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|The river walk Pythius did not have this time|
|Northleach's main street|
The Old Prison was turned into a heritage centre in 1975, and still boasts a nationally significant collection of waggons, carts and farming equipment collected by the late Olive Lloyd-Baker, but sadly it is now awaiting a new owner and so stands half empty. The cafe is closed now and only one room devoted to the Cotswold Conservation Board remains open to the public. Friends of the Cotwolds are fighting to raise sufficient funds to buy this fascinating building. Even as I write they wait to hear if their bid has been successful.
Their intention is to turn it into a facility for both locals and visitors alike, which celebrates the very essence of the Cotswolds. They see it as a Cotswold treasure and do not want it to be converted into a hotel, block of flats or a supermarket. Nor do I. It can offer so much more and act as a hub for training people in rural skills, encourage volunteer involvement in the countryside and spread understanding of the Cotswolds Area of Natural Beauty.
This is certainly a campaign worth supporting by us all.
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Death toll in Venezuelan refinery blast rises to 41
Bill Van Auken
28 August 2012
The death toll in Venezuela’s worst oil industry catastrophe in decades rose to 41 Sunday as firefighters continued to battle flames shooting from two burning storage tanks at the state-run Petroleros DE Venezuela (PDVSA) Amuay refinery on western Venezuela’s Caribbean coast.
The government of President Hugo Chavez declared three days of national mourning for the victims of the explosion that ripped through the huge facility in the early hours of Saturday morning. Among them were 18 members of Venezuela’s National Guard, whose barracks were located just outside Amuay’s oil storage area. Another 17 civilians were killed, including a 10-year-old child, and six bodies had yet to be identified.
The blast also leveled some 200 homes and several businesses, sending a shock-wave through nearby neighborhoods. Residents reported that they first thought the explosion was an earthquake. Evacuated in shock, many returned soon afterward for fear of looting.
Another 80 people were injured in the blast, two of whom died on Sunday. With several others still missing, the death toll is expected to rise.
It already stands as one of the worst accidents in the oil industry in recent history, surpassed only slightly by the 1997 fire at Hindustan Petroleum’s Visakhapatnam refinery in India that claimed 56 lives, and far exceeding the toll in the 2005 BP Texas City refinery blast that killed 15 workers. In Venezuela itself, it is the worst accident since 1982, when 160 people were killed in the explosion of two fuel tanks at the Ricardo Zuluaga electric power plant outside of Caracas.
Chavez, who is running for a third term as Venezuela’s president in an election slated for October 7, made a visit to the scene of the disaster on Sunday, vowing that a full investigation would be conducted into the cause of the blast.
While there, he responded angrily to a reporter who repeated statements from some of those living near the refinery, who claimed that they had smelled leaking gas in the days before the explosion.
“There is no way that there could have been a gas leak during three or four days and that no one did anything,” said Chavez.
The Venezuelan president suggested that the tragedy was being manipulated by the right-wing opposition to further their chances in the upcoming election. In particular, he insisted that charges that the accident was linked to a lack of maintenance were unfounded. “Lack of maintenance, who could possibly say this. Only someone who is irresponsible,” he said. “I recommend to all those who claim this not to speculate. This all coincides with a line of opinion being generated.”
The president added, “It would be very regrettable if some Venezuelans tried to use the pain of the victims to take advantage of the situation.”
Chavez’s chief opponent in the upcoming election, Henrique Capriles Radonski, a right-wing governor who played a prominent role in the abortive 2002 CIA-backed coup that sought Chavez’s overthrow, restricted his comments in the immediate aftermath of the disaster to statements of sympathy for the victims. Some of his political supporters and sections of the right-wing media, however, have attempted to use the blast to indict the Chavez government.
In particular, they link it to the 2003 management strike at PDVSA, when Chavez fired some 18,000 employees who had sought to paralyze the industry in a political strike aimed at bringing down the government. Capriles has vowed to rehire these former employees. The right wing also charges that the state-run oil industry has suffered because of the diversion of revenues to pay for the government’s housing and other social assistance programs.
Among Chavez’s supporters, some have speculated that the explosion could be the result of sabotage organized by the Venezuelan right and its patrons in Washington. The disaster has unfolded under conditions of mounting political tensions within Venezuela, with some indications that Washington may be preparing actions aimed at shifting the polls. Earlier this month, the Venezuelan government reported capturing a former US Marine and suspected mercenary seeking to illegally enter the country.
Venezuela ranks among the top five countries exporting oil to the United States, but it has recently sought to direct a larger share of its petroleum exports to China.
Chavez’s indictment of his right-wing opponents notwithstanding, the strongest charges of negligence and lack of maintenance have come from the unions representing oil sector workers.
Ivan Freites, a member of the executive committee of the Unitary Federation of Petroleum Workers of Venezuela, known by its Spanish acronym FUTPV, charged that his union had been warning for some time that, “there could be a problem in the refinery.”
“Investment in the industry doesn’t exist,” he said. “We have been denouncing this for the last three years.”
Speaking to Noticias24, Freites said, “Since the end of last year, we have been exposing the numerous events that have been taking place in the Paraguana refinery and the refineries throughout the country.” He said that maintenance had been delayed for months and that repairs were being made with recycled parts leaving the refineries in a “delicate situation.”
Freites demanded that the refinery be shut down until safety is assured. “The refinery has to be taken out of operation, and we have to forget about whether we are producing or whether we are going to lose the election. The lives of the people and the conditions of the workers who are living in terror must come first.”
Orlando Chirino, a former oil workers union leader who is running as the presidential candidate of the Party of Socialism and Liberty (PSL) denounced statements by the president of PDVSA and energy minister Rafael Ramirez suggesting that the blast was the result of a chance accident. He said that he and others within the unions had been warning for years that, “in the petroleum industry the accidents are the consequence of not doing periodic maintenance and of the lack of investment as well as the failure to comply with established safety protocols.” He called for an independent investigation and for the immediate dismissal of Ramirez.
Jose Bodas, the secretary of the FUTPV, described the disaster as “the chronicle of a death foretold,” using the title of a novel by Colombian author Gabriel Garcia Marquez. In an interview with the Venezuelan daily El Universal, he said that an operating emergency should be declared throughout PDVSA, and he appealed to President Chavez to allow an independent investigation.
Bodas and Chirinio, who worked at the El Palito refinery in the north-central state of Moron, jointly issued a report in 2010 on the lack of maintenance and investment in the industry, warning that they were “putting at risk the lives and health of the workers and of third parties.”
The union official said that the warnings were ignored. “The management board of PDVSA and Minister Ramirez should be sent to prison,” he said. “Workplaces cannot be turned into places of death. We demand that PDVSA invest in maintenance.”
The Amuay refinery disaster has come at a particularly bad time politically for Chavez, who has sought to boost the popularity of his government with promises to increase oil production in Venezuela, which has the largest proven crude-oil reserves of any country on the planet.
It has also served to underscore the growing tensions between his government and the Venezuelan working class, which found expression last week in a rally at which steelworkers and other industrial workers drowned out the president’s speech with demands for new contracts.
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Jennifer Davis was 15 years old when she dropped out of high school.
Now, more than a decade later, with the help of the Literacy Council of Tyler, she is on her way to becoming a registered nurse.
Ms. Davis, 27, of Tyler, found the Literacy Council through her search to earn her GED (General Educational Development test), and started classes there about a year ago. She began working to obtain her CNA (certified nursing assistant) license at the same time. It only took her about six months to get both, she said.
In August, Ms. Davis started studying at Tyler Junior College. Originally working toward her LVN (licensed vocational nurse) certification, she is now striving to become an RN (registered nurse).
But she doesn’t plan on stopping there. After studying at TJC for three years, Ms. Davis hopes to go on to The University of Texas at Tyler for two years to get her nurse practitioner license.
Ms. Davis grew up in Lindale and quit school in the 10th grade, she said. After 12 years, she decided to get her GED because of her four children — Alayna, 9, Savannah, 6, Mycah, 3, and Marleigh, who is almost 2.
“I didn’t want them growing up thinking it was OK to quit school,” she said. “One of the most important things you can do is finishing your education.”
Ms. Davis also wanted to continue her education for more gainful employment. She said she wasn’t making enough money working at gas stations and Wal-Mart. Now, she is a full-time student, and she said her boyfriend of four years, who is the father of her youngest children, is a big help when she needs to study.
She chose to pursue nursing because her mother is very young and ill and she wanted to know more about what is going on with her. She also wanted to help people. “As a mother to four children, I’m good at catering to people’s needs,” she said.
SPREADING THE WORD
“Chera Crawford has been there for me throughout this whole thing,” she said. “I couldn’t have done it without her.”
When Ms. Davis couldn’t afford it, Ms. Crawford helped her get books for college and apply for financial aid. She helped her get into other programs offered by the Literacy Council, such as earning her CNA.
Ms. Crawford’s program allows students to complete a GED and another type of certification concurrently. The Literacy Council provides free classes and things such as Ms. Davis’ GED book to those who can’t afford it.
“Those teachers and those classes are amazing,” she said. Ms. Davis tries to spread the word about the Literacy Council whenever she can.
“I have quite a few friends who didn’t finish high school,” she said. Ms. Davis tells them they can do it and when they think they can’t, she says, “If I can do it, anybody can do it.”
Because of her experience, she thinks it’s a great program and anybody who is interested should give it a try. “It works if you want it to,” she said.
One of the Literacy Council’s many success stories, Ms. Davis’ photo is on one of the organization’s posters used as promotion tools to recruit other students.
January is Literacy Awareness Month.
“Over the past two decades, the Literacy Council of Tyler has made huge strides within our community, growing from a handful of 30 students to almost 2,400 in 2012,” Community Relations Coordinator Hallye Terrell said. “Illiteracy and under-education are real problems that have the power to impact every aspect of living, from the economy to unemployment rates and levels of crime. Thankfully, Tyler and its surrounding communities have remained among the best in the nation in this regard, in part because of organizations like LCOT.”
The Literacy Council began in 1990 as an adult basic literacy program and offers free basic education, GED and English as a second language classes. In partnership with TJC, the Literacy Council relies on more than 300 volunteers each year to carry out its mission in East Texas.
Ms. Terrell encouraged the community to recognize Literacy Awareness Month by becoming a volunteer, making a donation or sharing the Literacy Council with someone in need. For more, contact 903-533-0330 or visit www.lcotyler.org
If you know of a professional woman or business service in Tyler you think should be highlighted in this column, contact me at email@example.com or 903-596-6289.
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Friday, July 15, 2011
The US risks its reputation with a looming debt default. Moody's, the credit rating service, has already put the country on a watch list for downgrading. The question facing everyone is what would happen if the US does go over the edge. Would it lose its reputation for sterling credit once and for all? Could it climb back to a solid rating in the future if it gets debt under control? No one knows. Hence, the deep fear among financiers, politicians and others. The reputation for creditworthiness as a nation is fundamental. That is why Greece is having so many problems and other countries are in jeopardy. Market makers no longer believe that money lent to these countries will come back with interest. No amount of communication can allay that fear other than paying up. The closer that warring politicians in Washington push the nation to default, the more the markets will get nervous. It could be devastating.
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All Tech Considered
Fri February 8, 2013
Twitter's Vine App Raises Questions About Social Media Age Restrictions
Originally published on Fri February 8, 2013 3:01 pm
Vine, Twitter's new microvideo-sharing app for the iPhone, this week added a 17+ rating, saying that the app "contains age-restricted material." The change came after some users uploaded pornographic clips onto the app, which features 6-second (or 6 1/2 seconds if you're really counting), slice-of-life video clips.
Apple's App Store guidelines "prohibit apps that make it easy to find user-generated pornographic content," Business Insider notes.
So, a 17+ rating means Vine is only available to those of age, right? Not really.
Apple says it requires a new user to enter his birth date, to "help us verify your identity if you forget your password or need to reset it." But there's nothing to confirm the user's age, making it easy for youngsters to download apps rated for adults.
However, concerned parents can set age restrictions, by app, on iPhones and iPads that their children are using through a device's general settings.
This has Internet safety groups concerned, especially given Vine's warnings on its download page about the types of content the app may contain:
- Infrequent/Mild Alcohol, Tobacco, or Drug Use or References
- Infrequent/Mild Horror/Fear Themes
- Frequent/Intense Sexual Content or Nudity
- Infrequent/Mild Profanity or Crude Humor
- Infrequent/Mild Realistic Violence
- Infrequent/Mild Cartoon or Fantasy Violence
- Infrequent/Mild Mature/Suggestive Themes
- Infrequent/Mild Simulated Gambling
The #porn hashtag and similar searches have been disabled, so users can't outright search "porn." However, they can still find it, using other suggestive keywords.
Vine is following Apple's protocol by notifying new users that they must be least 17 years old to use the app.
