-byproducts of organic food processing: “Incidental particles in the nanoscale range created during traditional food processing such as homogenization, milling, churning and freezing, and naturally occurring particles in the nanoscale range are not intended to be included in this definition. All nanomaterials (without exception) containing capping reagents or other synthetic components are intended to be included in this definition” (3).
The group also said it would support restrictions to packaging and other materials that come in direct contact with organic foods as well as crops and livestock since “there is great concern for contamination that could occur from primary packaging.” The committee stated that inadvertent contamination from something out of an organic facility’s control (like a nanofilter in its water supply) would not require a company to move or risk losing organic certification. The National Organic Program plans to clarify these situations.
Overall, DiMatteo feels the document offers “a practical approach” to handling the use of nanotechnology. “It moves the discussion to a level where we can use all our knowledge and our principles to come up with something that works for us in the organic industry.” WF
1. BCC Research, “Global Nanotechnology Market to be Worth $27 Billion in 2015,” press release distributed September 23, 2010.
2. National Organic Standards Board, Materials Committee, Nanotechnology in Organic Production, Processing, and Packaging, September 8, 2009.
3. National Organic Standards Board Materials Committee, Guidance Document: Engineered Nanomaterials in Organic Production, Processing and Packaging, Sept. 2, 2010.
Published in WholeFoods Magazine, November 2010 | <urn:uuid:2d68b80c-97c7-4aad-8f79-e9fb8f56b487> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.wholefoodsmagazine.com/suppliers/features-suppliers/nano-nano/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560281574.78/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095121-00016-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939953 | 1,311 | 2.734375 | 3 |
Calcium supplements may increase the risk of heart damage and plaque buildup in arteries, even though a diet high in calcium-rich food appears to help protect the heart, a study concludes.
The analysis is based on 10 years of study of more than 2,700 people.
The researchers caution that their work, published in the Journal of the American Heart Association, documents an association between calcium supplements and atherosclerosis. It does not prove cause and effect.
But they say the results add to growing scientific concern about calcium supplements, often taken by aging persons to prevent bones from becoming brittle; they urge patients to consult with a knowledgeable physician before using them.
“When it comes to using vitamin and mineral supplements, particularly calcium supplements being taken for bone health, many Americans think that more is always better,” says Erin Michos, associate director of preventive cardiology and associate professor of medicine at Johns Hopkins University. “But our study adds to the body of evidence that excess calcium in the form of supplements may harm the heart and vascular system.”
An estimated 43 percent of US adults take a supplement that includes calcium. Earlier studies showed that calcium taken that way, particularly in older people, doesn’t all “make it to the skeleton or get completely excreted in the urine, so … must be accumulating in the body’s soft tissues,” says nutritionist and study coauthor John Anderson of the University of North Carolina Gillings School of Global Public Health. Scientists also knew that as a person ages, calcium-based plaque builds up in the aorta and other arteries, impeding blood flow and increasing the risk of heart attack.
“There is clearly something different in how the body uses and responds to supplements versus intake through diet that makes it riskier.”
The investigators looked at data from the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis, a long-running research project at six research universities, including Johns Hopkins. They focused on 2,742 participants who had CT scans 10 years apart.
The ethnically diverse participants ranged in age from 45 to 84; 51 percent were female. In 2000, all completed a 120-part questionnaire about their dietary habits to determine how much calcium they took in by eating dairy products; leafy greens; calcium-enriched foods, like cereals; and other calcium-rich foods. Separately, the researchers inventoried what drugs and supplements each took. The investigators used cardiac CT scans to measure participants’ coronary artery calcium scores, a marker of heart disease risk.
After adjusting for heart disease risks like age, sex, race, exercise, smoking, income, education, weight, drinking, blood pressure, blood sugar, and family history, the researchers separated out the 20 percent of participants with the highest total calcium intake, greater than 1,400 milligrams a day. That group was on average 27 percent less likely than the 20 percent with the lowest calcium intake—less than 400 milligrams—to develop heart disease, as indicated by their coronary artery calcium test.
Next, the investigators focused on the differences between those taking in only dietary calcium and the 46 percent using calcium supplements, like pills, chewables, liquids, and powders.
The researchers again adjusted for other risks and found that supplement users showed a 22-percent increased likelihood after a decade of coronary artery calcium scores indicating development of heart disease.
“There is clearly something different in how the body uses and responds to supplements versus intake through diet that makes it riskier,” Anderson says. “It could be that supplements contain calcium salts, or it could be from taking a large dose all at once that the body is unable to process.”
Participants with highest calcium intake from food—more than 1,022 milligrams a day—showed no increase in relative risk of developing heart disease.
“Based on this evidence, we can tell our patients that there doesn’t seem to be any harm in eating a heart-healthy diet that includes calcium-rich foods, and it may even be beneficial for the heart,” Michos says. “But patients should really discuss any plan to take calcium supplements with their doctor to sort out a proper dosage or whether they even need them.”
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say coronary heart disease kills more than 370,000 people each year in the United States. More than half of women over 60 take calcium supplements—many without physician oversight—to reduce osteoporosis risk.
Coauthors of the study are from the University of Washington; Indiana, Wake Forest and Emory universities; the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute; and UCLA Medical Center. The National Institutes of Health and the Blumenthal Scholars Award in Preventive Cardiology funded the study.
Source: Johns Hopkins University | <urn:uuid:5f8217e7-cf23-4934-bcfb-2bed51bb5d09> | CC-MAIN-2016-44 | http://exceptionmag.com/30808/calcium-supplements-may-damage-the-heart/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-44/segments/1476988718426.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20161020183838-00138-ip-10-171-6-4.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.932143 | 993 | 3.21875 | 3 |
ERIC Number: ED165260
Record Type: RIE
Publication Date: 1977-Sep
Reference Count: 0
Improving Discipline in our Schools. An Operational Handbook for School Discipline Committees.
Barbadora, Bernard, Comp.; And Others
Board of Education Action Motion No. 16 requires each school in the Cincinnati system to establish a discipline committee to establish a formal structure designed to encourage cooperative efforts between and among staff, students, parents, and other concerned citizens. The focus of these cooperative efforts is to improve pupil behavior. This document has been developed as a general resource for school discipline committees and offers many how-to-do-it suggestions to help local committees work through the organization, planning, and evaluation processes. This information is, however, in no way meant to be all-inclusive. Suggested sources of resources for program development are included as are several appendices providing background information on board policy; administrative procedures on suspension, expulsion, and removal from school; and related information. (Author/IRT)
Descriptors: Advisory Committees, Discipline, Discipline Policy, Elementary Secondary Education, Guidelines
Cincinnati Public Schools, Dept. of Student Services, 230 East 9th Street, Cincinnati, Ohio 45202 ($4.50)
Publication Type: Guides - General
Education Level: N/A
Authoring Institution: Cincinnati Public Schools, OH. Dept. of Human Resources.
Identifiers: Cincinnati Public Schools OH
Note: Not available in paper copy due to marginal legibility of parts of original document | <urn:uuid:b3e8d8e5-7164-408c-85c2-0648692af425> | CC-MAIN-2016-44 | http://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED165260 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-44/segments/1476988719155.26/warc/CC-MAIN-20161020183839-00333-ip-10-171-6-4.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.894971 | 315 | 2.53125 | 3 |
PSALM 80 God Implored to Rescue His People from Their Calamities. For the choir director; set to El Shoshannim; Eduth. A Psalm of Asaph. 80 1Oh, give ear, Shepherd of Israel, You who lead Joseph like a flock; You who are enthroned above the cherubim, shine forth! 2Before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh, stir up Your power And come to save us! 3O God, restore us And cause Your face to shine upon us, [D]and we will be saved. 4O Lord God of hosts, How long will You [E]be angry with the prayer of Your people? 5You have fed them with the bread of tears, And You have made them to drink tears in [F]large measure. 6You make us [G]an object of contention to our neighbors, And our enemies laugh among themselves. 7O God of hosts, restore us And cause Your face to shine upon us, [H]and we will be saved. 8You removed a vine from Egypt; You drove out the [I]nations and planted it. 9You cleared the ground before it, And it took deep root and filled the land. 10The mountains were covered with its shadow, And [J]the cedars of God with its boughs. 11It was sending out its branches to the sea And its shoots to the River. 12Why have You broken down its [K]hedges, So that all who pass that way pick its fruit? 13A boar from the forest eats it away And whatever moves in the field feeds on it. 14O God of hosts, turn again now, we beseech You; Look down from heaven and see, and take care of this vine, 15Even the [L]shoot which Your right hand has planted, And on the [M]son whom You have [N]strengthened for Yourself. 16It is burned with fire, it is cut down; They perish at the rebuke of Your countenance. 17Let Your hand be upon the man of Your right hand, Upon the son of man whom You made strong for Yourself. 18Then we shall not turn back from You; Revive us, and we will call upon Your name. 19O Lord God of hosts, restore us; Cause Your face to shine upon us, [O]and we will be saved.
New American Standard Bible® / © 1995 The Lockman Foundation About | <urn:uuid:87b1b9ff-f629-43c1-87aa-d3f3205fdb5b> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.just1word.com/nasb/psalms/80 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280266.9/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00503-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.932931 | 518 | 1.546875 | 2 |
How To Calm Your Nerves Before A Show
Many performers suffer from pre-performance jitters and although normal, such nervous energy before a show can often have a detrimental impact on one's performance. Here we look at some techniques artists can use to keep their stage nerves in check.
Guest Post by Chris Grayston, excerpted from his new book 'The Secret to Success in the Music Industry, Hints & Tips to Help you Succeed!'
How to Calm Nerves: Most if not all people don’t know how to calm nerves before they head on stage and they are perfectly natural. Dealing with nerves can make you feel shaky and nauseous and can cause a lack of focus and concentration. Nerves are normal and help focus a performance so the key is to control nerves and to not let them take over you.
Learn to live with the nerves
You need to learn to live with the nerves and embrace them as in reality they will never go, you just must learn how to calm nerves and how to live with them.
On the day, the aim is to try and ease all tension and relax your body. This will ease your mind and steady your voice.
Watch what you eat and drink
Try having a small snack to settle your stomach, but not so you feel full. A banana is a good example with how to calm nerves. Chewing gum can help relieve tension in your jaw, but if you haven’t eaten, don’t chew for too long as it can cause digestion issues.
Avoid caffeine as it can enhance anxiety. Instead try drinking herbal tea or some lukewarm water. Ice cold or boiling hot water can shock your vocal cords and make them close up.
How to calm nerves
The best manner in how to calm nerves is to be confident in the first place. Having practised and performed so many times it becomes second nature and will reduce the amount of things that can go wrong. As always perform to friends, at open mic nights, film yourself, ask for feedback first and analyse.
The key with how to calm nerves is to visualise your performance and go through it step by step. Begin by thinking about heading down from the dressing room and following it through to going on stage and hitting those first notes.
Show up early! This will relieve any nerves about being late or having any last minute hitches.
Learning how to calm nerves
Call a friend
Who better to assist with how to calm nerves than your friends and family? It can help to talk over your issues and normalise and rationalise them. Laugh often! It helps with learning how to calm nerves in more ways than one. A hearty laugh fires up and cools down the body’s stress response. In a similar way to exercise, laughter can cause a temporary increased heart rate and blood pressure, which can lead to a state of relaxation and help deal with nerves.
Consider whatever works best for you, so consider watching a comedy film in the morning or hanging around with friends before the show. Put yourself in a place where laughing will relax you and ease the nervousness.
Ahead of a gig in the evening try and get some exercise! Aim for at least half an hour. From a jog or a long walk to a weight lifting session, this will all release tension and get the endorphins going.
Walk away nervous energy
If nervous at the gig, walking around even for just ten minutes can help with how to calm nerves. Studies have shown that walking can help spark nerve sensors in the brain to relax the senses, so taking a walk even an hour before the event can help you feel more at ease.
Tips for how to calm nerves
Try meditating. It may sound silly, but it can help put you at ease. Mediation is not for all but for some people it can play a big part with how to calm nerves, although it takes some practice. Find yourself a quiet spot, preferably away from other people, and sit or lie in a comfortable position and shut your eyes. Think of anything that relaxes you, anything that isn’t your performance.
Close your eyes or focus your gaze on the floor and concentrate on your breathing. Feel the air fill your lungs and inhale and exhale to the count of three. Whilst in meditation mode, it’s important to let thoughts pass through your mind without judgement. Remember, we are working on how to calm nerves here, so try not to distract yourself with unnecessary thoughts.
Listen to music
Listening to music can also help deal with nerves; classical and jazz music have especially been proven to lower heart rate, blood pressure and stress hormone levels.
Try creating a pre-show ritual. You would be surprised how many singers have one! Whether it's something as simple as having a game of pool two hours before the show or something more complex like an hour gym session followed by a walk and ending up with watching your favourite TV show, if it works for you and puts you at ease, do it! | <urn:uuid:681f6be6-904b-424c-83a6-9ec505da9bc6> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.hypebot.com/hypebot/2016/07/ugghgh.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573197.34/warc/CC-MAIN-20220818124424-20220818154424-00665.warc.gz | en | 0.950926 | 1,041 | 1.945313 | 2 |
In the article “Hidden Intellectuals” written by Gerald Graff, he suggests through a persuasive argument specifically how street smarts can very well be more intellectual than book smarts. And how that knowledge goes far beyond academic learning and is continued into the everyday world is not considered intellect because of a different background.
He argues that by being involved in non-academic subjects; like sports, fashion and music; can help the students develop an academic way of thinking. The same idea is also stated in “Brain Candy”, an article found in The New Yorker by Malcolm Gladwell. He clearly explains how pop culture has affected the smarts of the people all over the world. And that how it is helping us to “become smarter because television shows and video games are more complex and engaging.”
Both writers argue about the many kinds of knowledge and their value of usefulness. Graff uses his own life experiences to show how non-intellectual subjects can be turned into intellectualism. He states that “…schools and colleges might be at fault for missing the opportunity to tap into such street smarts and channel them into good academic work.” What would you think when you read his opinion on intellectualism? Are schools and colleges really the blame for lacking to tap into such street smarts? Or is it wise to separate theses two forms of learning? “
To support his argument, Graff tells us his own story of transformation from a ‘street smart’ boy to an intellectual. One may agree with Graff that “there are forms of hidden intellectualism that does not express itself through the established scholarly ways but rather hides under the mask of an ordinary talk about sports, fashion, pop-stars, etc.” He believes that arguing about non-academics things requires just as much intellectual ability as debates about theoretical issues do, and that every street smart student has the potential to become intellect.
In his essay, “Hidden Intellectuals,” Gerald Graff strongly persuades the reader with the argument, specifically how street smarts can very well be more intellectuals than book smarts. I agree with Gerald Graff that its necessary to look at topics unrelated to school, “through academic eyes.” In his essay, he critiques on how schools are missing out on “a valuable opportunity to encourage students to learn more academically.”
Courtney from Study Moose
Hi there, would you like to get such a paper? How about receiving a customized one? Check it out https://goo.gl/3TYhaX | <urn:uuid:3b3fa26e-d3b3-4dc7-a198-ed98f2aced8b> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://studymoose.com/hidden-intellect-essay | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280835.22/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00054-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96997 | 534 | 2.484375 | 2 |
Number of mutual funds in Canada
How many mutual funds are there in Canada?
$900 billion in mutual funds
It is widely known that a mutual fund is a type of professionally managed collective investment scheme that pools money from many investors to purchase securities. There are four main categories of funds: money market funds, bond or fixed income funds, stock or equity funds and hybrid funds. In Canada, $900 billion are redirected in mutual funds. It is important to know that funds may also be categorized as index or actively managed. Needless to say, most mutual funds are “open-ended,” meaning investors can buy or sell shares of the fund at any time. | <urn:uuid:4612dbd1-7cf8-4c92-b416-1461bae2f0b0> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.numberof.net/number-of-mutual-funds-in-canada/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280761.39/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00093-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972942 | 136 | 2.234375 | 2 |
Imagine it’s 1986 and you’re responsible for eradicating the Guinea worm, a parasite that afflicts 3.5 million people across 20 countries, has been around for over 2000 years, and for which there is no vaccine or medical treatment. The only way to stop the worm is to change a few specific behaviors – for everyone.
What would you do?
If it’s difficult to change one person’s behavior, even your own, then changing millions seems impossible. Yet, in 2009, there were only 3000 cases of Guinea worm infestation – a reduction of 99.9%.
It turns out the approach used to drive that kind of change – to influence behavior at a large scale – has also been used to help 14,000 felons be successfully employed, to reduce AIDS in Thailand, to improve service quality, and even to lose weight.
And now I’m using it to help people make work more effective and more fulfilling.
6 sources of Influence
The approach comes from “Influencer” by Kerry Patterson, et al. This remarkable book combines the science of changing individual behavior, techniques for making those changes stick, and stories of global change movements involving thousands of individuals. (In doing so, it complements other great books on change like “The Willpower Instinct”, “Switch”, and “The Dragonfly Effect”.)
If you’re like me, your change efforts focus on raising awareness. Maybe on rewards and even penalties. But “Influencer” describes how to tap into 6 very different sources of influence to change specific “vital behaviors” (also known as “keystone habits”).
“Motivation and ability comprise the first two domains of our model. We further subdivide these two domains into personal, social, and structural sources. These three sources of influence reflect separate and highly developed literatures – psychology, social psychology, and organization theory. By exploring all three, we ensure that we draw our strategies from the known repertoire of influence techniques.”
They’re very clear that “verbal persuasion rarely works” despite being the most common tool we use. Instead, when it comes to altering behavior, you need to help others answer just two questions: “Will it be worth it?” and “Can I do it?” And, in answering them, you need to examine all three levels.
At work, we’re using these 6 sources as a checklist. As we try to help thousands of people work out loud (or print less, or use their own mobile phone, or contribute to any of the collective efficiency programs we have underway), we keep asking ourselves if we’re tapping into all 6 sources of influence.
☐ Personal motivation: If people don’t find the behavior appealing, how can we get them to try it (or at least have them experience the benefits vicariously) and connect it to other things they value? If someone likes doing it, how can we reinforce the behavior by recognizing their accomplishments and encouraging them to do more?
☐ Personal Ability: How can we make it simpler to start? And how can we provide people with opportunities to practice the behavior and attain achievable goals while giving them immediate feedback on ways to get even better?
☐ Social motivation: Who are influential leaders who can model the vital behavior? And can we identify relevant peer groups who are already behaving in the desired way?
☐ Social ability: How can we develop social ties – e.g., buddy systems, peer support groups, advocate programs – that can help an individual get better at the vital behavior?
☐ Structural motivation: What are extrinsic rewards we can put in place that are immediate, gratifying, and clearly tied to the vital behavior? (Only consider these rewards after intrinsic motivators and social support are in place.)
☐ Structural ability: How can we change the physical environment to make the vital behavior easier or to eliminate the things that pose a risk to that behavior?
The early results
In using the Influencer approach to help tens of thousands of people change how they work, it’s already helped us narrow our focus. Instead of trying to change a wide variety of activities, we’re focusing on working out loud as a specific vital behavior. And by using the Influencer checklist, we’ve uncovered gaps in our approach, expanded our thinking about how to change behavior, and come up with a wider array of more creative methods.
It’s tempting to think we already know what we’re doing. That our judgment is good enough. Or that we can cherry-pick a select few of the possible influence methods available to us. But “Influencer” repeatedly stresses that successful change agents overdetermine their success by using every influence tool available.
As Atul Gawande showed us in “Checklist Manifesto”, professionals as different as surgeons, pilots, and construction workers all benefit from checklists to make sure they take full advantage of methods already known to work.
Now, as aspiring Influencers, we have our own checklist. | <urn:uuid:b8c597bc-50ef-4fff-b679-c03b04c60726> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://johnstepper.com/2013/01/19/the-influencer-checklist/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280310.48/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00188-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.940628 | 1,078 | 2.28125 | 2 |
My 20+ page study on verifying crowdsourced information is now publicly available here as a PDF and here as an open Google Doc for comments. I very much welcome constructive feedback from iRevolution readers so I can improve the piece before it gets published in an edited book next year.
False information can cost lives. But no information can also cost lives, especially in a crisis zone. Indeed, information is perishable so the potential value of information must be weighed against the urgency of the situation. Correct information that arrives too late is useless. Crowdsourced information can provide rapid situational awareness, especially when added to a live crisis map. But information in the social media space may not be reliable or immediately verifiable. This may explain why humanitarian (and news) organizations are often reluctant to leverage crowdsourced crisis maps. Many believe that verifying crowdsourced information is either too challenging or impossible.The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate that concrete strategies do exist for the verification of geo-referenced crowdsourced social media information.The study first provides a brief introduction to crisis mapping and argues that crowdsourcing is simply non-probability sampling.Next, five case studies comprising various efforts to verify social media are analyzed to demonstrate how different verification strategies work. The five case studies are: Andy Carvin and Twitter; Kyrgyzstan and Skype; BBC’s User-Generated Content Hub; the Standby Volunteer Task Force (SBTF); and U-Shahid in Egypt.The final section concludes the study with specific recommendations.
This blogpost was originally posted at http://irevolution.net/2011/11/29/inform… on November 29, 2011. | <urn:uuid:c7c653d2-5bcf-4e54-aa04-405a387906af> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | http://blogs.harvard.edu/truthiness/2012/03/04/information-forensics-five-case-studies-on-how-to-verify-crowdsourced-information-from-social-media/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572304.13/warc/CC-MAIN-20220816120802-20220816150802-00479.warc.gz | en | 0.892533 | 342 | 1.976563 | 2 |
according to the Chronicle-Telegram
For decades now, a large swath of land surrounding the waterway has been under federal scrutiny. Scene reported on the problem in 2008
As far back as 1954, Thelma Ryan, a Ford Road resident, shot off a letter to Gov. Frank Lausche, complaining about the "stinking, smoldering, rat-infested horror of horrors," referring to a nearby landfill, which was becoming a behemoth crafted from pesticides, paint, lead, and factory runoff. She encouraged other residents to do the same. There's no record of any government response.
In 1980, Ohio EPA tests confirmed benzene, dimethylbenzene, and hexanone leaking from the industrial dump into the Black River
. Political bandages were applied, and by the end of the 80s, the problem was deemed under control.
But the problem only grew.
, in 2008
No one bothered to confirm the thesis for another 13 years. When the EPA finally tried in 1993, it once again found oily chemicals seeping from the ground. The agency petitioned to have the former landfill declared one of the most dangerous sites in America.
The EPA put in monitoring wells to keep track of toxin levels. Then the agency disappeared once more. It wasn't heard from again for another 10 years, until it was forced into action.
For decades, environmentalists have been concerned about the effects of pollution on the Great Lakes. Terrifying indicators were on the rise — fish with olive-size tumors, birds with reproductive problems, funny-tasting water.
What began unfolding around 2000 was a broad state and federal cover-up to hide a study conducted by the Agency for Toxic Substances & Disease Registry (ATSDR), in cooperation with the Centers for Disease Control. The report, produced finally in 2007, "showed that the population living near these areas — over 9 million people — had suffered more cases of breast, lung, and colon cancer than expected, as well as a higher-than-normal infant mortality rate."
What followed, after several years of quiet, was a $3.4-million strategy that involved extracting the most polluted areas, then strengthening the clay cover. Cleanup has been ongoing.
The current Ohio EPA suggestion would decrease the size of the official "area of concern" from the entire Black River watershed to only what is north of Cascade Falls.
The third annual Black River Clean-Up is set for Saturday, May 2, and Sunday, May 3, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Participants are meeting at the Black River Wharf Boat Launch, 1355 Black River Parkway in Lorain.
Saying that environmental problems have subsided and that a new designation could prompt greater chances at securing federal grants, an Ohio EPA official is urging the Lorain County commissioners to "shrink" the boundaries of the "area of concern" around the Black River in Elyria, | <urn:uuid:aaba1895-d23e-45aa-85a2-b08ea4c2d1d0> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.clevescene.com/scene-and-heard/archives/2015/04/20/ohio-epa-wants-to-re-designate-area-of-concern-around-elyrias-black-river | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560281331.15/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095121-00221-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963315 | 603 | 2.65625 | 3 |
Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights (Regulation) Act (Chapter 488)
ENFORCEMENT OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
RIGHTS (REGULATION) ACT
To regulate the enforcement of intellectual property rights.
12th December, 2006
ACT XX of 2006.
1. The short title of this Act is the Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights (Regulation) Act.
2. In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires
"competent court" and "Court", unless otherwise prescribed by regulations made under this Act mean the Court that is competent to take cognizance of a case according to the rules established in the Code of Organization and Civil Procedure;
"intellectual property rights" means those rights accorded under the Copyright Act, the Trademarks Act and the Patents and Designs Act, or any other law which may from time to time substitute the said Acts and "relevant legislation" shall be interpreted accordingly;
"the Minister" means the Minister responsible for intellectual property.
3. The following persons shall, in addition to all other means provided by law for the enforcement of their intellectual property rights, be entitled to avail themselves of the measures, procedures and remedies provided by this Act:
- any person who in accordance with the provisions of any applicable law is the holder of an intellectual property right;
- any person who is authorised to use an intellectual property right and, in particular, any person who is a licensee of such right;
- recognised collecting societies; and
- professional defence bodies which are regularly recognised as having a right to represent holders of intellectual property rights.
4. (1) Any person whose name appears on a literary or artistic work in a manner that is usual for indicating a person as the author of the work shall, in the absence of proof to the contrary, be considered as the author thereof and such person shall be entitled to avail himself of the measures, procedures and remedies provided by this Act.
(2) The provisions of subarticle (1) shall apply mutatis
Cap. 415.Cap. 416.Cap. 417.
Persons entitled to avail themselves of the measures, procedures andremedies provided by this Act.
Presumption ofauthorship orownership.
ENFORCEMENT OF INTELLECTUAL CAP. 488.] PROPERTY RIGHTS (REGULATION)
mutandis to the holder of rights related to copyright with regard to their protected subject matter.
Evidence. 5. (1) Any person who is entitled to avail himself of the provisions of this Act may file an application in the competent Court requesting a Court order to the effect that evidence which is in the control of an opposing party be presented in Court by the opposing party, subject to the protection of confidential information:
Provided that for a person to be entitled to avail himself of the provisions of this article he shall, together with the application, file reasonably available evidence sufficient to support his claims. For this purpose a reasonable sample of a substantial number of copies of a work or any other protected object shall be considered to constitute reasonable evidence.
(2) In the case of an infringement of intellectual property rights committed on a commercial scale, the Court may, under the same conditions stipulated in subarticle (1), order the communication to the applicant of banking, financial or commercial documents under the control of the opposing party, subject to the protection of confidential information.
Measures 6. (1) The competent Court may, even before the preserving
commencement of proceedings on the merits of the case, upon an
application by a person who has filed reasonably available evidence to support his claim that his intellectual property right has been infringed or is about to be infringed, order such prompt and effective provisional measures as it considers appropriate to preserve relevant evidence in respect of the alleged infringement, subject to the protection of confidential information. Such measures may include the detailed description, with or without the taking of samples or the physical seizure of the infringing goods and, in appropriate cases, the materials and implements used in the production and, or distribution of the said goods and the documents relating thereto. The competent Court may also, if it considers it necessary, order that such measures be taken without the other party having been heard, in particular where any delay is likely to cause irreparable harm to the rightholders or where the Court considers that there is an evident risk of the evidence being destroyed.
(2) When measures to preserve evidence are adopted without the other party having been heard, the parties affected shall be given notice without delay after the execution of the measures. A review, including a right to be heard by the Court, shall take place upon request by application of any of the parties affected with a view to deciding, within a reasonable period after the notification of the measures, whether the measures shall be modified, revoked or confirmed.
(3) In pursuing his demand for measures to preserve evidence, the applicant shall lodge in Court such security or assurance intended to ensure compensation for any prejudice suffered by the other party, as provided in subarticle (5), as the Court may order.
- Measures to preserve evidence shall be revoked by the Court upon the request made by application of the person against whom such measures were taken, without prejudice to the damages which may be claimed, if the applicant at whose instance such measures were taken fails, within thirty-one days from the issuing of such measures, to institute proceedings leading to a decision on the merits of the case before the competent Court.
- Where the measures to preserve evidence are revoked, or where they lapse due to any act or omission by the applicant or where it is subsequently found that there has been no infringement or threat of infringement of an intellectual property right, the competent Court may order the applicant, upon the request of the person against whom such measures are directed, to provide such person with appropriate compensation for the damages caused by those measures as may be liquidated by the Court.
- In considering cases and applications made in terms of this Act, the competent Court may also take such measures as it may consider appropriate for the purpose of protecting the identity of witnesses, subject to respect for the right to a fair trial.
- In the course of proceedings involving an application for measures to preserve evidence, the Court shall take any measures that it deems necessary to protect the identity of witnesses.
7. (1) During proceedings concerning an infringement of an intellectual property right the Court may order, on a request by the claimant to this effect made by application which the said Court deems to be justified and proportionate, that information on the origin and distribution networks of the goods or services which infringe an intellectual property right be produced before it by the infringer and, or any other person who
- has been found in possession of the infringing goods on a commercial scale;
- has been found to be using the infringing services on a commercial scale;
- has been found to be providing on a commercial scale services used in infringing activities; or
- has been indicated by any of the persons referred to in paragraph (a), (b) and (c) as being involved in the production, manufacture or distribution of the goods or the provision of the services.
(2) The requested information referred to in the preceding subarticle shall, wherever appropriate, comprise:
- the names and addresses of the producers, manufacturers, distributors, suppliers and other previous holders of the goods or services as well as the intended wholesalers and retailers;
- information on the quantities produced, manufactured,
Right of information.
ENFORCEMENT OF INTELLECTUAL CAP. 488.] PROPERTY RIGHTS (REGULATION)
delivered, received or ordered, as well as the price obtained for the goods or services in question.
(3) The preceding subarticles shall apply without prejudice to any other statutory provisions which
- grant the rightholder rights to receive fuller information;
- govern the use in civil or criminal proceedings of the information communicated pursuant to this article;
- govern responsibility for misuse of the right of information; or
- afford an opportunity for refusing to provide information which would force the person referred to in subarticle (1) to admit to his or her own participation or to that of close relatives in an infringement of an intellectual property right; or
- govern the protection of confidentiality of information sources or the processing of personal data.
PROVISIONAL AND PRECAUTIONARY MEASURES
Measures to be 8. (1) Any person referred to in article 3 may by application taken by the Court.
request the Court to
- issue against the alleged infringer of an intellectual property right a decree intended to prevent any imminent infringement of such intellectual property right, or to forbid, on a provisional basis and subject, where appropriate, to a recurring penalty payment where provided for by law, the continuation of the alleged infringements of that right, or to make such continuation subject to the lodging of guarantees intended to ensure the compensation of the rightholder. An interlocutory injunction may also be issued, under the same conditions, against an intermediary whose services are being used by a third party to infringe an intellectual property right;
- order the seizure or delivery up of the goods suspected of infringing an intellectual property right.
- Where an infringement of an intellectual property right has been committed on what is deemed by the Court to be a commercial scale it may, if the plaintiff demonstrates the existence of circumstances likely to endanger the recovery of damages, order the precautionary seizure of the movable and immovable property of the alleged infringer, including the blocking of the same infringer’s bank accounts and other assets. Moreover, the Court shall have the power to order the communication of bank, financial or commercial documents, or demand appropriate access to the relevant information, as it deems fit.
- In respect of the measures referred to in subarticles (1) and (2), the Court shall have the authority to require the applicant to
provide any reasonably available evidence so as to be reasonably satisfied that the applicant is the rightholder and that his right is either being infringed or is in imminent danger of being infringed.
- In appropriate cases, and particularly where it deems that any delay would cause irreparable harm to the rightholder, the Court shall take the measures mentioned in subarticles (1) and (2) without first hearing the defendant. In such an event, the parties shall be so informed without delay and in any case not later than immediately after the measures have been executed: Provided that the defendant shall have the right to request the Court by application to review the measures above referred to with a view to deciding, within a reasonable time after notification of the measures, whether such measures should be modified, revoked or confirmed.
- If the applicant does not within thirty-one calendar days institute proceedings leading to a decision on the merits of the case before the competent Court, the Court shall upon a request by the defendant proceed to revoke the provisional measures mentioned in the preceding subarticles.
- The Court may, on according the provisional measures mentioned above, require the applicant to lodge adequate security or an equivalent assurance intended to ensure compensation for any prejudice suffered by the defendant as provided for in subarticle (7).
- Where the provisional measures mentioned above are revoked by the Court, or where they lapse due to any act or omission of the applicant, or where the Court subsequently concludes that there has been no infringement or threat of infringement of an intellectual property right, the Court shall have the power to order the applicant, upon a request by application of the defendant, to provide the same defendant with appropriate compensation for any injury that he may have suffered on account of such measures.
MEASURES RESULTING FROM A DECISION
ON THE MERITS OF THE CASE
9. (1) At the request of the applicant and without prejudice to Corrective measures.
any damages due to the rightholder by reason of an infringement of an intellectual property right, the Court may order the taking of any measures it shall deem appropriate with regard to goods that are found to be infringing an intellectual property right and also with regard to any materials and implements used in the creation or manufacture of such goods. Such measures shall include:
- recall from circulation within the channels of commerce;
- definitive removal from circulation within the channels of commerce; or
- destruction of the items.
ENFORCEMENT OF INTELLECTUAL CAP. 488.] PROPERTY RIGHTS (REGULATION)
- The Court shall order that such measures be carried out at the expense of the infringer, unless particular reasons are invoked for not doing so.
- In considering a request for corrective measures, the Court shall seek to strike a balance of proportionality between the seriousness of the infringement and the remedies ordered whilst taking into account the interests of third parties.
10. (1) Where the Court finds that an infringement of an intellectual property right has occurred, it may on an application by the plaintiff issue an injunction against the infringer aimed at prohibiting the continuation of the infringement. Failure to abide by the injunction shall constitute contempt of Court.
(2) The application referred to in the subarticle (1) may also be made in respect of intermediaries whose services are used by a third party to infringe an intellectual property right, without prejudice to article 42 of the Copyright Act.
11. In cases where the measures laid down in Part V of this Act may be applied, it shall be within the discretion of the Court, on an application by the person liable to such measures, to refrain from applying the said measures and order instead the payment of pecuniary compensation to the injured party if it is of the opinion that the infringer involved has acted unintentionally and without negligence, if execution of the measures in question would cause the infringer disproportionate harm and if pecuniary compensation to the injured party appears reasonably satisfactory.
12. (1) The Court shall on an application filed by the injured party, order any infringer who has, either knowingly or being reasonably expected to know, engaged in an infringing activity, to pay the rightholder damages commensurate with the actual prejudice suffered by the said rightholder as a result of the infringement.
(2) In setting the amount of damages due, the Court shall take into account all relevant aspects, including all the negative economic consequences that may have been suffered by the injured party including lost profits, as well as any unfair profits made by the infringer and, where it deems appropriate, other elements such as the moral prejudice caused to the rightholder by the infringement:
Provided that instead of the above method of calculation of damages, the Court may, where it so considers appropriate, choose to apply an alternative method of calculation involving the setting of a lump sum of damages payable which shall include elements such as at least the amount of royalties or fees which would have been due had the infringer requested authorisation to use the intellectual right in question.
