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Automobile collisions may result from many different factors. Some common causes may be due to drivers who may be distracted or failing to comply with traffic laws. A car crash that results in a fatality may prompt the deceased victim’s family to inquire about their legal options. A New Jersey family is likely examining their options after a man was recently killed by another driver.
Police stated that the victim was outside the South Amboy YMCA when the collision occurred. He was standing outside his car, attempting to secure his child’s seat belt when the driver believed to be responsible crashed into him and his vehicle. Reports indicate that the driver was on his way to pick up his own child at the time.
The victim passed away as a result of his injuries, while his daughter was taken to the hospital for minor injuries. The driver was also hospitalized and is in stable condition. Authorities are looking into the possibility that the driver may have had a medical emergency in the minutes prior to the incident. However, the ultimate cause has yet to be determined and police are continuing to investigate.
Though nothing can replace a lost life, families facing similar situations may find some closure through filing wrongful death lawsuits in civil court against anyone believed to be at fault for a car crash. This type of lawsuit may provide plaintiffs with monetary damages that can be used to cover the costs of medical bills, funerals and other documented damages. Those interested in learning more would likely benefit from consulting experienced New Jersey personal injury attorneys.
Source: nbcnewyork.com, “New Jersey Dad Struck, Killed By Car While Buckling 6-Year-Old Daughter’s Seat Belt“, Brian Thompson, Jan. 30, 2018 | <urn:uuid:906ca15c-f320-423a-b18e-b5be522ea21b> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.currantriallaw.com/blog/new-jersey-man-killed-in-car-crash-while-buckling-in-his-child/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572198.93/warc/CC-MAIN-20220815175725-20220815205725-00269.warc.gz | en | 0.985858 | 349 | 1.53125 | 2 |
COCO-MAT, a leading company in the field of sleep products, supports the people in Northern Evia, who were afflicted by last summer’s devastating fires, offering mattresses and free stays at the company’s hotels.
Specifically, mattresses, bedmattresses and bed linen were delivered by COCO-MAT directly to the people in need, mostly in the areas of Skepasti, Rovies and Mantoudi, in the island of Evia. The company also made its hotels available to families that were rendered homeless by the fires, for as long as necessary, in order to repair their homes or make other arrangements.
In accordance with the principles of social responsibility and contribution which are central to the company’s philosophy, COCO-MAT extended to local beekeepers, access to its facilities and equipment, so as to repair hives damaged by the fires, as well as access to its network of suppliers and associates, in order to boost their sales.
Also, in view of salvaging and making use of the burnt trees and in collaboration with local Mayor Georgios Tsapourniotis, the company intends to use the inner part of the burnt trees which often retains the required characteristics (specific gravity, durability, density etc.) as raw material for the construction of wooden items, in an effort to promote the sustainable management and restoration of the burnt forest areas.
In the words of Mr. Paul Evmorfidis, one of COCO-MAT’s founders: “Offering support and meaningful assistance to fellow human beings who find themselves in dire positions, is everyone’s duty, including companies’ which operate within society as an integral part and often possess mechanisms which enable them to offer effective aid. The untold devastation caused by the recent forest fires in northern Evia, which afflicted both the people and the environment, raised a flag for us here at COCO-MAT. We felt it was a call to action, and we had to respond fast and with determination. It was the least we could do.” | <urn:uuid:84efa560-9a23-4317-9fa9-5ef90742fba1> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.coco-mat.com/gr_en/2022/02/coco-mat-supports-families-afflicted-catastrophic-fires-northern-evia-greece/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573193.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20220818094131-20220818124131-00472.warc.gz | en | 0.973568 | 427 | 1.5625 | 2 |
(The following is a repost from earlier since there was a time mix-up and why rewrite everything? More time for the Mrs. and such after all.)
What’s coming up? Let’s plunge into the Deeper Waters to find out.
If there’s any dark spot in the history of America, it’s slavery. When we think about the Civil War, we think about slavery. While it was defended and sadly, even an organization like the SBC was founded to defend it, today, you will have a hard time finding anyone who supports the practice.
Yet we find so many people talking about it today for one reason. It’s in the Bible! When we read the Bible, it looks to many people like God approved slavery. Does that mean what went on in the Civil War had his stamp of approval? How are we to understand texts in the Bible about slavery?
After all, the text says at times that you can beat your slave if he is disobedient. It says that a person who leaves his master will not be able to take his wife and kids with him. It says that slaves can be bought from the surrounding nations and they are slaves for life.
Can we defend any of this? Is this what we can expect from the supposed loving God revealed in Jesus Christ? Surely God could have given us a better system than this couldn’t He?
To discuss these matters, I’m bringing on a specialist in slavery in the Bible with an emphasis on the Old Testament. We’ll be talking about the Bible and slavery. Did what happen in the Bible match the New World scenario? What was life like in the Ancient Near East? Does that make a difference when it comes to slavery? To discuss these questions, I’m bringing on Richard Averbeck to discuss them.
So who is he?
According to his bio:
Richard (Dick) grew up on a dairy farm in Wisconsin and came to know the Lord when he was 18 years old at the University of Wisconsin, River Falls. About two years later (January, 1972) he transferred to Calvary Bible College in Kansas City where he began his academic study of the Bible, theology, and the biblical languages (Greek and Hebrew). It was there that he met his wife, Melinda.
After his graduation from College in 1974 Richard and Melinda were married and moved to Grace Theological Seminary in Winona Lake, Indiana. In 1977 Richard completed the Master of Divinity program at the Seminary and they moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to pursue the Doctor of Philosophy program in ancient Near Eastern Studies and biblical Hebrew at the Dropsie College for Hebrew and Cognate Learning (now known as the Annenberg Research Institute of the University of Pennsylvania).
In 1980 Richard completed his class work for the Ph.D. degree and they moved back to Grace Theological Seminary where he took a position as a professor of Old Testament Studies and taught until 1990. During that time Richard and Melinda became the parents of two boys, Nathan and Micah. They now have two grandsons: Jaycob 17 and Levi 4 ½. He finished his dissertation on the Gudea Cylinders, a long Sumerian temple building hymn (from about 2100 BC), and received the Ph.D. degree from Dropsie in 1987.
From 1987 to 1989, while continuing to teach full-time in Old Testament Studies at Grace Theological Seminary, Richard engaged in the study of biblical counseling under his colleague at the Seminary, Dr. Lawrence J. Crabb, Jr. He received the Master of Arts in Biblical Counseling (MABC) degree in 1989, and is presently a “Licensed Professional Counselor” in the State of Wisconsin. From 1990 to 1994 Richard taught full-time at Dallas Theological Seminary in the fields of Old Testament Studies and Biblical Counseling, and carried on a part-time private counseling practice. In 1994 the Averbecks moved to Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin for Richard to take-up his present ministry as a full-time professor in the Old Testament and Semitic Languages Department at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (TEDS), Deerfield, Illinois. In 2010 he also took on the Directorship of the PhD program in Theology Studies at TEDS.
Richard was the Director of the Spiritual Formation Forum for about ten years from 1997 to 2007. The major concern of the Forum was to assist in the development of spirituality and spiritual formation ministries in Evangelical Christian institutions such as Seminaries and Graduate Schools, Colleges, International Ministries, Campus Ministry Groups (on secular campuses), and Church Denominations as well as individual local churches. Richard continues to preach, teach, and publish in the field of Spiritual Formation.
Richard has published numerous articles in the fields of ancient Near Eastern Studies, especially Sumer and Sumerian literature, the relationship between ancient Near Eastern Studies and the Old Testament, the Old Testament Law, especially the ritual law and priestly theology of the Old Testament (Leviticus, the tabernacle, the sacrificial system, etc.), the latter in Walter Elwell’s Dictionary of Biblical Theology(Baker, 1996); Willem VanGemeren’s New International Dictionary of Old Testament Theology and Exegesis (Zondervan, 1997); and David W. Baker’s and T. Desmond’s Dictionary of the Old Testament: Pentateuch(InterVarsity Press, 2003). He was Chair of the Biblical Law Section of the Society of Biblical Literature from 2004 to 2010, and serves on several other professional society committees. Richard also co-edited and contributed to Crossing Boundaries and Linking Horizons: Studies in Honor of Michael C. Astour on His 80th Birthday (Bethesda, Maryland: CDL Press, 1997), he was the main editor and a contributor to Life and Culture in the Ancient Near East (Bethesda, Maryland: CDL Press, 2003), has published on the Gudea Cylinders and Sumerian Creation Texts in The Context of Scripture volumes 2 and 4 (the latter forthcoming), and has published numerous other articles in these fields.
In recent years, Richard has become engaged in the renewed scholarly discussion about the early chapters of Genesis. He was one of the five main speakers at the Bryan Institute symposium on reading Genesis 1-2, September 29-October 1, 2011, Chattanooga, Tennessee, along with Todd Beale, C. John Collins, Tremper Longman III, and John Walton. Richard’s chapter is entitled: “A Literary Day, Inter-Textual, and Contextual Reading of Genesis 1 and 2,” in Five Views on Genesis 1 and 2, ed. Daryl Charles (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, forthcoming 2013). He is also the author of “The Three ‘Daughters’ of Baal and Transformations of Chaoskampf in the Early Chapters of Genesis,” in Chaoskampf in the Bible and the Ancient Near East, ed. JoAnn Scurlock (Winona Lake, Indiana: Eisenbrauns, forthcoming 2013). Most recently he has been appointed a co-director of the “Evangelical Theology and the Doctrine of Creation Project” funded by the Templeton Religion Trust through the Henry Center for Theological Understanding at TEDS.
Richard is currently committed to several book writing projects including: A Priestly Theology of the Old Testament; The Old Testament Law and the Christian; A Rest for the People of God: Reading the Old Testament for the Christian Life; and commentaries on the books of Leviticus (in the Evangelical Exegetical Commentary forthcoming from Logos Research Systems) and Numbers (in the Biblical Theology for Christian Proclamation Commentary Series forthcoming from Broadman & Holman).
I hope you’ll be looking forward to this episode. If you’ve done any internet discussions on Christianity, you’ve probably come across this topic. May this episode equip you to better understand the Bible and slavery. Please also go on iTunes and leave a positive review of the Deeper Waters Podcast. | <urn:uuid:27a74436-7338-49cd-8cd1-6d980d02777e> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.deeperwatersapologetics.com/2019/04/04/deeper-waters-podcast-462019-richard-averbeck/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882570868.47/warc/CC-MAIN-20220808152744-20220808182744-00068.warc.gz | en | 0.949741 | 1,689 | 1.75 | 2 |
9 ways Unit Testing improves your product quality
Testing and development have forever been in war. It is obvious that Testing helps reduce errors and redundant tasks, but the amount of effort required to be put be each one is different and there is where the pressure to implement unit testing into the development process comes into action and actually makes more sense.
Testing helps to find out bugs and move the development of new functionalities. And unit testing validates that your functionalities work well in the best and worst of use cases.
What freedom does Unit Testing give you?
1. Reduce Time
Piled up dev and QA cycles slow down legacy systems. Codes written without detailed tests make it easier to change codes making it difficult to stick to timelines
Agility comes as a difficult thing with most legacy systems. Most of the times it becomes a burden to change codes on which applications and businesses run. Properly tested codes do very little to break existing functionality.
3. Quality Assured
To ensure that development teams do not release buggy codes so that QA doesn’t come up to be expensive and heavy on the pocket, unit testing helps to avoid this exact scenario where we take prevention to be better than cure. Unit testing helps to improve performance of product
Test case scenarios are much better than 1000s of lines of technical documentations. Developers need to work with code examples and snippets rather than documents which hold a lot less practical value.
5. Practical Value
Unit test gives you much needed practical visual information whether that button is giving you the kind of result its supposed to when you click on it. The best thing about unit tests is that the documentation also shows how your code is supposed to behave. It is like e reference point and standard for your teammates, that come in handy very often.
Testing helps in easy change of codes because you know exactly at what point it will break the functionality. With extensive test coverage it is easier to explore new functionalities and features without fearing about introducing new bugs, you know where to roll back to. Legacy systems that have poorly tested units keep making systems more bulky to the point of breakage and it becomes utterly difficult to scale the platform.
7. Code Refactoring
Testing helps in restructuring existing code —changing the factoring— without changing its external behavior. It speeds up system without any visual changes so that you can changes the way your program is designed but with little or no effect to existing functionalities.
8. Tests actually help Programmers
Ideal scenarios are very very different than practical ones and real world issues make it difficult to deal with them. Difference in operating systems, mini and micro bugs, stupid rules often make peculiar errors which is avoidable with Unit Testing
9. Testing is way important than you think
Testing is considered to be less important when you think about development and are given to the less experienced programmers. But coming up with various test scenarios can be tough too. Testing is not ticking on a written checklist, it is not monkey job. In a lot of cases writing automated tests is harder than coding and requires experience.
Testing tends to slow you down if you are doing units testing class-by-class or methods. You need to invest good time to write some quality tests. But with time it becomes a more trusted method because you worry less about breaking existing codes while you add new functionalities.
"Imperfect tests, run frequently, are much better than perfect tests that are never written at all" | <urn:uuid:d736a287-77f9-459a-b24f-51052e7e0029> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.valuebound.com/resources/blog/9-ways-unit-testing-improves-your-product-quality | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572286.44/warc/CC-MAIN-20220816090541-20220816120541-00269.warc.gz | en | 0.937891 | 721 | 2.140625 | 2 |
Historic artefacts tucked away in archives have inspired tradesmen for a new series of documentaries. BEN HOLGATE found out how ancient Oxfordshire trades are still alive
CHIPPING away at a bulk of limestone, Ducklington sculptor Alec Peever is working on something a little bit different.
He is creating a war memorial tablet – but not just for any serviceman.
This work is inspired by Oxford’s oldest known resident, a Roman soldier who died more than 2,000 years.
The specialist project was commissioned for a series of documentaries, following local tradesmen using traditional skills to recreate historic artefects.
Oxfordshire Army Cadets helped come up with the layout for the tablet, which was inspired by the tombstone of Roman Lucius Valerius Geminus.
Sculptor Mr Peever said: “I based it on a traditional Roman design. It reflects back.”
The documentary series was part of a three-year project, called History in the Making, which looks at “production and manufacturing in the county”.
It took Mr Peever 20 days to make the tablet, which is half a metre by half a metre.
The sculptor used Clipsham limestone from Lincolnshire because “the local Oxfordshire stone is poor quality if you’re trying to get a large slab”.
He encouraged the cadets to come up with floral designs and the wording of the phrases inscribed onto it.
The first two, meaning “to the memory of”, are from the Latin inscription on the soldier’s tombstone: “Dis manibus. To those men and women of Oxfordshire who have lost their lives in armed conflict.”
The tombstone that inspired the tablet was excavated at the site of the Roman fort near Bicester in 2003. It included personal items – allowing historians to gather information about the soldier.
Lucius Valerius Geminus is the earliest county resident experts know anything about.
The tablet is to be erected in the garden of the Oxfordshire Museum, in Woodstock, alongside a replica of the soldier’s tombstone.
Oxfordshire Museums Service commissioned the documentaries to shine a light on some of their archived items.
County collections project officer Anna Griffiths said: “It’s the earliest biography that we’ve got of somebody living in Oxfordshire.”
The project also includes exhibitions and events, and is funded by an £80,000 grant from the Arts Council England as part of the ASPIRE programme.
Each of the three documentaries has a connection with an artefact belonging to the museum: the Roman tombstone replica, an ancient sword and rowing oars.
The three films, which were created by Oxford-based filmmaker Sharon Woodward, are being shown on the Community Channel on Sky and Virgin Media.
She worked with Mr Peever, oar-makers and a blacksmith to find out more about skills, passed down the generations.
Ms Woodward said: “These people are so passionate about crafting. I filmed somebody shaving an oar over and over, and it was amazing to see how delicately he did it.”
Mr Peever’s story will be broadcast in June, together with Unearthing the Anglo Saxons, which is about blacksmithing.
The oar makers documentary was screened last week.
Stonemason whose skills are in high demand
FOR sculptor Alec Peever, pictured, his skills are even older than the Roman soldier who inspired his stone tablet.
The methods he uses to create his works are steeped in ancient history.
The 59-year-old said: “The technique hasn’t altered in three thousand years,”
“It’s using a steel chisel, sharpened and flattened.
“You bash it with a hammer and carve out the numbers. It’s a very particular skill.”
Mr Peever, of Ducklington, is also an expert in the ancient discipline of lettering, drawing characters by hand in pencil before carving them out on stone.
“It’s a process not dissimilar to water colour painting.”
Mr Peever sees himself as an artist. “I design and make everything myself. It’s a creative life.”
Almost 40 years ago, he became interested in sculpture and stonemasonry, after working as a sign painter.
But since then he has found that stonemasonry has become “one of those dwindling professions” due to mechanisation.
He knows of only five other artist stonemasons in Oxfordshire, although more are employed in the building trade.
His trade has taken him throughout the UK and across to Europe and the US, making gravestones, monuments for churches, sculptures, and even gargoyles on the Bodleian Library.
He also made the 90 plaques that make up the Diana Princess of Wales Memorial Walk across St James’s Park, Green Park, Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens in London.
X-ray vision needed to recreate sword
Blacksmith Stuart Makin, below, only makes swords “very occasionally”, so his commission for the Unearthing the Anglo Saxons documentary provided a particular challenge.
His task was to recreate a sixth-century sword found near Watchfield in the 1980s that had been forged with a herringbone pattern.
The trouble was, the sword is so old its design has eroded, and much of it can only be detected through X-rays.
Mr Makin, 26, of Wroxton, near Banbury, said: “I made a design that was as close to a replica as I could make it.” It took two weeks for him to use the ancient art of pattern welding, in which two or more different grades of steel are heated and twisted into patterns.
For this particular sword, Mr Makin used high carbon and mild steels, with the softer metal dissolved by acid in order to create the designs.
Mr Makin, whose company Iron Forged Designs is located in Brackley, caught the blacksmith’s spark, so to speak, over a decade ago.
“I saw someone doing it at a village fete and I wanted to have a go,” he said. “It’s the combination of being able to make things with my hands and the design form as well.”
The artistry – if not alchemy – involves “the transformation of what goes into the fire and what comes out after the work”.
“You don’t have to be particularly strong, it’s more the endurance.”
Although Mr Makin has a BA with a blacksmithing major from the Hereford College of Arts, he said there are no recognised trade apprenticeships available.
He believes a general crafts revival over the past two decades has benefited blacksmiths, with more people now wanting to buy, or commission, bespoke products.
Most of his work involves traditional and contemporary blacksmithing of garden objects, gates and furniture, as well as historical replicas.
Making the perfect oar is an awesome business
Hand-crafting oars and masts is so demanding that Jeremy Freeland, pictured, estimates only one-in-10 young employees who start at his company stick it out.
“You’ve got to have a natural ability,” said the managing director and owner of Collars, which is based in Dorchester on Thames.
“It’s not an easy job, not everyone makes it. It’s very hard, physical work.”
He claims an apprentice will take three to five years to become fully proficient.
Although the specialist oars and masts that Collars produces are initially fashioned by machines, they are finished off by hand.
“It’s all bespoke. That’s why you can’t mass-produce them out of China.”
Collars’ team of ten people “take a lot of pride in what they make,” he added.
The firm makes up to 900 oars a year, with each pair taking around a day to shape.
Some masts can take up to four months to complete.
It’s the straightness that’s the secret, and where “the black art that we’ve perfected over the years” comes in.
That’s why only two types of wood are used – Douglas fir and Sitka spruce – both of which are grown in North America.
Oxford-born and raised, the 43-year-old said: “They’re slow grown with beautiful, straight grain timber.”
Mr Freeland, who lives in Wallingford, bought the company in 2002 after training as a boat builder.
Collars was established in 1932 in Oxford by Frank Collar, to repair oars for the Oxford University rowing club boathouses.
For three decades from 1952 it supplied oars for the Olympic Games.
Since the 1980s, however, following the introduction of carbon fibre rowing oars, most of the company’s sales have been masts and booms.
Up to 20 per cent of its sales are now exports, to places such as France, Scandinavia, the US, Brazil and Australia.
“They come to us because we’re specialist. There’s very few of us left worldwide.”
Mr Freeland appears in The Oxfordshire Oar Makers documentary with Lee Gabel, who recently left the company after 14 years to become an Anglican priest.
He has been replaced by Roland Harris, a Collars veteran of two decades who rejoined the firm after a break of 15 years.
“Roland is one of the old school,” said Mr Freeland. “These days it’s hard to get the young lads to put in the work.” | <urn:uuid:c8c36ffb-b773-4c3e-9aea-475d5ed14e4d> | CC-MAIN-2016-44 | http://www.witneygazette.co.uk/news/11191682.The_modern_revival_of_ancient_arts_and_crafts/?ref=var_0 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-44/segments/1476988720026.81/warc/CC-MAIN-20161020183840-00456-ip-10-171-6-4.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963512 | 2,118 | 2.625 | 3 |
B. F. Skinner (1909-1990) was a prominent professor of psychology at Harvard (1958-1974) and a founder of Operant and Behavioral Psychology. I revisited his work while researching my paper, “Violence, mental illness and the brain — A brief history of psychosurgery” for Surgical Neurology International (SNI). Although more than 40 years have elapsed since publication of his book and my study of the subject in college, it deserves a reappraisal since history seems to repeat itself because man forgets, insisting on reinventing the wheel for his fellowman’s edification or his own vanity.
Besides, Skinner’s 1957 book, Verbal Behavior, was reprinted in 1992 and in the last decade has been resurgent in psychological research and applications. And even more revealing, in a 2002 survey Skinner was listed as the most influential psychologist of the 20th century.
In his book, Beyond Freedom and Dignity (1971), B.F. Skinner waged war against the cherished Western concept of individual freedom and the dignity of man. Again and again, he assailed and derided “the literature of freedom and dignity” and the concept of “autonomous man,” as enemies of progress. And yet his book was well received and became a best seller, presumably because the subtle use of behavioral controls and regimentation of society appealed to academics, as well as to authoritarian collectivists on the left and law and order “conservatives” on the right, in the wake of the upheaval and disruptive turbulence of the 1960s and the fads for novelty that followed in the 1970s.
Early in his book Skinner mentions Rene Descartes (1596-1650), the philosopher who propounded behavior could be explained as human responses to environmental stimuli, man as a machine, a veritable mechanical automaton. This idea of automata came about after Descartes’ fateful visit to the Royal Gardens of France. Visitors entering the garden, Skinner now quotes Descartes, “necessarily tread on certain tiles or plates which are so disposed that if they approach a bathing Diana, they cause her to hide in the rose bushes, and if they try to follow her, they cause a Neptune to come forward to meet them, threatening them with his trident.” This was done by hidden valves and hydraulic machines triggered by the visitors treading on stepping-stones in their path. But this Cartesian explanation of man as a machine, said Skinner, was a simplistic notion, “a false scent from which a scientific analysis is only recovering.”
It was Russian physiologist Ivan Pavlov (1849-1936) who was on the right track when he developed classical conditioned reflexes in animals, experiments that developed into the “full-fledged stimulus-response psychology,” and which became the impetus for the future behavior modification techniques, which would, in turn, become the basis for Skinner’s concept of social contingencies of reinforcement for reshaping society.
Operant conditioning, according to B. F. skinner (1937) is a type of learning by which the behavior of individuals is modified by its consequences —i.e., contingencies of reward (positive) or punishment (negative) reinforcement. In classical conditioning, on the other hand, reflexive behavior is conditioned by antecedent conditions. Extinction of behavior occurs in previously conditioned responses, when the behavior no longer is positively or negatively reinforced in operant conditioning, or no longer preceded by a specific stimulus in classical conditioning.
Thus the environment can be manipulated, and operant psychology used, as a “technology of behavior” to redesign a new and “better” society; but problems remained for Skinner in how “to dispose of the autonomous man” mentality of Western culture that upheld traditions.
Obstacles have presented themselves in the form of traditionalists, theologians and philosophers, who have reconciled predestination with free will, just as the ancient Greeks explained away destiny and the will of the gods with personal freedom. Even Sigmund Freud (1856-1939), a determinist who believed that acts of the will and social changes were determined by preceding natural events, presented obstacles with his theory of the unconscious and mental processes. And it troubled Skinner that Freudian analysts “erroneously” continued to assure their patients of their own free will, as if they were “the architects of their own destinies.”
According to Skinner, operant conditioning plays a larger role in the survival of organisms and evolution than the supposedly innate “fight or flight” reactions of animal or man. Over the centuries, contended Skinner, man has modified his behavior to escape or avoid aversive stimuli, such as pain or injury, which act as negative reinforcements, and in the way man has developed patterns of social organization, but there is no innate, aggressive instinct, as such, leading to fight or flight responses. In operant conditioning, a reward is positive reinforcement, while punishment is the negative reinforcement. Man can be made to behave as society (government) wishes with the proper formulation of social contingencies of reinforcement; thus “it should be possible to design a world in which behavior likely to be punished seldom or never occurs.”
The defenders of freedom and dignity, Skinner correctly observed, object to solving problems in this fashion because of the impositions made against personal freedom and individual autonomy, not to mention the diminution of self-worth (dignity) in the “automatic goodness” generated by operant conditioning. Skinner saw nothing wrong with this, and neither did the British educator, Thomas Huxley (1825-1895), grandfather of Aldous Huxley and famed defender of Darwinian evolution in England. Skinner thus quotes the Darwinian educator: “If some great power would agree to make me always think what is true and do what is right, on condition of being some sort of a clock and wound up every morning before I got out of bed, I should close up instantly with the offer.”
But Skinner also had opponents who had already pointed out that goodness, like dignity and liberty, waxes as visible controls wane. Skinner bemoaned the opinion of John Stuart Mill (1806-1873), the British economist and freedom philosopher (but who later turned to utilitarianism), when Mill declared, “the only goodness worthy of the name was displayed by a person who behaved well although it was possible for him to behave badly and that only such person was free.”
The environment is all. Juvenile delinquency and alcoholism do not improve by raising the level of responsibility affirmed Skinner, “it is the environment which is responsible for the objectionable behavior, and it is the environment, not some attribute of the individual which must be changed.” Moreover, in aggressive or sexual behavior, “what must be changed is not responsibility of autonomous man, but the conditions, environmentally or genetically, of which a person’s behavior is a function.”
Freedom defenders should realize that citizens are already under strong societal “controls,” and people, including children, get along with others because they are forced to do so, not because of inner goodness, but because they are under the control of social contingencies of reinforcement, “and in many ways [citizens in democratic societies] are more effectively controlled than those in a police state.”
Freedom then, in Skinner’s world of operant psychology, is a deceptive and dangerous illusion. And for him a supposedly permissive government, said to govern least (e.g., laissez faire and the invisible hand of the free market) is a government that “leaves control to other sources.” Skinner thus expounded, “a free economy does not mean the absence of economic controls because no economy is free as long as goods and money remain reinforcing.” If an unplanned economy and the invisible hand of the free market have produced economic prosperity, political freedom, and advances in science and technology, intimated Skinner, “there is no virtue in an accident as such. The unplanned also goes wrong.” As can be deduced by his opinions and logic, Skinner made no quantitative or qualitative distinctions between compulsory, authoritarian government controls and the voluntary interactions of the free market, as if there was social, economic, political, and moral neutrality between the two systems!
Nevertheless, a better world can be designed to make people do what they ought to do, but social contingencies must be changed for political ones, using “stronger reinforcements with the sharpening of the contingencies.” Old controls may be reactionary, but even worse is any move toward fewer controls and more individualism and freedom. Strangely enough, while proscribing individualism as the enemy, Skinner in chapter 6, “Values,” used altruism and “for the good of others” as examples of motivational failures, as if they were the only paradigms upon which man is motivated to work for societal goals. Obviously, this is a straw man argument to beat on senselessly, because there are other ethical and moral paradigms used by good, moral citizens — namely, idealism, pragmatism, and individualism. The existence of the latter two ethical paradigms should be completely obvious to Skinner because William James’ (1842-1910) legacy was known to the author as a fellow psychologist at Harvard only a generation earlier, and James was the well-known founder of pragmatism as an ethical philosophy; and individualism was Skinner’s unrelenting nemesis.
We must forget Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalysis, the Interpretation of Dreams, and unconscious mental processes, the superego (conscience), the ego, and the id; forget George Orwell’s (1930-1950) Animal Farm, 1984, and other literary masterpieces describing the evils of totalitarian controls and the authoritarian, collectivist utopias; and forget Dante’s Inferno and Milton’s Paradise Lost, and even Dostoyevsky’s Notes, Crime and Punishment, and other literary admonitions of the traditionalist classics about the frailty of man and the need for religious morality. Instead, pay heed and take steps to improve society and redesign culture, using contingencies of reinforcement following the path of Plato’s ideal Republic, Robert Owens’ New Harmony utopian community in 1821 Indiana, Skinner’s own behavioral utopia, Walden 2 — and of course Aldous Huxley’s (1894-1963) ultimate (dys)topia, Brave New World (1932).
Skinner reassures us the relationship between the controller and the controlled is reciprocal, reminding us “we must not overlook the control exerted by the pigeons” [upon the scientist in the laboratory]! And that ultimately, because of the reciprocal relationships, “in a very real sense, then the slave controls the slave driver.” Once again, we are reminded, despite what we have been led to believe by the literature of freedom and dignity, that George Orwell’s teachings of the Ministry of Truth are veracities: “Weakness is Strength”; “War is Peace”; and “Freedom is Slavery”!
People are not compassionate because of autonomous man but because of the contingencies of reinforcement from the environment that generate benevolent behavior and “makes [controlled people] wise and compassionate.” What is needed is not more religious teachings or invocations to civic duties and responsibilities, but “more ‘intentional’ control, not less, and this is an important [social] engineering problem.” Moreover, “adventitious” contingencies from accidental (non-intentional) reinforcement can support existing behaviors and bring in “superstition” with disastrous consequences for unplanned cultures. Suffice to say, Skinner was terrified by the literature of freedom and dignity and the free, autonomous individual in an unplanned society. And so Skinner was compelled to condemn such literature that threatened the evolution of culture towards a truly utopian society to be created by the new controllers in his own image.
And yet it is, in part, social contingencies of reinforcement dreamed up by demagogues and pandering politicians and constructed by social engineers, playing the role of the experimenters in Skinner’s planned society, that have created the dependency and entitlement mentality of the welfare state, the lowering of standards in the public education system, the lack of innovation, and other iniquities that plague American society in the 21st century. It was in Skinner’s own time that a planned society was promoted with determined intensity and government power — i.e., the great economic experiments of the Great Society of President Lyndon B. Johnson (U.S. President 1963-1968). The Great Society led to or at least intensified the turbulence of the 1960s, which in turn led to the false premises and general solutions of Beyond Freedom and Dignity.
I write “general solutions” because Skinner never tells us what contingencies of reinforcement he would use in different situations, for example, workers who are indolent; people who refuse to work because it’s easier to receive unemployment benefits or welfare checks than working; students who refuse to study; taxpayers who can no longer afford to pay their taxes; criminals who refuse to obey laws and become repeat offenders, etc. We must assume Skinner would let the planners design the contingencies of reinforcement. But if history is any guide, the planners and social engineers have already been busy and their labor has borne bitter fruit as we have seen with the myriad of social programs, alphabet soup agencies, and the general growth of government since the days of the Great Society.
Free market economists have taught us that what we subsidize, we get more of, but to no avail. Government has expanded the rolls of the dependent population by positively reinforcing idleness, corruption, mendacity, single families, broken families, crime, and even the poverty they had intended to eradicate. The Great Society and the myriad of government programs in its wake were designed by the social engineers to eliminate poverty and eliminate inequalities but they have had unintended consequences despite government planning and good intentions. More people are dependent on government than ever. And so the ranks of the productive citizens in the U.S., for the first time ever, is shrinking, while the dependent population and the welfare rolls have swollen exponentially. Skinner should have foreseen this, and yet he wanted the state to arrogate itself even more power, as to reconstruct culture and build a supposedly better society!
And so Skinner believed that more “progress” needed to be made in the right direction, beginning with the 19th century notion of man as a machine, and to do this, the abolition of the autonomous man —“which has long been overdue” — needed also to be accomplished. The operant psychology laboratory needed to further analyzed man’s behavior in mechanical terms and create new technologies of behavior. In his titanic battle against autonomous man and literature (and the defenders) of freedom and dignity, Skinner wanted to eradicate the old mores and traditions of Western civilization, eliminate liberty, as outdated, and ultimately replace the autonomous man for the behaviorally conditioned, automated man. Legions of automatons could then be created for the state, operant automatons, without free will, who do as they are programmed and respond only to planned environmental contingencies and positive and negative reinforcements.
Skinner mentioned a few little utopias that were created over the centuries and admitted they invariably failed, but only because the contingencies of reinforcement were not properly planned. And he is careful not to mention the mendacious socialist workers’ paradises, the horrendous planned collectivist societies of his own time, the failed totalitarian experiments of Nazi Germany, the gulags of the Soviet Union, the laogai slave labor camps of China, the re-education facilities of Cuba and North Korea, etc., where the new socialist man failed to materialize, but in his stead millions of his fellow citizens perished — in the killing fields of their own governments.
I am not implying Skinner had conscious totalitarian designs, but I am asserting that ideas have consequences and that history is a better guide than good intentions. As C. S. Lewis (1898-1963), who Skinner cited in a different context as a defender of the literature of freedom and dignity, once wrote: “The greatest evil is not now done in those sordid ‘dens of crime’ that Dickens loved to paint. It is not done even in concentration camps and labor camps. In those we see its final result. But it is conceived and ordered (moved, seconded, carried, and minuted) in clean, carpeted, warmed and well-lighted offices, by quiet men with white collars and cut fingernails and smooth shaven cheeks who do not need to raise their voice.” We can more apropos substitute Skinner’s well-equipped operant laboratories for the “well-lighted offices” for the same effect.
Skinner’s book was a sensation. It had come out at the right time, in an impressionable country, in a receptive academic world. As time passed, the novelty and shock of his ideas abated. Ronald Reagan presided during the 1980s bringing about a new optimism to America. The Berlin Wall came tumbling down in 1989. And the world rejoiced. But despite the collapse of Soviet communism in 1991 and the consequent, incredible amount of freedom gained and exercised since then in large parts of the world, Americans, ironically, have lost a considerable amount of freedom. This has been the case, in part, because of the 9-11 tragedy and “the war on terror,” but also because of the insatiable growth of government at the expense of political liberty and economic freedom. And many Americans have not only given up liberty for security but also a considerable amount of dignity, succumbing to the positive social reinforcements and allure of government dependency, wasted idleness, entitlements, becoming the new unintended automatons of the 21st century.
1. Skinner BF. Beyond Freedom and Dignity. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., 1971, p. 14-15.
2. Ibid., p. 18.
3. Ibid., p. 59-61.
4. Ibid., p. 62.
5. Ibid., p. 66.
6. Ibid., p. 70.
7. Ibid., p. 71.
8. Ibid., p. 85-86.
9. Ibid., p. 92-93.
10. Ibid., p. 154.
11. Ibid., p. 113-114.
12. Ibid., p. 110-120.
13. Ibid., p. 162-163.
14. Ibid., p. 168-169.
15. Ibid., p. 191.
16. Lewis CS. The Screwtape Letters. New York: MacMillan Publishing Company, 1961, p. x.
Written by Dr. Miguel Faria
Miguel A. Faria, Jr., M.D. is Clinical Professor of Surgery (Neurosurgery, ret.) and Adjunct Professor of Medical History (ret.) Mercer University School of Medicine. He is an Associate Editor in Chief and a World Affairs Editor of Surgical Neurology International (SNI), and an Ex-member of the Injury Research Grant Review Committee of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). 2002-05; Former Editor-in-Chief of the Medical Sentinel (1996-2002), Editor Emeritus, the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS); Author, Vandals at the Gates of Medicine (1995); Medical Warrior: Fighting Corporate Socialized Medicine (1997); and Cuba in Revolution: Escape From a Lost Paradise (2002).
This article may be cited as: Faria MA. A critique of psychologist B. F. Skinner’s Beyond Freedom and Dignity. HaciendaPublishing.com, March 12, 2013. Available from: https://haciendapublishing.com/a-critique-of-psychologist-b-f-skinners-beyond-freedom-and-dignity.
Copyright ©2013 Miguel A. Faria, Jr., M.D. | <urn:uuid:7bc0cc20-f8b7-4b35-8d92-8628bd5006bc> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://haciendapublishing.com/a-critique-of-psychologist-b-f-skinners-beyond-freedom-and-dignity/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882571502.25/warc/CC-MAIN-20220811194507-20220811224507-00074.warc.gz | en | 0.946656 | 4,300 | 2.671875 | 3 |
(Medical Xpress)—Researchers from the University of Tokyo have uncovered the physical layout of a transmembrane protein that the tiny organism Archaea relies on to keep toxins out of its cells. The protein, the team explains in their paper published in the journal Nature, is also believed to be responsible for preventing the porting of therapeutic drugs into the cell body, stopping their usefulness.
Transmembrane proteins are members of a type of protein family called multidrug and toxic compound extrusion transporters (MATEs)—they're located in the membranes of cells and their purpose is to protect the cell from intrusion by toxic materials. To do so, they carry only molecules identified as safe through the membrane into the inner portion of individual cells. Researchers are keen to gain a better understanding of MATEs because they are believed to also sometimes block therapeutic drugs that are meant to enter cells to help fight off infections or some cancers. In this new effort, the research team has mapped the configuration of a MATE in an Archaea, which the team believes will help in doing the same for cells in humans.
Specifically, the team found that the MATEs under study were shaped like the letter "V" and were positioned with the open end facing outwards. They believe that when a toxic molecule moves into the valley of the "V," one of the straight walls bends outward, pushing the toxin away. This is the third mapping of a MATE—prior research by other teams has found the configuration of two other bacteria cells.
The research team also discovered a certain peptide that was able to get in the way of the MATE doing its job, possibly leading to the creation of a drug that can block MATE activity long enough to allow beneficial drugs to enter cells in need of help. The team points out that the peptide in their study hasn't been found to be useful in humans, but its discovery leads to hope of finding one that will, which in the long run would help patients' cells accept beneficial drugs. Once that happens, they add, it will still have to undergo extensive testing to ensure it doesn't also cause harmful side effects, such as triggering an immune response.
Explore further: New research looks at novel ways to combat drug resistance
More information: Structural basis for the drug extrusion mechanism by a MATE multidrug transporter, Nature (2013) doi:10.1038/nature12014 . http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nature12014.html
Multidrug and toxic compound extrusion (MATE) family transporters are conserved in the three primary domains of life (Archaea, Bacteria and Eukarya), and export xenobiotics using an electrochemical gradient of H+ or Na+ across the membrane. MATE transporters confer multidrug resistance to bacterial pathogens and cancer cells7, thus causing critical reductions in the therapeutic efficacies of antibiotics and anti-cancer drugs, respectively. Therefore, the development of MATE inhibitors has long been awaited in the field of clinical medicine. Here we present the crystal structures of the H+-driven MATE transporter from Pyrococcus furiosus in two distinct apo-form conformations, and in complexes with a derivative of the antibacterial drug norfloxacin and three in vitro selected thioether-macrocyclic peptides, at 2.1–3.0 Å resolutions. The structures, combined with functional analyses, show that the protonation of Asp 41 on the amino (N)-terminal lobe induces the bending of TM1, which in turn collapses the N-lobe cavity, thereby extruding the substrate drug to the extracellular space. Moreover, the macrocyclic peptides bind the central cleft in distinct manners, which correlate with their inhibitory activities. The strongest inhibitory peptide that occupies the N-lobe cavity may pave the way towards the development of efficient inhibitors against MATE transporters. | <urn:uuid:0f2dc87b-c36b-40fb-9b6d-298b19ae52f2> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | https://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-team-uncovers-transmembrane-protein-partly.html | 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 | 0.943686 | 827 | 3.8125 | 4 |
Globalfoundries, the former manufacturing arm of AMD, is expecting to roll out its
32nm bulk process technology later this year. This will enable the foundry to manufacture chips for third-party customers in 2010.