But Donna Rice Hughes, president and CEO of Enough is Enough, an Internet safety organization, isn't impressed. She said the technology for age identification — including requiring credit card information — is available and is used by online companies every day, but not always on social networking sites.
"They don't want to implement age verification," Hughes said. "They should be a little more conservative and thinking of safety from the get-go."
Online video giant YouTube, which has been in business since 2005 and is now part of Google, houses billions of clips. And, like Vine, not all of YouTube's content is appropriate for younger audiences. In fact, the terms of service explain that YouTube is intended for users 13 and above:
"... you affirm that you are over the age of 13, as the Service is not intended for children under 13. If you are under 13 years of age, then please do not use the Service. There are lots of other great web sites for you. Talk to your parents about what sites are appropriate for you."
But YouTube's community guidelines are much stricter than Vine's. YouTube users are warned not to upload pornography or videos showing abuse, gratuitous violence or graphic images. The viewing community can flag videos or users it finds inappropriate, and those reports are then reviewed by the company. From there, YouTube can deem the video age-restricted or will remove it from its website.
The Vine app initially allowed users to report offensive videos, but its latest update also lets users block other users' profiles from their feed. So the Vine community can flag clips to clean up the feed, but in the end, people will be able to search and find what they want to see. Whether it's G-rated or not is up to you.
Lizzy Duffy is an intern on NPR's Social Media Desk.
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GDP Surprisingly Shrinks In The Fourth Quarter - January 30, 2013
The nation's economy, which is represented by its gross domestic product (GDP), had been expected to moderate notably in the fourth quarter from the artificially high third-quarter growth rate of 3.1%, did even worse than forecast, actually declining by 0.1%. That nominal shrinkage, the first such setback in three and a half years, was basically driven by declines in government spending--most specifically defense outlays--as well as lower exports and a slowdown in inventory growth.
That weaker-than-expected performance--expectations had been that growth would have approximated 1%--while driven largely by the one-time events cited above, was disquieting, nonetheless. Indeed, the surprise contraction raised some fears about the economy's ability to handle the large payroll tax increase put upon all wage earners this month. Here, payroll tax deduction, for social security payments, went from the 4.2% rate of the past two years, to the 6.2% rate in place before that time. The adjustment for the self-employed was even steeper.
Meanwhile, the major impediments to growth in the quarter, most notably the biggest cut in defense spending in 40 years, offset faster growth in consumer spending, business investment, and housing. It was these latter increases, in three critical categories, that should encourage economists going forward.
As to what this report suggests about the economy is that we probably will see a resumption of growth as early as the current quarter. However, the expected pace of that improvement will likely be small given the need to initially adjust to the higher social security taxes being withheld.
Meantime, the days to come will see other critical economic issuances, starting this afternoon with the results of the two-day Federal Reserve FOMC meeting, where no change in the current easy monetary course is expected. Then, on Friday, the government will issue its monthly report on non-farm payrolls and the unemployment rate. Here, payroll growth in excess of 150,000 is forecast along with an unchanged 7.8% rate of joblessness. Also, on Friday, the Institute for Supply Management, an Arizona-based trade group, will issue its latest survey on manufacturing activity across the country.
All told, we suspect that growth in the current quarter will approximate, or perhaps exceed, 1%, the likely weakest growth rate this year, and a forerunner to what we believe will be a roughly 2% growth rate for the year as a whole.
At the time of this article’s writing, the author did not have positions in any of the companies mentioned.
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[ EDITORIAL ]
Law Enforcement Revolution: ‘True Personality of the People'
Published: Wednesday, October 17, 2012 at 1:01 a.m.
Last Modified: Wednesday, October 17, 2012 at 1:01 a.m.
Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd says there has been a transformation in the methods of law enforcement.
Could the great change be new techniques for relating to victims of crime or investigating those suspected of crime? Advanced weaponry or protective gear? Robots, drones or other high-tech hardware?
No, social media — Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and the like — Judd says.
The sheriff explained how that could be on Oct. 9 at The Lakeland Center during a meeting of the Imperial Polk Advertising Federation, reported The Ledger's Clifford Parody in an article Oct. 10.
"One of the most important investigative techniques we have today is Facebook," Judd told the group. "Whenever we work an investigation, we go straight there because people bare their souls on Facebook."
The investigative use of Facebook points inward as well as outward, Judd said, with some Sheriff's Office applicants rejected for content contained on their pages.
"It's the best tool we've found recently to find out the true personality of the people we're hiring," Judd said. "They may be able to beat a lie detector, but they can't beat Facebook."
To make best use of social media, the Sheriff's Office has hired two additional, professionally trained public-information officers.
"Historically, we relied on the mainstream media to carry our story to the public, then this paradigm shift called the Internet happened, and people realized they wanted news 24 hours a day," Judd said. "The 24/7 news cycle not only creates issues for the media, but we have to deal with it too."
The Sheriff's Office is pushing ahead, working to keep up with social-media advancements.
For instance, the office has begun focusing on Pinterest, one of the newer sites.
"We're just trying to stay on the cutting edge," said sheriff's spokeswoman Donna Wood.
A lesson to learn: Take care of what you say on social-media sites — or anywhere online — and do your best to limit access to your material to those you trust, although such a goal may be fruitless.
Another way to look at it: Do not post anything online that you would not post with your signature on a work bulletin board.
Reader comments posted to this article may be published in our print edition. All rights reserved. This copyrighted material may not be re-published without permission. Links are encouraged.
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Marshall Foster, president of the World History Institute and co-writer of Kirk Cameron’s documentary on American history, Monumental, issued a press release today dismissing the role of mental illness in the Newtown CT school shooting. Instead, he blamed sin.
School Shooting Caused by Sinful Soul, Not Imbalanced Brain
NEWTOWN, Conn., Dec. 18, 2012 /Christian Newswire/ — “I’m sick and tired of the media’s attempt to make excuses for Adam Lanza’s mass murder at Sandy Hook Elementary School. In the face of all the politically correct mumbo jumbo from pundits and religious leaders alike, it’s time that someone took a stand and told the truth. The culprit is not an imbalance of chemical enzymes in Lanza’s brain; the culprit is Lanza’s sin nature! Man is wicked beyond belief,” declared Dr. Marshall Foster, Christian historian, founder of the World History Institute and author of the introduction to the newly republished 1599 Geneva Bible.
While many conservatives are calling for significant attention to the nation’s mental health system, Foster calls talk of brain imbalances “mumbo jumbo.” Foster also appears to blame the victims for their death because of the educational system.
“Connecticut and the other 49 states have rejected the original vision for education which was to develop the moral character of the students in favor of the fiction that everything is morally gray. That kind of education emboldens mass murderers like Adam Lanza,” said Dr. Foster.
The press release through Christian newswire also includes a link to his new Geneva Bible. Cameron is shown promoting it on the website.
This is an irresponsible and misguided press release in my opinion. While the victims of the shooting are trying to grieve and recover, this would-be Christian leader uses the tragedy to hawk his products. Furthermore, he blames the victims and opines about something he clearly knows nothing about.
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The Daily Beast
January 11, 2011
By Zachary Karabell
In early December, the ratings agency Standard & Poor’s placed all 15 Eurozone countries under what it calls “negative credit watch.” Typically, that means there is an even possibility that it will downgrade the credit of these countries within 90 days. Nearly half that time has elapsed, which means that there is a considerable chance that within days, S&P will do for Europe what it did for the United States last summer and cut ratings.
The other two main agencies haven’t been silent. Fitch yesterday issued a statement saying that Italy was at risk, and that the European Central Bank had to take a more active role to prevent Europe from spiraling back into crisis and imperiling the global financial system. Both Fitch and Moody’s have indicated that there soon may be a downgrade of France, which has until now been a bulwark sustaining whatever remnants of a system still exist in the Eurozone.
It’s possible that the swirl of rumors and expectations of imminent downgrades will not materialize. Others believe that the sharp spike in interest rates of Italy in the fall, along with banks hoarding cash everywhere in Europe and indeed around the world means that markets have already anticipated downgrades and that when they come, it won’t much matter. That would be nice. It’s also quite possible that a series of downgrades will send already shaky global financial markets over the edge, setting off a chain reaction of mistrust and flight away from European debt and toward U.S. Treasuries that will send Europe decisively toward depression, the United States into recession, and the rest of the world into fear.
There is only one rational solution to the looming threat posed by the ratings agencies: they should stop rating sovereign debt. Cease and desist. A self-imposed restraining order. Why do they even rate government debt at all? The finances of governments are hardly secret. Anyone with a mind, an interest, or a need can do their own due diligence and analysis about whether the finances of Greece, Italy, the United States, Brazil, India, France, or any other of the nearly 200 nations in the world are too risky or safe or somewhere in between. There is no reason to pawn off that task to a few employees of three private companies, and doing so creates a ticking-time-bomb risk if those agencies act too quickly, allow their own biases to color the analysis, or act too late.
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I'm working with a design group to obtain all the artwork they've created for our company. The cost and approvals have all been worked out. What I need to know is a little more about file formats. Since I have CS3 Master Suite, I have the ability to view, access and integrate all the raw files into other work we might do with the artwork. The problem is that the rest of the staff can't use those files.
I need to know what file types the raw files need to be converted to in order for them to be the best quality and use for office documents (Word forms, Power Point presentations, etc.). While I know jpg would work, is it the best format to be converting everything to?
Aimiel2, Mar 24, 2009 5:31 AM
> I need to know what file types the raw files need to be converted to in
> order for them to be the best quality and use for office documents (Word
> forms, Power Point presentations, etc.). While I know jpg would work, is
> it the best format to be converting everything to?
What are the images?
Rough rule of thumb:-
- Photographoc images with loads of colours and detail - think trees,
textured fabrics, landscapes - jpg is usually bst in terms of balance
between visual quality and file size.
- Flat images, limited colours, large areas of similar colour - think screen
shots, cartoon graphics - use gif.
But a more appropriate file type might be png, as it copes well wit all
image types. Generally.
There's no hard and fast rules and you'll get more than one opinion ;-)
Adobe Community Expert: eLearning, Mobile and Devices
European eLearning Summit - EeLS
Adobe-sponsored eLearning conference.
I'm not sure what your question has to do with e-learning. But to be
honest, the graphics format to be chosen has a lot to do with the final
use of the document and the original format of the graphics. Steve's
choices are excellent choices for raster graphics made from a
collections of pixels/colored dots. If fidelity of the image is of
utmost importance, I'd recommend the tif format as an additional choice.
For vector graphics, none of the above choices is appropriate. Exactly,
which graphic format to choose for vector graphics really depends upon
the starting format. If you stay within the Windows environment, many
people will choose WMF and/or EMF. These can be suitable for many of
your vector graphics formats.
Well after reading the responses, I guess I'm backing up and wanting to learn more all around about file types and best practices. From what I'm seeing so far, having them made into PDF's is the best way to go. Only thing there is I don't know how to raster (?) them or make them editable/usable in Office documents once their in PDF form.
> From what I'm seeing so far, having them made into PDF's is the best way
> to go
I'm not sure how you came to that conclusion. Pdfs are a pain to extract
images from unless you have access to Acrobat Pro. Best that you keep the
files in a source format - png, ai, psd etc.
> What are the images?
> corporate identity pieces - logo, complementary artwork, photos
> and some advertising mixed materials - brochures, etc.
> The images will be used for creating in-house documents that are in line
> with the overall visual standards. Possibly some additional advertising,
> but nothing advanced.
> The programs are mainly InDesign, Illustrator, and Photoshop.
> They will be used both as provided and some for further
Well logos are commonly exchanged in eps format - this is a vector-based
format that is lossless and easy to convert to the desired size using
So here's my thoughts.
Given the tools used, you are best to provide your images at the highest
possible quality, which usually means providing an eps file or other
high-quality source. Rather than concern yourself about converting the files
and losing quality *before* they are included in the final documents, you
should educate yourself and your team on file formats, image quality, pixel
density for print vs web etc etc. As we have all suggested already, there's
no definitive answer to your question, and you'll get the best results by
getting more understanding of the file formats.
Some reference stuff, randomly pulled from a web search
There isn't a simple answer. If you're wanting to discuss varied files with a varied audience: Acrobat PDF's. If you really want to preserve the full file, then there is probably nothing better than the native format the file was created in. If you change the format, there will be loss of data / resolution. It can't be helped. I would suggest simply making PDF's out of anything you use to get approval, but keep the originals, and send them directly when someone needs to make changes to the original document, or simply make them available on a network server. All original artwork should be stored, of course, by the artists, before they send a file for approval / edits; or before they share a version for edits by others. Sounds like your office needs to re-think the way artwork flows through your office, and perhaps even add software applications to computers that others use so that work can flow more easily.
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Scotty and I were just talking about this yesterday on The PES. Is Washington friendly to small business? Caitlin the Carpetbagger claimed that "Washington is ahead of both Idaho and Oregon in its business climate."