(3) Where the Court is of the opinion that the infringer did not knowingly engage in infringing activity, it may order the recovery of profits or the payment of damages, as may be pre-established in regulations made under the relevant legislation.
- In an action pursuant to any provision of this Act, the Court shall as a general rule decree that the judicial costs and other expenses incurred by the successful party be borne by the unsuccessful party unless it considers that equity otherwise requires.
- The Court may, at the request of the applicant and at the expense of the infringer, order appropriate measures for the dissemination of the information concerning the decision, including displaying the decision and publishing it in full or in part. The Court may also provide for other additional publicity measures which it considers appropriate to the particular circumstances, including prominent advertising.
- The Minister may make regulations for the better implementation of the provisions of this Act and, without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing, may by such regulations:
- prescribe anything that may be prescribed under this Act;
- extend the categories of persons entitled to avail themselves of the measures, procedures and remedies provided by this Act;
- prescribe time limits for the exercise of any action under this Act;
- determine methods for the evaluation of damages due under this Act;
- establish specific rules of procedure or of evidence in respect of actions under this Act;
- determine the Court or Courts which are to take cognizance of actions under this Act;
- prescribe measures for the purpose of complying with any international obligations of Malta or with any obligations of Malta as a Member State of the European Union on matters related to this Act.
Publication of judicial decisions.
Power to make regulations. | <urn:uuid:f6f71b10-88dd-45c4-96cc-646eb20db3ca> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.wipo.int/wipolex/en/text.jsp?file_id=197948 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560281353.56/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095121-00070-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.932124 | 3,423 | 1.882813 | 2 |
TWI Industrial Member Report Summary 37/1977
By J D Harrison and J Doherty
The report describes a statistical re-analysis of fatigue data for butt welds containing slag inclusions. The data is presented so that the fatigue behaviour of such welds can be compared directly with that of typical weld design details from the fatigue rules in the British Standard for Steel Girder Bridges, BS 153. Allowable lengths of slag inclusion can be determined to give 97.5 or 99.5% confidence in survival for structures designed to these rules. | <urn:uuid:f19b0310-6a26-471e-98ff-0d1e6917175d> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.twi-global.com/what-we-do/research-and-technology/research-programmes/core-research-programme/report-abstracts/a-re-analysis-of-fatigue-data-for-butt-welded-specimens-containing-slag-inclusions-37-1977 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572021.17/warc/CC-MAIN-20220814083156-20220814113156-00068.warc.gz | en | 0.868822 | 113 | 1.78125 | 2 |
In 2010, the President Barack Obama passed the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act to combat the country’s high obesity rates among children. Under the new laws, the National School Lunch Program — a service that provides reduced or no-cost meals to 32 million kids in public and non-profit private schools across the nation — will dramatically change the foods that are served in schools.
Chef Ann Cooper, a former celebrity chef turned school nutritionist, has been at the forefront of the national debate on school lunches, as an advocate for healthier options since 1999. Need to Know spoke with Cooper to find out more about her take on combating obesity in schools.
You have years of experience as a chef and dietician working in a school setting, but what makes you the “renegade lunch lady”?
Ann: That term or the nickname “renegade lunch lady” was a quip that somebody in the press said. When I first got into school food, I’d been a white tablecloth sort of celebrity chef for quite some time. When I dropped out and said — I’m not a chef anymore I’m a lunch lady — one of the press corps said, ‘Well if you’re a lunch lady, you’re a renegade lunch lady.” And it stuck 15 years later.
In 2010, President Obama signed the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act into law, marking the first major overhaul of the national rules on school lunches in 15 years. What changes can we expect to see on school menus come September?
Ann: It’s so complicated what’s happening. The biggest change is more fresh fruits and vegetables and 51 percent whole grains… There’s also a maximum [amount of] calories and proteins and grains so that means that hamburgers will be smaller, rolls will be smaller, tortillas will be smaller, the amount of protein in items will be less — and that’s all making way for more fresh fruits, vegetables and whole grains.
Unhealthy school lunches are linked to childhood obesity. Why did it take 15 years to implement major changes? Shouldn’t it be easy for parents to go up to a school to demand better food and menu choices for their children?
Ann: Everybody has an opinion about food… They have an opinion about what’s healthy, what’s not healthy, what they like, what they don’t like, what they grew up with, what feels comfortable to them, all kinds of things. So, one parent might say, “I want roast chicken and not chicken nuggets,” and the next parent might say, “I only want chicken nuggets.” So it’s a complicated situation.
Big business spent 17 to 20 billion dollars a year marketing non-nutrient foods to kids. Big corporations stand to lose tons and tons of money if we change the way we deal with processed foods in school. So, I think that there is politics and finances at play here that really have negatively impacted what’s on our kid’s plates.
Can you give us an example of how lobbyists have influenced the changes being made?
Ann: The initial USDA guideline said that you could only serve potatoes — half a cup of potatoes — twice a week. And big business started lobbying, and Congress took that out of the law so that now you can serve potatoes as a vegetable every single day. So basically, French fries could be counted as a vegetable every single day of the week.
In the original law before the change — and this was because of the pizza, frozen food and tomato lobby — a quarter cup of tomato paste would be considered a vegetable. So pizza could count as a vegetable. And with the new USDA guidelines, that was taken out. So we couldn’t count pizza as a vegetable anymore. And then the pizza, frozen food and tomato lobby got Congress involved… and pizza is back to being a vegetable. I mean those kinds of things are really antithetical to the health of our children. It’s all about corporate profit and it’s unconscionable that that’s a part of the food system for our kids.
Is there anything that you would have like to have seen in the new law?
Ann: I think we should eliminate high fructose corn syrup. I think we should eliminate processed chemicals, colors and dyes. But, you know, we’ve taken a big step. So, let’s get this one under our belt and we’ll go from there.
Critics of the act feel the government should not dictate the kinds of foods that we put into our bodies. Is it the role of government to dictate what our kids eat in schools?
Ann: I think it’s the role of government to take care of its citizens and also to take care of the financial stability of the country. And our very broken insurance and medical system is about to crater because of the obesity and diabetes crisis that’s coming at us. If we don’t fix that, if we don’t change the way our children eat, then we’re going to see them dying at a younger age… I think that the government absolutely should be helping its citizens take care of themselves and this is a very positive step.
Earlier this year, news broke about school districts buying ammonia-treated beef, aka “pink slime,” for school lunches. Should parents still be concerned about what schools are serving?
Ann: I think parents should always be concerned about what schools are serving. And I think that they should become knowledgeable about it, understand what the issues are, and eat school lunch with their kids, and really start to see what the food is, and how they feel about it, and how it could be better.
Is it as easy to document and be critical about what our kids are eating at school? There have been cases where teachers and students did just that and they were on the receiving end of backlash from school administrators.
Ann: If parents really want to change the system, they also have to work with the system. So if parents want to change what their kids are eating, first they have to look at the wellness policy. Every district has one.
… They have to go in and eat lunch at their kid’s school and get like-minded parents to go in as well. They have to go to the school board — which is where all change happens — and lobby the school board to start to make changes. And they also should be going in to try to support the food services and nutrition services directors in trying to make change.
Now whether administrators should push back or not, I think it’s a natural phenomenon that if people are criticized for what they are doing, that there is some kind of push back. But, I think we’re seeing positive change. I think the new USDA guidelines are positive change. I think that Michelle Obama being a cheerleader for all this has also helped change happen.
What more can parents, schools and the government do to ensure children are eating healthy foods and that childhood obesity doesn’t continue to be a problem?
Ann: One of the things that government can do is crack down on advertising to kids. If we stopped advertising junk foods to kids, it would be a lot easier for parents to help their kids learn to eat healthier foods. So that would be a huge thing from the government standpoint.
I think that parents from the home standpoint need to shut off the TV. That’s probably one of the biggest things you can do to get your kids to eat better foods. Shut the TV off, go shopping with your kids, grow foods with your kids, sit down and eat with your kids, make food and dining together and dinner really part of the core values of the family and then, things will start to change.
If we don’t teach our children about food, McDonald’s and Burger King are going to. And as far as the schools are concerned, schools can just decide to serve meals that are mostly fresh vegetables, whole grains and proteins and get rid of all the processed foods. | <urn:uuid:9c286dff-f0ae-4ccd-89f9-77550977914f> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.pbs.org/wnet/need-to-know/health/qa-with-the-renegade-lunch-lady/14519/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280483.83/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00292-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971389 | 1,709 | 2.4375 | 2 |
Author: Arun Joshi
Publisher: Vision/Orient paperbacks
ISBN/UPC (if available): 8122201989
A novel of compelling quality. The events narrated would be hard to believe, were they not related in such a matter of fact, down to earth fashion.
Billy Biswas returns to India after earning the PhD in anthropology from USA. He has everything going for him - happiness, travel, education, status, wealth, job and a loving wife. Yet his inner world is rocked by a groundswell of discontent. He is consumed by restlessness which grows steadily.
Somewhat like Huxley's Savage, the hero Billy Biswas is a misfit in modern milieu of technological jungle and seeks an escape from it. Characterized by a moving story telling Tlan, the narrative unfolds in quick succession the different stages of the development of Billy's nature.
Powerful, Explosive, Gripping. - Sunday Tribune
A significant contribution to Indian fiction in English. - Sunday Statesman
In Arun Joshi's hands we are swept into the unknown. - The Times Literary Supplement
The strength of the novel lies in the ease of Joshi's style and the authenticity of his scenes. -Indian Express
Arun Joshi ranks among the leading Indo-Anglian writers .. He takes subjects that are portentous and deals with them in an unpretentious manner. - Asia Week
One of the most significant contemporary Indian novelists writing in English. - World Literature Today | <urn:uuid:06eba585-c048-4938-ba0a-c814cd656e15> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://indiaclub.com/de/products/6453-the-strange-case-of-billy-biswas | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573533.87/warc/CC-MAIN-20220818215509-20220819005509-00275.warc.gz | en | 0.938662 | 332 | 1.5 | 2 |
- A business partnership agreement is a legally binding document that outlines details about business operations, ownership stake, financials and decision-making.
- Business partnership agreements, when coupled with other legal entity documents, could limit liability for each partner.
- Business partnership agreements should always be written and/or reviewed by legal counsel prior to any signatures.
- This article is for business partners who want to formalize their partnership with an airtight business partnership agreement.
A business partnership agreement establishes clear rules for the operation of a business and the roles of each partner. Business partnership agreements are put in place to resolve any disputes that arise, as well as to delineate responsibilities and how profits or losses are allocated. Any business partnership in which two or more people own a stake of the company should create a business partnership agreement, as these legal documents could provide key guidance in more difficult times.
What is a business partnership agreement?
A business partnership agreement is a legal document between two or more business partners that spells out the business structure, responsibilities of each partner, capital contribution, partnership property, ownership interest, decision-making conventions, the process for one business partner to sell or leave the company, and how the remaining partner or partners split profits and losses.
"I highly suggest formal partnership agreements are put in place as businesses evolve from solo practices into a partnership or ensembles," said Rich Whitworth, head of business consulting for Cetera Financial Group. "The biggest reason is that it establishes the 'rules of engagement' between the business and its owners … and lays out a road map on how to deal with entity-level issues."
While business partnerships seldom begin with concerns about a future partnership dispute or how to dissolve the business, these agreements can guide the process in the future, when emotions might otherwise take over. A written, legally binding agreement serves as an enforceable document, rather than just an oral agreement between partners.
Key takeaway: Business partnership agreements are legally binding documents that partners agree to abide by throughout the life of the business at the start of their partnership.
Why do you need a business partnership agreement?
A business partnership agreement is a necessity because it establishes a set of agreed-upon rules and processes that the owners sign and acknowledge before problems arise. If any challenges or controversies do arise, the business partnership agreement spells out how to address those issues.
"A business partnership is just like a marriage: No one goes into it thinking that it's going to fail. But if it does fail, it can be nasty," said Jessica LeMauk, attorney at Voxtur. "With the right agreements in place, which I'd always recommend be written by a qualified attorney, it makes any potential problems of the business partnership much more easily solved and/or legally enforceable."
In other words, a business partnership agreement protects all partners in the event things go sour. By agreeing to a clear set of rules and principles at the outset of a partnership, the partners are on a level playing field developed by consensus and backed by law.
Key takeaway: Business partnership agreements can help settle disputes and clearly define internal processes across various circumstances.
What should a business partnership agreement include?
Business partnership agreements are necessarily broad, touching virtually every aspect of a business partnership from start to finish. It is important to include all foreseeable issues that could arise regarding the co-management of the business. According to Whitworth, these are some of those issues:
- Ownership stake: A business partnership agreement clearly spells out who owns what percentage of the business, making each partner's stake in the company clear.
- Business operations: Business partnership agreements should explain which activities the business will engage in, as well as which activities it will not.
- Decision-making: A business partnership agreement should outline how decisions are made and the responsibility of each partner in the decision-making process. This includes who has financial control of the company and who must approve the addition of new partners. It should also include information on how profits and losses are distributed amongst the partners.
- Liability: If the business partnership is set up as an LLC, the agreement should limit the liability each partner faces. To do so effectively, a partnership agreement should be paired with other documents, such as articles of incorporation. A business partnership agreement alone is likely not enough to fully protect the partners from liability.
- Dispute resolution: Any business partnership agreement should include a dispute resolution process. Even if partners are best friends, siblings or spouses, disagreements are a natural part of doing business together.
- Business dissolution: In the event the partners choose to dissolve the business, a business partnership agreement should outline how that dissolution should occur, as well as continuity or succession planning should any of the partners divest from the business.
To ensure that your business partnership agreement adequately covers each of these areas, closely involve your business's legal counsel in the development and review of the agreement.
Key takeaway: Business partnership agreements should be wide-ranging in scope and detailed in how they articulate internal processes, financial considerations, dispute settlements, liability and dissolution.
Steps to implement a business partnership agreement
A business partnership agreement does not have to be set in stone, especially as a business grows and develops over time. There will come opportunities to implement new elements of a partnership agreement, especially if unforeseen circumstances occur.
According to Whitworth, there are four major steps in implementing a business partnership agreement.
- Initial partnership: This is when two or more partners first enter into business together. It involves drafting an agreement that governs general operation of the business, the decision-making process, ownership stakes and management responsibilities.
- Addition of limited partners: As a business grows, it might have the opportunity to add new partners. According to Whitworth, the original partners might agree to a "small carve-out of minor equity ownership" for the new partner, as well as limited voting rights that give the new partner partial influence over business decisions.
- Addition of full partners: Of course, sometimes the addition of a limited partner will lead to their inclusion as a full partner in the business. A business partnership agreement should include the requirements and process of elevating a limited partner to the status of full partner, complete with full voting rights and influence equal to that of the original partners.
- Continuity and succession: Finally, a business partnership agreement should take into account what happens when the founders retire or leave the company without initiating dissolution. It should be clear how ownership stake and responsibilities will be distributed among the remaining partners after the departing partners take their leave.
"Partnership agreements need to be well crafted for a myriad of reasons," said Laurie Tannous, owner of law firm Tannous & Associates Inc. "One main driver is that the desires and expectations of partners change and vary over time. A well-written partnership agreement can manage these expectations and give each partner a clear map or blueprint of what the future holds."
Key takeaway: A business partnership agreement should anticipate the future of a business as well as the current state of the partnership.
Free business partnership agreement templates
If you're looking for a free template for business partnership agreements online, these resources could help you draft your own partnership agreement. You can find dozens of free business partnership agreement templates at the links below:
While these free online business partnership agreement templates are great to help you get started and think about what to include in your agreement, it is always best practice to have legal counsel review your draft agreement and help you revise and finalize the document before signing. Once a lawyer confirms that your business partnership agreement is thorough and legally binding, you and your partners can sign it to make it official.
How a business partnership agreement levels the playing field
A well-crafted and airtight business partnership agreement clarifies each partner's expectations, duties and obligations. In business, things are everchanging, so it is important to establish a business partnership agreement that can serve as a grounding document in turbulent or uncertain times. A business partnership agreement also serves as a guideline for how the business should grow and governs the addition of new partners to the business.
If you are going into business with a partner, establish a business partnership agreement while incorporating as an entity. Even if it seems unnecessary today, you might be glad you have an agreement in place later. | <urn:uuid:426a465b-66e0-4ad2-a6dd-f118d0f37973> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://static.businessnewsdaily.com/15756-business-partnership-agreement-writing-guide.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572286.44/warc/CC-MAIN-20220816090541-20220816120541-00264.warc.gz | en | 0.956496 | 1,695 | 2.0625 | 2 |
The Project Against Domestic Violence (PADV) is taking advantage of the Water Festival celebration to spread its message of anti-domestic violence.
PADV president Hor Phally said her local NGO gave away 500 long sleeve T-shirts and fliers to peddicab drivers, the motocycle drivers, and the boats racers from the provinces to promote the fight against domestic violence. Ms. Hor Phally said the message on the shirt: "I don't use violence, do you?" can remind people not to resort to violence in the family.
She said the water festival is a good occasion because there are so many participants.
The anti-violence campaign is funded by the US Embassy in Phnom Penh, and a number of organizations. US Embassy spokesman Jeff Daigle said the US wants to help Cambodia reduce domestic violence in Cambodia. He said the US is concerned that children who are the victims of domestic violence will in turn grow up to carry out domestic violence.
He said the embassy has funded a number of workshops to eradicate domestic violence. The peddicab drivers and other men who received the free shirt at the festival said that they support the campaign to end domestic violence and that they will help spread the message to their friends.
Ms. Hor said that she hopes domestic violence will subside when the anti-domestic violence law goes into effect in the near future. | <urn:uuid:f7f48da3-96dd-4a8c-9132-359339f2e2f8> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.voacambodia.com/a/a-40-2005-11-15-voa1-90146217/1359561.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560281151.11/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095121-00113-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959735 | 284 | 1.71875 | 2 |
This guide is meant to assist students in publishing their thesis or dissertation at Tiffin University. Publishing your work as part of a masters or Doctoral program can be a long, confusing, and stressful process and you may not know where to begin.
The guide contains the following:
This shows the different options you have when considering publishing your thesis or dissertation, as well as the differences between a thesis and a journal article.
This describes the different theses services that Tiffin University offers to students.
This page contains commonly asked questions that students have when publishing their theses.
A list of databases where you can locate published theses and dissertations.
Resources that help students properly prepare their work for publication. This includes preparation tips and how to avoid predatory publishers.
List of references that were used to create this guide.
Additional resources for extra help.
If publishing a thesis or dissertation is a long and stressful process, why should you do it? While the process requires a lot of work, there are several benefits to publishing your thesis or dissertation:
According to Hatch and Skipper (2016), Ph.D. students who landed tenure-track positions within 5 years of graduation wrote an average of 4.3 peer-reviewed publications before they graduated. What does this mean for your degree and future career goals? It means that your research and writing skills are critical in completing your program. Not all Ph.D. programs require you to publish work before graduation, but it will greatly benefit you in your job search because it presents a degree of professionalism and intelligence to an employer.
When you are submitting your thesis or dissertation to an academic journal, you are turning your thesis into a journal article. This process will require you to edit and change the format of your work. In some cases, you may need to rewrite sections to make them more concise. That being said, theses and journal articles have characteristics that distinguish themselves from one another. According to Hayward (2017), there are several differences between a journal article and a thesis that you should consider during the publishing process:
For more detailed information on the differences between theses and journal articles, you can read Editage's full article here. | <urn:uuid:e372334a-a030-4d96-990a-9f7edd031f2a> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://library.tiffin.edu/thesis/aboutthisguide | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882570765.6/warc/CC-MAIN-20220808031623-20220808061623-00266.warc.gz | en | 0.954643 | 446 | 1.804688 | 2 |
Distance from Westerstede to Bergneustadt
Distance from Westerstede to Bergneustadt is 249 kilometers. This air travel distance is equal to 155 miles.
The air travel (bird fly) shortest distance between Westerstede and Bergneustadt is 249 km= 155 miles.
If you travel with an airplane (which has average speed of 560 miles) from Westerstede to Bergneustadt, It takes 0.28 hours to arrive.
Westerstede is located in Germany.
|GPS Coordinates (DMS)||53° 15´ 24.5520'' N |
7° 55´ 38.5320'' E
Westerstede Distances to Cities
|Distance from Westerstede to Paderborn||180 km|
|Distance from Westerstede to Bad Segeberg||175 km|
|Distance from Westerstede to Geseke||184 km|
|Distance from Westerstede to Itzehoe||129 km|
|Distance from Westerstede to Versmold||136 km|
Bergneustadt is located in Germany.
|GPS Coordinates||51° 1´ 29.8560'' N |
7° 39´ 21.5640'' E | <urn:uuid:72dfd24e-f57e-4f36-85d9-abd224756024> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.distancefromto.net/distance-from-westerstede-de-to-bergneustadt-de | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560282140.72/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095122-00125-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.686582 | 269 | 1.9375 | 2 |
(a) Silky Sullivan
A horse that makes a big run from far back. Named for the horse Silky Sullivan, who once made up 41 lengths to win a race.
Final straight portion of the racetrack to the finish.
across the board
A bet on a horse to win, place and show. If the horse wins, the player collects three ways; if second, two ways; and if third, one way, losing the win and place bets. Actually three wagers.
1) A horse’s manner of moving. 2) A term meaning wagering, for example, “The horse took a lot of action.”
Money added to the purse of a race by the racing association or a breeding or other fund to the amount paid by owners in nomination, eligibility, entry and starting fees: for example, “the $1 million-added Kentucky Derby.”
A horse carrying more weight than the conditions of the race require, usually because the jockey exceeds the stated limit.
All Thoroughbreds celebrate their birthday on Jan. 1.
A person empowered to transact business for a stable owner or jockey, or empowered to sell or buy horses for an owner or breeder.
Not running at best speed in a race.
When a horse extends itself to the utmost.
A race for two-year-olds and up.
A race for which the racing secretary drafts certain conditions to determine weights to be carried based on the horse’s age, sex and/or past performance.
Reductions in weights to be carried, allowed because of the conditions of the race or because an apprentice jockey is on a horse. Also, a weight reduction female horses are entitled to when racing against males, or that three-year-olds receive against older horses.
A horse officially entered for a race, but not permitted to start unless the field is reduced by scratches below a specified number.
Rider who has not ridden a certain number of winners within a specified period of time. Also known as a “bug,” from the asterisk used to denote the weight allowance such riders receive.
Weight concession given to an apprentice rider: usually 10 pounds until the fifth winner, seven pounds until the 35th winner and five pounds for one calendar year from the 35th winner. More rarely, a three-pound allowance is allowed to a rider under contract to a specific stable/owner for two years from his/her first win. This rule varies from state to state. Apprentices do not receive an allowance when riding in a stakes race. All jockeys going from track to track must have a receipt from the clerk of scales from their track verifying the jockeys’ most recent total number of wins. Also known as a “bug,” from the asterisk used to denote the weight allowance.
The (usually) paved area between the grandstand and the racing surface.
auxiliary starting gate
A second starting gate used when the amount of horses in a race exceeds the capacity of the main starting gate.
Average-Earnings Index (AEI)
A breeding statistic that compares racing earnings of a stallion or mare’s foals to those of all other foals racing at that time. An AEI of 1.00 is considered average, 2.00 is twice the average, 0.50 half the average, etc.
A race for two-year-olds.
Stable area, dormitories and often times a track kitchen, chapel and recreation area for stable employees. Also known as “backstretch,” for its proximity to the stable area.
Straight portion of the far side of the racing surface between the turns.
Used to describe a filly or mare that was bred and did not conceive during the last breeding season.
A horse color that varies from a yellow-tan to a bright auburn. The mane, tail and lower portion of the legs are always black, except where white markings are present.
bearing in (or out)
Deviating from a straight course. May be due to weariness, infirmity, inexperience or the rider overusing the whip or reins to make a horse alter its course.
Signal sounded when the starter opens the gates or, at some tracks, to mark the close of betting.
A handicapping tool, popularized by author Andrew Beyer, assigning a numerical value (speed figure) to each race run by a horse based on final time and track condition. This enables different horses running at different racetracks to be objectively compared.
Refers to either of two famous chestnut-colored horses: Man o’ War or Secretariat.
Bill Daly (on the)
Taking a horse to the front at the start and remaining there to the finish. Term stems from “Father Bill” Daly, famous old-time horseman, who developed many great jockeys.
A horse color which is black, including the muzzle, flanks, mane, tail and legs unless white markings are present.
A generic term describing a large, white vertical marking on a horse’s face. The Jockey Club doesn’t use blaze, preferring more descriptive words. See snip; star; stripe.
A circumstance in which a rider’s actions cause him/her to be impeded during a race.
Short for “tote board,” on which odds, betting pools and other information are displayed.
A bad step away from the starting gate, usually caused by the track surface breaking away from under a horse’s hooves, causing it to duck its head or nearly go to his knees.
Sudden veering from a straight course, usually to the outside rail.
A winning horse sent off at extremely high odds.
1) The group of mares being bred to a stallion in a given year. If a stallion attracts the maximum number of mares allowed by the farm manager, he has a full book. 2) A term used to describe a jockey’s riding commitments with his agent: An agent handles a jockey’s book.
A poor race run directly following a career-best or near-best performance.
A wagering term denoting a combination bet whereby all possible numeric combinations are covered.
To be trapped between, behind or inside of other horses.
To leave from the starting gate.
Horse or rider winning the first race of its career. Also known as “earning a diploma.”
Easing off on a horse for a short distance in a race to permit it to conserve or renew its strength.
1) A horse is considered to have been bred in the state or country of its birth: Secretariat was a Virginia-bred. 2) The past tense of “breed.”
Owner of the dam at time of foaling unless the dam was under a lease or foal-sharing arrangement at the time of foaling. In that case, the person(s) specified by the terms of the agreement is (are) the breeder(s) of the foal.
A state fund set up to provide bonuses for state-breds.
A person who wagers large amounts of money, usually on short-priced horses to show, hoping to realize a small, but certain profit. The term comes from the structure these bettors may seek if they lose.
A filly or mare that has been bred and is used to produce foals.
During a race, two horses who slightly touch each other.
An apprentice rider.
A small racetrack, usually less than one mile.
A horse put through a public auction that did not reach a minimum (reserve) price set by the consignor and so was retained. The consignor must pay a fee to the auction company based on a percentage of the reserve, to cover the auction company’s marketing, advertising and other costs.
Running position of horses in a race at various points.
CARRERA DE NO GANADORES
Una carrera para los no ganadores.
Wagering favorite in a race. Dates from the days when on-track bookmakers would write current odds on a chalkboard.
Bettor who wagers on favorites.
A statistical “picture” of a race (from which past performances are compiled), that shows the position and margin of each horse at designated points of call (depending on the distance of the race), as well as the horses’ age, weight carried, owner, trainer, jockey, and the race’s purse, conditions, payoff prices, odds, time and other data.
When a jockey slows a horse due to other horses impeding its progress.
A horse color which may vary from a red-yellow to golden-yellow. The mane, tail and legs are usually variations of coat color, except where white markings are present.
Extension of backstretch or homestretch to permit a straight running start in a race as opposed to starting on or near a turn.
The process of a licensed person purchasing a horse from a designated race for a predetermined price.
A race in which each horse entered is eligible to be purchased at a set price. Claims must be made before the race and only by licensed owners or their agents who have a horse registered to race at that meeting or who have received a claim certificate from the stewards.
clerk of scales
An official whose chief duty is to weigh the riders before and after a race to ensure proper weight is (was) carried.
When a horse lifts its front legs abnormally high as it gallops, causing it to run inefficiently.
A horse that runs best in the latter part of the race, coming from off the pace.
Generally, the turn on a racing oval that is closest to the clubhouse facility; usually the first turn after the finish line.
Colors accepted by The Jockey Club are bay, black, chestnut, dark bay or brown, gray, roan and white. See individual entries for definitions.
A male horse or altered/gelded male horse 3 years of age or younger.
An ungelded (entire) male horse four-years-old or younger.
Combining mutuel pools from off-track sites with the host track.
Class of horses in a race He last ran in stakes company.
Comparable Index (CI)
Indicates the average earnings of progeny produced from mares bred to one sire when these same mares are bred to other sires. A CI of 1.00 is considered average, 2.00 is twice the average, 0.50 half the average, etc.
A series of booklets issued by a racing secretary which set forth conditions of races to be run at a particular racetrack.
The requirements of a particular race. This may include age, sex, money or races won, weight carried and the distance of the race.
Present at birth.
A payoff to holders of daily double tickets combining the winning horse in the first race of the double with a scratched horse in the second.
A race meeting that is less than 10 days in duration, with or without pari-mutuel wagering, held in conjunction with an agricultural fair.
Two or more horses running as an entry in a single betting unit.
A single breeding of a stallion to a mare For example, “He covered 70 mares.”
1) The number of foals by a sire in a given year. 2) A group of horses born in the same year. For example, “An excellent crop of three-year-olds.”
A dry and loose racing surface that breaks away under a horse’s hooves.
Top portion of a racetrack.
Type of wager calling for the selection of winners of two consecutive races, usually the first and second. See late double.
Daily Racing Form
A daily newspaper containing news, past performance data and handicapping information. Do not use definite article “The” when describing. For example, “According to Daily Racing Form…”
A wager where the bettor must select the winner of three consecutive races. Not to be confused with “triple,” meaning trifecta in some regions.
The mother of a horse.
dam’s sire (broodmare sire)
The sire of a broodmare. Used in reference to the maternal grandsire of a foal.
dark bay or brown
A horse color that ranges from brown with areas of tan on the shoulders, head and flanks, to a dark brown, with tan areas seen only in the flanks and/or muzzle. The mane, tail and lower portions of the legs are always black unless white markings are present.
Two or more horses finishing a race in a tie.
Racing surface lacking resiliency.
In the United States, a horse withdrawn from a stakes race in advance of scratch time. In Europe, a horse confirmed to start in a race.
A position very close to the finish line in race.
A stakes event for three-year-olds.
Abbreviation for dead heat.
Harness racing:Disqualified persons may not act as an official or start or drive a horse in a race. Disqualified horses shall not be allowed to start.
Thoroughbred racing: Change in order of finish by officials for an infraction of the rules.
A female horse.
A race for female horses.
Horse so far behind the rest of the field of runners that it is out of contact and unable to regain a position of contention.
Rubber traffic cones (or a wooden barrier) placed at certain distances out from the inner rail, when the track is wet, muddy, soft, yielding or heavy, to prevent horses during the workout period from churning the footing along the rail. Used in the phrase, “The dogs are up,” or simply, “dogs up.”
Dosage index (DI)
A mathematical reduction of the Dosage profile to a number reflecting a horse’s potential for speed or stamina. The higher the number, the more likely the horse is suited to be a sprinter. The average Dosage index of all horses is about 4.0.
A listing of Dosage points by category. Used to develop the Dosage index (DI).
Abbreviation for disqualified.
The process by which horses are selected to start in specific races and post positions for each race.
A licensed person who drives a horse in a race.
A horse that is all out to win and under strong urging from its jockey.
A horse meeting a lower class of rival than it had been running against.
Any substance intended for use in the diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment or prevention of disease in humans or other animals.
Extremely late in breaking from the gate.
A horse that is gently pulled up during a race.
Running or winning without being pressed by rider or opposition.
Qualified to start in a race, according to conditions.
1) Stakes nomination. 2) Riding commitment.
Two or more horses with common ownership (or in some cases trained by the same trainer) that are paired as a single betting unit in one race and/or are placed together by the racing secretary as part of a mutuel field. Rules on entries vary from state to state. Also known as a “coupled entry.”
Money paid by an owner to enter a horse in a stakes race.
A partnership between The Jockey Club and the Thoroughbred Racing Associations to establish and maintain an industry-owned, central database of racing records. Equibase past-performance information is used in track programs across North America.
Mutuel price horses would pay for each $1 bet.
Neither gaining nor losing position during a race.
exacta (or perfecta)
A wager in which the first two finishers in a race, in exact order of finish, must be picked. Called an “exactor” in Canada.
A wager in which all possible combinations using a given number of horses are bet on. The total number of combinations can be calculated according to the formula x2-x, where x equals the amount of horses in the box. For example, boxing four horses would actually be 12 combinations (42-4). To arrive at the cost of the wager, multiply the total combinations by the cost of the individual wager.
Any wager other than win, place or show. For the mathematically inclined, the amount of combinations in any exotic wager can be figured by the formula n!/(n-a!), where n is the number of horses in your wager and a is the number of finishers in the wager (two in an exacta, three in a trifecta, etc.)
Horse that is a race favorite despite being outclassed by other competition in the field. See underlay.
Footing that is dry, even and resilient.
1) Amount paid to a jockey for riding in a race. 2) The cost of nominating, entering or starting a horse in a stakes race.
The horses in a race.
field horse (or mutuel field)
Two or more starters running as a single betting unit (entry), when there are more starters in a race than positions on the totalizator board.
Breeding: Female horse four-years-old or younger.
Harness racing: A female horse 3 years of age or younger.
A burst of acceleration by a horse in a race. For example, “The horse did (didn’t) fire when asked.”
A condition of a turf course corresponding to fast on a dirt track. A firm, resilient surface.
Signal manually held at a short distance in front of the gate at the exact starting point of race. Official timing starts when flag is dropped by the “flagman” to denote proper start.
A very tired horse that slows considerably, dropping its head on a straight line with its body. Some horses, however, like to run with their heads lowered.
Flat plate or wooden implement (float) dragged over the surface of a wet track to aid in draining water.
A newborn horse under 1 year of age.
1) A horse of either sex in its first year of life. 2) As a verb, to give birth. Also known as “dropped.” 3) Can also denote the offspring of either a male or female parent.
Fontana safety rail
An aluminum rail, in use since 1981, designed to help reduce injuries to horse and rider. It has more of an offset (slant) to provide greater clearance between the rail and the vertical posts as well as a protective cover to keep horse and rider from striking the posts.
The Darley Arabian, Byerly Turk and Godolphin Barb. Every Thoroughbred must be able to trace its parentage to one of the three founding sires.
Intermediate times recorded in a race, as at the quarter, half, three-quarters, etc. The “quarter time,” for example, refers to the time after the first quarter-mile, not the first 25 percent of the race.
A race in which no nomination fees are required. More recently, and more commonly, a ranking of horses by weight for a theoretical race.
A horse whose running style is to attempt to get on or near the lead at the start of the race and to continue there as long as possible.
A condition of a racetrack where any moisture present is frozen.
Horses that share the same sire and dam.
One-eighth of a mile, 220 yards, 660 feet.
A race for two-year-olds in which the owners make a continuous series of payments over a period of time to keep their horses eligible. Purses for these races vary but can be considerable.
Harness racing: Either a trotting or pacing gait.
Thoroughbred racing: The characteristic footfall pattern of a horse in motion. Thoroughbreds have four natural gaits-walk, trot, canter and gallop. Thoroughbreds compete at a gallop.
An opening in the rail where horses enter and leave the course.
A close victory, usually from off the pace. Derived from “Snapper” Garrison, old-time rider given to that practice.
A card, issued by the starter, stating that a horse is properly schooled in starting gate procedures.
A neutered (castrated) male horse of any age.
Progeny of sire.
A dirt track that is almost fast or a turf course slightly softer than firm.
Track that is firm under the surface, which may be dry or wet.
1) Winning for the first time, horse or rider. 2) A horse that has moved up to allowance, stakes or handicap racing.