Globalfoundries, the manufacturing joint venture between Advanced Micro Devices and Advanced Technologies Investment Company, plans to obtain bulk 32nm process technology already this year and be in position to manufacture chips to its third-party customers in 2010. If the company is successful, then the new contract maker of semiconductors will quickly find itself competitive against large contract makers, such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. or United Microelectronics Corp.
IBM, who is heading technology development of technologies in its bulk process alliance, has already produced first experimental SRAM chips using 32nm process technology in Q4 2008 and currently it is expected that its partners, including Globalfoundries, will be ready to produce 32nm chips in Q1 2010. | <urn:uuid:bad1fa38-c977-47ab-baa8-7b9605c5f9d0> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | https://www.dvhardware.net/article34244.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280292.50/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00339-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951687 | 197 | 1.773438 | 2 |
From running to jumping to squatting, there are tons of movements where strong quads come in handy. So taking the time to target this muscle group through quad exercises is always a good idea.
First though, let’s get clear on what, exactly, your quads actually are. Your quads (technically known as quadriceps femoris) are the front muscles of your legs, Ava Fagin, C.S.C.S., sports performance coach at Cleveland State University, tells SELF. They’re called quadriceps because they involve four different muscles: rectus femoris, vastus lateralis, vastus medialis, and vastus intermedius.
Together, your quad muscles are the primary driver of knee extension (basically, any move where your leg goes from bent to straight ) and they also play a big role in hip flexion (essentially, anything that involves bringing your leg closer to your chest) ), Fagin explains. That means your quads assist in loads of everyday movements, like walking, running, lunging, squatting, and climbing stairs.
Here, we explain everything you need to know about strength training for your quads, including what causes weak quads, how to boost your quad strength at home, and ways you can bolster this muscle group without doing squats. Then, we share 15 of the best quad exercises that will smoke the tops of your legs. Consider this your go-to guide on all things quad-related!
How can I make my quadriceps stronger?
You can make your quadriceps stronger by incorporating quad strengthening exercises into your routine. It sounds obvious, but, well, it’s actually that simple.
If you’re a beginner, doing bodyweight quad moves or leg exercises can be challenging enough to strengthen your quads, says Fagin. But if you’re a more advanced exerciser, you may find that you need to add external resistance, like through free weights, to your moves to feel that same amount of effort. That’s because to strengthen a muscle, you need to progressively challenge it—that’s what we call progressive overload. Often, we get that progressive overload from gradually increasing the amount of weight we lift.
So if your goal is to really strengthen your quads, an easy… | <urn:uuid:34d87f4d-736f-4890-be05-9b37a0ad7079> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://buyblackallyearlong.com/15-quad-exercises-that-seriously-smoke-the-tops-of-your-legs/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882571150.88/warc/CC-MAIN-20220810070501-20220810100501-00665.warc.gz | en | 0.928666 | 483 | 2.03125 | 2 |
Category: Crafts and Hobbies|
The author of the book: Sue Ripsch
Format files: PDF, EPUB, TXT, DOCX
The size of the: 917 KB
Edition: Kalmbach Books
Date of issue: 31 December 2013
Description of the book "Classic Chain Mail Jewelry with a Twist":Building on the popularity of her best-selling Classic Chain Mail Jewelry, Sue Ripsch offers exciting new variations on many popular chain mail weaves that will tempt motivated beginners and experienced jewelry makers alike. This book features 30+ weaves for earrings, bracelets, necklaces, and more, all conveniently arranged by skill level. And here's the twist: Jewelry makers will learn how to break up links, turn them 90 degrees, or use multiple weaves in the same piece, ensuring their approach to chain mail will never be the same.
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Under cover of darkness, 50 tons of gold worth some $2.1 billion was lifted by US helicopters from the al-Baghouz area in Syria’s Deir Ezzor according to state run news agency Sana.
The gold was transported to the U.S. military base in Kobani and then left for the United States with a portion of it given to the Kurdish led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) which have been fighting ISIS.
Sana claims a deal was struck which spared hundreds of ISIS field leaders and experts in return for the gold, citing unnamed local sources.
Voice of America (VoA) previously reported that “the U.K.-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), told VOA that it had confirmation from the ground that IS was holding 40 tons of gold bars in Syria.”
“This gold was stolen from the Central Bank of Mosul, from the economy in Syria that was under the control of IS, and from the selling of Syrian and Iraqi antiquities, like smuggled antiquities from Palmyra that were sold to smugglers and traders through Turkey,” Rami Abdulrahman, head of SOHR, said.
It’s unclear how many ISIS fighters were let go, with no official confirmation of this alleged deal as it stands, but SOHR previously said:
“The U.S.-led coalition forces and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) deliberately do not target the areas under the control of the ISIL terrorists and commanders in Eastern Euphrates in Deir el-Zour as they are trying to locate this treasure by forcing the ISIL militants to speak about its location after surrendering.”
With the treasure now seemingly located and transported out of the country, the final assault has begun with 15,000 SDF forces moving into the northeast Syrian village of Baghouz.
An evacuation of civilians was previously underway, with 50,000 mostly women and children streaming out of Baghouz since December.
An estimated 3,000 ISIS fighters are determined to fight to death according to SDF, with the last battle now unfolding.
Previous reports have suggested that ISIS raised funds in bitcoin with Europol stating they had asked for bitcoin and Zcash donations.
Reported crypto amounts, however, have been very small with ISIS at its height making most of its revenue from clandestine oil sales or looting of newly occupied areas.
The stupendous hotness of the region would have made crypto mining very difficult, with any bitcoin coming from sparse donations due to the public nature of the blockchain.
There are suggestions some of these donations may have been used to buy hosting for ISIS affiliated websites, but most of their funds were clearly held in gold or in cash.
That gold has now been seized with it unclear whether US is to hold it or return it to Mosul. Just as it is unclear how the peace can now be won if the war is indeed over. | <urn:uuid:bfc4f3ae-4d59-43f8-9c55-e9de559371be> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.trustnodes.com/2019/03/02/us-seizes-2-1-billion-isis-gold-no-bitcoin?replytocom=2075 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882571950.76/warc/CC-MAIN-20220813111851-20220813141851-00674.warc.gz | en | 0.976119 | 620 | 1.554688 | 2 |
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Hand guards are devices worn by athletes in artistic gymnastics. Various types of hand guards are used by gymnasts:
Grips are used on the uneven bars, high bar, still rings and parallel bars to enhance the gymnast's grip and, in the case of bar exercises, to reduce friction between the gymnast's hands and the bar.
Braces do not offer the gymnast any performance advantage, but help to prevent injury by providing support and lessening impact on the wrists and hands.
Wrist guards are usually worn by male gymnasts performing on the pommel horse, and sometimes by female gymnasts on the floor exercise or vault.
View More On Wikipedia.org | <urn:uuid:7e3dc4fc-bce0-46eb-a909-02aab86b7f00> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | https://www.northwestfirearms.com/tags/hand-guard/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280761.39/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00096-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939199 | 191 | 1.945313 | 2 |
Decorating is a big part of the holiday season. This year, give your Christmas tree a whimsical feel and a personal touch by creating DIY ornaments.
Crafting ornaments is a fun project that forms new family memories. It also adds a personal touch to the holiday season.
Ornaments come in all shapes and sizes and often tell stories of holiday traditions. There are several ways to create personalized, do-it-yourself ornaments and leave cheap, easily broken ones from the dollar stores behind. We’ve compiled four ideas for you below:
Fun photo ornaments showcase how a family has changed and grown over the years. Glue a photo to a ceramic ornament and cover it with decoupage glaze to set it permanently. Purchase clear, glass ornaments, remove the top (which is usually spring-loaded), and slip a photo inside. To finish, replace the top. Another way to create a photo ornament is to laminate a picture, punch a hole in the top center and affix a big red ribbon.
The popularity of paint-it-yourself pottery has led to an increase in ceramic and craft shops across the country. During the holiday season these shops offer holiday items that can be painted and fired, rendering a shiny and hardened finish for display. Bless Your h’Art Pottery in Georgetown is a local paint-it-yourself shop.
If you paint at home, visit a local craft or hobby shop and buy acrylic paints to decorate the ornaments. A finishing coat of clear glaze protects the ornaments for years to come, so your child can enjoy them with their grandchildren one day.
Many craft centers have expanded to include sections devoted to unfinished wood items. You can purchase and finish everything from letters to animal cutouts, boxes and rocking horses. Turn keepsake boxes into painted and ribbon-adorned gift boxes. Stain a treasure chest to store reindeer snacks for Santa’s crew. Turn small decorative pieces into ornaments for the tree. Paint and affix wood initials onto stocking holders to identify to whom each stocking belongs. Crafty individuals also can create clever signs from plain wood plaques with catchy sayings, such as “Park your sleigh here.”
Scavenge around the house
Young children can use any medium for making ornaments. Garlands made of macaroni or popcorn are traditional. Sew and stuff fabric scraps with potpourri for homemade scent satchels. Or laminate hand-drawn pictures and hang on the tree.
With the tips above, the only obstacle with regard to DIY ornaments is a limited imagination! | <urn:uuid:d4a2a89e-a13b-49b6-a779-274ee3d8cf31> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://frankthemagazine.com/make-holiday-ornaments/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573908.30/warc/CC-MAIN-20220820043108-20220820073108-00267.warc.gz | en | 0.92058 | 568 | 1.515625 | 2 |
The Story of Purpose: The Path to Creating a Brighter Brand, a Greater Company, and a Lasting Legacy
Some ideas are bigger than others, and the Master Idea—your company's purpose—is the biggest. Whether addressing communication between leadership and associates, suppliers to manufacturers, sales force to customers, or brand to consumers, The Story of Purpose details a proven methodology for businesses, small to large, how to build a purpose-inspired organization to positively impact employees, customers, and the bottom line. It reveals the process for uncovering what makes a company distinctive and guides you to discover the fundamental force behind the organization that no competitor can replicate or replace.
- The Story of Purpose incorporates stories of purpose from Procter & Gamble, McDonald's, Newell Rubbermaid and many more purpose-driven companies. These stories come to life in a comprehensive book that promises to guide, inspire, and transform your organization
- Offers a blueprint for creating powerful internal and external messages for current and future customers, employees, and shareholders
The Story of Purpose will leave you asking yourself "what gets me up in the morning?" instead of "what keeps me up at night?"
About the Cover xiii
Foreword Philip Kotler xv
I THE PURPOSE: PUT HUMANITY BACK IN BUSINESS 5
1 The Purpose of Work Is to Work on Purpose 7
2 Purpose-Inspired Leadership 17
3 The Master Idea 33
II THE BLACK BOX OF STRATEGY 41
4 Ethos: The Fruits Are in the Roots 43
5 Culture: Creating the Cult in Your Culture 53
6 Values: Your Most Valuable Asset 67
7 Strategy: The Plan to Win 80
8 Tactics: All You Need Is Love 99
III PURPOSE, INC.: HOW TO INCORPORATE PURPOSE INTO YOUR BUSINESS 115
9 Investigation 119
10 Incubation 131
11 Illumination 146
12 Illustration 161
IV CREATING A LASTING LEGACY 175
13 The Road to Camelot 177
14 A World on Purpose 195
Epilogue: Collective Purpose Is Our Saving Grace 209
About the Author 223
JOEY REIMAN is founder and CEO of the global consultancy, BrightHouse, a company whose mission is to bring purpose to the world of business. Reiman has emerged as the leading expert in the area of purpose-inspired leadership, marketing, and innovation. His breakthrough purpose methodology and frameworks have been adopted by top firms, including Procter & Gamble, The Coca-Cola Company, McDonald's, Nestlé, MetLife, SunTrust, Michelin, and many other Fortune 500 companies. Fast Company named him one of the 100 people who will change the way the world thinks. Reiman is married to women's activist Cynthia Good. They have two sons, Alden and Julien, and reside in Atlanta, Georgia.
THE STORY OF PURPOSE: The Path to Creating a Brighter Brand, a Greater Company, and a Lasting Legacy
By Joey Reiman, CEO & Founder of BrightHouse
"We need the Purpose 500, a catalog of companies that are doing well by doing good—because it will be these companies that bring back business for good." - Joey Reiman
As CEO & Founder of BrightHouse, a global consultancy located in Atlanta, GA - Joey Reiman’s mission is to bring more purpose to the world of business. Since 2001, he has been teaching Ideation and Purpose to MBA and BBA students at Goizueta Business School at Emory University.
After 30 years of consulting for companies, Reiman has seen a common trend among those struggling - they all tend to focus on the bottom line, and according to Reiman - “Brands that focus only on the bottom line hit bottom first”. Joey Reiman coaches companies to understand their purpose and ultimately determine why they are here and what it is they are meant to do.
Reiman shares his Master Ideas in the book, The Story of Purpose: The Path to Creating a Brighter Brand, a Greater Company, and a Lasting Legacy (WILEY; December 2012; Hardcover & E-Book; ISBN:978-1-1184-4369-9; $27.95). He details a proven approach to engage and align leadership and associates, suppliers and manufacturers, a sales force and customers, and brands and consumers through a higher purpose.
Named by Fast Company as “one of the 100 people who will change the way the world thinks” - Reiman believes an organization’s Master Idea or purpose has the power to propel any company to its fullest potential.
Successful companies like The Coca-Cola Company, McDonald’s, Newell Rubbermaid, and Procter and Gamble stand for something greater by doing good from the inside-out, beginning with their employees. When Nike said, Just Do It, the company put a voice to the belief that human beings have no limits. When Disney asked people to wish upon a star, they instantly established the powerful idea that life is magical.
The Story of Purpose teaches readers how to uncover what makes their company distinctive and discover the fundamental force behind the organization that no competitor can replicate or replace.
Through stories of purpose and best practices from McDonald’s, Newell Rubbermaid, Procter & Gamble and many more purpose driven companies, The Story of Purpose helps readers guide inspire, and transform their organization by learning how to:
- Discover, articulate, and activate a Master Idea
- Move from a brand to a stand, and turn purpose into practice
- Lead with purpose and become the moral center of their company
- Define the organization’s culture around shared beliefs
- Build a family of employees first and a company second
This book offers the opportunity to ignite spirits, liberate creativity, and unleash compassion for others, while driving dramatic business results. Instead of focusing on what keeps them up at night, The Story of Purpose will leave readers asking, “what gets me up in the morning?”
Joey Reiman has written a clear roadmap to help anyone get on the right path, do good in the world, and ultimately leave a lasting legacy for generations to come. | <urn:uuid:a4a4f3e2-896e-4ee9-9db0-1ebe32110d1c> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-1118443691.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280266.9/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00500-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.909675 | 1,278 | 1.734375 | 2 |
Posted at 4:23 pm on 11/19/2014 by Dr. Rahul Razdan
The current trend in the world of website development is toward mass customization through the use of content management toolkits such as Wordpress. What do we mean by “mass customization?” Every website is built with a different layout and functionality. This article argues that building websites using this model is very counterproductive for the vast majority of small business firms. In fact, this approach actually impedes the generation of economic value. Why? There are three significant reasons.
Read the full article, click here. | <urn:uuid:f2a54518-91d2-4c81-ad0d-f766168a27c3> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | https://www.ocoos.com/me/gainesville-web-design/blog/web-templates-for-small-business-is-the-web-industry-leading-you-in-the-wrong-direction-2888 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280900.71/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00008-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942709 | 121 | 2.09375 | 2 |
Our Vision & Values
- To deliver a high standard of training for those serving the community. CTRC’s training will be viewed as the benchmark for other providers to follow.
- To provide a model of care that is holistic, flexible and accessible.
- To adopt a person-centred approach that listens to and addresses the complexity of needs that each individual brings.
- To care for vulnerable adults in a safe environment
- To encourage lifestyle changes and personal development to our service users
- To provide short breaks and supported living accommodation.
- To promote employment opportunities that will enrich personal lifestyles to enable our service users to become valued citizens.
- To provide a service that is specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and reproducible.
- We believe good quality care encompasses the emotional, physical and social well-being of the learning disabled person, which is what we strive for.
- We believe that family and friends play an integral and irreplaceable role in supporting the emotional and social well-being of the person with a learning disability.
- We believe is our responsibility to provide a care service that delays the need for admission to residential care and thus keep the user in the community for as long as they desire.
- We believe that clients should have control over their own lives and make informed decisions that are important to them. | <urn:uuid:f957922e-cc86-4b79-9540-47e922800d2c> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | http://www.ctrcservices.com/our-vision/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882571536.89/warc/CC-MAIN-20220811224716-20220812014716-00274.warc.gz | en | 0.937552 | 279 | 1.742188 | 2 |
Marcel L’Herbier: Fabricating Dreams is a special season dedicated to one of France’s most innovative but internationally overlooked directors whose career straddled the avant-garde and mainstream cinema. A rare showcase of L’Herbier’s cinematic vision, the programme is the first UK presentation of some of his most significant films from the silent and early sound eras.
From his obsession with innovative lighting and camera work and highly stylised mise–en–scènes complete with décor and costumes designed or adapted specifically for the screen effect, L’Herbier is best known for his interest in developing a language that would be cinematic in essence (which in France was at the time described by the elusive term photogénie).
The legacy of Marcel L’Herbier goes beyond his own achievements as a filmmaker of the ‘narrative avant-garde’. Throughout his life he mobilised other creative practitioners, helped shape film criticism and theory, actively promoted the work of others and acted in various roles as a guardian and spokesman for French cinema. His championing of film as a form of visual poetry paved the way for subsequent generations of filmmakers, including such greats as Alain Resnais and Louis Malle.
During the silent period, L’Herbier’s ambition for the cinema was to create a Gesamtkunstwerk, a cinéma total which would synthesise all the arts and draw together architects, artists, set designers, couturiers and costume designers. Among the many major cultural figures he collaborated with were the artists Fernand Léger, Sonia and Robert Delaunay, the composers Darius Milhaud and Arthur Honegger, the architect Robert Mallet-Stevens, designers Alberto Cavalcanti and Claude Autant-Lara, and couturiers Paul Poiret, Lucien Lelong (L’Herbier’s cousin) and Louiseboulanger. Paired with his multi-disciplinary collaborative approach, it was L’Herbier’s desire to legitimise and ennoble cinema as the ‘seventh art’ that helped establish him as a seminal figure within Paris’s vibrant cultural milieu of the inter-war years.
Using art, fashion and design as the prisms through which to examine L’Herbier’s diverse body of work, Fashion in Film’s season highlights his lifelong interest in cinematic style and aesthetics. As the costume designer Jacques Manuel once observed, costume for L’Herbier was so often a way of ‘feeding’ the ‘mechanical eye’ with evocative surfaces and textures, a way of testing the formal elements of cinema itself such as movement, rhythm, light and shadow.
The festival runs across BFI Southbank, Barbican, The Horse Hospital, Ciné Lumière and Central Saint Martins College of Arts and Design.
Fashion in Film is an exhibition, research and education project based at Central Saint Martins and also supported by London College of Fashion, both part of University of the Arts London.
Curated by Marketa Uhlirova, Caroline Evans and Dionne Griffith, with consultancy from Mireille Beaulieu and research by Inga Fraser.
Huge thanks to our partner venues BFI Southbank, Barbican, Ciné Lumière and the Horse Hospital, as well as numerous individuals without whom this project wouldn’t be possible: Caroline Beamish, Mireille Beaulieu, Birgitte Berg, Agnès Bertola, Blanka Brixová, Serge Bromberg and Maria Chiba (Lobster), Stuart Brown, Roger K. Burton, Marlène van de Casteele, Frances Corner, Sara Cozzarin, Caroline Ferreira, Steve Hill, Anna Kime, Jessica King, Liberty McAnena, Janet McDonnell, Ivan Mečl, Séan O’Mara, Marie-Françoise Osso-Fontaine, Caroline Patte, Julie Pierce, Jane Rapley, Charlotte Saluard, Sandra (Iconothèque de la Cinémathèque française), Tai Shani, Karolina Slade, Jillian W. Slonim, Anne Smith, Katrina Stokes, Caitlin Storrie, Mileva Stupar, Jeremy Till. We are extremely grateful for the kind cooperation and support of Marie-Ange L’Herbier. | <urn:uuid:2a46449d-aca7-4184-9f9d-7fa5de1c1bc2> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.fashioninfilm.com/festival/marcel-lherbier-fabricating-dreams/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560283301.73/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095123-00511-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.898073 | 950 | 1.726563 | 2 |
Are we passing through a summer of sporting madness? At times, over recent months, it seemed as if English football had finally devoured itself, that the cold, hard, mercantile truth about the modern game was being revealed in Roman Abramovich's startling takeover of Chelsea, in the frenzy of transfer rumours that followed this acquisition, in the grim, unedifying circumstances of the transfer of Harry Kewell from Leeds to Liverpool and in the circus that is the life and career of David Beckham.
When Gary Lineker, one of the game's most efficient money-making machines, can write in his newspaper column that the transfer of Kewell had made him ashamed of his association with football, then something is very seriously wrong.
Or is it? Even the most ardent traditionalist must concede that so much has changed for the better since Rupert Murdoch's Sky Television transformed the game in this country forever.
Before the creation of the Premiership, football was essentially a monoculture. The old First Division was a place into which foreign coaches were seldom, if ever, invited, and which the best continental players avoided altogether.
The odd Yugoslav or Scandinavian would occasionally arrive unheralded in England or Scotland before disappearing into anonymity; but, on the whole, with the notable exception of a mini-influx of talented Argentines following the 1978 World Cup, English football remained largely closed to international influences.
This was the era when the game was the near-exclusive preserve of British and Irish players, many of whose attitudes and preoccupations were coterminous with the often tough, uncompromising (and mostly male) fans who paid to watch them.
Today football, like pop music and film, is one of the key agents of globalisation, an expression of our ruthless, winner-takes-all society.
Once at the margins of public life, football now occupies a place at the very centre of our thin-spun entertainment culture, a symbol of our fascination with wealth and celebrity and, in the shape of a small army of foreign players and coaches, of a deracinated cosmopolitanism.
Yet, at the same time, something is being lost in this hectic embrace of the new internationalism. English teams are no longer English in any meaningful sense of the word: they are largely collections of talented mercenaries playing for teams that happen simply to be based in England. Towards the end of last season, Bolton Wanderers, for instance, regularly put out teams without a single British or Irish player.
Also missing from the English game is true surprise and unpredictability. The days of the early-to-mid 1970s, when as many as 10 teams were in contention for the title and when small clubs of limited resources such as Ipswich, Queens Park Rangers, Nottingham Forest or Derby County came close to, or actually won, the championship, have long since passed.
As we enter a new season, we know that, in truth, only Arsenal and perhaps cash-rich Chelsea have a realistic chance of disturbing the hegemony of Manchester United. We know that there will be no surprise winner of the FA Cup and that, in Scotland, the honours will be shared between one or other of the Old Firm.
We know all of this and yet we remain excited and, irrationally, full of hope at the prospect of a new football season - because being a fan is not about rational calculation: it is, rather, about emotion and passion; it is about honouring an allegiance to a particular team that was made in the distant days of childhood and which, for true fans, remains unbreakable.
So, for better or worse, it is welcome once more to the Premiership - let it all unfurl. | <urn:uuid:8c9b0078-a947-4bb4-899a-c8408a62a520> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | https://www.theguardian.com/football/2003/aug/03/sport.features | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280835.22/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00046-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968834 | 761 | 1.5 | 2 |
The world of design has developed over the years as more and more people strive to keep up with the latest trends. There has been an improved quality of work over time as more and more tools are being created to help in designing. The amount you pay for design work is not cheap, but the quality is worth it.
As a client, how can you avoid making any payments for design work that you don’t want? Making sure you are getting exactly what you want before having it built will go a long way.
3D has provided a chance for a person to understand and have a feel for a new design. Rather than relying on your imagination to see if the bathroom door is far away enough from the kitchen, 3D technology will let you visualize and walk through your home virtually before any designs or specs are approved.
Want to see how your living room will look like with different types of furniture?
Want a different type of window? Want to see the view from the window? Changed your mind on the number of windows?
3D model is a fast and efficient way to be part and parcel of the design process. When the architects work hand in hand with the clients showing him/her the different options available – the clients will be in a better position to make a choice that is perfect for them.
It has also become an industry standard and here are the five reasons why 3-D design can work for you.
It can be hard to understand 2-D floor plans and elevation
Visualizing how the design will look from 2D floor plans can be hard. Looking at the 3-D design will give you a good picture of how it looks like. This will go a long way in helping you make any adjustments. You will also get the chance to try out different things. You will be more confident and comfortable when making the decisions since you won’t be second-guessing.
Designs do change and evolve in real time, during meetings with the architect
Having a meeting is one of the best ways you can get involved in the design process and ensure everything is well taken care of. A 3-D presentation can be a fly-through video or multiple perspectives view of the project. You will get the best view of the project of you go through room by room. This will enable you to make any changes and ensure you get what you pictured.
3-D helps cut down changes after construction has begun
Doing the necessary changes before the constructing will save you a lot of time and money. Until you see the design on 3-D and really understand how your space will look like, it will be hard to make changes.
Design review boards will generally have a positive response for presentations that include 3-D
3-D will show how the building relates to existing environment and neighbors home, and this will help you when seeking design approval. You can easily get the support of our neighbors because they will get to know how the building will feel compared to theirs.
Helps you avoid paying for work you don’t want
It is important to clearly understand the project before beginning any construction to get rid of unnecessary charges. You can ask the architect to help you identify features that can be adjusted to lower the cost.
There is a lot you can gain by using 3D design, but the main is making the process much easier. | <urn:uuid:bd0a9414-f96f-4e9f-87e2-2d173c3e9b27> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | http://www.3dzigzag.com/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573744.90/warc/CC-MAIN-20220819161440-20220819191440-00475.warc.gz | en | 0.95751 | 689 | 1.828125 | 2 |
2016 is the year that VR will either go big or go home. The technology is finally good enough to make it a worthwhile experience, but like any new technology things arenít perfect on every front yet.
There have been several developer kits and prototypes of the Rift, some of which have been sold to the public. These have all been priced between $300 and $350. Oculus has also more or less indicated that the final product would aim for that price point.
Now we know that was a bit ambitious. Despite the billions Facebook has invested in the company and their efforts to optimize specifications and costs, the consumer Rift has been priced at $600.
Thatís still not too crazy, but donít get excited just yet. Even mid-range computers may be inadequate to make use of a Rift. Remember that for the Rift to work properly your computer needs to render two different HD scenes at 90 frames per second. Latency also need to be kept to a minimum.
The minimum specifications call for at least a GTX 970 for starters. Thatís a card not too far from the top of Nvidiaís range and that specified as a minimum, so donít expect all the graphical bells and whistles. Cards like the GTX 960 arenít actually that far off the 970 when it comes to rendering at 1080p, but we suspect that the much higher amount of bandwidth is essential for the 90 fps high resolution rendering the Rift needs.
Youíll also need at least a Core i5-4590 and at least 8GB of RAM, which it not too egregious. Most midrange computers will easily meet this.
One sore point however is that the Rift needs four USB ports of which three need to be USB 3.0. Some computers that otherwise meet the minimum requirements will not have USB 3.0 at all. So that means a new motherboard or an add-on card if you have the PCIe slot for it.
Apart from the Rift itself youíll get an Xbox One controller and two games included in the bundle (one of which is EVE Valkyrie) so there will be something to try straight off the bat specifically made with the Oculus in mind.
The Oculus Touch, a special VR control systems, is still not ready and will only be available in the latter half of 2016.
One bit of good news is that people who bought the developer version through Kickstarter originally will be receiving a consumer version at no charge.
There are quite a number of competitors bringing their own VR systems to market in 2016. The biggest competitor to Oculus comes in the form of Valve and HTC with their SteamVR system. We donít know what the pricing on that will be, but weíre sure that the generally negative reaction to the $600 price on the Oculus will be a good lesson for both Valve and HTC.
Does your computer meet the minimum? Do you need to upgrade? Let us know what you think in the comments. | <urn:uuid:4790fdfa-ba51-425e-a0de-107acc561baa> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.titancomputers.com/Oculus-Rift-is-here-Can-You-Run-It-s/948.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572192.79/warc/CC-MAIN-20220815145459-20220815175459-00070.warc.gz | en | 0.95855 | 598 | 1.695313 | 2 |
Virtual Catalog of Roman Coins
An Online Encyclopedia of Roman Emperors
Galba (68-69 A.D.)
[Additional entry on this emperor's life is available in DIR Archives]
College of William and Mary
The evidence for the principate of Galba is unsatisfactory. The sources either concentrate on the personality of the man, thereby failing to offer a balanced account of his policies and a firm chronological base for his actions; or, they focus on the final two weeks of his life at the expense of the earlier part of his reign.[] As a result, a detailed account of his principate is difficult to write. Even so, Galba is noteworthy because he was neither related to nor adopted by his predecessor Nero. Thus, his accession marked the end of the nearly century-long control of the Principate by the Julio-Claudians. Additionally, Galba's declaration as emperor by his troops abroad set a precedent for the further political upheavals of 68-69. Although these events worked to Galba's favor initially, they soon came back to haunt him, ending his tumultuous rule after only seven months.
Early Life and Rise to Power
Born 24 December 3 BC in Tarracina, a town on the Appian Way 65 miles south of Rome, Servius Galba was the son of C. Sulpicius Galba and Mummia Achaica.[] Galba's connection with the noble house of the Servii gave him great prestige and assured his acceptance among the highest levels of Julio-Claudian society. Adopted in his youth by Livia, the mother of the emperor Tiberius, he is said to have owed much of his early advancement to her.[] Upon her death, Livia made Galba her chief legatee, bequeathing him some 50 million sesterces. Tiberius, Livia's heir, reduced the amount, however, and then never paid it. Galba's marriage proved to be a further source of disappointment, as he outlived both his wife Lepida and their two sons. Nothing else is known of Galba's immediate family, other than that he remained a widower for the rest of his life.
Although the details of Galba's early political career are incomplete, the surviving record is one of an ambitious Roman making his way in the Emperor's service. Suetonius records that as praetor Galba put on a new kind of exhibition for the people - elephants walking on a rope.[] Later, he served as governor of the province of Aquitania, followed by a six-month term as consul at the beginning of 33.[] Ironically, as consul he was succeeded by Salvius Otho, whose own son would succeed Galba as emperor. Over the years three more governorships followed - Upper Germany (date unknown), North Africa (45) and Hispania Tarraconensis, the largest of Spain's three provinces (61). He was selected as a proconsul of Africa by the emperor Claudius himself instead of by the usual method of drawing lots. During his two-year tenure in the province he successfully restored internal order and quelled a revolt by the barbarians. As an imperial legate he was a governor in Spain for eight years under Nero, even though he was already in his early sixties when he assumed his duties. The appointment showed that Galba was still considered efficient and loyal.[] In all of these posts Galba generally displayed an enthusiasm for old-fashioned disciplina, a trait consistent with the traditional characterization of the man as a hard-bitten aristocrat of the old Republican type. Such service did not go unnoticed, as he was honored with triumphal insignia and three priesthoods during his career.
On the basis of his ancestry, family tradition and service to the state Galba was the most distinguished Roman alive (with the exception of the houses of the Julii and Claudii) at the time of Nero's demise in 68. The complex chain of events that would lead him to the Principate later that year began in March with the rebellion of Gaius Iulius Vindex, the governor of Gallia Lugdunensis. Vindex had begun to sound out provincial governors about support for a rebellion perhaps in late 67 or early 68. Galba did not respond but, because of his displeasure with Neronian misgovernment, neither did he inform the emperor of these treasonous solicitations. This, of course, left him dangerously exposed; moreover, he was already aware that Nero, anxious to remove anyone of distinguished birth and noble achievements, had ordered his death.[] Given these circumstances, Galba likely felt that he had no choice but to rebel.
In April, 68, while still in Spain, Galba "went public," positioning himself as a vir militaris, a military representative of the senate and people of Rome. For the moment, he refused the title of Emperor, but it is clear that the Principate was his goal. To this end, he organized a concilium of advisors in order to make it known that any decisions were not made by him alone but only after consultation with a group. The arrangement was meant to recall the Augustan Age relationship between the emperor and senate in Rome. Even more revealing of his imperial ambitions were legends like LIBERTAS RESTITUTA (Liberty Restored), ROM RENASC (Rome Reborn) and SALUS GENERIS HUMANI (Salvation of Mankind), preserved on his coinage from the period. Such evidence has brought into question the traditional assessment of Galba as nothing more than an ineffectual representative of a bygone antiquus rigor in favor of a more balanced portrait of a traditional constitutionalist eager to publicize the virtues of an Augustan-style Principate.[]
Events now began to move quickly. In May, 68 Lucius Clodius Macer, legate of the III legio Augusta in Africa, revolted from Nero and cut off the grain supply to Rome. Choosing not to recognize Galba, he called himself propraetor, issued his own coinage, and raised a new legion, the I Macriana liberatrix. Galba later had him executed. At the same time, 68 Lucius Verginius Rufus, legionary commander in Upper Germany, led a combined force of soldiers from Upper and Lower Germany in defeating Vindex at Vesontio in Gallia Lugdunensis. Verginius refused to accept a call to the emperorship by his own troops and by those from the Danube, however, thereby creating at Rome an opportunity for Galba's agents to win over Gaius Nymphidius Sabinus, the corrupt praetorian prefect since 65. Sabinus was able to turn the imperial guard against Nero on the promise that they would be rewarded financially by Galba upon his arrival. That was the end for Nero. Deposed by the senate and abandoned by his supporters, he committed suicide in June. At this point, encouraged to march on Rome by the praetorians and especially by Sabinus, who had his own designs on the throne, Galba hurriedly established broad-based political and financial support and assembled his own legion (subsequently known as the legio VII Gemina).[] As he departed from Spain, he abandoned the title of governor in favor of "Caesar," apparently in an attempt to lay claim to the entire inheritance of the Julio-Claudian house. Even so, he continued to proceed cautiously, and did not actually adopt the name of Caesar (and with it the emperorship) until sometime after he had left Spain.[]
The Principate of Galba
Meanwhile, Rome was anything but serene. An unusual force of soldiers, many of whom had been mustered by Nero to crush the attempt of Vindex, remained idle and restless. In addition, there was the matter concerning Nymphidius Sabinus. Intent on being the power behind the throne, Nymphidius had orchestrated a demand from the praetorians that Galba appoint him sole praetorian prefect for life. The senate capitulated to his pretensions and he began to have designs on the throne himself. In an attempt to rattle Galba, Nymphidius then sent messages of alarm to the emperor telling of unrest in both the city and abroad. When Galba ignored these reports, Nymphidius decided to launch a coup by presenting himself to the praetorians. The plan misfired, and the praetorians killed him when he appeared at their camp. Upon learning of the incident, Galba ordered the executions of Nymphidius' followers.[] To make matters worse, Galba's arrival was preceded by a confrontation with a boisterous band of soldiers who had been formed into a legion by Nero and were now demanding legionary standards and regular quarters. When they persisted, Galba's forces attacked, with the result that many of them were killed.[]
Thus it was amid carnage and fear that Galba arrived at the capital in October, 68, accompanied by Otho, the governor of Lusitania, who had joined the cause. Once Galba was within Rome, miscalculations and missteps seemed to multiply. First, he relied upon the advice of a corrupt circle of advisors, most notably: Titus Vinius, a general from Spain; Cornelius Laco, praetorian prefect; and his own freedman, Icelus. Second, he zealously attempted to recover some of Nero's more excessive expenditures by seizing the property of many citizens, a measure that seems to have gone too far and to have caused real hardship and resentment. Third, he created further ill-will by disbanding the imperial corps of German bodyguards, effectively abolishing a tradition that originated with Marius and had been endorsed by Augustus. Finally, he seriously alienated the military by refusing cash rewards for both the praetorians and for the soldiers in Upper Germany who had fought against Vindex.
This last act proved to be the beginning of the end for Galba. On 1 January 69 the troops in Upper Germany refused to declare allegiance to him and instead followed the men stationed in Lower Germany in proclaiming their commander, Aulus Vitellius, as the new ruler. In response, Galba adopted Lucius Calpurnius Piso Frugi Licinianus to show that he was still in charge and that his successor would not be chosen for him. Piso, although an aristocrat, was a man completely without administrative or military experience.[] The choice meant little to the remote armies, the praetorians or the senate, and it especially angered Otho, who had hoped to succeed Galba. Otho quickly organized a conspiracy among the praetorians with the now-familiar promise of a material reward, and on 15 January 69 they declared him emperor and publicly killed Galba; Piso, dragged from hiding in the temple of Vesta, was also butchered.
In sum, Galba had displayed talent and ambition during his lengthy career. He enjoyed distinguished ancestry, moved easily among the Julio-Claudian emperors (with the exception of Nero towards the end of his principate), and had been awarded the highest military and religious honors of ancient Rome. His qualifications for the principate cannot be questioned. Even so, history has been unkind to him. Tacitus characterized Galba as "weak and old," a man "equal to the imperial office, if he had never held it." Modern historians of the Roman world have been no less critical.[] To be sure, Galba's greatest mistake lay in his general handling of the military. His treatment of the army in Upper Germany was heedless, his policy towards the praetorians short sighted. Given the climate in 68-69, Galba was unrealistic in expecting disciplina without paying the promised rewards. He was also guilty of relying on poor advisors, who shielded him from reality and ultimately allowed Otho's conspiracy to succeed. Additionally, the excessive power of his henchmen brought the regime into disfavor and made Galba himself the principal target of the hatred that his aides had incited. Finally, the appointment of Piso, a young man in no way equal to the challenges placed before him, further underscored the emperor's isolation and lack of judgment. In the end, the instability of the post-Julio-Claudian political landscape offered challenges more formidable than a tired, septuagenarian aristocrat could hope to overcome. Ironically, his regime proved no more successful than the Neronian government he was so eager to replace. Another year of bloodshed would be necessary before the Principate could once again stand firm.
The works listed below are main treatments of Galba or have a direct bearing on issues discussed in the entry above.
Benediktson, Dale T. "Structure and Fate in Suetonius' Life of Galba." CJ 92 (1996-97): 167-172.
Bowman, Alan K. et al. The Cambridge Ancient History, X: The Augustan Empire. 2nd ed. (Cambridge, 1996).
Brunt, P. A. "The Revolt of Vindex and the Fall of Nero." Latomus 18 (1959): 531-559.
Chilver, G. E. F. A Historical Commentary on Tacitus' Histories I and II. (Oxford, 1979).
Fluss, M. "Sulpicius (Galba)." Real-Encyclopädie IVA2.772-801 (1932).
Greenhalgh, P. A. L. The Year of the Four Emperors. (New York, 1975).
Haley, E. W. "Clunia, Galba and the Events of 68-69." ZPE 91 (1992): 159-164.
Keitel, E. "Plutarch's Tragedy Tyrants: Galba and Otho." Papers of the Leeds International Latin Seminar 8, Roman Comedy, Augustan Poetry, Historiography. edited by Roger Brock and Anthony J. Woodman. (Leeds, 1995): 275-288.
Kleiner, Fred S. "The Arch of Galba at Tarragona and Dynastic Portraiture on Roman Arches." MDAI(M) 30 (1989): 239-252.
________. "Galba and the Sullan Capitolium." AJN 1 (1989): 71-77.
________. "Galba Imperator Augustus P(opuli) R(omani)." RN 32 (1990): 72-84.
Murison, Charles L. Galba, Otho and Vitellius: Careers and Controversies. (Hildesheim, 1993).
________. Suetonius: Galba, Otho, Vitellius. (London, 1992).
Nawotka, Krzysztof. "Imperial Virtues of Galba in the Histories of Tacitus." Philologus 137 (1993): 258-264.
Sutherland, C. H. V. Roman Imperial Coinage, vol 1. (London, 1984).