So what's the truth? A good indication is entrepreneurship. Fortune Small Business just released the results of a nationwide study that examined how many people who started their own business per 100,000 residents of a state.
Washington comes out in the bottom tier. At 230 entrepreneurs per 100,000, Washington is tied with Massachusetts, Michigan, Nebraska, North Carolina, and Tennessee. Only seven states have a worse ratio (Virginia, Missouri, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, West Virginia, Alabama, and Delaware).
By comparison, Idaho's ratio is 470 (among the top 10), Montana is 490 and Oregon is 330. Even California is at 320.
So what's wrong with Washington? Again, Scotty and I discussed this briefly yesterday. Possible reasons include an onerous B&O tax, restrictive L&I laws, restricive environmental laws, the lack of affordable housing (brought about by those restrictive environmental laws), and last but certainly not least, the highest minimum wage in the country.
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As the cardinals have zipped their mouths amid orders from the Vatican, the latter has likewise closed to the public the Sistine Chapel, in order to start sprucing it up for the necessary build works for the upcoming 25th papal conclave expected to unfold anytime this month.
Floorboards are slowly being put on top of the chapel's marble floors as protection. Earlier, it was reported the floorboards were needed to conceal anti-bugging devices, but Rev Thomas Rosica, a Vatican spokesman, denied this.
"They won't work if you put them there," Rev Rosica said, clarifying the jamming devices will be placed "more like a shield on an airplane" and installed high up on the walls.
After which, the stoves to be used to burn the ballots to communicate to the outside world the results of the papacy election will likewise be brought into the chapel, which is famous for its architecture and its frescoe decoration done by Renaissance artists, including Michelangelo, Sandro Botticelli, Pietro Perugino, Pinturicchio and others.
Vatican did not specify as to how many days the construction works will last, but it is premised this is being facilitated since the time for the start of the papal conclave is already drawing near.
Tourists were immediately disappointed at the development.
"You can't visit the Vatican every year, or even every 10 years, when you're from Mumbai," Srini Kollpuba from Mumbai, India told Catholic Online.
"We are disappointed actually because this is an once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."
"It's a shame," Monika Fleischmann, an Italian tourist visiting Rome with her two sisters, said. "We are only here two days so there wasn't enough time to wait until it reopened. But, I guess a papal resignation hasn't happened for more than 600 years."
Named after Pope Sixtus IV, the Sistine Chapel accommodates nearly 10,000 tourists a day.
New Pope 2013: Vatican Tells Cardinals to Zip Mouths
New Pope 2013: Criteria of a Spiritual Leader
New Pope 2013: 266th Pope's New Wardrobe Already Awaits
New Pope 2013: Start of Conclave Delayed by 12 Late Cardinals, Talks on Corruption, Sex Issues
Papal Conclave 2013: Bogus Bishop Almost Entered Pre-Conclave Talks
To report problems or to leave feedback about this article, e-mail:
To contact the editor, e-mail:
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Method4 is an innovative technology company focused on harnessing and accelerating natural processes to better meet the needs of man. Our products and delivery systems are derived directly from nature itself, and include non-hazardous naturally occurring beneficial microbes and co-formulations with selected enzymes and plant derivatives.
One key focus of our scientific development expertise is in producing more nutritious and more economical food supplies to people around the world through applications in agriculture, aquaculture and animal life.
In addition, our successes in developing natural solutions to water treatment help prevent disease and provide access to cleaner, healthier water supplies.
The economic benefits of the products we develop is key to their sustainability. That is where our experience combines with our capabilities to custom tailor natural technologies to solve specific problems in the markets we serve.
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May 10, 2011
Charity in the 21st Century
Roger Colinvaux (Catholic) has posted "Charity in the 21st Century: Trending Toward Decay" to SSRN. The following is an abstract of the article:
The Article argues that the federal tax law framework relating to charitable organizations is decaying. Through an overview of the historical development of the law relating to charity in the 20th century, the Article shows that the statutory law has passively accommodated significant growth of the charitable sector without demanding any rigor of the sector in the form of positive requirements or quantitative measures. This has led to growth without meaningful oversight – a recipe for problems. The Article then provides an overview of many of the scandals that engulfed the sector during the early 21st century and shows that the scandals not only seriously eroded the “halo” effect of charitable organizations and enabled passage of reform legislation, but also illustrate the consequences of unchecked growth. The Article then discusses the central features of current law that are under pressure in part because of this growth without oversight: the breadth of the charitable standard, a regulatory framework based on the distinction between public charity and private foundation, and a facts and circumstances and all-or-nothing approach to enforcement. The Article analyzes the legislation enacted between 2004-2006, and in 2010 (as part of health care reform), and finds that although these efforts were not comprehensive reform, the legislation nevertheless planted seeds indicative of a shifting legislative policy toward charity, one that favors more substantive distinctions among charities for exemption purposes, undermines the current basis for distinguishing among charities, and points toward brighter enforcement lines. The Article concludes that we are asking too much of current tax law, and suggests a new approach based on developing different standards for the charitable tax benefits in order to focus attention more directly on the tax system’s support for the charitable sector.
TrackBack URL for this entry:
Listed below are links to weblogs that reference Charity in the 21st Century:
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Last week, we blogged about creating ads for your business, to be placed on websites through Google Adwords and similar programs. This week, we’re focusing on how to put these ads on your site.
There are many reasons to consider putting ads on your site. If you get a lot of traffic, it can be an easy way to earn some money on your site. Although you may not be bringing in a lot of money at first, the money will collect over time and, if your site is getting enough traffic, the amount of money you’re making from your site will improve.
The secret to using Adsense and other advertisement programs on your site is to do it tastefully. A couple of well-placed ads, placed so that they don’t interrupt the flow or usability of the website, won’t detract from your site. If you place too many ads, or if you place the ads in an intrusive way, you’ll not only make your site less user-friendly, you may create a spammy site (on accident) that will lower the level of confidence visitors have in you and your content.
There are several ways to customize ads to make them better fit on your site. You can specify the color and, in some cases, the font of the ads. There are several sizes available, meant to fit into regular ad sizes. Some content management programs (WordPress, for example) even have themes that have built-in ad spaces to make integration even easier. You can also customize what type of ads you display. Your options are text ads, image/rich ads, or a combination of the two. Through Adsense, you can block certain advertisers, ad categories or ad networks, giving you more of a say in what companies are showcased in your site’s ad spaces.
To sign up for Adsense, you will need to go through a quick website review process. Google wants to make sure that your website isn’t spam and that it doesn’t have questionable content. They also check to see how much traffic your site gets on a regular basis. After you’ve been approved (and most sites are), you’ll be able to set up your account and begin creating ads to go on your website.
Not every website is appropriate for Adsense or similar program. If you are running a professional or business website, don’t use ads. It takes away from the credibility of your business. The sites that see the most benefit from adsense are personal and informational websites.
What are the options to Adsense?
There are several different ad companies that provide services similar to Adsense. Some of the better options are ValueClick, BuySellAds, and Infolinks. There is also the option of selling ad space on your website on your own. Although selling ad space requires a lot more effort than placing ads through Adsense and similar programs, it does usually have a higher pay-off.
Your Turn: Have you used Adsense in your websites? Do you have any tips on how to implement it?
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Must protect what is most valuable
I noticed many recent letters to the editor criticizing the NRA's suggestion that police be placed in schools to protect the students.
When I talked to one of my daughters living in a Phoenix suburb, she said that police have been in all of the schools in her area for more than 10 years.
She also said that they should be there to protect our most valued asset. If, however, you don't consider your children a valuable asset, then don't try to protect them.
Different side of Oakland streets
On Dec. 27, as I was being wheeled into my post-surgical appointment at 80 Grand Ave., my wheelchair hit a bump and suddenly I pitched forward onto the sidewalk.
Even as I fell, I could see an apparently homeless African-American man about my age drop his rickety bike and sprint toward me. He quickly had me back in the wheelchair, dusted me off and, as he gently put his hand on my head, said, "You're gonna be OK, my man," and took off.
Just another tale from the streets of Oakland.
Keep guns from the mentally challenged
This tragedy in Newtown, Conn., is very hard to fathom. Little kids gunned down by a mentally
The Second Amendment is very important. We have a right to defend ourselves. Our Founding Fathers put it in the Constitution to protect us from tyranny from our government. Who knows? Someday we might have a dictator like the one in Syria.
But I think any family that has a mentally challenged person living in their home shouldn't be able to own a gun of any kind. It might not be fair to the family members but I think it should be that way to be on the safe side.
Also, we need more jobs in this economy, so why not hire security guards at all of our schools?
I'm an avid fan of the death penalty. Some experts say it doesn't deter crime, but if they put more murderers to death on a regular basis, I'm sure it would deter crime. Sometimes I think the experts care more about the murderers than they do their victims.
Kerry right choice to represent U.S.
Sen. John Kerry is a right fit for the secretary of state position.
After Gen. Colin Powell retired from the role of secretary of state, his three successors designated for the top position proved to be failures in terms of charisma and diplomacy. They were neither trained for the position nor did they have world diplomacy expertise from any institution of high profile.
In the past, the United States has appointed less effective personalities who failed to portray a dominating role either in Asia or the Middle East.
Of course, they were traveling a lot from here to there for the sake of only handshaking and photo opportunities but couldn't boost the image of our supremacy in world politics.
After reviewing John Kerry's credentials, I feel President Barack Obama has picked the right person who can deliver. His experience, vision, seniority and diplomatic dialogue ability could make a difference in the next four-year term.
Zafar K. Yousufzai
Compromise is not 'capitulate'
The definition of compromise is, among other things, give and take, find the middle ground and cooperation.
The Dec. 27 editorial, "So much for compromise on the cliff," appears to define compromise as capitulation to the Democrats' position no matter what game they're playing, or how much they intend to drive the country further into debt, which is growing at more than $1.2 trillion yearly.
Although President Barack Obama has given lip service to spending cuts, nowhere is there any movement on his part to propose spending cuts of any significance. In fact, Obama wants to increase spending with $50 billion in more stimulus money, even though the major problem facing the country is out-of-control spending.
No amount of increased revenue, aka taxes, will fix the problem. Wouldn't some agreed ratio of spending cuts to increased taxes make a better compromise -- say $4 in spending cuts to a $1 increase in taxes? While a modest start, it will get us nowhere, since the Social Security Administration for fiscal year 2012 generated a loss of $47.8 billion, in a benefits program that was supposed to be solvent for a number of years.
Does a gun make us more secure?
A bad guy, plus a gun, plus bullets: You have a problem. Take the bad guy or the gun out of the equation: The problem is not as serious.
Protecting the Second Amendment is expensive in more ways than one and may get more expensive. Remember when you did not have to go through a security checkpoint in an airport and some public buildings? The day may come when we must do likewise at all public buildings.
We are going backward. Should every household have a gun and everyone carry a gun to feel secure?
That doesn't sound like a safe country to live in. Are we going to recommend visitors to our country to carry a gun?
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An Inspiring Story or Another Distorted Messages on Obesity?
Posted by Adam Benforado on March 27, 2011
Earlier in the week, I wrote about the problems I saw with Joe D’Amico’s all-McDonald’s diet “experiment” leading up to the L.A. Marathon.
It turns out that that was not the only potentially troubling obesity-related story coming out of the marathon.
He is a 405-pound sumo wrestler and ran the race in 9 hours, 48 minutes, and 52 seconds.
At first, I thought that this might have a net positive influence on the obesity epidemic, encouraging the overweight and obese to see exercise as a positive and realistic pursuit. But as I gave it more consideration, I became more concerned.
Might this story and others like it actually be sending a very different message: that obesity — even morbid obesity in Kelly’s case — can be healthy? As Kelly explained to the L.A. Times, “I honestly think I’m one of the best athletes in the world.”
There is sound research by Steven Blair and others that shows that some people who are overweight can also be fit, but I think there is a real danger in celebrating Kelly’s accomplishment — or, at least, in failing to capture the nuances to the story. For many people, carrying around an extra 200 pounds (Kelly was 205 pounds when he married his wife) is a major threat to their health and although Kelly himself appears to be relatively healthy now, in the long term, maintaining his current weight is likely to greatly increase his risk of a number of serious conditions.
In a world in which the obese face considerable discrimination and abuse (just read the L.A. Times article to learn about some of Kelly’s own experiences), there is part of me that sides with Kelly’s desire to show the world that “[b]ig people can do the unimaginable.” But I expect that the overall effect of publicizing his accomplishment may be negative.
What do you think?