See second dam.
The grandfather of a horse; father (“sire”) of the horse’s dam or sire.
A horse color where the majority of the coat is a mixture of black and white hairs. The mane, tail and legs may be either black or gray unless white markings are present. Starting with foals of 1993, the color classifications gray and roan were combined as “roan or gray.”
Horses out of the same dam but by different sires. Horses with the same sire and different dams are not considered half-siblings in Thoroughbred racing.
Four inches. A horse’s height is measured in hands and inches from the top of the shoulder (withers) to the ground, e.g., 15.2 hands is 15 hands, 2 inches. Thoroughbreds typically range from 15 to 17 hands.
Urging a horse with the hands and not using the whip.
Betting: 1) Race for which the track handicapper assigns the weights to be carried. 2) To make selections on the basis of past performances.
Harness racing: A race in which performance, sex or distance allowance is made. Post positions for a handicap may be assigned by the racing secretary. Post positions in a handicap claiming race may be determined by claiming price.
A horse racing well within itself, with little exertion from the jockey.
Amount of money wagered in the parimutuels on a race, a program, during a meeting or for a year.
A condition of a turf course where there is no resiliency to the surface.
Denotes a well-traveled breeder whose boots are caked with mud and therefore hard. By extension, a breeder or trainer whose methods are characterized as old-fashioned. Generally used in the phrase, “Kentucky hard-boot.”
A margin between horses. One horse leading another by the length of its head.
The wagering number for the horse or, in the case of a coupled entry, the wagering number of all horses that make up the coupled entry.
head of the stretch
Beginning of the straight run to the finish line.
A single race or a single trial of a race that is one of a series of races that make up an event (race).
Wettest possible condition of a turf course; not usually found in North America.
Highest weight assigned or carried in a race.
A leg harness used for controlling the gait of a pacer or trotter.
The final stretch where the finish line is situated.
A horse bred by its owner.
A horse that does not advance its position in a race when called upon by its jockey.
Weight carried or assigned.
Running under moderate control, at less than top speed.
in the money
A horse that finishes first, second or third.
Area encompassed by the inner rail of the racetrack.
Reviewing the race to check into a possible infraction of the rules. Also, a sign flashed by officials on the tote board on such occasions. If lodged by a jockey, it is called an objection.
Refers to the requirement that a horse which has been claimed that next runs in a claiming race must run for a claiming price 25 percent higher for the next 30 days. Commonly used in the phrase The horse is in (out of) jail.
Sum paid to rider for competing in a race.
A race whose outcome will hinge mostly on strategic thinking by the riders; i.e., one in which riders must pay close attention to pace to keep their horses fresh for a strong finish.
Slow, easy gait.
An official licensed by the USTA to perform specific duties as outlined under Rule 6.
A single horse used in multiple combinations in an exotic wager.
A term used to describe a horse that is limping, has difficulty walking or is sore.
A term used to describe a horse that is limping, has difficulty walking or is sore.
A second daily double offered during the latter part of the program.
Lead weights carried in pockets on both sides of the saddle, used to make up the difference between the actual weight of the jockey and the weight the horse has been assigned to carry during the race.
leaky roof circuit
A measurement approximating the length of a horse, used to denote distance between horses in a race.
A stakes race just below a group race or graded race in quality.
Slang for a “sure” winner.
Breeding: A female that has never been bred.
Harness racing: A stallion, mare or gelding that has never won a heat or race at the gait at which it is entered to start and for which a purse is offered.
Thoroughbred racing: A horse or rider that has not won a race.
A race for non-winners.
Long hairs growing on the crest of the horse’s neck, which are usually kept clipped to about six inches in length for neatness, or decoratively braided.
A female horse 4 years of age or older.
Female horse five-years-old or older.
September. In theory, because mares that have not run well during the summer often “wake up” in September.
A substance, medicine or remedy used for healing or masking pain.
Broadly, from one mile to 1-1/8 miles.
A mutuel pool caused when a horse is so heavily played that, after deductions of state tax and commission, there is not enough money left to pay the legally prescribed minimum on each winning bet. The racing association usually makes up the difference.
A rider who excels in rich races.
Horse that performs well in morning workouts but fails to reproduce that form in races.
Probable odds on each horse in a race, as determined by a mathematical formula used by the track handicapper, who tries to gauge both the ability of the horse and the likely final odds as determined by the bettors.
Horse that races well on muddy tracks. Also known as a “mudlark.”
A condition of a racetrack which is wet but has no standing water.
Short for “parimutuel pool.” Sum of the wagers on a race or event, such as the win pool, daily double pool, exacta pool, etc.
name (of a Thoroughbred)
Names of North American Thoroughbreds are registered by The Jockey Club. They can be no longer than 18 characters, including punctuation and spaces. The words “the,” “and,” “by,” “for,” “in” and “a” are almost always lower case unless they are the first word in the name. Examples “Love You by Heart,” “Go for Wand” and “Strike the Gold.”
Left side of a horse. Side on which a horse is mounted.
Unit of measurement. About the length of a horse’s neck; a little less than a quarter of a length.
Lowering of head. To win by a nod, a horse extends its head with its nose touching the finish line ahead of a close competitor.
Nom de Course
Name adopted by an owner or group of owners for racing purposes.
One who owns a horse at the time it is named to compete in a stakes race.
Smallest advantage a horse can win by. Called a short head in Britain.
A stakes event for three-year-old fillies (females).
Claim of foul lodged by rider, patrol judge or other official after the running of a race. If lodged by official, it is called an inquiry.
Odds of less than even money.
Right side of horse.
Wagering at legalized betting outlets usually run by the tracks, management companies specializing in parimutuel wagering, or, in New York State, by independent corporations chartered by the state. Wagers at OTB sites are usually commingled with on-track betting pools.
1) Notice displayed when a race result is confirmed. 2) Used to denote a racing official.
on the bit
When a horse is eager to run. Also known as “in the bridle.”
on the board
Finishing among the first three.
on the muscle
Denotes a fit horse.
on the nose
Betting a horse to win only.
Abbreviation for off-track betting.
out of the money
A horse that finishes worse than third.
Racing wide throughout, outside of other horses.
A horse going off at higher odds than it appears to warrant based on its past performances.
A sheet published by the racing secretary’s office listing the entries for an upcoming racing card.
A race in which entries close a specific number of hours before running (such as 48 hours), as opposed to a stakes race for which nominations close weeks and sometimes months in advance.
Surplus weight carried by a horse when the rider cannot make the required weight.
The full owner or part owner of a registered Standardbred.
A gait in which the legs of a horse move in lateral pairs.
The horse that is running in front (on the lead).
Area where horses are saddled and paraded before being taken onto the track.
Official in charge of paddock and saddling routine.
Areas enclosed by a fence or other means, at which all entrances are secured, and entrance to such structure is limited.
A form of betting and of handling the betting on horse races at racetracks, in which those holding winning tickets divide the total amount bet in proportion to their wagers, less a percentage for the management, taxes, etc.
A form of wagering originated in 1865 by Frenchman Pierre Oller in which all money bet is divided up among those who have winning tickets, after taxes, takeout and other deductions are made. Oller called his system “parier mutuel” meaning “mutual stake” or “betting among ourselves.” As this wagering method was adopted in England it became known as “Paris mutuals,” and soon after “parimutuels.”
A multi-race bet in which all winnings are subsequently wagered on each succeeding race.
Using a key horse or horses in different, but not all possible, exotic wagering combinations. See wheel.
A horse’s racing record, earnings, bloodlines and other data, presented in composite form.
A lightning fast racing surface.
Official(s) who observe the progress of a race from various vantage points around the track.
A result so close it is necessary to use the finish-line camera to determine the order of finish.
A result so close it is necessary to use the finish-line camera to determine the order of finish.
A type of multi-race wager in which the winners of all the included races must be selected. Pick Three (sometimes called the “Daily Triple”), Pick Six and Pick Nine are common.
Small numbered ball used in a blind draw to decide post positions.
A horse forced back due to racing in close quarters.
A person who buys a racehorse with the specific intention of re-selling it at a profit.
Second position at finish.
Wager on a horse to finish first or second.
Official who posts the order of finish in a race.
1) A prize for a winner. Usually less valuable than a cup. 2) Generic term for lightweight (usually) aluminum horseshoes used during a race.
1) Claiming horse. 2) A farrier.
A position in a race with horses in front and alongside.
point(s) of call
A horse’s position at various locations on the racetrack where its running position is noted on a chart. The locations vary with the distance of the race.
Markers at measured distances around the track designating the distance from the finish. The quarter pole, for instance, is a quarter of a mile from the finish, not from the start.
Any horse or pony that leads the parade of the field from paddock to starting gate. Also, a horse or pony which accompanies a starter to the starting gate. Also can be used as a verb He was ponied to the gate. Also known as a “lead [LEED] pony.”
Finding by an approved laboratory that a blood or urine sample indicates the presence of a drug, medication or other prohibited substance.
1) Starting point for a race. 2) An abbreviated version of post position. For example, “He drew post four.” 3) As a verb, to record a win. For example, “He’s posted 10 wins in 14 starts.”
Horses going from paddock to starting gate past the stands.
The position assigned or drawn for a horse from which it will start the race.
Position of stall in starting gate from which a horse starts.
post race test
A blood or urine sample, taken after the completion of a heat or dash, that indicates the presence of a drug, medication or other prohibited substance.
The time set for the start of a race.
A blood or urine sample, taken prior to the completion of a heat or dash, that indicates the presence of a drug, medication or other prohibited substance.
Horses with prior rights to starting, usually because they have previously been entered in races that have not filled with the minimum number of starters.
When a horse suddenly stops moving by digging its front feet into the ground.
PRUEBA PREVIA A LA CARRERA
Una muestra de sangre u orina, tomada antes de la finalización de una carrera preliminar, que indica la presencia de una droga, medicamento u otra sustancia prohibida.
To stop or slow a horse during or after a race or workout.
PUNTO(S) DE LLAMADA
La posición de un caballo en varios lugares de la pista donde su posición de carrera se anota en una tabla. Las ubicaciones varían según la distancia de la carrera.
The monetary amount that is distributed to the finishers of a race.
A race in which a horse must establish its ability to participate at a race meeting, consistent with the qualifying standards establish for that class of horse.
Wager in which the first two finishers must be picked in either order.
A speed horse running as an entry with another, usually come-from-behind horse. The rabbit is expected to set a fast pace to help the chances of its stablemate.
An official licensed by the USTA to perform specific duties as outlined under Rule 6.20.
Official who drafts conditions of races and assigns weights for handicap events.
The barrier on either side of the racing strip. Sometimes referred to as the “fence.”
Horse that prefers to run next to the inside rail.
A horse that refuses to settle under a jockey’s handling in a race, running in a headstrong manner without respect to pace.
Used in the expression, “He likes to hear his feet rattle,” a horse that likes a firm turf course.
The reason that the horse was scratched out of the race was that he was either a) entered in another race on that day, either at the same track or another track and opted to race in the other race OR b) was scratched out of this race to run in another race in the next few days.
Structure used by horses shipping in for a race who do not have a stall at that racetrack.
1) When a horse will not break from the gate. 2) In jumping races, balking at a jump.
A minimum price, set by the consignor, for a horse in a public auction. For example, “The horse did not reach its reserve.”
A horse that finishes a race under mild urging, not as severe as driving.
Using short stirrups.
A horse color where the majority of the coat of the horse is a mixture of red and white hairs or brown and white hairs. The mane, tail and legs may be black, chestnut or roan unless white markings are present. Starting with foals of 1993, the color classifications gray and roan were combined as “roan or gray.”
Broadly, a race distance of longer than 1-1/8 miles.
Horse that performs well at longer distances.
When a horse bites another horse or a person.
scale of weights
Fixed weights to be carried by horses according to their age, sex, race distance and time of year.
To be taken out of a race before it starts. Trainers usually scratch horses due to adverse track conditions or a horse’s adverse health. A veterinarian can scratch a horse at any time.
A secondary mount of a jockey in a race in the event his primary mount is scratched.
Grandmother of a horse. Also known as a “granddam.”
1) A suspension. For example, “The jockey was set down five days for careless riding.” 2) When a jockey assumes a lower crouch in the saddle while urging the horse to pick up speed. For example, “The horse was set down for the drive to the wire.”
A (usually sheepskin) roll that is secured over the bridge of a horse’s nose to keep it from seeing shadows on the track and shying away from or jumping them.
Rope or strap attached to a halter or bridle by which a horse is led.
Stable area. A row of barns.
A handicapping tool assigning a numerical value to each race run by a horse to enable different horses running at different racetracks to be objectively compared.
Third position at the finish.
Wager on a horse to finish in the money; third or better.
Unable to improve position due to being surrounded by other horses.
A simultaneous live television transmission of a race to other tracks, off-track betting offices or other outlets for the purpose of wagering.
A racing strip that is saturated with water; with standing water visible.
A racing strip that is wet on both the surface and base.
Solid white markings extending from the top of the hoof to the ankles.
Condition of a turf course with a large amount of moisture. Horses sink very deeply into it.
Three-year-old horses. Called sophomores because age three is the second year of racing eligibility.
A handicapping tool used to assign a numerical value to a horse’s performance. See Beyer number.
spit the bit
A term referring to a tired horse that begins to run less aggressively, backing off on the “pull” a rider normally feels on the reins from an eager horse. Also used as a generic term for an exhausted horse.
Short race, less than one mile.
A race that will be contested in a year subsequent to its closing, in which the money given by the track member conducting the same is added to the money contributed by the nominators.
A horse whose level of competition includes mostly stakes races.
Finished second or third in a stakes race.
Horse that moves about its stall constantly and frets rather than rests.
A male horse used for breeding.
The right to breed one mare to a particular stallion during one breeding season.
A lifetime breeding right to a stallion; one mare per season per share.
Any type of condition, unless specifically so stated, that includes only those performances in a purse race. Qualifying and matinee races are excluded.
1) An official responsible for ensuring a fair start to the race, the starter supervises the loading of horses into the starting gate through a gate crew. He/she also has control of the opening the gate. 2) A horse that is in the starting gate when the race begins, whether he runs or not.
An allowance or handicap race restricted to horses that have started for a specific claiming price or less.
A mobile device used to start horses in a race.
Partitioned mechanical device having stalls in which the horses are confined until the starter releases the stalls’ confined front doors to begin the race.
A horse bred in a particular state and thus eligible to compete in races restricted to state-breds.
A horse that can race long distances.
A horse being taken in hand by its rider, usually because of being in close quarters.
A horse moving up in class to meet better competition.
Officials of the race meeting responsible for enforcing the rules of racing.
Solid white markings extending from the top of the hoof to the knee or hock.
Position of horses at the eighth pole.
Horse that runs its fastest nearing the finish of a race.
Bend of track into the final straightaway.
Manner of going. Also, distance covered between successive imprints of the same hoof.
A white marking running down a horse’s face, starting under an imaginary line connecting the tops of the eyes.
1) Male horse used for breeding. 2) A breeding farm.
Registry and genealogical record of Thoroughbreds, maintained by the Jockey Club of the country in question. Use lower case when describing a generic stud book, all words, including “The,” are capitalized when describing “The American Stud Book.”
Fee paid by owner to nominate a horse for a stakes race or to maintain eligibility for a stakes race.
Alternate race used to replace a regularly scheduled race that does not fill or is canceled.
A foal in its first year of life, while it is still nursing.
When a horse refuses to extend itself.
Commission deducted from mutuel pools which is shared by the track, horsemen (in the form of purses) and local and state governing bodies in the form of tax.
A horse pulled up sharply by its rider because of being in close quarters.
A male horse used at breeding farms to determine whether a mare is ready to receive a stallion.
Special facility for showing simulcast races.
The Jockey Club
An organization dedicated to the improvement of Thoroughbred breeding and racing. Incorporated Feb. 10, 1894 in New York City, The Jockey Club serves as North America’s Thoroughbred registry, responsible for the maintenance of “The American Stud Book,” a register of all Thoroughbreds foaled in the United States, Puerto Rico and Canada; and of all Thoroughbreds imported into those countries from jurisdictions that have a registry recognized by The Jockey Club and the International Stud Book Committee.
A Thoroughbred is a horse whose parentage traces back to any of the three “founding sires” the Darley Arabian, Byerly Turk and Godolphin Barb, and who has satisfied the rules and requirements of The Jockey Club and is registered in “The American Stud Book” or in a foreign stud book recognized by The Jockey Club and the International Stud Book Committee. Any other horse, no matter what its parentage, is not considered a Thoroughbred for racing and/or breeding purposes.
Ready to race.
A Thoroughbred’s breeding on its sire’s side.
An automated parimutuel system that dispenses and records betting tickets, calculates and displays odds and payoffs and provides the mechanism for cashing winning tickets. Often shortened to “tote.”
The (usually) electronic totalizator display in the infield which reflects up-to-the-minute odds. It may also show the amounts wagered in each mutuel pool as well as information such as jockey and equipment changes, etc. Also known as the “board.”
A racing surface that favors a particular running style or position. For example, a track bias can favor either front-runners or closers or horses running on the inside or outside.
Condition of the racetrack surface. See fast; good; muddy; sloppy; frozen; hard; firm; soft; yielding; heavy.
Used to describe a fit horse losing its competitive edge.
In Thoroughbred racing, a preparatory race created in tandem with a subsequent, more important stakes race to be run a few days or weeks hence The Derby Trial.
A wager picking the first three finishers in exact order. Called a “triactor” in Canada and a “triple” in some parts of the U.S.
A trifecta wager in which all possible combinations using a given number of horses are bet upon. The total number of combinations can be calculated according to the formula x3-3×2+2x, where x equals the amount of horses in the box. The sum of the formula is then multiplied by the amount wagered on each combination.
An individual horse’s race, with specific reference to the difficulty (or lack of difficulty) the horse had during competition, e.g., whether the horse was repeatedly blocked or had an unobstructed run.
A gait in which the legs of the horse move in diagonal pairs.
A horse racing at shorter odds than seems warranted by its past performances.
A stallion that has not been bred.
A person employed by a racing association to clean and care for a jockey’s tack and other riding equipment.
A race in which only one horse competes.
A horse that becomes so nervous that it sweats profusely. Also known as “washy” or “lathered (up).”
A foal that is less than one-year-old that has been separated from its dam.
A foal that is less than one-year-old that has been separated from its dam.
weigh in (out)
The certification, by the clerk of scales, of a rider’s weight before (after) a race. A jockey weighs in fully dressed with all equipment except for his/her helmet, whip and (in many jurisdictions) flak jacket.
An allowance condition in which each entrant is assigned a weight according to its age. Females usually receive a sex allowance as well. (Compare with a handicap race.)
Betting all possible combinations in an exotic wager using at least one horse as the key. See part wheel.
A horse color, extremely rare, in which all the hairs are white. The horse’s eyes are brown, not pink, as would be the case for an albino.
The finish line of a race.
A horse in its second calendar year of life, beginning Jan. 1 of the year following its birth.
Condition of a turf course with a great deal of moisture. Horses sink into it noticeably. | <urn:uuid:2bf5269e-c7a4-4ad0-945a-e875eec740a9> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://pennhorseracing.com/glossary/?lang=es/prefix:s/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882571869.23/warc/CC-MAIN-20220813021048-20220813051048-00078.warc.gz | en | 0.932999 | 11,346 | 2.265625 | 2 |
The Carter Center has released its evaluation of Sudan’s voter registration process, which ended December 7th. It says registration was largely successful, despite logistical and security problems.
Aly Verjee, a Carter Center observer in Sudan, says, “The registration process was broadly inclusive and generally peaceful and therefore a success for the elections commission and for the people of Sudan. “
However, he says additional steps need to be taken “in the elections process and within the political context in order the make genuine elections possible.”
First, the good news
“According to the National Elections Commission (NEC), the figures of Sudanese registered are quite encouraging. The commission reports that at least 75 percent of Sudanese were registered, which is quite close to the target that they were aiming for,” he says.
But, there were problems.
“Certainly, there’s a lack of civic education. There’s a lack of awareness of the process and many people did not fully understand what it is they were participating in,” he says.
Map of Sudan
Despite the higher registration figure, there was unequal participation in the process across the country, especially in the Darfur region in the west.
“There are also security challenges that remain and clearly there are still many things that need to be fulfilled in the political process,” he says.
It's the first voter registration in South Sudan in many years
“The registration process there did manage to reach most of the areas of the 10 states, although there were some difficulties in delayed start in certain areas. And there were logistical and security challenges in other areas. As time went by, the number of people reached increased and the final numbers for southern Sudan…are very encouraging.” he says.
One is a “sustained and extensive effort” to ensure there is general awareness among the population about the voting process.
Another is “to publish the preliminary voters list and the final voters list without delay,” he says, “and to open those lists (to) examination and verification where necessary.”
The Carter Center also says political freedoms must be protected.
“The context of Sudan is one where there’s still much work to be done to ensure that fundamental freedoms of assembly, of expression, of association are respected,” says Verjee.
What’s more, the recommendations say the political activities of individuals, civic groups and local organizations must be allowed and political party pluralism protected.
Keeping an eye on things
“We will continue our observation mission. The Carter Center has been here since February 2008 monitoring the…political process in Sudan. We’ll continue our long term observation efforts through the end of the exhibition period, which is underway now, and into 2010. And we certainly hope to be here for the elections themselves,” he says.
However, Verjee says at this time no individual observers have been accredited by the NEC. | <urn:uuid:61230a42-d766-4fd4-b07b-9f74b9e1f3ae> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.voanews.com/a/decapua-sudan-carter-center-18dec09-79642477/416547.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560281450.93/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095121-00175-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973485 | 623 | 2.015625 | 2 |
Background The proposed association between (Cpn) infection and wheezing requirements further clarification. detected in boys, in whom IgE sensitisation was inversely associated with the presence of anti\Cpn IgG (OR 0.49 (95% CI 0.26 to 0.90). Conclusions This study suggests an association between evidence of earlier Cpn infection and a history of wheezing in young girls. Infection with Cpn may be an important risk factor for wheezing and possibly for non\atopic asthma, predominantly in girls. (Cpn) is a respiratory tract pathogen associated both with Dactolisib severe and chronic disorders. It’s been connected with pharyngitis, severe bronchitis, pneumonia, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.3,4 This bacterium is generally found in small children when working with polymerase chain response (PCR) on throat swabs.5 Cpn continues to be associated with exacerbations of asthma and it’s been recommended that it might contribute to the introduction of the condition.6,7,8 In 1991 Hahn was the first ever to explain a link between asthma and Cpn in adults, and he reviewed subsequent reviews on this issue later.8,9 In 1994 Emre had been analysed from the microimmunofluorescence (MIF) technique as referred to at length elsewhere.16 One experienced investigator (JG), who interpreted all tests, was blinded to all or any other research data. Regular high and low positive serum samples were included to make sure quality and consistency control of MIF testing. Antibody titres had been indicated as reciprocal titres. IgG antibodies had been eliminated by immunoprecipitation with GullSORB (Meridian Bioscience Inc, OH, USA) before tests for IgA antibodies. Serum examples adverse for IgG weren’t analysed for IgA, and everything kids bad for IgG had been regarded as bad for IgA also. An optimistic MIF titre was thought as ?16 (inverted titre). Statistics Data were collected and analysed with STATA/SE 8.2 for Windows (StataCorp, College Station, TX, USA). The confidence level was set at 95%. Odds ratios (ORs) for 22 tables were calculated using the maximum likelihood estimate, also when including an interaction variable. The homogeneity of ORs between strata was analysed by 2 test. Mantel\Haenszel estimate was utilized to calculate ORs when Furin changing for IgE sensitisation. The p beliefs were computed by 2 aside Dactolisib from analyses from the group of kids with high titres of anti\Cpn IgG when the Fisher’s specific test was utilized to make sure statistical precision for small amounts. When the scholarly research inhabitants was stratified by sex or by different serological features, and when a number Dactolisib of different final results were analysed concurrently, the Simes treatment was used to regulate for multiple statistical evaluations.17 Results Apart from eczema, higher prevalences of research diagnoses were reported for guys. A hundred and fifty nine kids (10.1%) had detectable anti\Cpn IgG amounts without significant difference between your sexes. The full total results for everyone study variables are shown in table 1?1. Desk 1?Prevalence of research variables in kids at age 4?years according to sex The occurrence of anti\Cpn IgG was connected with a history background of wheezing, most evident when reported in 2?years (desk 2?2). Desk 2?Association between research diagnoses and anti\Cpn IgA and IgG in kids in 4?years old Only 42 kids had anti\Cpn IgA, which permitted associations between serology and clinical diagnoses difficult to study. Few children with anti\Cpn IgA had any of the study Dactolisib diagnoses reported at 4?years of age. Children with IgA antibodies to Cpn had a reduced risk of reactive airway disease and of being IgE sensitised at the time of blood sampling. None of the associations in table 2?2 remained statistically significant after adjusting for multiple statistical comparisons. When the sexes were examined separately, an observed association between anti\Cpn IgG and wheezing was restricted to girls (table 3?3).). The respective ORs calculated for boys and girls regarding IgE sensitisation were also different in that the occurrence of IgG antibodies to Cpn was associated with a lowered risk of IgE sensitisation in males and an increased risk of IgE sensitisation in girls. When the statistics in table 3?3 were adjusted for multiple comparisons, including stratification by sex and the nine different outcomes, the lowest ordered p value had to be <0.0028 to be considered as significant; this requirement was true only for the association between anti\Cpn IgG and wheezing in girls at 1?12 months of age. Table 3?Association between study diagnoses and anti\Cpn IgG in children at 4?years of age according to sex Post hoc analyses were performed to further scrutinise indicated associations. The associations found between anti\Cpn IgG and wheezing in girls were unchanged after adjusting for IgE sensitisation. | <urn:uuid:c297d86c-0483-452c-9db5-f93da7dab2d0> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | http://capecodmushroom.org/tag/furin/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573172.64/warc/CC-MAIN-20220818063910-20220818093910-00265.warc.gz | en | 0.963491 | 1,085 | 2.109375 | 2 |
The facts around girls, dieting and self image are depressing. The number-one magic wish for girls ages 11 to 17 is to be thinner. Over half of 13-year-olds don’t like their bodies.
Why all the unhappiness? We can point many fingers, and most would agree that one of those fingers should be directed at fashion magazines.
Three out of four girls feel sad, guilty or shameful after spending three minutes with a fashion magazine, according to a Unilever study. Not surprising. Fashion mags are filled with images of gorgeous models who’ve been airbrushed and Photoshopped to have impossibly perfect skin and skinny waists. The models’ unrealistic looks are unobtainable for the average pimply pubescent girl—and for a 13-year-old girl named Julia Bluhm, this is downright wrong and frustrating.
In May, the Maine eighth grader created a Change.org petition “asking Seventeen magazine to commit to printing one unaltered — real — photo spread per month.”
Bluhm, who is involved with an organization called SPARK that’s trying to end the sexualization of girls in media, included powerful words in her petition: “Those ‘pretty women’ that we see in magazines are fake. They’re often Photoshopped, air-brushed, edited to look thinner, and to appear like they have perfect skin. A girl you see in a magazine probably looks a lot different in real life. I want to see regular girls that look like me in a magazine that’s supposed to be for me.”
After Bluhm collected over 25,000 signatures (the petition now has 84,000), she hand-delivered the petition to the editorial offices. She and her friends stood outside the editorial offices and protested holding signs that read “Teen girls against Photoshop.”
Seventeen got the message and invited Bluhm to visit the magazine and talk with editors. While Bluhm told Jezebel that she thought her meeting at Seventeen was a step in the right direction, she was disappointed that the editors didn’t promise to meet her request.
After the meeting, Jezebel reached out to Seventeen to ask about the meeting and the magazine issued a soft-ball statement:
We’re proud of Julia for being so passionate about an issue — it’s exactly the kind of attitude we encourage in our readers — so we invited her to our office to meet with editor in chief Ann Shoket this morning. They had a great discussion, and we believe that Julia left understanding that Seventeen celebrates girls for being their authentic selves, and that’s how we present them. We feature real girls in our pages and there is no other magazine that highlights such a diversity of size, shape, skin tone and ethnicity.
There is some truth in this statement. I subscribed to Seventeen as a teen and I don’t remember seeing any diversity of size, shape and skin tone among its glossy pages—while today you might find a feature on finding the right jeans no matter your body type featuring models from different backgrounds. But the fashion spreads near the back of the magazine still often glorify those impossibly skinny models who look as if they’ve been surviving on Tic-Tacs and grape fruit for weeks.
But while Bluhm’s campaign didn’t put an end to airbrushing in teen mags, she did start a movement. Last week, SPARK partnered with MissRepresentation.org, an S.F.-based nonprofit aimed at stopping gender stereotypes, and LoveSocial.org, a Vancouver-based social media company. The three organizations launched a three-day social media campaign called, Keep It Real, to put more pressure on magazines to present realistic images of women.
“It’s a three-day Keep It Real challenge,” LoveSocial founder Azita Ardakani told the Vancouver Sun. “It was a play on the headlines you see on magazine covers — like the challenge to get a perfect bikini body or to look a certain way for summer.”
The campaign was a huge success. Miss Representation social media and communications manager Imran Siddiquee told SFGate that on the first day the campaign generated a million tweets with the hashtag #keepitreal. On day two people were invited to post images of real beauty on Instagram and nearly 1,000 pictures were uploaded. “We’re leveraging social media to push these magazine to change,” Siddiquee says.
Keep It Real also created images of shocking facts about teen girls, dieting and self image for people to share on Facebook (see slide show above) because many studies show that fashion magazines contribute to eating disorders, unhealthy dieting and poor self image.
Bluhm says, “Girls want to be accepted, appreciated, and liked. And when they don’t fit the criteria, some girls try to ‘fix’ themselves. This can lead to eating disorders, dieting, depression, and low self esteem.” | <urn:uuid:2f900a66-e49b-4019-af59-f8d7978ca844> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://blog.sfgate.com/sfmoms/2012/07/02/a-movement-to-stop-magazines-from-airbrushing-models/?gta=commentlistpos | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560285289.45/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095125-00153-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953336 | 1,068 | 1.789063 | 2 |
Research into narratives as forms of sense-making AI has shown that these can impede the public understanding of AI, mask human agency, and reinforce damaging stereotypes. This article shows the result of a research to imagine more helpful visual representations of AI to improve science communication.
This post shows that the instance of Stochastic Gradient Descent (SGD) used to solve modern ML problems carries rich particularities. In particular, we will put emphasis on the difference between the under and overparametrised regimes.
Over the past few years, advances in training large language models (LLMs) have moved natural language processing (NLP) from a bleeding-edge technology that few companies could access, to a powerful component of many common applications. | <urn:uuid:1e45a23b-b080-4120-a940-15c2f25c23ff> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://aiweekly.co/issues/286 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882571090.80/warc/CC-MAIN-20220809215803-20220810005803-00073.warc.gz | en | 0.937789 | 151 | 2.15625 | 2 |
Now I found that nice, but on the other hand: if I was a student.. and I had to listen to such songs.. I would feel rather irritated (and it would not stimulate me at all).
It can help some students, but at the same time some students wont like it... I think its important that teachers keep this in mind (for example: do not push students to learn this song if they dont care about it.. everyone has is own style of learning and its important to keep this in mind and not just focus on the weaks for example)
Totally subscribe to that. I would not be a scientist if my biology teacher would have been like that. Actually in highschool I hated biology because of the teacher. I changed my mind in my first year of the university (while I was studying physics) during my first biochemistry and cell biology intro course. And it was not the way of teaching, it was how excited the prof was about what he was teaching. For me everything was gibberish but I was like: this dude is certainly fascinated about this biochemistry stuff, so it must be cool but I cannot see it at the moment because I am too ignorant. And I busted my ass to understand what he was talking about.
My bottom line is that Pito is right: different people learn differently and the question is who do we want to teach? Do we want to lose the attention of the people who would have aced the course while forcing the not-interested ones into the matter? What would be the result? If there are statistically significant numbers about these novel methods, I would adopt them; if these methods only lead to slight increase in the average while decreasing the standard deviation... I would think twice.
Actually, what Pito said about different people having different learning styles: I took a 2-day seminar in teaching to come to this conclusion. Which I see now that it was a loss of time since Pito would have anyhow argued it convincingly for me that this is the case.
On another note: I am totally for this topic: sharing teaching methods. Because I was in this teaching seminar which was not quite focused on scientific stuff. As an example, we were told to take a course that we teach and work on it. I happen to teach a method (short labcourse) course in protein expression and purification. The course starts with 1 hour introduction in the theory behind different types of separation: affinity, gel filtration, ion exchange. The guy who was giving the seminar (with a degree in sociology) told me that this is not good. That I should allow the students to discover themselves the methods and think on their own with guided questions about how they would purify a protein, without knowing anything, based on their life experience. Now.... this might work in sociology when you have questions related to daily life situations. However, in science, you cannot tell a student to reinvent the things that took several years and several researchers working together to invent in the first place. I mean, how would my thing work according to him? I would just give them several purification columns and the Akta system (with a manual) and a cell lysate and say: you have two days to purify the protein from the cell lysate. Anyhow...total fail of this particular course; two days of my life I will never get back.
Coming back to teaching methods. Some of the teaching methods I have observed as functioning at least from my side (me being the learner):
-I had this immunology course in which we were given the book and we were supposed to read on our own each week 1-2 chapters and come to the lecture and discuss the chapter. In the beginning of the class, we would collect questions related to the parts of the chapter we did not understand on a board and the prof (the same for whom I switched from physics to biochemistry
, just a coincidence) would order these questions in the order they were presented in the chapter. He would just moderate the discussion. The answers for the questions would come from others in the class (max 20 people seminar) that happened to understand that particular principle. In the end of the semester you would actually get a grade based on active participation. The prof took care that he involves everybody in the discussion even though they are shy to raise their hand and try to answer one of the questions. I have learned more in that course than in any other course because knowing and understanding as much as possible would be rewarded in good active participation grade.
-when I was doing tutorials for the quantum mechanics course, I observed that the problem of most students is the vocabulary used by profs: too scientific. (the students came to the tutorial for a translation to simple English of their homework task
) Also observed by Trof above: using interjections and being descriptive rather than abstract works the best. Aka use slides whenever possible to illustrate (as well said above by mdfenko) On the other hand, I observed that things based on formulae/mathematical derivations rather than images (biological descriptive facts) are better presented with chalk on the board than on power point slides.
-practical examples always help. solve problems and exercises. show where that knowledge can be used in their daily life from the math formula for the biologist to the scientific fact in smart phones, playstation etc for the highschooler. it works like a reward system: how is your life getting better because you know this?
-debating on topics: make 2 groups that do real debates like the competitive ones about politics and stuff. Like: this house believes in evolution vs the house that believes in creationism. The point in competitive debating is that you are not allowed to choose your own side and you can draw the opposite side, the one you are against. But still you are stuck on the other side and you have to fight to find counter arguments and to convince people of your arguments. As a consequence you become more equilibrated/ open-minded and you start seeing also other point of views keeping in mind their weak parts and your own weak parts. I mean not all debates have to be as controversial as evolution vs creationism. You can pick different point of views to a field. There are several fields with things that are not settled and widely debated. Also, lighter topics could be chosen like: method A is better than method B for assessing this question.