Syme, R. "Partisans of Galba." Historia 31 (1982): 460-483.
________. Tacitus. (Oxford, 1958).
Townsend, G. B. "Cluvius Rufus in the Histories of Tacitus," AJPhil 85 (1964): 337-377.
Wellesley, Kenneth. The Long Year A. D. 69. 2nd. ed. (London, 1989).
Zimmerman, M. "Die restitutio honorum Galbas." Historia 44 (1995): 56-82.
[] The main ancient sources for Galba's life are: Suet. Galba; Tac. Hist. 1.1-49; Plut. Galba; Dio 63.22-64.7. In addition, there were major works for this period by Cluvius Rufus, Fabius Rusticus and Pliny the Elder, but they have not survived. For an important discussion, see G. B. Townsend, "Cluvius Rufus in the Histories of Tacitus," AJPhil 85 (1964): 337-377.
[] Galba's birthdate is impossible to determine. Suetonius give it as 24 December, 3 B.C. (Galba 4.1), yet in the final chapter of Galba's Life, he presupposes 5 B.C. as the date (Galba 23). Dio (64.6.52), taken with Tacitus' evidence (Hist. 1.27.1), also gives his birthdate as 5 B.C. The evidence given here is preferable, since Suetonius provides the information precisely and is concerned with Galba's actual birthdate, not the length of his life or his reign.
[] Suet. Galba 4. This must be a testamentary adoption, since a woman in classical law was not allowed to adopt during her lifetime. See the commentary of Charles L. Murison, editor, Suetonius: Galba, Otho, Vitellius (London, 1991), 33.
[] Suetonius' claim that Galba was the first to offer an exhibition of rope-walking elephants has been refuted. See J. M. C. Toynbee, Animals in Roman Life and Art (London, 1973), 48-49, 352 nn. 103-110. See also H. H. Scullard, The Elephant in the Greek and Roman World (London, 1974), 250-259.
[] This governorship is slightly unconventional, since most nobiles in this period usually governed senatorial provinces as praetorian proconsuls, not important imperial provinces like Aquitania. Galba was perhaps being groomed for a career as a vir militaris. Regarding the consulship, there may have been a delay at some point in Galba's accession to the office. For a more complete discussion on this point, see Charles L. Murison, Galba, Otho and Vitellius: Careers and Controversies (Hildesheim, 1993), 35-36.
[] On Galba's behavior in Spain, see Suet. Galba 9 and Murison, Careers and Controversies, 37-38. Galba's eight-year term, although lengthy, was not unprecedented. The time spent by an imperial legate as a provincial governor was entirely at the discretion of the emperor.
[] On Nero's order for Galba's death, see Suet. Galba 9.2.
[] On Galba's coinage, see C. H. V. Sutherland, Roman Imperial Coinage I.2, (London, 1984), 197-215, 216-257. On Galba as a strict constitutionalist in the Augustan mold, see Murison, Careers and Controversies, 31-44.
[] To obtain the necessary financing Galba confiscated and sold all of Nero's property in Spain (Plut. Galba 5.6) and received a large amount of gold and silver from Otho (Plut. Galba 20.3). He also seems to have demanded contributions from communities in Spain and Gaul. See Tac. Hist. 1.8.1 and 1.53.3.
[] On the chronology of Galba's journey from Spain to Rome, see Murison, Careers and Controversies, 27-30. On events at Rome, see K. Wellesley, The Long Year A.D. 69. 2nd ed. (Bristol, 1989), 15-30.
[] For the most complete account of the Nymphidius affair, see Plut. Galba 2; 8-9; 13-15.
[] Tac. Hist. 1.6.2; Plut. Galba 15; Dio 64.3.1-2. See also Murison, Careers and Controversies, 63-64.
[] Piso Licinianus was the son of M. Licinius Crassus Frugi, consul in 27, and of Scribonia, a direct descendant of Pompey the Great. He was only about eight years old when his parents and eldest brother were executed as part of the senatorial opposition to the later Julio-Claudians. Tacitus records that he was diu exul (Hist. 1.48.1; cf. Hist. 1.21.1; 1.38.1), which would explain his lack of experience.
[] Tac. Hist. 1.6.1; 1.49. R. Syme, "Partisans of Galba," Historia 31 (1982): 460-483. See also K. Nawotka, "Imperial Virtues of Galba in the Histories of Tacitus." Philologus 137 (1993): 258-264.
Copyright (C) 1999, John Donahue. This file may be copied on the condition that the entire contents, including the header and this copyright notice, remain intact.
Comments to: John Donahue.
Updated:7 August 1999
For more detailed geographical information, please use the DIR/ORBAntique and Medieval Atlas below. Click on the appropriate part of the map below to access large area maps.
Return to the Imperial Index | <urn:uuid:6027f657-5731-4928-a1b7-5551fb1598a1> | CC-MAIN-2016-44 | http://www.luc.edu/roman-emperors/galba.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-44/segments/1476988725475.41/warc/CC-MAIN-20161020183845-00510-ip-10-171-6-4.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962437 | 4,471 | 2.578125 | 3 |
For all Americans that have a heart attack, the very first symptom will be either sudden death or a full heart attack and nearly half of first heart attack patients will die from that event. Despite all of the recent scientific advances, your doctor’s approach to accurately predict risk for heart attack may be outdated and leave you vulnerable.
Heart attack prevention efforts have not been successful to date. Relying on risk factors to predict heart attacks such as family history, high blood pressure, obesity, and even cholesterol, are not enough. Millions of dollars are spent promoting the importance of cholesterol to prevent heart attacks. While maintaining a healthy cholesterol level is important, having a normal cholesterol score does not mean you are not at risk for a heart attack!
New noninvasive screening tests allow doctors to look inside your arteries for blockages that cause heart attacks. These images are acquired from outside the body in minutes and may save your life! Ask your doctor if you need to be screened for atherosclerosis. Learn about Coronary Calcium Scoring or Carotid IMT Testing, or click on the link to find a SHAPE Certified Medical Provider in your area who fully understands and offers these lifesaving tests.
What is Atherosclerosis?
It is the major cause of heart attacks, some strokes, aneurysms, and peripheral artery disease. Our arteries are much more than simple tubes. They are a well organized system that supplies the organs and tissues of the body with the blood they need to extract sufficient amounts of nutrients and oxygen.
Arteries also regulate blood flow and pressure through a complicated system of hormones and flow-sensitive receptors. They work as a first alarm system for local infections and injury, as well as regulate the subsequent repair process.
In the best of all worlds, the artery would manage these challenges quite well, keeping its wall thin and elastic. However, with the conditions facing the artery wall in most of us today, with a continuous exposure to high levels of potentially toxic lipids and other factors, fulfilling these tasks may come with a high price: the development of inflammation, scarring and disruption of the inner layer of the artery. This disease is called atherosclerosis and makes the artery wall thickened, stiff and fragile.
Because heart attack does not warn and strikes fast! Every year, in over 200,000 people, the first sign of heart disease is a sudden cardiac death which happens within 1-60 minutes from the onset of symptoms.
Are you a Vulnerable Patient?
Each year close to 1.4 million people in the United States experience a heart attack, and in excess of 500,000 die from it. Worldwide, over 19 million people die from a heart attack each year.Amazingly, 50 to 70% of those individuals who died from a heart attack were not aware of their risk. Definition of a vulnerable patient: Individuals who are at risk of a near term future heart attack are called vulnerable patients. One way of characterizing this population is to define those with a 5% or more risk of a heart attack in one year. In other words, in 10 years one out of two vulnerable patients will definitely experience a heart attack. By default, anyone with a history of prior heart attack is considered a vulnerable patient. SHAPE’s emphasis on identification of the vulnerable patient is for the asymptomatic population (apparently healthy people). A single test to precisely identify a vulnerable patient remains to be discovered .However, the SHAPE Guideline illustrates the path to detect and treat the vulnerable population.
How can I get tested?
You can get tested to better gauge your risk for heart attack or stroke by contacting a qualified physician. Those doctors trained and certified in the early detection of cardiovascular disease and heart attack prevention through the SHAPE Society are listed here by state. If there are no doctors listed in your city or state please email us for a referral to a qualified physician or medical center to best determine your risk for heart attack.
YES, Heart Attacks Can Be Eradicated!
The heart attack epidemic inherited from the 20th century (over 15 million heart attacks every year), makes it difficult for most people to imagine a future in which heart attacks are no longer a threat. Nonetheless, the mission of eradicating heart attacks is no more challenging than the mission of landing humans on Mars. The vision for a heart attack-free future can become a reality in the 21st century and can result in a major increase in human life expectancy and socioeconomic development, if the medical community, including academia, industry, and healthcare policymakers, shifts its investment from the treatment of events that have already occurred to prevention of the first event. The illustration below shows our visionary path to arrest the worldwide epidemic of atherosclerosis related mortality and morbidity, particularly heart attacks.
A heart healthy life style assisted by innovative preventive technologies and personalized medicine will be able to shift the existing in-hospital expensive sick care to the future out-of-hospital inexpensive health care.
- Era of Screening – Searching for and saving the vulnerable patient: as presented in the SHAPE Task Force report, the SHAPE initiative presents the best available strategy to advance the ongoing fight against ACVD, primarily heart attack and stroke.
- Era of “PolyPill” – Mass prophylactic therapy of at-risk population: A future with universal prophylactic therapy for the prevention of ACVD, using a cocktail of effective, safe, and inexpensive drugs (packaged compactly) to assure maximum compliance, is on the horizon. Although such a future is most desirable, there are major scientific and regulatory roadblocks that will require time and further investigations. Pending resolution of these issues, the SHAPE strategy remains the best strategy.
- Era of Vaccine – Primary prevention through immune modulation and vaccination strategies: Vaccination and immune modulation strategies for prevention, regression and stabilization of atherosclerosis present a most exciting possibility. Atherosclerosis bears many similarities to chronic inflammatory/autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and Alzheimer’s disease. Compelling data from experimental models show that such diseases may be challenged by vaccination and immune modulation strategies. Will it be possible to attack ACVD with the same approach? Several studies have shown positive effects of immunization with antigenic LDL preparations. Such ground-breaking approaches may become the panacea for the world’s growing epidemic of heart disease.
Conclusion: Heart attacks can be eradicated in the 21st century if the medical community, including academia, industry, and healthcare policymakers, shifts its investment from the treatment of events that have already occurred to prevention of the first event, i.e. “lock the barn door before the horse is stolen”.
Dr. Morteza Naghavi, the founder and president of SHAPE, teaches healthcare professionals elements of the SHAPE guidelines for heart attack prevention. See the preview of Dr Naghavi’s book on Amazon. You should also know that heart attack often does not happen like the way it is portrayed on TVs by Hollywood. Learn more. | <urn:uuid:b6d65b83-5d83-412d-a590-ada29fc92720> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://shapesociety.org/what-you-should-know/ | 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 | 0.929268 | 1,441 | 3.15625 | 3 |
This game was invented by Cory Arnold and was recommended to us by his father, Kenneth C. R. C. Arnold. There is some strategy involved, and you may be able to win as many as half of your games with intelligent play.
After the first move, the top card of each tableau is available for building onto the foundation. A card may be moved if it either matches the suit of the top card of the foundation, or has equal or greater rank. Aces rank high when being moved, and can be moved at any time. Once on the foundation, they rank low and any card may be moved onto them.
If the rank of the moved card matches the rank of the top card of the foundation, discard the next card from the same pile. Also, if the suits match and the rank of the moved card is higher than that of the foundation card, discard the next card from the same pile.
Aces and Kings are especially valuable because they can be played at any time. You may want to wait to play them in case all your other piles become blocked. But don’t wait forever because it’s more important to keep the piles balanced.
The lower the rank of the foundation card, the more tableau cards can be played onto it. Play cards that have the same suit but lower rank to keep the rank of the foundation card as low as possible. | <urn:uuid:b6241e46-8c90-4ec1-a166-844b331e5463> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.semicolon.com/Solitaire/Rules/DiamondRush.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280065.57/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00545-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974453 | 286 | 1.828125 | 2 |
(click/touch triangles for details)
- "Hurrah!" cried the three hundred voices again, but instead of the band a choir began singing a cantata composed by Paul Ivanovich Kutuzov: Russians!Book Four — 1806 (30% in)
- The footman, who was distributing leaflets with Kutuzov's cantata, laid one before Pierre as one of the principal guests.Book Four — 1806 (34% in)
There are no more uses of "cantata" in War and Peace.
Typical Usage (best examples) | <urn:uuid:0fc546ce-5fbf-44bd-b32e-f02bb94a390b> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.verbalworkout.com/u/u105/u219397.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882570879.37/warc/CC-MAIN-20220809003642-20220809033642-00667.warc.gz | en | 0.907278 | 123 | 2.296875 | 2 |
****MUST BE ORIGINAL WORK**** LIST THE QUESTION AND THEN THE ANSWERYou are the HR manager for an upscale retail store which sells clothing, shoes, handbags, and other accessories. Due to the economic downturn, the company has experienced a significant reduction in earnings, resulting in the layoff of a number of retail sales associates. Business seems to be rebounding, but you are concerned about the performance of the retail sales staff. The CEO has requested that you recommend ways to increase sales and customer service. You believe that implementing a performance management system may help modify employee behavior and improve results.
Write a six to eight (6-8) page paper in which you:
1.Create a job description for a retail sales associate, which includes the most significant components necessary to describe the job both internally and externally.
2.Create an organizational behavior modification (OBM) plan to define four (4) key behaviors that are required for successful job performance as a retail sales associate. Suggest the significant ways that your plan will benefit the organization.
3.Specify two (2) ways that you would measure whether current employees exhibit the key job performance behaviors. Propose two (2) methods that you could use to inform employees of the new performance standards.
4.Outline a plan with two (2) methods of providing feedback to employees. Include the frequency with which the feedback will be provided. Propose two (2) actions company leaders should take to reinforce positive employee behaviors.
5.Examine at least three (3) key legal and ethical issues that could potentially impact the performance management system. Support your response with specific examples of the identified issues possible effects on the performance management system.
6.Use at least four (4) quality academic (peer-reviewed) resources in this assignment. Note: Wikipedia and other Websites do not qualify as academic resources.
Delivering a high-quality product at a reasonable price is not enough anymore.
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By sending us your money, you buy the service we provide. Check out our terms and conditions if you prefer business talks to be laid out in official language.Read more | <urn:uuid:0790de6a-17ff-4ea6-aff3-0dd85c00fba0> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://acemyonlinecourse.com/2020/06/10/performance-management-retail-sales-associate/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572304.13/warc/CC-MAIN-20220816120802-20220816150802-00474.warc.gz | en | 0.940958 | 608 | 1.742188 | 2 |
Tea Tree Oil
Tea Tree Essential Oil:
Has been scientifically proven to kill germs on contact. Tea tree oil is also a popular ingredient in shampoo and other cosmetic products. It is no surprise pure Tea Tree Essential Oil is one the top ten most beneficial essential oils known to man. Tea Tree Oil Essential oil is recognized as one of nature’s most effective and versatile healers. It can be used as an immune system booster and a preventative against many types of infections.
The History of Tea Tree Oil:
Tea tree oil (Melaleuca alternifolia) has a unique history with many years of safe usage. The phrase “Tea tree” first coined by Captain James Cook when he was in Australia witnessed the local’s boil the leaves and drink the brew for its healing properties. Later, in the 1920’s, Dr. Penfold discovered Tea Tree Oil was approximately eleven times more anti-microbial than the leading antiseptic at the time; Phenol (carbolic acid). During the 1930’s Doctor E. M. Humphrey found Tea Tree Oil to be more effective than prescription antifungals. During World War II, the efficiency of Tea Tree Oil was trusted enough to be issued to Australian soldiers as part of first aid kits. Recently with new resistant bacteria’s like ‘MRSA’ studies have shown Tea Tree Oil has great potential for curing antibiotic resistant bacteria.
Tea Tree Oil’s Healing Powers:
Tea tree oil has been proven to be a powerful yet natural antiviral, antibacterial, antifungal medicine (essential oil). It is being used as a very effective first aid remedy and against countless skin ailments, infections, cuts, scrapes, burns, insect bites and skin spots etc. Tea tree oil is effective against nail fungus, ringworm, athlete’s foot, dandruff, acne, blackheads and many types of infestations including lice, mites, scabies and mosquitoes etc. (For humans and animals alike) Tea tree oil is not just soothing and disinfecting, it is capable of penetrating into the deeper skin layers with its anti-inflammatory, disinfectant, analgesic (pain-killing) and cicatrizant (wound-healing) qualities. It has a diaphoretic effect – It promotes sweating, which enhances the body’s own natural preventative response when threatened by infection. Tea tree oil exhibits expectorant and balsamic characteristics, which are especially beneficial in the case of throat or chest infections.
Naturally cleansing Tea Tree Oil helps to lift the spirit. Pure Tea Tree Oil is known as an antiseptic staple, it was regarded as a way to slow the spread of viruses in hospitals in the early 1900’s. Tea Tree Oil has been extensively researched by scientific methods with the following result:
One: Pure Tea Tree Oil is a known active agent against all three varieties of infectious organisms: bacteria, fungus, and virus.
Two: Pure Tea Tree Oil is a very powerful immuno-stimulant, so when the body is threatened by any of these organisms tea-tree increases its ability to respond.
General Tips and Warnings:
There are no known contra-indications in the use of Tea Tree Oil.
Please note: Undiluted essential oils in their purest state are extremely potent, and should be blended with carrier oils or other medium prior to use directly on the skin, as the essential oil may cause irritation. Discontinue use of Tea Tree Oil if irritation occurs. Keep out of reach of children. Avoid contact with eyes. If pregnant or lactating, consult a practitioner before use. Not for internal use.
Tea Tree Oil Treats Numerous Skin Conditions and Kills Parasites:
Add Tea Tree Oil to your Shampoo or Conditioner (1oz per 8oz of Shampoo) to help prevent re-infestations after initial. See https://www.licekiller.com for more information.
Add Tea Tree Oil to Shampoos and Conditioners (1oz per 8oz of Shampoo) to kill scabies and prevent re-infestations. See https://www.scabies-killer.com for more information.
Tea Tree Oil is very effective when used with other essential oils to kill body lice. See website https://www.bodylicekiller.com for more information.
Boils & Carbuncles:
Tea Tree Oil can is used in treating Boils or Carbuncles. See this website https://www.accessnutraceuticals.com/boils.html for more information.
Foot & Nail Fungus:
Tinea Unguium is cured by using a tea tree oil antifungal treatment. See https://www.accessnutraceuticals.com/nail-fungus.html for more information.
Tinea Corporis Kills fungus on contact.
Tinea Pedis This parasitic fungal infection of the epidermal layer of the foot is the second most common skin disease, affecting millions of people.
Tea Tree Oil is an effective treatment for regular and Genital Warts.
Also known as ‘Atopic Dermatitis’. The impacts go way beyond the physical discomfort and disfiguration. Tea Tree Oil can help bring those symptoms under control
Tea Tree Oil can also be used as an effective remedy for cold sores
Apply Tea Tree Oil right on the blemish several times daily.
Studies have shown a 5% solution of Tea Tree Oil can cure dandruff.
Add 1-3 drops of tea tree oil to 1-2 tablespoons of almond or olive oil. Massage affected areas.
Add 5-10 drops of tea tree oil to 1-2 oz. of shampoo or conditioner. Add 20 to 30 drops or approximately 1 oz. of tea tree oil to an 8 oz. bottle of shampoo or conditioner. (1 teaspoon = 1/3 tablespoon; 1 fluid oz = 2 tbsp) Lather and leave on the head for 3-5 minutes. Apply a single drop to pimples or cold sores 2-3 times a day. (Try a diluted drop for the first day or two. If no irritation develops, then an undiluted topical application may be used.) Alternatively, add 1 oz of tea tree oil to 4 oz of exfoliating skin cream or moisturizing body gel. Tea Tree Oil is also effective as a mouthwash. Dilute 10 drops in 1 cup of water and rinse for 1-2 minutes to help with bad breath. | <urn:uuid:0d35071c-4be4-43f5-87c2-12d35e4a308a> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.scabies-killer.com/tea-tree-oil/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573029.81/warc/CC-MAIN-20220817153027-20220817183027-00268.warc.gz | en | 0.920679 | 1,420 | 2.546875 | 3 |
How to Revise an Essay: A High School Writing Lesson Plan
Focus on Clarity
Before writing the final draft, strive for clarity of expression by evaluating the following:
- Does each paragraph contain a topic sentence?
- Does it follow the rules for a good topic sentence?
- Does the writing create interest by using specific nouns and verbs instead of adverbs and adjectives?
- Are technical terms defined?
- Do most sentences begin with the subject close to the beginning?
- Do sentences vary in length?
- Is your writing free from ambiguities?
- Is it focused on purpose and audience?
Evaluating Writing: Development Issues
Writers often spend too much time on side issues and too little time on the main issue.
- Suggestions for Adding Material:
- Use an anecdote or a funnel paragraph in place of a one sentence introduction.
- Explore the history of the topic in your introduction.
- Assess the importance of the topic.
- Make additional points in the body.
- Use illustrations and examples.
- Expand the conclusion
- Suggestions for Deleting Material:
- Put paragraphs into an outline and eliminate superfluous words.
- In short essays, limit introductory materials to the bare essentials.
- Eliminate lengthy anecdotes and needless examples.
*Thanks to Schaum's Guide on Writing Great Essays for helping me revise my essays
Writers often forget the last step in the writing process, publishing.
- Check for spelling and punctuation errors.
- Check the format.
- Check the works cited.
- Make sure it's neatly typed, printed, and spell checked.
Now that you've improved your writing, it's time to teach others:
- Instruct students to copy the above information on evaluating writing.
- Instruct students to evaluate one of their own essays and write a paragraph evaluation of it, with specific examples.
- Arrange students in groups of 3-4.
- Have each person in the group do the same for each other's essay.
- Instruct students to redo the essay based on their evaluations.
Sometimes it's beneficial to evaluate a published essay from an accomplished author:
- Read a published essay in class.
- Instruct students to evaluate the essay in paragraph form, making special note of good essay writing. | <urn:uuid:91003102-a2b7-4198-867b-afa7668a4ff9> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://m.brighthubeducation.com/high-school-english-lessons/22664-how-to-revise-an-essay-lesson-plan/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560279489.14/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095119-00010-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.875591 | 485 | 3.84375 | 4 |
When you think about the Internet of Things (IoT) you likely think of consumer hardware products like smart thermostats, Wi-Fi lightbulbs or quantified self gadgets, such as various fitness trackers and other gizmos. CyberLightning, however, is an IoT startup of a different kind. It offers a platform for industrial IoT usage, such as utility companies or other providers of infrastructure, to help them monitor their wares via a 3D user interface that makes complex ‘big data’ easier to get a handle on and which can be mission-critical when managing smart city grids and other aspects of the industrial Internet of Things age.
Today the Finnish company, which was born in 2010 out of a research project at the Center for Internet Excellence at the University of Oulu in Finland, has announced its first funding round. It’s raised a decent-sized $4.2 million from various investors, including VC firm Inventure, TEKES (the tax payer-funded Finnish Funding Agency for Innovation), and other EU tax payer-sponsored funds.
The startup’s software platform, CyberVille, enables corporate customers, such as energy, traffic or other infrastructure companies, to capture data from numerous IoT-based sensors and measurement points, and analyze the data via a “business intelligence” dashboard that uses 3D to make all of those data points a lot more digestible.
“If we are thinking of utilities and their monitoring and control rooms, there are multiple systems that provide masses of numerical or 2D-imaged data on tens of displays from raw material logistics, power plants and smart grids,” says co-founder and CEO Ville Mickelsson. “Those systems are connected with each other on some level but there is a need for experienced personnel to manage everything and still there is lots of complexity that affects the operations and business. This is the basic problem.”
To reduce that complexity, CyberVille integrates those many data points into a browser-based 3D interface that, in theory, can be accessed and operated from any device, including tablets and smartphones.
“What this means in practice is that, for example, a utility maintenance guy can control a whole electricity windmill farm easily from wherever with his mobile device,” explains Mickelsson.
Specifically, the CyberVille 3D UI provides a mirror of a real world area, so, to continue with the example of a wind farm engineer, they would be able to see at-a-glance if one of the mills is rotating too slow without the need to either follow or understand the numerical rotating speed data. “Then by just clicking the mill on his UI he can turn off or adjust the function of that mill.”
Mickelsson says the newly raised capital will be used by CyberLightning to accelerate growth and push its international expansion. | <urn:uuid:969f5000-76ff-4da9-8790-5512f3729a1d> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | https://techcrunch.com/2014/08/12/cyberlightning/?ncid=rss | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280763.38/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00514-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943061 | 598 | 2.171875 | 2 |
Job Search Resources & Links
Job-hunting can get anyone down. Here's how to stay upbeat and rise above the stress and the competition
What are employers looking for? Someone with skills, and just as important, a positive attitude. Yet few experiences are more emotionally draining than searching for a job. It ranks right up there with divorce among what psychologists call "negative life events." How do you keep an upbeat outlook in the face of the anxiety, frustration and rejection that are often a part of job hunting?
POSITIVE ARTICLES & RESOURCES
• Drop that apocalyptic vision and start imagining a positive future (Grist Magazine)
• How do you keep positive when the news seems so bad all the time? (Grist Magazine)
OPTIMISM, PESSIMISM & BURNOUT
"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty." – Winston Churchill
TAKING RESPONSIBILITY vs. DENIAL, ESCAPISM, POLLYANNAISM
"If a path to the better there be, it begins with a full look at the worst." – Thomas Hardy
"The most common words I hear spoken by environmentalists anywhere are, 'We're f*cked'. ...People sometimes ask me, 'If things are so bad, why don't you just kill yourself?' The answer is that life is really, really good. I am a complex enough being that I can hold in my heart the understanding that we are really, really f*cked, and at the same time that life is really, really good. I am full of rage, sorrow, joy, love, hate, despair, happiness, satisfaction, dissatisfaction, and a thousand other feelings. We are really f*cked. Life is still really good." – from Beyond Hope, by Derrick Jenson, ORION Magazine, May/June 2006
Accept uncertainty; be "neither certain nor indifferent". – Jostein Gaarder
"Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all." – Dale Carnegie (on persistence)
FIND MEANINGFUL, SUSTAINABLE WORK
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While important, risk mitigation shouldn’t replace purpose. To live in a world completely devoid of risk poses its own risks – including the risk of loss of opportunity or even, the loss of profit.
By Critical Input Senior Consultant Henk De Vos
Risk mitigation covers health and safety, environmental, financial and statutory compliance, cyber security as well as reputational risk. Over the years, organisations have appointed functional leads to manage these perceived risks, who in turn have created departments to develop and implement policies and procedures to institutionalise these perceived risks. While risk is very real and needs to be considered, it shouldn’t dominate an organisation’s goals. Risk mitigation shouldn’t cause risk.
Adaptation the new superpower
The world is continually changing, and companies need to be agile enough to adapt to this changing world. Unfortunately, many companies have become institutionalised because of policies, procedures and people management. Any breach of policy or procedure could lead to dismissal and hence staff are driven down the compliance line of thinking. While companies talk about innovation and continuous improvement projects, most of these projects fail because they challenge the companies institutionalised culture. How do you challenge the company’s culture when the company believes it’s operating and performing at “best practice” levels?
Perfection becoming the enemy of good
And what is this allusive “best practice”? Many failed companies once dominated their markets by delivering “best practices” that were the envy of their peers, including:
- Blackberry Motion
- Blockbuster Video
- Toy R Us.
Big corporations can learn from small businesses
All these companies were once the best in their field, but they failed to adapt to the changing world. New start-up companies seldom rely on policies, procedures and people management, but instead manage risk on a case-by-case basis. They’re continually challenging established standards in search of a market edge. Change management isn’t even on their radar, as they’re in a perpetual state of transformation. Start-ups rarely have established supplier or service provider relationships, rather they’re always scanning the environment for the right partners to help them address their needs at affordable price-points. Of course, these are generalisations and we do recognise that there are start-ups that are more policy and process-driven.
When was the last time that you contracted a truly independent external service provider to review your company’s operations?
A service provider:
- With the operational expertise to review your current processes and provide an honest overview of your company’s Strengths, Weaknesses, and Opportunities,
- Who can partner with your company to maintain the business as usual while implementing the identified innovation and Continuous Improvement projects
- That’s 100% Australian owned company
- Whose 25-strong team comprises of seasoned ex-industry professionals
- That delivers results, not PowerPoint presentations
- Whose only objective is to transform your company, into the company that you want it to be!
- If you really wish to challenge your “as is” to understand why you’re not maximising your companies profit, contact Critical Input for fresh eyes and independent advice.
- Critical Input is a consultancy firm with its feet firmly on the ground. Skilled at bridging the gaps for clients, we provide functional solutions and implement long-standing processes.
- Critical Input gets in and does the work alongside its clients, stepping into the weeds when needed, while also providing high-level strategic support.
CRITICAL INPUT VALUES
Because without process, there is no destination. We’re process-driven, but also process-drivers. Anchored in the measurement-based strategy for continuous improvement, “Six Sigma”, Critical Input focuses on assessing, tweaking, and refining processes so that your organisation runs like a well-oiled machine.
Because without buy-in, there is no evolution. A formal client stakeholder map is always the starting point. We identify the movers, the shakers, the influencers and the change-makers, and spend time engaging and aligning with these enablers in the organisation. It’s a given that Critical Input hand-picks the best professionals for the job. All our consultants are highly educated and experienced with tried and proven strategies.
Because integrity is everything. Critical Input’s agile team is led by a strong moral compass and committed to providing a service based on honesty, trust and transparency. We always deliver the highest quality of service to our clients and provide support, even after project completion. We operate on this principle we’re happy when you’re happy. | <urn:uuid:499d12c2-9eaa-4f1a-8ee1-fed0650a26d8> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.criticalinput.com.au/is-risk-adversity-a-risk-to-business/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882571745.28/warc/CC-MAIN-20220812170436-20220812200436-00478.warc.gz | en | 0.936961 | 997 | 1.546875 | 2 |
Welcome back everyone, we hope that you have had a lovely half term break and are feeling rested and ready for our brand new topic... Ice Ice Baby!
In this topic we will be working on naming and locating the seven different continents on a globe. We will also be identifying where the 5 oceans are in the world and which countries they are located near.
You will have to wait and see what we have in store for you for our Wow Starter!
We can't wait to see you tomorrow! | <urn:uuid:f7db1793-6563-4269-a4a7-75ec455d5163> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.whitegateend-oldham.co.uk/autumn-2-19/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572021.17/warc/CC-MAIN-20220814083156-20220814113156-00078.warc.gz | en | 0.978403 | 102 | 2.03125 | 2 |
POLITICO Contributing Editor Paul Taylor writes the “Europe At Large” column. Its report “Out of Space; European Security in Space” was published by Friends of Europe.
BRUSSELS — A disaster in space is imminent.
The accumulation of debris threatens to trigger a cascade of collisions, which would disable satellites and render orbits, vital to sustaining our globalized high-tech economy and maintaining our security, unusable.
Although we may not think of it, we rely on space for daily communications, a multitude of transactions, television, and weather and climate data, as well as for intelligence, navigation, and synchronization – yet we are little aware of the growing danger in this area. called low earth orbit. No international panel has met, no global action to ‘save space’ has been promised at high-level intergovernmental conferences, and no Greta Thunberg has led youth protests against the destruction of the cosmos. .
And as access to space is threatened by a toxic combination of commercialization and militarization, the European Union can help prevent this impending catastrophe. What it needs to do, however, is invest more in secure communications, take a bigger role in space traffic management, and lead diplomatic efforts for arms control in space.
The trash currently rushing in, hundreds of miles above our heads, includes bits of old rockets, defunct satellites that didn’t fall back and burn up in Earth’s atmosphere as expected, bolts and rivets that fell from spacecraft and debris caused by electromagnetic storms as well as meteorites. It also contains thousands of shrapnel deliberately caused by anti-satellite missile tests – particularly those by China and Russia in 2007 and 2021, respectively – conducted to demonstrate an ability to knock out enemy satellites by war time.
Moreover, the commercial, scientific and military exploitation of space by governments and private operators is growing exponentially. European Space Agency Director General Josef Aschbacher says as many satellites have been launched in 2020 and 2021 alone as in the previous 64 years since the first Sputnik probe lifted off from the Soviet Union in 1957 – firing the starting shot on the original space race.
At the time, however, it was a manageable competition between two nuclear-armed superpowers.
Today, some 58 countries are active in space and commercial operators are overtaking state actors as the rush for power and profit has overtaken our fragile international legal framework, originally designed to preserve the skies as as common good of humanity. The lofty goals enshrined in the 1967 Outer Space Treaty, declaring that no one could appropriate the celestial bodies and seeking to promote peaceful international cooperation, have been assaulted by commercial and geopolitical realities.
The main laws that apply in space today are those of the jungle or the Wild West – “first come, first served” and “finder keeper”.
What the world needs is a space traffic policeman, a global body to allocate parking spaces and issue mining permits, with fines for littering, a binding obligation to leave its own garbage and space sweepers.
Currently, however, in the race to occupy space real estate and mine celestial minerals, there are no international regulations on who has the right to throw what, park where, dig up what, or how to dispose of obsolete spacecraft. The only authorities responsible for issuing launch authorizations are national, and they are not required to coordinate with other countries, or do more than simply notify the geopolitically crippled UN Office for Outer Space Affairs.
While this stalemate persists, just one company, Elon Musk’s SpaceX, has fielded roughly half of all active satellites in space – more than 2,200 out of an estimated 4,500. Additionally, the company has US government licenses to launch another 12,000 and plans to roll out up to 30,000 by 2030, expanding its top service Starlink throughput around the world.
American, British and Chinese competitors are hot on the billionaire’s heels with their own mega constellation projects, threatening a free-for-all in increasingly crowded orbits between 450 and 2,000 kilometers above Earth.
But what about the EU?
Although the EU has some world-class space assets – including the Galileo navigation and positioning system and the Copernicus Earth observation network – the bloc has lagged behind the US and China in key areas of the space race, such as launchers, satellite constellations and space. situational awareness, which will be the key to security and prosperity in the 21st century.
Frankly speaking, Europeans often don’t know if a junk or other space object is about to crash into their precious satellites until the US military tells them. Without this free American public service, which the administration of former President Donald Trump has decided to place under the Department of Commerce, the EU would be largely blind in space.
Additionally, EU assets are mostly unprotected from potential predators who have developed a range of so-called counterspace capabilities, including laser dazzling, jamming and ground impersonation. , cyberattacks on downlinks and prowling space vehicles that can track and spy on satellites.
France publicly denounced such a hostile approach by a Russian probe to a Franco-Italian military satellite in 2018.
Finally, while Europe’s backwardness in space is partly explained by the lack of public investment compared to its main competitors, it is also linked to a long-standing reluctance to consider space as a domain strategic. Despite pockets of excellence, the EU’s ‘new space’ sector faces the same obstacles as any other European innovator when it comes to patenting inventions, developing start-ups and securing access to funding. It also struggles with a slow and bureaucratic public tendering system skewed in favor of the big incumbents.
It is time for Europe to become aware of space. Yes, it is a playground for billionaire tourists on vertical ego journeys and a canvas for fantastic scientific exploration and discovery. But it’s also a big, unregulated market, as well as a theater of strategic rivalry and even possible war.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has only recently highlighted the military utility of space.
Private companies, mostly American, provided high-quality, near real-time satellite images of Russian forces assembling and moving into Ukraine, negating Moscow’s strategic surprise. Russia also launched a cyberattack on the first day, destroying thousands of terminals connecting Ukrainian military and civilian users across Europe to satellites of US internet service provider Viacom. The hack then backfired, when Musk quickly intervened, giving Ukrainian terminals connecting to his Starlink satellites instead.
But while France was able to help Ukraine with satellite intelligence, the Europeans were otherwise mostly absent from the spatial dimension of the conflict.
To get back in the game, Europe should collectively invest in space enablers, such as a constellation of satellites with secure connectivity. It also needs reusable micro-launchers, smarter and more maneuverable satellites, and space defense tools that provide situational awareness, tracking, space radars, surveillance cameras, and clusters of mini-satellites to protect key assets.
To be taken seriously, we must combine a push for arms control, beginning with a moratorium on anti-satellite weapon testing, with the development of our own non-kinetic deterrent weapons.
Europe could in fact be a force for fair regulation, sustainable traffic management and arms control in space – it only has to look out for its own defence. | <urn:uuid:9231d231-ebf5-40b4-9979-ca959e33fbbe> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://schedom-europe.net/europe-can-help-prevent-disaster-in-outer-space-politico/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882571198.57/warc/CC-MAIN-20220810161541-20220810191541-00270.warc.gz | en | 0.942834 | 1,516 | 2.796875 | 3 |
The real estate taxes assessed by the local taxing authority have the primary lien on the property. This primary lien means that they are the first to be paid from any sale of the property. This lien also allows the taxing authority—or their assigned agent—to foreclose on the property if the property taxes are not paid and sell the property in an attempt to recoup the outstanding property taxes owed.
Tenders must be submitted in the prescribed form and must be accompanied by a deposit in the form of a money order or of a bank draft or cheque certified by a bank or trust corporation payable to the municipality (or board) and representing at least 20 per cent of the tender amount.
Except as follows, the municipality that is selling the property would make no representation regarding the title to or any other matters relating to the land(s) to be sold. Responsibility for ascertaining these matters rests with the potential purchasers.
Sales are governed by the Municipal Act, 2001 and the Municipal Tax Sales Rules made under that Act. The successful purchaser will be required to pay the amount tendered plus accumulated taxes and the relevant land transfer tax. Typically, the municipality has no obligation to provide vacant possession to the successful purchaser. In some rare cases, G.S.T. may be payable by successful purchaser.
Note that if the Municipality or area, for example, were to foreclose on a property, all of the mortgages on that property would be automatically cleared from the title. This is why mortgage lenders insist on verifying that the taxes are paid.
However, most local governments do not want to deal with the hassle of foreclosures. So, instead, they opt to sell the tax defaults. By selling the (past-due) tax certificates, the government recoups its tax revenues immediately.
The foregoing analysis works very well in many areas outside of the GTA and in some counties and states in the USA. The process of a Municipality taking over a property and eventually selling it here in Ontario is a little more complicated than this example.
Before there is a sale of property for tax arrears the property owner is given every opportunity to pay the taxes in full in order to keep possession of their property. This right has been supported by the Ontario Court of Appeal.
As the City or Municipality is only interested in recovering the debt outstanding, they typically adhere to the principal that the owner is given all chances to bring the taxes up to date and where an arrangement to pay has been made between the owner and the city, the tax sale of an advertised property will be cancelled.
Sometimes a tax sale does not occur, nobody bids on a property and the property becomes vested with the city or Municipality. Reasons for this can be where there are no bids during the tax sale and the property becomes vested with the city. Some of the reasons for this include but are not limited to:
In these situations with the exception of the last example the city or municipality may try and identify any restrictions so that bidders are fully aware before they bid and commit their 20% deposit which will be forfeited should the bidder not close the sale.
Where the tax sale has no bids, the City has one year from a failed tax sale to decide whether the City wants to vest the property to itself. If there are any concerns as to contamination or the safety of a building structure then the city will analyze the available data to decide if the city should assume any risk in putting the property in the City's name.
Where it is determined that the City will not vest the property they may issue a Request for Offers and attempt to spur development by accepting much less than the taxes owed while limiting our risk of ownership to a very short period. Examples of these types of properties are where the taxes owed are much more than the assessed value. The City can also choose to do nothing with the property and then start the whole tax process again on that property.
Where a property did get sold at the tax sale the price bid for that property must be at least the taxes owing (minimum bid). Where the bid was for more than the taxes owing the balance is paid into Provincial Court and any other creditors that were registered on title can then make a claim for the excess funds.