* * *
Related Situationist posts:
- Sending the Wrong Message
- The Situation of Weight and Fitness on the Campaign Trail
- Prejudice Against the Obese and Some of its Situational Sources
- Situational Obesity
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The Scent of Green Papaya
Tran Anh Hung
In this beautifully filmed drama, ten-year-old Mui (Lu Man San) arrives from the provinces of Vietnam to work as a servant girl in the home of a Saigon merchant family. The year is 1951. She is a shy and resourceful girl whose tasks include preparing and stir-frying vegetables, serving meals, dusting, scrubbing the tile floors, and polishing shoes.
While Mui adapts effortlessly to her responsibilities, the merchant family doesn't fare as well. The mother, who is still mourning the death of her daughter, is abandoned by her husband. Her two youngest sons act out their anger. The grandmother who lives upstairs grieves the loss of her loved ones.
Like the ripening papaya, Mui blooms into a beautiful young woman (Tran Nu Yen-Khe) and eventually moves on to serve in the house of a musician/composer (Vuong Hoa Hoi) whom she has secretly adored for many years.
Writer and director Tran Anh Hung sees The Scent of Green Papaya as a portrait of a tranquil Vietnam unknown to most Westerners. On another level, the film is about everyday spirituality from an Eastern perspective. Mui, as a young girl, has learned the art of stopping the world. She savors the drop of milky sap on a leaf and looks with wonder at an ant carrying a heavy load. She dances the day instead of working it by relaxing into her chore. She has mastered the inner smile; her entire being radiates warmth and peace. And as a young woman, Mui shows that one must be patient with love, allowing it to unfold in its own special way. Then it can be cherished and tasted slowly.
This Vietnamese film was nominated for an Academy Award in the Best Foreign Language Film category. It is a lyrical and magical movie-masterpiece — one of the best films of 1994.
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Link It Lite is a cute little game to kill time that requires a great deal of concentration and creativity. The aim of the game is to connect white pearls in a chain so that they reconnect with green ones. Feeling confused? Then read the rest of the test report to find out what the game has in store.
This test report comes from Paulina Gegenheimer .
Features & Use
In this game you'll find yourself submerged under water in a sea. In front you, you'll see one green pearl and multiple whites ones. Theres an arrow placed on each pearl.
When I started my first Link It Lite game I was a bit clueless about how to play the game despite a short intro at the beginning. But as soon as you tap the green pearl you know right away what your next move will be. Tapping the green pearl causes it to emit a white ray of light that points in the direction of the arrow. Other white pearls get activated when they come in contact with another pearl's ray. If the arrow is pointing in the wrong direction, then the ray shines into nothing and you have to start all over again. Link It Lite is less about luck and more about a good tactics.
The point of the game is to make the rays come full circle by coming back to the green pearl. This way sound simple, but it's actually quite challenging.
Pearls with a lock on them cannot be rotated and can only shoot in one direction. Once a pearl has emitted a ray of light it loses its function. In other words, it becomes quasi-invisible and rays can go straight through it. Make sure to keep this in mind when your arranging your pearls.
The locked pearls aren't the only thing you have to worry about. Black circles represent immovable rocks that automatically end the game if touched by a ray. Red pearls can be used once before turning into rocks.
Sometimes the pearls are arranged in such a tricky way that you have to split the beam of light with the help of a mirror in order to get to the second pearl. All pearls must be activated and the ray has to be successfully redirected in order to complete a level.
Screen & Controls
The controls for Link It Lite are really simple, but take a little getting used to. Press the green pearl to start the chain reaction of light rays. In order to change the direction of a pearl, simply tap and rotate it.
Every completed level is automatically saved and unlocks the next one. In the main menu, you have the option of changing the sound and vibration settings.
On the main game screen, you can see what level you are currently on in the left corner of the screen. A small tutorial is displayed explaining the basic rules of the game before you first start playing.
If you fail a level, you can replay it as many times as you like.
Otherwise, I thought the underwater theme fit in really well with the general pearl motif.
Speed & Stability
Perfect stable and reliable performance. Link It Lite is great in terms of speed and performance.
Link It Lite is available to download for free. The full version can be downloaded for $2.99.
No comparable apps are currently known to us. If you happen to know one, it would be great if you could get in touch with us.Report comparable or similar apps
No developer added yet.Are you this appʼs developer?
Then check out our developer program right away.
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Staff Community Health Nurse
A community health nurse is a nursing professional who works at a community health center and helps patients who visit the community health center. Community health nurses usually help people who are underprivileged and less fortunate. The community health center nurse forms a very vital part of the community health services. These nurses are responsible for caring for patients as well as keeping a record of the patient’s medical history. The community health nurse also assists in treating and diagnosing patients who visit the health centre.
When drafting a staff community health nurse resume, one must focus on the candidates experience, expertise and knowledge as a community nurse. The staff community nurse resume must also focus on the candidates skills at working with large groups of people and working with various departments.
In this section we have a few sample resumes for staff community nurse will help you draft a perfect nursing resume for when you plan on applying for the job of staff community nurse. These sample resumes have been written keeping the persons skills and knowledge of the nursing field in mind. These resume will help you get a head of the competition and give your nursing career a boost, download this free sample resume given here.
Download these free Staff Community Health Nurse Resume samples
- Staff Community Health Nurse Resume Sample 1
- Staff Community Health Nurse Resume Sample 2
- Staff Community Health Nurse Resume Sample 3
- Staff Community Health Nurse Resume Sample 4
- Staff Community Health Nurse Resume Sample 5
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If we get the heroes we deserve, then Pete Rose may just be the man for America today. In his career as a baseball player, Rose embodied the democratic idea that hard work could overcome inherited setbacks. There were lots of players with greater natural talents than Rose. He wasn't the strongest, the fastest, or the smartest. But he worked the hardest, and he became the best.
Today Rose has come to embody the fact that, in America today, nothing matters except money - and perhaps fame, which matters because it can be turned into money. By now everyone knows the story of the square-jawed, helmet-haired old Red. In the first days of 2004, it was unavoidable. After nearly three decades in big league baseball, first as a player then as a manager, in 1989 Rose was banished from the sport for betting on games. That meant no baseball-related jobs and, worst of all, no induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame. In early January, Rose finally admitted that the old allegations were true and launched a campaign for his reinstatement.
In major league baseball, betting on the game is no ordinary offense. It is a violation equivalent to a public corporation issuing false earnings figures to its stockholders. The system simply doesn't work if the integrity of the rules is in doubt. As a former player and general manager of the Texas Rangers, Tom Grieve, told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, "In every major-league and minor-league clubhouse in America there's a great big poster that says, among other things, that you can't bet on baseball and if you do you face a lifetime ban. The general manager reads it to the team on Opening Day every year. It's not a secret. [Rose] knew that, and he broke that rule."
Back in 1989, Rose denied that he had ever bet on the game, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary. He accepted the banishment and went into exile. For more than a dozen years since, he has led a sleazy tent-show existence. He wrote a book defending his innocence and casting himself as a victim. He made a living by selling off slivers of his fame at autograph booths and other personal appearances. And he seems to have continued the downward spiral of a compulsive gambler, amassing debts that led to a five-month jail term for non-payment of taxes. Apparently, Rose didn't hit bottom in jail. He currently has a brand-new $150,000 debt to the IRS and is in danger of going back to the slammer.
FINALLY, AT THE start of this year, with his last chance to appear on the regular Hall of Fame ballot looming, Rose got religion and confessed, in a book, for money. "Yes, I did it. Now let me back in" was the gist of his public comments. There was no sign that Rose had done any soul-searching. "I'm not built to act all sorry," he writes in the new book. And there was no hint of a desire to make amends for his past misdeeds, which would be required if Rose were dealing with his gambling addiction in a 12-step group.
One sportswriter aptly compared Rose to a child who, having eaten his peas, feels entitled to dessert. And most Americans seem inclined to give it to him. An ABC News poll showed 56 percent of the general public, and 72 percent of self-identified baseball fans, supporting Rose's full reinstatement.
And why shouldn't they let Rose off the hook? The vice president allegedly shovels multi-billion dollar no-bid contracts to his former company, and we're not supposed to question that. Kenneth Lay and Bernard Ebbers (heads of Enron and WorldCom) are still roaming free and living off their ill-gotten gains. Why should the moral standard be higher for a mere athlete?
Why don't we just put up the "for sale" sign on this country and be done with it? Life in the 21st century would be so much easier if we didn't have to pretend that fair play and sportsmanship (and democracy) still count.
Danny Duncan Collum, a Sojourners contributing editor, teaches writing at Rust College in Holly Springs, Mississippi.
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This particular Elmo, who often stood near a pedestrian plaza on Broadway, had made a name for himself due to his crude behavior and insults directed toward other impersonators.
“He would stop and say that we were all illegal immigrants and that people shouldn’t have their photos taken with us,” said Luis, a 25-year-old Elmo impersonator from Peru. Luis said that whenever he saw the angry Elmo he go ply his trade somewhere else.
The Elmo impersonator would often complain about the “Jewish cops” that would harass them. He also suggested that people read “The International Jew,” a series of anti-Semitic publications originally published by Henry Ford.
“If you start your own business in this city, Jews will harass you,” the man says in the video below.
In case you’re wondering, no, it’s not really legal for anyone to dress up as Elmo, but there are so many impersonators in New York, who dress up as everything from Woody from “Toy Story” to SpongeBob SquarePants, that police often just don’t do anything about it.
The man, who was not identified by name, was taken to Metropolitan Hospital Center for psychiatric evaluation.
See video of one of his tirades, as well as his arrest, below.
- Anti-Semitic Elmo of the Day (thedailywh.at)
- Elmo has anti-Semitic meltdown in Central Park (radio.woai.com)
- Elmo has anti-Semitic meltdown in Central Park (640whlo.com)
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In William Patry's book, Moral Panics and the Copyright Wars
, there's an excellent chart that highlights the fact that many content creators who have copyright available to them clearly don't value that copyright very much. The chart looks at the rates of copyright renewals in 1958 and 1959. As you hopefully know, back then, you had to register your work to have it covered by copyright, and you had to renew it to keep that copyright. Yet a huge percentage of content creators simply chose not to renew
their copyrights, because they knew there was little or no value in the copyright itself. Depending on the type of product, the lack of renewals paints a pretty stark picture: only 7% of books had the copyright renewed. Only 11% of periodicals. Only 4% of "works of art." Music was only 35%. In fact, the only type of work that had a renewal rate higher than 50% was movies, which came in at 74%.
If looked at with a common sense filter, it seems obvious that this suggests that the content creator clearly is no longer getting any benefit out of the copyright at that stage, and thus reverting the work to the public domain makes the most sense. So it was quite disappointing when we changed our laws in 1976 to the point that people didn't even have to register their copyrights in the first place, and never had to review, but that they automatically
get a copyright for a ridiculously long amount of time (much longer than was available in 1959). Now, you can
still register, and there are significant benefits to copyright holders for doing so, so many people still do.
So it's interesting to see Tunecore ask the musicians who use its service whether or not they register their copyrights
, with only 56% saying they absolutely do (found via Hypebot
, who incorrectly suggests that the others don't get a copyright at all):
What's fascinating here, of course, is this means that there are 44% of the musicians on Tunecore who don't really see the need to have a registered copyright, and yet they still end up with a copyright which they're unlikely to ever use or enforce. That suggests a system way out of whack with the stated purpose of copyright law. This is content that can and should be available to make the public domain more fruitful and to enable new creative works -- and yet it gets locked up anyway, even though the very people copyright law is supposed to protect clearly don't value what copyright gives them. So why do we still automatically give them copyrights, thereby harming the public domain, while adding little to no benefit to the content creators themselves?
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About 21 km away from Kawardha
lies the Sahaspur Wildlife Sanctuary. The main inhabitants of the sanctuary include animals such as leopards, sloth bears, cheetal, jackals, jungle cats, and birds like including teals, herons, egrets, lapwings, kingfishers, ducks, stilts, doves, wagtails, oriels, sunbirds, woodpeckers, raptors and night birds. The Forest Department arranges night drives for travelers on request. A temple nearby is an added attraction for the visitors.
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http://www.india9.com/i9show/-Chhattisgarh/Borla/Sahaspur-Wildlife-Sanctuary-14513.htm
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Robert Fuller was never your typical street junkie.
He's a disabled veteran who was shot in combat in Korea and received the Purple Heart. He worked all his life, and he used to have a low opinion of drug users.
Then, in 1986, he underwent surgery for kidney cancer. The doctors prescribed him dilaudid, an opioid, for his pain.
He would continue to take painkillers for the next 16 years, eventually devoting all his time and money to getting his hands on them.
"It became where I needed more and more and more to stay out of pain," recalled Fuller, 68. "And before I knew it, I was addicted."
In April, Fuller and a friend, Lynn Peterson a 49-year-old recovering drug addict decided together that they would try methadone.
"We just kind of put our foot down and talked about it and decided, we want to have a better life," Peterson said.