On a last note: Pito mentioned above smth about if you rap 30 min, how much of the lesson is there for the real material? Well, the real question here is: what do we want to teach here? The entire Lehninger/Voet&Voet/Stryer as fast as possible or how to think out of the box? instigate students to look up in the internet, books, library whatever for more info about the stuff that was tangentially touched? you do not need to know everything is taught in schools; knowing how to find certain info and where to look it up is more important than knowing books by heart. I remember my metabolism prof when asked if himself knows all these details he is asking in the exam, without having the slides in front. He told us: well, I do not know, but I have to have a system to differentiate among everybody in the class and rank them somehow because if I would ask only the take home message of the course, what you have to remember in the years to come as researchers, everybody here would get only As and we cannot have that. This is why we will make the exams harder and harder every year to have a Gaussian distribution of the grades. How does this attitude help us in the end? Not at all. In the end, in science, as everywhere else, the best are the ones who know how to raise questions; how to get the info; how to be critical with the info out there: not everything that is published even in science journals is 100% correct; how to come with a plan to get a task done and follow the plan. wholesome understanding of everything and knowing everything is not in there. But this list is only according to me. | <urn:uuid:549eb45b-4070-49ad-bf05-e4e60968573a> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.protocol-online.org/forums/topic/25091-new-and-creative-ways-to-teach-science/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560281162.88/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095121-00533-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.981014 | 1,679 | 1.898438 | 2 |
The legal trade has the assets to higher serve customers and society. Bifurcation of authorized regulation will advance these essential aims and protect the elemental traits of legal practice. Lawyers are part of a legal supply chain that’s populated by different professionals, paraprofessionals, and machines.
The English Court of Common Pleas was established after Magna Carta to strive lawsuits between commoners during which the monarch had no interest. Its judges sat in open court docket within the Great Hall of the king’s Palace of Westminster, permanently besides in the vacations between the 4 phrases of the Legal yr. Henry II’s creation of a strong and unified court docket system, which curbed considerably the facility of canonical (church) courts, introduced him (and England) into conflict with the church, most famously with Thomas Becket, the Archbishop of Canterbury. The homicide of the Archbishop gave rise to a wave of popular outrage in opposition to the King. Henry was pressured to repeal the disputed legal guidelines and to abandon his efforts to hold church members accountable for secular crimes (see additionally Constitutions of Clarendon).
Executive orders are issued to interpret, implement, or administer laws. On the federal level, executive orders are issued by the president or by another Executive Branch official beneath the president’s direction. Executive orders range from instructions for detailed adjustments in federal administrative agency procedures to instructions for army action. To have the pressure of legislation, a federal Executive Order must be printed within the Federal Register, the official authorities publication of executive orders and federal administrative company regulations. On the state level, governors have comparable authority to make legal guidelines regarding state administrative companies and state army personnel.
First, discussion about public health and authorized research processes and outcomes is crucial. The kind of data collected and analyzed ought to mirror analysis goals, which in this case was to gather and analyze data that could inform Medicaid administrators and choice-makers about policies that will help recommended treatment. Those who formulate coding questions must characterize insurance policies in a method that is each legally and topically important. Scientific specialists and legal professionals alike might need to rethink the scope and phrasing of examine questions in light of their differing areas of expertise.
The session may also explore how skilled duty norms differ slightly around the globe, reflecting the varying visions of independence and the balance of shopper-centered and social responsibility. Portal supplies overviews and hyperlinks to related articles, web resources, laws, information, blogs, and blog posts, by authorized apply area, with cross-references to related practice areas and subtopics. Search engine searches Justia.com, authorized internet, legislation blogs, or legal podcasts. Distinguish between civil and felony courts and the consequences of every. Examine several types of legal guidelines and how they are dealt with in the criminal justice system. | <urn:uuid:3f296cb3-7d12-47d5-84e4-855260b6904f> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://dojoblog.info/civil-law-and-legal-theory-2.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882570765.6/warc/CC-MAIN-20220808031623-20220808061623-00267.warc.gz | en | 0.949541 | 580 | 2.296875 | 2 |
From the Wires
U.S. Census Bureau Daily Feature for January 16
By: PR Newswire
Jan. 16, 2013 12:01 AM
WASHINGTON, Jan. 16, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Following is the daily "Profile America" feature from the U.S. Census Bureau:
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 16: PROHIBITION
Profile America — Wednesday, January 16th. There have been 27 amendments to the U.S. Constitution over the past 222 years, but that total comes with an asterisk. Uniquely, the 21st Amendment repeals the 18th, which began its short career this day in 1919. That amendment launched the Prohibition Era, a well intentioned act (of social hygiene) seeking to ban the availability of alcoholic beverages. The unintended consequences, though, were perhaps worse — vast flouting of the law by the public and a boost to organized crime. Prohibition was repealed in December 1933. In the no-longer-dry U.S., there are over 31,000 beer, wine and liquor stores, with annual sales over $36 billion. You can find more facts about America from the U.S. Census Bureau, online at www.census.gov.
Sources: 2007 Economic Census, NAICS 445310
Profile America is produced by the Center for New Media and Promotions of the U.S. Census Bureau. These daily features are available as produced segments, ready to air, on a monthly CD or on the Internet at http://www.census.gov (look for "Multimedia Gallery" by the "Newsroom" button).
SOURCE U.S. Census Bureau
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The Personal MBA: Master the Art of Business
Master the fundamentals, hone your business instincts, and save a fortune in tuition.
The consensus is clear: MBA programs are a waste of time and money. Even the elite schools offer outdated assembly-line educations about profit-and-loss statements and PowerPoint presentations. After two years poring over sanitized case studies, students are shuffled off into middle management to find out how business really works.
Josh Kaufman has made a business out of distilling the core principles of business and delivering them quickly and concisely to people at all stages of their careers. His blog has introduced hundreds of thousands of readers to the best business books and most powerful business concepts of all time. In The Personal MBA, he shares the essentials of sales, marketing, negotiation, strategy, and much more.
True leaders aren't made by business schools-they make themselves, seeking out the knowledge, skills, and experiences they need to succeed. Read this book and in one week you will learn the principles it takes most people a lifetime to master.
What people are saying - Write a review
The Personal MBA: Master the Art of BusinessUser Review - Robert Perret - Book Verdict
The conceit of this book is that the highly condensed information within will supplant a formal MBA program. To the contrary, it is best suited as a primer for those considering a business degree ... Read full review
One of the best business books I've read. It really helped open up a lot of different concepts and explained them in easy to understand ways. This book is good investment for any library.
Other editions - View all
The Personal MBA: A World-Class Business Education in a Single Volume
No preview available - 2011
The Personal MBA: A World-class Business Education in a Single Volume
No preview available - 2012 | <urn:uuid:3e87fbc7-3726-46b3-8da1-b1dbcd49771a> | CC-MAIN-2016-44 | https://books.google.com/books?id=_DZ_AMDl5yUC&dq=related:ISBN1591843529&hl=en | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-44/segments/1476988718296.19/warc/CC-MAIN-20161020183838-00538-ip-10-171-6-4.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.925588 | 376 | 1.703125 | 2 |
Risk and return are inseparable. If there is the potential to earn a greater return, there is also the potential for a greater loss. This is what makes owning individual stocks riskier than owning mutual funds.
With a stock, in a very short period of time, your money could double quickly, or it could be worth almost nothing. Contrast that with an index mutual fund, which owns many stocks in the index it tracks. With the fund, you're unlikely to see your money double quickly, nor are you likely to see your share price go down to zero.
Stocks Vs. Funds
Let’s look at an example by comparing the purchase of an individual stock to the purchase of an index fund.
Suppose you feel confident that XYZ stock is currently undervalued. You work in the industry, the company has a steady history of growing its revenue, and it produces a consistent, high-quality product.
The stock price has recently gone down by 50%. You are positive that in the next twelve months, it will go back up by at least 50%. In dollars, assume the stock went from $60 a share to $30 a share. You are confident that it will, at a minimum, go back up to $45 a share.
The stock market as a whole has also gone down. The S&P 500 Index fund in your account has gone down by 30%. It went from $60 a share to $42 a share. You know markets are volatile, but you never expected a decline like this in an index fund, and you are trying to figure out how to recoup your losses.
You decide that it might take the market several years to recover, but if you sold your index fund and bought XYZ stock, your portfolio could recover faster. The problem is, the market as a whole, and thus your index fund, will not go to a zero value. Your index fund will not one day be worth nothing.
XYZ stock, on the other hand, could continue to go down in value, and in a worst-case scenario, file for bankruptcy, leaving you with nothing unless you decide to sell at a lower price, which will result in further financial loss. Your risk is concentrated with an individual stock. Your result depends on the outcome of only one company, and that company's success is never totally guaranteed.
What could cause XYZ stock to continue to slide? Numerous things such as:
- A lawsuit against the company due to a defective product.
- A decrease in sales/earnings because a competitor comes out with a product that is much better.
- An accounting error or misstatement that caused the company to overstate earnings.
If you buy XYZ stock, you may get lucky, and the stock will go up faster than the market, or you may not get lucky, and the stock could continue to go down in value; even all the way down to zero.
If you keep your index fund, you know the market will recover. Your potential for rapid gain is not as great. However, you have eliminated the possibility of a complete loss.
Stock No Brainers
When it comes to individual stocks, there are analysts, company insiders, investment managers, and many other bright and capable people evaluating that stock just like you are. If a stock price appears to be too low, you have to stop and ask yourself, “What is it that the market knows about this stock that I don’t know?”
Many people buy stocks that appeared to be “no brainers”. Within a few short weeks, the dividend was cut, the loss of a key customer was announced, a lawsuit was filed, or some other detrimental event came about that caused the stock to either go down more or at best, left its price stagnant for many years.
Measure Risk by the Outcome On Your Financial Well Being
If you are going to buy individual stocks, be conscious of the risk you are taking. Ask yourself these two questions:
- If the positive outcome you are hoping for occurs, how much better off will that leave you?
- If a negative outcome should occur, how much worse off would that leave you?
Do the potential results from a positive outcome justify the risks of a potential negative outcome? Just remember, if it is a stock you are familiar with, you will think that a negative outcome is impossible. As you near retirement you want to reduce risk, not increase risk. Shifting out of individual stocks can help accomplish this. | <urn:uuid:71868fa1-a87e-40ca-8514-0e327f0c75b1> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.thebalance.com/are-stocks-riskier-than-funds-yes-here-s-why-2388550 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573029.81/warc/CC-MAIN-20220817153027-20220817183027-00273.warc.gz | en | 0.966796 | 929 | 2.578125 | 3 |
Melanie Benjamin makes it clear — on her website and within The Aviator’s Wife itself — that what she is presenting about Anne Morrow Lindbergh, aviatrix, explorer, and remarkably poetic writer, is fiction. She also reminds the reader that historical fiction can lead one to an interest in the history that lies behind the story she has chosen to tell. On this, I can certainly agree with her.
I (guiltily) enjoyed The Aviator’s Wife — the first fiction of this kind I have read in a very long time — but even in full acceptance that fiction and nonfiction are not the same, it troubled me. I admire its ambition — to try to replicate the voice and tone of a writer known and loved by thousands of people (and hated by many, to be sure). Yet, problems remain when a writer presents historical fiction as a lure to actual history. Some of the readers who have not yet read Mrs. Lindbergh’s books may be disappointed and “turned off” by the real woman’s more literate and, at times, far less forthcoming, tone.
AML, as she often referred to herself, wrote lyrically and, at least in the beginning of her relationship with Charles Lindbergh, cautiously, as she says in her first volume of diaries and letters, Bring Me a Unicorn. Lindbergh’s passion for privacy — something he would know very little of from the moment his wheels touched down on May 21, 1927 in Paris, France, after his historic solo flight from New York City — kept Anne from expressing herself in the way she normally did. So, The Aviator’s Wife will surely seem to offer the reader more of the “real Anne” than Anne herself was permitted to do, at least at that time.
She was a wonderful writer. I can’t help but admire her, in spite of everything that came later in her life, including the terrible book Wave of the Future (1940), which seemed to say that dictatorships were unavoidable and we might as well get used to them (AML later expressed her regret over the book and her wish that she had never written it).
Anne’s loyalty to Charles Lindbergh’s evidently anti-Semitic attitude and his stance against America’s involvement in World War II caused her much personal pain. Her brother-in- law, sister, and mother were all passionately in favor of helping the British. Her teacher, Mina Curtiss, and friends of hers were Jewish. Lindbergh’s speech, which she opposed — to no avail– harmed her life. More than that — it harmed her reputation as a writer.
In spite of all this, even in spite of my life as a granddaughter of Jews on my father’s side, I personally consider Anne Lindbergh one of the greatest of American writers. She never joined “America First,” the isolationist organization in which Lindbergh rose to be a star.
My admiration for Mrs. Lindbergh’s work is partly based on what she calls “intermittency,” in her vastly loved bestseller Gift from the Sea (1955). She is a complex person. She writes supporting Lindbergh; she also writes about the transcendent quality of the sea, the sky and the stars. Her friendship with Edward Sheldon, a blind and paralyzed playwright who helped other playwrights and writers to achieve their personal best was a part of her life I’d have loved to know more about.
One of my favorite pieces of writing by AML is an article she wrote for “Reader’s Digest” about Sheldon. She shows him as a kind of modern American Zen master, and also an easy, encouraging friend. The brief piece is so remarkably evocative that one almost knows exactly what it was to have been in the presence of such a person.
Early on, she loved, really loved — there is no other word for it — the great flyer and writer Antoine de St. Exupery, who crashed while flying against the Nazis for France. Yet later she allowed Lindbergh to reject France, which had taken them in (as had Britain) and leave both countries to fall to Hitler. Women did have a different role in their husband’s lives in those days, but she could have taken a stand against him. I suppose that my admiration for the woman herself is based on intermittency.
I know that space and the need for focus makes it impossible for all this to come to the fore in Ms. Benjamin’s novel. I know that one cannot include everything, but how I would have loved to read about more of the rarities in AML’s life, as opposed to all that we already know — the kidnapping of her first son, the bringing-up of her five surviving children.
Mrs. Lindbergh had a quality that is missing from our life today, for the most part — a real literacy, and a true love of poetry. We hear it every day in things such as the present use of the word “lay” for “lie,” and “like” when used where “as if” is the proper usage. The person telling the story in The Aviator’s Wife could be anyone, even though it is made clear that she was the daughter of a J.P. Morgan partner, the Ambassador to Mexico.
Perhaps this is something that matters to only a very few. But that certain persons lived a life of the mind that is oddly out of reach to many readers today is important. I cannot help but feel that it ought to be brought forth like a vintage diamond and shown to the reader, ineffably precious. Let us not lower ourselves to the understanding of the present, but try to lift the reader up to the knowledge of the past.
There are anomalies and oddities in the Benjamin book. Elisabeth Morrow, Anne’s sister — was she, as presented here, a lesbian? Did she truly have a relationship with Constance Chilton, her friend and co-educator? If she were, I certainly wouldn’t think less of her; nor would most in this day. But in all the Lindbergh legends, I have never read anything about this.
Her marriage to Aubrey Morgan, however brief (she died of heart failure in 1934), seems to have been a happy and fulfilled one. It is not important whether she and Constance Chilton were lovers, but since we don’t know that they were, why create an image that seems oddly out of place and is unknown to those who have already written about the Lindberghs and Morrows?
I also feel that it is most unlikely that Anne ever knew that Charles Lindbergh had lovers (three, and seven children) in Germany. The most that has been said of this, by a friend of hers, is “She knew, but she didn’t know what she knew.” At the same time, Anne herself had a love affair — though apparently some have thought that it was platonic — with her doctor, Dana Atchley. Charles Lindbergh seems to have known about this relationship. At the end of the book, Lindbergh, dying, also admits to Anne that he did something to their baby “back in thirty-two,” something that has constantly been an idea in the minds of Lindbergh kidnapping conspiracists, unlikely as it may be.
Lindbergh has been blamed for killing Charles Lindbergh, Jr. while playing one of his practical jokes — or even to get rid of him because there was “something wrong” with him — almost certainly untrue.
Lindbergh was unduly rough with his children. He left Charles Jr., a baby, outside for an hour in a crib to “learn to take care of himself;” he spanked his other children (I wonder why Anne did not try to prevent this, since later on, in old age, it is clear that she did not agree with spanking children by asking her daughter Reeve to take her home — “they spank children here!”) — and scolded them, but he apparently loved them in his own way — and obviously wanted to have as many as he could.
My main objection, however, remains that so many people know Anne Lindbergh’s style, Smith College background, her writing style, and her sensitive, literate voice, that for her readers, this book is almost impossible to accept as belonging to the same person. Anyone with an interest in the Lindbergh family would like to know more about them — about the relationship between Anne and Charles, which was often difficult — Anne considered divorcing Charles in the 1950s — but which, in reality, never failed to the end. But we are more likely to learn of it if more Lindbergh family papers are released, and more histories written, than through fiction.
I appreciate the place of historical fiction, especially for younger readers, so long as they know that there are more truths to be learned than those presented in the story they are reading. Certainly books like Thomas B. Costain’s led me into the fascinating and entangled world of British history and the relationships of the royal family of the day. But it is taking a great chance on either losing the respect of the reader or leading them completely astray to write a book such as this.
It takes a person who lived through the 20th century and was a writer with a strong, vivid, known, and widely appreciated voice and presents her as, in essence, the same almost childlike character throughout the book. Anne Lindbergh, despite her unfortunate position on help to Britain (while her own family stood staunchly by the Allies) during World War II, was a person who grew and changed and learned.
I wish Ms. Benjamin well with this form of literature, especially if it leads the reader farther into the truth, but I wish that she had not tried to tell the story in a first-person voice. It is grating to those who know the true person’s voice, with all its beauty and all its errors, very well. Yet I hope people will read The Aviator’s Wife –– and let it lead them into a more profound understanding of this complex woman and her times.Powered by Sidelines | <urn:uuid:8b779448-f3b9-4b38-8fbe-e9bc6e6d2c47> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://blogcritics.org/book-review-the-aviators-wife-by/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560284405.58/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095124-00042-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.986282 | 2,179 | 1.96875 | 2 |
Dolciani Mathematics Enrichment Grants (DMEG)
The Mary P. Dolciani Halloran Foundation has provided funding for the Mathematical Association of America (MAA) to award grants for projects designed to develop mathematical enrichment programs for talented students in middle school or high school. The goal of the program is to interest students who are ready for more challenge in the study of mathematics and encourage them to further their mathematical studies.
Proposals are sought from college and university mathematical sciences faculty working in partnership with middle and/or high school mathematics teachers. Interested middle and high school teachers are strongly encouraged to seek out college and university mathematic sciences faculty in the formulation of proposals to benefit middle and high school students. The Foundation is particularly interested in projects originating from the middle or high schools. Proposed projects may replicate existing successful projects, adapt components of such projects, or be new.
Projects should provide enrichment and extension activities for students which lead to heightened interest in and appreciation of mathematics. The projects should encourage students to continue studies of mathematics in high school and college and should better prepare them for those studies. Projects are designed to provide active enrichment activities, beyond classroom coursework, for students who show promise or interest in mathematics and are not intended for remedial help for students who need assistance in order to succeed in their coursework in mathematics. Projects must be open to all talented students in the applicant pool. Undergraduate and graduate students may provide role models and work directly with students under the tutelage of faculty from both the college or university and middle or high school. Participating in the DMEG Projects should benefit graduate, college, and pre-college students.
Active engagement in doing mathematics and mentoring of each student participant are essential features. Students should be made aware of career opportunities in mathematics and mathematically intensive disciplines.
Projects should be conducted over a sufficient period of time to engage student participants in learning and applying new and interesting mathematics that they will not otherwise encounter in their classes. Projects may be conducted during summer, during the school year, on weekends, or after school. The Dolciani Halloran Foundation funding may be used to supplement existing enrichment programs in order to increase the number of students participating in those programs or may be used to initiate new projects. Program funding is restricted to activities that are not typically part of school budgets.
- Organize a club for middle school or high school students interested in mathematics or mathematics and science
- Develop a Math Circle for middle or high school students
- Conduct a summer mathematics camp for middle and/or high school students
- Establish a program for college/university undergraduate and/or graduate students to mentor middle or high school students working on mathematics projects or competitions
- Organize a speaker series for middle or high school students on mathematical enrichment topics and career opportunities using mathematics
- Actively engage mathematically talented students in a way they have not been in school
Grants will be up to $6000 and will be made to the college or university of the project director for a one-year project. However, short-term events (one to three days) are generally limited to $2,500. An institution is expected to supply in-kind support as an indication of commitment to the project; these grants will not support any institutional indirect costs or provide fringe benefits. Any matching funds available should be described in the proposal and included in the budget justification. To provide maximum flexibility, unexpended funds may be carried forward with approval. Some grants may be renewed up to a maximum of three years. Projects that have received previous funding must include a report on outcomes of the project.
Applications will be accepted from college and university mathematical sciences faculty at accredited U.S. (including U.S. Territory), or Canadian AUCC-member institutions. Proposals must demonstrate a partnership with secondary or middle school mathematics faculty that is appropriate for the project. Either the middle or high school teachers or the college or university faculty may initiate the project and teachers are encouraged to develop ideas and to contact colleagues at a nearby two- or four-year college or university to work collaboratively. However, a college or university must be the fiscal agent.
Characteristics of Effective Projects
While projects will have a high degree of variability, there are some characteristics which effective projects will share:
- Distinct, fresh, and innovative
- Target highly motivated or talented middle or high school students;
- Clearly articulated and measurable project objectives;
- Strong academic component beyond the standard K-12 curriculum, with a focus focus on enrichment;
- Actively engage students in the activity and in mathematics;
- A clearly defined activity that engages students in the process, structured in a way to have a positive impact on the student;
- Highly competent project team;
- Provide information on careers that use mathematics extensively in a way that will encourage students to pursue mathematical study;
- Use of appropriate role models;
- Institutional commitment.
Projects may also include mentoring of student participants, involvement of parents, teachers, and counselors, or a peer support system.
Submission of Proposals
The Mary P. Dolciani Halloran Foundation has provided funding for the MAA to award grants for programs designed to encourage pursuit and enjoyment of mathematics among middle school and/or high school students. The deadline for submitting an application to the DMEG program is February 12, 2017. A proposal for a project may be submitted from the same institution or department to only one of the following MAA grant programs in a given year: the DMEG program; the Tensor SUMMA program; or the Tensor Women and Mathematics program. Applicants can expect to receive information regarding the funding of their proposals by the end of March.
Please note when applying that 2017 will be the last year of funding the DMEG program.
Applications for this program must be submitted online beginning December 1st. During the course of the application procedure, you will be asked to provide the following information:
- The title of the project, name and contact information of project director and the name, position, and qualifications of other key project personnel.
- A brief summary of the proposed project that includes the specific types of activities proposed.
- A proposal narrative (as a file upload), which should not exceed three pages. It should address the following guidelines in the order listed:
- Concept: Describe the mathematical and educational concepts and activities that form the basis for the project. Include a description of the activities, the frequency, how many students are expected to participate, how the project will attract students with talent or interest, how students will be selected, who will oversee the project, and who will lead the activities. Specify the intended audience and how participants will be recruited; projects must be open to all mathematically talented students in the population. Provide details on the type of mathematics and topics covered and how students will be actively engaged.
- Institutional Commitment: Describe the ways your institution will support the project and the potential for long-term continuation of the project. What is the likelihood of securing local or state funding after the initial DMEG funding?
- Objectives: List the objectives and how they will be achieved by the project
- Evaluation: Describe how you will judge the success of the project. If this project has run before, please provide details on the number of students, assessment of the project, and how the DMEG funds would be used to expand or enhance the project.
- Timeline: Include a timeline of significant project activities.
- If a renewal, state the year or years that funding had previously been granted and upload a one-page summary of progress to date, and a budget summary of money expended to date.
- A budget. The budget form will have separate lines for personnel, materials, student support, and travel, and requires that you include a budget explanation for each line. If the budget exceeds $6000, please describe what portions of the budget DMEG is being asked to fund and how other budget items would be funded. Upload a letter from your department chair or other appropriate administrator indicating institutional support of the project.
Find answers to some of our most commonly asked questions here.
For additional information, please contact Mikayla Sweet, MAA Programs Coordinator or Dolciani Mathematics Enrichment Grants Program Director Nancy Ann Neudauer | <urn:uuid:e988c92d-3201-447b-b4c4-6c3cba0f5946> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.maa.org/programs/maa-grants/dolciani-mathematics-enrichment-grants?device=mobile | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280128.70/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00388-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.935439 | 1,706 | 2.40625 | 2 |
The medical and mental health professional community has known for a long time that exercise is good for the heart. Exercise is also good for improving sex because you’ll feel more like doing it and you’ll be better able to do it.
When thinking about habits that are good for the cardiovascular system, exercise, healthy eating, avoidance of tobacco, and sexual activity are among them.
EverydayHealth.com recently featured an article on a 2010 study which revealed that men who had sex twice weekly had a lower chance of developing heart disease, compared to people who only had sex once every month.
E. Dean Nukta, M.D., Medical Director of Interventional Cardiology at Fairview Hospital, a Cleveland Hospital says, “If you have a healthy heart, you are more likely to have frequent sex, and a healthy sex life may also decrease your heart attack risk factors” So this becomes a healthy “heart and sex” cycle.
Stress relief, endorphin production, and having a better mood are reasons why intercourse may benefit the heart. | <urn:uuid:046d557f-24fa-46c9-8de3-58255ee89f80> | CC-MAIN-2016-44 | http://blogs.tallahassee.com/community/2012/10/08/healthy-heart-and-sex-cycle/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-44/segments/1476988720000.45/warc/CC-MAIN-20161020183840-00024-ip-10-171-6-4.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968504 | 222 | 2.28125 | 2 |
Prostaglandin gels are popularly used during labor and delivery as an artificial way of inducing labor for women who have difficulty doing so. They mimic the action of prostaglandin, a natural hormone produced by the body. Prostaglandin thins and softens the cervix, preparing it for delivery of the baby. When prostaglandin gels are used, the pregnant woman would usually start labor within 6 to 12 hours.
There are several conditions for the use of prostaglandin gels. Doctors cannot just use them without satisfying even just one of the following conditions. Prostaglandin gels may be used to induce labor if the pregnant woman is already past her due date. They can also be used to start labor if you are going to deliver a large baby or a small one, and you are already near or past your due date. Hypertension in pregnant women is also a ground for induction of labor using prostaglandin gels.
Prostaglandin gels are inserted into the cervix. After that, you have to remain in bed for an hour so that it does not ooze out and it stays in place. While you are lying in bed, you will be hooked to a fetal monitor so that the doctor can monitor your contractions and the baby’s response to the prostaglandin gel. You will start to experience true labor within 6 to 12 hours, but if you don’t, you will be sent back home and asked to return for another dose at another time.
Prostaglandin gels can have some rare but annoying side effects, such as vaginal irritation, diarrhea, nausea and vomiting, cramping pain, and lower back pain. You may also have excessive contraction, which can be pretty dangerous. Excessive contractions result from overstimulation of the uterus, which can then lead to fetal hypoxia or lack of oxygen going to the brain of the baby, hence leading to brain damage. That is why it is important for pregnant women to be hooked to a fetal monitor during the induction of labor with the use of prostaglandin gel. If the doctors ignore the effects of the prostaglandin gel and something bad happens to the baby or the mother, they can be held liable for the incident. They can also be held liable for the improper use of prostaglandin gels.
However, it is very easy to defend these kinds of cases on the part of the doctors. Most doctors’ lawyers will argue that what happened during labor and delivery are beyond their control already and the brain damage that baby incurred is a result of non-physician management causes. They can also argue that the brain damage can be caused by a number of other factors, such as inherent metabolic conditions, infection, genetics, and even the mother’s lifestyle. | <urn:uuid:5adf1d95-7ae3-40c4-98eb-ce10faeac7b5> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://mediv.dp.ua/the-improper-use-of-prostaglandin-gel-may-cause-brain-damage-and-cerebral-palsy.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572581.94/warc/CC-MAIN-20220816211628-20220817001628-00069.warc.gz | en | 0.955846 | 588 | 2.484375 | 2 |
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay [official website] on Monday addressed the world's most significant human rights issues [press release] as she opened the 21st session of the UN Human Rights Council [official website]. Pillay criticized Bahrain for its treatment of opposition figures [JURIST report] and its failure to use fair trial practices. She expressed concern over the use of blasphemy laws [JURIST report] to suppress religious minorities in Pakistan. Pillay also addressed issues in western countries as well. She criticized France's expulsion of the Roma from their camps and Greece's recent xenophobic attacks against migrants [JURIST reports]. Furthermore, Pillay demanded that countries abolish the death penalty [JURIST news archive] and stated that the death penalty "undermines human dignity." Pillay's harshest criticism was perhaps for Syria [JURIST news archive]:
The use of heavy weapons by the Government and the shelling of populated areas have resulted in high numbers of civilian casualties, mass displacement of civilians inside and outside the country and a devastating humanitarian crisis. I am concerned that they may amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity. I am equally concerned about violations by anti-government forces, including murder, extrajudicial execution and torture as well as the recently increased use of improvised explosive devices. Last month, the Security Council concluded that the conditions to extend the mandate of the UN Observer Mission have not been fulfilled resulting in the ending of operations on 19 August. I am deeply shocked by the reports of the massacre in Daraya and I urge an immediate and thorough investigation into this incident...UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon [official website] expressed support for Pillay and called for war criminals in Syria to be brought to justice [press release].
The UN has called for an improvement in human rights situations throughout the world. In August an independent UN human rights expert condemned [JURIST report] Israel's dismissal of a civil suit brought by the family of an American peace activist. Also that month a UN human rights expert condemned [JURIST report] Iraq for the executions of 26 people and urged the government of Iraq to halt all executions and ensure that all criminal defendants have fair trials. Ban expressed concern [JURIST report] about Iran's human rights conditions and nuclear program during a visit to Tehran in August and also stressed the importance of international cooperation. In May the UN Human Rights Council [official website] announced that it would hold a special session [JURIST report] to discuss the situation in Syria after the massacre in Houla [JURIST report]. | <urn:uuid:a52e3d23-bb50-4783-acb8-1eaa3f7c3715> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.jurist.org/paperchase/2012/09/un-rights-chief-outlines-most-significant-international-human-rights-issues.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280242.65/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00078-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948017 | 523 | 2.046875 | 2 |
Comfrey – Grow your own treatment for back pain, sprains and strains
Hello Herb Lovers,
Recently a good friend of mine sprained her ankle very badly. To help ease her discomfort and speed healing I made some comfrey poultices she could apply to the affected area. Comfrey – Symphytum officinale L.- is a brilliantly useful herb to have in your garden. And yes, it can take over so watch where you plant it as you’ll NEVER get rid of it again.
Here is an excerpt from the Herbology Home Herbal – Practical A-Z Guide to Medicinal and Culinary Herbs for the Home….(dont look for it in the shops – it’s a work in progress)….
Comfrey is known for its unparalleled healing properties. Traditionally used to aid in the healing of wounds, fractures, as well as ulcers.
Comfrey has been known to have been used medicinally since at least the Middle Ages. In the past it was freely used externally to speed healing of wounds and internally to aid cell production and recovery from illness and surgery.In the early 1900’s it was proven to contain a cell-proliferant substance known to promote healing of bone and tissue. However in the 1980’s some scientists reported that contains pyrrolizidine alkaloids (in the root more so than the leaves) shown to cause liver damage in lab animals which were injected with large quantities.
Some sources now caution against the INTERNAL use of comfrey. There are many other sources that argue the wisdom behind this caution, as comfrey is usually consumed in much smaller doses and they suggest that perhaps only people with a predisposition to liver problems should stay away from internal use. I personally continue to use comfrey but I limit my use to the leaves, not the root.
A perennial growing from 60cm to 1.2m in height. Although it prefers a damp soil, it can flourish under almost any condition.
Provided there is no drought. Once established it is hard to get rid of. It’s a great soil conditioner and stops running grasses in their tracks. Propagate by root division.
Harvesting and Storage
Comfrey should be harvested at least 3 times a year. Just cut it down to a little above the ground and collect the stalks and leaves (wear gloves). Harvesting can take place when the plant reaches a height of 2 foot and before it flowers. It grows back very quickly. Dry the leaves and stalks – store in air tight containers until ready to use.
If you harvest the root be aware that even the smallest sliver of root left in the ground will grow into a full plant in no time.
Current Standard Precaution
Young children, pregnant women and people suffering from liver problems should avoid INTERNAL use. (see History above).
For EXTERNAL use care should be taken with very deep wounds as Comfrey may cause them to close up on the surface before they are healed further down. Do not use on dirty wounds as rapid healing may trap dirt.
Consult a qualified Herbalist for more advice if you are concerned.
Roots have similar properties to the leaves. May contain more pyrrolizidine alkaloids than leaves. More nourishing than leaves.
Leaves are mainly used externally in oils and salves for the treatment of sprains, sore joints and other injuries. Contain large amounts of allantoin.
Vulnerary, demulcent, astringent, expectorant, emollient, pectoral, tonic
Mucilage, gum, allantoin, tannin, alkaloids, resin, volatile oil
A poultice of pureed leaves can be applied to speed the healing of minor broken bones e.g. toes, ribs etc. Ointments of comfrey (and often in combination of other herbs) can be used for muscle damage and many skin disorders.
When combined with Marshmallow and Meadowsweet it is useful when treating Gastric inflammations & ulcers. For chest and bronchial troubles use it with Coltsfoot, White Horehound or Elecampane | <urn:uuid:256504b2-b1bd-4df5-8c68-85bf2de89822> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.herbology.com.au/comfrey-grow-your-own-treatment-for-back-pain-sprains-and-strains/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280718.7/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00408-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947893 | 874 | 2.28125 | 2 |
Mashups using the same API (2573)
Create your own Google Maps with photos, comments, directions.
Maps all of the timeshare resorts in Orlando with their contact details.
Project that aims to collect information about airports, airlines, and connections world wide. The collection of data about airline connections is made automatically. 1000 airports, 1000 airlines....
Google will host a series of developer meetups focused on the Google Maps API in Boulder, Chicago and New York this June. Each event will focus on real-life use cases of the API.
Facebook Timeline, the new profile design launching soon on Facebook, makes broad use of the Bing Maps API. Similarly, the Facebook Places feature also incorporated Bing, but now both maps use a different, more simplified style.
||The AirMap API integrates tools that help create GIS, and drone applications. The API offers information related to advisories, notice requirements, and can interact with airspace obstacles, and...||Mapping||12.26.2016|
||With the Elevation API you can get the elevation of a geographic point and can be used with the Python lib elevation API. The data provided comes from the ASTER GDEM dataset, a product of NASA and...||Geography||12.13.2016|
||The TripGo API allows you to plan door-to-door trips using a large variety of public and private transport. It integrates real-time information and, for selected providers, allows users to book and...||Transportation||12.12.2016|
US County Boundary
||The US County Boundary API shows the borders of the different counties in the United States. It allows developers to select and shade the counties of users. The RESTful API is anchored on the NodeJS...||Mapping||12.09.2016|
||The iDigBio API integrates biodiversity collection data into web services, targeting education, government, and public sectors. JSON format is available as a response once developers submit HTTP GET...||Science||12.06.2016| | <urn:uuid:dc4552a2-560c-4f5d-9caf-5fde20178274> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | https://www.programmableweb.com/mashup/rotational-velocity | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280221.47/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00238-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.81536 | 419 | 1.773438 | 2 |
By a Newsnet reporter
BBC Scotland presenter Douglas Fraser has compared SNP party leaders to the dictatorial regime ruling North Korea.