On properties for which there is no bid and it is indicated that the property is vested to the City, usually the Real Estate Department becomes responsible for the property. They will work with transferring title to any adjoining owners, transferring title to another government agency (i.e. conservation, authority), the city may potentially require the property for its own use, or the Real Estate Department may market the property and attempt to then get the best price available for the property. Often the city or municipality will market the property on the MLS. These properties are then available to the general public through agents like myself. I can send you a list of foreclosure properties.
As you can see, the process can become quite complicated and may take many months or years to conclude.
Often, real estate properties will first end up as a power of sale and the lender sells the property before it becomes a tax sale property. Most tax sale properties are vacant lands or if they have a building on it, the building is usually in very poor condition and does not add much if any value to the property.
Any outstanding taxes are paid first and foremost, even before the mortgage, but it's usually the lender that sells the properties here in Ontario. Municipalities may sell when it's only bare raw land and there may or may not be any mortgages on the property.
Typically you have to venture outside the GTA to find such tax sale properties. I did see one tax sale property last year in Milton and a few in the Niagara region. Another problem with tax sale properties are that they may be landlocked, they may literally be swamp land, they may not have land access, they may contain hazardous materials or they may have huge tax debt that is near to the actual value of the property, all of which make the purchase of the tax sale property not a great investment. You must do your homework and due diligence before you consider purchasing such a property.
Use this link to have Power of Sale MLS properties delivered to your email
All of the sources above may lead you to find the occasional property, but in Ontario, Power of Sale properties must be marketed and an attempt must be made to sell the property for market value. Reason for this is that the homeowner can attempt to recoup the amount they feel the property was sold for less than market value. Again, in reality, this would seldom happen as the homeowner who walks away from a property usually has very little extra money to begin with, let alone the money and resources to sue a large bank or trust company who held the mortgage. Thus, your main source of Power of Sale Properties is through:
Where to start looking for distress sales?
In Ontario, even once power of sale has begun and the homeowner is removed from the home, the homeowner has the ability to bring the mortgage up to date and pay all interest and fees owing and move back into the property. This means that they can move back into the property and stop a sale of the property up until very near to the closing date. The reality is that once a homeowner is removed from the property (or chooses to leave) they rarely come up with the funds necessary to get their property back and the sale proceeds under power of sale.
Remember that the listing real estate agent’s job is to get the best price for a property that is for sale, whether it's a power of sale or foreclosure property. Therefore, they might not be willing or able to promote and deal with discounted power of sale opportunities with you, which conflicts with one of the directives. Thus, you will benefit from using the services of a selling agent such as myself to help you through all the complexities of purchasing a power of sale property and to represent your best interests for your purchase. The listing agent is working for the seller. I must help you get the property at the best price and terms for you. Let's begin!
(Some area restrictions may apply)
You may wish to learn more and read a very detailed analysis of Power of Sale Properties
Power of Sale and Tax Sale properties - questions and answers
Mississauga MLS Real Estate Properties & MLS.CA Homes for Sale | All Pages including Mississauga Real Estate Blog all maintained by email@example.com Copyright © A. Mark Argentino, P.Eng., Broker, RE/MAX Realty Specialists Inc., Brokerage, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada L5M 7A1 (905) 828-3434 Google First created - Tuesday, July 16th, 1996 at 3:48:41 PM - Last Update of this website: Sunday, January 1, 2017 2:26 AM
At this Mississauga, (Erin Mills, Churchill Meadows, Sawmill Valley, Credit Mills and or Meadowvale ) Ontario, Canada Real Estate Property Internet web site you will find relevant information to help you and your family. | <urn:uuid:84284ce2-7fb7-4ffb-a515-314cc2f3c6b8> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.mississauga4sale.com/Power-Sales-TAX-Sales.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560279368.44/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095119-00324-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95788 | 1,856 | 2.140625 | 2 |
From this low point, however, Lee seems to have found her way to a place of relative peace. She did squawk a few years ago when the museum crossed a line in her mind and started selling a collection of recipes called Calpurnia’s Cookbook, after the black housekeeper in the novel. (The book was withdrawn.) But it seems that Lee has come to accept that she will publish only one book, and to enjoy that she exceeded her expectations in doing so. “When you’re at the top,” she once told her cousin Dickie Williams, “there is only one way to go.”
Lee will in all likelihood stand aside and let Mockingbird’s 50th anniversary happen. Truth be told, Monroeville is a charming place, where the palpable pride in its native daughter’s achievement tends to make up for the occasional crassness. Besides, Monroe--villians have been exploiting Lee’s work for decades: when the movie came out in ’62, Charles J. Shields reports in his biography Mockingbird: A Portrait of Harper Lee (2006), the local theater offered $10 to the first five people who showed up with live mockingbirds. Jane Ellen Clark, director of the Old Courthouse Museum, notes that pilgrims started flocking spontaneously to Monroeville in 1960, as soon as the book was published. “All these people who said it was their favorite book would save up for the trip and find the town,” she says. For thousands each year, “this was their vacation, and we created the museum because we wanted to give them something to see.” Every spring since 1991, the town has staged a several-times-a-week theatrical production of To Kill a Mockingbird with local volunteer actors in the roles. Act I takes place on the town square, weather permitting, and Act II inside the courthouse. If the air conditioning isn’t working, it can get steamy in that cavernous chamber, especially up in the “colored balcony” (as it was called in the ’30s), where I saw last year’s production. But if you’ve got a bottle of water, inspirational or otherwise, it makes for a uniquely American evening, right down to the realization that, as you’re standing and applauding for the sometimes contradictory notions of small-town values and racial tolerance, Harper Lee would prefer to be a thousand miles to the north, cheering, “Let’s Go, Mets!”
Charles Leerhsen wrote Crazy Good: The True Story of Dan Patch, the Most Famous Horse in America. | <urn:uuid:aad8890f-7a9e-47d7-ab08-42d465c66eb2> | CC-MAIN-2016-44 | http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/harper-lees-novel-achievement-141052/?page=2 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-44/segments/1476988725475.41/warc/CC-MAIN-20161020183845-00509-ip-10-171-6-4.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96938 | 561 | 1.8125 | 2 |
John Kotter change management professor at Harvard introduced 8 step change model in his book leading change in 1995. It is cultivated over decades transferring the way strategies are executing. He identified success factors and combined various methodologies to form 8 step change model. The book defined neglecting any of factor resulted in the failure of the whole initiative (Appelbaum et.al, 2012). On that note Kotter break down organization leadership into following steps-
- Creating Urgency
- Forming a powerful coalition
- Creating a vision for change
- Communicating vision
- Removing obstacles
- Creating short term goals
- Building change
- Communicating change in corporate culture
Lets’ dive into deeper to understand the original version of Kotter 8 step change model for leading change-
Step 1- Creating Sense Of Urgency
According to online essay help experts, first, understand why the company needs change. In this direction, develop a sense of urgency surrounding change showing what could happen in future if change introduced. Create an environment where an individual is aware of the existing problem and see the solution and support it. Or follow these steps to create a sense of urgency-
- Assess the potential threats
- Address opportunities that company could capitalize
- Begin with motivation and explain vision convincingly.
- Request support to strengthen the arguments and convey it with stakeholder
Step 2- Forming A Powerful Coalition
It will be definitely hard to lead changes without a coalition. This coalition can help managers to maximize the outcomes effectively and ensure that organization is getting support from the external work. A team member can collaborate and complement each other to bring the change and aids managers to transfer message conveniently. Steps to form a powerful coalition are-
- Identify key stakeholders and leaders and ask their support for implementing changes
- Create a coalition that operates as a team’
- Assess weak areas of the coalition and replace weak portion via including diverse member
Step 3- Creating A Vision For Change
The change process begins with vision that makes things different. As per essay writer, this can be very complicated and sometimes hard to understand. For this purpose create a vision that can be easier to apprehend and encapsulated overall aim in order to gain support from the whole organization. It should be inspirational and should have maximum effect.
- Identify core values that are embedded to bring the change
- Develop a mission statement that captures most of the attention of future envision
- Form a rational to implement the change
- Make sure all the stakeholder and team members of coalition share vision clearly and concisely
- Rehearse mission statement
Step 4- Communicating Vision
Creating a vision is not enough to generate ample support; you may need it to communicate with the whole organization (Bhatt, 2017). This is an excellent opportunity to utilize the coalition you have formed. To communicate the vision, you may follow given below steps-
- Speak persuasively and convincingly about your vision
- Tie vision with morale, operation everything that comes in the way
- Share visual and demonstrate the difference between the current and past state
- Confront people anxieties, concerns etc
Step- 5 Removing Barrier
The fifth step of the Kotter model involves removing a barrier to inhibit the change required, encouraging innovative ideas. As a relationship builds by communicating the vision helped in removing the barrier, it is needed to have a clear understanding of the blockages (Wentworth et.al, 2020). By entering into the dialogue of all employees, it will become easier to explore what are changes required. It helps to figure out whether the changes are implementing are beneficial or not. To do so, follow the given steps-
- Identify or hire a team leader who will monitor changes
- Continuously check the people who are resisting the change
- Reward people who are attending the meeting and helps in gaining the targets
- Empower employee to do their best and face challenges successfully.
- Make sure the organization process is aligned with the changes implemented
Step 6- Accomplishing Short Term Goals
Achieving complete change outcomes may consume much more time than it was estimated. As opined by essay helper if managers don’t cheer employee on short term goal achievement then it may create disappointment. Hence to keep the momentum and encouraging an employee to keep initiatives, it is important to celebrate short term goals.
Figure- Kotter’s 8 Step Change Model
Step 7- Building Change
This step supports in sustaining the change by ensuring teams are working persistently in the direction of achieving change. It is important to the team would not celebrate premature success much before its achievement. According to John Kotter, many changes trajectories fail because victory might be declared too early. Henceforth it is advised by several essay writer in Toowoomba analyze success stories individually (Small et.al, 2020).
Step 8- Communicating Changes In The Corporate World
In the step-change leaders work to nurture the changes implemented in the corporate world. As said by online assignment help experts change will become part of the corporate world only once it is implemented in the organization. The employee must support the change and regular evaluation must be done to consolidate the change. In order to communicate change, follow this step-
- Discuss changes by directing several benefits you have gained
- Identify norms and policies
- Create a new training and development plan to spread the change
- Improve or eliminate changes that don’t align with a new culture
In this blog, we have summarized Kotter’s 8 steps for the change process. In the first step, we developed a sense of urgency surrounding change showing what could happen in future if change introduced. In the second step, we created a coalition that operates as a team. In third step we developed a mission statement that captures most of the attention of future envision. In Fourth step one should communicate the change effectively, In the Fifth Step, we discussed empowering the employee to do their best is necessary so that they can face challenges successfully. In the sixth step, we illustrated it is important to establish short term goals. The seventh step describe how one should build the change and at the eighth step it has been analyzed how the employee can communicate changes with the corporate world.
To get more information on Kotter 8 step of change model, get in touch with SourceEssay Assignment Help Experts today. Students can now seek immediate assistance from assignment writer in Dubbo from SourceEssay. There are a team of highly qualified professional essay helpers who ensure every assignment is written with accuracy and delivered to students on time.
Appelbaum, S. H., Habashy, S., Malo, J. L., & Shafiq, H. (2012). Back to the future: revisiting Kotter’s 1996 change model. Journal of Management Development.
Bhatt, R. (2017). Theoretical perspective of change management. CLEAR International Journal of Research in Commerce & Management, 8(2).
Wentworth, D. K., Behson, S. J., & Kelley, C. L. (2020). Implementing a new student evaluation of teaching system using the Kotter change model. Studies in Higher Education, 45(3), 511-523.
Small, A., Gist, D., Souza, D., Dalton, J., Magny-Normilus, C., & David, D. (2016). Using Kotter’s change model for implementing bedside handoff: a quality improvement project. Journal of nursing care quality, 31(4), 304-309. | <urn:uuid:e44d5817-bce9-4a81-8cce-47f0b1094540> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://sourceessay.com/kotters-8%E2%80%90step-change-model-change-management-assignment-help/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882571869.23/warc/CC-MAIN-20220813021048-20220813051048-00073.warc.gz | en | 0.916277 | 1,559 | 2.3125 | 2 |
So what about the state that passed a law that set Pi = 3? Well, it was in the paper, and on the internet, but it never happened, although it did get close once. A hoax article was printed and widely circulated (on April 1, 1998) that said that NASA engineers in Huntsville, Alabama were upset about the discovery that the Alabama legislature had just passed a law making Pi=3. When the perpetrators of the hoax realized that the article was being paraphrased (without all the hints that it was a joke, such as the authors name, April Holiday) and circulating as truth, they tried to circulate a notice of the hoax, but found the truth spread much more slowly than the sensational story.
So here is the story of an actual bill (which did NOT pass) that would have set Pi equal to.... well, read on. Notice that in the proposed bill the idea was from a fellow who had already proved many of the impossible constructions of geometry, such as squareing the circle. Here is a another description of the bizarre incident by Cecil Adams from his web column, "Straight Dope":
It happened in Indiana. Although the attempt to legislate pi was ultimately unsuccessful, it did come pretty close. In 1897 Representative T.I. Record of Posen county introduced House Bill #246 in the Indiana House of Representatives. The bill, based on the work of a physician and amateur mathematician named Edward J. Goodwin (Edwin in some accounts), suggests not one but three numbers for pi, among them 3.2, as we shall see. The punishment for unbelievers I have not been able to learn, but I place no credence in the rumor that you had to spend the rest of your natural life in Indiana. [ Although it is often called the Pi Bill, the main result claimed by the bill is a method to square the circle, rather than to establish a certain value for the mathematical constant π (pi). In fact pi is not mentioned in the text of the bill.]
The text of the bill consists of a series of mathematical claims followed by a recitation of Goodwin's previous accomplishments:
"... his solutions of the trisection of the angle, doubling the cube and quadrature of the circle having been already accepted as contributions to science by the American Mathematical Monthly ... And be it remembered that these noted problems had been long since given up by scientific bodies as unsolvable mysteries and above man's ability to comprehend."Goodwin's "solutions" were indeed published in the AMM, though with a disclaimer of 'published by request of the author'.
If you feel up to the task, the bill can be found here.
Just as people today have a hard time accepting the idea that the speed of light is the speed limit of the universe, Goodwin and Record apparently couldn't handle the fact that pi was not a rational number. "Since the rule in present use [presumably pi equals 3.14159...] fails to work ..., it should be discarded as wholly wanting and misleading in the practical applications," the bill declared. Instead, mathematically inclined Hoosiers could take their pick among the following formulae:
(1) The ratio of the diameter of a circle to its circumference is 5/4 to 4. In other words, pi equals 16/5 or 3.2
(2) The area of a circle equals the area of a square whose side is 1/4 the circumference of the circle. Working this out algebraically, we see that pi must be equal to 4.
(3) The ratio of the length of a 90 degree arc to the length of a segment connecting the arc's two endpoints is 8 to 7. This gives us pi equal to the square root of 2 x 16/7, or about 3.23.
There may have been other values for pi as well; the bill was so confusingly written that it's impossible to tell exactly what Goodwin was getting at. Mathematician David Singmaster says he found six different values in the bill, plus three more in Goodwin's other writings and comments, for a total of nine.
Lord knows how all this was supposedly to clarify pi or anything else, but as we shall see, they do things a little differently in Indiana. Bill #246 was initially sent to the Committee on Swamp Lands. The committee deliberated gravely on the question, decided it was not the appropriate body to consider such a measure and turned it over to the Committee on Education. The latter committee gave the bill a "pass" recommendation and sent it on to the full House, which approved it unanimously, 67 to 0.
In the state Senate, the bill was referred to the Committee on Temperance. (One begins to suspect it was silly season in the Indiana legislature at the time.) It passed first reading, but that's as far as it got. According to The Penguin Dictionary of Curious and Interesting Numbers, the bill "was held up before a second reading due to the intervention of C.A. Waldo, a professor of mathematics [at Purdue] who happened to be passing through." Waldo, describing the experience later, wrote, "A member [of the legislature] then showed the writer [i.e., Waldo] a copy of the bill just passed and asked him if he would like an introduction to the learned doctor, its author. He declined the courtesy with thanks, remarking that he was acquainted with as many crazy people as he cared to know."
The bill was postponed indefinitely and died a quiet death. According to a local newspaper, however, "Although the bill was not acted on favorably no one who spoke against it intimated that there was anything wrong with the theories it advances. All of the Senators who spoke on the bill admitted that they were ignorant of the merits of the proposition. It was simply regarded as not being a subject for legislation."
Tennessee is also frequently mentioned as a state that "passed a pi=3 bill" but that seems to come from a small reference by Robert Heinlein in Stranger in a Strange Land. "In the Tennessee legislature a bill was again introduced to make the ratio pi exactly equal to three"."
* Much of the text was taken from http://www.straightdope.com. and Wikipedia | <urn:uuid:511b0abb-0903-4bb7-8826-1fb66a18537e> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://pballew.blogspot.com/2012/02/how-pi-almost-was-equal-to-three-in.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280835.22/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00043-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.981277 | 1,288 | 2.21875 | 2 |
In certain contexts, particularly in relation to HR policy,
recruitment and governance-related matters, a distinction is made between
established and unestablished staff. But what does this mean?
A University office is a post in the University that is established
by Statute or Ordinance. Holders of such posts are ‘University officers’ and often
referred to as ‘established staff’. See in particular Statute C, Special Ordinances under Statute C and Chapter XI of Ordinances (https://www.admin.cam.ac.uk/univ/so/).
Other staff in the University (whose posts are not set up as
University offices) are subject to other terms and arrangements and are known as
The distinction itself is only relevant in certain fairly limited contexts and, particularly with academic-related posts, is rarely determinable from a person’s designated job title. The status does not reflect the length of service of a postholder or the grading of their role.
As the holders of University offices, established staff are:
- subject to distinct procedures set out in the University’s Statutes and Ordinances, primarily
concerning the handling of appointments, grievances, discipline and dismissal
- usually in academic, senior administrative or ceremonial
- subject to the University’s Employer Justified Retirement
Age of 67 unless appointed for a period less than to the retiring age
- supported by funding that is secure for the tenure of the
- subject to certain conditions of service, for example,
residency within 20 miles of Great St Mary’s Church (which can be
waived) and the duty to examine for University Teaching Officers
- included in the membership of the Regent House, the
governing body of the University, and therefore whilst they are on the Roll
they are entitled, for example, to vote in ballots of the Regent House and
attend Discussions and Congregations (only certain unestablished posts have been included in the membership to date; from the promulgation of the Roll in November 2022, all employees at Grade 9 and above or equivalent will be included, whether they hold established or unestablished roles)
- members of the Senate, through their membership of the
Regent House, and therefore entitled to vote in elections of the Chancellor and
the High Steward and in ballots concerning the procedure for their election
- entitled to matriculate as a member of the University and to
apply after three years’ service for a degree under Statute B II 2
(usually the M.A. Degree)
- different from Assistant staff with ‘established status’,
which is granted to Assistant staff after 12 months' continuous service (see the Assistant Staff handbook). | <urn:uuid:a3c935d9-f99f-428f-a2bf-69ef5544dc7c> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.governance.cam.ac.uk/governance/principal-officers/Pages/officers.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573029.81/warc/CC-MAIN-20220817153027-20220817183027-00265.warc.gz | en | 0.94655 | 588 | 1.5625 | 2 |
December 10 – Christmas Gifts
What were your favorite gifts, both to receive and to give? Are there specific gift-giving traditions among your family or ancestors?
I don't recall having a favorite gift in either direction. My philosophy on gifts is that it should be something the person wants, not necessarily something they need. This means a vacuum cleaner is probably not a gift, but a snowblower might be. A razor is probably not a gift, but a scanner or tablet computer might be. An exception to this rule might be for wedding gifts, where the gift is probably best if it's both a want and a need.
My in-laws have a tradition where a random gift will show up with someone's name on it from "The Elf". It might be a gag gift, and in fact often is, but it's usually something that is also useful or decorative. The trick is, then, to try to guess who The Elf is. Not everyone gets a gift from The Elf, usually only one or two per year are found.
This and all other articles on this blog are © copyright 2011 by Daniel G. Dillman | <urn:uuid:edd97451-b9e0-49c9-9457-e5d2928b1465> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://indianadillmans.blogspot.com/2011/12/advent-calendar-december-10-christmas.html?pfstyle=wp | 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 | 0.965864 | 232 | 1.765625 | 2 |
In the past few months, people who worked in an office are now probably working remotely from home. It’s projected that 25%-30% of the workforce population will be remote workers by the end of 2021.
If you are a part of the work from home force then it’s important your office furniture is ergonomic to ensure comfort and productivity. Make sure to keep on reading to learn about the benefits of having proper office ergonomics in your home office.
1. A proper ergonomics setup will help improve your posture.
Making sure you have an ergonomic office chair will provide your back with proper back support. Ergonomic chairs will extend from the shoulders to the seat as well as curving to support the lower part to support your lumbar spine.
Your office chair should also be adjustable in the armrests as well as being able to adjust the height of your chair. Your chair should be at a height where you are eye level with your computer monitor. This will prevent your neck from staying at an uncomfortable angle.
By ensuring your office furniture is providing you with the proper back and neck support it will alleviate the stress on your back.
2. Being comfortable while working will improve work productivity.
If you are suffering from back pain consistently from sitting in your chair then it’s a good idea to frequently get up to stretch and relax your muscles.
By setting up your desk and chair to provide you with proper back support then you will notice yourself being more comfortable.
3. Your mood will improve.
Having back pain due to improper ergonomics or a poorly set up home office can cause your mood to change. You’ll feel stressed and even angry that you have to suffer from pain. If you are having back pain from the way you are sitting then it’s time to upgrade your chair.
By getting a chair that’s ergonomic you won’t feel the stress you would by sitting in a normal chair. Your back will thank you because you’ll start to actually feel relaxed while working and it will improve your mood. Being unhappy at work affects how you work and even how you interact with others.
If you notice that you are unhappy due to your back pain, it may be time to upgrade your chair and watch your mood change instantly.
When you’re comfortable, happy, and pain-free – your work becomes much easier.
Now that you have learned about these proven benefits of office ergonomics, it’s time to upgrade your home office. You spend at least 8 hours a day working so you should be making sure you are comfortable while you work.
If you’re ready to invest in your home office space, consider an affordable virtual ergonomics assessment.
At SolutionsNW.com we value the importance of a positive workplace culture. Part of a positive workplace is a safe workplace, Contact Us to schedule an ergonomics consultation or ergonomics assessment for your office today.
Subscribe to our ergonomics blog for more ergonomics tips from Solutions Northwest Inc., ergonomics evaluations available in: Seattle, WA, Tacoma, WA, Olympia, WA, Vancouver, WA, Kent, WA Renton, WA, Beaverton, OR, Portland, OR, Salem, OR, San Diego, CA, Carlsbad, CA, La Jolla, CA, Irvine, CA, Costa Mesa, CA, Newport Beach, CA.
Contact the Ergonomics Experts at Solutions Northwest Inc. Below:
San Diego, CA | <urn:uuid:8d70c30f-1eb9-4766-9469-c228625728c7> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.solutionsnw.com/2020/11/17/3-benefits-of-office-ergonomics-thatll-have-you-rethinking-your-home-office/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572021.17/warc/CC-MAIN-20220814083156-20220814113156-00072.warc.gz | en | 0.930305 | 779 | 1.609375 | 2 |
This is a filling in activity to train the use of Present Simple and Present Continuous. The infinitives of the verbs are given in a box in the upper part of the worksheet. The song contains different types of sentences (statements, questions). It can be used for comparing the tenses and revising them. It can also be used for pointing out the meaning of some modal verbs (must, have to, may). | <urn:uuid:0eaae5e6-cc32-4b4e-be41-780e25d4ba0e> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://busyteacher.org/4096-song-worksheet-queen-show-must-go-on.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280825.87/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00200-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948093 | 88 | 3.953125 | 4 |
There’s been a lot of buzz recently over “feminism” and if the time has come to resign the word or if we even need to focus efforts solely on ensuring women equal rights and opportunities. Well, this self-identified feminist mom of two is here to tell you that yes, yes we do still need feminism. I’ll use the most recent (certainly won’t be the last) cultural example to illustrate my point– Bill Cosby.
I’m frustrated today (notice I didn’t use the word angry, definitely don’t want to be accused of being an “angry feminist”, they’re the worst). I’m frustrated that a deposition from 2005, in which Bill Cosby answered yes to the question, “When you got the quaaludes, was it in your mind that you were going to use these quaaludes for young women that you wanted to have sex with?”, was released today and appears to finally be enough evidence in the court of public opinion to make him guilty. It wasn’t enough to criminally prosecute him though… the District Attorney in that particular case cited a lack of evidence and would not bring criminal charges. That happens ALL the time.
For those who aren’t aware or are unsure of the distinction, there are two separate types of law that can be used to address sexual assault, criminal law and civil law. When a woman is sexually assaulted and reports to the police the sexual assault is determined to be a “crime against the state” and as such, she becomes a witness in the case and the prosecutor (aka. District Attorney) has the authority to pursue charges or not. In criminal law, the accused (Bill Cosby) can only be found guilty if it is shown that he has committed the crime “beyond a reasonable doubt”. So, if the District Attorney in the above Bill Cosby case had decided to actually bring criminal charges, Cosby’s statement still wouldn’t have proved he committed a sexual assault, it would only prove that he bought quaaludes.
The criminal law burden of proof isn’t really designed to address sexual assault, which is often committed without witnesses. And, more often than not, the evidence can be used against the victim if the accused argues that she consented. Which is exactly what Cosby did. In a 2005 ABC News story, a source close to the investigation said they were trying to determine whether it was consensual, and that same District Attorney publicly commented that the victim’s “failure to disclose in a timely manner and contacts with the alleged perpetrator after the event are factors that weigh toward Mr. Cosby.”
So, after a woman has been shot down by the criminal law option, her only legal course of action left is through civil law. In civil law, the victim must obtain her own lawyer and, whereas with criminal law the punishment is potential jail time, in civil law the punishment is compensation, usually financial. Interestingly, the overwhelming majority (more than 95%) of civil cases in the United States end in a pre-trial settlement. Unfortunately, when it comes to sexual assault cases, a pre-trial settlement isn’t seen as the common practice that it is, but is rather viewed as a confirmation of a very loud and persistent cultural narrative that women lie about rape in order to scam men for money. Which is just what was said about the women who have accused Bill Cosby of drugging and sexually assaulting them.
In 2013, I wrote a blog about attending the sentencing in a criminal case where the sexual assault victim was a local jogger raped during her morning run. The experience in court was horrifying for a variety of reasons, but in particular because of the way the victim was treated by the Judge and Prosecutor and because the punishment was laughable. As recently as June, Cosby’s lawyer argued that his admission should be kept private because “it would be terribly embarrassing for this materials to come out.” I know what’s embarrassing, a Country where more than 20 women can have almost an identical experience of being drugged and sexually assaulted, and the accused has never once been convicted.
Until we fix, at a minimum, the legal system, I say feminism is here to stay and I pledge to continue to work to challenge institutions, cultural attitudes and norms that allow men like Bill Cosby to continue to sexually assault our daughters, sisters, mothers and friends. | <urn:uuid:7f8b14c1-4359-40e9-9829-f10afab6b060> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://ctworkingmoms.com/2015/07/07/feminist-mom-frustrated/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280504.74/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00141-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974384 | 927 | 2.046875 | 2 |
- "I hitched a ride aboard an Alliance supply ship and was unceremoniously dropped off in the savage rain forests of Yuga Two–a very covert base of operations, but assuredly a most uninteresting place."
- ―Lieutenant Voren Na'al, Assistant Historian
Yuga 2 was the second planet in the Yuga system. It was covered in rain forests. The world played host to the popular Yuga Planetary Park, a tourist destination visited by Galaxy Tours. It was the site of a raid on a Galaxy Tours cruiser by Callow Batta prior to the Battle of Hoth.
- Galaxy Guide 1: A New Hope (First mentioned) (As "Yuga Two")
- The Movie Trilogy Sourcebook (As "Yuga Two")
- Alliance Intelligence Reports
- Star Wars Encyclopedia
- The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia
- The Essential Atlas | <urn:uuid:3d950385-0326-4090-9ce1-e4860a0704e3> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Yuga_2 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560279933.49/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095119-00117-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.922047 | 183 | 1.914063 | 2 |
Thomas Eisner, who became known as the "father of chemical ecology" as a result of his pioneering studies of how insects use chemicals to mate, elude predators and capture prey, died March 25 at his home in Ithaca, N.Y. He was 81 and had Parkinson's disease.
Eisner, who spent his entire professional life at Cornell University, combined the observational skills of Charles Darwin with an inquisitiveness that caused him to look far beyond superficial characteristics. At a 2000 celebration of Eisner's career, biochemist John Law of the University of Arizona said: "Thousands of people can look at the same plant or animal and see the same thing, and there is the one person, like Tom, who comes along and sees something different."
As a child, for example, Eisner observed that the bombardier beetle emitted a chemical that stained his fingers dark brown. As an adult, he used a combination of microphotography, slow-motion film and chemical analysis to show that the beetle had separate sacs in its abdomen, one for hydrogen peroxide and one for a quinone.
When the chemicals are mixed together, they form a boiling, stinky mixture of benzoquinone that the beetle can aim at any potential predator, firing pulses of the hot poison at a rate of 300 per second. "It's a revolvable gun emplacement, so the beetle can fire accurately in any direction," he later said. "And considering that they generate their own ammunition and store everything that's needed to make that ammunition, they're pretty self-contained."
Creationists frequently pointed to Eisner's work on the bombardier beetle, noting that such an elaborate system could not have developed by evolution. Eisner refuted them, however, by demonstrating other species with less complex systems that could be recognized as evolutionary intermediates.
Other insects take advantage of what they can find around them. Eisner noticed that spiders did not eat bella moths that got trapped in their webs but instead cut them free and allowed them to escape. He showed that the larvae of the moths consume alkaloids produced by plants that are distasteful to any predator that might bite the larvae or the moth.
Female moths, moreover, find the toxins an attractive quality in a potential mate. The male passes along some of the toxin to the female, who is able to insert it in her eggs, making her larvae less tasty after their birth.
Eisner deciphered the flashing light code of female fireflies and demonstrated why that species doesn't worry about predators: They, too, don't taste good. And working with his longtime collaborator, Cornell chemist Jerrold Meinwald, he discovered that the same chemicals that made the fireflies taste foul have beneficial effects on the human heart. They also found nerve drugs in millipedes, cockroach repellents in an endangered mint plant and a shark repellent in a marine mollusk.
In other studies, they found that the whip scorpion fends off its enemies with a spray of concentrated acid formulated to penetrate the predator's skin; that some millipedes gas their enemies with deadly hydrogen cyanide that the millipedes store in an inert form and release when attacked; and that aquatic beetles emit a potent repellent when caught by fish, causing the predators to spit them out.
Thomas Eisner was born June 25, 1929, in Berlin. His father, a pharmaceutical chemist, was Jewish and the family fled the Nazis in 1933, moving to Spain. But their sojourn there was interrupted by the Spanish Civil War and they moved again, first to Paris and then to Uruguay.
In 1947, the family relocated once more, to New York City. Eisner enrolled in Champlain College in Plattsburgh, N.Y., and transferred to Harvard University two years later, earning his bachelor's degree in 1951. It was during his senior year at Harvard, while taking an entomology course, that he discovered he could translate his childhood fascination with insects into a career. He studied entomology at Harvard, earning his doctorate in 1955.
Ironically, he had applied to Cornell as an undergraduate but was not admitted. He proudly kept the framed rejection letter on display in his Cornell office.
He became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1952, the same year he married Maria Lobell, who eventually became an electron microscopist who collaborated with him in his research.
Eisner was a talented pianist who considered a career as a professional musician until his teacher told him he wasn't good enough. He would often sit at an upright piano in his laboratory and play while he thought.
He was also a talented photographer and artist; his film "Secret Weapons" won the Grand Award of the New York Film Festival.
Later in his career, hobbled by his disease, he made artworks using a color photocopier to assemble collages of flowers, plants and insects into pictures of striking beauty.
Among other honors, he was awarded the National Medal of Science in 1994 and the Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement in 1990.
Besides his wife, Maria, Eisner is survived by three daughters; a sister; and six grandchildren. | <urn:uuid:3f4333a4-230b-45a2-9422-bc268925d8de> | CC-MAIN-2016-44 | http://www.sun-sentinel.com/la-me-thomas-eisner-20110406-story.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-44/segments/1476988719453.9/warc/CC-MAIN-20161020183839-00231-ip-10-171-6-4.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.982861 | 1,070 | 3.390625 | 3 |
|Annu. Rev. Astron. Astrophys. 1992. 30:
Copyright © 1992 by Annual Reviews Inc. All rights reserved
There are three observational ``handles'' with which to identify the origin of the XRB: the spectrum, the isotropy, and the identified source content. They do not yet lead to a clear statement on the origin, although several classes of objects are ruled out and several others are found unlikely. A ``soft excess'' to the XRB at energies below about 3 keV is probably dominated by quasars. Direct counts of these sources in ROSAT images confirms earlier work from the Einstein Observatory ruling out any simple extrapolation to a surface density which integrates to give the whole XRB even at these energies. At least 2000 sources per square degree are needed to explain the XRB around 1 keV. This is a higher density than that of quasars, but does not rule out a lower luminosity class of AGN.
A much lower surface density of extragalactic sources has been identified in the 3-100 keV band where the bulk of the energy density of the XRB occurs. Quasars cannot make a major contribution unless their spectra flatten (by a change in power-law index of about unity) above 3 keV in the observed frame and unless they are less clustered than optical work indicates. No unevolved population that is clustered like nearby bright galaxies can contribute more than about 13% of the XRB in the 2-10 keV band. No known class of object has a mean spectrum similar to that of the XRB, although some classes of highly-absorbed objects such as Seyfert 2 galaxies in which there is a wide range of low-energy cutoffs might be acceptable (the last point means that strong evolution would also be required). A population of AGN, moderately X-ray luminous at a redshift of about 2, in which reflection is dominant, does predict the overall spectrum in a reasonably parameter-free manner. Whether this prediction is confirmed by observation must await the next generation of X-ray telescopes.
The XRB is relatively smooth at all energies. It is even smoother when the granularities from known classes of sources are removed. The current studies are reaching the levels in which spectral and anisotropy signals are beginning to emerge. ROSAT data will define the soft X-ray spectrum of the XRB, the mean shape of quasar spectra, and quasar source counts. The high fraction of quasars detected in ROSAT images offers the exciting possibility of mapping the spatial distribution of complete (i.e. flux-limited) quasar samples on scales of many tens of Mpc, and presumably thereby mapping the underlying mass distribution on those scales. Fluctuation and ACF analyses will measure the clustering of all sources including quasars and hopefully reveal other structures in the soft XRB. (It is to be hoped that absorption by Galactic ``cirrus'' does not seriously complicate such studies.) The spectrum of the XRB above 3 keV will be well-determined by the detectors on the recently-flown BBXRT which has also provided us with a taste of the results expected from ASTRO-D, Spectrum-X-, AXAF, and XMM. These next generation telescopes should make X-ray studies in the 0.1-12 keV band of both young AGN and the large-scale structure of the Universe an important research field.
We thank our collaborators in the Ginga studies, F. Carrera, J. Butcher, K. Hayashida, H. Inoue, G. Stewart, and R. Warwick, together with K. Jahoda and D. Gruber for much help and B. Boyle and O. Lahav for discussions. ACF thanks the Royal Society for support and XB acknowledges partial financial support from the CICYT. | <urn:uuid:6777a3fe-f909-45f6-be7c-5c744a0092a0> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://ned.ipac.caltech.edu/level5/Fabian/Fabian7.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280504.74/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00137-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.93362 | 804 | 2.171875 | 2 |
Vietnam Releases Legal Document on Foreign Investment in Education - Vietnam Briefing News
Oct. 24 – Decree No. 73/2012/ND-CP regarding education management for foreign cooperation and investment was promulgated in September. Accordingly, the forms of foreign investment allowed in education include 100 percent foreign-capitalized educational institutions and associated educational institutions between domestic investors and foreign investors.
Foreign investors can conduct their investment project by establishing one of five permissible forms of foreign-capitalized educational institutions:
- Short-term training institutions
- Preschool education institutions following foreign educational programs for foreign children
- Compulsory education institutions (elementary schools, middle schools, high schools, and mixed compulsory education institution) following foreign educational programs, issuing foreign qualifications, for foreign students and part of Vietnamese students
- Vocational education institutions
- Higher education institutions (university)
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Under these forms of foreign-capitalized educational institutions, Vietnamese students under five years old are not allowed to be admitted to study abroad program. Additionally, Vietnamese students in elementary and secondary school shall not exceed 10 percent of the students of the school, and in high school shall not exceed 20 percent of total number of student of the school.
The Decree also defines the requirements regarding investment capital for investors. Specifically:
- Investment projects in establishing preschool education institutions must reach at least VND30 million per child
- Investment projects in establishing compulsory education institutions must reach at least VND50 million per student (not including the expense on land tenancy)
- Investment projects in establishing short-term training institution must reach at least VND20 million per student
- Investment projects in establishing vocational training centers must reach at least VND60 million per student
- Investment projects in establishing vocational education institutions (except for vocational training centers) must reach at least VND100 million per student
- Investment projects in establishing higher education institutions must reach at least VND150 million per student
Additionally, there are other conditions in place concerning facilities, education programs and teaching staff. Above all, projects of investment in establishing the educational institution must be in conformity with the socio-economic development and the educational institution network planning approved by competent State agencies.
This Decree takes effect on November 15, 2012.
Dezan Shira & Associates is a specialist foreign direct investment practice, providing corporate establishment, business advisory, tax advisory and compliance, accounting, payroll, due diligence and financial review services to multinationals investing in emerging Asia. Since its establishment in 1992, the firm has grown into one of Asia’s most versatile full-service consultancies with operational offices across China, Hong Kong, India, Singapore and Vietnam as well as liaison offices in Italy and the United States.
For further details or to contact the firm, please email [email protected], visit www.dezshira.com, or download the company brochure.
You can stay up to date with the latest business and investment trends across Vietnam by subscribing to The Vietnam Advantage, our complimentary update service featuring news, commentary, guides, and multimedia resources. | <urn:uuid:b7803ecc-e152-454b-b194-0c845f7a303d> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | http://vietfair.com/blog/710.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573399.40/warc/CC-MAIN-20220818185216-20220818215216-00075.warc.gz | en | 0.929675 | 639 | 1.859375 | 2 |
Figure 15: Science Nobel Prizes 1901-2009:
Evolution of cumulative national shares by citizenship
at the time of the award (top), and
by country of birth (bottom),
considering only the two most successful nations,
to focus on this particularly prominent geographic shift
during the 20th century.
Note the differences between the birth-based and the citizenship-based ranking,
due to brain drain from Germany and other countries to the US:
In the last third of the century, US citizens took over;
in the last quarter of the century, US-born laureates took over.
From Evolution of National Nobel Prize Shares in the 20th Century,
Jürgen Schmidhuber, 2010. PDF. HTML. | <urn:uuid:7771bda8-024d-4c0a-bcc5-1ccb48b6c634> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://people.idsia.ch/~juergen/scibothusger.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280791.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00362-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.899693 | 155 | 3.1875 | 3 |
A phylogeny is a tree that relates taxonomic units, based on their similarity over a set of characters. The phylogeny problem consists in finding a phylogeny with the minimum number of evolutionary steps. We propose a new neighborhood structure for the phylogeny problem. A GRASP heuristic based on this neighborhood structure and using VND for local search is described. Computational results on randomly generated and benchmark instances are reported, showing that the new heuristic is quite robust and outperforms the other algorithms in the literature in terms of solution quality and time-to-target-value.