They went to the McMaster Center, part of the El Paso County Health Department, which has offered methadone maintenance treatment since 1969. So far, they say, the treatment has allowed them to stay clean and begin to live normal lives. Peterson holds a professional job, and they hope to some day move out of their apartment and buy a small house.
"I didn't think it would work, but it has," Fuller said of the treatment.
The slashing sound
So it came as highly unwelcome news to Fuller and Peterson when they found out recently that the methadone clinic is closing. In the wake of funding cuts ordered by Gov. Bill Owens, the Health Department announced in July that it will stop providing methadone treatment and try to hand it off to an outside provider by July of 2003.
In reaction, Fuller and Peterson, along with about 40 other methadone clients, have started a group called Advocacy For Recovering Addicts, or AFRA. The group is circulating a petition that they plan to submit to local politicians, asking that treatment continue at the McMaster Center, or that the same level of care be provided if someone else takes it over.
Another aim of the group is to inform people about methadone, because of the many stereotypes surrounding methadone clients, Fuller says. Opioid dependency, he says, isn't just a habit but a disease that affects a range of people, from strung-out street junkies to successful professionals.
"My goal is to educate the public," Fuller says.
New clients daily
The El Paso County Health Department is the only public health department in Colorado offering methadone treatment. Elsewhere around the state, providers include a variety of nonprofit and for-profit agencies, operating with a combination of taxpayer and private funds.
The McMaster Center's methadone clinic has approximately 210 clients, according to Lisa Chambers, who runs the clinic. New clients come in daily to get their methadone, which is administered in a form similar to cough syrup. As clients advance in their treatment, they earn the right to take home doses for progressively longer periods of time, up to a month. The basic monthly fee for clients is $100.
A synthetic drug, methadone is considered effective in treating addiction to opioids -- a class of drugs that includes heroin, morphine and OxyContin -- for a number of reasons. It prevents the severe withdrawal symptoms experienced by those who have developed a physical dependency on opioids. But at therapeutic doses, it doesn't give clients a "high" -- and it also contains a chemical blocker that prevents users from getting high on other opioids.
Research suggests that drug addicts who switch to methadone become far less likely to commit crimes and more likely to have successful family lives and careers.
"Seventy percent of our clients, you wouldn't know them if you met them on the street," Chambers said. "They have jobs. They buy houses. They are in all kinds of walks of life."
Though some methadone clients eventually manage to wean themselves off drugs entirely, many have such a severe addiction that they need methadone indefinitely. At McMaster, some clients have been on the program ever since it started 33 years ago, says Chambers.
While most local methadone clients are former injecting drug users, about 20 percent are people who became addicted to painkillers.
The clinic doesn't just hand out methadone, but also offers clients individual and group counseling. Fuller and Peterson credit the counseling for their initial success.
"A lot of it had to do with the support we got," Peterson said.
Why fix it?
With the McMaster Center's methadone clinic widely praised for its success, ending it makes no sense to Peterson and Fuller.
"If it's not broken," asked Peterson, "why fix it?"
But according to officials, the Health Department's mission is to focus on services that no one else provides. If another methadone provider can be found, it makes sense for the department to hand someone else the task and shift taxpayer money to other areas, said Royann Killoren, chair of the El Paso County Board of Health.
"I think it's generally accepted that government shouldn't provide services that the private sector provides," Killoren said. "We're a free-enterprise system."
Earlier this year, in a similar move, the department handed off its prenatal-care program to the Community Health Center, a local nonprofit provider. That transition has been highly successful, says Rosemary Bakes-Martin, the Health Department's acting director.
Killoren says neither move had anything to do with criticism of the Health Department from Tom Huffman, chairman of the Board of County Commissioners, who earlier this year accused the department of spending too much money and promoting "socialized medicine." Killoren and Bakes-Martin both said the discussions about handing off the methadone treatment program began more than a year ago.
Follow the money
But now, such a move has become a financial imperative, the officials say. In vetoing portions of Colorado's 2003 state budget, Gov. Owens slashed $759,000 in funding for the El Paso County Health Department -- more than 4 percent of its $17.2 million annual budget.
The methadone program's budget is approximately $800,000 per year. Of that, roughly $300,000 comes from the Health Department's general budget, $250,000 comes from client fees, and $250,000 comes from Connect Care, a nonprofit agency that contracts with the state of Colorado to administer drug and alcohol treatment programs statewide.
The Health Department has signed an agreement with Connect Care asking the agency to find another methadone provider by next July. Steve Gilbertson, a deputy director at Connect Care, said he has approached a variety of nonprofit and for-profit agencies, at least two of which have expressed interest in taking over the program.
The biggest problem, he says, is the funding. Without the $300,000 from the Health Department, it will be difficult to maintain the same level of service without increasing client fees.
"What we're in effect trying to do is figure out how to move it into the community with about two-thirds of the funding," Gilbertson said.
He fears it may be impossible.
"We're going to lose something in the level of care," Gilbertson said. "It may not have all the bells and whistles it's had in the past."
An essential service
One way or another, methadone treatment will continue, officials say. Killoren says the Health Department will remain involved in making sure it does, even if the department doesn't actually run the program.
"Methadone is an essential service; it has to be provided," Killoren said. "We can't possibly turn our back on that."
Fuller and Peterson said cutting people off from methadone treatment, or significantly reducing the quality of service, would have negative consequences not just for clients, but also for the community as a whole. Crime would go up as clients relapse into their old drug habits, and more people would seek medical treatment for drug-related illness and overdoses, causing insurance rates to rise.
"If you look at the big picture, [methadone treatment] benefits people in ways that they don't even know," Peterson said.
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by LINDA ANDRADE RODRIGUES
NEW BEDFORD — Over 1,600 years ago, a North African mystic explained to Christians that with the Eucharist, God had given them everything.
"Although God is all-powerful, He is unable to give more; though supremely wise, He knows not how to give more; though vastly rich, He has not more to give," St. Augustine taught.
When the Franciscans of the Immaculate lead the Corpus Christi (Body of Christ) Procession through downtown New Bedford at 2 p.m. Sunday, they will be visibly expressing this belief that "God is with us."
After several weeks of intensive internet work, we finally finished the newly revised MaryMediatrix.com, the official site of the Franciscans of the Immaculate in the United States. Some of our regular visitors to the site may not be aware that MaryMediatrix.com was the first internet site of our Institute in the world which was launched in 1996. It was known then, as the Homepage of the Immaculate.
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Voices of WEMU
Shots - Health Blog
Fri December 16, 2011
An Early Exit For Early Retiree Insurance Program
The clock is winding down on a little known but very popular part of the Affordable Care Act that has helped employers offer health benefits to early retirees.
The $5 billion early retiree fund has already paid out $4.5 billion, and the last day to submit claims for any of the remaining funds is Dec. 31.
The federal health law created the fund to give employers an incentive to keep providing health insurance coverage for retirees between the ages of 55 and 65.
If these younger retirees didn't have employer-sponsored coverage, they might have a hard time finding affordable health insurance because of their age or chronic conditions. The fund was meant to serve as a bridge for early retirees until the health exchanges are up and running in 2014, but the money won't last that long.
"It was a popular program, which is why the money is running out as quick as it is," says economist Paul Fronstin of the Employee Benefits Research Institute.
Did it work? "In terms of keeping employers from dropping retiree health benefits," he says. "It's unclear whether it made any dent there whatsoever."
Laurie Bauer of Minnesota-based Andersen Corporation says it has received about $2 million under the program. "Medical benefits have increased dramatically as we all have seen and we want to be able to keep those affordable for our retirees," Bauer says. "And any opportunity that we have to reduce those premiums to them is very attractive to us."
Bauer says the window and door manufacturer would have kept providing early retiree benefits anyway. But the extra money means the company can keep a lid on rising premiums, at least through 2012. Instead of an 8 percent increase, retirees will only pay 2 percent more.
The program has been popular with all kinds of employers. Thousands have participated. For example, Citigroup has received $8 million, Ernst & Young $3 million and the state of New York $88 million. About half of all recipients have been state and local governments.
Pat Hentges is city manager of Mankato, Minnesota — population about 40,000. He says the program reimbursed his city around $300,000 this year, which largely offset rising health premiums for its early retirees.
"It's worked out well for us," Hentges says, and he's expecting some pain when the funding goes away. "I suspect what's going to happen is that we will go back to double-digit costs for our health insurance plan."
This story is part of a reporting partnership that includes Minnesota Public Radio, NPR, and Kaiser Health News.
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In 1979, the NHL absorbed the four strongest surviving members of the WHA, expanding the league to 21 teams. For several reasons, the 1979-80 season is a good starting point for comparing the long term, relative performances of teams over time. All 21 franchises that were around in 1979 are still alive, although some have moved.
For the first time beginning with the 1980 post-season, 16 teams made the playoffs. It’s been that way ever since. Every team that has won the Stanley Cup in each year since 1980 has had to win four playoff rounds to take the ultimate prize. For 29 seasons, omitting the 2005 lockout, there have been exactly 15 playoff series per year.
Only 11 of the 21 franchises that have been in existence since 1979 have won the Cup at least once. It would be misleading to suggest that the Cupless teams have enjoyed no success at all since then. Their respective fans have sometimes cheered them on deep into the playoffs without the summer-long satisfaction of a climaxing parade.
Second to Stanley Cup victories, the actual number of playoff series wins (not playoff game wins) would seem to be a good measure of success over time. Yes, there is a strong correlation between Cup victories and playoff series victories, but there are some surprises. There have been at least a couple of teams that have made the playoffs often, won a series or two, but came up short of collecting Lord Stanley’s silverware. Here’s the list of 21 franchises that were around in 1979 and how many playoff series they have won since then:
|1||Detroit Red Wings||34|
|3||Minnesota North Stars/Dallas Stars||26|
|5||Quebec Nordiques/Colorado Avalanche||25|
|8||New York Islanders||23|
|9||Colorado Rockies/New Jersey Devils||22|
|10||New York Rangers||19|
|14||St. Louis Blues||16|
|16||Toronto Maple Leafs||13|
|19||Hartford Whalers/Carolina Hurricanes||10|
|20||Los Angeles Kings||8|
|21||Winnipeg Jets/Phoenix Coyotes||2|
Surprised? It’s easy to understand how the Wings and Oilers are so far ahead of the pack. Nine Stanley Cups between them, and the Oilers won three playoff series in one playoff year as recently as 2006 on their way to the Final. The Wings have just been very good and consistent for a long time.
The Minnesota North Stars/ Dallas Stars may be a surprise third placer in the list, but apart from a Cup, and thus four series wins to their credit in 1999, the North Stars/Stars have been to the Cup final three other times. As is the case with many teams that eventually win the Cup, the Stars paid their dues by going on prolonged playoff runs in years before finally winning the big one. It all adds up to several playoff series triumphs and lots for their fans to cheer about.
The Canadiens and Avalanche have each won a couple of Cups since 1980. The Canadiens have also been to a final in 1989 when they finished 2nd best. The Flyers have been consistently good over time, just not very lucky. They’ve been bridesmaids but not brides since their last Cup in 1975 and have been close. Like many teams who have fallen short, they ultimately wound up running into the invincible Oilers or Red Wings.
The Penguins went through a playoff drought in the 1980’s until Mario Lemieux warmed up. Through excellent drafting, solid management, demanding fans and some good luck, they’re once again successful and the team to beat.
The Islanders achieved almost all of their success in the early ‘80’s when they totally dominated, winning a record 19 playoff series in a row. The Devils survived a horrible decade in the 1980’s but have been consistently great since Martin Brodeur took over crease duty.
The Rangers won a Cup in 1994, but have made the playoffs and won a series or two many times. Same with the Blackhawks who had very good teams in the ‘80’s but just couldn’t beat the Oilers.
The Boston Bruins have been consistently good. Their downfall often has been their all-time dreadful record against the Canadiens in the playoffs, but they did go all the way to the finals against the Oilers a couple of times.
The Sabres and Blues each have a respectable 16 playoff series wins since 1980, but no Cups. They’re overdue. The Flames were hot in the ‘80’s and did win a Cup. They also went all the way to the final in 2004.
At this point, the list drops off into the under achievers category. The Leafs have missed the playoffs entirely a total of 12 times since 1980 and have never won more than 2 series in any playoff year. With the exception of two or three teasing flukes, they have been mostly awful. The Canucks have been to the final a couple of times, but a lot more has been expected.
Washington went to the Stanley Cup final in 1998. One gets the feeling that their best is soon to come. Apart from a couple of unbelievable seasons and even one Cup, the Whalers/Hurricanes have been mostly mediocre. Same with the Los Angeles Kings, rarely exceptional.
At the bottom and in a miserable class of their own with only two playoff series victories in 29 seasons are the Winnipeg Jets/Phoenix Coyotes. They’ve yet to win a series since the franchise was transferred to the desert in 1996. Noble heroes have tried to rescue this disastrous venture, but our stubborn commissioner insists that skating in sand is viable.