Speaking immediately after the Perth conference, BBC Scotland’s Business and Economy Editor claimed that an “iron discipline” ruled the party which he suggested had a “North Korean tendency”.
Speaking to BBC Scotland colleague Brian Taylor, Mr Fraser (pictured) claimed that the Perth conference lacked any real debate outside the NATO debate, and said: “There wasn’t much heated debate elsewhere, there was one very passionate debate but not much elsewhere, iron discipline in the MSP ranks at Holyrood.
“Is that a risk in the way that the SNP is perceived by the electorate that there’s not enough open debate, that they appear to be agreeing on everything but in fact they also appear to have a sort of North Korean tendency?”
The remarks from the BBC presenter, who was Political Editor at the Herald before joining BBC Scotland, followed an interview in which he put his claims of “iron discipline” to SNP MSP Sandra White. Ms White had been against the party’s change in the policy on NATO and had given an impassioned speech in the debate on Friday.
The Glasgow MSP dismissed Mr Fraser’s claims that backbench MSPs were effectively silenced, and said that she had never once been told what she could and couldn’t say by the SNP leadership.
Mr Fraser’s claims of a lack of debate, other than the debate on NATO, will come as a surprise to many who watched BBC Scotland’s limited coverage of the SNP conference, which managed to give significant airtime to the party’s debate on same sex marriage.
The ‘North Korea’ remark by Mr Fraser echo similar attacks on the Scottish Government by its Unionist opponents. Several politicians and media commentators have mounted similar attacks on Alex Salmond’s party by comparing the Scottish First Minister to Hitler, Mussolini and Stalin.
Exactly one month ago, Labour leader Johann Lamont claimed that Mr Salmond was running Scotland “like North Korea”.
In January this year, Mr Fraser’s BBC colleague Jeremy Paxman compared Mr Salmond to African Dictator Robert Mugabe.
Mr Paxman had remarked on comments by the First Minister who said an independent Scotland would be a “beacon of progressiveness”, the BBC presenter told the First Minister that Robert Mugabe had said the same thing about Zimbabwe.
When the SNP leader suggested to the BBC presenter that he wasn’t doing himself any favours by comparing Scotland to Zimbabwe Paxman replied: “No, I’m comparing you to Mugabe”.
Mr Paxman’s remarks resulted in over 150 complaints being made to the BBC. | <urn:uuid:d53025a5-8dbe-4368-8a17-12951b8e0f36> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://newsnet.scot/archive/bbc-scotland-presenter-suggests-snp-run-like-north-korea/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572870.85/warc/CC-MAIN-20220817062258-20220817092258-00672.warc.gz | en | 0.971197 | 590 | 1.804688 | 2 |
HMRC have recently published tax receipt data which shows that the amount received by the government in Inheritance Tax between April and May 2022 has increased by £100 million over the same time last year.
It’s probable that this is because the value of homes has increased in the last year or so and the nil rate bands, below which people don’t pay inheritance tax, have been frozen up to 2026.
During the pandemic, because of the Stamp Duty holidays and the fact that many people were changing their lifestyles and looking for bigger homes to work from, property prices went up in most areas. It remains to be seen whether interest rate rises will damp down the property market but it has been vibrant, which means that most people who own a house will have seen the value of their estate rising, even if they have no intention of selling their house.
The UK house price index showed the annual house price rise in 2021 to 2022 to be 12.4%, taking the average property in the UK to a value of £281,161. Residential properties in some areas such as the southeast or London will be much higher.
This comes at a time when the Inheritance Tax free thresholds have been frozen, which naturally brings more estates into tax.
In the last decade the government’s receipt of Inheritance tax has more than doubled from under £3 billion to over £6 billion.
Inheritance tax is paid on someone’s estate when they die. It is not paid by the majority of estates because nil rate bands and exemptions mean a deceased person would have had to own quite a few hundred thousand pounds in assets before the tax becomes payable. However, the increase in house prices, means that more estates are being drawn in and even people with quite modest houses, as opposed to mansions, may find that their families are paying inheritance tax when they pass away due to the value of the house.
It is sometimes said that Inheritance Tax is an “optional” tax because it is possible to legitimately order your affairs and plan before you die to reduce or remove the need to pay it by taking advantage of the various reliefs and nil rates. However, that requires thought and careful planning. Solicitors specialising in probate and wealth matters can often help out with this. If you have assets, which include the value of your house and run into the hundreds of thousands of pounds, then it is worth thinking about what the impact of inheritance tax may be on your family and other beneficiaries.
Claire Booth a solicitor specialising in wealth planning at Stephensons said:
“Many people would be surprised about how modest someone’s wealth could be before Inheritance Tax becomes payable. It’s not just a tax for millionaires. Ordinary people in ordinary houses could find their families paying inheritance tax if they are not careful. The standard rate is 40% so it can be a very sizeable tax bill which is due when someone passes away. It’s not just the cost, it’s the stress of having to find the money to pay it, as a time when someone is also coping with bereavement. So, it makes sense to think about Inheritance Tax planning well before you may pass away. There are things that can be done to mitigate the problem if you get professional advice at an early stage if the value of your assets is building up.”
At Stephensons we have a department specialising in these sorts of wealth management issues, with solicitors qualified up to the highest level, STEP. We are a friendly team who will be happy to speak to you in a no jargon way. We have a variety of fixed fee packages that make our advice affordable. A modest amount of money spent on advice now could save your family very many thousands of pounds in tax in years to come.
For a free no obligation discussion on whether we can help, contact us on: 0161 696 6238. | <urn:uuid:381bd80b-0abc-4c1e-8aee-8bdb575adefb> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.stephensons.co.uk/site/news_and_events/uptodatenews/inheritance-tax-hits-more-homeowners | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572221.38/warc/CC-MAIN-20220816060335-20220816090335-00067.warc.gz | en | 0.978274 | 807 | 1.867188 | 2 |
Quick updates on current activity at a number of volcanoes while I am mired in grading jail:
Popocatépetl: The Mexican volcano is still churning away (see above). Thus far, most of the activity has been subplinian plumes from the crater area as the new magma rises and fragments, but Mexican officials are not taking any chances. They will be distributing almost half a million dust masks to people living near the volcano if/when a larger explosive eruption occurs that could drop significant ash across much of the area. You can see what is going on at Popocatépetl on the CENAPRED webcams for the volcano.
Iliamna: We haven’t heard much from Iliamna in the past month or so after the volcano was downgraded to Yellow Alert status by AVO after a period of increased seismicity and degassing. The seismicity was reported to be back on the upswing at the end of last week according to the Alaska Dispatch (who looks to be getting into the game of webicorder watching). However, this blip (if real) didn’t cause AVO to change the status of Iliamna as the latest update just mentions seismicity at the volcano is “slightly above background”. Iliamna has a webcam as well as a webicorder so you can follow along at home.
Lokon-Empung: Another volcano that has been quite active is Lokon-Empung in Indonesia. The volcano had an explosive eruption earlier last week, producing a 2.5 km / 8,200 foot plume. Although evacuations have not been called yet, the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) has begun to set up evacuation centers in case the activity increases. Seismicity has been increasing at Lokon-Empung since last week’s eruption, but the alert status (Level III) is unchanged.
Iwo Jima (Ioto): I haven’t been able to find too much in the news about the activity at Japan’s Iwo Jima (Ioto), however Eruptions reader Sherine did find some images of the activity at Iwo Jima, along with images of potential submarine activity at Fukutoku-Okanoba (see below or the top two rows of images on the previous link). As for descriptions, last week’s Global Volcanism Program Weekly Volcanic Activity Report mentions that a new fumarole has opened at Iwo Jima as well.Go Back to Top. Skip To: Start of Article. | <urn:uuid:a5dd1045-6946-48b7-ad4b-b3aab647231c> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | https://www.wired.com/2012/05/eruption-update-for-may-7-2012/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560281649.59/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095121-00437-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947082 | 540 | 1.648438 | 2 |
The wireless base unit SH2WBU230N generates the wireless network performing the functions of a wireless access point and router. The generated protocol is called WiDup and it is based on the standard IEEE 802.15.4 at 2.4 GHz. It is part of the smart-house system and it has to be used together with the controller Sx2WEB24. Each Sx2WEB24 can be connected to up to 7 submaster generators (the sum of SH2MCG24, SH2DUG24 and SH2WBU230N is 7) in order to have up to 7 wired/wireless networks. All the devices are connected via an internal bus if they are in the same cabinet, or via terminals if they are mounted on different cabinets. Each SH2WBU230N must have an address that has to be programmed using the Sx tool.
Carlo Gavazzi Wireless bus generator SH2WBU230N
We want to make sure that we deliver the best value that we can to all our customers all over the world.
And we want to make sure that we're doing everything that we can in order to give you the fairest prices for our products.
Simply send us an email at: email@example.com including your company information and your request for quotation, and we will do our best to send you the best price and delivery time. | <urn:uuid:7d7707bf-ad19-44ab-bd3a-a453b4ada6bf> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.carlogavazziautomation.com/products/sh2wbu230n | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572870.85/warc/CC-MAIN-20220817062258-20220817092258-00678.warc.gz | en | 0.923552 | 303 | 1.882813 | 2 |
On 21 April 2020, Michael Moore released a documentary on his YouTube channel titled Planet of the Humans, which has received over 5 million views as of May 1st. The film, directed and narrated by Jeff Gibbs, criticizes renewable energy technologies like solar panels, wind turbines, biomass-burning plants, and electric vehicles, as well as leaders of certain environmental advocacy organizations that have supported those technologies. Many claims made in the film regarding renewable electricity generation are misleading and not supported by current scientific evidence.
The film’s central argument is that “green energy” technology is not an environmental solution because, after considering the resources required for manufacturing, it’s no better than burning fossil fuels. For example, while standing in front of a concentrated solar power plant, film producer Ozzie Zehner states, “You use more fossil fuels to do this than you’re getting benefit from it. You would have been better off just burning the fossil fuels in the first place, instead of playing pretend.”
Another speaker discussing wind turbines says, “The thing is that you’ve got to have a fossil fuel power plant backing it up and idling 100% of the time. Because if you cycle up or cycle down, as the demand on the wind comes through, then you actually generate a bigger carbon footprint than if you just ran it straight.”
The film touches on electric vehicles with footage and interviews from an early event in Lansing, Michigan for the launch of the plug-in hybrid Chevy Volt, which first sold in 2010. Gibbs asks about the source of electricity being used to charge the car and is eventually told that Lansing’s electricity was – when this segment was filmed in 2010 – “about 95% coal”. While no explicit conclusion is stated, it’s implied that this fact negates the emissions reduction benefit of an electric vehicle.
No analysis or context is provided to either demonstrate the scientific basis for these claims or explain their significance, making the film’s arguments extremely misleading. However, a method called Life Cycle Analysis can be used to evaluate emissions associated with generating electricity using solar panels or wind turbines, for example. Life Cycle Analysis studies quantify the environmental impact of the manufacturing chain from raw materials through to shipping. They also evaluate how long a power plant lasts and how it’s disposed of at the end of its useful lifetime. Comparing results for renewable energy technologies with fossil fuel power plants allows researchers to quantify the differences in environmental impact between the two sources.
One such comparison, published in 2013 by the US National Renewable Energy Laboratory, shows that solar and wind are associated with far less emissions than natural gas and coal. Wind, for example, was found to produce electricity with approximately 1% the emissions of coal, when accounting for manufacturing and decommissioning.
Figure—Total life cycle greenhouse gas emissions per kilowatt-hour of electricity produced. The “harmonized” columns represent an attempt to standardize the numbers pulled from different published studies for a consistent comparison. Source: NREL.
Another method for evaluating the claim that “you use more fossil fuels to do this than you’re getting benefit from it” is to calculate the amount of energy used to manufacture and construct a solar array or wind farm and compare that to the amount of electricity generated over its lifetime. This is known as Energy Return on Investment (EROI). As explained in a previous Climate Feedback claim review, it generally takes solar panels less than two years to generate the amount of energy that was used in their construction[1,2], while wind turbines do the same in less than one year.
The claim that fossil fuel plants compensating for variable generation from renewables emit more CO2 than they would running at full capacity instead of renewables is also inaccurate. A 2013 US National Renewable Energy Laboratory study evaluated the impact of wind and solar generation on fossil fuel plant emissions in the Western US. It found that the impact of cycling these plants up and down on CO2 emissions was “negligible”, limiting the benefit of wind and solar by less than 0.1%.
The growth of wind and solar energy generation is one reason that US greenhouse gas emissions have declined since 2005 (along with a transition from coal to natural gas plants and a reduction in the amount of electricity use).
As for electric vehicles, their associated lifecycle emissions do indeed depend partly on the source of electricity to the grid. Vehicles charged by a coal-dominated grid are linked to greater emissions than those charged by a low-carbon grid. However, even charging from coal-dominated electricity typically equates to lower emissions-per-mile (or per-kilometer) than an equivalent internal combustion engine vehicle.
Source: Carbon Brief.
There are few locations in the world today where electric vehicles are not currently cleaner than internal combustion vehicles. As of 2015, electric vehicles produced about 31% lower emissions-per-mile on average. As grid emissions decrease, that number rises.
In Michigan, for example, where the film showed a Chevy Volt around 10 years ago, the share of coal on the grid has been decreasing. In 2010, coal provided almost 60% of electricity generation in the state, with no utility solar and less than 0.5% wind. But by 2018, coal’s share had decreased to about 37%, while solar and wind increased to about 5%. Natural gas generation, which emits less CO2 than coal, increased from 11% to about 27% over that same timespan.
As for Lansing’s grid, which the film presents as 95% coal, its coal plants are set to be retired—one by the end of the 2020, and the other by 2025.
Instead of presenting life cycle analyses for solar and wind generation or quantifying electric vehicle emissions that could inform viewers, Planet of the Humans misleads with broad claims that are not supported by scientific evidence. Unfortunately, these omissions and inaccuracies substantially shape the conclusions the film presents to its audience.
- 1 – Lunardi et al (2018) Life cycle assessment on PERC solar modules. Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells.
- 2 – Koppelaar (2017) Solar-PV energy payback and net energy: Meta-assessment of study quality, reproducibility, and results harmonization. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews.
- 3 – Martínez et al (2009) Life cycle assessment of a multi-megawatt wind turbine. Renewable Energy.
- 4 – Knobloch et al (2020) Net emission reductions from electric cars and heat pumps in 59 world regions over time. Nature Sustainability.
This post was reviewed for accuracy by Dr Zeke Hausfather. | <urn:uuid:d422272e-a488-4276-a0c8-2486811675f5> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://climatefeedback.org/planet-of-the-humans-documentary-misleads-viewers-about-renewable-energy/?fbclid=IwAR0WBhAOHPEV669vmQVmJ9lXUUQW84Fabg7KwQKZQrqPVb__N4fCjkhlVgU | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882570767.11/warc/CC-MAIN-20220808061828-20220808091828-00474.warc.gz | en | 0.940893 | 1,394 | 2.953125 | 3 |
Two Travelers agreed to guard each other. A Bear rushed at both and one climbed a tree; the other played dead and the Bear told him to not trust the other. Never trust a friend who leaves you when trouble approaches.
A fox tried hard to get a roosting Hen out of a tree but the Hen new better than to come down to her doom. Good show. Beware of interested friendships.
A workman lost an axe. Mercury recovered a gold and silver axe which the workman refused. Mercury then recovered the real axe and gave him the others. Truth is the better strategy.
A Lion was caught in a net by freed by a Mouse that had, before, bothered the Lion. They became friends. Everyone has need of the other.
A Blind Man and Lame Man cooperated to complete a journey. The Blind Man carried the Lame Man who served as the pair’s eyes. Cooperation can be helpful.
A Lion wanted a Horse for a meal. He tried taking the part of a doctor at a school. When the Horse showed up he saw through the sham and escaped by kicking. Fooling those trying to fool you is beneficial.
A Tortoise and Hare decide to race. The hare is so confident in the lead that he naps while the tortoise keeps going to win. Slow and steady wins the race.
A frog inflates itself bragging he can be as big as an ox or bull. Too big, too bad. Pop. Conceit may lead to self-destruction.
A Goat and Fox went into a deep well to drink. Neither could get out alone. The Goat was talked into helping the Fox who then left the Goat on his own. Look before you leap.
A Town and Country Mouse visited each other. The Town Mouse was fed basic food at leisure; the Country Mouse had to run away from fine food. He ran home. Better beans and bacon in peace than cakes and ale in fear. | <urn:uuid:87c536e4-a7fe-48b9-82db-67befdabf47b> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://fablesofaesop.com/author/daboss/page/2 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560281649.59/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095121-00444-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976561 | 404 | 2.359375 | 2 |
We’ve all seen our children’s eyes light up when they receive praise for a job well done, and though we may deny it, us grown-ups are just the same. Like our children, we enjoy a thoughtful thank you or kindly gesture of appreciation and recognition. It makes us feel good and more likely to contribute again or even take on a bigger role.
Say ‘thank you’ often
The easiest way to make volunteers feel appreciated is to say ‘thank you’ as often as possible. Thank them during a conversation, on emails or on WhatsApp groups. If someone goes the extra mile, thank them specifically for what they did.
Say it with words
Sending a universal ‘thank you’ ensures no volunteers are left out. The PTA mailing list, school newsletter, and social media channels, are ideal places to express your gratitude. If you’re thanking people who helped at an event, provide details of how much it raised and how you intend to spend the funds – it makes a difference for volunteers to understand how their contribution will benefit the school. Celebrate International Volunteer Day on 5 December by highlighting the contribution your volunteers make.
Make a thank you video
For the more tech-savvy amongst you, how about making a video? Ask the children and staff to film themselves sending messages of thanks to the volunteers. Then edit the footage together to share on social media. A gesture like this will go a long way in retaining helpers.
Send a card
For more impact, send hand-written thank you cards. Thanking volunteers for the tasks they completed comes across as thoughtful and genuine. For a heartwarming gesture that’s less time-consuming for the committee, ask if the children can write thank you cards or work together on a giant poster to pin up at the school. As the pupils are the beneficiaries of your fundraising efforts, a thank you from them is especially meaningful.
Present them with a certificate
We’re all praise junkies here at PTA+, so we’ve created a Certificate of Appreciation for you to present to your hard-working PTA volunteers. Use it to let them know how much you value their help.
- Download an editable Certificate of Appreciation
Run a volunteer event
Recognise hard-working helpers by holding an end-of-year picnic just for them. It’s the perfect time to present volunteers with cards and certificates – just make sure there’s one for each attendee. If you can’t get everyone together, celebrate the contribution made by class reps by inviting them to a coffee morning and handing out plenty of cake! | <urn:uuid:a8d57f93-64d8-4f99-8e2d-ad4532602ddc> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://pta.co.uk.edcol.org/running-a-pta/community-engagement/how-do-you-thank-your-volunteers/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882570767.11/warc/CC-MAIN-20220808061828-20220808091828-00465.warc.gz | en | 0.942209 | 550 | 2.203125 | 2 |
A new government proposal has set the spending from Russia’s National Wealth Fund to support infrastructure projects and exports between 2020 and 2022 at $15.67 billion, Reuters reported on Monday.
The move comes as the country tries to boost its lagging economy burdened by western sanctions. The government believes state spending could steer the oil-dependent economy through waning investment activity after the U.S. and other countries imposed financial sanctions in 2014, causing sharp swings in the rouble and suffocating investment activity, the news agency writes.
In a draft law published late on Friday, the Finance Ministry said it planned to use money from the National Wealth Fund to issue sovereign loans to countries that can use them to pay for Russian exports.
“(This) will … minimize the significantly increased risks of seizure and blocking of Russian assets in foreign jurisdictions, primarily the U.S. and Western European countries, and, as a consequence, the complete loss of Russian investments due to unfriendly actions of foreign states against Russia,” the ministry said.
The move should support the Russian economy, particularly its energy sector, the ministry said, while adding that it planned to use the National Wealth Fund, which accumulates revenues from oil exports and was initially designed to support the country’s pension system, to cover up to 20% of loans required by infrastructure projects within Russia, although the rate of return should not be lower than for OFZ treasury bonds.
The National Wealth Fund was worth $124 billion as of Nov. 1, up from $58 billion in early 2019.
Gross domestic product growth, in contrast, is slowing despite numerous calls from President Vladimir Putin for Russia to outpace global GDP growth. The Russian GDP growth is seen at around 1% in 2019 versus the 2.3% recorded in 2018.
The government will be able to use money from the National Wealth Fund once its liquid assets exceed 7% of GDP, something the finance ministry expects to happen in 2020. | <urn:uuid:82d6b6ee-4528-422a-9fdc-956425563f05> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://russiabusinesstoday.com/economy/government-to-spend-15-7bn-from-national-wealth-fund-in-2020-2022/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572033.91/warc/CC-MAIN-20220814113403-20220814143403-00273.warc.gz | en | 0.954093 | 403 | 1.640625 | 2 |
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WHAT YOU'LL NEED FOR THIS SESSION
Writing the Moment
A creative writing activity which is easily translatable to many classroom and staff room environments
Clouds and Suns
Drawing on practice from the art therapy world, this activity is designed to help you take stock & overcome challenges
A playful activity designed to help you reflect on how you can use your time in ways that better support your wellbeing
Don't forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel to be the first to hear about new sessions! | <urn:uuid:fd272bad-7880-4a3a-958b-7ee0e673fe6a> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.anewdirection.org.uk//what-we-do/schools/creative-wellbeing-at-home/the-paper-bag-and-object-game | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573623.4/warc/CC-MAIN-20220819035957-20220819065957-00673.warc.gz | en | 0.924217 | 119 | 2.078125 | 2 |
From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englisheducationed‧u‧ca‧tion /ˌedjʊˈkeɪʃən $ ˌedʒə-/ ●●● S1 W1 noun 1 [singular, uncountable]SE the process of teaching and learning, usually at school, college, or university She also hopes her children will get a good education. efforts to improve girls’ access to education → formal education at formal1(6)2 [uncountable] the teaching of a particular subjecthealth/sex education3 [uncountable] the institutions and people involved with teaching the local education authority4 [singular] an interesting experience which has taught you something – often used humorously Having Jimmy to stay has been quite an education! → adult education, further education, higher educationCOLLOCATIONSADJECTIVES/NOUN + educationa good educationAll parents want a good education for their children.a poor education (=not very good)She had a poor education, and left school without qualifications.an all-round education (=including a balance of lots of different subjects)The school offers a good all-round education.full-time education (=spending every weekday in a school or college)Children must stay in full-time education until the age of 16.state education British English, public education American English (=provided by the government of a country)The state of California guarantees free public education to all children.private education (=that people have to pay for)I don't agree with the principle of private education.formal education (=from teachers at school or college, rather than learning by yourself)She had no formal education and was brought up by her grandmother. primary (school) education British English, elementary education American English (=for children aged between 5 and 11)The government has announced plans to improve the quality of primary school education.secondary education (also high school education American English) (=for children aged between 11 and 18)She hopes to start a teaching career in secondary education.university/college educationDo you have a university education?further/higher education (=at a college or university)I did a carpentry course at the further education college.adult education (=for adults)They run adult education classes at the local community college.vocational education (=relating to skills needed for a particular job)We offer vocational education and job training.nursery/pre-school education (=for children aged under 5)The funding will provide nursery education for all four-year-olds.verbshave an educationThe women have had little education.get/receive an educationSome children grow up without receiving any education.give/provide an educationThe school aims to provide a good general education.enter education (=start going to school, college etc)The number of students entering higher education has risen.leave education British English (=stop going to school, college etc)She left full-time education at the age of 16.continue your educationI hope to continue my education after high school.education + NOUNthe education system (=the way education is organized and managed in a country)Is the British education system failing some children?the education department (=the government organization that makes decisions about education)Newcastle City Council’s education departmentan education authority (=a government organization that makes official decisions about education in one particular area)The school is funded by the local education authority.the education service (=all the government organizations that work together to provide education)There are plans to expand the adult education service.education policy (=political plans for managing an education system)The teaching unions are calling for the government to review its education policy.education reform (=changes that a government makes to the education system in a country)the government’s programme of education reform
Examples from the Corpuseducation• Sunderland and Huddersfield Polytechnics were discussing honours degree courses in science and education.• It can cost a lot to give your kids a college education.• He earned his bachelor's degree in elementary education.• My parents wanted me to have a good education.• Kerry hasn't decided if she'll continue her education or not.• Teachers are considered the experts in education and, until the current generation, were much better educated than the general population.• Jobs in education are not usually highly paid.• The new policies have been welcomed by people working in education.• Even in the field of education, however, support is skewed in favor of foreign students.• The government should spend more on education.• We might expect a clear relationship, for example, between the number of school children and the amount of spending on education.• the Labour Party's spokeswoman on education• Many parents cannot afford private education for their children.• All children in the state have a right to public education.• When we first moved into this building it was full of special education, there was a huge special ed program.• Undergraduate education as we normally think of it did not exist.health/sex education• The importance of the local authority in taking the lead in the development of a health education policy is paramount.• Certain health education topics such as bereavement, child abuse and education for parenthood were omitted by large numbers of schools.• Maternity work with women from varied ethnic backgrounds developed my interest into health education and promotion.• What can be done to ensure that the staff development needs of health education co-ordinators are met?• Home/school links Large numbers of schools have limited or no links with parents on health education.• Community medicine, family planning, health education need emphasis.• Do schools pay sufficient attention to the match between the taught health education curriculum and the hidden curriculum of the school ethos? | <urn:uuid:4f084a84-fae0-42a4-8b8c-55b5e22f4c28> | CC-MAIN-2016-44 | http://www.ldoceonline.com/Education-topic/education | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-44/segments/1476988718285.69/warc/CC-MAIN-20161020183838-00107-ip-10-171-6-4.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965008 | 1,179 | 2.96875 | 3 |
Virtual printers work with print drivers that are coded to send their output to other applications rather than to a physical device. The software can help save resources because it makes it possible to carry out tasks that would formerly have involved actual printing without wasting paper and ink. Such tasks include:
- Printer testing and correction.
- Sending documents to a fax server.
- Creating PDF files from other types of documents.
- Creating other image files, such as JPEG, GIF and PNG from documents.
- Viewing documents so that errors and formatting can be fixed before actual printing.
- Adding special features to a document prior to printing. | <urn:uuid:64886a29-dc4f-4245-aabc-fff8371aa8d5> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.techtarget.com/whatis/definition/virtual-printer | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572198.93/warc/CC-MAIN-20220815175725-20220815205725-00271.warc.gz | en | 0.907107 | 129 | 2.734375 | 3 |
By Kara A. DiCamillo
December 22, 2011
For many of us, the holidays always come so quickly. That means we still are doing our last-minute decorating, planning, and of course, shopping.
If you’re like us at Sierra Club Green Home—still shopping and being tempted by non-green products—look for the ShopGreen logo on Web sites you are browsing. Or, if you are a retailer, consider participating in the ShopGreen program. ShopGreen is a Web application for shopping carts on retailer sites that allows customers to reduce the carbon footprint of their purchases. The program does so by funding carbon offset projects which includes wind and hydro energy, reforestation, and methane gas capture projects.
So how does it work? It’s actually very easy. During checkout, ShopGreen offers customers a chance to add to their orders just 1 percent of the sales amount, which goes towards the purchase of a carbon offset. And that’s it!
For consumers, ShopGreen is a way to show one’s commitment to the environment with one click of the mouse.
For retailers, ShopGreen allows them to design the program they want by choosing from a large selection of environmental projects, depending on what it is they are passionate about. Setting up the ShopGreen application on a retailer’s Web site appears to be an easy process, and retailers can start offering customers carbon offsets the same day.
Consumers generally have loyalty to brands. If the ShopGreen logo appears on even more Web sites, consumers likely will continually shop through that brand or Web site.
Let’s face it: Most of the products that are being purchased online are producing carbon dioxide through the manufacturing and transportation processes. So why not give customers a chance to shop green to support the environment? Especially during this time of year, it sounds like a win-win to us at SCGH.
If you’re doing your shopping online, most retailers still are guaranteeing shipment by Christmas Eve. And then there’s the post-holiday visiting of friends and family, where coming bearing gifts is a good idea.
For related articles, see:
Green Holiday: Shop Less, Celebrate More
EPA Builds New Web Page to Help Consumers Shop Green
© 2011 SCGH, LLC. | <urn:uuid:141eb175-e558-4736-8278-2ae2576e1ca6> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.scgh.com/go-green/renewable-energy/carbon-offsets-can-make-all-shopping-green/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560279224.13/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095119-00481-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.941944 | 475 | 1.617188 | 2 |
Mometrix Test Preparation's LSAT Prep Books 2020-2021 - LSAT Secrets Study Guide is the ideal prep solution for anyone who wants to pass their Law School Admission Test. The exam is extremely challenging, and thorough test preparation is essential for success. Our study guide includes:
- Practice test questions with detailed answer explanations
- Tips and strategies to help you get your best test performance
- A complete review of all LSAT test sections
- Reading Comprehension Test
- Analytical Reasoning Test
- Logical Reasoning Test
Mometrix Test Preparation is not affiliated with or endorsed by any official testing organization. All organizational and test names are trademarks of their respective owners.
The Mometrix guide is filled with the critical information you will need in order to do well on your LSAT exam: the concepts, procedures, principles, and vocabulary that the Law School Admissions Council (LSAC) expects you to have mastered before sitting for your exam.
The Reading Comprehension Test section covers:
- What Are Your Options?
- Active Reading
- Breaking Down the Questions
The Analytical Reasoning Test section covers:
- Rule Busters
- Analytical Reasoning Questions
- Skipping Problems: Some Advice
The Logical Reasoning Test section covers:
- Red Herrings
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- New Information Questions
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...and much more
Our guide is full of specific and detailed information that will be key to passing your exam. Concepts and principles aren't simply named or described in passing, but are explained in detail. The Mometrix LSAT study guide is laid out in a logical and organized fashion so that one section naturally flows from the one preceding it. Because it's written with an eye for both technical accuracy and accessibility, you will not have to worry about getting lost in dense academic language.
Any test prep guide is only as good as its practice questions and answer explanations, and that's another area where our guide stands out. The Mometrix test prep team has provided plenty of LSAT practice test questions to prepare you for what to expect on the actual exam. Each answer is explained in depth, in order to make the principles and reasoning behind it crystal clear.
We've helped hundreds of thousands of people pass standardized tests and achieve their education and career goals. We've done this by setting high standards for Mometrix Test Preparation guides, and our LSAT Prep Books 2020-2021 - LSAT Secrets Study Guide is no exception. It's an excellent investment in your future. Get the LSAT review you need to be successful on your exam. | <urn:uuid:e7abf540-2559-4af7-9292-e447d6a76805> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.between-the-covers.com/book/9781516713790 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573172.64/warc/CC-MAIN-20220818063910-20220818093910-00266.warc.gz | en | 0.911496 | 550 | 1.8125 | 2 |
Applied Hydrogeology for Scientists and Engineers
Bisher € 256,49
Lieferbar innert 2 Wochen
BeschreibungThis book includes new ideas, concepts, techniques, approaches, and procedures related to groundwater resource projects, particularly for measuring and interpreting such groundwater variables as storativity, transmissivity, and leakage coefficient. Discussions are included on groundwater reservoirs, the evaluation of aquifer parameters, aquifer and flow properties, flow properties and bore hole tests, aquifer tests in porous and fractured media, well hydraulics, groundwater flow and aquifer tests, and field measurements and their interpretations. It incorporates interrelated disciplines such as geology, hydrology, hydrogeology, engineering, petroleum geology, and water engineering and outlines traditional and current models for application.
InhaltsverzeichnisIntroduction Hydrogeology of Groundwater Reservoirs Groundwater Flow Properties Aquifer Properties Groundwater Flow Laws Water Wells Field Measurements Steady-State Flow Aquifer Tests Porous Medium Aquifer Tests Fractured Medium Aquifer Tests Well Test Nonlinear Flow Aquifer Tests Index
Untertitel: Sprache: Englisch.
Verlag: CRC PR INC
Erscheinungsdatum: Juni 1995
Seitenanzahl: 464 Seiten | <urn:uuid:aa7acda4-776b-4512-92db-83acd00abb97> | CC-MAIN-2016-44 | https://m.hugendubel.de/de/buch/zekai_sen_sekai_sen_c_ed_sen-applied_hydrogeology_for_scientists_and_engineers-4297092-produkt-details.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-44/segments/1476988718423.28/warc/CC-MAIN-20161020183838-00270-ip-10-171-6-4.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.67695 | 274 | 2.375 | 2 |
Back when I wrote my Printing Violations? post I brought up the issue of licensing, and while I am a believer of open culture and sharing, I’m still torn on the topic of artists who take the creative work of others (even if the “others” are huge corporations) and use it to make money.
When I saw the post Maker Mom Builds Cookie-Cutter Empire With 3-D Printers my first thought was about the rights and licensing issues. (I was then pleasantly surprised to see the comments addressing the issue right away.)
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not suggesting that Athey is not an artist, she’s a really good artist, and has some impressive and very well executed designs. This is important, I think. I mean, anyone can download an image of a video game character or a Dalek and quickly make it into something, but her work is well beyond that. Still, is it right for her to be using things others have created to make money? Her web site at warpzoneprints.com says:
Now I’ve somehow turned what started as a hobby into a full-time job!
I spend a lot of time thinking of myself as a terrible artist, and I’ve made plenty of badly drawn robots, but I’d feel much better about myself selling a badly drawn robot that is my own creation than a well drawn robot that someone else created. (I’m going with the belief that Athey has not properly licensed the characters she is using.)
You can copy, modify, distribute and perform the work, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission.
So yeah, I’ve not sold anything I’ve made yet using art from OpenClipArt, but at least I’d feel fine doing it. And yeah, I have friends who make good money making things based on successful movies, games, books, etc. Maybe this is just the world we live in now, where everyone is a maker and selling of things, and it’s all just a big mash-up anyway.
I guess I’d break things into a few categories:
A.) Using things others have created to make things for yourself.
B.) Using things others have created to make things to give to family/friends as gifts.
C:) Using things others have created and creating design files that others can use.
D:) Using things others have created to create and sell things.
I’m all for A. and B., and I think C. is pretty much OK. (Think of the many items on Thingiverse) As for D., that’s the one I’m still not sure about, and that’s the one Athey and Warpzone Prints falls under. What do you think?
(I should probably do a post in the future that talks a bit more about my own usage of others work in my own art, as I’m not completely free of that behavior myself.) | <urn:uuid:24d6ba68-bfda-493f-8a23-54f390f41c47> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://rasterweb.net/raster/tag/licensing/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572163.61/warc/CC-MAIN-20220815085006-20220815115006-00671.warc.gz | en | 0.964589 | 639 | 1.507813 | 2 |
Dear Readers, we are presenting Daily Current Affairs for All Exams- 2nd October 2016.
|Current Affairs& GK for Banking/SSC Exams|
1. Kieren Dsouza becomes the first Indian to complete World's toughest race, Spartathlon
1. Bengaluru's Kieren Dsouza has become the first Indian to complete the Spartathlon, widely described as the "world's toughest race".