Research report, submitted for publication, 2003. | <urn:uuid:3aa39164-e5f6-403c-bc78-3b90d5bef91a> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://optimization-online.org/2003/10/747/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572021.17/warc/CC-MAIN-20220814083156-20220814113156-00077.warc.gz | en | 0.903541 | 130 | 1.796875 | 2 |
Lasting peace agreements after wars and civil wars were for a long time considered to be conditional upon damnatio memoriae – the deliberate and reciprocal forgetting of violence and injustice. However, the established amnesty clause is only realistic where certain rules were not broken during war. The First World War is beyond its scope of applicability, the extermination war of the National Socialists even more so. Where forgetting is impossible, remembering is all that remains. Such remembrance is inextricably and paradoxically linked to forgetting: only what has been remembered can actively be forgotten. | <urn:uuid:a2094e30-39a1-4616-97f2-fb8ed3d69be4> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.eurozine.com/authors/karin-konig/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882571584.72/warc/CC-MAIN-20220812045352-20220812075352-00668.warc.gz | en | 0.965354 | 112 | 2.84375 | 3 |
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Newcastle council have recently backed plans to build a £100m 460ft Observatory wheel on the banks of the river Tyne, which would become the tallest in Europe, beating The London Eye by 16ft. Not only would the wheel steal such status from the London Eye but some suggest that it would take great delight in doing, due to the projects proposed name. So far it has been made very clear that the wheel would be called the ‘whey aye’ which is a play on words with local dialect.
By giving the plans the green light Newcastle council hope to attract a greater amount of tourists to the area with the aim of boosting the local economy. In the councils predictions, it is estimated that the wheel would bring over a quarter of a million tourists a year to the region which would equate to £15m injected into the local economy.
There’s also good news for those brave enough to give the wheel a go as it is planned that rides would cost as little as £1, which compared to the online fast track price of tickets to the London Eye, £37, is undoubtably a lot more attractive.
Also, unlike the London Eye, the fun doesn’t stop at the observation wheel as plans to create additional landmarks and entertainments have been announced. The World Wheel company, who have proposed the project have also claimed that the wheel would be accompanied by a 39ft statue named ‘The Geordie Giant’ and a virtual golf club. Although this is the case, it is clear that the companies main focus is to create the wheel as priory and treat any further developments on the site as a bonus.
Due to the sheer scale of the project it is certain that the skyline of Newcastle would drastically change. This change can be seen below with various artist impressions predicting how the wheel will look from different viewpoints across the city.
All images courtesy of google images | <urn:uuid:19489773-6c15-4ae0-9655-458923f6dc72> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://73parkavenuetravel.wordpress.com/2019/08/01/the-london-eye-to-become-useless-as-this-will-be-the-biggest-observation-wheel-in-the-uk-and-europe/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882570921.9/warc/CC-MAIN-20220809094531-20220809124531-00267.warc.gz | en | 0.973528 | 414 | 2.15625 | 2 |
This article contains a bibliography on the movement known as Applied Legal Storytelling. Those who are interested in Applied Legal Storytelling examine the use of stories—and of storytelling or narrative elements—in law practice, in law school pedagogy, and within the law generally. The Applied Legal Storytelling movement is largely associated with a series of biennial academic conferences that began in 2007, and the majority of the entries in this bibliography originated with presentations at one of those conferences. But the bibliography also acknowledges a number of articles that pre-date 2007 and that could be called precursors. The bibliography first lists those precursor articles, pre-dating 2007, and then lists articles, books, and textbooks that date from 2007 and that are relevant to the movement. The article also suggests ten sub-categories into which articles on Applied Legal Storytelling could fall and offers examples of each.
Applied Legal Storytelling: A Bibliography, 12 Legal Comm. & Rhetoric: JALWD 247 | <urn:uuid:a861074d-8edf-4494-9716-00732487021b> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://digitalcommons.law.seattleu.edu/faculty/730/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560281450.93/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095121-00181-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.919 | 204 | 1.90625 | 2 |
Antibiotics are medicines that treat infection, and each antibiotic is different. A hospital should select the antibiotics that best treat the infection type for each pneumonia patient.
Why this is important:
Pneumonia is a lung infection that is usually caused by bacteria or a virus. If pneumonia is caused by bacteria, the hospital will treat the infection with antibiotics. Different bacteria are treated with different antibiotics.
The chart above indicates the percentage of patients who were given the most appropriate antibiotic(s) for the type of pneumonia they had. | <urn:uuid:09e48d62-1b59-4abf-a430-7932c8cce068> | CC-MAIN-2016-44 | https://www.novanthealth.org/thomasville-medical-center/quality/national-quality-scores/pneumonia-care-quality/appropriate-initial-antibiotics.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-44/segments/1476988722951.82/warc/CC-MAIN-20161020183842-00211-ip-10-171-6-4.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.927774 | 107 | 3.453125 | 3 |
As part of my methodology, I am making video recordings of pilgrimage practices and events. These videos will be used alongside other records, such as my own notes and photos, to described and understand the activities I am researching. Similar to my previous comments on the use of audio recordings, I feel that video can capture a real sense of what is happening in a place, especially since my work includes a focus on the actual movements and corporealities of these performances.
My readings on qualitative research methods and the use of video, within the social sciences and the discipline of geography, have revealed several prominent themes that emerge around video as a research technique. Following a common trope in academic writing, any purposeful discussion of video mentions that the topic has been given little proper scholarly attention. However, it is still possible to identify a number of key points within the discourses, which I have briefly summarised.
- It allows for comprehensive documentation of an event, place or scene which can be edited and enhanced, and can be returned to time and time again for analysis
- It combines focused visual and audio elements, giving a greater sense of events and place
- It can be used to convey complexities than text or even photography may find difficult, if not impossible, to represent
- When used in conjunction with other more established research methods, it can increase our potential to understand places, people and activities
- It is highly suited to the study of action, movements and momentary encounters/events
- Recording devices and editing software are becoming increasingly available, user-friendly and affordable
The not as good
- Despite its multimedia nature, the criticisms surrounding visual methods – such as the power dynamics, objectification, the masculine gaze – are in some relevant to the use of video
- Recorders are technological objects which have the capacity to not function at key moments and can be fragile and awkward to carry around
- There are certain ethical issues raised by the making of video recordings in public spaces, and even more in private spaces
- There maybe issues around copyright, difficulties over distribution and control, and a reluctance in the academy and publishing companies to integrate video in scholarly publications
Crang, M. and Cook, I. 2007. Doing Ethnographies. London: Sage.
Garrett, B.L., 2011. Videographic geographies: Using digital video for geographic research. Progress in Human Geography, 35(4), pp.521–541.
Luff, P. & Heath, C., 2012. Some “technical challenges” of video analysis: social actions, objects, material realities and the problems of perspective. Qualitative Research, 12(3), pp.255–279.
Pink, S., 2007. Walking with video. Visual Studies, 22(3), pp.240–252.
Spinney, J., 2011. A Chance to Catch a Breath: Using Mobile Video Ethnography in Cycling Research. Mobilities, 6(2), pp.161–182. | <urn:uuid:ed496834-986b-4731-b86a-13c799dfd41f> | CC-MAIN-2016-44 | http://liminalentwinings.com/tag/methodology/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-44/segments/1476988719646.50/warc/CC-MAIN-20161020183839-00126-ip-10-171-6-4.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.918935 | 610 | 2.53125 | 3 |
I appreciate Rabbi Grossman’s defense of the practice of taking multiple and potentially contradictory positions. Jewish tradition is based on the principle of eilu v’eilu–that conflicting positions each have standing and integrity in their own right, provided that the argument at hand is made for the sake of heaven. In fact, this is the core principle behind our endeavor here at Virtual Talmud.
So why does the Law Committee’s action leave me cold? Perhaps because I feel it was less a matter of principled disagreement than it was the refusal to take a stance on an important issue–one that has implications for an entire class of people and their legitimacy in a segment of the Jewish community. JTS Chancellor Eisen’s survey to find out the views of rabbis and laypeople across the Conservative movement on the subject of inclusivity simply reinforces the perception–rightly or wrongly–that this decision is about expediency, not principle. And when expediency is the basis of intolerance and exclusion, we all lose. | <urn:uuid:e98ed05f-1ec0-48a8-9b0e-86875d979fab> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.beliefnet.com/columnists/virtualtalmud/2007/02/principle-not-expediency.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560279650.31/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095119-00432-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95681 | 211 | 1.578125 | 2 |
We visited grocery stores in S. Irving and we bought groceries for unsuspecting shoppers. One lady only allowed us to buy her groceries if we would allow her to bring us some homemade tamales!!! BOY WERE THE AWESOME!!! Indeed a blessed day!
Adopted 8 children from Happy Hills Farm Academy and took them shopping for new outfits, build a bears, and lunch at Rio Mambo, of course!
Fed the homeless in east Fort Worth and asked them what the needed to better there current condition. Shoes, clothes, tents, hair trimmers... it is quite humbling how requests for basic needs help you to realize all of the things we simply take for granted.
The following story launched our White Envelope tradition. It is at the very heart of who we are as a family, as a company. LIVING IS GIVING. It is what gets us out of bed every morning. It is what drives us each and every day. It is the fabric of our prayers every evening. We hope you enjoy, and perhaps become inspired, as we have.
Editor's Note: This true story was originally published in the December 14, 1982 issue of Woman's Day magazine. It was the first place winner out of thousands of entries in the magazine's "My Most Moving Holiday Tradition" contest in which readers were asked to share their favorite holiday tradition and the story behind it. The story inspired a family from Atlanta, Georgia to start The White Envelope Project and Giving101, a nonprofit organization dedicated to educating youth about the importance of giving. | <urn:uuid:18657803-9391-45e7-8df9-a5ca2dc5b2d9> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://riomambo.com/rio-mambo-community/white-envelope/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882571150.88/warc/CC-MAIN-20220810070501-20220810100501-00667.warc.gz | en | 0.976195 | 319 | 1.5625 | 2 |
Virginia’s New Policy Allowing Transgender Student Athletes Has Impossible Qualifications
Written by Zack Ford
The Virginia High School League, which oversees athletics across Virginia’s 313 public high schools, has approved a new policy that claims to let transgender students play on the team they identify with. Unfortunately, it’s incredibly unlikely that any student will ever actually qualify to participate, and those who do will have to make a significant sacrifice.
According to the policy, the only trans students who count as trans are those who have “undergone sex reassignment,” which means “surgical anatomical changes” including “external genitalia changes and gonadectomy” (removal of testes or ovaries). Otherwise, “a student-athlete will compete in the gender of their birth certificate unless they have undergone sex reassignment.” And Virginia only grants birth certificate changes to individuals whose sex “has been changed by medical procedure.”
It is unlikely, if not impossible, that any student would ever qualify for this. That’s because most doctors who assist individuals with physical transitions follow the Standards of Care outlined by The World Professional Association for Transgender Health. According to those standards, genital surgery should not be made available to minors:
Genital surgery should not be carried out until (i) patients reach the legal age of majority to give consent for medical procedures in a given country, and (ii) patients have lived continuously for at least 12 months in the gender role that is congruent with their gender identity. The age threshold should be seen as a minimum criterion and not an indication in and of itself for active intervention.
The age of majority in Virginia is 18, which means that 18 is the youngest age that any Virginia student could obtain sex reassignment surgery, at least from a licensed professional surgeon.
Moreover, most trans people do not actually pursue surgical options. One of the reasons for this is financial, as surgery can be incredibly costly. Others simply decide that they do not need to change their bodies in that way to realize their gender identity. They may also want to preserve their reproductive ability, which is permanently lost with the surgery.
Though claiming to do the opposite, Virginia has effectively banned transgender students from participating in athletics. In addition to subjecting them to harassment if they choose to play on the team they do not identify with, the policy will also deprive them of the academic benefits associated with participation in athletics. Trans students in Virginia schools experience alarming rates of harassment (74 percent), physical assault (35 percent), and sexual violence (23 percent).
This post was originally published in ThinkProgress
Photo Credit: Thinkstock | <urn:uuid:43b04d4b-0adb-464c-826d-e8eea569cdbb> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.care2.com/causes/virginias-new-policy-allowing-transgender-student-athletes-has-impossible-qualifications.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280266.9/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00492-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95932 | 546 | 1.960938 | 2 |
WALT KELLYBorn: 1913 : : : Died: 1973
Job Description: Cartoonist
Worked in: Comic books and newspaper strips
Noted for: Pogo, Disney work and more
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speaking his mind on them, but couldn't bring himself to take sides in the Disney strike. He was cited as a major influence by such diverse cartoonists as Bill Watterson (Calvin & Hobbes) and R. Crumb (Snatch Comix). Walt Kelly, one of the few true geniuses to work in comics, was loaded with contradictions (not uncommon among geniuses); and yet, beginning to end, his work shows absolute consistency of style and outlook.
Walter Crawford Kelly Jr. was born August 25, 1913 in Philadelphia, but spent his formative years in Bridgeport, CT. It was there that he did his first work in comics. He was a reporter for The Bridgeport Post in 1935, and did a little drawing for the paper on the side. When The Post ran a biography of P.T. Barnum (who was from Bridgeport) in comic strip form, Kelly drew it. That same year, some of his work saw print in comic books. The first issue (December, 1935) of New Comics (which, under the name Adventure Comics, continued coming out until the 1980s) ran two pages of his work, and another two pages were split between More Fun Comics #s 7 and 8 (January and February, 1936). Both were published by one of the companies that later came together to form DC Comics.
But that ended when the woman he was in love with, Helen DeLacey, was transferred to Los Angeles. Kelly followed, and was soon working for Disney. It was there that he honed his talent in both telling a story (he started in the story department in January, 1936) and drawing (he became an animator in '39). But in 1941, when Disney's employees went on strike, Kelly, who had friends on both sides of the picket lines, and Helen, whom he'd married in 1937, moved back East to avoid having to take sides.
Kelly became a comic book cartoonist, working mainly for Dell Comics, which specialized in comic books based on licensed properties. He wrote and drew the lead series in Our Gang Comics, based on an MGM-owned kid gang, through most of the 1940s, and quite a bit of material for Dell's Disney line. This included several years of covers for Walt Disney's Comics & Stories, a well-remembered story casting Donald Duck as Pinocchio, and a brief pantomime series based on Disney's proposed Gremlins feature, which was never produced. He also worked on Santa Claus Funnies, Fairy Tale Parade and other non-licensed comics aimed at very young readers.
But the best remembered of all his Dell work was a creation of his own, Pogo Possum. The Possum first appeared in Animal Comics #1 (Dec-Jan 1941-42), and continued as a regular feature until the title folded, in 1947. By that time, Pogo was starring in occasional issues of Four Color Comics, and in 1949 he got his own comic, which continued until 1954. When Kelly moved back into newspaper comics, in 1948, Pogo was the title character of his strip. The Pogo characters also starred in a lengthy series of graphic novels, some consisting of strip reprints and others fully original, which came out on a regular basis during the 1950s, '60s and early '70s.
In the comic books, Pogo was an extraordinarily successful funny animal for young children, combining innovative use of language with gorgeous drawings. His other two venues also had a lot of verbal pyrotechnics and beautiful artwork, but increasingly became a forum in which Kelly could speak his mind. His was among the first newspaper features to criticize Senator Joseph McCarthy, which he did through his supporting character, Simple J. Malarky. He ridiculed The John Birch Society in his graphic novel, The Jack Acid Society Black Book. Lyndon Johnson, J. Edgar Hoover and dozens of other contemporary political figures appeared in Pogo, caricatured as funny animals. Long before Doonesbury was even a glimmer in Garry Trudeau's eye, Walt Kelly was taking on the Establishment with his swamp-dwelling possum.
As his fame grew, Kelly was loved by many and hated by some, but always respected for his integrity and the quality of his work. He died on October 18, 1973, and the Pogo strip, which had become far too personal a statement to be handled by anyone else, died soon after.
Even today, decades after his death, Pogo has never been completely out of print. In fact, the daily strip version of Pogo is currently being reprinted in its entirety by Fantagraphics Books. The fact that his work is still capable of reaching new readers, despite its sometimes extreme topicality, is a testament to Kelly's genius. | <urn:uuid:f7d52c66-bcc4-4692-93f5-eab9cf77efb1> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.toonopedia.com/kelly.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560282202.61/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095122-00546-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.990296 | 1,039 | 1.914063 | 2 |
A splendid trip Lord Krishnas birthplace Brij Bhoomi MathuraWhen my maternal granny asked me to accompany her for a trip to Mathura, I was confused. I am neither spiritual nor religiously inclined. We visited Mathura in August 2014 on the auspicious occasion of Krishna Janamasthami. Mathura is located close to 150 kilometres from New Delhi. The birthplace of Lord Krishna, Mathura has some of the best sight-seeing options. It is also called as the Eden City owing to the presence of Brindavan Garden. Well connected by roads and railine, Mathura can be reached from Agra, Alwar, Bharatpur, Delhi, Deeg and Jaipur.
I had to do an elaborate mapping of the city before reaching there. It helped me connect the mythology with the contemporary city centres that still bear the essence of ancient Indian culture. I recommend the following places that are worth visiting in Mathura. Kusum Sarovar
Govardhan3Kusum SarovarAn exemplary showcase of Mathuras town planning, Kusum Sarovar is a community tank that has a depth of 60 feet and is 450 feet long. Known as Radha Kunj Sarovar, it is the very place where Krishna orchestrated his Raas Leelas with Radha and Gopis. The site is a fair spot now where items like handicrafts, religious souvenirs and flutes are sold. The tank is lined by Kadamb trees, some of which are many centuries old.
Brindavan GardensBrindavan is a famous tourist spot. I could sense the beauty has vanished a little due to encroachments but the State Tourism has managed to reclaim most of it. I saw kids running around just like Krishna and his friends. Located at a distance of 10 km from Mathura, Brindavan Gardens has many temples. Some of them are in ruins and reflect the treachery of Afghan and Mongol barbarians who destroyed Hindu sites of worship.
GokulMathura and Gokul are separated by the surging Yamuna. Gokul Nath temple is the top tourist spot here. There are numerous temples that showcase the chapters of Bal Krishnas life here in Gokul. The cowherds and milkmen still inhabit most of the regions. Known as the house of the Ghosh clan, Gokul is the iconic Brij Bhumi.
GovardhanThe search for Moksh Bhumi or salvation land is what took me to Govardhan. It is a hillock lined by temples. Legend says that Govardhan was once a proud mountain. The lofty peak has eroded with age. Located 26 kilometres from Mathura, Govardhandhari Temple, dedicated to Krishna who is believed to have saved the Brij Bhumi from floods by lifting the mountain on his little finger. The divine temple was built in the 15th century. Here, Krishna is called ShrinathJi.
It was one of my best tours in India. I cant forget this luxury India tour in my whole life.
Contact UsNamaskar India Tour 5, Shanti Nagar, Near Diamond Residency,Jhotwara,Jaipur - 302012, Rajasthan, India Contact No. 91-823-9376-760 Email address - [email protected] Official Website http://www.namaskarindiatour.com/
Click here to load reader | <urn:uuid:28c9c994-7efe-4c58-b5bb-83d0ff4f109e> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://documents.pub/document/luxury-india-tour-57060fadd8aa7.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573104.24/warc/CC-MAIN-20220817183340-20220817213340-00466.warc.gz | en | 0.950774 | 752 | 1.867188 | 2 |
Civic engagement means working to improve community life. This can be done through many forms from individual or group involvement to organizational environments. These engagements begin in Canton and continue in the commonwealth, our nation, the world. By understanding the issues, attending and participating in public meetings, and volunteering for community-based organizations, you can make your voice heard and make a difference.
Discover your passion through service. Engage with your elected officials, register to vote, and find out what you need to do if you are called for jury duty. | <urn:uuid:5985a20e-910a-4838-8bf4-53a213f53f73> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.town.canton.ma.us/555/Civic-Engagement | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560285315.77/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095125-00574-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95563 | 110 | 2.21875 | 2 |
Sistem Informasi Pendaftaran Magang Dinas Pemuda Dan Olahraga Provinsi Sumatera Utara
In this digital era, almost all human activities involve the internet. Certain agencies and fields want all processes in their offices to be fast and practical, as well as acceptance of internships or practical work. Usually, students who are in their 7th semester are required to take practical work courses or internships. the registration process is not short and time-consuming. Starting from students who apply for internships in the Study Program section, students receive a cover letter for practical work which will be brought to the destination agency. Students will bring a cover letter to the institution they are going to and wait for days or even weeks to find out whether their internship application is accepted or not. This makes students have to go back and forth to check whether the practical job application is accepted or not. This complicated and inefficient application process prompted us to develop an internship registration information system to address this problem. Our research uses the Software Development Life Cycle (SLDC) method or the so-called waterfall model. The system created and developed is websie-based using HTML, MySQL database, PHP programming language and Visual Studio Code as text editor. With this system, it is hoped that it will make it easier for companies or general sub-sectional agencies to notify the practice of accepting internships will be accepted or not.
Keywords: Information System, Internship, Waterfall, Website
Copyright (c) 2022 Jurnal Teknologi Dan Sistem Informasi Bisnis - JTEKSIS
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under an Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) that allows others to share — copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format and adapt — remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercially with an acknowledgment of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal. | <urn:uuid:d5f8dc0c-e190-4352-ab06-bd797458652d> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://jurnal.unidha.ac.id/index.php/jteksis/article/view/489 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882570765.6/warc/CC-MAIN-20220808031623-20220808061623-00278.warc.gz | en | 0.881681 | 434 | 2.109375 | 2 |
It’s understandable that you and a few friends or workgroup want to get together and hunt. That being said, hunting for the wrong animals or in improper locations can result in a lot of trouble for you. Therefore, it’s best to ensure that you’re within the confines of local and national laws while hunting. Considering that, one way to do this is by going on hog hunting trips. These trips are extremely popular in Oklahoma, where feral swine populations have been observed across all 77 counties in this state. It’s important that you hunt for hogs in a safe manner. With that in mind, here are four tips to follow before you begin hunting hogs.
- Book a Hunt with a Reputable Company
The first step to take before going on a hog hunting trip is finding a company to help you out. Whether you’re new to hunting or consider yourself a seasoned hunter, it’s wise to choose guided tours. In turn, you’re able to book a hunt while avoiding a lot of risks associated with trying out your own hunting spot including breaking the law.
- Communication is Key
Whether you’re hunting with one other person or are in a group of 10 hunters, communication between all parties is essential. Considering that all of you are likely to have weapons, it’s important to communicate when and where hunters will be firing their weapons. If you’re out in the deep wilderness, cell phones might not be able to have reception. Therefore, walkies talkies and two way radios are popular items to consider bringing on hog hunting trips.
- Hunt Where You Feel Safe
It’s understandable that this might the first hog hunt for you. With that in mind, let the hog hunting trip provider know there are beginning hunters on this upcoming expedition. In turn, the company will likely be able to provide an experience more suited to those hunting for the first time. Considering that, it’s important to always hunt from a safe position. Many hunters prefer to hunt while in treestands or box blinds.
- Always be Aware of Your Surroundings
While hunting hogs certainly isn’t as dangerous as more fierce types of prey, don’t underestimate these animals. This means always being aware of your surroundings. Considering that, you’ll want to avoid hunting with headphones on or wearing anything that could possibly hinder your vision. It’s important to be aware that these animals could be around you and your hunting party at any time.
To summarize, hog hunting trips aren’t always done for the sake of the hobby. Throughout many states, feral hogs and pigs remain a problem. In fact, estimates from the United States Department of Agriculture estimate that there are over 6 million feral pigs throughout 39 states. Unfortunately, these animals create an estimated $1.5 billion in damage throughout the nation due to eating crops and infecting nearby water sources. Therefore, hog hunting trips help to reduce the population of this nuisance. If you are interested in hunting hogs, consider booking your trip right away. | <urn:uuid:651395e0-38f8-4500-aa7c-44ae51360c41> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://tennisservetips.com/4-important-ways-to-stay-safe-while-hunting-hogs/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882571234.82/warc/CC-MAIN-20220811042804-20220811072804-00073.warc.gz | en | 0.939365 | 639 | 1.867188 | 2 |
Answered by Ustadh Farid Dingle
Question: assalam alaykum, I´m from Italy and here some people think that Islam is for man and the woman have a second place in Islam. I see a program on tv, about women can be Imam, and they say this is a revolution inside Islam. So my question are: woman can be Imam in a community? She can be Imam for women and men? Where in the Holy Qur’an say that woman can’t be Imam for the Ummah?
Answer: Wa alaykum assalam wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh,
Gender equality in Islam
Allah looks at everyone equally and everyone is welcomed to draw near to Him in sincerity, dedication, fear and hope. Whoever excels another in these is greater in Allah’s eyes, regardless of race or gender.
Allah Most High says, ‘Verily, Muslim men and Muslim women, believing men and believing women, worshipful men and worshipful women, true men and true women, patient men and patient women, humbled men and humbled women, men and women who give in charity, men who fast and women who fast, men who protect their chastity and women, and men who remember Allah much and women, Allah has prepared for them [indescribable] forgiveness and a tremendous reward.’ [33: 35]
So All men and women are equal before Allah, irrespective of gender.
That said, Allah has also told us in the Quran that He has not given everyone in this life the same provision, and rights and responsibilities:
´It is We who have divided up each person’s livelihood in the Lower Life, and we have raised some over other whole categories such that some should be subject to others. And your Lord’s mercy is better than that which they amass’ [43: 32]
Some people are rich, and that gives them the right to buy things that others can’t; that also gives them the responsibility to support others. Some people are strong and healthy, and that gives them the right to enjoy their health, and the responsibility to defend the weak. Some people are really intelligent and have the ability and therefore the responsibility to fulfill certain communal obligations, such as being a brain surgeon or a mufti. Some others do not have such capabilities, such opportunities, etc., and this is all from the wisdom and mercy of Allah.
None of this “favouritism” reflects how Allah looks at His slaves: they are all equal and their true and ultimate rank is how they are morally.
And one such way that Allah has apportioned and organised temporal life in this “Lower Life” is that He has not made men and women the same, and has not given them the same rights and responsibilities.
Allah has said in the Quran, ‘Men are in charge of women because We have given more to some than others.’ [4: 34]
Men are not women, and women are not men. Allah has made two genders to compliment one another, and has put one in charge of the other in this life, even though they are equal before Allah’s eyes in the next.
Well, to what degree are men in charge of women?
Generally speaking, no man has any control or say in what another man or woman does. However the general tack in Islam is that men are in charge of leadership roles, such as being the caliph, judgeship, leading the household, and leading the Eid and Friday prayers.
Woman can be and do many things: they can be politicians, muftis, CEOs, millionaires, writers, revolutionists, mothers, astronauts, you name it! But there is a general hierarchy in things that touch the structure and performance of the Muslim community.
This responsibility, dictates that one follow the other, and the other show mercy, consideration, stewardship to the other in light of the grave responsibility that rests on his shoulders. This hierarchy is for everyone’s benefit: emotionally, physically, financially, politically, economically …
Responsibility means answerability: so men, or women, who abuse their rights and do not fulfill their what is required of them, must provide an answer for their transgressions before a Sharia court in this life, and Allah’s court in the next.
For more details on Women’s active role in the authority, please see: Do the Hadiths Say Women Can’t Be Leaders?
Can women lead the prayer
I pray this helps.
[Ustadh] Farid Dingle
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani
Ustadh Farid Dingle has completed extensive years of study in the sciences of the Arabic language and the various Islamic Sciences. During his studies he also earned a CIFE Certificate in Islamic Finance. Over the years he has developed a masterful ability to crafts lessons that help non-Arabic speakers gain a deep understanding of the language. He currently teaches courses in the Arabic Language. | <urn:uuid:e9771535-f562-4bd3-87ad-d03d49ad9f10> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://seekersguidance.org/answers/general-counsel/can-muslim-women-be-imams-are-women-equal-to-men-in-islam/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882570977.50/warc/CC-MAIN-20220809124724-20220809154724-00471.warc.gz | en | 0.963544 | 1,062 | 2.03125 | 2 |
Wrought iron is an elegant addition to landscape design. It can be used in a beautifully functional way or purely for decoration. Wrought iron makes a strong statement when used as a garden gate, a grill insert in a fence, a balcony railing or an impressive front door. As decoration, it can accent porch columns, showcase an outdoor water fountain and adorn a garden gazebo.
You will find a remarkable variety of artistic motifs done in decorative iron, from the refined figuration of the Renaissance to the sensual and sinuous designs of Art Nouveau. Both intricate and graceful, it creates an eloquent vocabulary in your landscape and expresses our individuality.
In its functional usage, decorative iron is most often used for security and privacy. In fact, there are those design professionals who believe that, because it is a strong material, it works best where it displays its intrinsic strength.
Ornamental iron fences, driveway gates or window balconies are just a few of iron’s utilitarian purposes. The beauty of iron, however, is that by adding the small decorative details, such as dainty flowers or pleasing trefoils, the ordinary and practical become extraordinary.
For aesthetic purposes, however, iron is limited only by your imagination. A decorative iron chandelier in an outdoor kitchen. Accent pieces on doors, such as knobs, door knockers, locks and hinges. Garden arches. Friezes, copings and finials. Garden arbors.
One design note: while decorative iron enhances any landscape, it needs to work with the extant motifs. A gate done in an Italian design from the Rococo period doesn’t work well with a Colonial style house, for example. So use discrimination when picking the design of your choice.
From an historic perspective, true wrought iron is only made in small quantities today and primarily for preservation projects. Most steel products found in modern landscaping materials are made of mild steel which has the advantage of being relatively inexpensive to produce and easy to manipulate.
The old nomenclature still applies, though, because the modern steel balustrades, balconies and flower boxes (and a hundred other landscape items you could name) retain the original look handed down to us from the Middle Ages. As does our delight in this stalwart substance.
Perhaps Samuel Yellin, the Polish-born iron artisan and blacksmith of the early 20th century, best describes our enthusiasm for wrought iron. He arrived in Philadelphia in 1906 and his work was eventually commissioned across the country. It can be found in nearly 40 states.
He said, “I love iron. It is the stuff of which the frame of the earth is made. And you can make it say anything you will. It eloquently responds to the hand, at the bidding of the imagination. When I go to bed at night, I can hardly sleep because my mind is aswarm with all the visions of gates and grilles and locks and keys I want to do. I verily believe I shall take my hammer with me when I go to the gate of heaven. If I am denied admission, I shall fashion my own key.” | <urn:uuid:72017f26-7cae-4dc2-99a5-089cd0f80acd> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://exteriorworlds.com/category/wrought-iron/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882571234.82/warc/CC-MAIN-20220811042804-20220811072804-00072.warc.gz | en | 0.937322 | 655 | 2.3125 | 2 |
Harry Potter as a Christian allegory – gullibility as a horcrux
Sue has posted some interesting thoughts about the Harry Potter series in Abstractions: Harry Potter as a Christian allegory.
While I don’t think it is really accurate to describe the series as an allegory, there are some allegorical tendencies within it, for example the satire on educational bureaucracy I pointed out in an earlier post on Zemblanity in Education. But satire is not necessarily allegory.
One of the things in Sue’s post can be accurately described as allegorical though — (warning, spoilers ahead) — when Sue describes the process by which a satirical post in The Onion was believed as literally true by some Christians in the USA, and was propagated as truth.
The way in which Harry Potter himself turns out to be a horcrux in which part of Voldemort’s soul is hidden is perhaps an allegory of the way in which the gullibility of some Christians led them to believe and propagate an urban legend that was not merely untrue, but harmful.
I was able to observe this at first hand because someone sent the piece from The Onion to me by e-mail, with no indication of its source, and urged me to pass it on to many others in a kind of spam operation. I read it, and suspected that it was probably satire, as it was too over the top to be true. I did a web search for Harry Potter and The Onion, and bingo – there it was. I wrote to the person who had sent it to me, warning them that they had been duped into accepting a satire as true. So yes, the way Harry Potter became a horcrux that contained part of Voldemort’s soul is indeed an allegory of the way in which the devil gets a foothold in the souls of Christians, and incites them to do his work by spreading malicious gossip in the belief that by so doing they are serving God. | <urn:uuid:81c83aa0-14ae-4a65-a368-caa88a332a76> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://ondermynende.wordpress.com/2007/08/07/harry-potter-as-a-christian-allegory-gullibility-as-a-horcrux/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882571150.88/warc/CC-MAIN-20220810070501-20220810100501-00673.warc.gz | en | 0.982588 | 405 | 1.625 | 2 |
Global telecommunications operator Portugal Telecom has opened a modular datacentre in Covilhã, Portugal. The company claims the 75,500m2 infrastructure facility is the “largest, most efficient and most ecological datacentre in the world”.
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The €90m (£75m) datacentre (pictured) is made up of four buildings and provides 12,000m2 of white space capacity. The telecoms provider inaugurated the first of the four buildings on 23 September 2013. The single block features six rooms with 520m2 of capacity and a power usage effectiveness (PUE) of 1.25.
Portugal Telecom chose Covilhã as a strategic location to build its datacentre because of the site’s low seismic activity and its chilly winter temperatures that will enable the facility to use outside air for cooling.
Free air cooling and solar power
The technologies used in the datacentre facility allow it to use free cooling for 99% of the time. There are also a large number of solar panels around the facility that will provide clean energy to help it achieve its PUE target.
The new facility’s PUE compares with an industry average PUE of 1.88 and the IT energy efficiency will enable greater sustainability and higher competitiveness, according to the company.
PUE, a metric developed by the Green Grid, is used to determine the energy efficiency of a datacentre. It is calculated by dividing the amount of power entering a datacentre by the power used to run the computer infrastructure within it. PUE is, therefore, expressed as a ratio, with overall efficiency improving as the quotient decreases towards 1.0.
Internet giants such as Facebook achieve a PUE of 1.07 in their datacentres.
High-availability with Tier III certification
Portugal Telecom’s Covilhã datacentre will provide an annual availability of 99.98% and has been granted a Tier III certification by the Uptime Institute.
Datacentre tier standards are used to determine availability in a facility. The tiered system, developed by the Uptime Institute, offers companies a way to measure return on investment (ROI) and performance. The standards comprise a four-tiered scale, with Tier IV being the most robust.
Recently, network provider NTT Communications said it is building a datacentre facility in the UK to meet the growing demand for scalable and reliable colocation services. The new facility, in Hertforshire, will provide tier IV upgrades to its enterprise customers.
Increased capacity for cloud services
With the launch of its eighth datacentre, Portugal Telecom’s datacentre network capacity will increase from 14,000m2 to 26,000m2 of white space, from 6,000 to 56,000 servers, and from 3PB (petabytes) of storage to 33PB of storage.
The telecoms provider’s cloud offerings include cloud storage and file sync services, software as a service (SaaS), collaboration as a service (CaaS), platform as a service (PaaS), and infrastructure as a service (IaaS).
The company said the Covilhã datacentre will allow it to expand its global positioning in the cloud and datacentre services market and help it offer cloud services to newer geographies, describing it as a “landmark investment which fulfills its technological transformation cycle, which began in 2008”.
The IT project is expected to create 1,400 direct and indirect jobs. | <urn:uuid:07bc5e3f-6266-4ddd-9800-0622230f951c> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.computerweekly.com/news/2240205927/Portugal-Telecom-opens-modular-datacentre-to-boost-cloud-offerings | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560285315.77/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095125-00571-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.926079 | 758 | 2.0625 | 2 |
In May 2007, every person walking up and down Eastern Avenue in a coloured shirt, begging passing students to step inside a booth so that they could send a vote their way in the race to become a USU Board Director, was a man.
This was not because no women were interested, but because those who were had been automatically elected under the USU’s new affirmative action policy, which had been implemented at the previous year’s AGM. There was no need to campaign; the three female candidates in the nine-strong lineup were guaranteed a spot.
Reflecting on the 2007 election in the USU’s 2014 publication We are Women: One Hundred Years, One Hundred Stories, the organisation’s former Vice-President Courtney Tight wrote, “While the women who were elected to the Board were impressive, capable and intelligent, their voice was missing from the election process itself. We had three and a half weeks of just dudes on campus, telling us their thoughts, trying to give away their t-shirts, postering their names on every noticeboard from Holme to Engo.”
The decision to introduce an affirmative action policy came after only two women were elected at each of the 2003, 2004 and 2005 Board elections. The resulting policy, found in section 10.2(c) of the USU’s constitution, stipulates that “five directors shall be elected during years ending in an even number and six directors shall be elected during years ending in an odd number, provided that in any year ending in an even number, two, and in any year ending in an odd number, three such elected Directors shall be wom*n identifying”.
The policy is designed to ensure that, at any time, at least five of the 11 USU student Board Directors are women.
Unfortunately, in its first year of operation, the policy had the – unintended, you would hope – result of making women in student politics more invisible than ever before.
After its stark entry onto the University’s stupol scene nine years ago, affirmative action in the USU Board elections has really become more of a silent overseer than a cause of disruption to campus democracy.
Of the nine elections it has been implemented for, affirmative action has affected the results of just three: 2007, 2009 (in which five women ran, two were elected at the ballot box and one by affirmative action) and – after a prolonged period of inactivity – last year, when it somewhat shockingly came into play on election night, placing SLS’s Shannen Potter above Unity candidate Georg Tamm, who was subsequently knocked out of the race.
(Honi asked both Potter and Tamm to provide comment for this article. While Tamm failed to provide comment by our publication deadline, Potter (who is now the USU’s Honorary Secretary) declined to comment specifically on last year’s election, instead telling us, “[Affirmative action] polices are well known and in my experience well respected within the USU community, and are an essential and established part of operating in a Board election.”)
Describing five years as a “prolonged period” might seem to be a bit hyperbolic: it could have just been a fluke that a sufficient number of women were elected from 2010 to 2014, and five elections is a small sample size. But there were certainly other indicators in that time that real change had occurred regarding student representation and gender within the USU.
Nearly a decade after affirmative action was implemented, it is hard to argue that women are underrepresented on the USU Board. The organisation’s past five Presidents have been woman-identifying and, if bizarre statistics about the upbringings of USU Presidents are your jam (please, not all at once!), consider this: not only have the past five been women, but they all attended single-sex high schools. Not only did they all attend single-sex high schools, but from 2011 to 2013 they had all attended the same North Shore selective single-sex high school. Clearly something in the water at North Sydney Girls.
Women have also been elected at a rate higher than men. During the “even-year” elections of 2012 and 2014 (where the affirmative action quota only required two women to be elected within the five successful candidates) three women made it onto the Board, out-performing their male peers.
This year, for the first time, more women are seeking to be elected to the USU Board than men, with five of this year’s nine candidates identifying as women.
Despite this, USU Wom*n’s portfolio holder, Tiffany Alexander, disagrees that affirmative action measures are no longer needed in the organisation’s annual elections.
“I think the fact that a board, which practices AA during its elections, has had a wom*n-identifying president for the past five years is evidence of the success of AA,” she says, adding that she does not believe examining the gender of executive position holders is a good metric for determining whether the policy is needed, as the executive are elected from within the Board.
“In the general election for Directors, wom*n still undoubtedly face barriers that male candidates don’t – this [has been] both my experience and something I have witnessed numerous times – and until this isn’t true, AA will still be relevant to the USU.”
When Honi asked this year’s crop of Board hopefuls whether they thought the USU still needed a gender-based affirmative action policy at the conclusion of their USU knowledge quiz (see page 16 for how they fared) the answer, from candidates representing all ends of the political spectrum, was a resounding “yes”.
However, some believe the policy needs to go further. NLS candidate Sam Kwon is running on affirmative action for queer and ethnocultural students. Although in recent years queer students have been incredibly well represented on the Board from a statistical perspective, there is certainly a case for the latter; the Board’s Ethnocultural Officer position essentially went to first-year Board Director Atia Rahim by default last year as the only student on the Board who identified as a person of colour.
Developing affirmative action policy is ultimately a subjective act. In 2006, the USU determined female representation on the Board to be problematically low, but there are plenty of other identities with important voices who struggle to either be elected or put their hands up for election: people of colour, postgraduate students, people with religious beliefs, engineering students.