Of the teams that have been in the NHL since 1991 or later, the Anaheim Ducks have won 11 playoff series, the San Jose Sharks, 9 and the Ottawa Senators, 8. Tampa Bay, Florida and the Minnesota Wild have enjoyed some success, including a Cup for the Lightning. Three of the newer teams have yet to win a playoff round.
The teams considered to have provided their fans with the most bang for their buck over time depends on how old their fans are and how demanding they have been. In most cities, fans don’t even show up unless the team is winning. The fear of empty seats always provides additional incentive for management to ice a winner. As a good and loyal hockey fan, hopefully your team has been historically good to you.
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Classroom Unit Blocks (110 Pcs.)
CLASSROOM UNIT BLOCKS (110 Pcs.)
OPPENHEIM TOY AWARD #1 PICK FOR 2006
“Our #1 must-have toy for preschoolers is a set of unit blocks. This is the type of gift that keeps on giving because it grows with your child's imagination. 110-piece Unit Block Set comes with 28 different shapes. It is really important to have a variety of shapes to experiment with as kids build.” - Stephanie Oppenheim - Toyportfolio.com.
110 pieces, 28 shapes. 49 lbs. Guidecraft smooth unit blocks are made to resist dents and dings. You'll notice the finely sanded and rounded to eliminate any sharp edges, and are splinter-free to protect tender young hands. All our blocks are guaranteed for life. Traffic Signs and Cars are not included.
|
<urn:uuid:1d09ac76-8b1c-41e1-a068-0f2f263e90bf>
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CC-MAIN-2013-20
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|
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| 0.935358
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|
Startups, like everything in life, have some key elements for success. I’m listing here what I think are the most important factors to help you moving your idea to a successful startup.
((The order here is irrelevant and all have the same equal value))
So you have the idea and you believe it’s the time to move forward. This is the proper time where you should prototype it. The purpose of prototyping is to collect enough feedback to decide whether you are going to continue and in which direction or cancel the idea altogether. Also, the prototype is helpful for marketing the idea and making relations.
The prototype should be the minimum work required to demo the idea for a group of selected people. Ideally the prototype takes 2-3 days of work. However, sometimes you need more time to demo the idea but in worst cases it shouldn’t take more than 2 weeks, otherwise you are actually coding the idea, not prototyping it, which is a totally wrong decision.
After you prepare the demo, pick a set of people including business guys and collect their feedback:
- They do like it: This is the ideal situation. Congrats!
- They kinda like it: This is the normal situation where you fix the workflow and decide your next step basing on the feedback you get.
- They don’t really like it: This case is usually referred to as “Fail Fast” or “FF”. Don’t get disappointed, make use of the feedback and rethink the whole idea. Most likely you will start from scratch with a new startup idea.
Here is the golden rule:
Launch first, then figure out the business model is the recipe of disaster
Relaying on the “coolness” of the idea is a wrong thing. It’s all about business after all, and investors would like to understand how you are going to generate money. Actually not only that; they would like to see how confident you are when it comes to business model.
Start putting the business plan before you do any coding. Supported with estimated numbers, the business plan will help you take the proper decision at the proper time.Adding features, updating the product, marking, expanding to new markets or even seeking fund shouldn’t be arbitrary decisions. Instead, they should be taken when needed and based on your business model.
Believe it or not, the team you pick might be the most important factor. The qualifications and the passion are the characteristics that you should look for. Even investors considers those ones, and that’s why you hear them saying: “It should be your bread and butter”. Many startups were bought or invested in because of the teams behind them apart from the business they do.
Pick your team carefully. Don’t fall in the trap of creating a bunch of geeks team. Instead, pick qualifications that you personally lack. Having a business guy or a marketing one working with you is highly recommended when you lack those abilities of talking or marketing your work.
Don’t underestimate the role of passion when you pick your team. Passion is the work soul, it drives the work flawlessly in good times and makes it immune in bad times. Many startups succeeded because of the team’s passion despite the bad times they faced, and vise versa, some of them had talents but lacked the passion and finally they failed miserably.
Feel free to add your comments on those factors and what you think might also be a missing one.
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I was amused to see that David Sloan Wilson took a weird poke at Dawkins, got thrashed by Jerry Coyne, and didn’t like it. In fact, I was going to leave this as a link post, but while searching for a link to Coyne’s piece (Wilson can’t seem to figure out how to embed links to anything but his own blog in his posts) I came across a post by a blogger who calls him/herself “The Verbose Stoic”. This piece is problematic on several points, but discussing this is going to take some space so I’ll do it here instead of a comment on Verbose Stoic’s blog; from here on, I’m going to refer to him/her as VS.
VS starts off by questioning “examples”:
What I want to talk about is the objections that Coyne raises against Wilson’s group selection theory:
Dawkins’s argument against the efficacy of group selection was that this form of selection is usually unsuccessful because groups are vulnerable to subversion from within by those selfish replicators. That is, “cheating” replicators that are “good” for individuals but bad for the group as a whole will tend to propagate themselves. Yes, altruism may help groups propagate, but altruistic groups are susceptible to invasion by cheaters unless the “altruism” is based on kin selection or individual selection via reciprocity.
That’s the main one, but he goes on to fill in more later:
Dawkins’s (and my) beef with group selection as a way to evolve traits that are bad for individuals but good for groups is that this form of selection is inefficient, subject to subversion within groups, and, especially, that there’s virtually no evidence that this form of selection has been important in nature.
Let me deal with the two minor ones before getting back to the main event. Starting with the last one, we can see that it’s a bad argument, because what Coyne is doing here is saying that one of the reasons to reject the examples Wilson’s giving of cases where group selection has been important in nature is … that you haven’t found examples of cases where it has been important in nature. Except, perhaps, for the specific cases Wilson is citing. You can’t in any way reasonably claim that the fact that you haven’t found examples of it yet means that you can dismiss this proposed example.
Look, Wilson isn’t citing any specific cases of group selection occurring in nature, mostly because there aren’t any. When I say that, I mean that Wilson hasn’t been able to demonstrate that a trait arose because of group selection and not kin selection or natural selection or any other evolutionary force. Wilson’s argument is that (1) group selection (a.k.a. “new” group selection or multi-level selection) is something different than any other variety of selection, and (2) that it is responsible for the evolution of traits such as altruism. But (1) group selection reduces mathematically to inclusive fitness (follow the links in my previous post), and so (2) is trivially true. Sure, it arose by “group selection”, but that’s an empty statement. Wilson’s ‘proposed example’ is a theoretical model that was dealt with when he proposed it nearly 40 years ago (Wilson, 1975), and though it’s been refuted dozens of times since, he keeps holding on to it and insisting that he’s already won. I’ll quote at length from West et al. (2007) to drive home the point:
It has since been shown that kin selection and new group selection are just different ways of conceptualizing the same evolutionary process. They are mathematically identical, and hence are both valid (Hamilton, 1975; Grafen, 1984; Wade, 1985; Frank, 1986a, 1998; Taylor, 1990; Queller, 1992; Bourke & Franks, 1995; Gardneret al., 2007). New group selection models show that cooperation is favoured when the response to between group selection outweighs the response to within-group selection, but it is straightforward to recover Hamilton’s rule from this. Both approaches tell us that increasing the group benefits and reducing the individual cost favours cooperation. Similarly, group selection tells us that cooperation is favoured if we increase the proportion of genetic variance that is between-group as opposed to within-group, but that is exactly equivalent to saying that the kin selection coefficient of relatedness is increased (Frank, 1995a). In all cases where both methods have been used to look at the same problem, they give identical results (Frank, 1986a; Bourke & Franks, 1995; Wenseleers et al., 2004; Gardner et al.,2007).
VS also isn’t happy about “efficiency”:
The first one is also a pretty bad argument when you look at evolution. The argument is that Wilson’s proposed solution would be inefficient, but it seems to me that one of the main thrusts of evolution is that it can indeed be — and often is — inefficient but as long as it works, that’s not a problem. When has it become a criteria for evolutionary explanations that it achieve maximal or even reasonable efficiency. To go down that route would risk re-introducing a need for a designer, to ensure that the mechanisms stayed efficient. That can’t be what Coyne wants. But, again, why is efficiency even a factor? Why would you sort evolutionary arguments by efficiency? Being more or less efficient isn’t a hallmark of evolutionary mechanisms, so if two mechanisms are proposed but one is more efficient than the other that says absolutely nothing about which one is more likely to be true.
That leaves us with the main complaint: cheaters. The main issue here is that there is an issue raised against the individual selection explanations of altruism as well, even kin and reciprocal altruism and it is … cheaters. Cheaters will benefit if they can get away with it, and so those individuals will prosper and those who are altruistic will be outstripped, and so altruism is not self-sustaining at the individual level. To get around this, the proponents of evolutionary explanations for altruism end up appealing to cheater detection mechanisms [...]
Additionally, it seems to me that group selection can actually get this without having to apply specific cheater detection mechanisms. After all, group selection would imply that the relevant competing entity is the group. Thus, if a group has a significant percentage of people who are altruistic, then it outperforms groups that don’t. Thus, if you have a group where this happens and where too large a percentage of the group are cheaters, then that group will cease to get those benefits and be outcompeted and presumably eventually exterminated by the groups where that does not happen. Thus, group selection here becomes self-sustaining; if you are above or at the magical percentage that means you benefit from being altruistic, you benefit over other groups as long as it stays there, but if it ever drops below that your group may well collapse and your individuals, then, all lose. Note that we would still see cheater detection mechanisms emerge because they are mechanisms that make the group stable and so less likely to fall below that percentage and collapse.
It seems like VS might be on the verge of confusing old and new school group selection, as the bolded statements (my emphasis) suggest. West et al.’s paper has a great figure that shows the difference between the two:
In the text of their article, they point out that “[a]nother way of looking at this is that the new group selection approach looks at the evolution of individual characters in a group structured population, whereas the old group selection approach looks at the evolution of group characters”. VS’s own words make him sound like a disciple of Wynne-Edwards, which would be unfortunate since Wynne-Edwards was decisively crushed by George Williams in the 1960s. But even if he’s just poorly recapitulating Wilson’s models, VS is still wrong on the evolution of altruism. There are a number of possible explanations for altruism, including inclusive fitness, but I don’t want to get into a long conversation on how altruism might have evolved because I would have research and then write an inconveniently long book to do so.
Having said that, Coyne’s use of “cheating” (even in quotations) is a little unfortunate, because it overlaps with the literature on Prisoner’s Dilemma and cooperation. Cooperation and altruism are not the same concept (again, see West et al. for a good breakdown of the different concepts, or any text on social evolution); altruism might be a subset of cooperation, depending on how you define the terms, but usually altruism comes at a cost to the altruist while cooperators do not necessarily pay a cost to cooperate. ”Cheating detectors” is more appropriate for a conversation about cooperation than altruism (see also Figure 2 of this paper), which makes the rest of VS’s argument difficult to respond to. I think that Coyne is using ‘cheating’ to refer to individuals who receive the benefit of altruistic acts without paying the price of altruism, but that’s not the same as cheating in models of cooperation. (Honestly, ‘cheating’ isn’t a great word on a lot of grounds, including confusion with other areas such as signalling and an implication of conscious intent where none is necessary).
Returning to the posts that started this digression: my honest belief is that this group selection debate should have been over years ago, but I will still support Wilson’s right to continue trying to make his case. If he’s going to attack people like Dawkins and Coyne, though, he’d better learn to be prepared for them to hit back. And though it’s unlikely that either of them will ever read this post, I’d like to tell them that they’re not alone.
P.S. Can I take this opportunity to point out a further example of Wilson claiming that people agree with him when they don’t? If you read the end of Wilson’s second piece, he says:
For readers who are up for a challenge and want to learn more about the theoretical basis and empirical evidence for group selection from someone other than myself, I recommend Steven A. Frank’s “Natural Selection. III. Selection vs. Transmission and Levels of Selection (Journal of Evolutionary Biology, 2011). For Frank, it goes without saying that natural selection is a multilevel process and that the group level is often a significant evolutionary force.
I’ve actually read that paper. In it, Frank once again points out that kin selection and group selection are the same thing:
The equivalence of r and Hamilton’s formal theory of kin selection establishes the exact equivalence of multilevel group selection and kin selection.
And then, after a long analysis, he compares the usage of the two methods in a section entitled (tellingly): Reasons to favour kin selection over group selection. It contains exactly what the title says. If you can get it and you like technical discussions of evolutionary biology, I urge you to read the paper yourself. If you don’t, then just do me a favour and don’t accept Wilson’s claims about this paper at face value.