2. The 23-year old completed the 246.6 km distance in the 2016 edition, in 33 hours, one minute and 38 seconds. The Spartathlon is an annual run between Athens and Sparta in Greece, with a reported success rate of 50%.
2. Centre constitutes Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India
1. The Centre has constituted a four-member Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) under the Chairmanship of M.S. Sahoo. The oath of office was administered by Finance and Corporate Affairs Minister Arun Jaitley in New Delhi.
2. The members of the IBBI are Ajay Tyagi, Additional Secretary, Finance Ministry; Amardeep Singh Bhatia, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Corporate Affairs; G.S. Yadav, Joint Secretary, Department of Legal Affairs; and Unnikrishnan, Legal Advisor, Reserve Bank of India.
3. Gangtok conferred Cleanest Tourist Destination honour
1. At a time when the Swachh Bharat Mission is in full swing, the Union Ministry of Tourism has conferred the Cleanest Tourist Destination on the Sikkim capital (Gangtok).
2. Chandigarh and Mysore were felicitated for 'Clean Cities in million plus population category' and Gangtok for 'Cleanest Tourism Destination'.
4. Indian NGO bags UN climate award for clean energy project
1. An Indian NGO, Swayam Shikshan Prayog, has bagged the UN climate award this year. The NGO, which trains women to become clean energy entrepreneurs across Maharashtra and Bihar, is one of the 13 projects to be recognised at the forthcoming UN climate summit in Marrakesh in November.
2. In an official release, the UNFCCC, the nodal UN climate body, has applauded this project for building a rural distribution network of 1,100 women entrepreneurs facilitating access to clean energy, water and sanitation products and services in several communities.
3. Prema Gopalan, co-founder of Swayam Shikshan Prayog, who has worked for ten years in the clean energy sector, told The Hindu that many of the women in her NGO hail from the Marathwada drought-hit areas and have attained a new identity as a result of their entrepreneurial work.
5. India ratifies historic Paris climate deal at U.N.
1. India, the world’s third largest emitter of greenhouse gases, on Sunday ratified the landmark Paris climate deal, giving a significant push for the deal to enter into force by the end of this year.
2. Permanent Representative to the U.N. Ambassador Syed Akbaruddin handed over the Instrument of Ratification signed by President Pranab Mukherjee, to Santiago Villalpando, the Head of the Treaties Division at the U.N., at a special ceremony here attended by top U.N. officials and senior diplomats to commemorate Mahatma Gandhi’s birth anniversary.
3. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon lauded India’s “climate leadership”, saying India’s ratification of the Paris Climate Change agreement moves the world an “important step closer” toward achieving the goal of entering the landmark deal into force this year. | <urn:uuid:1749aa39-bee8-4014-afe2-5ca4003cad38> | CC-MAIN-2016-44 | http://www.examguruadda.in/2016/10/current-affairs-gk-for-banking-ssc-exams-2nd-October-2016.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-44/segments/1476988721405.66/warc/CC-MAIN-20161020183841-00312-ip-10-171-6-4.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.925667 | 784 | 1.5625 | 2 |
Match Your Investment Risk Tolerance
Your risk tolerance is your level of comfort with the ups and downs of investing. In order to make the best investment for you as an individual, you will want to find assets that match your risk tolerance.
Low Risk Tolerance
Are you going to lose sleep whenever your assets decline in value? If so, your tolerance is low. Investments that match your risk tolerance profile include basic savings accounts, money market deposit accounts and certificates of deposit.
Medium Risk Tolerance
If you don’t sweat small declines, but do stress over the big ones, your tolerance is medium. Investments that match this risk tolerance profile include stocks of large, established, financially healthy companies and mutual funds that balance stock and bond holdings.
High Risk Tolerance
Those with a high tolerance aren’t bothered by market swings as they are only concerned with long-term gains. Those with a high risk tolerance will likely find their investment matches in sophisticated, higher-risk investments and stocks of startup companies.
Adjust Investments as Risk Tolerance Changes
Your risk tolerance will change as your investment goals, financial situation and life experience evolve. Generally, the longer the length of time until you need your money, the more risk you can afford to take. In order to make the best investment, consider where you are in life.
Risk tolerance is highest for investments you have chosen to meet faraway goals, such as retirement, because your investments have more time to potentially recover from drops in value.
Conversely, tolerance is lowest for investments to meet short-term goals, such as saving up for educational costs, vacations and other instances where you will need the money sooner.
Those who do not want to constantly reassess their investments to ensure they match their risk tolerance as life progresses may want to look into target retirement funds.
[Any reference to a specific company, commercial product, process or service does not constitute or imply an endorsement or recommendation by the National Endowment for Financial Education.] | <urn:uuid:886ce02e-4803-4efb-a176-c4d10f532caf> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | https://www.smartaboutmoney.org/Topics/Saving-and-Investing/Build-Your-Wealth/Match-Your-Investment-Risk-Tolerance | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280835.22/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00050-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945449 | 406 | 1.710938 | 2 |
Although Health Reform has passed, many of its mandates–such as Health Insurance Exchanges–have not yet been implemented. As the cost of health care has been growing over time, the number of uninsured has also been growing.
The California Health Care Foundation examines the uninsured in California in more detail. Although Texas has the highest share of individuals uninsured (27.3%), California has the largest number of uninsured individuals in the country (6.9 million) and one of the largest share of (21%). One of the reasons for this decline is a decrease in the share of firms offering insurance. The share of non-elderly Californians who obtain their insurance through their job has declined from 65% in 1987 to 53% in 2010. Part of this decrease has been offset by a rise in the share of Californians covered by Medicaid.
Some other highlights from the CHCF report include:
- Employees in businesses of all sizes are more likely to be uninsured in California than in the United States.
- Nearly one-third of the uninsured in California and the nation have family incomes of $50,000 or more.
- Fifty-three percent of California’s uninsured children are in families where the head of household worked full-time during calendar year 2010, down from 61% in 2008.
- About 60% of the uninsured population are Latino.
Below are two charts displaying the insurance source for Californians in 2010 and 2000.
For more facts and figures, see the CHCF Snapshot, California’s Uninsured, Dec 2011. | <urn:uuid:46c1f103-7a46-4fde-a1c4-d960d23cc374> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://healthcare-economist.com/2012/01/11/the-number-of-uninsured-growing-in-california/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560285315.77/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095125-00566-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965662 | 317 | 2.390625 | 2 |
New to gluten-free living?Here's a printable quick start guide on how to begin a gluten-free diet.
Karina's Gluten-Free Cheat Sheet
by Karina Allrich
Foods to avoid on a gluten-free diet:
Gluten is the elastic protein found in wheat, rye, and barley (including durum, einkorn, graham, semolina, bulgur wheat, spelt, farro, kamut, and triticale). Commercially produced oats may also contain gluten due to cross contamination in processing (more on gluten-free oats below).
Injera bread (traditionally made from teff flour) and Asian rice wraps may be gluten-free, but are not necessarily gluten-free (check labels, always).
Unfortunately, spices have become a new concern, as many single ground spices and spice blends have tested high in hidden gluten. It is important to use due diligence on the spice issue; call the company and ask if the spice or spice blend you are using has been tested for gluten.
Hidden gluten can be found in soy sauce, tamari style stir-fry sauces, marinades, gravy, gravy mixes and gravy packets, broth and bouillon, cooking sauces and instant soups, salad dressings, cured meats, sausage, hot dogs, vegan hot dogs and "fake" meat, sausages and burgers, self-basting poultry, flavored and herb cheeses. Watch for spice blends including curry powder, dry mustard (often combined with flour) and ground spices such as cinnamon or cardamon.
Check labels on canned and prepared soups, tomato paste, sweeteners, confectioner's powdered sugar and brown sugar, prepared beverages, flavored and instant coffees, herbal teas (watch for barley or "natural flavors"), roasted, flavored or spiced nuts, jerky, flavored yogurts, puddings and ice creams, chocolate and chocolate chips, cocoa powder and instant cocoa mixes, flavored vinegars (avoid malt vinegar, and fake "balsamic" flavored vinegar), cooking wines, flavored liqueur and liquor, wine coolers (malt).
Always read labels. Call the manufacturer.
Eating out is very, very risky.
Be aware that delis and restaurants often add flour to thicken soups and sauces, may add pancake mix to egg omelettes, and use breadcrumbs to add 'body' to tuna or chicken salad. Gluten-free pastamight be boiled in the same water used for wheat pasta (and some kitchens blanch fresh veggies in their glutened pasta water). Avoid French fries and fried foods fried in the same oil with wheat flour breaded foods (fried onion rings, batter coated fish, veggies, meat and chicken); ask if the flyer oil is dedicated to gluten-free food only- if not- the oil is not gluten-free.
What is gluten-free?
*Safe if milled in a dedicated GF facility/source. Check with companies to determine if they are using allergen safety protocols, and a gluten-free facility.
We also recommend consuming only Non-GMO corn. Typically, organic corn is Non-GMO; call to make sure.
About baking GF recipes:
A combination of gluten-free flours and starches with xanthan gum added to improve viscosity is necessary for optimum results. If avoiding xanthan gum, try using using flax seed meal.
Just starting out? Try using an all purpose gluten-free baking and pancake mix (one without bean flour). If you are disappointed in the results, you might try the individual gluten-free flours we have come to love (see our recipes).
Too many starches can make a flavorless, gummy product. | <urn:uuid:0cfd7be3-0fcc-40b8-9049-a21770812dd4> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.integrityfit.com/The-Gluten-Free-Diet-Cheat-Sheet--How-to-Go-G-Free-1-3727.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572163.61/warc/CC-MAIN-20220815085006-20220815115006-00675.warc.gz | en | 0.897044 | 795 | 2 | 2 |
Peru: knitting for hope in Ayacucho
27-08-2010 Film Ref. CR-F-01071-W1
Peru's internal violence in the 1980s and 1990s left 15,000 people missing. So far, the fate of only 10% is known: either they were found alive, or their remains were found, identified and handed over to their families. In Ayacucho, wives, mothers and sisters gather to knit a scarf with the names of their missing relatives embroidered on it. | <urn:uuid:fc6bd717-a4cc-4d05-966f-03c2741d711b> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | https://www.icrc.org/eng/resources/documents/film/peru-missing-video-260810.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560279169.4/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095119-00212-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969715 | 110 | 2.25 | 2 |
LOS ANGELES– The overflow from China’s economic high tide is transforming the housing markets of suburban Los Angeles.
The strongest magnet is the San Gabriel Valley, where Monterey Park became known as the “first suburban Chinatown” in the 1970s. Selling real estate there now requires familiarity with feng shui, the ancient Chinese principles of harmonious design.
“People are getting money out of mainland China and sticking it here,” said Mel Wong, president of the West San Gabriel Valley Assn. of Realtors.
The trend has spilled over into other areas, including San Bernardino and Orange counties and even Las Vegas, with more acculturated Chinese Americans seeking homes big enough to host lengthy visits from overseas relatives.
Chinese buyers bought 12% of all U.S. homes purchased by foreign citizens last year, up from 5% in 2007, according to the National Assn. of Realtors. More than half their home purchases were in California. And more than two-thirds of them paid cash, the trade group said.
The trend appears unlikely to unwind soon. More than 60% of China’s wealthy have left or plan to leave the country, at least part time, and their No. 1 destination is the United States, according to the Hurun Report, a Shanghai publishing firm focused on recently minted millionaires and billionaires.
Despite dizzying ups and downs in U.S. home prices, the market can seem more stable than in China, where fears of a property bubble have added to the economic and political worries of the burgeoning middle and upper classes.
Motivations vary by location. Luxury estates in San Marino are bargains by Chinese standards; inexpensive Inland Empire homes are purchased as investments; top-shelf schools draw throngs to Irvine.
Eva Chen and her husband travel between their homes in Shanghai and Arcadia, where they purchased a property near Santa Anita Park in October. They scooped up the second home as an escape from pollution and a shot at better schools for their two infants.
Compared with housing prices in China, the $1.27-million Arcadia property didn’t seem expensive.
“The Arcadia house is cheaper,” Chen said.
But it’s getting more expensive quickly. Heavy demand pushed the median home sales price past $1.32 million last quarter in Arcadia’s 91007 ZIP Code — 30.5% above its peak in 2007, during the housing bubble, according to researcher DataQuick.
Next door in the 91006 ZIP Code, prices are up 23.7%. Other areas with prices exceeding their peaks include Walnut, Temple City, San Marino and parts of San Gabriel and East San Gabriel, all hubs for Chinese investment.
The Chinese buying spree sometimes borders on recklessness, said Dominic Ng, chairman of Pasadena’s East West Bank, the largest Chinese-American bank. East West specializes in home loans for Chinese buyers with no U.S. credit histories, but often enormous down payments.
Unwary buyers accustomed to urban China’s $1-million-plus luxury flats take “housing tours” and snap up homes east of Riverside or in Arizona without considering the cost of property taxes (China has none) or maintenance of homes with pools and yards.
“They look at the dinky little apartment in Shanghai or Beijing — you know, like one-fifth the size — and they say this is affordable,” said Ng, who fears prices will appreciate less than the buyers expect. “They are buying for speculative purposes.”
Others want the prestige of a San Marino or Pasadena mansion, even if paying for it means working in China and rarely visiting. One of Ng’s neighbors bought a Pasadena estate, then lived there for just two days out of the two years that followed.
“He was not renting it out,” Ng said. “People have so much money, they just say, ‘What the heck. It’s a nice neighborhood. I might as well just buy one.'”
It’s a story echoed by Patti Hahn of Arcadia, gesturing to the house next door, which sold for $2.45 million last year, up from $1.55 million in 2006, the last time it changed hands. | <urn:uuid:fe35164d-4e7d-495d-86ae-926372e19181> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://conservativepapers.com/news/2014/04/11/wealthy-chinese-home-buyers-boost-suburban-l-a-housing-markets/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572161.46/warc/CC-MAIN-20220815054743-20220815084743-00472.warc.gz | en | 0.954338 | 903 | 1.695313 | 2 |
Sample Essay The claim of Jerusalem by both sides in the conflict does not make…
The US navy came to rescue the United Nations command (UNC) to avoid a disaster in the Far East. President Truman had to authorize the war in response against the communist regime and thus preserve sovereignty of the Korean people. In the first week of the battle, the CV-45, a US seventh flee carrier, heavy cruiser (CA-124), destroyers and three submarines were used (Marolda, 1995, p. 54). This helped the US bombard rail yards and other airfields out of their reach but in Pyong Yang.
Recent revelations from Moscow achieves revealed that the Russia premier Josef Stalin had promised military assistance to the US air operations an offer that was withdrawn after the initial attacks, perhaps the reason that made Moscow change its stand. The war saw aircraft and navy submarines patrol the skies of the Far East to avoid any surprise attacks. Air strikes destroyed 45 small only North Korean vessels allowing 600 troops to land in Pusan, the largest Korean port and capturing it.
These are just excerpts of essays for you to view. Please click on Order Now for custom essays, research papers, term papers, thesis, dissertations, case studies and book reports. | <urn:uuid:1f6a6043-9d70-4ec4-aa7e-d7fea76a5bb7> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.customessaydorm.com/essay-the-korean-war/67/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572408.31/warc/CC-MAIN-20220816151008-20220816181008-00667.warc.gz | en | 0.954985 | 261 | 3.21875 | 3 |
Bill Martin Jr. and John Archambault evoke the beauty and the mystery, and the sounds and the silences-- of rain. Listen to the rain, the whisper of the rain, the slow soft sprinkle, the drip-drop tinkle, the first wet whisper of the rain. Their marvelous ear for the melodies and rhythm of language, combined with James Endicott's spare, almost abstract paintings, have created a lyrical book with a haunting power-- perfect for reading aloud on a rainy day. An NCTE Notable Trade Book for the Language Arts.
This lyrical and rhythmic book captures the mystery, sounds, and silences of the rain. | <urn:uuid:15477a6a-39ce-4adb-82a6-96af300dc860> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.weberpl.lib.ut.us/library-items/listen-rain | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882571909.51/warc/CC-MAIN-20220813051311-20220813081311-00278.warc.gz | en | 0.887929 | 135 | 2.109375 | 2 |
Hundreds of paper cranes will take flight in York Minster this summer – part of a community art project designed as a sign of hope and to reflect on the pandemic year.
Origami cranes express our feelings about 2020 and hope for 2021 at York Minster.
Families, children and schools across the city and beyond have been invited to take part in the Kibo Cranes project inspired by the Japanese tradition of creating paper cranes as a sign of hope or ‘kibō’, and children are encouraged to make origami cranes to express their feelings about the last year.
Local artist Penny Phillips, and ceramics tutor from St Peter’s School, York, is collaborating with the Minster on the project. She said:
“In Japan, cranes symbolise health and a thousand years of long life. A thousand origami paper cranes are often given to a person who is ill, to wish for their recovery.
“The pandemic has made the last year difficult in all sorts of ways and we hope this exhibition will encourage everyone but particularly children to share their thoughts and feelings about the last year and their hopes for the future.”
The cranes can be made with traditional origami paper, ordinary coloured or plain paper, newspaper or any other material that keeps its shape when folded. Children are invited to draw on their cranes, write a wish, message, story, poem, their name or leave them blank.
Full instructions are available on the York Minster website and cranes should be delivered to The Old Palace at York Minster or the Art Department at St Peter’s School by June 28.
The exhibition will go on display in the crossing of the Minster in time for the summer holidays.
(Photo is of local artist and ceramics tutor, Penny Phillips with pupils from St Peter’s School York). | <urn:uuid:666e4bb5-2213-4cce-b25e-3e6f4d695161> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.englishcathedrals.co.uk/latest-news/origami-cranes-york-minister/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572161.46/warc/CC-MAIN-20220815054743-20220815084743-00467.warc.gz | en | 0.953148 | 392 | 2.34375 | 2 |
Hair highlighting refers to changing a person's hair color, using lighter (or darker) colors to color strands of the hair in different sizes. There are four types of highlights: basic foil highlights, hair painting, chunking and lowlighting. They are very common for teenagers and done in expressive and usually natural colors.
Many women and even some men are choosing to have highlights these days to add texture and give life back into the hair. Highlights make the hair move, make it fresh and interesting. Not everyone is confident to go for an all over color change, which is why highlights are so popular - they just add touches of color, usually lighter that will enhance your natural or base color.
The categories of the highlights last are: temporary, semi-permanent, demi-permanent, and permanent.
Hair highlights are available in a number of natural and multicolor shades. In summer the sunlight adds a natural highlight to the hair and highlights can impart a wonderful summer look.
The good thing about highlights is that they don't have to be maintained as often as a single color - you can get away with some growth as roots will not be so noticeable, especially if your highlights are subtle.
The streaks that you get done should match your natural hair color so that they blend and does not look weird. Choosing a hair color that matches with the skin tone is important and everyone should ensure they make the right choice.
There are many choices available when one wants to get the hair streaks done. Blonde hair choices have a collection of honey, golden and other warm highlights. It will give a shine to their hair and you can flaunt a great look which will surely be loved by everyone. Redheads should go for copper, gold, strawberry or light highlights so that you look graceful and the colors compliment your eye color with skin complexion. Also more natural highlights will give you an ultimate sexy look. Brunettes should use hair highlights with the advice of a hair stylist as any mistake and you would look like an embarrassment. However, if light shaded highlights are used, you get a very natural look which will create a dramatic effect.
If you want to have highlights and it is your first time then it is recommended to get them done at a hair salon by a professional color artist. Adding highlights to your own hair can be tricky and a professional will know where to add that give best results. | <urn:uuid:bd043af3-7bc7-4b99-a961-11eab92d345a> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.hairandspamanchester.co.uk/Highlighting.cfm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560284411.66/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095124-00456-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943363 | 490 | 1.5 | 2 |
Lillian Too, Feng Shui Master Extraordinaire.
Lillian Too, the most prolific Feng Shui writer in the world, has written over 50 books on Feng Shui, the Chinese geomancy that to its detractors is a type of New Age sugar water but to its legion of adherents a sure way to make everything better. She was the first Malaysian woman to head a public-listed company and the first Asian woman CEO of a bank (Hong Kong's Grindlays Dao Heng Bank). This Harvard-educated MBA then took over Hong Kong's Dragon Seed department store and made it profitable before cashing out to become a full-time mother and Feng Shui writer.
Lillian Too, the writer
Too invented the coffee table Feng Shui book, The Complete Illustrated Guide to Feng Shui, which spawned a succession of other books taking on different aspects of Feng Shui and refashioning them for popular consumption. The Complete Illustrated Guide to Feng Shui still holds the record for the highest sales for a color hardcover book, with more than 600,000 copies sold to date. Her other books have made it to best seller lists in the United States, Singapore and Germany, attracting believers from the previously skeptical Western readers. Today, her clients include influential people in Hollywood who consult her before purchasing properties.
Modern Feng Shui
Though traditional masters say that Feng Shui should be kept close to its Chinese roots to keep the discipline 'pure', Too feels the continual changes in the practice of Feng Shui is important to ensure its growth.
"If you want to practice this art, you have to share your knowledge with believers and unbelievers and allow it to be debated openly," she says. Feng Shui has gone global as far as Too is concerned.
"The world has changed, and the practice of Feng Shui should evolve accordingly," she says. ""Ancient masters have this tendency to be very vague in their Feng Shui predictions, I was determined to demystify it. Feng Shui is actually very practical - very scientific in a way. I have done a lot of new research, and I am looking to reposition Feng Shui as a management tool."
Feng Shui: Art or Science?
According to Too, it was important for people to know that Feng Shui is a science and an art. "As a science it must be practiced to perfection. And, as an art it must be aesthetic. There are many people armed with a little knowledge who claim to be Feng Shui experts. But that is not the way it should be. Careful research has to be done before any predictions are given. "It should never be a hit-or-miss thing," she says.
Despite her Western education and ideals, she strongly believes that Feng Shui has made the difference in her life.
"I used it at Harvard, I used it to get a job. I work very hard, but many people work very hard - the world is full of poor geniuses," she says looking at me sympathetically. "We all need a little luck, Feng Shui has been the source of my luck."
"Once upon a time, I was very skeptical as well. At that time, I was trying very hard to conceive. For years, my husband and I consulted doctors and other experts to no avail."
Then, a Feng Shui expert came to her house and told her that the huge tree facing her house was the obstacle to her dreams. Since she was building a new house, she invited him to do the Feng Shui for it. Four months after moving in, she conceived her daughter Jennifer. That was 25 years ago, and Lillian Too has never looked back since.
Today, this bubblish, fifty-seven year old lady is still enjoying good fortune and youthfulness from following Feng Shui principles.
"Feng Shui is not the central thing in my life. It is a tool and additional knowledge that works. It is not a religion nor something spiritual. I use my belief in spirituality to enhance my teaching, writing and practice of Feng Shui. So it has not changed my life. Other things have made an impact on my life more than Feng Shui, one of which is Buddhism," the devout Buddhist says. "Feng Shui is the art of living in harmony with your environment. It is not a mysterious art, so people of all race and religions can follow its principles to achieve greater things in life."
"Remember, Feng Shui does not give us solutions directly, but it equips us with a tool to balance and harmonize our environment to suit our needs, thereby enabling us to take control of our lives."
Good Luck during Bad Times
When asked about the symbols one can use to bring better luck during the economic downturn, she said symbols like the fish, sailing ships and the dragon are good.
"These are powerful wealth generating symbols," she said. "But to attract good vibes, you don't have to use very Chinese symbols like fish, tortoises or three legged toads. Use symbols appropriate to your background and culture. For instance, Santa Claus can be a symbol of abundance too! You can use that."
Attracting Good Vibes: The "Too" Method
Clear Your Clutter
"If you don't know any Feng Shui and want to improve your luck, the first thing you can do is open your windows and doors, let sunshine in, and discard all your junk. Clutters kills energy - it's like rotten food giving off a bad smell," said Lillian Too. And what is clutter? Anything that makes your heart drop just by looking at it. Books you haven't read for ages but can't bear to give away, clothes that no longer fit, things that need fixing, like clogged drains.
Water, Water, Water...Money, Money, Money
Water, especially clean, moving water resembles money flowingly abundantly. Install a small fountain or miniature waterfall. Alternatively, you can use water symbols like a painting of a lake. "Do not have more than one water feature in one room because that's being greedy. And never have water in the bedroom because this creates loss."
Red, Red, Red
Get a red purse or wallet. It attracts money. Fashionable and striking? Maybe, and then maybe not? But if it's attracting money, that's fashionable, right?
"Very auspicious!" said Too, who promptly fished out a scarlet Louis Vuitton wallet from her handbag.
Create a flow. If money comes in, give some to the poor. "The more you give, the more you shall receive," decrees Too.
Mirror the Wealth
Place it at the dining area and whatever is on the table is reflected in the area giving it a double appearance. That generates abundance.
If you wish, you may try this: activate the North corner of your office by placing a small aquarium or fishbowl there. This activates good luck for your career. And if possible, try to locate your room in the North grid of your office.
Predictions for the Year of the Water Horse (February 12, 2002 till January 31, 2003)
The heavenly stem of water clashes with the yang fire of the earthly branch making the coming year one of conflict and disharmonious chi. However, the most auspicious corner for the year is the North West, which symbolizes for the father or for heaven, and North America. This means that the American economy will see some recovery in the Year of the Horse. Also, since the North West of America is where Silicon Valley is, computer companies and dot-coms will see better times.
The conflicting elements (water and fire) means conflict in South countries - India (South Asia) will be affected, so will South Africa and the South American countries.
* * * * * | <urn:uuid:8312e016-96aa-4544-bfa8-975fdd3910a2> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | http://media.thingsasian.com/story/lillian-too-feng-shui-master-extraordinaire | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882571869.23/warc/CC-MAIN-20220813021048-20220813051048-00078.warc.gz | en | 0.963618 | 1,641 | 1.710938 | 2 |
As the name says, term insurance is the insurance plan that provides protection for a particular term. It is the simplest kind of life insurance in the market as it does not mix investment with the insurance.
The insured chooses a time period say, 5, 10, 15, 20 or 25 years for which he wants to avail the insurance. During this period his life is covered and insured. If anything unfortunate happens to him, his nominee gets the sum insured. Sum insured is chosen by the insured at the time of signing the policy documents. The insurance company charges premium as per the sum insured chosen, age, health status, hobbies, city he lives in, occupation and the other kinds of risks the insured may have to face in case of any uncertainty.
However, in case the insured survives the term policy period he is not eligible to get anything in return. For this reason term insurance is the cheapest life insurance product in the market. Nonetheless, term insurance plans with return-of-premium option have also found a place in the market. Under this plan the insured gets the premium amount back but then the premium charged is higher as compared to that of the basic term plan.
Term insurance comes in five variants, which are listed as below:
Level term insurance The level of the coverage for the entire period for which the term insurance is bought remains same. Along with the coverage the premium amount also remains the same.
Return-of-premium term insurance Term insurance generally comes with no benefits except from life cover, however when insured chooses return-of-premium term insurance he gets his premium back at the end of the policy term, which often is also known as maturity benefit. The premium charged in this kind of plan is higher than the premium of term insurance plan with no return-of-premium option.
Increasing term insurance In this term plan, the level of coverage keeps on increasing with the age of the insured but the premium remains same. The increasing term is preferred by those who consider inflation rate. Also those who think their requirement will increase with their age and their sum insured should increase with the time, buy increasing term insurance. However, the higher premium is the point of consideration.
Decreasing term insurance Under this plan the coverage keeps decreasing with the increasing age of the insured. The insured assumes that his responsibility will decrease with his age and so should happen with his chosen sum insured.
Annual renewable term insurance The insured can renew his coverage at the end of the each year. This kind of plan is taken by those who think they should review their requirements annually. Also they do not want to pay premium unnecessarily for the coverage that they do not require. The premium rate is lower at the beginning and increases with the age of the insured.
• Term insurance assures peace of mind to the insured that in case something uncertain happens to him, financial assistance will be provided to his family.
• Nominee gets the sum insured amount in case of unfortunate demise of the insured.
• The insured can choose the period for which he wants protection.
• Term insurance is the easiest plan to understand as there is no investment factor in it.
• It is the cheapest life insurance available in the market.
• Tax exemptions can be availed for the amount that is paid as premium towards term insurance.
• The insured has the freedom to choose annual renewable plan, increasing term plan, decreasing term plan, level term plan or return-of-premium term plan.
• Term insurance comes with the option of converting it into whole life insurance plan.
• The insured can avail the riders like accidental death benefit and critical illness benefit along with the base policy at a nominal increase in premium.
• Term insurance should be bought in the younger years of life.
• The number of years you choose for the coverage should be equal to number of retirement age or the age you will stop working, minus, your present age.
• Sum insured amount should be determined by adding up all the routine expenditure of the family i.e. grocery bills, educational costs etc; outstanding mortgage bills, taxes and other liabilities, funeral/burial expenses as well as the capital amount the family would need to start afresh to start earning or to earn interest on it.
• Compare the price and features of online term insurance plans and term plans from regular sources before taking any decision.
• Understand each rider and choose carefully. Pick the ones that suit your requirement.
However there is no strict mathematical formula to calculate cover as it varies from person to perso based on his liabilities, responsibilities, number of dependants and life style but Basic rule is that your cover should be enough payouts of all loans and 10 years of your family current expenses. For example, if your family is dependent on you for 25000 per month and you have home loan of 30 lacs, you should take cover of 30 lacs (loan) + 25000*12*10=30 lacs. Hence, buy a term plan of 60 lacs which will cover your loans and expenses of the family.
Right Now. The earlier you begin, the cheaper it costs but there is nothing called wrong time to safeguard your loved ones. Should I buy the cheapest term plan available? What is Claim Settlement ratio? The ultimate success of Term Plan is easy claim settlement. Which means Claim Settlement Ratio (ratio of claims paid to number of claims that came) and period required to settle the claims should be more important criteria than saving few hundred on premium.
You get many benefits at one go when you buy term plan. It is the cheapest of all. It is the simplest plan and not at all complicated to understand. You get risk coverage for the period you choose. Therefore you can avail financial protection till the time when you think your family depends on you.
The basic purpose of buying insurance is to get risk coverage. Term plan does exactly that. It provides pure and only protection. You should buy term plan for the period when you are earning. Therefore, buy the term plan for the duration you will keep earning. If you are 35 and planning to retire by 60, you have 25 years more to work. Or simply deduct 35 out of 60. You will get the number of years you should buy term plan for.
Basically term plan does not provide any maturity benefit. The nominee gets the death benefit in case the insured dies during the term of the policy. However, there is another category of term plan in which the insured get the premium back when the policy gets matured.
Term plan provides pure insurance protection. It is not linked with any kind of investment as it is with other kinds of insurance plans. Also, term plan provides protection for a specific duration. If the policyholder outlives this duration, the insurer is not liable to pay any benefit. Therefore, term plan comes at a cheap price.
The moment you took your newborn first time in your hands you committed to yourself...Read More
As soon as the end of financial year approaches we find many in rush to...Read More
No doubt, you must have made investments to make your family’s future...Read More
No doubt, we all spend a considerable time to plan our vacations. It is much before the vacation...Read More | <urn:uuid:a9785373-cc10-4b1e-9bd1-c52164032a72> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | https://www.contact4policy.com/Term-Plans | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560279224.13/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095119-00478-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966422 | 1,479 | 2.328125 | 2 |
Product Liability And Microbial Foodborne Illness
This report examines how product liability law treats personal injuries attributed to microbially contaminated foods. The risk of lawsuits stemming from microbial foodborne illness and the resulting court-awarded compensation may create economic incentives for firms to produce safer food. It is not known how many consumers seek compensation for damages from contaminated foods because information about complaints and legal claims involving foodborne illness is not readily accessible, especially for cases that are settled out of court. Reviewing the outcomes of 175 jury trials involving foodborne pathogens, the analysis identifies several factors that influence trial outcomes, while noting that the awards won by plaintiffs tend to be modest.
|Date of creation:||2001|
|Date of revision:|
|Contact details of provider:|| Postal: 1400 Independence Ave.,SW, Mail Stop 1800, Washington, DC 20250-1800|
Web page: http://www.ers.usda.gov/
More information through EDIRC
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
- Buzby, Jean C. & Fox, John A. & Ready, Richard C. & Crutchfield, Stephen R., 1998.
"Measuring Consumer Benefits Of Food Safety Risk Reductions,"
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Southern Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 30(01), July.
- Buzby, Jean C. & Fox, John A. & Ready, Richard C. & Crutchfleld, Stephen R., 1998. "Measuring Consumer Benefits of Food Safety Risk Reductions," Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 30(01), pages 69-82, July.
- Posner, Richard A, 1997. "Explaining the Variance in the Number of Tort Suits across U.S. States and between the United States and England," The Journal of Legal Studies, University of Chicago Press, vol. 26(2), pages 477-89, June.
- Daughety, Andrew F & Reinganum, Jennifer F, 1995.
"Product Safety: Liability, R&D, and Signaling,"
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American Economic Association, vol. 85(5), pages 1187-1206, December.
- Daughety, Andrew & Reinganum, Jennifer, 1992. "Product Safety: Liability, R & D and Signaling," Working Papers 94-17, University of Iowa, Department of Economics, revised 1994.
- Andrew F. Daughety & Jennifer F. Reinganum, 1994. "Product Safety: Liability, R&D and Signaling," Game Theory and Information 9403007, EconWPA, revised 30 Mar 1994.
- repec:ags:joaaec:v:30:y:1998:i:1:p:69-82 is not listed on IDEAS
- Julie A. Caswell & Neal H. Hooker, 1996. "HACCP as an International Trade Standard," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 78(3), pages 775-779.
- W. Kip Viscusi, 1996. "Economic Foundations of the Current Regulatory Reform Efforts," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 10(3), pages 119-134, Summer.
- Tabarrok, Alexander & Helland, Eric, 1999. "Court Politics: The Political Economy of Tort Awards," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 42(1), pages 157-88, April.
- Litan, Robert E, 1991. "The Safety and Innovation Effects of U.S. Liability Law: The Evidence," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 81(2), pages 59-64, May.
- Danzon, Patricia M., 2000.
"Liability for medical malpractice,"
Handbook of Health Economics,
in: A. J. Culyer & J. P. Newhouse (ed.), Handbook of Health Economics, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 26, pages 1339-1404
- Polinsky, A Mitchell, 1980. "Strict Liability vs. Negligence in a Market Setting," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 70(2), pages 363-67, May.
- Low, Stuart & Smith, Janet Kiholm, 1995. "Decisions to Retain Attorneys and File Lawsuits: An Examination of the Comparative Negligence Rule in Accident Law," The Journal of Legal Studies, University of Chicago Press, vol. 24(2), pages 535-57, June.
- Kolstad, Charles D & Ulen, Thomas S & Johnson, Gary V, 1990. "Ex Post Liability for Harm vs. Ex Ante Safety Regulation: Substitutes or Complements?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 80(4), pages 888-901, September.
- Viscusi, W Kip, 1993. "The Value of Risks to Life and Health," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 31(4), pages 1912-46, December.
- Golan, Elise H. & Ralston, Katherine L. & Frenzen, Paul D., 1998. "A Distributional Analysis Of The Costs Of Foodborne Illness: Who Ultimately Pays?," Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics, Southern Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 30(01), July.