The question for the USU is whether womanhood is still one of those identities. | <urn:uuid:d59585aa-e9bf-4f96-8a8c-cba1e7dc5b2a> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://honisoit.com/2016/05/does-the-usu-still-need-an-affirmative-action-policy/ | 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 | 0.976622 | 1,397 | 1.742188 | 2 |
FRANKFURT Britain's 'special status' deal with the European Union, aimed in part at securing London's future as a financial centre, could ultimately bolster the power of the European Central Bank, the chairman of Royal Bank of Scotland said on Monday.
Britain is preparing to vote in June on a deal struck by Prime Minister David Cameron to keep the island nation in the 28-member European Union (EU).
The arrangement allows Britain to tweak EU rules, eroding the power of the European Banking Authority (EBA), a London-based agency now charged with writing and policing common EU rules for banks.
But it also allows for deeper integration of the 19-country euro zone, giving the ECB more leeway to adapt EU rules without British interference, effectively granting the Frankfurt-based central bank more clout.
"At the moment it (the EBA) is in London to ensure that London and the euro zone have similar rules," Howard Davies told a conference in Frankfurt.
"If this is now formalised differently by a settlement, I wonder where the EBA goes. And therefore its adds further force (to the arguments) for consolidating regulatory power within the ECB."
Davies also played down oft-cited complaints that Brussels generates onerous regulation for banks.
"If you ask me which (regulations) constrain us the most, it would be partly Basel (banking regulations), partly the UK, and the EU would be way down the track," he said.
Davies' remarks echoed the view of some regulators, who have said the Britain-EU settlement may gradually shift the centre of gravity for financial services to the euro zone, sidelining Britain.
(Reporting By Francesco Canepa; Editing by Kevin Liffey) | <urn:uuid:0ebbcc4d-c8c0-44ab-98ec-849dfcae9bb1> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-eu-rbs-idUKKCN0WG1L2?feedType=RSS&feedName=domesticNews | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280292.50/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00339-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.938935 | 363 | 1.523438 | 2 |
Asynchronous proxy node¶
We already discussed that munin-update is the fragile link in the munin architecture. A missed execution means that some data is lost.
The problem : updates are synchronous¶
In Munin 1.x, updates are synchronous : the epoch and value in each service are the ones munin-update retrieves each scheduled run.
The issue is that munin-update has to ask every service on every node every run for their values. Since the values are only computed when asked, munin-update has to wait quite some time for every value.
This design is very simple, it therefore enables munin to have the simplest plugins since they are completely stateless. While being the greatest strength of munin, it still puts a severe blow on scalability : more plugins and/or nodes means obviously a slower retrieval.
Evolving Solution : Parallel Fetching¶
1.4 addresses some of these scalability issues by implementing parallel fetching. It takes into account that the most of the execution time of munin-update is spent waiting for replies.
Note that there is the max_processes configuration parameter that control how many nodes in parallel munin-update can ask.
Now, the I/O part is becoming the next limiting factor, since updating many RRD files in parallel means massive and completely random I/O for the underlying munin-master OS.
Serializing & grouping the updates is possible with the rrdcached daemon from rrdtool starting at 1.4 and on-demand graphing. This looks very promising, but doesn’t address the root defect in this design : a hard dependence of regular munin-update runs. And upon close analysis, we can see that 1.4 isn’t ready for rrdcached as it asks for flush each run, in munin-limits.
2.0 : Stateful plugins (supersampling)¶
2.0 provides a way for plugins to be stateful. They might schedule their polling themselves, and then when munin-update runs, only emit collect already computed values. This way, a missed run isn’t as dramatic as it is in the 1.x series, since data isn’t lost. The data collection is also much faster because the real computing is done ahead of time. This behavior is called supersampling.
2.0 : Asynchronous proxy node¶
But changing plugins to be self-polled is difficult and tedious. It even works against of one of the real strength of munin : having very simple, therefore stateless, plugins.
To address this concern, a proxy node was created. For 2.0 it takes the form of 2 tools : munin-asyncd and munin-async.
The proxy node in detail (munin-async)¶
These 2 processes form an asynchronous proxy between munin-update and munin-node. This avoids the need to change the plugins or upgrade munin-node on all nodes.
munin-asyncd should be installed on the same host than the proxied munin-node in order to avoid any network issue. It is the process that will poll regularly munin-node. The I/O issue of munin-update is here non-existent, since munin-async stores all the values by plainly appending them in text files without any processing. The files are defined as one per plugin, rotated per a timeframe.
Theses files are later read by munin-async client part that is typically accessed via ssh from munin-update. Here again no fancy processing is done, just plainly read back to the calling munin-update to be processed there. This way the overhead on the node is minimal.
The nice part is that the munin-async client does not need to run on the node, it can run on a completely different host. All it takes is to synchronize the spoolfetch dir. Sync can be periodic (think rsync) or real-time (think NFS).
In the same idea, the munin-asyncd can also be hosted elsewhere for disk-less nodes.
Specific update rates¶
Having one proxy per node enables a polling of all the services there with a plugin specific update rate.
To achieve this, munin-asyncd optionally forks into multiple processes, one for each plugin. This way each plugin is completely isolated from others. It can set its own update_rate, it is isolated from other plugins slowdowns, and it does even completely parallelize the information gathering.
SSH transport munin-async-client uses the new SSH native transport of 2.0. It permits a very simple install of the async proxy.
In 1.2 a service is the same as plugin, but since 1.4 and the introduction of multigraph, one plugin can provide multiple services. Think it as one service, one graph.
munin-async is a helper to poll regularly
The munin asynchronous proxy node (or “munin-async”) connects to the local node periodically, and spools the results.
When the munin master connects, all the data is available instantly.
The Munin async daemon starts at boot, and connects to the local munin-node periodically, like a munin master would. The results are stored the results in a spool, tagged with timestamp.
You can also use munin-asyncd to connect to several munin nodes. You will need to use one spooldir for each node you connect to. This enables you to set up a “fanout” setup, with one privileged node per site, and site-to-site communication being protected by ssh.
The Munin async client is invoked by the connecting master, and reads from the munin-async spool using the “spoolfetch” command.
On the munin master¶
We use ssh encapsulated connections with munin async. In the the munin master configuration you need to configure a host with a “ssh://” address.
[random.example.org] address ssh://firstname.lastname@example.org
You will need to create an SSH key for the “munin” user, and distribute this to all nodes running munin-asyncd.
The ssh command and options can be customized in munin.conf with the ssh_command and ssh_options configuration options.
You can also specify the SSH port directly in the address, if a node is not reachable using the default SSH port (22):
[random2.example.org] address ssh://email@example.com:2222
On the munin node¶
Configure your munin node to only listen on “127.0.0.1”.
You will also need to add the public key of the munin user to the authorized_keys file for this user.
- You must add a “command=” parameter to the key to run the command specified instead of whatever command the connecting user tries to use.
command="/usr/share/munin/munin-async --spoolfetch" ssh-rsa AAAA[...] munin@master
The following options are recommended for security, but are strictly not necessary for the munin-async connection to work
You should add a “from=” parameter to the key to restrict where it can be used from.
You should add hardening options. At the time of writing, these are “no-X11-forwarding”, “no-agent-forwarding”, “no-port-forwarding”, “no-pty” and “no-user-rc”.
Some of these may also be set globally in /etc/ssh/sshd_config.
no-port-forwarding,no-X11-forwarding,no-agent-forwarding,no-pty,no-user-rc,from="192.0.2.0/24",command="/usr/share/munin/munin-async --spoolfetch" ssh-rsa AAAA[...] munin@master
See the sshd_config (5) and authorized_keys(5) man pages for more information. | <urn:uuid:b8068e55-45d0-4215-898e-9c0efaf922da> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://munin.readthedocs.io/en/latest/node/async.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572127.33/warc/CC-MAIN-20220815024523-20220815054523-00266.warc.gz | en | 0.876558 | 1,813 | 1.796875 | 2 |
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CTC’s Foundational Programs
Guiding Good Choices: A 5 week series for parents of children 8 -12 years old, prevent problems before they start!
After 5 sessions, feel hopeful and excited about your child’s ability to resist peer pressure and make healthy choices in alignment with your values. Come join us and connect with like-minded parents who are ready to empower their kids to make good choices. | <urn:uuid:df5d9711-b0cd-4583-abb5-b03638fbf7dc> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://ctcsummitcounty.org/programs-events/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572833.95/warc/CC-MAIN-20220817032054-20220817062054-00472.warc.gz | en | 0.922549 | 105 | 1.507813 | 2 |
2010-5-11 9:01:12 天天向上
The mineral particles found in soil range in size from microscopic clay particles to large boulders. The most abundant particles—sand, silt, and clay—are the focus of examination in studies of soil texture. Texture is the term used to describe the line composite sizes of particles in a soil sample, typically several representative handfuls.
(5) To measure soil texture, the sand, silt, and clay particles are sorted out by size and weight. The weights of each size are then expressed as a percentage of the sample weight. In the field, soil texture can be estimated by extracting a handful of sod and squeezing the damp soil into three basic shapes; (1) cast, a lump formed by squeezing
(10) a sample in a clenched fist; (2) thread, a pencil shape formed by rolling soil between the palms; and (3) ribbon, a flatfish shape formed by squeezing a small sample between the thumb and index finger. The behavioralcharacteristics of the soil when molded into each of these shapes, if they can be formed at all, provides the basis for a general textural classification. The behavior of the soil in the hand test is determined by the
(15) amount of clay in the sample. Clay particles are highly cohesive, and when dampened, behave as a plastic. Therefore the higher the clay content in a sample, the more refined and durable the shapes into which it can be molded. | <urn:uuid:c7ad8e77-8ce2-4174-86f3-ec59a88b468f> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.enging.com.cn/yingyuxuexiziliaoneirong_144.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560283301.73/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095123-00508-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94026 | 307 | 3.765625 | 4 |
Three African energy and anti-poverty pioneers have won this year's Ashden Awards, the world's leading green energy prize. His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales, Patron of The Ashden Awards, personally congratulated the winners.
The winners are Gaia Association (Ethiopia), Kisingani Smith Group (Tanzania) and Fruits of the Nile (Uganda). They received a total of £60,000.
Wangari Maathai, Kenyan Nobel Prize laureate, praised the winners as "wonderful energy pioneers"as she gave the awards. She recognized them as "responding to the needs of their communities. They have decided to take action in the face of huge challenges, displaying not just patience and persistence, but a sense of urgency and determination. We salute these sustainability champions and the Ashden Awards, who help to make their work better known so that they can continue to inspire others."
Although Wangari Maathai's message was directed at African innovators and entrepreneurs, African governments are the key to energy and anti-poverty initiatives. It is hoped that the governments of Ethiopia, Tansania and Uganda will take note of these awards and be inspired to encourage other winning strategies, projects and technologies.
The Ashden Awards demonstrate that modest funding combined with good public relations can focus attention on energy solutions and bring funding to African pioneers.
Project Gaia Ethiopia received funding from The Shell Foundation, SIDA and Dometic AB. Other partners include, the Federal Government of Ethiopia, United NAtions Development Program as well as professional associations such as the Ethiopian Society of Chemical Engineers and local private businesses and non-profit groups. Project Gaia has focused on safe and appropriate alternatives to fossil fuels, especially ethanol.
The Kisangani Smith Group initiated the Black Smith Project in 1996 to provide both vocational training and employment to vulnerable young people while helping the local community to break the cycle of poverty by producing high-quality agricultural tools and irrigation equipment at affordable prices.
This enables local farmers to improve irrigation and use better farming techniques, increasing the size and yield of their harvest. In the past ten years, from 1996 to 2006, this project has trained 120 youths. Out of these, 110 are self-employed, 50 in groups of five and 60 individually. An example of the technological and vocational contributions of this program is the Kisa water pump built by the Black Smith Program in Njombe, which draws water using pistons attached to rope. The pump has the capacity to extract water 30 meters below ground.
Fruits of the Nile is the brain child of Adam Brett and his Ugandan friend Angello Ndyaguma. They designed simple solar driers for sun drying tropical fruits which were tested with innovative Ugandan farmers. This fair trade company was founded in Uganda, but now has expanded to other countries. Fruits of the Nile health bars and tropical snacks are sold in the UK. Company Directors are Adam Brett, Peter Fawcett, Richard Friend and Kate Sebag.
Source: The African Uptimist | <urn:uuid:4d33e6a7-9206-4a92-96e2-487c6462cedf> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://college-ethics.blogspot.com/2008/06/african-pioneers-receive-ashden-awards.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280900.71/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00001-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947792 | 622 | 1.890625 | 2 |
There were four main types used on land: standards, banners, pennons, guidons and pencels. Ships also used streamers.
I will offer some definitions that are not inconsistent with medieval use, but since medieval definitions were not consistent, they will not agree with all medieval use.
Banners were rectangular or square. The others were triangular.
Standards and guidons had a split end. Pennons and pencels had a single end, pointed or rounded.
Standards were usually the largest flags and pencels the smallest, sized to be born on a lance without impeding its use as a weapon
One or more badges could be displayed on all of the above. Almost always, arms were only displayed on banners, pennons and pencels. The one exception that I know of included the arms of the Count of Nassau on an escutcheon among other emblems painted on a standard captured at Grandson in 1476.
14th century banners ranged from 60-90% of the height in breadth, with three feet high and two broad being a fairly typical proportion and size, judging from the iconography. They evolved to square proportions under the Tudors.
Six feet seems to be a good length for a pennon. | <urn:uuid:ab7493da-6eb1-4b7d-a519-a3959f75204f> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://willscommonplacebook.blogspot.com/2013/08/flags-in-medieval-england.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560279933.49/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095119-00127-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972361 | 260 | 3.796875 | 4 |
Shopping for quality commercial dog food
Reading dog food labels is something of an exercise in futility unless you know the arcane rules governing what they can say, but here are a few guidelines.
- Ingredients must be listed by amount in descending order. So if meat is the first ingredient (the ideal to strive for), technically the food contains more of that ingredient–chicken, say–than any other ingredient. In reality, chicken is a heavy ingredient because it contains a lot of water, so it’s easy for manufacturers to manipulate the label by listing chicken first and following it with various grains, such as wheat meal, wheat middlings, wheat flour, and so on. It’s all wheat, though, and if you were to put it on a scale with the chicken, it would probably outweigh the fowl.
- The first ingredient on the label should always be meat with a name–such as chicken, lamb, or beef–as opposed to the generic “meat,” which could be anything.
- A food should have more meat protein than grain protein. Unfortunately there’s really no way to tell that from the label.
- One or more types of meat, or high-quality dairy products such as eggs, should be listed among the first three to five ingredients. If the first ingredient is a meat, followed by only grains, or if the first ingredient is a grain, check some other brands before buying.
- Marketing terms such as natural or premium have no official legal definition. If you want to know what the manufacturer means by “human-grade ingredients” or “70-percent organic,” give the company a call and get some answers. Every can or bag of dog food must list contact information for the manufacturer on the label. | <urn:uuid:4bfc0cb7-f5ae-4003-b5c0-b574a7c20e79> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://dogtime.com/dog-health/general/216-food-nutrition | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280835.60/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00472-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950972 | 370 | 2.28125 | 2 |
We return once again (click here for past posts) to the seemingly banal legal doctrine of standing to sue—a subject that few, if any, likely contemplated when celebrating Constitution Day this week. This doctrine does, however, arise from the Constitution’s ingenious separation of powers among the three branches of government. Article III limits the judiciary’s role to resolving “cases” and “controversies.” From that the U.S. Supreme Court derived the standing doctrine as a way to test whether plaintiffs’ claims are fit for judicial resolution. A key part of the test is whether a plaintiff can factually establish that she suffered a concrete “injury in fact” that can be traced to the defendant’s conduct and can be redressed by a judicial remedy.
Legal claims based on conjectural or hypothetical harm, therefore, should not be inundating federal courts’ dockets. Unfortunately, too many no-injury class actions are passing the standing test, thanks in part to broadly worded state consumer-protection laws (and judges’ reluctance to reject jurisdiction). Just last week, for instance, a federal court ruled that state fraud laws are so broad that consumers who purchased vehicles with faulty ignition switches can recover damages even if the defect never manifested itself. And earlier this year, the Supreme Court refused to review an appellate court decision that allows eye-drop users to sue based on the speculative theory that eye-drop producers would charge the same price for a vial with a smaller dispensing hole.
Given the current trend on standing, it is critical to highlight positive outcomes in this area. We discuss two encouraging decisions here, one from the court that allowed the aforementioned eye-drop suit to proceed, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, and the second from a federal court in California, a state with perhaps the nation’s most permissive consumer-protection laws.
Despite the lack of credible scientific evidence that talc causes ovarian cancer, juries in several states have awarded baby-powder consumers millions in damages in failure-to-warn suits. A growing number of unharmed women have decided to ride the product-liability claimants’ coattails, filing consumer-fraud class actions that allege economic harm.
One of those suits, filed by Mona Estrada on behalf of a class of consumers who purchased baby powder in California (including men, who cannot develop ovarian cancer), made its way into a multidistrict litigation in New Jersey federal court, In Re: Johnson & Johnson Talcum Powder Products Marketing, Sales Practices and Products Liability Litigation. That court dismissed Estrada’s suit for lack of standing, and she appealed to the Third Circuit.
Estrada purchased and used J&J’s baby powder for over 50 years, and testified that she will continue to buy it. She claims to nonetheless deserve damages because the purported risk of cancer renders the baby powder’s worth less than what she paid for the product.
On appeal, Estrada asked the court grant her standing because “at an appropriate time after discovery” she will flesh out her bare-bones theory of injury. The Third Circuit, per Chief Judge D. Brooks Smith, explained that her request “is not one that we may grant and still fulfill our constitutional obligations.” The court agreed that Estrada need not allege in her pleadings the exact amount of damages due, but she must “do more than simply pair up a conclusory assertion of money lost with a request that the defendant pay up.”
Two factors supported the court’s conclusion that Estrada could not satisfy the injury-in-fact requirement. First, she will continue to purchase a product she alleges is unsafe, and will do so without any discount to compensate for the powder being worth less, as Estrada claims in her complaint. Second, Estrada did not allege that the baby powder posed a cancer risk to her; rather, her complaint argues that J&J’s product was unsafe as to others. To her, the baby powder was safe and provided her the very benefits it claimed.
In conclusion, the court held that Estrada got exactly what she bargained for; she could not establish standing based solely on buyers’ remorse.
In this class action involving nonfunctional “slack fill,” David Spacone of Hollywood, California asserts the large opaque cylinder for a two-gram tube of Krazy Glue misled him into believing the product contained more glue. The two grams wasn’t enough to finish an auto-repair job, so he had to travel out in Los Angeles traffic to buy another. Spacone claimed the misleading packaging caused him economic harm.
Spacone moved to certify the class of plaintiffs. Before conducting an analysis under Rule 23, Central District of California Judge André Birotte Jr. examined whether Spacone had standing under California consumer-protection laws. The court found that Spacone’s own deposition statements thoroughly undermined his claimed injury in fact. Spacone repeatedly denied that he felt ripped off or was unhappy with the price he paid. When he returned to get the second vial, he did not demand a refund because (and one can just picture Spacone’s attorney wishing he could glue his client’s mouth shut) “the money wasn’t the issue. It was my time. . . . Going back and forth in Hollywood . . . is an ordeal.”
Spacone attempted to mitigate his ruinous deposition by submitting an affidavit declaring he lost money and his counsel attempted to “triage” (Judge Birrotte’s word) the standing issue during oral argument. The court wasn’t buying any of it, concluding “Wasted time does not equal lost money or property, so Spacone cannot establish statutory standing.”
In Re: Johnson & Johnson and Spacone reflect the need for defendants to demand, and for courts to conduct, a thorough analysis of a plaintiff’s purported economic injury. Judges should not, as the Third Circuit aptly explained, grant plaintiffs a free admittance into court based on the promise that they will offer more concrete facts to justify their asserted loss of money later in the proceedings. And they should, as Judge Birrotte did in Spacone, hold plaintiffs to their under-oath statements on harm, or lack thereof, absent compelling proof to the contrary.
Exacting analysis of a plaintiff’s standing to sue helps keep the judiciary in its lane, preserves judicial resources, and prevents the type of case-by-case product regulation that breeds economically corrosive confusion and inefficiency.
Also published by Forbes.com on WLF’s contributor page. | <urn:uuid:9217c946-f4d2-4f38-944b-cc8ffc38f3b5> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.wlf.org/2018/09/19/wlf-legal-pulse/courts-reject-buyers-remorse-and-wasted-time-as-redressable-class-wide-injuries-2/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882570692.22/warc/CC-MAIN-20220807181008-20220807211008-00679.warc.gz | en | 0.945618 | 1,410 | 1.664063 | 2 |
This recent, excellent post by Bob Murphy on the inevitable shortages caused by government-imposed price ceilings prompts me to ask the following series of questions (all aimed chiefly at my fellow economists): What would the bulk of economists predict to be the result(s) of each of the following government actions?
1. an effective price ceiling on retail gasoline?
2. an effective price ceiling on residential rental units?
3. an effective price ceiling on condoms?
4. an effective price floor on cable-television subscriptions?
5. an effective price floor on hamburgers at fast-food restaurants?
6. an effective price floor on low-skilled labor?
I strongly suspect that a large majority of economists would predict shortages for numbers 1 through 3 (and, in addition, some other consequences – such as queueing or falling product quality). I strongly suspect also that a large majority of economists would predict, for numbers 4 and 5, surpluses – at least of the amounts that producers would be willing to sell at those ‘floored’ prices if they believed that consumers would buy those high quantities. These economists would likely also agree that the actual amounts of cable-tv subscriptions sold, as well as hamburgers at fast-food restaurants sold – that is, the quantities of these items that actually find their way into the homes and bellies of consumers – would be less than the amounts that would find their way into homes and bellies if the government did not interfere with the market’s pricing process.
But I’m less confident today about what most economists would say about number 6.
It is, though, a deep mystery. There’s nothing at all about the service identified in number 6 (save for the fact that it often serves as a convenient political mascot) to distinguish it in any economically essential way from the five other goods or services identified above. I, for one, will never understand the readiness that so many economists today seem to have to regard low-skilled labor as being uniquely exempt from the economic reality and laws that are recognized to apply nearly everywhere else.
Economists have no trouble understanding that an effective price floor of, say, $5 on hamburgers that would otherwise sell for $3.50 will cause hamburger buyers to buy fewer hamburgers – to substitute at the margin away from buying hamburgers to buying the likes of chicken sandwiches and pizza. And these same economists would almost surely snicker a “Get real!” in response to some earnest young social engineer who, convinced that hamburgers are underpriced, insists that hamburger buyers have enough monopsony power in the hamburger market to justify the price floor – a price floor that the earnest young social engineer, his or her brain filled with mastery of textbook possibilities, predicts will cause the quantity of hamburgers sold to increase in response to the wisely and apolitically imposed price floor.
Chicken farmers and pizzeria owners, of course, would enthusiastically encourage the rest of us – including the government – to heed the deep wisdom of the earnest young social engineer. For the greater good, of course. | <urn:uuid:cac2faa6-df2b-4f3a-9be0-8f4563d98463> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://cafehayek.com/2013/10/questions-for-my-fellow-economists.html/print/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560282140.72/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095122-00126-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961333 | 642 | 2.0625 | 2 |
On Tuesday, millions of Florida voters will head for the polls. Being Floridians, many of them will become confused and drive into buildings, canals, cemeteries, other Floridians, etc. But some will actually make it to the polls, where they will cast ballots that will play a crucial role in the presidential election. Or, in the case of Democrats, not.
It turns out that the 2008 Florida Democratic primary doesn’t count. Florida will be sending the same number of delegates to the 2008 Democratic convention as Uzbekistan.
This may seem unfair, but there’s a simple, logical explanation: The whole primary system is insane. Consider the process so far …
First Iowa held “caucuses,” in which Iowans gathered in small groups at night and engaged in some mysterious Iowan ritual that for all we know involves having intimate relations with corn. Right after that, Wyoming had a primary, but it was only for Republicans, because Wyoming Democrats (apparently there are at least two) will hold their primary on March 8.
Most of the candidates ignored Wyoming and focused on the New Hampshire primary, except Rudy Giuliani, who’s following a shrewd strategy, originally developed by the Miami Dolphins, of not entering the race until he has been mathematically eliminated. After New Hampshire came Michigan, where the ballot listed all the Republicans, but only certain Democrats, including Chris Dodd, who had already dropped out of the race, but NOT including Barack Obama or John Edwards.
After Michigan came the Nevada caucuses, in which Hillary Clinton got more votes, but Barack Obama got more delegates. (If you don’t understand how that could happen, then you have never been to a casino.)
Then came the South Carolina Republican primary, which of course was not held on the same day as the South Carolina Democratic primary, which will be Monday. Then comes Florida, in which Republican voters will elect some delegates, although the total will only be half the number Florida was originally supposed to get.
Meanwhile Florida Democrats, as I mentioned, will have the same impact on their party’s nomination as if they fed their ballots to ducks. …
How did we end up with this ridiculous system? We got it through endless petty squabbling, in both parties, over the issue of which states get to go first. That’s right:
When confronted with what should be a minor procedural problem, the leaders of our major political parties can’t even work intelligently with their own allies, let alone their opponents. This is why, no matter who wins in November, I am optimistic about the future of the nation. …
So that’s the situation, Floridians. On Tuesday, it’s your turn to stand up and be counted, unless of course you’re a Democrat. But whatever you are, you should get out there and vote, even if you have no earthly idea what or whom you’re voting for, or why, because that’s what democracy is all about.
29 Jan 2008 | <urn:uuid:e84f61ae-81c8-49c8-bd4f-745eb5b7d963> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://neveryetmelted.com/2008/01/29/dave-barry-explains-the-florida-primary/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280872.69/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00319-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964429 | 635 | 1.578125 | 2 |
Wonderful way to produce and vanish flat objects!
Show a cardboard popcorn box empty, then suddenly pull silks or cards or anything else that's flat from it! Or--- place silks or cards into the popcorn box, then immediately take it apart and show that it's now empty!
And this one is SO EASY! If you can reach into the box, you can do the trick!
Plus, the Popcorn Box includes instructions for 12 EASY TRICKS you can do!
The actual name of this trick is the Tommy Windsor Popcorn Dye Box, but we think of it as the Magic Popcorn Box!
History and Trivia:
The Popcorn Box was invented by Tommy Windsor.
Interested in magic history? Visit our free online Magic Library, full of biographies of famous magicians plus lots of magic history and trivia! | <urn:uuid:9c758cd3-9c97-4f27-a3b7-e4f61762cd76> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | https://www.magictricks.com/popcorn-dye-box.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280929.91/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00429-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.902375 | 177 | 1.671875 | 2 |
Binge Drinking As A Risk Factor For STDs
Drinking 5 or more alcoholic beverages at one sitting is defined as binge drinking. This type of drinking is linked to risky sexual practices. Now, a new study has focused on the association between female binge drinkers and risky sexual behaviors. This study is unusual in that it attempts to examine the link between gender and STDs by studying the patients in one city clinic.
The results of this study show that women who binge drink tend to indulge in unsafe sexual conduct—for instance enjoying multiple partners or engaging in anal sex—and also have higher rates for the sexually transmitted venereal disease known as gonorrhea. These results were published in the November 2008 issue of Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research.
One of the authors of this study, Heidi E. Hutton, an assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine comments that the association between binge drinking and taking sexual risks is complicated and involved many factors. In this particular study, the researchers were interested in discovering whether binge drinking increased risky sexual behavior and STD rates. Researchers determined that there were definite differences between men and women in drinking behavior and that binge drinking in women increased their risk for contracting STDs.
Geentanjali Chander, an assistant professor of medicine in internal medicine at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine comments, "Binge drinking results in a decreased ability to make clear decisions and can enable individuals to engage in behaviors that they would not if sober. Initially, some individuals may drink with the expectation of decreasing inhibitions, or some may drink because they are anxious, or depressed, and they expect alcohol to alleviate their symptoms."
Chander explains that no matter why people binge drink, they don't realize that their drinking could cause them serious harm or make them vulnerable to serious diseases.
Researchers spoke to 795 patients at an STD clinic to ask them if they would be willing to answer questions about their drug and alcohol use and about their sexual behavior. The patients were at the clinic to be evaluated or treated for STDs. Of this number, 671 patients agreed to be interviewed. 322 of the participants were male and 349 female. The interviews were conducted with the aid of audio computer-assisted technology. Once the interviews were completed, researchers examined any possible association between binge drinking, sexual behavior, and STDs, taking into account age, drug use, and employment.
Hutton states that a clear link was found between female binge drinkers and specific unsafe sex practices. Women binge drinkers were three times more likely than the male binge drinkers to engage in anal sex. The women binge drinkers were two times as likely to have sex with multiple partners as were women who abstained from alcohol. The drinking women were five times more likely to contract gonorrhea.
Chander comments that Gonorrhea is an STD that by nature implies unsafe sexual practices. Proving the link between binge drinking and unsafe sexual behaviors is important because the same risky behaviors are associated with acquiring and transmitting HIV.
Hutton explains why binge drinking and unsafe sex practices are more dangerous for women, "If women and men consume the same dose of alcohol, women will have a higher concentration of alcohol in their system, and substantially greater alcohol-caused impairment than men. Furthermore, anatomical differences place women at greater risk than men of contracting some sexually transmitted infections."
Get more information about the many ways to risk contracting an STD in our STD forum. | <urn:uuid:44d90ab6-1fc9-488e-a13d-d1e32f7e0735> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.epigee.org/binge-drinking-stds.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560281331.15/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095121-00222-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967784 | 698 | 2.390625 | 2 |
Massive Earthquake Shakes Chile
News story originally written on February 27, 2010
Early Saturday morning, February 27, 2010, a very strong earthquake shook Chile and western South America. The earthquake, a magnitude 8.8, struck about 100 km (60 mi) off the coast of Maule, Chile (see map at left). The depth of the earthquake was 35 km (21.7 mi). People living in the area have been feeling the shaking of numerous strong aftershocks too.
The magnitude of this earthquake was strong enough to reduce buildings and bridges to rubble and disrupt power. The earthquake epicenter was not far from the large cities of Santiago and Conception, Chile. Approximately 1.5 million people are now homeless in the earthquake region of coastal Chile, according to the director of Chilean emergency management office.
The earthquake happened as Earth's tectonic plates moved along the boundary between the Nazca and South American tectonic plates. These two plates are moving towards each other over time. Each year, they move about 8 cm (3.2 in) closer. Where does the extra rock go? The Nazca plate is sliding below the South American plate, a process called subduction.
This is not the first earthquake to rock coastal Chile. Because it is so close to the boundary between two tectonic plates, the area has a long history of earthquakes. Thirteen large earthquakes, magnitude 7.0 or higher, have shaken the area since 1973. Because it is so prone to earthquakes, there are strict building codes in this area, which means that buildings are designed to be sturdy. Thus, even though this earthquake was much stronger than the earthquake that struck Haiti a month ago, the total destruction is likely to be much less.
The earthquake created tsunami waves in the Pacific Ocean of up to 2.35 meters (7.7 ft), which flooded islands and threw boats into houses along the coast at Talcahuano, Chile. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued a warning that countries in and around the Pacific Ocean, even those thousands of miles away in the western Pacific, should prepare for the possibility that tsunami waves would soon reach their coasts. The Center monitors sea level in the Pacific to track the location of tsunami waves as they move across he ocean. Sirens blasted in the early morning on the Hawaiian Islands, warning people to go to higher ground. Thankfully, the tsunami was quite small when it hit most areas - about 1.2 meters (4 ft) high in Japan and about 2 meters (6.5 feet) high on Tonga and New Zealand. | <urn:uuid:b2dd49d3-badf-45be-b093-1d39305e1ee9> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.windows2universe.org/headline_universe/earth_science/chile_earthquake_feb_2010.html&edu=high | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560281746.82/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095121-00281-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966452 | 527 | 3.484375 | 3 |
A long time ago...
More than 85 years ago, in the southern end of Pennsylvania Dutch Country, Armor Frey started each day by watching the sunrise from the top of Turkey Hill. Then he'd toss a few bottles of milk into the back of his touring sedan and set off to sell them to his neighbors. It was the Great Depression, and every penny helped.
Slowly, Armor's route grew. Until one day his "extra milk" business became his only business.
In 1947, Glenn, Emerson, and Charles Frey bought their father's business. All the dairy's customers still lived within a few miles. Milking the cows and running home delivery routes provided enough of a living for the young men to raise their families. Over the years, the little dairy thrived on their hard work.
Not so long ago...
In 1980, the Frey brothers took the biggest step in the life of the dairy by expanding its ice cream production. Turkey Hill Ice Cream quickly became a favorite in local Lancaster County stores.
In 1981, they persuaded a few independent stores in the Philadelphia area to give "Turkey Who?" a try. Philadelphians loved it. The ice cream was always good, but priced so everyone could enjoy it. Light ice cream soon followed. Then frozen yogurt.
Little by little, this tiny dairy became a favorite in some of the country's biggest markets.
Just the other day...
Today, people all over the country enjoy our products. And more than just ice cream and frozen yogurt; Iced Tea, Ice Cream Sandwiches, and Sundae Cones are all made in the Turkey Hill tradition of good eating. And following the family legacy, Quintin Frey, Armor's grandson, is now president.
In spite of its success, some say this dairy still has a shy personality. Which is fine with us. Because we still think that bringing people a good product, priced so everyone can enjoy it, is more important than talking about it. | <urn:uuid:b7e28a20-9f40-42a8-8543-013c92d23726> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | https://www.turkeyhill.com/about/history | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560279915.8/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095119-00282-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.979341 | 404 | 1.84375 | 2 |
September 9, 2020 – Westwood, MA – The Foundation for Westwood Education today announced a special donation cycle to support community needs during the COVID-19 crisis. The first of its kind in the nonprofit’s 29-year history, this special donation cycle will help address key areas like social emotional needs and distance learning capabilities during the pandemic. The funding comes at a time when schools and other community organizations have a dire need for resources, but are already scrambling to close significant budget gaps created by the crisis.
One of the most critical needs that researchers and health experts worldwide have emphasized is the rising rate of anxiety and depression related to the pandemic. Experts also note that this consequence can disproportionately impact children and seniors, driven by factors like fear of the virus, extreme changes in routine, economic pressures and isolation. The Foundation will fund several social and emotional learning programs to address this growing concern for our most vulnerable populations.
“Our Board met and decided to take this step to help our community at a time when the need is immense,” said Courtney Krupinsky, President of the Foundation for Westwood Education. “We’re all navigating through this unprecedented landscape together, changing the way we live, teach, and connect with others. There has never been a more important time for the Foundation to step up to provide new educational resources to engage, educate and protect the wellness of our community.”
In the social emotional development arena, this special donation cycle will fund two Social Emotional Learning (SEL) resources for Westwood Public Schools:
- Second Step – This highly-rated SEL program, which helps teachers and students with emotional management, situational awareness and academic achievement both inside and outside of the classroom, can be used in person or remotely. The Foundation’s support will bring this subscription-based tool to Westwood Middle Schools for three years.
- Responsive Classroom – This is a proven classroom approach that provides student-centered, social and emotional learning methods of teaching and discipline through evidence-based practices. The Foundation’s support will provide Westwood Elementary teachers and students with enhanced access and content – including materials designed especially for remote and hybrid needs.
Beyond the need for social and emotional resources for Westwood students, there is a critical need for new distance learning resources as schools across the state prepare for the uncertainty of the health-related challenges and requirements ahead. With leading health officials recommending that schools be prepared to shift between in person, hybrid and remote learning formats as needed throughout the year, classroom teachers need access to new learning tools that will enable distance learning success and can translate seamlessly between remote and in-person instruction. Addressing this need, The Foundation for Westwood Education will equip all Westwood classrooms with an important new tool:
- Nearpod – This award-winning, interactive dashboard for teachers is an easy-to-use platform filled with engaging content and tools and real-time insights for teachers so they can optimize their approach both online and offline to deliver stronger student outcomes.
“We’ve never been more challenged as educators and leaders,” said Allison Borchers, Assistant Superintendent of Westwood Schools. “Our teachers and staff are rising to the challenge of teaching remotely while continuing to provide emotional support and stability for our children as they navigate a world of uncertainty. We are grateful for the continued support of the Foundation for Westwood Education for enabling us to provide these tools to our teachers so they can continue to succeed in these unprecedented times.”
In addition to its support for schools, the Foundation will provide funding to the Westwood Council on Aging to serve the diverse needs of Westwood citizens who are age 60+. This programming will focus on preventing isolation, combatting anxiety and promoting fun learning opportunities for area residents.
- Book and a Bite –This program will address two of the most pressing needs for seniors during the pandemic – isolation and food insecurity. Through a partnership with the Westwood Public Library, the Book and a Bite program will deliver packages to home-bound, at risk seniors. These deliveries will include farm-fresh produce, one “grab and go” meal and a library book.
- Current Conversations –This moderated series brings seniors together for a 2-hour discussion on current events and issues every other Wednesday. The sessions occur on Zoom and foster a sense of community, while providing an outlet for seniors to share their thoughts and feelings in an unpredictable landscape.
“We can’t underestimate the challenge this virus has created for the seniors among us,” said Lina Arena DeRosa, Director of the Westwood Council on Aging. “Our deepest concern is that our seniors will feel isolated and will not have the support they need to get through this crisis. We are grateful to The Foundation for Westwood Education for helping to bring our residents together through fun, healthy and engaging educational experiences.”
In total, over $32,000 worth of funding will be provided to support the unique educational needs of the Westwood community at this time, touching thousands of residents. In addition to these grants, the Foundation has recently supported a wide range of programs such as farm-to-table intergenerational events, new STEM and Biodiversity tools for classrooms, cultural speakers and events, career immersion experiences for high school seniors, and cutting-edge Sustainability programs. Each January, The Foundation also hosts an annual fundraiser and highly popular Spelling Bee for elementary students (grades 3-5) in town. | <urn:uuid:df333f79-642e-4aaf-a4db-e42c35bbda29> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://foundationforwestwoodeducation.org/special-donation-cycle-to-support-community/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573744.90/warc/CC-MAIN-20220819161440-20220819191440-00475.warc.gz | en | 0.943642 | 1,126 | 1.78125 | 2 |
Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 18/4/2011 (2103 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
WINNIPEG - Ice jam season on the Red and Assiniboine rivers is over.
"I can confidently say we’re dealing with open water now on the Assiniboine River system," Manitoba’s senior flood-fighter, Steve Topping, said this afternoon. "There is a bit of an ice jam in Brandon that released yesterday, but that will dissipate."
The Red River is free of ice, he added.
However, it doesn’t mean the flood battle is over. The anticipated crest for both rivers in Winnipeg is still several days away.
Ice jams along the Assiniboine on Sunday caused water surges along the river and overtopped and breached dikes between Poplar Point and Baie St. Paul Bridge. Two families in the area were evacuated.
Dike repairs and reinforcements were conducted in the area as the ice slowly moved along the river and a secondary dike was quickly built in one area. Water rose and then fell by close to six feet in some areas as the ice moved through, the province said in its latest flood bulletin.
Premier Greg Selinger got a bird’s eye view of the Assiniboine River between Headingley and Portage la Prairie this morning. He reported seeing flooding at the Poplar Point Hutterite Colony. However, provincial officials said flooding at the colony was not that significant.
Meanwhile, the province said that although 693 Manitobans have now been evacuated from their homes as a precaution, only a half dozen homes have actually been flooded out.
The province issued a new flood update at 2:30 p.m. Watch a replay of the event below. | <urn:uuid:1b302b67-5585-45ab-b13c-04146e5217da> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/special/flood/assiniboine/Selinger-takes-aerial-tour-of-flooded-Assiniboine-120080314.html?story=REPLAY:%20Ice%20jam%20season%20over,%20says%20province%20at%20flood%20update | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280761.39/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00089-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976762 | 380 | 1.5625 | 2 |
Efficacy of Ultraviolet Light and Antimicrobials to Reduce Listeria monocytogenes in Chill Brines
Parikh, Priti P.