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Patient care may be inconsistent during off hours. We sought to determine whether victims of major trauma admitted to hospital on evenings, nights, and weekends suffer increased mortality rates. All victims of major trauma admitted to all four major acute care hospitals in the Calgary Health Region between April 1, 2002 and March 31, 2006 were included. Clinical and outcome information was obtained from regional databases. Weekends were defined as anytime Saturday or Sunday, evenings as 18:00–22:59, and nights as 23:00–07:59.
Four thousand patients were included; 2,901 (73%) were male, the median age was 39.5 [inter-quartile range (IQR), 22.4–58.2] years, and the median injury severity score (ISS) was 20 (IQR, 16–26). Thirty-five percent (1,405) of patients were admitted on a weekend, 30% (1,197) during evenings, and 36% (1,422) at night. Seventy-eight percent (3,106) of cases presented during the "after hours" (evenings, nights, and/or weekends). The in-hospital case-fatality rate was 447 (11%), and was not significantly different during daytime (165/1,381; 37%), evening (128/1,197; 30%), and night (154/1,422; 36%) admissions (p = 0.53), or among patients admitted on weekends as compared to weekdays (157/1,405; 11% vs. 290/2,595; 11%; p = 1.0). Admission during the after hours as compared to business hours (343/3,106; 11% vs. 104/894; 12%; p = 0.63) did not increased risk. A multivariable logistic regression model was developed to assess factors associated with in-hospital death (n = 3,891). Neither admission on weekends nor on evenings or nights increased the risk for in-hospital mortality.
In our region, the time of admission during the day or day of the week does not influence the risk for adverse outcome and may reflect our highly developed multi-hospital acute care and trauma system.
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When Tania Whiddon of Pillager eats at a restaurant she goes home and attempts to master on her own the dish she purchased.
Whiddon has made Broccoli Cheese Soup and Dairy Queen's Moolattes and almost has cream puffs mastered.
Who knows what recipe Whiddon will master after watching the 10th annual Taste of Home Cooking Show Tuesday at Tornstrom Auditorium in Brainerd.
Whiddon has always enjoyed making specialty restaurant items at home, especially now-a-days. Whiddon doesn't get the chance to go out as much anymore.
Whiddon moved in with her mother, Gloria Davison, with her four children in November because of the tough economy. Whiddon and her mother clip coupons to save money and they also buy their own meat and cut it. Whiddon said they also plan to do more gardening this summer.
Tania Whiddon (right), her mother, Gloria Davison, and her 6-year-old daughter Victoria browsed through booths at the Taste of Home Cooking Show Tuesday in the Washington Educational Services Building gym. Brainerd Dispatch/Kelly Humphrey» Purchase reprints of this photo.
Clipping coupons is one of the tips that Taste of Home culinary specialist Mary Janice Reisdorf, who hosted the cooking show, offered on how people can save money in today's economy. Reisdorf, who conducts cooking schools in Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, said before the cooking show in an interview that making simple recipes and utilizing leftovers also offer more savings.
"People can make simple recipes that don't have a lot of ingredients in it that still taste good, like the Greek Turkey Burgers I'll make tonight," said Reisdorf. "People need to use their leftovers, there is so much waste in that."
Diane Garbrecht of Aitkin, who attended the show, said she eats more leftovers than she used to. Before she'd just toss the leftovers in the garbage. Garbrecht said she also clips coupons and buys products when they're on sale.
"I'm not eating out as much," said Trissie Simmons of Brainerd. "I eat more of the comfort foods and not the specialty items."
Simmons' friend, Jean Collins of Brainerd, said she's been making more meals with eggs, to substitute for the meat, and making more salad-based meals. Collins also said eating smaller portions has been cost-effective.
All the home show participants received a bag of goodies that included coupons for the products to make the 10 meals Reisdorf demonstrated that included Spicy Asian Shrimp Salad and Shanghai Chicken and Zucchini with Spicy Mandarin Ginger Glaze.
Culinary specialist Mary Janice Reisdorf went through 10 different recipes Tuesday night for a packed Tornstrom Auditorium during the 10th annual Taste of Home Cooking Show. Brainerd Dispatch/Kelly Humphrey» Purchase reprints of this photo.
The auditorium was filled with 850 people learning new and exciting recipes. They also had the opportunity before the show to visit food and business exhibitors featuring their products and offering coupons.
The Brainerd Dispatch has sponsored the cooking show for the past 10 years, hosting a show every other year. Other major sponsors of the show include: Cub Foods in Brainerd and Baxter, Floor to Ceiling, Schroeder's Appliance Center, Adirondack Coffee in Nisswa, Black Bear Lodge and Saloon, Fifth Avenue Furniture and Kinetico.
Deb Dahlke of the Minnesota Cattle Women, who partnered with Von Hanson's Meats at the home show, offered participants a sample of Barbecue Beef Brisket. Dahlke said briskets are a less expensive meat, which also qualify as a lean meat. Dahlke said people can feed their family for $2 a serving, which is 3 ounces.
JENNIFER STOCKINGER may be reached at firstname.lastname@example.org or 855-5851.
Brainerd Dispatch ©2013. All Rights Reserved.
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Cooperative International Library Projects
AfghanistanThe Central Asia Institute Task Force, which is a division within the Montana Library Association, is promoting the "Pennies for Peace" campaign, which is designed to collect money to help build a school/ library for children in Afghanistan. For more information visit the Montana Library Association web site http://www.mtlib.org/pennies/ and view their newsletter Montana Library Focus: http://www.mtlib.org/focus/focus.html.
The project is coordinated by Norma Glock who may be contacted at firstname.lastname@example.org.
African Countries: Ghana, Nigeria, Uganda, and TanzaniaThe Mortenson Center for International Library Programs at the University of Illinois Library at Urbana- Champaign has received a three-year, $499,900 grant from the Carnegie Corporation. Seven African grantee university institutions have been chosen to receive funds and assistance with incorporating fully automated online catalog and computer- based library management system through trainings and set- up of technical support and communication systems. http://www.library.uiuc.edu/mortenson/activities/projects/
ArmeniaFlorida Atlantic University Libraries have been involved in developing cooperation with South Florida Armenian community, American University of Armenia and also individuals and institutions from Armenia. There have been exchanges of visits and the Interlibrary Loan Pilot Project was created.
Dr. William Miller, Director of Libraries at Florida Atlantic University has been awarded the Armenian Library Association’s “Library Friend 2004”. This title was awarded to Mr. Miller for winning the competition in recognition of providing Ariel terminals and software to four Armenian libraries and for founding the American Science Technology Resource Center at Republican Science Technology Center, Republic of Armenia. If you are interested in more details, visit:
or contact Dr. Miller: email@example.com.
Colorado Association of Libraries (CAL) has been involved in cooperation with Bulgarian libraries under the
Bulgarian/ Colorado Partner Library Project and the federal American- Bulgarian Library Exchange (ABLE). The partnership was established by Nancy Bolt, Project Chair, and Snezjana Ianeva, representative of American Embassy and Bulgarian Library Association, who signed a resolution in 1996. So far twelve partnerships between Colorado and Bulgarian libraries have been formed, which are involved in many activities. For more information you are welcome to visit the CAL website:
http://cal-webs.org/interestg2.html (opens in a new window)
Bulgarian/ Colorado Partner Library Project Update:
Nancy Bolt’s presentation at the GlobeNet Conference in Sofia (Nov 2004)
Community Information Center (developing trainings of over 200 public librarians thanks to created and translated workbook and workshops around Bulgaria); New partnership between University of Forestry in Sofia and Colorado State University joined the project (Dec 2004); Visit of Iskra Mahailova, ABLE Bulgarian Director and Vanya Grashkina, President of Bulgarian Library Association to Colorado (March 2005); $45,000 UNESCO grant for conducting information literacy training in Bulgaria.
ASIC Rural Libraries Program, a Guatemala program of Rudder Foundation
This is an outreach program that helps to establish rural libraries and train the local people to work as librarians. Teachers and the American Library Association membership and faculty and students from USA library schools provide the volunteers to conduct the field training and to hold workshops at ASIC facilities in Antigua and in Guatemala City. Publishers and book distributors in Guatemala, Mexico and Spain have agreed to discounts of 25% to 40% on their list of books. The Program provides local libraries with selected Spanish language books and encourages reading among children, who usually don’t even have any books, including schoolbooks. However, there is a fear that the Program may be suspended due to financial problems of ASIC. Ms. Pilar Reyes, Director of the Program, appeals for help and support from all librarians in order to continue her projects after the budget cuts by ASIC.
Sister Libraries in Guatemala
Ms. Linda Whinnery, NBCT Library Media Teacher, is currently on sabbatical from San Diego City Schools and is living in Antigua, Guatemala, where she has just finished a training of 20 rural workers in how to catalog, arrange, develop programs and promote library services. She is actively supporting getting any educational supplies through the philanthropic organizations to provide the rural libraries with essential resources. Ms. Whinnery also initiated involving 15 Guatemalan libraries in the Sister Library Program and is looking for partners from the states of California and Arizona, who would have Spanish-speaking staff members.
For the report of Linda Whinnery on the situation in Guatemala, view her article in the International Leads (Volume 19, No 2, June 2005):
http://www.ala.org/ala/irrt/intlleads/leadsarchive/200506.pdf - (PDF File opens in a new window)
Somaliland has been getting support from the UK- based
Africa Educational Trust (AET) and
Book Aid International, which offered a variety of trainings, from literacy and computer skills to more specialized areas such as guidance on human rights. With the financial support from the Department for International Development, AET has started a number of reading rooms in primary schools over the last three years. Thanks to the Finnish support this scheme has been extended to the secondary schools as well. Both the AET and the Book Aid have been supporting the members of the Somali Diaspora with books in English and Arabic. Also the Regional Office of WHO in Hargeisa has benefited with a public health library, trained staff, computer equipment, Internet access, and satellite connection.
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MONTREAL – Claude Cuillerier remembers being in a second-storey office at the United Nations police headquarters in Port-au-Prince when the floor suddenly collapsed, trapping colleagues in the rubble below.
Haiti’s devastating earthquake with a magnitude of 7.0 had just struck.
As the Montreal police sergeant and a colleague from Nigeria made it outside, they took in the chaos as well as the scope of the destruction.
“What it reminded me of was like in New York City after 9-11 with the huge white plumes of dust,” said Cuillerier, 51, who teaches at Quebec’s police academy.
But then adrenalin and his professional training kicked in and the 24-year veteran fetched a carjack to help rescuers free colleagues. Cuillerier himself went into the rubble, using his hands to rummage through concrete to help pull out survivors with the risk of further collapse imminent.
That selflessness resulted in Cuillerier and 13 of his colleagues being rewarded on Thursday with the RCMP Commissioner’s Commendation for Bravery for their life-saving efforts following the January 2010 earthquake. The third anniversary of the temblor is Saturday.
They were recognized for putting their own lives at risk to rescue people trapped in crumbling buildings, providing first-aid and security and escorting rescue teams.
The 14 men — 13 police officers from Ottawa, Montreal, Saguenay, Quebec provincial police and the RCMP and one member of the Canadian Forces — received the accolade from RCMP Commissioner Bob Paulson.
Michel Martin, a retired Quebec provincial police inspector, was in charge of the Canadian contingent when the quake struck.
Speaking on Thursday, Martin said he wants to ensure no one ever forgets the people of Haiti as well as two fellow RCMP officers who died during the earthquake — Sgt. Mark Gallagher and Supt. Doug Coates.
Many were at police headquarters or in their residences in Port-au-Prince when the quake hit.
“Thankfully not everything crumbled,” Martin said. “And in the moments after the earthquake, Canadian police officers went into crumbling homes and buildings to save people.”
Martin said there are no words to describe the lengths to which his people went. He told them they can count themselves among a select group of people — those who risk their own lives to save others.
Many still harbour scars from what they went through. Cuillerier, who served twice in Haiti and loved his international experiences, says he won’t return to the Caribbean nation out of respect for his family.
“They lived through the earthquake from a distance and it took several hours to reach them,” Cuillerier said. “I promised them that I would not go back there again.”
Others still find it difficult to talk about what they lived through in the aftermath of the tragedy.
Serge Boulianne, a retired Montreal police detective who served 28 years on the force, had just left the building when the quake hit. He ran back inside to help locate survivors and help them escape. He also used a ladder to save many people who were trapped.
Boulianne recalled that after the quake, there was silence. “No dogs, no birds, no wind. nothing,” Boulianne said. Then the screams could be heard.
Boulianne spent about 20 days in Haiti after the quake. He was tasked with ferrying rescue teams from the airport to different sites where they could help. Difficult decisions had to be made on the ground.
“When you’re a police officer, you decide to help people, you don’t decide who lives and who dies,” Boulianne said. “But that was the most difficult thing to decide: those people we can help and those we weren’t able to help.”
Boulianne, who survived a cancer diagnosis at age 40 and the earthquake in his 50s, called it a career recently. He now builds homes for a living.