- Buzby, Jean C. & Roberts, Tanya & Lin, Chung-Tung Jordan & MacDonald, James M., 1996. "Bacterial Foodborne Disease: Medical Costs and Productivity Losses," Agricultural Economics Reports 33991, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
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The darkest days are seemingly in the past for red snapper in the Gulf of Mexico. A restoration of the fishery, decades in the making, has blossomed into one of the most recent success stories in conservation. \u201cWe have more snapper now than in anyone\u2019s lifetime,\u201d said Greg Stunz, director of the Harte Research Institute\u2019s Sportfish Center at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. \u201cAnd they\u2019re big snapper.\u201d A federal plan to rebuild the fishery by 2032 is well ahead of schedule. The goal is to increase the spawning potential to 26 percent, which means the stock would produce about a quarter of the eggs that an unfished population would. The estimated spawning biomass of red snapper in the Gulf is currently about 20 percent, a long climb from the sub-2 percent low mark of 1990. \u201cAll indicators that are used in making the stock assessments show that the resource is at levels that have never really been seen before. It\u2019s doing very well,\u201d said Lance Robinson, deputy director of Texas Parks and Wildlife Department\u2019s coastal fisheries division. It\u2019s taken a long time to get to this point; the fishery had been in trouble for generations. The development of technology and the rise of Gulf tourism led to the rapid decline of red snapper in the decades following World War II. The stock became severely overfished and continued to get worse. Red snapper hit rock bottom in the 1980s and remained in a dire situation through the 1990s. Efforts to reverse course have gradually improved the fishery since then, especially in the western Gulf. Anglers have paid the price to make it happen. Reducing harvest has been crucial to rebuilding the stock. The daily bag limit in federal waters was reduced to two fish and a 16-inch minimum size limit was implemented in 2008. There is a four-fish limit and 15-inch minimum in Texas state waters, which is within nine nautical miles from shore and can be fished year-round. Most painful, though, were shortened seasons. Recreational anglers enjoyed year-round access to red snapper in federal waters in 1996, then the season slowly evaporated. It dropped to 194 days from 2000-2007. Then it was 65 in 2008, 48 in 2011 and a dismal nine days in 2014. A three-day season was announced in 2017 before Gulf states and the U.S. Department of Commerce brokered a deal to extend it 39 more days. Since then, states have taken over setting the seasons for private recreational anglers, which has resulted in a trend of longer seasons and better access to a recovering stock. This year, Texas\u2019 is slated to end Aug. 3, after 63 days. Greater accountability has also benefited red snapper. Short seasons caused commercial fishermen to bum-rush the fishery, creating a \u201cderby-like\u201d atmosphere. In 2007, Individual fishing quotas remedied this, allowing commercial fishermen to fish year-round as long as their landings stayed within a weight limit set by the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council. Commercial fishermen are required to report their harvests and are monitored electronically. These management moves, as well as the addition of bycatch reduction devices to shrimp trawls and the overall decline of the Gulf shrimping industry, have been the keys to a successful red snapper rebuild. \u201cShortening the seasons, reducing bag limits on the recreational side and getting out of the derbies on the commercial side has made us turn the corner. And now we\u2019re having longer seasons again, there\u2019s lots of fish,\u201d said Scott Hickman, who has lived the ups and downs of red snapper during three decades of guiding out of Galveston. \u201cIt worked. There were lots of sacrifices made, though.\u201d Strong management measures and a diminished shrimping industry have red snapper in a good spot that should continue to improve as the population ages. A 10-year-old red snapper produces 33 times more eggs than a three-year-old, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. But there is still a long road ahead for the fishery and its human participants. Anglers continue to hope for longer seasons. Fine-tuning on when the seasons occur is also a point of discussion. June can bring rough weather off the Texas coast. This summer, Tropical Storm Cristobal put a dent in the season. Some in the fishery prefer later dates and calmer seas. Others might want opportunities during spring break. Controversy also exists about how allocation is divvied between the states. Over two-thirds of the red snapper in the Gulf of Mexico occur off the coast of Texas and Louisiana. Yet, the two states make up a little more than a quarter of the total recreational allocation for the Gulf Coast. Texas\u2019 265,105 pounds is only greater than the 151,550 pounds for Mississippi, a state with 62 miles of coastline. Florida and Alabama combine for 3,036,113 pounds, or over 71 percent of the allocation. Those fish aren\u2019t moving a lot, either. Robinson said red snapper have a lot of \u201csite fidelity,\u201d and when they recruit to a structure, they don\u2019t usually move far from it. \u201cTagging studies have demonstrated this over and over again: Red snapper that occur off of Texas are not swimming at some point in their life to water off of Florida, or vice versa,\u201d Robinson said. The distribution is based on decades of landing data, and the East Coast has traditionally been the side with the most fishing pressure. Currently, location is not figured into the allocation. Hickman and others think that should change. He is a strong believer in a need for a \u201cbiomass component to how the fishery is allocated.\u201d \u201cIn a way, Texas and Louisiana run a fish bank for the eastern Gulf,\u201d Hickman said. The results of the \u201cGreat Red Snapper Count\u201d could have an impact on how the fishery is managed in the future. Researchers are currently wrapping up the $12 million project that began in 2017. Stunz is the lead scientist among 22 investigators and 11 institutions that include \u201cpretty much the greatest minds in red snapper biology across the Gulf.\u201d The project utilized remotely operated vehicles, towed cameras and divers to count red snapper from Brownsville to Key West. The goal was to estimate the absolute abundance. \u201cIt\u2019s kind of crazy to think we don\u2019t really know what that number is given the importance of that fishery,\u201d Stunz said. The hope is if the Great Red Snapper Count finds more fish, then that will equate into more weight in the total allocation and more season days. The project is being finalized in the coming weeks and Stunz is \u201cvery optimistic\u201d about what his team has seen so far. The results could have an impact on the next red snapper stock assessment in 2021 and represents another milestone in an evolving conservation success story. | <urn:uuid:ca30d524-9b0a-46c7-8488-4ac44e2108b7> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.houstonchronicle.com/texas-sports-nation/general/articleComments/Red-snapper-A-conservation-success-story-15362067.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882571190.0/warc/CC-MAIN-20220810131127-20220810161127-00066.warc.gz | en | 0.95904 | 1,540 | 2.5 | 2 |
ERIC Number: ED278753
Record Type: RIE
Publication Date: 1986
Reference Count: 0
Forty Years Since the End of the White Primary, Thirty Years Since the Brown Decision, Twenty Years Since the Passage of the Civil Rights Act. 40th Anniversary Papers.
This report evaluates the progress that has been made since three landmarks in blacks' struggle for equal treatment in the United States. Despite the 1944 case of Smith vs. Allwright, in which the Supreme Court decided that the Texas White Primary was unconstitutional, growing evasion and resistance by whites limited gains in black enfranchisement and political power until the enactment of the United States Voting Rights Act in 1965 and the consequent massive registration campaigns. The goals and rewards of maximum participation of blacks in the South's political system lay some distance ahead. Though there are still inequities in southern education, since Brown vs. the Board of Education in 1954 progress has been made in the following: (1) increasing the average number of years of schooling blacks complete; (2) increasing the number who complete college; (3) increasing per pupil expenditure; (4) increasing black attendance at white state colleges and universities; and (5) increasing elementary and secondary school integration. Though blacks have gained slightly in job opportunities since the 1964 Civil Rights Act swept away legal segregation, their participation in low status jobs remains sharply disproportionate and income disparity continues. Race remains a limiting factor. (PS)
Descriptors: Black Achievement, Blacks, Elementary Secondary Education, Equal Education, Equal Facilities, Equal Opportunities (Jobs), Higher Education, Income, Racial Discrimination, Racial Integration, Voting Rights
Southern Regional Council, Inc., Publications Department, Suite 820, Peachtree West Bldg., 161 Spring Street, N.W. Atlanta, GA 30303-2082 ($2.00).
Publication Type: Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: N/A
Authoring Institution: Southern Regional Council, Atlanta, GA. | <urn:uuid:3aa5bd82-abe1-4fd6-8c48-bcee5b8b575e> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED278753 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280891.90/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00153-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.897955 | 405 | 3.09375 | 3 |
The latitude and longitude gps coordinates of Coimbatore (India)
↓reviews about this city↓
Coimbatore is a city in India.
Its area is 1,776 sq mi 4,850 km2. The city's population is 4,250,446. Click here
for the jump to the official website. The stright distance between Coimbatore and New Delhi
is 1218 miles (1960 kilometers). Current local time in Coimbatore: January 18, 2017, 1:01 am; Percent change from previous month (Dec 2016) by the visitors: -59%
Distance between Coimbatore (India) and an optional place as the crow flies:
The geographical location (geolocation) of Coimbatore is on the north and east hemisphere.
Current temperature and weather in Coimbatore (India): F 71.6 | <urn:uuid:968fe9ff-7c5a-4ef9-a112-2aeeb96432cf> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://thegpscoordinates.net/india/coimbatore | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280065.57/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00548-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.852116 | 188 | 1.96875 | 2 |
Providing grief support since 1999
Providing grief support since 1999
One of life’s great treasures is the relationship that human beings develop with their pets. Not everyone has this opportunity; indeed it isn’t something everyone wants. But for those who do, pets become our companions, and often substitute children. A family pet may be a dog, cat, hamster, horse, donkey, bird, fish or any other creature with whom we develop a special relationship.
Many of our pets live with us in our homes. They may sleep with us. They are constantly at our side on shopping trips, vacations or daily walks. They seem to understand us. They accept us the way we are and even keep secrets! We learn to know if they are not feeling well. We understand when they are reminding us that it is time to eat or time for their daily walk!
When a family pet dies, the experience of grief is similar to mourning the death of a person we have loved. It is a significant loss that should not be ignored and we do well to pay attention to this loss before beginning to move on with our lives.
What you may experience.
Sadness: The relationship you had with your pet was unique and you may be surprised initially that you are overcome with sadness. Since we cannot always be in control of our pets, often they die tragically and this increases our sadness.
Loneliness: You will miss the friendly greeting when you come home, their presence around the house, the daily routine of having them with you. While many pet lovers will experience a deep loneliness, those who live alone may find the loneliness overwhelming.
Guilt: If the death was tragic, you may feel responsible for your pet’s death and guilty for letting it happen. Perhaps you didn’t recognize that your pet was sick and feel guilty for not receiving help earlier. One unique source of grief pet owners experience is around the issue of euthanizing our pets. For the most part, when humans are sick and dying, we let life run its course. With our pets, we are often left with the responsibility of making the decision that enough is enough. This is often made with the advice of your veterinarian who will help you make the right decision. No matter how carefully you made the decision, you may experience a certain amount of guilt.
Anger: There are many reasons why you may be angry. You may be angry with your veterinarian for not being able to keep your pet alive, the driver of the car who killed your pet, or the illness that ended your pet’s life. Depending on the circumstances of your life, you may feel this is one more loss among many that you are experiencing. Perhaps you have had a spouse, parent, sibling or a child die recently. You may be angry that life is dealing you this additional blow.
Unsupported in your grief: People who do not have pets often don’t understand the significance of the death of a pet. They may even tell you that you are overreacting. You may be angry with these people for not giving you the support you need. As we have already said, the emotions following the death of a pet are similar to those we experience when someone we love dies. The journey through grief is also similar. The following will give you some ideas for dealing with your grief.
Give yourself permission to grieve.
Be patient with yourself and the process. Don’t let others tell you how you should be feeling and don’t let those who don’t understand tell you to “get over it!” Your grief is your grief and it is a normal and healthy part of living to mourn the loss of someone or something important in your life. If you feel like crying, then cry. Take time to feel your pain and express it.
Create an appropriate way to memorialize your pet.
This will, of course, be determined by where you live. Your pet may be cremated and then ashes buried in a garden or scattered in your pet’s favourite place. It may be that your pet’s body can be buried on your property where you live. You may want to create some sort of ritual for the time of the burial. A rock, a tree or bench may mark the place where your pet is buried. There are pet cemeteries in some communities and your veterinarian or local funeral director will be able to give you that information.
Find someone with whom you can talk.
Don’t isolate yourself from others. You need their support and comfort. Your friends who have pets will understand. Don’t try to be “brave” with other family members. Remember that they are also grieving the death of this significant family member. You may find it helpful to ask your veterinarian or local funeral director for referral to a bereavement counsellor or pet loss support group.
Involve the children in the family.
The death of a family pet is often a “teaching moment” for the children. It gives adults an opportunity to teach children that for “everything under the sun… there is a time to be born and a time to die.” (Ecclesiastes 3:1) Be honest with children. You may have the opportunity to prepare them for the death, but above all, be honest. When the death occurs, tell the children the pet has died. Don’t tell them the pet has “gone away” or worse still, that the pet is “missing”. When we involve children, we do them a great favour, since we will be preparing them for the inevitable death of a loved person of their family.
A pet as small as a goldfish may be the first opportunity a child has to learn about caring for another living creature. When the fish dies, it may be a significant loss for the child. Encourage the child to cry, to express feelings and to ask the inevitable questions about death. Children often have insights adults are missing and may have the perfect idea for what to do to memorialize the pet.
It is usually not a good idea to rush into getting a replacement for this pet.
Pets, like people, are individuals and can’t be replaced. It isn’t helpful to try to get an exact replica of the one who has died. It will take time for you to adjust to the fact that this beloved pet has died. You may take time to dispose of your pet’s belongings. When you feel ready, remove your pet’s feeding dishes and bed. You may decide to keep items like a tag or collar. Do what you feel like, when you feel like it. When this transition has taken place, you may begin to think about getting a new pet. But you will never replace the one who has just died.
With every death or significant loss, it is important to take time to grieve. It is, however, equally important to begin the process of moving on with life. The memories of this pet will be with you for the rest of your life. Let the memories comfort you. Let your relationship with this pet be the foundation upon which you will build a relationship with a new pet if you decide to bring another into your life. When you are ready, a new relationship can be developed and a new life created with another pet with whom you can hopefully share the next few years of your life.
When your pet dies, how soon should you get a new one? Until recently, the standard answer has been “right away!” That may not always
be the best advice, however: Obtaining a new pet before you have had time to work through your grief can cause problems for both you and the pet.
So when is the right time? There is no single answer to that question, because everyone experiences grief in their own way. For some, the loneliness of an empty house makes grieving more difficult, and a new pet can help the process. Others, however, may feel resentful toward a pet obtained too soon.
The time to obtain a new pet is when you have worked through your grief sufficiently to be confident that you can look forward to new relationships, rather than backward at your loss. For some people, that might be a matter of days or weeks; for others, it might be months or years. Regardless of when you choose to obtain a new pet, however, the following suggestions can help you ease the transition and make the new relationship more rewarding for you, your family
If any emotion rules supreme when a pet dies, it is guilt. No matter what the circumstances of the loss, guilt is there, grabbing us by the throat. It haunts our days, ruins our sleep, and tarnishes our memories. Often, guilt goes beyond the loss itself: we may start to feel guilty for just about everything.
Guilt on the Rampage
If a pet dies through an accident or moment of carelessness, built is quick to follow. Perhaps someone wasn’t careful about opening a door, and the pet ran into the street to be hit by a car. Perhaps someone fed the pet a hazardous treat – a splintery bone or forbidden bit of chocolate. Perhaps someone overlooked a hazards-an electric cord, or a bit of string. When something like this happens, guilt closes in quickly. If only I had known…if only I had been more careful…if only I had come home sooner…if only I had been watching….the final memories of the pet become a litany of failure.
If a pet dies of an unexpected illness, the litany is often similar. Why didn’t I notice the symptoms sooner? Why didn’t I visit the vet immediately? Why didn’t I get a second opinion? How could I have let it go so long, been so blind, done so little?
Euthanasia is the grand master of guilt. No matter how certain we are that we are doing what is best of the pet, few pet owners actually fell comfortable with this decision. Very few can walk away from the vet’s office without nagging doubts, without wondering what the pet felt or thought in that final moment, without asking whether we should have waited longer or tried harder. Many of us feel guilty of literally murdering a family member.
Why do we feel this way?
We are believers in cause and effect. When something goes wrong, we want to know why. How did it happen? What went wrong? Could it have been prevented…and if so, how? Who is responsible? What could/should have been done differently? Rarely can we acknowledge that there are no answers to these questions. Rarely can we say, “no one was at fault; it simply happened.” Rarely can we accept that nothing could have been changed or done differently.
This reaction is intensified by the profound sense of responsibility we feel toward our pets. Pets occupy a similar role to very small children: No matter what happens, we are responsible. We can never expect our pets to understand why they shouldn’t run into the street, chew on the electric cord, or filch scarps from the trash. We are always their guardians and protectors. And so, when something happens, we view ourselves as responsible for that as well – and it is only a short step from feeling ‘responsible’ to feeling
From Guilt to Redemption
A little bit of guilt, for the right reasons, can be healthy. Next time, we’ll vaccinate; next time, we won’t feed the pet bones or scraps. Next time, we’ll consult the vet immediately about that odd behavior change.
A lot of guilt, however, is not so healthy. Left unchecked, it can prevent us from seeking the joy of a new pet – and can even ruin our lives. I’ve spoken with pet owners who have suffered from guilt for years. So if you can’t shake the sense of being ‘to blame’ for your loss, you could be in for a long, rough ride – unless you choose to change direction.
Notice that I said ‘choose.’ While we can’t always control how we feel, we can control how to respond to those emotions. We can choose whether to control those emotions, or whether to allow them to control us.
Nor is guilt simply an emotion. At its core, guilt is a belief—a conviction that we have done wrong and must suffer for it. The only way to break that conviction is to change what we choose to believe. Here are some choices that can help you take the upper hand over guilt.
1. Choose not to rehearse guilt. Do you find yourself repeating the same guilty thoughts over and over again? They won’t go away by themselves. You must choose to make them stop. First, catch yourself. When you find yourself wandering down that painful mental path, put up a mental stop sign. You might choose a physical action, such as snapping your fingers to remind yourself to change directions. Then deliberately focus on something else, such as your plans for tomorrow. Focusing on something positive in the future is a conscious reminder that there is more to your life than negatives from the past.
2. Choose to accept what cannot be changed. A self-imposed ‘penance’ for past mistakes accomplishes nothing. It doesn’t change, or make up for, the past; it simple ruins your future. Chances are that you’ve already changed anything that needed to be changed (such as vaccinating your other pets). Can you change anything else? Can you undo what was done? Can you change the outcome of your actions? If the answer is ‘no’, choose to accept that answer. Accept that the only thing you can change now is your future.
3. Choose balance. Guilt keeps us focused on the times we imagine we failed – the times we were ‘too busy’ to take a pet for a walk, or play with it or cuddle it. It blinds us to all the other times when we weren’t too busy. So the next time your mind drifts into those unhappy thoughts, choose to refocus. Actively remind yourself of the good times, the times when you were, indeed a responsible and caring pet owner. (Chances are that was most of the time). Flip through your photo albums. Write down a list of things you did for and with your pet. Force yourself to remember what went right. Recognize that there is, and always has been, a balance between your failure and your successes. No, you weren’t 100% perfect. But neither were your 100% flawed.
4. Choose forgiveness. Forgiveness is not some abstract religious concept. It is a rock-bottom necessity in any relationship. Thank about it. Could you have had a relationship with your pet, if you couldn’t ‘forgive’ the puddles, the torn drapes, the gnawed belongings, the broken heirlooms? Pet owners who can’t forgive don’t remain pet owners for very long. It worked the other way as well: how often did your pet ‘forgive’ you for coming home late, or ignoring it or yelling at it? Forgiveness has always been at the foundation of your relationship with your pet and how you need to make it the foundation of your healing. Each time gilt tries to remind you of some past mistake, acknowledge that mistake- and forgive it. If you did wrong, fine, it’s done, it’s over and it’s time to move forward. Treat yourself with the same degree of love and acceptance that your pet gave you. Only then will you be able to heal and love again.
Pet owners who ‘don’t care’ will never experience the pangs of guilt. Only caring, responsible pet owners go through this agony. The trouble is, too much guilt can prevent you from becoming a caring, responsible pet owner again.
The world has enough people who don’t care what mistakes they make. It doesn’t have enough pet owners who do care – who choose to learn from their mistakes and move on to make a difference in yet another pet’s life. Don’t let guilt keep you locked in a lifetime of misery. Choose to forgive, to love and to move forward. The world needs you.
Moira Anderson Allen,M.ED
There is a good chance that when you have given any thought to grief, it is usually in negative terms. A woman said to me recently, “I hate feeling this way!” Most people do. Grief is such a mix of intense emotions that most people wish they could be over it within a month of the death. However, it is important to understand that recovery from the death of a beloved pet does not happen quickly. It also helps to understand what things help and what things hinder our recovery.
There is such a thing as good or bad grief. First let’s look at what is not helpful when you are grieving.
What doesn’t help?
Other problems in your life. Are there sickness, financial problems or relationship difficulties? Anything that takes up a lot of time or energy that should be going towards resolving your grief is a liability. If you can deal with some of these issues, it may be that your grief will be less threatening.
Feeling alone and abandoned. Feeling alone in your grief is quite common. Often friends don’t know what to say. You need someone to talk to. It is important not to be alone.
Multiple losses. If you have had a number of deaths or other losses, it may be difficult to sort out what or who you are mourning. If this is the case, your grieving will be more difficult.
An inability to make sense of it all. If you are unable to explain or understand the death, it will be more difficult for you. If you can put the death into perspective and make some sense out of it, it helps.
Now let’s look at what will help you move through your grief successfully.
Someone to talk to. It is important to find someone you can talk to about how you are feeling and how you are progressing. Don’t be surprised if this person isn’t in your family. They often aren’t. Bereavement Support Groups are one of the most helpful means of findings others who understand. Talking with your doctor, clergy or funeral director may also help.
Be Patient. In a world of bank machines, drive-through restaurants and the Internet, patience is a virtue many of us lack. There are still some things that don’t happen instantly. Recovery from the death of a beloved pet is one of them. Be patient with yourself. Give yourself time.
Look after yourself. Make sure you are eating properly, getting plenty of rest and exercising regularly. If you do these things you will be better able to cope with your grief. Treat yourself occasionally. Listen to your favourite music. Eat a whole box of chocolates if you feel like it! Take time to do nothing if that’s what you want to do.
Practice good grief. Don’t be afraid to cry. Express your feelings and frustrations. If you are having a bad day, just ride with your feelings. If you try to avoid them, they will be there another day. Feel sad today and tomorrow you will feel better.
Embrace your grief. Grief can be a great teacher and lead you into a new understanding of life. Feel the pain. Listen to your inner voice and gradually you will move into healing and renewal.
I believe grief is a process that involves a lot of time, energy and determination.
I won’t “get over it” in a hurry, so don’t rush me.
I believe grief is intensely personal.
This is my grief.
Don’t tell me how I should be doing it.
Don’t tell me what’s right or what’s wrong.
I’m doing it my way, in my time.
I believe grief is affecting me in many ways.
I am being affected spiritually, physically, emotionally, socially and mentally.
If I’m not acting like my old self, it’s because I’m not my old self and some days even I don’t understand myself.
I believe I will be affected in some way by this loss for the rest of my life.
As I get older, I will have new insights into what this death means to me.
My loved family member will continue to be part of my life and influence me until the day I die.
I believe I am being changed by this process.
I see life differently.
Some things that were once important to me aren’t any more.
Some things I used to pay little or no attention to are now important.
I think a new me is emerging, so don’t be surprised – and don’t stand in the way.
John Kennedy Saynor
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How to install PrestaShop on an Ubuntu 14.04 VPS
PrestaShop is an open source e-commerce solution, based on PHP and MySQL that allows you to easily create an online store.
To install PrestaShop on an Ubuntu VPS follow the very easy steps described below.
At the time of writing this tutorial, the latest stable version of PrestaShop is v22.214.171.124 and it requires:
- PHP >= 5.1 with the following PHP extensions enabled: cURL, GD, GZIP, PDO, DOM, SimpleXML and SOAP. Also, using MemCached and mycrpt PHP extensions is highly recommended for better site performance.
- Apache Web Server >= 2.0 compiled with mod_gzip and mod_rewrite modules.
- MySQL >= 5.0 installed on your virtual server.
Update the server’s OS packages using the following commands:
apt-get update apt-get upgrade
Install PHP, MySQL and PHP modules required by PrestaShop:
apt-get install mysql-server php5 php5-cli php5-mysql php5-gd php5-mcrypt php5-memcache
Download the latest version of PrestaShop available at http://www.prestashop.com/en/download to the server and extract it using the following commands:
cd /root/ wget http://www.prestashop.com/download/old/prestashop_126.96.36.199.zip unzip prestashop_188.8.131.52.zip
Create a new MySQL database for PrestaShop on your server:
mysql -u root -p mysql> CREATE DATABASE prestashopdb; mysql> GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON prestashopdb.* TO 'prestashop'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'your-password' WITH GRANT OPTION; mysql> FLUSH PRIVILEGES; mysql> quit
Create a new virtual host directive in Apache. For example, create a new Apache configuration file ‘prestashop.conf’:
Then, add the following lines:
<VirtualHost *:80> ServerAdmin firstname.lastname@example.org DocumentRoot /var/www/prestashop/ ServerName your-domain.com ServerAlias www.your-domain.com <Directory /var/www/prestashop/> Options FollowSymLinks Indexes MultiViews AllowOverride All </Directory> ErrorLog /var/log/apache2/your-domain.com-error_log CustomLog /var/log/apache2/your-domain.com-access_log common </VirtualHost>
Run the following command:
ln -s /etc/apache2/sites-available/prestashop.conf /etc/apache2/sites-enabled/prestashop.conf
Edit the ‘/etc/php5/apache2/php.ini’ PHP configuration file and add/modify the following lines:
memory_limit = 128M upload_max_filesize = 16M max_execution_time = 60 file_uploads = On allow_url_fopen = On magic_quotes_gpc = Off register_globals = Off
Restart the Apache web server for the changes to take effect:
service apache2 restart
Move the PrestaShop installation files to the document root directory defined in the virtual host directive above:
mv /root/prestashop/ /var/www/prestashop/
Also, the webserver user (www-data) needs to be able to write to files and directories inside the ‘/var/www/prestashop’ directory, so it can easily be accomplished by executing the following command:
chown www-data:www-data -R /var/www/prestashop/
Open http://your-domain.com/ in your popular web browser and follow the easy instructions.
For security reasons, it is recommended to delete the install directory (‘/var/www/prestashop/install’) once you are done with the installation process. That is it. The PrestaShop installation is now complete.
Of course you don’t have to do any of this if you use one of our Linux VPS Hosting services, in which case you can simply ask our expert Linux admins to install PrestaShop for you. They are available 24×7 and will take care of your request immediately.
PS. If you liked this post please share it with your friends on the social networks using the buttons on the left or simply leave a reply below. Thanks. | <urn:uuid:569c706f-4a4d-4137-b1f0-60c7bd5e627b> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | https://www.rosehosting.com/blog/how-to-install-prestashop-on-an-ubuntu-14-04-vps/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560284411.66/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095124-00465-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.703663 | 1,008 | 1.5625 | 2 |
One thing that most dads and daughters can’t agree on is fashion. What’s even harder for guys to grasp — especially the ones who are into DIY buzz cuts — is hairstyling. That’s why girls leave it to mom when it comes to helping them choose and execute their favorite hairstyles.
But now, moms work outside of the home just as much as dads do, which means that mom can’t always be there to help the kids do their hair before school. Fortunately, one dad came up with the perfect solution. He learned how to do his daughter’s hair, so he decided to start a class that could help other dads do the same!
The class teaches dads how to master basic ponytails, braids, and buns.
Part of the draw is that dads nowadays want to know how to help their little girls look and feel like the princesses they are, even when mom’s not around.
But it doesn’t stop there. When dads master the art of hairstyling, it opens them up to more father-daughter bonding opportunities!
This dad was impressed with the turnout on the first day of class.
These guys can even snag an awesome goodie bag on their way out!
They’re stocked with everything they’ll need to pull off perfect styles.
Once word about this class spreads, I bet they’ll need to find a bigger space! When dad learns how to do hair, life gets a whole lot easier for everyone…especially mom! | <urn:uuid:1b4621ee-c405-41fa-bdba-3747aa055ac7> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.barnorama.com/one-dad-started-a-class-to-help-other-dads-learn-how-to-do-their-daughters-hair/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280825.87/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00207-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961156 | 322 | 1.726563 | 2 |
272 pp., 270 illus., 160 color
Edited by: Alex Krieger and David Cobb with Amy Turner
Forward by: Norman B. Leventhal
To the attentive user even the simplest map can reveal not only where things are but how people perceive and imagine the spaces they occupy. Mapping Boston is an exemplar of such creative attentiveness--bringing the history of one of America's oldest and most beautiful cities alive through the maps that have depicted it over the centuries.
The book includes both historical maps of the city and maps showing the gradual emergence of the New England region from the imaginations of explorers to a form that we would recognize today. Each map is accompanied by a full description and by a short essay offering an insight into its context. The topics of these essays by Anne Mackin include people both familiar and unknown, landmarks, and events that were significant in shaping the landscape or life of the city. A highlight of the book is a series of new maps detailing Boston's growth.
The book also contains seven essays that explore the intertwining of maps and history. Urban historian Sam Bass Warner, Jr., starts with a capsule history of Boston. Barbara McCorkle, David Bosse, and David Cobb discuss the making and trading of maps from the sixteenth to the nineteenth century. Historian Nancy S. Seasholes reviews the city's remarkable topographic history as reflected in maps, and planner Alex Krieger explores the relation between maps and the physical reality of the city as experienced by residents and visitors. In an epilogue, novelist James Carroll ponders the place of Boston in contemporary culture and the interior maps we carry of a city. | <urn:uuid:dcb1f5bb-932b-4aae-a200-27cee31db9bc> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.leventhalmap.org/content/publication-mapping-boston | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560281424.85/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095121-00333-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.938645 | 338 | 2.90625 | 3 |
Leadership Styles in Hollywood-Based War Movies: An Analysis for Motivating Young Leaders in Military Service
Kaufman, Eric K.
MetadataShow full item record
Film has a huge impact on the human mind. The major aim of this paper is to highlight the style of leadership portrayed in academy award winning war films. This can help leadership educators to incorporate specific movies in their leadership courses, particularly those for military personnel. This may motivate the young military leaders for better performance in their roles. Most of the movies portray transformational, transactional, and authoritarian styles of leadership. Looking more closely, the movie heroes are presented as transformational, ethical, transactional, situational, follower-based, and servant leaders. | <urn:uuid:69968f11-7a19-4de4-be0b-73b2029e7e5d> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/handle/10919/88828 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573760.75/warc/CC-MAIN-20220819191655-20220819221655-00674.warc.gz | en | 0.882425 | 164 | 1.835938 | 2 |
Over the 30 years of its the bone marrow/stem cell transplantation program, researchers at University of Nebraska Medical Center and its hospital partner, The Nebraska Medical Center, have forged strong partnerships with researchers around the world. As a result, many patients come from all over the U.S. and world to see medical center experts.
One example of how research plays a critical role in advancing treatment and care of patients is a recent study that shed new light on T-cell lymphoma.
“We don’t see a lot of cases of this rare kind of lymphoma, so our partnership with others around the world is one way everyone can share to advance our knowledge and help patients,” said Julie Vose, M.D., chief of the Division of Hematology/Oncology. “T-cell lymphoma is more common in other parts of the world. It’s very important that we have the resources and expertise to be able to do these types of studies. There has not been adequate information on it.”
Several different clinical trials for T-cell lymphoma currently are ongoing.
Dr. Vose, also a physician on staff at The Nebraska Medical Center, was involved in an international study that looked at 1,300 cases of T-cell lymphoma to identify which treatments were helpful and which ones weren’t. In the United States, there are about 85,000 new cases of lymphoma annually of which about 10 percent are T-cell.
It produced surprising results.
“We found that our current treatments for T-cell aren’t very helpful and that we have to look for new treatments,” said Dr. Vose, the Neumann M. and Mildred E. Harris Professor. “We were surprised to learn patients did so poorly on current treatments. We also found some new types of T-cell lymphoma from genetic information that previously hadn’t been described.”
As a result of the study, she said there will be changes in treatment.
“It’s important to tailor treatment since not all T-cell lymphomas are alike,” she said. “Some are aggressive, some slow growing. Some patients do better with certain combinations of therapies while others do better with other types of treatment. We need to understand why.”
In the past few years, Dr. Vose said two new drugs have been approved for T-cell lymphoma.
She said treatment of lymphomas have come a long way in 30 years, thanks to research. There are 50 different types of lymphoma.
“Physicians used to treat many lymphoma patients with the same treatments,” she said. “We didn’t understand that different types of lymphoma can benefit from different types of treatment. Now we know.” | <urn:uuid:535f89f1-44fe-42eb-b838-03804fd38111> | CC-MAIN-2016-44 | http://www.northplattepost.com/2013/04/01/unmcs-international-research-collaboration-sheds-new-light-on-rare-lymphoma/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-44/segments/1476988719416.57/warc/CC-MAIN-20161020183839-00365-ip-10-171-6-4.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966941 | 590 | 2.578125 | 3 |
Kanah and Peliyah, Books of
KANAH AND PELIYAH, BOOKS OF
KANAH AND PELIYAH, BOOKS OF , two of the most important compositions of pre-Safedian *Kabbalah. The former is a lengthy commentary on the commandments, the latter a commentary on the first chapters of Genesis. Though different from the literary point of view, the two books have been confused by many kabbalists, the title Kanah being attributed to both. Written by the same kabbalist, they were attributed to members of the family of the famous tannaitic figure R. *Nehunyah ben ha-Kanah, to whom some other kabbalistic writing had been attributed previously. The author introduces three generations of this family, who discuss and exchange among themselves kabbalistic ideas. The main assumption of the author is the superiority of Kabbalah, which contains the most important clues for understanding Judaism.
For many years the books were thought to have been composed in Spain, but findings of Kushnir-Oron and Ta-Shma established the Byzantine background of the books, presumably at the end of the 14th century. A study of the sources demonstrates that the anonymous kabbalist drew on a huge variety of kabbalistic sources starting from early Kabbalah, the book of the Zohar, prophetic Kabbalah, R. Joseph Gikatilla, R. Menahem Recanati, and R. Joseph b. Shalom Ashkenazi. Especially important is the impact of Sefer ha-Temunah and the kabbalistic thought in writings from its circle, plausibly produced in mid-14th century Byzantium. Also the appropriation of Heikhalot poems, late Midrashim, and Ashkenazi sources is detectable. Many of these sources were copied verbatim or with slight changes and interpolations. Despite the highly eclectic nature of these books, the recasting of the sources in a dialogue form, which uses many parables, was helpful in introducing the variety of ideas appropriated by the author to wider and variegated audiences. Together with writings from the Temunah circle, the books of Kanah and Peliyah are cornerstones of Byzantine Kabbalah as a divergent school from the Spanish center of Kabbalah, and contributed a special blend of views which underscore transmigration and cosmic cycles (shemittot), surmising that the present eon is one of stern judgment, and show special interest in Hebrew letters and divine names.