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Chill brines used in ready-to-eat meat processing may be an important source of post-processing contamination by Listeria monocytogenes. The purpose of this study was to determine the efficacy of ultraviolet light (UV) in combination with antimicrobials to reduce L. monocytogenes in fresh and used chill brines. Three different antimicrobials were used in combination with UV; citric acid (CA, 0.2 and 0.5%), dimethyl dicarbonate (DMDC, 250 and 500 ppm), and hydrogen peroxide (HP, 2000 and 4000 ppm). For fresh brine studies, brine (8.0% w/v NaCl) was prepared and inoculated with a cocktail of three L. monocytogenes strains (approximately 6 log CFU/mL). Brine was treated with UV alone, antimicrobials alone, and combination of UV and antimicrobials. Moreover, to observe the effect of treatment temperature and brine circulation through the UV system on survival of listeriae cells, inoculated brine was circulated through the system without any treatment that served as control for all the treatments. For UV treatment, inoculated brine solution was exposed to UV in an Ultraviolet Water Treatment Unit (Model: AMD 150B/1/2T D; Aquionics Inc., Peak output: 254 nm) fitted with an inline chiller to maintain brine temperature of -1°C. Samples were withdrawn at regular intervals for 120 minutes. When L. monocytogenes population was no longer detectable via direct plating on MOX, enrichment was performed and suspect colonies were confirmed using API-Listeria. For antimicrobial-only (i.e., no UV) treatments, a specific concentration of antimicrobial was added in inoculated brine and samples were taken for 120 minutes. For the brine that received combination of UV and antimicrobial treatments, UV was turned on once a specific concentration of antimicrobial was added in inoculated brine and samples were withdrawn at regular intervals for 120 minutes. When treated with UV alone, L. monocytogenes population decreased from approximately 6 log CFU/mL to below the detection limit (i.e., 1 log CFU/mL) in 15 minutes with the reduction rate of 0.87 log CFU/mL per minute. However, cells were detectable by enrichment through 120 minutes. The highest rate of decline (0.90 log CFU/mL per minute) was achieved by the combination of UV and 500 ppm DMDC (UV+500 ppm DMDC), which was not significantly different from the reduction rates of UV and UV+0.5% CA. UV+500 ppm DMDC reduced L. monocytogenes to the detection limit in 15 minutes and the organism was not detected by enrichment after 60 minutes. Though the reduction rate of UV+0.5% CA was not significantly lower than the rate of UV+500 ppm DMDC (P>0.05), the former treatment resulted in non-detectable levels more quickly (45 minutes) than the latter (60 minutes). Thus, based on enrichment studies UV+0.5% CA was the most effective treatment in reducing the population of L. monocytogenes in fresh brine. Moreover, when brine was treated with 0.5% CA alone the population decreased to below detection limit in 15 minutes with the rate significantly lower than UV+500 ppm DMDC and UV+0.5% CA (P<0.05). However, L. monocytogenes was not detectable by enrichment from 60 minutes. To summarize, through enrichment studies we observed that UV+0.5% CA, UV+500 DMDC, and 0.5% CA Control were more effective than other treatments in reducing the listeriae population to a non-detectable level. Spent brine is recycled brine that was obtained from a frankfurter processor after its maximum usage. Results of spent brine studies showed that when brine was treated with UV+4000 ppm HP and UV+2000 ppm HP, L. monocytogenes population decreased to the detection limit in 45 minutes and was not detected by enrichment from 120 minutes. These treatments were observed to be the most effective treatments with a reduction rate of 0.12 log CFU/mL per minute. The reduction rate of some other treatments such as, UV+250 and 500 ppm DMDC, UV+0.2% and 0.5% CA, and UV alone was not significantly different from UV+4000 and 2000 ppm HP. However, the population was detected through enrichment up to 120 minutes in all other treatments. The results of these studies indicate that combinations of UV and antimicrobial may be more effective than either treatment alone (except 0.5% CA treatment) to process fresh chill brines. However, the antimicrobials and UV were less effective for controlling L. monocytgoenes in spent brine; presumably due to the presence of organic matter.
- Doctoral Dissertations | <urn:uuid:c6968692-be13-4386-aaa6-98b62b436061> | CC-MAIN-2016-44 | https://vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/handle/10919/29618 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-44/segments/1476988719646.50/warc/CC-MAIN-20161020183839-00128-ip-10-171-6-4.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959277 | 1,091 | 2.296875 | 2 |
“Didn’t I tell you that everything God does works out for the best?” Tevye said to Nachman as everyone gathered excitedly around the coffin on the beach. “If the Turks had let us disembark in Jaffa, I would never have seen my Golda wash up on shore.”
It didn’t matter that, in fact, Nachman had been the one who had reminded a crestfallen Tevye that God’s loving, invisible hand never stops guiding life’s twists and turns. If Tevye, in a moment of despair, had forgotten this teaching of the Talmud, God would certainly forgive him. Now, with Golda once again at his side, Tevye’s faith was stronger than ever.
But Tevye’s reunion with Golda was not the only miracle which had transpired. Since stepping foot in the Land of Israel, Tevye had imperceptibly changed. He couldn’t say why. He couldn’t explain the sensation, but somehow, his mind, his soul, and his heart underwent a rejuvenation, as if the clock of his life had turned backwards, making him feel twenty years younger. Yes, he felt more confident now that his beloved Golda was back at his side. Yes, he felt comforted that the Almighty had returned her to him. But even more than these blessings, the realization that he had reached the Land of Israel overwhelmed all of his thoughts. The prayers, the prophecies, the dreams, the yearnings of two-thousand years, all had come true. Wasn’t it written in the Book of Psalms, “When God will return the exiles of Zion, we will be like those who dream. Then our mouth will be filled with laughter and our tongue with glad song?”
Tevye the milkman, the son of Reb Schneur Zalman, was in Israel! He was in the Land which God had promised to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. It was the Land of Joshua and the prophet Samuel. The Land of King David and his son, Solomon, the wisest of men. It was the home of the Jerusalem Temple, of the Maccabees, and Rabbi Akiva. While Tevye’s faith in the Biblical stories which his father had taught him had always been steadfast, now he was standing on the very soil where Jewish history had unfolded in all of its glory and pain. Suddenly, the ancient stories had a down-to-earth setting. Suddenly, the Land of Israel was real, not just a faraway dream. It was like hearing about a famous person, and then suddenly meeting him, like when Tevye had met the great writer, Sholom Aleichem. What a thrill!
Nachman experienced the same indescribable sensation. Feeling the secret power of the Land surge into his body, he burst into song. Everyone had the same feeling. Everyone sang. They were in the Land of Israel! They were home!
Their singing gave way to exhaustion. It was time to learn their next lesson. Life in the Land of Israel, like its sand dunes, had its ups and its downs. Everyone was astounded at the landscape as they started the trek north back toward Jaffa. Dunes and desert stretched around them as far as the eye could see. Occasionally, they had to make a long detour around a foul-smelling swamp. The land was barren and desolate, as if still suffering from the Divine curse which had fallen upon the soil since the Jews had been exiled from their home. Gone were the lush gardens, the fruit trees, the fertile green valleys, and overflowing rivers of Biblical days. If there had once been milk and honey in the Land, the ferocious sun had long ago turned them to sand. Miles passed without the sight of a single tree or bush. Beside their motley-looking caravan, there was no sign of human life. Eyes searched the horizon for Jaffa, but all they could see was an ocean of heat waves rising off a desert wilderness.
Before long, their enthusiasm started to wane. It was as if they had returned three-thousand years through history to their ancestors’ wanderings through Sinai. Their footsteps became heavier. The fierce sun beat down on their heads. More and more frequently, the men had to set down Golda’s coffin and rest. Tzeitl fainted. Once again, Tevye had to carry her in his arms. Within an hour, their supply of fresh water was finished. Children cried. Grown-ups collapsed in the sand. Complaints could be heard in every corner of the camp.Tzvi Fishman
About the Author: Tzvi Fishman was awarded the Israel Ministry of Education Prize for Creativity and Jewish Culture for his novel "Tevye in the Promised Land." A wide selection of his books are available at Amazon. His recent movie "Stories of Rebbe Nachman" The DVD of the movie is available online.
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If you promote any foreign religions, gods or messiahs, lies about Israel, anti-Semitism, or advocate violence (except against terrorists), your permission to comment may be revoked. | <urn:uuid:11040e4b-15c7-4ec3-877d-01cfa29c3778> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.jewishpress.com/sections/books/the-book-shelf/tevye-in-the-promised-land-books/tevye-in-the-promised-land-chapter-nine-mazal-tov/2012/08/13/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280835.60/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00466-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.987675 | 1,160 | 1.65625 | 2 |
As insurance agents, brokers, advisers, risk managers – whatever you want to call us – we hear it all. The majority of the time it is negative statements regarding insurance – mostly about premiums, bills, audits, etc. We always hear from an individual or business owner that one of their friends told them how to save a fortune on their insurance or how to scam the system (see “recording employees as subcontractors”). You hardly ever hear from one of your friends how insurance saved their lives – literally or financially – or how it rebuilt their home after a Hurricane Katrina or Sandy. Yet, the never ending search for people trying to get ‘something for nothing’ continues. Frankly, it’s a shame.
Why does everyone want to save a fortune on their insurance premiums yet they are willing to go buy the latest technological gadget? They want the social status of having ‘the best’ but are unwilling to pay for the best protection. Individuals or businesses that pay the extra money for more insurance coverage should be applauded and advertised. They should be proud that they have the best protection money can buy. Instead – everyone wants less – less coverage, lower premiums, less headaches and so forth. The best way to put your family in a position with less risk is to pay for better protection.
I like to use the example of people who pay to heat their homes (for those unaware, we live in WI and therefore, this is mandatory). What temperature do you keep your thermostat at during the winter months? I would guess that the average is somewhere between 65 and 70. Why? That is where we are most comfortable – not too hot and not too cold. It also avoids us having to pay for problems that may arise – like illness or freezing pipes. Why not keep the thermostat at 45 or 50 degrees? The human body would be able to survive, but your life would be extremely uncomfortable and probably miserable. We are willing to pay for that comfort – with very few complaints and very few questions asked. We correlate paying for heating as a cost of living in Wisconsin.
Why don’t we correlate paying for insurance and protection as a cost of living (or doing business)? My guess is that it is the perception that insurance is a scam, not worth the money, and that insurance companies make billions of dollars. Some of this is true and most of it is false, but people need to realize the billions of dollars the private insurance industry pays out on a yearly basis to restore individual lives. Every individual certainly has every right to under insure or not purchase insurance at all (except for auto liability insurance in the state of WI). However, don’t expect any sympathy from your insurance advisor when an accident does occur and you don’t have proper coverage. Would you have sympathy for someone who turned their heat down to 30 degrees and then complained about frozen pipes? I didn’t think so.
As always, talk to an insurance professional when determining what coverage is appropriate for you. If you are paying for the best coverage you can afford – good for you. If you are on the other end of the spectrum, consider all possible outcomes and determine what you believe is in your best interest. | <urn:uuid:629e92ff-45d5-43e3-a9dd-bc3eb06ff392> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://insurance-greenbay.com/homepage/insurance-is-a-cost-of-living-and-doing-business-period/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882571993.68/warc/CC-MAIN-20220814022847-20220814052847-00670.warc.gz | en | 0.969132 | 660 | 2.09375 | 2 |
If you can drag yourself away from the for beach long enough to take a look at what the rest of Sardinia has to offer, you’ll be more than pleasantly surprised. Floating halfway between Africa and the mainland of Italy, the island of Sardinia has had a rich and divided history that has colored its current landscape and borne a population with a fiercely independent spirit. Sure there are beautiful beaches, sparkling clean blue waters, and delicious seafood by the plateful, but there are so many more things to do in Sardinia. Once here you can fill your days with leisurely explorations of a myriad tiny towns and ancient ruins.
The Amazing Ruins near Cagliari
Being located in the middle of the Mediterranean, it’s not surprising that Sardinia has had a tumultuous and much-invaded history. Fortunately, there was one continuous settlement way back between 1500 B.C. and 500 B.C. These native Sardinians built stone homes called the nuraghi and it is amazing that you can still see several of these home sites today. The best preserved can be seen by taking a trip north of Cágliari to Su Nuraxi to visit the UNESCO-protected site. The round fortress rising out of the Sardinian landscape will set your imagination running about what life might have been like thousands of years ago.
When the Romans conquered the Carthaginians who had conquered the prehistoric citizens, they too left their traces, best seen at Nora, south of Cágliari, and Tharros, west of Oristano. Though part of Nora may be submerged, it doesn’t mean there’s nothing to see. Perhaps Nora was once an important town in the Empire, evident by its amazing mosaics and the theatre that’s still used in the summer months for performances. The position on the edge of the sea is stunning! Much of Tharros is also submerged, but judging by the photo above, it’s this proximity to the water that makes the ancient site worth a visit.
Sardinia’s Spectacular Cities
If you’re into walking around cities towns more than ruins there’s plenty to keep you busy in three of Sardinia’s most charming towns: Cágliari, Orisanto, and Alghero. Sardinia’s main port, Cágliari, is also the most bustling and cosmopolitan on the island. Take a climb up to the evocative old Castello quarter by way of the Bastione San Remy. Though it’s quite a climb, once you make it to the top and catch your breath you’ll see right away that it’s worth it. The spectacular views of the city and the sparkling sea are best at sunset, but amazing at any time of the day.
Step farther inside the citadel’s walls and immerse yourself in a lovely maze of streets that haven’t changed much since the medieval days. There are even more Roman ruins carved into the hill: the ancient Roman amphitheater is from the second century AD and could once hold everyone from the entire town. Check the schedule of performances in the summer and maybe you can catch a show.
Orisanto is the next big town heading north. Though it’s about two and a half miles from the sea, there are lagoons and canals all around to remind you that you’re still on an island. Orisanto is an elegant city best known for the Sa Sartiglia festival held for three days at the end of the Carnival season. Thought to have originated with the Saracens, Sa Sartiglia is an equestrian tournament that everyone attends masked and costumed. The closing festivities take place in Piazza Eleonora and involve horses running at high speed while the rider attempts to pierce a small hole in a metal star strung above the level of the horses head. The sight is exciting and exhilirating.
Heading north and west to the coast you’ll come to Alghero. This is a charming town that doubles as a busy resort in the summer months. The looming battlements surrounding the town weren’t built before the Spanish took over Alghero in 1354. Their rule left traces in the monuments and sun-drenched narrow alleys that resonate with a distinctly Catalan flavor. One of the best examples of this amalgamation of styles is the Cattedrale which boasts a Catalan-Gothic style.
Perhaps the most impressive of Alghero’s sights lies a boat ride away outside the town. Neptune’s Grotto is a marine cave complete with penetrating stalagmites and dripping stalactites. Both are dramatically lit for effect. If you catching a boat to get there doesn’t appeal to you, then take a drive and enter the cave via a set of stairs winding down the cliff.
Eating and Drinking in Sardinia
Of course you can’t really spend time in Sardinia without trying some of its famous food. Sardinia’s cuisine features fresh ingredients that are simply prepared. A good example are the rich seafood soups that have a very Spanish flavor. Another Sardinian speciality is bottargo, which is something like caviar, is made with mullet eggs, and is often put on pastas. The local cheeses are something spectacular and can range from very fresh and tangy to a more sophisticated aged flavor. Most Sardinian cheeses are made from sheep’s milk, meaning they are called pecorino. The really soft cheeses go best with the typical thin sheets of crunchy “bread”, actually more like a cracker.
Of course you will need something to good to drink as you wind down your busy day of sightseeing. Vernaccia is the best known of the Sardinian wines and can be drunk either dry before dinner or sweet with dessert.
Now that you know where we go when we’re not lounging on Sardinia’s beaches, maybe you’ll want to join us on your next trip to Italy! | <urn:uuid:6cbf8f08-d80b-4633-af74-8c4b1c3ac750> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.touritalynow.com/blog/sightseeing-in-sardinia/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280065.57/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00543-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949237 | 1,278 | 1.953125 | 2 |
After visiting Chailland, it was off to the capital city of the Mayenne, Laval. Parked the car next to the cathedral and walked down the hill to the tourist office in order to get a map of the town. Unfortunately, the map they provided was one of the worst I’ve ever seen. Nearly everything was mismarked and street names were missing. Half the time I was walking in the wrong direction. I think I would have done better finding all of the tourist sites wearing a blindfold. However, I can’t find fault with anything else in this lovely town. There are so many wonderful places to visit. This is the Place de la Trémoille, named after the last of the local lords. The house next to the archway which leads to the castle is known as Maison Pierre Briand and dates from 1469. There are other interesting half-timbered houses that face the square as well as the famous Grande-Rue within the old town. On the east side stands the Renaissance façade of the Nouveau Château built in the 16th century as the residence of the Count of Laval; it was enlarged in the 19th century and now houses the law courts. Nearby is the Renaissance house from 1550 of the Master of the Royal Hunt (Grand Veneur); the façade and the windows in carved tufa are similar to those as the château. Laval still has many of its original half-timbered houses including this one called the Maison des Maires, built between 1471 and 1477. Just in front of it is the Maison du Pou Volant which was built in 1423 and was once a hospice for poor and needy people. It is considered one of the oldest houses in the west of France. Along the rue de la Trinité another set of remarkable half-timbered houses present themselves. Among them in particular is the Hôtel de Clermont, the urban seat of a Cistercian abbey which offers a decorated façade of religious sculptures including Saint-Benôit and Saint-Bernard as well as Saint-Christophe, Sainte-Barbe and the Virgin and Child. They were meant as protection for the residents of the house as well as those living on this city block. This house along the Grande-Rue has recently been restored and is dedicated to Saint-René—his small statue rests in a niche in the corner. These particular sets of houses along the Grande-Rue were my favorite. This is the Porte Beucheresse. In former days this gate, then called Porte des Bûcherons, or gate of the woodcutters opened directly into the forest (for this was where wood from the forest was brought into the city each day). It was built in the 14th century with a pointed entrance arch and is flanked by two round towers, topped with machicolations, which were once part of the town walls of Laval. Henri Rousseau was born in the south tower where his father exercised his trade as a tinsmith. Laval still has many traces of its ancient fortifications throughout the city including this section of the southern ramparts and the 15th century Tour Renaise. Not far from the Tour Renaise is the Church of St-Martin. Just outside of the medieval town, Guy, the first lord of Laval allowed monks from Tours to create a priory dedicated to Saint-Martin in 1040. This very old church is now closed to the public but its interiors hold some very well preserved frescoes dating from the 12th to 17th centuries. Across the street from la Porte Beucheresse is the Cathédrale de la Sainte-Trinité. It was begun in the 11th century but has been altered so many times over the centuries that it wasn’t until the 19th that it received its current aspect. The walls are hung with early 17th century Aubusson tapestries depicting the story of Judith and Holophernes in six panels. Walking up towards the nave, on the left is the tomb of Guillaume Ouvroin, once bishop of Rennes, who was born in Laval and died in 1347. The recumbent figure is made of Carrara marble. The large screen of the original main altar was built between 1634 and 1640 by the Laval architect, Corbineau. The central picture illustrates the mystery of the Holy Trinity. On either side are statues by the Anjou sculptor Biardeau of St-Peter and St-John the Apostle. This is the recumbent figure of Monsignor Bougard, bishop of Laval in 1888. One of the more recent additions to the cathedral is the stained glass windows to the martyred priests of Laval. On January 21, 1794, these old or crippled priests could not be taken away so they were guillotined on the Trémoille Square near the old castle. The Vieux Château, or Old Castle was originally built in 1020 when Guy de Denere established his residence there along an old Roman road that crossed the River Mayenne. The cylindrical tower was begun in the 13th century. During the 16th century, new rooms and halls were built, and new Gothic windows were opened on the courtyard. The Vieux Château became Europe’s first museum dedicated to naïve art in 1967 featuring many works by local artist Henri Rousseau. High above the town is the Jardin de la Perrine, created in 1920 by Jules Denier on land purchased in 1885 by the city from its previous owner, who lost it to gambling debts. The terraces of these huge public gardens command attractive views of the Mayenne, the lower town and the castle keep. There is a nice view of the Eglise Saint-Pierre-Saint-Vénérand on the other side of the river. The first stone was laid by Guy XIV Count of Laval in 1485 but was enlarged several times over the centuries. The last part was restored in 1870 and enlarged once again in 1900 to accommodate the ever growing population of the city. Also nearby is the Science Museum, formerly the Beaux-Arts Museum built in the late 19th century in the neoclassical style. The exterior is really something to see with two large bronze statues on either side of the stairs, one featuring a tiger attacking a tortoise and the other a bison being attacked by a jaguar. The main building is also ornamented with bas-reliefs depicting the birth of Venus and Agriculture. This is the Eglise Notre-Dame-des-Cordeliers built between 1397 and 1407. It was formerly a chapel of a Franciscan Monastery and contains a remarkable set of seven altarpieces from the 17th century. They were carved out of tufa and marble by the local architect Pierre Corbineau. The large altarpiece over the main altar is also believed to be by Corbineau. One of the 19th century side chapels is dedicated to Our Lady of Pontmain. This is the St-Julien, one of the last remaining bateaux-lavoirs or washing boats in Laval. They resembled landing stages surrounded by washboards where the housewives came to beat their linin and rinse it in the running water. In the center were enormous vats for boiling and drying the laundry. About 1,5 km from the city along the river is the ancient sanctuary of Notre-Dame-d’Avesnières which was made into a basilica in 1898. The Romanesque east end is best seen from the Avesnières Bridge. The attractive Gothic-Renaissance spire is an identical copy, made in 1871, of the original which was erected in 1538. The 19th century restoration, which is quite visible on the west front, has not spoiled the atmosphere of meditation with which this place of pilgrimage is imbued. Inside, flanking the entrance, are two colossal painted wooden statues. One is of St-Christopher carrying the infant Jesus from the 16th century while the other is from the 15th century and represents the Holy Savior about to ascend into heaven. The fine Romanesque chancel consists of three storeys of arches and bays with some very splendid carved capitals. | <urn:uuid:8cbeb561-76ae-41df-a0c1-dc4c6476a4f7> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | http://baguette.over-blog.net/article-laval-mayenne-122962358.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573540.20/warc/CC-MAIN-20220819005802-20220819035802-00476.warc.gz | en | 0.976355 | 1,755 | 1.867188 | 2 |
Miscanthus giganteus was a tall, bothersome grass a few years back, a good privacy plant, but to some, just a weed. It could grow about anywhere, reaching heights of 12-15 feet, and do it perennially for 20 years or more.
Some say Miscanthus giganteus had a bad reputation, but it doesn’t bother Terry Lowe anymore. He’s hoping to turn it into renewable energy while it grows on 31 acres of his 66-acre farm in Ashtabula County, Ohio.
Lowe says he learned about Miscanthus giganteus from a neighbor. “The neighbors got involved with miscanthus by happenstance. We learned about it through them and then learned about the BCAP program.” BCAP is the Biomass Crop Assistance Program offered through USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA).
Lowe is co-owner of Ramblin Rose Alpacas with his wife Glenda. They have been raising breeding stock of the fleece-bearing animal for the past seven years. Lowe says he grew his own feedstoc hay on the 40 acres he has converted to the miscanthus field, 31 acres in miscanthus and nine acres in a conservation buffer around the field. They’re downsizing the Alpaca herd and he hopes the miscanthus field will help him “retire again.”
Would he have ventured into the new arena without BCAP?
“Not without the incentive, absolutely not.”
Lowe says he and Glenda weighed the options of staying with the hay, some of which he sold for added income to their Alpacas business, but compared to the projected income from miscanthus, it was “a no brainer.” All he needed was the incentive to put the crop in the ground and let in mature, a 3-5 year process, thus, the reason for the incentive. But after that, it produces a renewable energy crop for 20 years or more.
Lowe describes himself as like most mid-Americans. He says we need to approach energy production from all angles. “We should explore; we’re going to be on oil a long time, but we need alternatives.” He says it’s smart to look for the next generation of fuel. He believes he will be contributing with his miscanthus crop.
“We Americans can walk and chew gum at the same time. Let’s do it all.”
Why did he choose to jump in now?
“Aloterra Energy. They know what they’re doing. They studied it. They’ve got a market for it. They explained it very well. It made sense.”
Aloterra Energy is the Project Area sponsor working with FSA and the BCAP program. The company proposed converting 3,658 acres of Ohio and Pennsylvania farmland into miscanthus fields. The company intends to pay producers for their crop, which Aloterra will turn into fuel pellets for industrial uses.
Scott Coye-Huhn, senior vice president, corporate development and chief legal officer for Aloterra Energy, LLC, says in 20-30 years BCAP is going to have the biggest impact. “It solves the chicken and egg issue.”
Coye-Huhn said introducing farmers to the idea of using their land to grow miscanthus was a matter of “boots to the ground and hard work.” He says the company put in 15-18 hours a day educating men and women like Terry and Glenda Lowe about BCAP and what it can do for the community.
Aloterra hired 100 people just from planting miscanthus on a few thousand acres. Coye-Huhn says, based on third party projections, they expect to have 3,600 new jobs created in four different project areas, which will generate an economic impact of $200 million.
For Terry and Glenda Lowe, they’re excited to be a part of it. | <urn:uuid:7ee76f27-c713-4c16-ba14-3b98852b004b> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://blogs.usda.gov/2012/03/22/ohioans-see-giganteus-future/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560284411.66/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095124-00463-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967196 | 848 | 2.40625 | 2 |
(Medical Xpress)—The importance of the bacteria that live within our digestive tracts is just beginning to be fully realized, and while it has long been known that they assist in digestion and absorption of nutrients, little has been understood about the stability of the microbiota population. Now a U.S. study suggests the gut flora are relatively stable over several years and possibly over our entire lifetimes.
A team led by Jeffrey I. Gordon of the Center for Genome Sciences and Systems Biology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, developed a new method for investigating the composition of the gut microbiota over time. The method, called low-error amplicon sequencing (LEA-Seq) takes advantage of the fact that each strain of gut bacteria carries a slightly different variation in a gene, and these variations can therefore act as biological "barcodes" to identify the bacterial strains present in a sample. High error rates of other methods were avoided by making many more copies of the "barcoded" DNA fragments than usual so that they could be sequenced more times.
The study analyzed fecal microbiota obtained from 175 stool samples from 37 healthy women across the U.S. In 33 of the volunteers, samples were obtained 2-13 times with first and last samples taken up to 296 weeks apart. The other four volunteers were on a low-calorie liquid diet as part of an in-patient weight-loss study and were sampled around every 16 days for up to 32 weeks.
The results showed that in the 33 non-obese subjects the gut microbe population consisted of 195 ± 48 bacterial strains of 101 ± 27 species, and the composition remained stable over time, with over 70 percent of the same strains being found a year after the initial sampling, and over 60 percent after five years. The researchers also found that the most stable strains of bacteria were the most abundant.
The results followed a power law function, which when extrapolated, suggests the gut flora could remain fairly constant for decades, and possibly throughout our lives.
In the four patients being treated for obesity with a monotonous liquid diet, the microbiota were less stable, with some strains becoming much less common during the weight-loss period, and others becoming more abundant. These changes were greatest in those women who lost the most weight (up to 10 percent of their body weight).
Another aspect of the research was to look at the gut flora of related and unrelated individuals, and the results showed that the composition of the microbiota was more similar in relatives than in non-related people, even if the relatives did not live close to each other. These findings suggest that the bacterial populations were established early in life and then remained reasonably constant thereafter.
The results of the study show the bacteria in the human gut are remarkably constant and variations in their composition could affect our health and risk for disease throughout our lives. Co-author of the Science paper, Jeremiah J. Faith, suggested that in future a routine analysis of gut bacteria found in stool samples could be a regular part of a health checkup so that variations in the flora could be identified, as changes could be related to developing conditions, perhaps including autoimmune diseases.
Explore further: Study suggests human genes influence gut microbial composition
More information: The Long-Term Stability of the Human Gut Microbiota, Science 5 July 2013: Vol. 341 no. 6141 DOI: 10.1126/science.1237439
A low-error 16S ribosomal RNA amplicon sequencing method, in combination with whole-genome sequencing of >500 cultured isolates, was used to characterize bacterial strain composition in the fecal microbiota of 37 U.S. adults sampled for up to 5 years. Microbiota stability followed a power-law function, which when extrapolated suggests that most strains in an individual are residents for decades. Shared strains were recovered from family members but not from unrelated individuals. Sampling of individuals who consumed a monotonous liquid diet for up to 32 weeks indicated that changes in strain composition were better predicted by changes in weight than by differences in sampling interval. This combination of stability and responsiveness to physiologic change confirms the potential of the gut microbiota as a diagnostic tool and therapeutic target. | <urn:uuid:f07277ea-4c33-47ee-a786-dd22b41c5838> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | https://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-07-gut-microbe-populations-stable-years.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560279224.13/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095119-00484-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962508 | 855 | 3.1875 | 3 |
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Today's tip from Building Operating Management: Putting energy savings in terms of ROI instead of payback can help win top management approval for facility efficiency projects.
All too often, senior managers think of payback periods when they are evaluating proposals for energy efficiency upgrades. That’s not surprising. Payback measures how long it takes for savings from a retrofit to cover the costs involved. That's a very simple metric that provides a comfort level for financially oriented managers who don’t really understand the facility technologies involved.
But the use of payback makes it easy to set tougher requirements for energy projects than exist for other corporate initiatives. It's not uncommon to hear that organizations won’t consider energy efficiency upgrades if the payback is longer than two years or even 18 months.
One way a to avoid that problem is to get top management to think in terms of return on investment, or ROI, rather than payback. Like payback, ROI is a simple measure. In fact, it’s simply the inverse of payback. But the impact of switching from payback to ROI can be significant. A five-year payback sounds like a long time, but the return on investment is a solid 20 percent. A project with a four-year payback has an ROI of 25 percent. A three-year payback equates to an outstanding 33 percent ROI.
ROI is clearly a powerful tool for selling energy efficiency upgrades. How many corporate projects have an ROI of 50 percent? Yet that's exactly what a two-year payback requires. And an 18 month payback demands a whopping 67 percent ROI.
ROI isn't a perfect measure of the value of energy upgrades, but it's certainly better than payback. | <urn:uuid:c9ab943f-c30a-469a-a312-a8ab51ecceeb> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.facilitiesnet.com/facilitiesmanagement/tip/The-Right-Language-Can-Help-Gain-Top-Management-OK-for-Energy-Efficiency--22590 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560284411.66/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095124-00455-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.929603 | 401 | 1.679688 | 2 |
Not having to answer to a boss. Doing whatever you want during the day. Having the whole home as your workspace. Plus, other myths about running a home-based business.
Starting a business and working out of your home can be rewarding. Chances are you'll spend less time commuting, it's less expensive than renting or buying a commercial space, there may be tax deductions you can take advantage of, and—depending on the business—may afford you more flexibility than a regular 9-to-5 job.
But, not everyone gets what you do. In fact, running a home-based business is riddled with myths and misconceptions.
Myths about running a home-based business
1. Anyone can do it.
Fact: Entrepreneurship isn't for everyone. A successful home-based business requires a CEO, CFO and CIO all rolled up into one person who is self-motivated, resourceful, creative, organized, confident, agile, versatile, decisive, and tolerant to risk-to name just a few key qualities needed to run the show.
- Did you know, there are approximately 2.7 million self-employed Canadians who fit this bill? That's about 14 per cent of Canada's labour force.
2. You don't have a boss telling you what to do.
Fact: You work for the toughest boss around. What other boss out there keeps tabs on what you do every day, all day, in the middle of the night, on weekends, and while on holiday?
3. You don't have to work with people you dislike.
Fact: Cherry picking clients and customers isn't an option and frankly the CFO in you won't let you as it will affect your bottom line.
4. You get to set your own schedule.
Fact: Only retired people get to set their own schedule. Consistency is key and your schedule will have to take into account the hours you work best, are most productive and the availability of your customers, suppliers and clients.
5. Your work and home life are now one.
Fact: A work-life balance isn't something that just happens on its own, it's something you have to create and maintain. For many, part of the key to accomplishing this is to have a workspace in the home that is separate from your down time and keeping a consistent schedule so that family know when you're not working and clients know when you're available.
Myths about protecting your home-based business
Some misconceptions about running a home-based business however, are more serious. And, as a small business owner, belief in these myths could leave you exposed and unprotected.
6. Your home insurer doesn't need to know about your business.
Fact: You risk voiding your home insurance policy if you don't keep your home insurer in the loop about running a business out of your home.
7. Your home insurance policy covers your business.
Fact: You might be under the mistaken belief that your business is automatically insured under the liability and contents coverage you have with your home insurance policy; it's not. If available, you can purchase an extension from your home insurer that will cover your business; however, you may find that the limits are, well, limiting.
8. Working from home means you don't need liability coverage.
Fact: Liability is probably the biggest risk with a home business. Let's say you're sued by a client, or courier, who slips and falls at your home. Or, you're sued because there are problems with the product you're selling or the service you're offering. Without liability coverage, you'll be on the hook for any damages awarded by a court if successfully sued.
9. Your car insurance covers inventory, equipment or tools you have in your vehicle.
Fact: Your car insurance only covers your vehicle; not the stuff in it. Inventory, equipment, tools or supplies that might be stolen or damaged while in your car will not be covered under your car insurance policy. Items related to your business will only be covered if you have a home business extension on your home insurance policy, or a home-based business insurance policy.
10. It's a small business, insurance is not necessary.
Fact: Size doesn't matter. Big or small, the size of your business does not define your need to protect your livelihood. That's why, for the price of your daily large double-double, you can get a home-based business insurance policy that will cover:
- your work computer, laptop and other expensive business equipment;
- your liability if someone who is visiting your home for business purposes slips and falls, or you're sued because there are problems with the product you're selling or the service you're offering;
- operating expenses and lost income should something happen to your home (like flood or fire) that makes running your business impossible.
The truth about your home-based business
When you're running a home-based business, if you don't protect yourself, who will? Protect everything that you're working hard to achieve and compare home-based business insurance quotes today at Kanetix.ca. | <urn:uuid:e27ae589-d101-4cf6-81bb-9fbbb0d0a03b> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | https://www.kanetix.ca/top-10-myths-of-running-a-home-based-business | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560283689.98/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095123-00354-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966647 | 1,061 | 1.601563 | 2 |
US investigating fuel leaks in older Chevy Cobalt and HHR vehicles
The U.S. government's road safety agency is investigating complaints of fuel leaks in older Chevrolet Cobalt small cars and HHR wagons.
The probe covers more than 614,000 Cobalts from the 2008 to 2010 model years and HHRs from 2008 and 2009.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says it has 208 complaints from owners about gasoline leaks. Thirty-nine owners have told the agency about gas puddles or drips from leaky fuel lines toward the left rear wheel well. The agency says in documents posted Tuesday that the leaks are caused by corrosion of metal fuel lines near polymer blocks that hold the lines to the body. The leaks are beneath an insulation heat shield near the exhaust pipe and muffler.
The agency says it doesn't have any reports of crashes, fires or injuries. It says the probe will determine how often the problem happens and assess potential safety issues. Investigations can lead to recalls.
A message was left Tuesday seeking comment from GM. | <urn:uuid:546be568-0404-4c18-b85b-31af38f8f4b5> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.sooeveningnews.com/story/news/2020/07/07/us-investigating-fuel-leaks-in-older-chevy-cobalt-and-hhr-vehicles/42795751/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882570879.1/warc/CC-MAIN-20220808213349-20220809003349-00475.warc.gz | en | 0.952012 | 214 | 1.695313 | 2 |
Model: Pz Kpfw VIb Konigstiger (Porsche turret) Publisher: GPM 14/98 Scale: 1:25 Format: A4 booklet Designer: Not known The Konigstiger was designed as a replacement for the Tiger I. It was a completely new design altough it shared some design features with the Panther. A few hundred were built in 1944-45 and although it was underpowered and suffered engine and transmission reliability problems it was highly effective when it was running. Its 88mm L/71 gun was capable of destroying most opposing tanks (except perhaps for the Russian IS-2) at very long ranges. GPM has produced a fair number of AFV hits over the years - most of these kits were no better than their contemporaries. The 1998 publishing date suggests that this model will be an improvement over the earlier offerings without the complexity of recent kits. In general this expectation is met. This is a big AFV model - the cover says it's 40cm by 15 cm by 15cm ( 16" x 6" x 6" ). Fourteen pages of A4 cardstock, 2 pages of frames, 1 1/2 pages of vehicle history and instructions(in Polish) and 2 1/2 pages of construction diagrams. There are also 2 pages of photo instructions and a page of photos of the completed model. The model has no interior except for an optional modelled engine. The engine hatch appears to be the only one which is openable. The traditional Polish 1mm card box is used as the frame. Print quality is excellent and the art work is very good - there is a representation of Zimmerit coating which looks pretty effective as well as some light weathering on the hull. There's no attribution of the model to any particular unit but since it has the Porsche turret it must be one of the first 50 King Tigers built. All later King Tigers had a different turret because the Porsche turret was found to have a shot trap which deflected rounds down onto the hull top. Some of the early King Tigers were deployed in France in 1944 so this model may represent one of these. The camouflage colours look about right for mid-1944 - dark yellow base coat with red-brown/ dark green camouflage stripes. <<Update 16/9/04 - After a bit of digging on the Web it looks as though this model represents a Kingtiger of s.Pz.Abt. 503 (heavy tank battalion)(1st company). This unit was attached to the 21st Panzer Division during the Normandy campaign. The unit symbol can be found at: http://www.spearhead1944.com/gerpg/ger2.htm >> The King Tiger had a similar suspension to the Tiger and Panther - multiple interleaved road wheels with torsion bar suspension. The modelling of the multiple roadwheels appears reasonable without being outstanding. The tracks are modelled as 2 bands without an option to build the track form individual links. The inside (upper) parts of the track is coloured a somewhat strange pink-grey colour - I think it's intended to represent rust on the track. However manganese steel from which track links are forged from rusts to a dark brown colour - it might pay to scan and recolour these parts. The hull is modelled in fine detail - the engine deck looks accurately modelled - the instructions suggest using mesh to represent the trash screens over the air inlets. The model photos show something like insect screen mesh - this is too coarse - tulle or similar would be better. The inspection and access plates on the hull bottom are modelled - this is unusual for a model of this age. The modelled gun barrel doesn't seem to be able to elevate which is a bit disappointing. There is an attempt at an external MG42 on the turret top. I think this would be better replaced by the recent free model of the MG42 by Jim Nunn. There is an upper body model of the tank commander - this could be safely discarded. This model would suffer in comparison to Halinski's Panther but if an interior model is not required it isn't too far short of Halinski in terms of external detail. I think the GPM model represents a credible attempt to externally model the King Tiger without the extreme detail of recent models. Instructions: B+ (good construction diagrams but limited in scope) Paper quality: A Level of detail: B+ (more internal detail would be nice) Printing quality: A (fine lines and accurate colour registration) Artwork: A (light weathering, Zimmerit) Value for money: B+ (lot cheaper than Halinski) Skill level: The large number of small parts might be a bit much for a beginner. | <urn:uuid:1f4662ed-e298-4cb8-b4d2-894a780a3191> | CC-MAIN-2016-44 | http://zealot.com/threads/gpm-pz-kpfw-vib-king-tiger.120913/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-44/segments/1476988719677.59/warc/CC-MAIN-20161020183839-00559-ip-10-171-6-4.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963329 | 959 | 1.726563 | 2 |
Before the dedication, President Thomas S. Monson joined with hundreds of members outside the temple to participate in the traditional cornerstone ceremony symbolizing the completion of the building as a “house to the Lord.” President Monson invited youth to participate by placing mortar at the cornerstone.