The books contain ideas stemming from earlier sources which deviate from the consensus of the main kabbalistic schools in Spain. On the other hand, they express critical attitudes toward students of Halakhah, depicted as immersed in the study of Jewish law, but enjoying a good life instead of fasting and preaching to the Jews about their plight in exile. The style of admonition and the frequent appearance of Elijah, who teaches supernal secrets, permeate the two compositions and had an impact on later writings. Because of the recurring concern with messianism and eschatology – again following earlier kabbalistic sources – the books have been seen as a very reliable source because of their mooted early date. The computation of the year of arrival of the Messiah as 1490 evoked special interest after the expulsion of the Jews from Spain.
The impact of the books on the further development of Kabbalah has been quite substantial. They were canonized already at the beginning of the 16th century, and their influence is discernible among Spanish kabbalists who were expelled from Spain and others. The most important names in this context are Johanan *Alemanno, *Moses of Kiev, Solomon *Molcho, Joseph *Caro, Solomon ha-Levi *Alkabez, Meir ibn Gabbai, Moses *Cordovero, David ibn Zimra, *Shabbetai Ẓevi and other Shabbatean figures, and some in early Hasidism. Some of its more radical ideas contributed to the rejection of the books by other kabbalists, like R. Isaac *Luria.
Sefer ha-Kanah was published in part in 1617 in Prague, in 1730 in Wilharsdorf, in 1786 in Poritsk, and in 1894 in Cracow, and in 1974 in Jerusalem. Sefer ha-Peliyah was published twice, in 1784 in Koretz and in 1884 in Premislany.
M. Benayahu, The Sabbatean Movement in Greece (Heb., 1971–1977), 350–354; T. Fishman, "A Kabbalistic Perspective on Gender-Specific Commandments: On the Interplay of Symbols and Society," in: ajs Review, 17:2 (1992), 199–245; M. Oron, "The Introduction to Sefer ha-Peliyah," in: Koveẓal-Yad Jubilee Volume, 2 (1989), 273–95; M. Kushnir-Oron, "The Sefer Ha-Peli'ah and Sefer Ha-Kanah: Their Kabbalistic Principles, Social and Religious Criticism and Literary Composition" (Heb., Ph. D. Thesis, Hebrew University, Jerusalem, 1980); S.A. Horodezky, Ha-Mistorin be-Yisrael, 4 (1952), 341–88, M. Idel, "Saturn and Sabbatai Tzevi: A New Approach to Sabbateanism," in: P. Schaefer and M. Cohen, Toward the Millennium, Messianic Expectations from the Bible to Waco (1998), 173–202; I. Ta-Shma, "Where Have the Books Kanah and Peliyah Been Composed?" in: Sefer Jacob Katz (1980), 56–63 (Heb.).
[Moshe Idel (2nd ed.) | <urn:uuid:9ae70993-a344-4541-9f95-aa5706bf9d1a> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.encyclopedia.com/religion/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/kanah-and-peliyah-books | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882570879.37/warc/CC-MAIN-20220809003642-20220809033642-00669.warc.gz | en | 0.939196 | 1,270 | 2.921875 | 3 |
Many have written to The Refiner's Fire to inquire about the start of a "day" as outlined in the Bible. The bottom line is, there is no historical evidence that God's people have observed Shabbat in any way other than from "sundown to sundown." Some verses that prove this include a couple from John, which outline the rush to get his body off the cross/stake and buried before sundown because the “Sabbath” was near.
John 19:31 And the Yehudeans, because it was the eve, said, "These bodies should not remain on their stakes because the Shabbat is dawning. " For it was a high day, the day of the Shabbat, that they entreated from Peelatos that they might break the legs of those who were nailed to the stake and take them down.
John 19:41 Now there was a garden in that place that Y'shua was executed in, And in that garden a new tomb that a man had not yet been laid in it. 42. And they placed Y'shua there because the Shabbat was beginning and because the tomb was near.
The "day" comes from scriptures like the following:
Genesis 1:5 - "Yahweh called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. So there was evening, and there was morning, one day."
Deuteronomy 16: "Neither should any of the meat which you slaughter in the evening on the first day stay all night until morning.
Nehemiah 13: 19 It came about that just as it grew dark at the gates of Jerusalem before the sabbath, I commanded that the doors should be shut and that they should not open them until after the sabbath. Then I stationed some of my servants at the gates so that no load would enter on the sabbath day.
2 Chronicles 2: 4 Here, I am about to build a house for the name of ADONAI my God, to dedicate it to him, and to burn before Him incense made of sweet spices; the house will also be for the continuing showbread and for the burnt offerings presented every morning and evening, on the shabbats, at every Rosh-Hodesh, and at the designated times of ADONAI our God. This is a perpetual regulation for Isra'el.
So a whole "day" is measured from dark - that is, sunset - to the next sunset. Therefore a full "day" is sunset, through all night, through all day, until the sun sets again. Therefore, the Sabbath begins when the sun sets on Friday, and it ends when the sun sets on Saturday. Of course, according to the Gregorian calendar, Saturday remains "Saturday" until midnight, because we must use modern civil time to determine our days which are measured from midnight to midnight....
There is another meaning of the word "day" as you can see in the scripture above: When it is light - that is, the sun is up - it is also called "day". So you must take care to determine what "day" is meant as you read the Bible. In Matthew 12:40, Yeshua is referring to "day" as in "daylight", when the sun is up. Therefore when He says "For just as Yonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea-monster, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the depths of the earth", He means "3 daytimes, and 3 night-times". In other words, 3 full days.
One problem here is that the English word "day" means both a full 24 hour day, and it means the period in which the sun is up. Another problem is that any 24 hour period is considered a "day". To explain this, try to imagine that at sunset, you are starting your clock at zero. Then, the next evening, your clock will show 23 hours and about 56 minutes have passed when the sun sets again. Just at sunset, your clock reads zero again.
This is not any different than our civil world where the clock changes from 23:59 to 00:00 during the middle of the night. Society has simply chosen to determine the "day" as measured from midnight to midnight, whereas Yahweh said it is from sunset to sunset.
How we know that God's "day" begins and ends at sunset? There are several scriptures that reveal this fact, including the following:
Genesis 1: 5 So there was evening and there was morning, one day.
Notice "evening" was mentioned first, then morning....This was repeated throughout Genesis 1 and reiterated throughout the Torah.
Leviticus 23: 27 "The tenth day of this seventh month is Yom-Kippur; you are to have a holy convocation, you are to deny yourselves, and you are to bring an offering made by fire to ADONAI. 28 You are not to do any kind of work on that day, because it is Yom-Kippur, to make atonement for you before ADONAI your God. 29 Anyone who does not deny himself on that day is to be cut off from his people; 30 and anyone who does any kind of work on that day, I will destroy from among his people. 31 You are not to do any kind of work; it is a permanent regulation through all your generations, no matter where you live. 32 It will be for you a Shabbat of complete rest, and you are to deny yourselves; you are to rest on your Shabbat from evening the ninth day of the month until the following evening.
Nehemiah 13: 19 So when the gates of Yerushalayim began to grow dark before Shabbat, I ordered that the doors be shut; and I ordered that they not be reopened until after Shabbat. I put some of my servants in charge of the gates, to see to it that no loads be brought in on Shabbat. 20 The merchants and sellers of all kinds of goods spent the night outside Yerushalayim once or twice, 21 until I warned them, "Why are you spending the night by the wall? Do it again, and I'll use force against you!" From then on they stopped coming on Shabbat. 22 Then I ordered the L'vi'im to purify themselves and come and guard the gates, in order to keep the day of Shabbat holy. My God, remember this too for me, and have mercy on me in keeping with the greatness of your grace! | <urn:uuid:719f1685-5b62-43e9-ba33-34aa2270c1be> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.therefinersfire.org/sunset_to_sunset.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560282926.64/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095122-00400-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.979716 | 1,372 | 2.859375 | 3 |
Patel: Political Ideas and Policies comprehensively presents the different facets of Sardar Patel’s political life, his ideas and their applications. The book provides a detailed analysis of his perspectives on liberal democracy, nationalism and the state—the three pillars of his political life. Patel’s role in the Constituent Assembly, transfer of power, integration of princely states with independent India and their territorial reorganization, administrative reforms, formation of the Planning Commission and creation of India’s foreign policy were decisive to the consolidation and the very survival of India as a nation. He played an equally decisive role in the formulation of India’s economic policies. After Patel’s death in 1950, his contributions to the nation have often been undermined and various negative characteristics have been attributed to him. This book aims to debunk these notions. It is based on the collected works of Patel and attempts to fill in the gap created by the absence of any significant academic work on his life and work. | <urn:uuid:22d63599-1af6-4b91-9c02-f9a3e7ae51b0> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.sagepub.com/en-us/cab/patel/book266563 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882571147.84/warc/CC-MAIN-20220810040253-20220810070253-00472.warc.gz | en | 0.975228 | 201 | 2.296875 | 2 |
This week we go searching for buried treasure — from the secrets revealed by archaeological digs to the not-so-welcome secrets hidden in hundreds of shipwreck sites off Alaska waters. We’ll find fool’s gold and real gold, too. Plus, re-burying a treasure from the past and unearthing a gem of a singer.
Download Audio (MP3, 60 min)
Host: Jessica Cochran
On Your Knees Cave
AK Contributor Jay Marble, Story
The “On your Knees Cave” on Prince of Wales Island has provided lots of clues about the animals who lived on the island in earlier times, researched by people like Jeff Heaton of the University of South Dakota. Now one clue has been returned: the remains of a human found there.
KUCB’s Anne Hillman, Story
The Aleutian Islands are rich with archaeological finds, and major digs have unearthed information about the early Alaska Natives who have lived there for nine thousand years. But some say there’s still more to learn.
- Calendar of Events (“Stevie’s Tune” by John Walsh from Oasis Acoustic Volume VI)
- Break: “Wade in the Water” by Tommy Dorsey Orchestra from A Salute to Tommy Dorsey
AK’s Ellen Lockyer, Commentary
Lockyer once found an unusual object while digging a flower bed in her garden. A WWII vintage hand grenade.
APRN’s Lori Townsend, Story
Military and other shipwrecks have left some unwelcome stuff in Alaska waters. Diver Steve Lloyd, who found the “Aleutian” steamship that sank in 1929, says it’s seeping bunker oil.
AK’s Scott Burton, Story
The old Treadwell Ditch, a flume that brought water to Juneau’s Treadwell Mine, has great historic value, and a recreational trail that runs beside it is popular with hikers like Francis Still. The Juneau group Trail Mix is trying to decide how to fix up the trail – and some would like more development.
- Break: “Gold Rush” by Nashville Dulcimers from 16 Super Hits
AK’s Ellen Lockyer, Story
Commonplace and almost worthless pyrite is often confused with gold. Ellen Lockyer speaks with geologists Dwight Bradley and Jeannine Schmidt about the similarities and differences between pyrite, often called fool’s gold, and real gold.
AK’s Bonnie Sue Hitchcock, Story
The proposed Pebble Mine is a volatile issue in Alaska. In August, state voters turned down a ballot proposition that was aimed at restricting mines in Alaska. Hitchcock speaks with Travis Rumell and Ben Knight, the producers of the documentary “Red Gold”, which seeks to educate people about the Pebble Mine.
- Music Button: “A Real Alaskan Girl” by Marian Call
APRN’s Lori Townsend, Interview
Anchorage’s Marian Call is making a name for herself as a singer and songwriter. Call is heading to points South on tour to promote her career. And she’ll be travelling in a converted bus. Townsend interviews Call about the bus.
- Closing: “Whatever Lola Wants” Slide Huxtable from Oasis Jazz Volume VII #5 | <urn:uuid:d46c111e-aa86-4719-8639-3eac46c3ac9e> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.alaskapublic.org/2008/10/11/ak-buried-treasure/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280242.65/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00074-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.89952 | 711 | 1.992188 | 2 |
Nature published an article this week with some nice infographics that illustrate the astonishing number of species considered threatened by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, which is pretty depressing, at least if you look at the vertebrates. In what was a nice surprise, they actually included data on insects in addition to the fuzzy wuzzy taxa, noting that there are currently 993 species of insects considered threatened by the IUCN.
993 species is quite a lot, right? I mean, mammals have 1,199 threatened species, and birds 1,373, so you’d be forgiven for thinking that insect conservation is actually not too far behind the curve. But what happens when you dig a little deeper into that data?
If I were to ask you what you thought the order of insects is with the highest number of IUCN listed species, I’d be willing to bet you’d guess moths and butterflies (Lepidoptera), or possibly beetles (Coleoptera). I know that’s what I assumed. I’ve prepared a few interactive graphs of my own to help break down what those 993 species are, and how they fit into the larger picture of insect diversity (hover over wedges to see percentages, and over taxon labels to find some of the smaller wedges). And surprise, it’s probably not what you were expecting.
That’s right, dragonflies, damselflies (the Odonata), grasshoppers, katydids, and crickets (the Orthoptera) together make up more than 50% of the 993 threatened insect species. Surprised?
Next, let’s examine the total number of species that have been assessed by the IUCN, which includes the 993 species listed as threatened, plus extinct species, species considered not at risk, and species where there is insufficient data to make any conclusions.
Somewhat unbelievably, 53% of all insects assessed by the IUCN belong to the Odonata. 53%. Talk about a massive skew in the data. For context, compare the IUCN’s assessment numbers to the total known diversity for each insect order.
Look at the relative sizes of the blue Odonata wedge and the red Orthoptera wedge across all three graphs: when we look across everything we know about insect diversity, 50% of IUCN threatened insects species belong to just two orders of insects, which together make up only 2.5% of the total insect diversity. Incredibly, nearly half of all known Odonata have been assessed by the IUCN. Compare that to some of the major orders (major both in the sense of diversity and ecological/economic impact), like flies (Diptera) where 8 (the Where’s Waldo slice of pie near the top of the Assessed Graph) out of the
150,000 160,000 species we have names for have been formally assessed.
8 species of flies.
What’s more, some other insect orders which you would think would be correlated to the high assessment numbers of mammals and birds, specifically their ectoparasitic lice (Pthithiraptera, here included in the Psocodea) and fleas (Siphonaptera), have been completely neglected, with only 1 louse and 0 flea species assessed. Granted not all ectoparasites have high host specificity (case in point, the Passenger Pigeon louse), but when you realize that conservationists working to save charismatic species like condors and black-footed ferrets have likely caused the extinction of their respective lice (none of which are included in the IUCN Red List by the way), and add in the fact that we’ve only described a tiny fraction of the total diversity of insects, we need to assume that the conservation status of insects is being dramatically, drastically, underestimated.
It certainly seems like conservation biologists have been preferentially looking at the bigger insects (Odonata, Orthoptera and Lepidoptera make up 75% of assessed species), and pretty much ignoring the rest. It’s hard to argue with that strategy considering how difficult it is to find, identify, and track smaller insects like beetles, flies and bugs, but if we want to give a proper status report on the state of global biodiversity, we have a lot of work left to do, and any interpretations involving insect diversity need to be taken with a goliath beetle-sized grain of salt.
And no, the goliath beetle, one of the largest insects alive today, hasn’t been assessed by the IUCN either. Go figure. | <urn:uuid:f654c653-ee14-4cfd-958f-e26eaa968ba2> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.biodiversityinfocus.com/blog/category/insects/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560281419.3/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095121-00488-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944169 | 971 | 3.53125 | 4 |
In 1985 Mike Abbott took what at the time, was the radical step of setting up as a full time green woodworker. His aim was to spread the delights of woodland crafts to enable people to regain a meaningful contact with their woody roots. Partly because of Mike’s books and courses, there has been a significant resurgence of interest in woodland crafts and green woodwork. In 2015 he embarked upon semi-retirement, setting up a condensed version of his woodland workshop in the idyllic garden, which he shares with his wife Tamsin.
Professional chair-making courses
With over 35 years experience in running courses in green wood chair-making, Mike will guide you through the process of making a chair straight from unseasoned logs. His courses have gained international acclaim, regularly attracting participants from as far afield as Japan and New Zealand as well as Scandinavia and elsewhere in Europe.
Green woodworking books
In 1989 Mike wrote his first book, Green Woodwork, which was reprinted 10 times but is now out of print. In 2002 he published Living Wood – From Buying a Woodland to Making a Chair, which has now gone to its fourth edition. Following his ’10 minutes of fame’ on the BBC2 series Mastercrafts in 2010, he published Going with the Grain – Making Chairs in the 21st century, now in its second edition.
To sign up for our newsletter click here | <urn:uuid:2e4e930f-b8f8-4b82-9a96-9d113b0db419> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://goingwiththegrain.org/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882570879.1/warc/CC-MAIN-20220808213349-20220809003349-00479.warc.gz | en | 0.976196 | 295 | 1.609375 | 2 |
This straightforward, jargon-free book provides an invaluable introduction to planning and conducting qualitative data analysis with NVivo. Written by leading authorities, with over 40 years combined experience in computer-assisted analysis of qualitative and mixed-mode data, the new edition of this best selling textbook is an ideal mix of practical instruction, methodology and real world examples. Practical, clear and focused the book effectively shows how NVivo software can accommodate and assist analysis across a wide range of research questions, data types, perspectives and methodologies. It sets out: - The power and flexibility of the NVivo software - How best to use NVivo at each stage in your research project - Examples from the authors' own research and the sample data that accompanies the software, supplemented with vignettes drawn from across the social sciences - Annotated screen shots - A website with links to data, sample projects, supplementary/updated instructions, and SAGE journal content This second edition contains new chapters on handling a literature review, visualizing data, working in mixed-methods and social media datasets, and approaching NVivo as a team. An insightful step-by-step guide to the messy reality of doing computer-assisted analysis, this successful book is essential reading for anyone considering using NVivo software. | <urn:uuid:fce94740-19aa-4a55-bc8c-a55b36b5bb1d> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | https://www.zookal.com/qualitative-data-analysis-with-nvivo-9781446256565/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280891.90/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00156-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.898782 | 254 | 1.867188 | 2 |
Tom Heath, Talis
Christian Bizer, Freie Universität Berlin
Synthesis Lectures on the Semantic Web: Theory and Technology
eBook ISBN: 9781608454310
February 2011, 136 pages
The World Wide Web has enabled the creation of a global information space comprising linked documents. As the Web becomes ever more enmeshed with our daily lives, there is a growing desire for direct access to raw data not currently available on the Web or bound up in hypertext documents. Linked Data provides a publishing paradigm in which not only documents, but also data, can be a first class citizen of the Web, thereby enabling the extension of the Web with a global data space based on open standards – the Web of Data. In this Synthesis lecture we provide readers with a detailed technical introduction to Linked Data. We begin by outlining the basic principles of Linked Data, including coverage of relevant aspects of Web architecture. The remainder of the text is based around two main themes – the publication and consumption of Linked Data. Drawing on a practical Linked Data scenario, we provide guidance and best practices on: architectural approaches to publishing Linked Data; choosing URIs and vocabularies to identify and describe resources; deciding what data to return in a description of a resource on the Web; methods and frameworks for automated linking of data sets; and testing and debugging approaches for Linked Data deployments. We give an overview of existing Linked Data applications and then examine the architectures that are used to consume Linked Data from the Web, alongside existing tools and frameworks that enable these. Readers can expect to gain a rich technical understanding of Linked Data fundamentals, as the basis for application development, research or further study.
Table of Contents: List of Figures / Introduction / Principles of Linked Data / The Web of Data / Linked Data Design Considerations / Recipes for Publishing Linked Data / Consuming Linked Data / Summary and Outlook | <urn:uuid:f9fbfe17-0726-4bc3-aa63-dfa670480c2a> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.odbms.org/2013/11/linked-data-evolving-the-web-into-a-global-data-space/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560281746.82/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095121-00286-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.853487 | 398 | 2.28125 | 2 |
Whether you are looking to lose some weight, feel better about yourself or simply take up a new activity, cycling is a great use of your time. Cycling is a fantastic hobby that you can enjoy by yourself or with friends, at dawn or at dusk and in spring or in fall. It is also a hobby that has multitudinous benefits for your health.
Alternative to running
If you are trying to shed some unnecessary pounds, running may seem like the go-to method for slimming down. However, an article from LiveStrong.org points out that cycling moderately for 40 minutes burns only slightly fewer calories than running for 40 minutes. What’s more, it is noted that cycling is easier for beginners to take up, and it is also a kinder activity for those with back and knee problems. The lack of impact also makes cycling easier on the joints, potentially helping reduce the likelihood of developing knee problems over time when compared to runners.
Decreasing reliance on vehicles
Once you become comfortable enough on the bike, you will find yourself becoming more comfortable with the idea of driving it in the presence of automobiles. Most cities and towns offer bike lanes, bike paths or sidewalks that make it easy for cyclists to navigate without fear of an accident, and thus, becoming proficient on the bike means that you will inevitably be able to forego jumping in the car for certain trips. Once you retire, you may even be able to sell your vehicle in favor of riding your bike as your primary source of transportation.
According to the National Center for Biotechnology Information, an increase in physical activity consistent with shifting from driving a vehicle for short trips to riding a bike for similar trips results in an estimated 3 – 14-month gain in life expectancy. This increase in life expectancy would likely only increase exponentially if cycling is used as a means to increase cardiovascular strength, muscle and joint solvency, while also removing excess body fat and keeping weight low.
Better brain health
The benefits of cycling are not just felt in your muscles and joints, but also in your brain. According to Shape.com, a number of studies indicate that cycling improves both the integrity and density of the brain’s white matter, which improves the speed of connections between white matter and grey matter. Additional studies found that cycling for approximately three months’ time led to an increase in the mood, memory and stress-regulating brain-derived neurotropic factor. Riding a bike and taking in the surroundings can be a stress-reducing and mood-enhancing experience, and these studies indicate that doing so will make you sharper and happier from a mental perspective.
If you are considering taking up cycling, there are plenty of reasons to follow through. The benefits are great in number, and you will likely experience those benefits within just a few days’ worth of riding. | <urn:uuid:9f0f0872-7860-41e5-bc2f-6e1be66ee357> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | https://www.cardinalbank.com/resource/-health-benefits-of-cycling-/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280410.21/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00456-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962466 | 575 | 2.5 | 2 |
TESOL TEFL Reviews - Video Testimonial - Marli
In this TEFL review, Marli from South Africa tells us she is heading to South Korea to teach English now she has completed her TEFL course online with ITTT. To help her as she starts her teaching career abroad Marli has compiled the materials from the 120-hour TEFL course for use in her lessons in South Korea.
Below you can read feedback from an ITTT graduate regarding one section of their online TEFL certification course. Each of our online courses is broken down into concise units that focus on specific areas of English language teaching. This convenient, highly structured design means that you can quickly get to grips with each section before moving onto the next.
I have 5 cameras and can have groups of 2 make short films or take photos for class discussio.
I like the idea of incorporating projection and computers to aid in the teaching of the class as wel.
This unit was important in highlighting the various facets and hurdles for both the teacher and the new learner in teaching/learning a languag.
Specifically this unit is helpful in assisting a new learner to thoroughly integrate themselves into an English learning cours.
This unit ephasizes on teacher's competence and learner's responsibilities for a successful knowledge acquisitio.
Ä° have learned to do these in the unit lesson;
1. Context presentation
2. Classroom engaging activities
3. Thoughtful questions
4. Student evaluation | <urn:uuid:0ce63c90-9a96-44ab-ac79-7aefb4e9be02> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.tesolonline.com/tesol-videos/video-testimonials/tesol-tefl-reviews-video-testimonial-marli/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573197.34/warc/CC-MAIN-20220818124424-20220818154424-00669.warc.gz | en | 0.947839 | 305 | 1.554688 | 2 |
Every few months, you may hear the phrase “we’re entering earnings season” as you read financial news.
But what exactly is “earnings season” and why is it important to Wall Street?
Earnings season is the period of time when a majority of publicly traded companies release their quarterly financial reports. Companies often go into great detail about the forces that influenced their business for the prior three months, and some may provide guidance about what lies ahead.
Typically, earnings season starts several weeks after the calendar quarter comes to a close. For example, earnings season for the second quarter starts in mid-July. The majority of companies are expected to release their earnings over the next six weeks. In the calendar-quarter ended March 31, 2020, 90 percent of the companies in the Standard & Poor’s 500 reported financial results by May 15, 2020.1
For years, the nation’s largest banks have kicked off earnings season. Banks are an important economic bellwether since they touch every part of the U.S. economy.2
Following the banks, a wide variety of individual companies start to release results. Wall Street analysts prepare forecasts for many companies, and investors may reward companies that report numbers above expectations. Similarly, investors may lose confidence in some companies that come in below the consensus.
As earnings season gets underway, you can expect to hear some upbeat comments about the quarter. But you should also brace for some negative reports. If you hear some commentary that is confusing, talk to your trusted financial professional. They will welcome the chance to talk about what earnings are saying about the overall economic outlook.
Investment advisory services are offered through Trek Financial, LLC., an SEC Registered Investment Adviser. Information presented is for educational purposes only. It should not be considered specific investment advice, does not take into consideration your specific situation, and does not intend to make an offer or solicitation for the sale or purchase of any securities or investment strategies. Investments involve risk and are not guaranteed. Be sure to consult with a qualified financial adviser and/or tax professional before implementing any strategy discussed herein.
1-FactSet.com, May 15, 2020
2-MarketPlace.org, July 13, 2020
Trek FG 20-95 | <urn:uuid:a33b3898-90d6-49d6-8839-03ce4270833d> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://trekinsights.com/what-is-earnings-season/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882571536.89/warc/CC-MAIN-20220811224716-20220812014716-00271.warc.gz | en | 0.962947 | 465 | 1.820313 | 2 |
Scheme according to which the first complex molecules could have been formed within a day-night cycle (Graphic: Brookhaven National Laboratory)
How simple molecules evolved into more complex variants that could self-replicate? Researchers provide a surprising new answer
The search for the origin of life is much more complicated than the search for a needle in a haystack: The researchers have to search for a needle, of which they do not know exactly what it looks like, in a haystack that existed 4 billion years ago and of which no one has taken a photo. Worse, even the exact conditions on the early earth are not known with certainty today.
For example, when did the magnetic field that protects the surface from some of the cosmic rays develop?? Nevertheless, there are a few clues, because at least the final result of the development is known. We know that DNA and RNA are the foundations of life. There was probably a time when the simpler RNA dominated the "RNA world".
But there had to be preconditions for its formation as well. The atmosphere of the earth, as much as we know, consisted of methane (CH4), ammonia (NH3), water and hydrogen. Energy was added in the form of powerful electrical discharges – and the result was an experiment by Harold Urey and Stanley Miller that was sensational in its time. In 1953, the two researchers showed that amino acids – the building blocks of life – can be formed from substances in the Earth’s atmosphere when energy is added.
The existence of amino acids is not enough yet
Only a year ago, researchers showed with the help of computer simulations that the sequence of events recreated in the Miller experiment was not only a possibility, but must necessarily have taken place in this way – provided that the circumstances were actually as is now assumed with a high degree of certainty (evolution in the primordial soup).
But the existence of amino acids is not yet enough for life to come into being. The self-duplication of life today is carried out according to a very successful and at the same time safe scheme: We have a polymer strand, which serves as a pattern for duplication. But this seems to be a chicken-and-egg problem: no pattern, no duplicate.
This was exactly the question that researchers Sergei Maslov and Alexi Tkachenko from Brookhaven National Laboratory asked themselves with the help of a computer simulation. The result has now been published in the Journal of Chemical Physics.
A compelling development
The surprising answer: In this case, too, it can be shown that the development is, to a certain extent, obligatory. The chicken definitely hatches even without an egg, and it has no other choice. The physicists show that, under certain conditions, polymers are automatically formed in a soup of simple molecules – and with them a kind of memory.
The researchers base their system on a simple day-night cycle. During the day, more complex molecules break up into smaller ones, and at night they come together again. In the simulation, a process now takes place that could very well have led to the emergence of life: The molecular strings that remain at the end of the day serve as patterns for new molecules at night, so that the length of the strings gradually increases.
Already a small amount of more complicated molecules is enough to start this process. A special molecule is not required – this kind of chemical evolution would be possible with RNA as well as with DNA (or other forms which we do not know, but which could have existed until they were wiped out by RNA and DNA life). | <urn:uuid:90dc2b8e-3fe4-4384-8faf-cc72e290efe9> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://journal-healthmanagement.com/the-origin-of-life-without-egg-to-chicken.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882571056.58/warc/CC-MAIN-20220809155137-20220809185137-00666.warc.gz | en | 0.972903 | 733 | 3.578125 | 4 |
Caritas appeal for Burkina Faso
March 26, 2012
The Church’s confederation of relief and development agencies has launched a $2.3-million appeal for Burkina Faso. Nearly two million people face the prospect of famine in the sub-Saharan nation.
“Today, we are witnessing thousands of people who eat only one meal a day,” said Father Isidore Ouedraogo, executive secretary of Caritas Burkina Faso. “By intervening now, Caritas will help them survive the lean season when the lack of food is most acute.”
All comments are moderated. To lighten our editing burden, only current donors are allowed to Sound Off. If you are a donor, log in to see the comment form; otherwise please support our work, and Sound Off! | <urn:uuid:0da0db7a-de64-479b-a803-4f14ddedecba> | CC-MAIN-2016-44 | http://www.catholicculture.org/news/headlines/index.cfm?storyid=13787 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-44/segments/1476988720380.80/warc/CC-MAIN-20161020183840-00055-ip-10-171-6-4.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.916341 | 172 | 1.578125 | 2 |
Enjoy the Wild Summer Weather With a Well-Maintained Roof Over Your Head
The warm summer weather makes this an ideal season for doing roofing repairs and maintenance. Summer weather can also be hard on your roof, with the extreme heat, humidity, torrential downpours, and wild and windy storms. So on a nice sunny day, go out and take care of your roof so you won’t have to worry about it during heavy rains and thunderstorms. Stay ahead of the wild weather this summer by making necessary roofing repairs and following these maintenance tips.
Do a Visual Inspection
You can safely inspect your roof from the ground, using binoculars if needed. Look for any damage to your roof, missing or broken shingles, debris, and moss or fungus growth. Also, be sure to inspect the flashing on your roof—that is the metal strips that are around chimneys, vents, skylights, and any other parts on the roof that are sticking out.
If you want to do a thorough inspection, you can use a ladder or get the help of roofing professionals to do the work for you. If there is any damage to your roof, make sure to get the necessary roofing repairs completed as soon as possible to avoid further damage, such as water damage to your home from leaks in the roof.
Look Under the Eaves
Debris, such as leaves, branches, and dirt may have built up under the eaves during the winter and spring. It is important to clean this area out, however, proceed with caution because this is a popular spot for nests—especially wasps nests.
Inspect the Gutters
Make sure your gutters are sturdy and in good condition. Gutters can loosen over time from heavy rains and winds, winter and summer storms, and the weight of ice and snow, so it is important to tighten the bolts when this happens. Since gutters are in place to direct water away from your home, they should be in their proper position and should be cleaned of any debris so they can work efficiently. Wear gloves to pull out debris from the gutters, and run water through the gutters with a hose to thoroughly clean them.
Once the necessary maintenance and roofing repairs are completed, keep an eye on your roof occasionally throughout the summer—especially after big storms. A well-maintained roof will keep you and your home protected from the extreme summer weather and throughout the rest of the year. | <urn:uuid:48a55729-d210-443d-97cc-2f5bc1a3df7e> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://toituresdf.ca/en/roofing-repairs-and-maintenance-for-summer/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572215.27/warc/CC-MAIN-20220815235954-20220816025954-00678.warc.gz | en | 0.953137 | 505 | 1.539063 | 2 |
France’s national railroad operator, SNCF, spent approximately $20 billion on 2,000 new trains that they just now discovered can’t fit into many of the nation’s existing train stations.
And the French government can’t exactly return the sizable locomotives, Gizmodo reported.
Known as “trains express regionaux,” the new trains are too wide to pass through thousands of stations that they were supposed to be able to service, according to the Guardian.
Why? Because the national rail operator, RFF, relied on station information dating back to only 30 years.
“Unsurprisingly, older stations are a little more… compact. Indeed, it was found that they were so narrow that two of the new trains—which are already being built ready for use in 2016— would be unable to pass alongside each other on adjacent lines,” Gizmodo reported.
Here’s what an RFF spokesperson told The Guardian:
It’s as if you have bought a Ferrari that you want to park in your garage, and you realise that your garage isn’t exactly the right size to fit a Ferrari because you didn’t have a Ferrari before. We discovered the problem a little late … we are making our mea culpa.
And because the French government can’t exactly return the trains, it has agreed to undertake a project valued at nearly $70 million to enlarge nearly 1,300 station platforms throughout the country.
“That’s a fairly hefty proportion of the 8,700 platforms total in France. Add to that the fact that the trains are supposed to enter service in 2016, and it seems that there’s no shortage of engineering work to get underway,” Gizmodo noted.
Follow Becket Adams (@BecketAdams) on Twitter | <urn:uuid:80e08970-84a2-408b-aed6-dfe10cf0b411> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2014/05/21/france-just-dropped-billions-on-new-trains-that-have-a-problematic-design-flaw/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280718.7/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00405-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96046 | 389 | 2.015625 | 2 |
“Even before He made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ…” (from Eph. 1:4)
It is our identity that defines our reason for existence. Why we are here must flow from who we are – and from our intrinsic value.
The most substantial reason for rejecting evolutionary thinking is that it can provide no meaning or purpose to our lives. It dwells in the arena of existence without any reason behind that existence. If there is no reason, then there is no purpose – and ultimately, my existence is irrelevant. Whether I exist or not, doesn’t matter. Whether you exist or not, doesn’t matter either. We just happened. So the question of why we are here is moot. It’s a question we shouldn’t even bother asking.
But deep within all of us is this undeniable sense that we want, even need, for our existence to matter. We need to know that we are not just taking up space and using up resources for no reason at all. I have found no logical reason for this underlying “sense” unless there is something or someone that desires that I seek for an answer to that question.
The Bible tells us that there is Someone. This Someone created us, and values us, and seeks for us to find Him. And when we find Him, we not only discover that He loves us, but He also has a reason and purpose for our existence.
None of us are here by accident. We were God’s idea (from before the very creation of the earth). Think about that. God had you and me in Mind, before He ever spoke anything into existence. We are not just a product of life and living – we were a thought in the imagination of our Creator from the beginning of all things.
God creates nothing without purpose. Sometimes, we may not readily see that purpose, but every created thing was thought up by God… and performs some purpose designed by that Creator. And in the grand scheme of creation, we see so many things that exist with a dependence upon other things that exist… that exist upon still other things. All these things work together to form the diversity of the workings of our world – and provide a suitable environment for US to exist.
If nothing exists without a purpose… neither do I. Neither do you. Neither does any person who has ever existed… or who will exist.
The goal of life, then, is to discover my Creator and His purpose in my life. This purpose is best discovered by a relationship with my Creator – and the Bible clearly tells us that there is only one way to do that.
The sole purpose of why Jesus came was to provide a way back into loving relationship with our Creator. Once in that kind of relationship, we can begin to unfold the mystery behind our existence, our value, and our purpose.
Only Christianity can bring us into the fullness of understanding behind who we are and why we are here on this earth. Only Christianity can provide a meaningful answer to how we got here, why we are here, and how to know the One behind all our questions. | <urn:uuid:fe8694a5-5af8-42d3-be8b-13a967593da4> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://theheartseeker.wordpress.com/2017/12/25/why-be-a-christian-why-am-i-here/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882570793.14/warc/CC-MAIN-20220808092125-20220808122125-00674.warc.gz | en | 0.967854 | 650 | 1.53125 | 2 |
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