President Monson was joined by President Henry B. Eyring, first counselor in the First Presidency; Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of Twelve Apostles; and Elders Claudio R.M. Costa and William R. Walker of the Seventy in the events surrounding the dedication.
Saturday evening, a cultural celebration for young adults was held at which more than 1,600 people between the ages of 12 and 18 retold the rich cultural history of the area through song and dance.
There are also temples operating in Mesa and Snowflake, Arizona, and two others planned for Gilbert and Phoenix. | <urn:uuid:a9e03548-0857-4d02-86a5-4da7a9055897> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.kcsg.com/pages/full_story/push?article-Hundreds+Gather+for+The+Gila+Valley+Arizona+Temple+Dedication%20&id=7748786 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560279410.32/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095119-00168-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960883 | 181 | 1.914063 | 2 |
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thesis about piracy in the philippines What is true is that the fire did start in a barn owned by the O'Leary family, and the flames, whipped by strong winds, quickly moved onward from that point. What do you think is the novel's general attitude toward the British Empire? It is a world in which people believe in legends and myths. Essay about endangered animals Easy essay on water resources essay on personal identity over time your english teacher essay for 10th class, national festival of india essay in english argumentative essay on federalist. Yet, I managed to visit home quite frequently. Another disadvantage of cutting down trees is the way the land will be left bare. Congress records worst ever electoral performance in national capital 2 min read. Make a list of pros and cons advantages and disadvantages. The yellow leaves suggest that the poem is set in autumn, perhaps in a section of woods filled mostly with alder or birch trees. Further information: Film theory , Product placement , and Propaganda. So these firms can pick from the best. A great read and will be a great addition essay the place i want to visit most to your library. Think back on the memories and the sights, the sounds and the smells. Mentors in parliament, senior teachers and workers in companies—jobs easily filled by experienced senior citizens—can all be roles that our grandparents can shoulder to remain active and contributing individuals. This allows for members of society to connect Continue Reading.
Physics in basketball essay essay about my christmas vacation brainly. Mumps is another viral disease that was essay the place i want to visit most once very common, especially during childhood. The interaction between peers will help make the editing process more explicit. | <urn:uuid:3dce9c7c-009d-4b36-b7da-453ddc2d7290> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | http://redmusic.red/essay-the-place-i-want-to-visit-most | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882571210.98/warc/CC-MAIN-20220810191850-20220810221850-00471.warc.gz | en | 0.950309 | 489 | 1.695313 | 2 |
A few months ago the Swedish Left made an important discovery: by ignoring the obvious fact that young men made up 70 to 90 percent of recent migrants and refugees to their country, Sweden had wound up with sex ratios in the young adult age groups that were significantly worse than China’s. Furthermore, rates of crimes against women were rising.
At first they responded by considering the principle of anti-racism so important that these new developments must not be commented upon, or even reported. Investigative reporting revealed the Swedish press had actually squashed important stories about rising crime against women, such as occurred at the Stockholm concert in 2014, to not give cover to the party of the Swedish Right, which was calling for a far less-welcoming policy towards refugees. Of course, such discussion-quashing actually increased the electorate’s sympathy for the rightist party.
By early 2016, however, the Swedish Left remembered it was not only a champion of anti-racism, but also of women’s equality. Leftist parties began calling for a “gender aware” immigration policy that would not overlook the costs to women’s equality of an open immigration policy. The famous Swedish common sense prevailed: it was deemed possible to be simultaneously anti-racist and pro-women’s equality.
We have a similar situation emerging in the United States over transgender individuals’ bathroom use. The political Left has not yet embraced the idea that there may be more than one valuable principle worth upholding in this controversy. While it is keen to uphold the principle of anti-discrimination against transgender individuals, the principle of commitment to women’s equality—traditionally associated with the Left—seems not to be seen as important to include in the discussion. At least not yet.
I believe the common sense of the American people will eventually prevail. But I fear that, like the Swedish case, there will be real regress for women as the dynamic works itself out. For example, in response to North Carolina’s new law about persons using the bathroom associated with their birth sex, the Obama administration rumbled it may halt federal funding for education and infrastructure in North Carolina to punish the state.
Toilet Security Matters for Women Everywhere
When we contemplate the issue of bathroom use, there are two progressive values to balance, not one. The sooner we talk about that second principle—women’s equality—the sooner common sense will provide solutions acceptable to all. So let’s talk about that second principle for a few moments.
The issue of “toilet security for women” is an emerging global issue. Human geographer Kathleen O’Reilly has recently written that “Toilet insecurity is not due solely to the absence of adequate sanitation. It is primarily due to gender.” While some women in poorer countries experience toilet insecurity because there are no toilets and open defecation is their only alternative, O’Reilly points out that many women experience toilet insecurity even when public toilets are provided, noting, “access to a toilet does not insure freedom from attack or fear of violence and harassment.”
The problem, as O’Reilly sees it, is “gender-neutral toilet policy” that does not take into account women’s special vulnerabilities in societies where women lack the structural power men enjoy. One of the most important transformations necessary is for policymakers to begin to embrace the principle that “women and girls have a right to toilet security” and that sanitation planning “must be accountable to women and girls.” O’Reilly concludes, “Women’s subordinate position in society is the most basic reason that women cannot use public toilets without fear or experiences of sexual violence or harassment. Fear and stress surroun[d] the use of [these toilets].” Toilet security for women is thus one indicator of a country’s commitment to women’s equality.
Gender-Neutral Bathrooms Are Not Neutral
Poor countries are not the only arenas of toilet insecurity for women. Such insecurity has become a serious issue in the European migration wave of 2015-2016. Men have dominated that migration wave, and in the refugee camps, toilet insecurity for women is rampant.
In a focus group designed by the Centers for Disease Control, “women identified the latrines and the paths leading to the latrines as areas where they felt the least safe. Women and girls spoke about men hanging around the latrines and nearby paths. They described lack of proper lighting in the area. They also described latrines without privacy or doors to close the latrines, with men positioning themselves so they could see inside the facilities.” Heightened fear and stress now accompany the most basic of everyday bodily needs for refugee women and their children. A “gender neutral” approach to toilets has undermined women’s equality in this case.
As toilet security for women has emerged as an important global issue, discussed by UNWomen, UN-Water, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, and many others, one of the consistent recommendations is separate facilities for men and women. A UNWomen-sponsored report from Nepal urges the government to “maintai[n] separate toilets for men and women.”
The OHCR notes that “Separate toilets at school . . . mean more girls are likely to attend in the first place, and more girls are likely to say after puberty to complete their education . . . Women and girls place higher value on the need for a private toilet than men.” UN-Water urges separate facilities for men and women, noting this “does more to protect against violence than facilities lacking such conditions.”
Women Are Right to Fear Male Violence
Given such clear unanimity among international governmental organizations that separate toilet facilities and a rejection of a gender-neutral approach to sanitation are key to ensuring toilet security for women, the current U.S. brouhaha over North Carolina’s new law is both understandable and puzzling. It’s understandable because the United States has recently moved decisively toward non-discrimination based on gender and sexual orientation, and this is a new opportunity to demonstrate that commitment. But it’s puzzling because there is an international consensus that toilet security for women is a vital component of ensuring women’s equality.
If the issue of violence against women (VAW) had been solved in the United States, the discussion would be moot. But the United States has comparatively high rates of VAW compared to those of other developed countries. On one comparative scale, the United States ranks fourteenth in the world on reported rapes with an estimated 68 percent of rapes never reported to police. Indeed, the country has had a searing conversation about “rape culture” on college campuses, and is only now working through whether only “yes means yes.”
Of course, rape is not the only physical fear from men women experience, even from complete strangers in public, as the website Everyday Sexism makes plain. To suggest that women have no reason to feel fear and stress because of the presence of men in a public restroom in the United States is laughable. Everyone knows the problem does not so much concern trans men using men’s bathrooms; the problem is with trans women, especially those with intact male genitalia, using women’s bathrooms.
To ignore that the perpetrators of violence against persons with XX chromosomes are overwhelmingly persons with XY chromosomes is to blind oneself to the reality every woman lives.
Start by Asking Women What They Think
While the North Carolina law needs modification, its basic premise—that women deserve toilet security as a hallmark of a society that takes women’s equality seriously—certainly accords with positions taken by the United Nations, the OHCR, UNWomen, and UN-Water.
Why, then, would the Obama administration seek to punish North Carolina for trying to ensure what UNWomen sees as a basic right for women worldwide? Why hasn’t Hillary Clinton suggested that further research is needed on the costs and benefits of eliminating separate toilet facilities for men and women before a policy position can be justifiably articulated? And why has no one asked the women of North Carolina about what toilet security means to them? Why are the ones who would bear the burden of added fear and stress not being directly polled about any proposed policy changes that would affect their security?
I have enough faith in my fellow citizens to believe Americans know it’s simplistic to assume a zero-sum game between the value of anti-discrimination and the value of women’s equality. The idea that either transsexual individuals “win” their rights to use the bathroom of their choice or women “win” the right to toilet security simply cannot be the best way to frame this issue.
But we can’t find a smart solution agreeable to all until we are willing to acknowledge that toilet security for women is an important component of our goal of women’s equality in this nation, and that the voices of women must be sought and heard in this discussion as a prerequisite to any policy change. That’s square one, and the sooner we get there, the better. | <urn:uuid:23b7d53b-3279-490d-b853-62dd886ea107> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://thefederalist.com/2016/04/04/obama-punishes-north-carolina-for-protecting-womens-rights/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573623.4/warc/CC-MAIN-20220819035957-20220819065957-00669.warc.gz | en | 0.956294 | 1,897 | 2.0625 | 2 |
Embedded software developers have a lot on their plate. A developer has to be an expert in hardware, sensors, communication protocols, low level drivers, HAL’s API’s, object oriented design and a master of programming languages. Unfortunately embedded engineers must also now know internet protocols, web design, tcp/ip stacks, encryption and security. The list is quickly becoming long and well past manageable. It may be time for embedded software engineers to offload the Internet in the Internet of Things.
Using a Wi-Fi module has always been a great way to decrease complexity of embedded software. Unfortunately many modules just move the complexity from one place, the microcontroller, to another, the module. A developer still needs to be an expert in setting up a fairly complicated Wi-Fi module and keeping communication between the microcontroller and the module running.
There are a number of new modules hitting the market that take the complexity of the internet, security and managing the connection and truly put it into a black box. One of my favorite examples is the Electric Imp platforms Imp module. The Imp module can be put onto a WI-Fi network using a mobile device app. Once connected, communication with the cloud is seamless.
The behavior of the device and web application is then simply programmed using the Squirrel programming language from a cloud console. Data can be easily transferred from the embedded system to the internet using very basic embedded software techniques. There is no need to become an expert in internet protocols. Security and the internet is instead handled by the Electric Imp platform.
Platforms such as this will make building embedded systems for the IoT easier, faster and more secure. | <urn:uuid:787faf2f-6a54-42c4-92ab-50dd249e509a> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.beningo.com/tips-and-tricks-offload-the-i-in-iot/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573876.92/warc/CC-MAIN-20220820012448-20220820042448-00068.warc.gz | en | 0.902195 | 334 | 2.65625 | 3 |
Muzika: Malaya’s Early Music Scene, 1900-1965.
Azlan Mohamed Said, edited by Juffri Supa’at.
Singapore: Stamford Printing, 2013. 256 pages.
The bilingual book in English and Malay is bound as an A4-sized paperback in full colour; necessary for the wealth of photographs that occupy its pages. In fact, readers could purchase the book for the images alone as most of them are rare photographs sourced from the personal collection of Azlan’s father and his colleagues. Unlike most depictions of music and musicians from this era, these are not images that you would find in commercial Malay-language film and music magazines. Unfortunately for scholars, specific dates and sources for most of the images are not stated. It could be that the dates for some photographs may have been forgotten by the owners themselves. Moreover, as some of the images are from private collections, the authors may be obscuring them upon the request of the owners. Nonetheless, the photographs reproduced in the book are important cultural documents and much can be gleaned from them. In addition, the photographs are credited to their contributors at the end of the book (p.248).
I am particularly struck by a photograph captioned ‘traditional Malay music ensemble’ dated ‘1947’ (pp.16-17). Readers will see fourteen young women, all are sitting in the front row, wearing Malay kebaya outfits and a young girl in a Western dress. Standing behind them are ten men holding musical instruments wearing Malay traditional clothes (baju Melayu) and Malay headpieces (songkok). The instruments they are holding contrast their traditional dress; trumpets, saxophones, a double bass, accordion and drum kit. This image signals the cosmopolitan hybridity of Malay music in the mid-1950s. It also indicates that women were not involved or not depicted as players of musical instruments – they were either singers, dancers, or actresses. In contrast to this, in a section on ‘entertainment centres’, readers will notice pictures of jazz cabaret orchestras posing on their bandstands (pp.32-33). One picture displays eight male musicians in white coats, dark slacks and bowties on a bandstand that displays above them in large letters ‘last dance, tango, quick step, slow foxtrot, waltz, samba, rumba, fast waltz’ (p.33). These words indicate the kind of dances and consequently, the international styles of music that these musicians performed for their patrons; further indication of the cosmopolitan environment of the Singaporean entertainment industry during the 1940s-1960s.
While this is not a formally-structured ‘academic’ book, it nonetheless provides a chronology of musical practices in the Malay world from the 1500s to 1965. This is useful for readers who are unfamiliar with the cultural history or musical practices of the Malay Peninsula. The historical section preceding the ‘biodata’ section of specific Singaporean-based Malay musicians outlines a ‘brief history of Malay syncretic songs’ (pp.14-15), music during the pre-war bangsawan Malay theatre and gramophone industry (pp. 166-25), music in Japanese-occupied Singapore during World War Two (pp.26-31), and finally, the post-war period marked by entertainment parks, radio and film (pp.30-47). After the biodata section, the book contains sections on famous Malay groups or bands, Indonesian artists, and a brief section on the Musicians Union of Singapore. For the academically inclined, the authors provide a list of references at the end of their book, including a generous list of articles on Malay music from the era sourced from the Singapore National Library’s online newspaper database (pp.248-251).
Of the 79 short biographies contained in the book, I will highlight a few interesting personalities rarely mentioned if not only recently emerging in musical scholarship on the Malay Peninsula. The musician ‘biodatas’ are listed in chronological order of the musicians’ birth year. The first musician listed in the biodata section is Khairudin, who was known under his alias, ‘K. Dean’. Born in 1890 of a Cantonese mother and Punjabi father, K. Dean became a prominent bangsawan theatre performer due to his talent as a comedian and a multi-lingual singer, performing to an audience of diverse ethnicities in ‘Cantonese, Punjabi, Malay and English’ (p.52). Aside from forming his own bangsawan troupe in 1932, he also acted in the first Malay-language sound film produced in Singapore, titled ‘Laila Majnun’ (1934, dir. B.S. Rajhans) alongside his wife, Miss. Tijah (p.53).
K. Dean’s wife, also featured in the book, was a famous bangsawan actress, singer and recording artist. She was known for her recording of popular Malay songs such as “Trek Tek Tek” that was later reproduced in the film Sumpah Orang Minyak (1958, dir. P. Ramlee), re-sung by Normadiah (p.57). What can be observed in K. Dean’s and Miss Tijah’s biographies is the extent of musical activity that existed across the region prior to World War Two. Bangsawan practitioners like Miss Tijah – who came from Pontianak in Indonesia – based their careers in Singapore and performed in travelling troupes across Indonesia and the Malay Peninsula. Similar observations can be made of the younger female singer, Momo Latiff who not only had a colourful bangsawan upbringing as a child in Indonesia but was also active as an actress and playback singer in Singapore’s booming Malay film industry in the 1950s (pp.120-121).
Of particular interest are the biographies of musicians and composers that were ‘behind-the-scenes’ in the Malay films of the 1950s to 1960s still popular today. These include the lesser-known film-music composers – aside from P. Ramlee and Zubir Said – such as Osman Ahmad, Yusof B. and Wandly Yazid. Other musicians involved in films include Said Tenor’s musical performance and appearance in numerous releases during the 1950s (pp.140-141) as well as Rahmat Ali’s trumpet playing for P.Ramlee’s famous film-song “Ibu” (p.88-89).
Muzika is a rare gem of a book on music and history in Southeast Asia. While it may not appear to be formatted in the conventions of western scholarship, this book is highly recommended as an earnest, thoroughly researched and personal account of the unknown Malay musicians who made a living as entertainers in Singapore from the early to mid-1900s. It is thus, a rich source of biographical information and photographs that depict the cultural life and social economy of Malay musicians who worked in Singapore during a period spanning the apex of British colonialism, the Japanese occupation and the transition to national independence in the Malay world.
Adil Johan is a Ph.D. candidate in Music Research
Music Department, Strand Campus, King’s College, London
Kyoto Review of Southeast Asia. Issue 15 (March 2014). The South China Sea | <urn:uuid:c25bcb56-810f-4e9b-a5cc-7dfa9b2ced9c> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://d3p25nbl7zmrao.cloudfront.net/book-review/book-review-muzika-malayas-early-music-scene-1900-1965/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882570692.22/warc/CC-MAIN-20220807181008-20220807211008-00677.warc.gz | en | 0.952071 | 1,591 | 2.125 | 2 |
The so-called ‘German Organ Mass’ was published towards the end of September 1739 as the third instalment of the Clavier-Übungen series. It was Bach’s first published work for organ. It was also the longest and most problematic of all the printed works that appeared during his lifetime; in many respects it was a powerful demonstration of Bach’s skill in composition produced against the background of a turbulent period of his life.
Bach gave the following title to the collection:
Catechism and other Hymns
for the Organ.
For Music Lovers and especially for Connoisseurs
of such Work, to refresh their Spirits
Johann Sebastian Bach,
Royal Polish and Electoral Saxon
Court Composer, Capellmeister, and
Directore Chori Musici in Leipzig.
Published by the Author.
The collection consists of multiple settings of the German Kyrie and Gloria (BWV 669-677), pairs of settings for each of six catechism chorales (BWV 678-689) and four duets (BWV 802-805), all of which are enclosed by the prelude and fugue in E-flat major (BWV 552).
The common nickname ‘the German Organ Mass’ did not in fact derive from Bach. Strictly speaking, it is incorrect because the work encompasses more than the Lutheran Missa Brevis of Kyrie and Gloria. Traditionally, the Missa pieces are invariably related to the Trinity, and it is no mere coincidence that the Trinitarian symbolism is found in various aspects of the collection. One of these is the use of the three-flat key of E-flat major used not only in the opening and closing movements but also in the first Kyrie setting; in fact, the whole collection is built on this numerical foundation, which is evident from the number of movements in the Mass chorales (9=3x3) and the entire collection (27=3x3x3), not to mention the presence of the number ‘three’ as the headword in the title of the work.
Also present in the collection is the symbolism for ‘two’, the dualism (e.g. God and Man, light and shadow, and life and death—an important concept in Christian faith) as well as symmetry: each chorale tune is set twice, first in a grander pedaliter setting, and then a shorter manualiter setting. It has been frequently pointed out that these may be connected respectively to Luther’s Greater and Lesser Catechisms, or to the ‘connoisseurs’ and ‘music-lovers’ that are specifically mentioned on the title-page.
There is sufficient cause to speculate that Bach started working on this collection not long after the publication of Clavier-Übung II in 1735. While his involvement with the Schemellisches Gesangbuch, published at Easter 1736, may have brought to his mind closely such compositions exclusively dealing with chorale tunes, it is highly conceivable that the Kyrie and Gloria from this collection were part of the programme he performed on the new Silbermann organ at the Frauenkirche in Dresden from 2 to 4 on Saturday, 1 December 1736, an occasion marking his conferment of the title of Royal Court Composer that he had received less than a fortnight ago.
Yet the most striking aspect is that the work reflects Bach’s growing interest in expanding his stylistic horizon in both directions, i.e. old techniques of motet style and ancient church modality and modern stylistic elements. In some pieces, one can identify various influence from the contemporary works of his close friends, namely C. F. Hurlebusch, J. G. Walther and S. L. Weiss. As is common among several other large-scale works composed in his late years, this manifests Bach’s determination to seek endless possibilities in a particular genre of composition, in this case the treatment of organ chorales. For a Royal Court Composer it seems quite appropriate to produce such a highly impressive work; yet at a personal level it is conceivable, too, that Bach also meant it to be his emphatic response to Scheibe’s notorious attack on his compositional style made publicly in 1737, accusing it of being ‘turgid and confused’. Actually this was a common understanding shared by Bach’s close friends, as one can learn from a review of the work by L. C. Mizler published in 1740: ‘The author has here given new proof that in this field of composition he is more practised and more fortunate than many others. No one will surpass him in it, and few will be able to imitate him. This work is a powerful refutation of those who have made bold to criticize the composition of the Honourable Court Composer.’
The most significant finding from the study of the original prints must be the recent discovery of corrections in pagination made on the copper plates. From a careful analysis of these corrections, Gregory Butler successfully reconstructs the prepublication history of Bach’s compositional activity in three layers. It emerged that an earlier version of the collection contained the entire Missa settings and the pedaliter catechism chorales only (Layer 1). The scope of the work was then expanded sometime prior to the beginning of work on the engraving around late 1738 (Layer 2). This included the prelude and fugue that frame the collection and manualiter catechism settings. And finally, in the summer 1739, the four duets were added (Layer 3).
Understanding the process of development—a long, drawn-out affair that stretched for more than four years—in turn provides an answer to certain myths surrounding the work, such as the reason for not mentioning on the title-page those movements that were added subsequently. Knowing the order of compilation also limits the scope for our speculating as to the function or meaning of those pieces in the entire collection.
The collection begins majestically with the prelude featuring three contrasting motives: they presumably represent the three persons of God, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. The stately French overture that opens the movement also appears at various points in the piece as a refrain, thus establishing itself as the binding character of this piece. This is followed by a light homophonic trio section where the use of syncopation and suspension becomes increasingly prominent; the contrasting musical effect is such that we may identify Bach’s intention to portray the destiny of Jesus as the Son of Man, especially where the piece modulates to a darker key. After a short refrain, the piece moves on to a fugal section featuring a florid passage-work.GERMAN MASS SETTINGS (BWV 669-677)
The ‘German Organ mass’ starts with the Kyrie in strict stile antico. Within the group of three grand pedaliter preludes (BWV 669-671) in 4/2 metre, the cantus firmus is transferred from the soprano to the tenor, and then to the bass as if three persons in the Trinity are introduced individually. In the process, the music gradually gathers intensity; in the third piece, which is marked ‘cum organo pleno’, the texture is increased to five voices, and an early climax is achieved through intensified contrapuntal complexities and the effective use of dissonance towards the end.CATECHISM CHORALES (BWV 678-689)
The following three pieces in manualiter setting (BWV 672-674) are written in free imitative styles using various ‘progressive’ metres, i.e. 3/4, 6/8 and 9/8; themes and motives are taken from the chorale melody and developed into a unified texture.
The next three are the settings of the German Gloria (BWV 675-677), all lively trios arranged in an ascending order on the scale, F–G–A. The outer movements are manualiter settings. BWV 675 has the cantus firmus in the alto; the outer voices form a two-part Invention featuring many lively figures, rhythmically well contrasted with the plain cantus firmus. BWV 676 is a strict but extensive trio in concerto style, incorporating the chorale melody as cantus firmus and paraphrases derived from it, all treated in ingenious counterpoint. BWV 677 is a double fugue marked ‘Fughetta super’: the sharply-articulated subject is a diminution of the first two phrases of the chorale tune.
The core of the collection are six catechism chorales by Luther, respectively referring to the Ten Commandments (BWV 678-679), the Creed (BWV 680-681), the Lord’s Prayer (BWV 682-683), the Sacrament of Holy Baptism (BWV 684-685), the Office of the Keys and Confession (BWV 686-687), and the Sacrament of the Altar (BWV 688-689). As already mentioned, each pair consists of pedaliter and manualiter settings, but from a different angle of observation a larger symmetrical design emerges whereby these pairs of six are grouped into two. Taking the pedaliter settings, placed right in the centre of each group is the ‘organo pleno’ movement (BWV 680 and 686 respectively), which is framed by the movements containing the canonically-treated cantus firmi. Likewise, the manualiter settings can also be grouped into two, consisting of two fugal and one cantus firmus setting.FOUR DUETS (BWV 802-805)
The compositional techniques used in the pedaliter settings are of particular interest here, as the character of each group is clearly differentiated by the way the bass part is formulated in the texture, viz. the first employing free but rhythmically regular melodies, and the second featuring the cantus firmus. Evidently Bach was trying to explore as many different styles of composition as possible. In BWV 678, a peaceful, pastoral mood is created by the long pedal on which the two upper parts are worked out canonically; joined subsequently to this texture are two cantus firmi in canon placed in inner voices. BWV 680 is the only pedaliter chorale setting that does not employ through cantus firmus; appearing periodically beneath the fugue instead is a quasi-ostinato motive derived from the chorale melody. BWV 682 is an extraordinary specimen of Bach’s complex chorale setting; recognisably French in style, it is nevertheless a ritornello trio sonata with a variety of distinctive ideas including triplets and Lombardic rhythm, which is further characterised by firm chromatic motion in the pedal. BWV 684 is a lively concertante; three manual parts constitute the ritornello accompanying the cantus firmus in the pedal. The flowing semiquaver motive may be the depiction of the flowing waters of the river Jordan. In contrast, BWV 686 is a powerful, large-scale chorale motet setting in stile antico. It is the only organ piece Bach wrote in six parts with double pedal. BWV 688 is modern again; it is a lively mono-thematic fugal trio on two manuals with cantus firmus in the pedal. The image portrayed by a very fast-moving, disjunct motive may be depicting Jesus’s fight with death.
The manualiter settings are equally rich in both technical and stylistic varieties. With its idiosyncratic repetitive notes of the chorale melody, the fugue subject of BWV 679 makes ‘ten’ appearances to mark the meaning of this Catechism chorale. The cheerful, gigue-like character of the piece may echo the sentiment of rejoicing in the Law (e.g. those pointed out in Psalms 19 and 119). BWV 681 is a sort of fugue using French Overture rhythms; its melodic idea is taken from the chorale tune. BWV 683 is an Orgelbüchlein-type setting, where the chorale melody is heard unbroken and undisturbed on the top of the texture; the tune is accompanied by three lower parts featuring distinctive motives. BWV 685 is a multi-sectioned fughetta; it takes its subject and countersubject from the chorale melody, and exploits inversion and the motives derived from it. Keller suggests that the three rectus / inversus entries represent the threefold immersion in baptism. BWV 687 is a dense motet organ chorale with augmented cantus firmus on the top of the texture; the contrapuntal lines are constantly derived from the subject, and the incessant use of inversion to answer the subject may have some theological significance. According to Robin Leaver, it is a depiction of confession answered by the assurance of forgiveness. BWV 689 is characterised by the clarity of the subject entries as well as the use of stretti at various entry points; the fugue subject clearly derives from the chorale melody, while the countersubject assumes its background role in stirring gentle movements and giving focused directions in the piece.
Four duets are two-part Inventions on a grand scale, featuring free, expressive motives that are not based on a chorale melody. As we have already discussed, they were added to the collection virtually in the ‘last minutes’ of publication presumably to bring the total number of pieces to twenty seven. Whatever the truth may be, it is very unlikely that Bach added them here without due care and profound thought. The fact that their keys are arranged in ascending order on the scale, e–F–G–a, can be hardly considered coincidental, especially since a similar pattern is found in the earlier part of the collection, namely BWV 673-677, e–F–G–A, forming a symmetrical pattern in the collection.FUGUE in E-flat (BWV 552/2)
While they are commonly believed to be ‘communion music’, in the past scholars offered various interpretations of their significance in the collection: the four elements, four virtues, four gospels, four great prophets, four beasts around the throne (Revelation 4), and four teachings in the small catechism. Peter Williams speculates further that they were included as contrapuntal models of various kinds gathered within the framework of a pious composer’s faith in the Lord and giver of life. More recently, Albert Clement claims that Bach was inspired by a contemplative text in Heinrich Müller’s Geistliche Erquickstunden (1710); according to him, these duets depict musically ‘four sweet things’, i.e. the word of God, the cross, death and heaven.
Duetto I is a double fugue in 3/8 metre, featuring a rapid scale passage followed by a syncopated angular figure contrasted with a chromatic line. Duetto II is a fugue of ternary design in 2/4 metre; the outer sections feature a firm triadic subject, whereas in the middle section there is introduced a smooth second subject that is treated canonically, exploring chromatic harmonies. Duetto III is a straightforward Invention in 12/8 metre, featuring rolling sequential figures. Duetto IV is an extensive fugue in 2/2 metre, featuring an extraordinarily long subject. Partially due to the sheer length and partly due to the closed tonality of the subject, the piece does not explore much modulations.
Being separated from the opening prelude and placed at the end of the collection, this fugue is as equally unusual as the prelude. Nevertheless, both movements have a strong musical connection, by which the entire collection is embraced; they not only share the same key (E-flat) and the sonority of ‘pro organo pleno’ but also the three highly individual characters (i.e. the fugue subjects) employed therein expressing the Trinitarian symbolism, the concept of which is penetrated deep into the entire collection.
Technically speaking, this is a double fugue, and not a triple fugue, for the three subjects do not appear all at once. Each subject has very distinctive character: the second being a gently floating figure in 6/4 time, and the third being lively and jubilant character in 12/8 time; after the respective expositions, they are combined with the opening stile antico subject in double counterpoint.
|This essay is originally written for Masaaki Suzuki's recording of this work released in the autumn 2000 from BIS. (BIS-CD-1091/92)| | <urn:uuid:a3238bfb-afbc-4592-a403-851b9e1b4c4d> | CC-MAIN-2016-44 | http://www.mu.qub.ac.uk/tomita/essay/cu3.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-44/segments/1476988719215.16/warc/CC-MAIN-20161020183839-00200-ip-10-171-6-4.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946804 | 3,548 | 3.125 | 3 |
Amnesty International's recently published death penalty statistics hailed a "decade of progress".
For opponents of capital punishment, this annual tradition of significant documented falls in executions is a victory – of sorts. As Amnesty reported, of the 67 countries that handed down death sentences in 2010, only 23 actually carried out executions. These statistics, however, do not tell us this: what happened to the prisoners who escaped state execution in the remaining 44?
Very little attention is given to the sanctions that should replace capital punishment, or to what happens after it is abolished. Consider Uganda. A landmark legal challenge in 2009 abolished mandatory death sentences for certain crimes. But the Ugandan criminal justice system was unprepared for the change. Under pressure from politicians facing a backlash from a public highly supportive of capital punishment, and in the absence of any new sentencing guidelines, judges handed down draconian prison sentences instead – including life without parole, previously nonexistent in Uganda.
The attraction of life without parole, now the commonest alternative to capital punishment, is understandable. It allows governments to claim they are protecting the public by permanently removing serious offenders from society. It appeases public outcry at the early release of dangerous convicts on parole. And it means abolitionists can show they are not soft on crime, while at the same time eliminating the danger of executing innocent people. But life without parole trades one severe punishment for another: execution is swapped for a protracted, hopeless death in unspeakable conditions. HIV rates in Ugandan prisons are more than double the rest of the population. In Malawi, where no one has been executed since 1992, prisons are vastly overcrowded and rife with infectious disease; prisoners are denied contact with families, and sexual and psychological abuse by inmates and guards is routine.
Across the world today, those lucky souls who escape death by hanging, beheading, electrocution, lethal injection, shooting or stoning live out their lives in conditions tantamount to a breach of international prohibitions of cruel and inhuman punishment, as an emerging jurisprudence recognises. Whole life imprisonment can also be a form of legal disappearance. In 2009, after Kenya's last elections , some 4,000 prisoners had their sentences commuted to life to without parole by President Kibaki. Some of those prisoners – living in some of the world's most crowded and worst funded prisons – have not been heard from since, by their lawyers or families. These are hardly arguments for retaining capital punishment. But if a sentence of 75 years, with hard labour and without review or hope of release – the current alternative in Trinidad and Tobago – is considered a "victory", it is surely time to rethink our indices of success.
Amnesty, for its part, does not propose any particular substitute, other than opposing alternatives that constitute degrading punishment. In Death Penalty: Questions and Answers, Amnesty rightly highlights the brutalising effect of state execution, the cost, the travesties of justice, its disproportionate use against poor and minority communities, its negative impact on victims' families. But Amnesty fails to challenge itself with the most crucial questions of all: "What alternatives do you propose, and how can we convince governments to implement them?"
On the one hand, Amnesty is right not to preach. Finding affordable and publicly acceptable alternatives in desperately underfunded prison systems is an enormous challenge. Overwhelming majorities – including in Britain – support capital punishment, often under the influence of misleading statistics on the deterrent effect of the death penalty and unproven links between serious crime and capital punishment. And in the absence of decent victim support services, it becomes convenient for supporters of capital punishment to exploit crime victims' grief, arguing that they will settle for nothing less than ultimate retribution or alternatives that do not involve throwing away the key.
Yet Amnesty's neutrality among alternatives is symptomatic of a wider problem: who will tackle the way the criminal justice system operates in countries that retain the death penalty? Politicians are reluctant to expend scarce resources or political capital on properly rehabilitating unpopular and vilified groups of prisoners.
A lawyer's work, meanwhile, is done once their client's death sentence is commuted. Few headlines focus on the aftermath, and few international advocates jet in to ensure that those released from death row are not tortured in prison, contract tuberculosis or HIV, lose contact with their families or die in appalling squalor. Indeed, litigation can often cause unintended harm. In the United States, as Peter Hodgkinson of the Centre for Capital Punishment Studies (one of few organisations raising this issue) has pointed out, a government backlash against death-penalty litigation has directly or indirectly led to an increase in the number of capital crimes, and to severe restrictions in the appeal process.
Life without parole cannot be the alternative. Both the UN and Council of Europe guidelines on managing long-term prisoners recognise that very small numbers of convicted prisoners may have to stay in prison for their natural lives – but only with regular reviews of their risk of reoffending. Some states refuse to extradite suspected offenders to countries where they might face a whole-life tariff. And in Europe, as Edward Fitzgerald QC has noted, there is growing legal recognition of the capacity for redemption and rehabilitation – and that "any sentence that effectively closed the door for ever would be contrary to Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights prohibiting cruel and inhuman treatment or punishment". Three British whole-life prisoners are currently challenging their sentence in the European Court of Human Rights on those grounds.
The abolitionist campaign's goal should be a humane, proportionate and human rights-compliant response to perpetrators and victims of serious crime. It might require global guidance to standardise the huge, and often grossly disproportionate range of sentencing decisions. It will certainly require building and sustaining capacity among lawyers to challenge human rights abuses in prison, and training police and prison staff to cope in effective and positive ways with serious offenders. It will also mean recognising that the high proportion of mentally ill prisoners on death row might be better dealt with in clinical rather than punitive settings.
And as for the most serious crimes of all, those against humanity? Compare the approach of post-apartheid South Africa, where many offenders took part in the truth and reconciliation process rather than receiving punitive sentences, or the participation by perpetrators of the Rwandan genocide in community service and open dialogue with victims, to the grisly spectacle of Saddam Hussein's execution.
A falling execution rate is not the only measure of rising humanity. We cannot simply declare victory when capital punishment is removed from the statute book, or when fewer prisoners are executed. Moving to a humane penal response to serious crime, in societies in which the death penalty has flourished for centuries, cannot be done at a stroke. The entire abolitionist project is undermined if wholesale infrastructural change is not addressed. Too often, current alternatives to the death penalty raise the uncomfortable question: "what would you rather?" Those that do not are not easy – but silence does no justice to our cause.
• This article was written with the assistance of Professor Peter Hodgkinson and Kerry Akers at the Centre for Capital Punishment Studies | <urn:uuid:dbe1d63f-ce1e-4ba8-b591-501d38fcaffe> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/libertycentral/2011/apr/21/falling-execution-rates-hollow-victory | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280410.21/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00452-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945993 | 1,437 | 2.65625 | 3 |
A three-year struggle by IndustriALL and its affiliates in India results in families of deceased shipbreaking workers receiving compensation and the further strengthening of the union in the shipbreaking yards in Alang.
When the shipbreaking organizing project started in 2003, led by one of IndustriALL’s founding organizations (the International Metalworkers’ Federation), it was of common knowledge among the locals that whenever a shipbreaking worker was killed on the job the body was unceremoniously tossed into the sea. As most of the workers are undocumented migrant workers, no one ever bothered to ask any questions, search for the families or make any demand against the employer. That was before the workers had a union.
In the video “Into the Graveyard” produced in 2010 by the IndustriALL affiliate leading the project work, the Mumbai Port Trust & Dock & General Workers Union, Vidyadhar Rane, Secretary General of the shipbreaking workers' union tells the poignant story of six workers killed in an incident in Alang shipbreaking yard in August 2009. Two of the workers were from Uttar Pradesh, the four others were from one family from Piperla Village in Gujarat, 3km away from the yard.
The union, the Alang Sosiya Ship Recycling and General Workers' Association (ASSRGWA), took the case to the highest levels of justice, demanded a special enquiry and for the first time ever in the history of Alang, obtained financial compensation for the 6 workers deaths. It took the union 3 more years of unwavering tenacity and commitment to finally obtain, in September 2012, a monthly pension from the Provident Fund for the widows and family of the workers from Piperla Village.
Last week, on 3 October, a union delegation from Alang and Mumbai in India and IndustriALL Head & Regional Offices and Bondgenoten/FNV Mondiaal from the Netherlands met with the families of shipbreaking workers that died in August 2009 to hand over the precious documents that entitle the families to a pension.
The international union delegation came directly from the IndustriALL project evaluation and planning meeting, which took place nearby in Bhavnagar, on 3 and 4 October. The meeting examined the recommendations made by an external evaluator for the FNV Mondiaal and the possibilities to continue supporting the organizing drive in Alang.
The shipbreaking workers’ union in Alang now counts around 10,000 members, out of an average of 40,000-50,000 workers, and the union in Mumbai over 3,500 workers. Every year, the union has grown and gained major achievements for the workers, including:
- recognition of Ship Breaking as a scheduled industry, thus allowing workers to claim minimum wages,
- access to drinking water in the yards,
- the introduction of personal protective equipment, and
- securing compensation, social security benefits and pension for families whenever possible.
One of the major challenges that remain ahead is how to create a tripartite structure to engage in social dialogue to improve overall working conditions in the shipbreaking yards. As in Alang the Shipbreaking Employers each rent their plots, which can occupy between 50 to 2,000 workers and as they draw upon some 182 contractors to provide cheap labour, the union currently needs to fight case by case, plot by plot, and cannot bargain collectively to overall improve the horrendous working conditions on the yard.
As Vidyadvar Rane mentions:
“one of the major achievements is that now the majority of the participants in this meeting are the shipbreaking workers themselves from Alang and Mumbai together, coming to discuss their situation and planning how to strengthen their union and defend their rights.”
For the very first time, the meeting was happy to welcome two young women workers who informed the union about the even more precarious working conditions of around 1,500 to 2,000 women in the yards and requested support from the union to demand equal remuneration, job security and safety equipment.
Sadly, despite all the good news regarding the growth of the union and progress in obtaining benefits, the death of 6 young workers on 6 October 2012 acted as a timely reminder to the authorities of the terrible conditions workers continue to face despite the union’s best efforts.
IndustriALL is appalled at this tragic loss and fully supports the complaint made by ASSRGWA with the various concerned authorities, including Port authorities, Factory Inspectors, and the Asst. Labour Commissioner, demanding a Special Enquiry of the incident and will continue to monitor and coordinate closely with its affiliate on all further action required. | <urn:uuid:f8d8880a-86f6-466f-8b84-441d6188d09b> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.industriall-union.org/long-struggle-brings-lasting-compensation-to-families-of-shipbreaking-workers-in-alang | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560281331.15/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095121-00223-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95688 | 946 | 1.546875 | 2 |
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