He sees himself as someone who lost friends in the earthquake and who did his job. But others are more deserving of recognition, he said.
“They recognized what we did (today) and I’m very appreciative of that,” Boulianne said.
“But I think the real heroes are the Haitian people.”
International Co-operation Minister Julian Fantino attended Thursday’s event but did not field questions from reporters. The former police officer said the individual acts of bravery and self-sacrifice distinguished the 14 men being honoured.
“Your willingness to make the ultimate sacrifice epitomizes all that is good and noble about policing and military service,” Fantino told the men and their families at RCMP headquarters in Montreal.
The minister has been under heavy fire in recent days for saying Canada would freeze aid for new projects in Haiti.
Fantino said last week he was disappointed by the lack of progress in the country and wanted to find a better way to help Haiti’s reconstruction.
Those comments earned him rebukes from the U.S. State Department and the United Nations this week.
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Our video deployments are revealing day after day a bit more of the particular fish fauna of the Raoul Island. The most remarkable feature we observe is the large amount of sharks. And to be honest, I would not like them to come to close during a dive. Bronze whalers and galapagos sharks are here very common. It is not surprising to find them in high abundance since the area is protected and have consequently not been fished.
The survey is progressing well and we hope having completed our deployments in about 2-3 days. The weather is decent, without being exceptional. We had to work every day in 2-3m swells which did not cause us too much problems.
Speak to you soon,
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http://blog.tepapa.govt.nz/2011/05/13/remarkable-abundance-of-sharks-in-the-kermadec-islands/?like=1&source=post_flair&_wpnonce=fe7f791e1e
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Fall/winter is the best time to have curries. Nothing warms me up quite like a pot of fiery hot, spice-laden curry. I grew up with all sorts of curries back home in Malaysia: chicken curry, fish curry, squid curry, etc. And then I discovered Thai curries, which are rather different, delicious nonetheless.
Anyway, I am sure you have seen Jungle Curry on the menu at Thai restaurants. To be honest, I have never had jungle curry, even though I dine out at Thai restaurants quite often. I always order the usual red curry, green curry, or yellow curry. Recently, I decided to try Jungle Curry and actually liked it. It tastes different because it’s not as “creamy” and sweet because there is no coconut milk added in the curry, and hence the spices taste more pronounced, which is a great thing is my culinary dictionary.
Jungle curry, or kaeng pa, according to Wikipedia, is a curry originated from the northern part of Thailand. As coconuts are not found in the region, it contains no coconut milk. It was originally prepared with wild boars found in the jungle.
I made this jungle curry with pork. If you can’t eat pork, feel free to substitute with chicken. The curry goes extremely well with rice. I really enjoyed it.
(Click Page 2 for the Jungle Curry Recipe)
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UNF ready to start training program for executives
- Kirstin Dorsch
- Staff Writer
SOUTHSIDE -- A new institute at the University of North Florida will allow area officials to gain quality leadership training locally and less expensively than in other programs.
The Executive Education for Leaders Institute, a joint venture between the university's Coggin College of Business and its division of continuing education, is aimed at providing training for three types of leaders at businesses, government agencies and nonprofit organizations.
Programs are designed for executive management leaders and high-potential leaders -- those who are serving in management positions but are not yet at the executive level. They also are geared toward evolving leaders, those who were recently promoted to management or have a high potential of promotion.
Robert Golitz, director of executive education and leadership development for the EXEL Institute, said he has already received interest from the community. Enrollment has begun for the institute's first course, Fundamentals of Finance and Accounting for Nonfinancial Managers, which will run from June 18 to June 22. Golitz did not know how many had enrolled.
"Regardless of what stage they are at in their careers, the common goal of these programs is to improve performance with education to help leaders become stronger and better," Golitz said.
Course offerings include general training for each of the three leadership levels, improving presentation skills, profitable trade show exhibiting, sales and marketing for nonsales and marketing managers and fundamentals of finance and accounting.
Some of the courses are intended for entrepreneurs or others who began in a trade, worked their way up to management and don't have the traditional master's of business administration training.
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Create an ideabook for your next remodeling project!
Browse more than 1,000,000 photos from top designers and save your favorites
Laminate flooring was invented in 1977, and the company that developed it introduced Pergo to the European market in 1984. Pergo is just one brand of laminate flooring out of many but since its product was first out of the gate, Pergo is often (mistakenly) used as a generic term for the whole category.
The market is flooded with cheap laminate floors that cases of buyer's remorse waiting to happen. Beware suspiciously low prices and look for the seal of the North American Laminate Flooring Association, or NALFA.
All laminate floors require an underlayment. Sometimes that underlayment is the bottom layer of the flooring material and sometimes that underlayment is a sheet of material that you have to purchase separately.
Laminate floors installed directly on concrete or in areas with a lot of moisture need an additional moisture barrier. Again, ask lots of questions before you buy and be sure you're buying the right product for your needs.
Laminate flooring is stain- and fade-resistant and has a tendency to repel water. It's an extremely hard and durable surface, but it is possible to scratch it. It's not possible to repair the actual scratches when they occur, so be sure to buy extra material with your initial purchase and hold onto it in case you'll need it later.
Laminate flooring doesn't need any special cleaners or special treatment to keep its looks. It never needs to be waxed or polished. At the same time, it can't be refinished.
Laminate floors are an affordable option for a short or long term flooring solution. If you're in the market for a laminate floor, do your homework and ask a lot of questions. If you have any direct experience with laminate floors, we'd love to hear about it in the comments below.
Pros: It's a low-cost alternative to other floors and easy to live with.
Cons: Cannot be refinished or repaired easily.
Suggested uses: Anywhere you'd use a plank, engineered, tile or carpet floor.
Price range: $2-$4 per square foot.
When to Use Engineered Wood Floors
An Introduction to Solid Plank Wood Floors
Zebra, Tiger and Teak Wood, Oh, My!
5 Innovative Wood Floors
20 Great Examples of Transitions in Flooring
How to Shop for a Tile Floor
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Italian Trade Commission
The Italian Trade Commission (ITC) is the government agency entrusted with promoting trade, business opportunities, invward investments and industrial cooperation between Italian and foreign companies. ITC also acquires and distributes economic and market information internationally for the benefit of Italian companies. Following an annual Promotional Program, ITC organizes the official participation of Italian companies at major trade shows and conventions, advertising campaigns, and foreign business delegations to Italy. ITC is the link between Italian supply and foreign demand, providing companies with information on markets, custom regulation, technical standards, tax and currency, and more. It operates through 100 branch offices in 80 countries. ITC is present in the US with offices in NY, LA, Chicago, Atlanta, Houston and Miami.
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We eat junk food when we're sleepy
Today is one of those days for me.
Not one of those bad days, necessarily, but one of those days where I am really, really tired. I'm a natural night owl so, on occasion, I'll stay up until one or two in the morning for virtually no reason. Sometimes I'll be writing or reading something, other times I'll be watching something on TV. One time I stayed up organizing my bedroom simply because I felt a spurt of energy after midnight and wanted to do something with it.
And while my reasons for staying up are varied, the results the next day are always the same: I am exhausted, groggy and eating absolutely everything in sight. Apparently I'm not the only one though, since science has just proven that saying "no" to junk food is MUCH harder when you're tired.
Read more ¿Qué más? Can't sleep? Maybe you're afraid of the dark!
I had read before that there is a link between sleep deprivation and obesity. Honestly, it's why I usually try to NOT pull my staying-up-too-late stunts. I know that, besides just not making me feel good mentally, they tend to not make me feel good physically—and I compensate by eating way too much. And, mind you, it's always eating carbs. Lots and lots of carbs.
Doesn't everyone do that? When I'm tired, the pattern is pretty predictable: I have to have a bagel in the morning and I typically end up getting something equally as high-carb for lunch (today's case in point: pasta!). And, of course, the minute I finish these meals I start to feel guilty and hating myself a little for staying up last night.
Want to find other moms como tú? "Like" MamásLatinas on Facebook!
The new study, presented in Boston at SLEEP 2012, apparently looked at healthy young adults to "see if specific regions of the brain related to food processing are affected by sleep" and found this out:
Lack of sleep reduced activity in the frontal lobe, a brain region critical for controlling behavior and making complex choices, including the selection of food, but didn't appear to change activity in deeper brain structures that react to basic desire. Sleep deprivation also weakened the association between food desire and taste ratings, indicating a diminished capability to use expected taste value to determine food desire.
So, basically, the reason why we eat junk food when we're tired is because we lose our ability to control ourselves if we haven't slept enough. That's definitely good to know! Since I'm still pretty committed to keeping the weight off, I think this is a clear signal that I need to make sure to not stay up as much. I mean, this definitely explains why I bought a bagel this morning instead of my usual yogurt for breakfast.
Tonight I'll definitely be making sure to get to bed early—and maybe packing a salad for lunch. And at least I'll (hopefully) be rested enough to not cave and get something else.
Do you ever find yourself eating a lot on days that you're tired? What do you think of this new study? Share with us in the comments below!
Image via tamdotcom/flickr
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What Will Santa Claus Say (When He Finds Everybody Swingin’) was a Swing classic by Louis Prima; I couldn’t find an exact year, but he was big in the 1930′s.
You probably know Louis Prima from his more popular film appearance:
The two sound similar enough to make me smile
You never hear it anymore, and there’s not many covers, but I did find this one by Mark Shane:
Dig that trumpet
Rockin Around The Christmas Tree can thusly be seen as a spiritual successor to this song; written in 1958, it’s more Rockabilly than Rock n’ Roll, but it brings a whole new genre to Christmas just like Louis did for swing. It was recorded by Brenda Lee, apparently only aged 13 at the time with a remarkably mature voice for her age:
(Knowing she’s 13, it does sound a little Jackson 5, doesn’t it?)
Here’s Miley Cyrus, age 16, probably one of the most appropriate artists to cover it shy of Taylor Swift:
Definitely more rock nowadays.
Here’s John Travolta (swoon) and Olivia Newton John:
Calypso, Swing, and Rockabilly. Any other interesting genres of “carol” I should hit?
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Spikes above, furnace below: have you and your friends got what it takes to Bouncedown?
FunOrb Members' Benefits
A neverending series of platforms rise from the furnace below to the spikes above. Bounce too high and you'll burst on the spikes; miss a platform and you could fall into the furnace. How far will you be able to Bouncedown? Up to three players can compete in this fiendish, platform-filled game.
1. How many different types of platform are there?
There are seven different platform types:
2. What are the differences between the challenge and battle modes?
The one-player challenge is to survive for as long as you can. The further you bounce down, the faster those platforms rise! In two- and three-player battles, you just have to outlast your opponents.
3. What are the controls for each player in battle mode?
Bouncedown supports a 3-player battle mode, where you can challenge two of your friends on the same computer. Here are the controls for each player.
4. What are the minimum specifications for this game?
The minimum specifications we recommend for this game are:
The recommended specifications for getting the most out of this game are:
Below is an explanation of the terms in our technical specifications.
Megahertz (MHz) / Gigahertz (GHz) is a measure of how fast your computer's processor is. This affects how quickly you can run things like games and applications.
Megabytes (MB) are used to measure how much memory your computer has. This affects how quickly your computer runs when using large programs such as games, or when you run a lot of programs at once.
Click here to get the latest version of Sun Java.
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However, in an understanding reached with Russia, Pakistan made it clear that it would award the contracts on government-to-government basis only. Private Russian firms will not be entertained.
“Pakistan’s government will ask the cabinet to waive public procurement rules for award of pipeline contracts to Russia,” a participant of the meeting of Pak-Russia Joint Working Group on Energy told The Express Tribune.
A 15-strong delegation of Russia, led by the deputy minister for energy, participated in the meeting held in Islamabad on Wednesday.
The two sides would sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in next two to three months to move ahead with the projects, he said. Third meeting of the joint working group will be held in Moscow in 2013.
The government has already floated tenders, inviting bids for giving contracts for construction and pipeline procurement for the IP project, costing $1.5 billion.
“Russian energy giant Gazprom may also participate in bidding for the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract, which gives an edge to the company that will pledge financing as well,” a government official said, adding Moscow also agreed to finance the rehabilitation of Guddu and Muzaffargarh power plants.
According to sources, Pakistan will submit a draft of agreement for financial and technical assistance for the IP pipeline in 15 days. Though the Russian side assured financial assistance for the pipelines, they did not indicate the amount.
In a preliminary meeting held in Islamabad on Tuesday, the Russian authorities offered cooperation in gas import through pipelines and the Central Asia South Asia (CASA) electricity import project, which would bring electricity from Central Asian states.
Besides Russia, Iran is also willing to provide $250 million on government-to-government basis for constructing the IP pipeline. Pakistan wants $500 million for the pipeline.
Iran has also come up with a plan to lay Pakistan’s portion of the pipeline based on a mechanism called ‘supplier’s credit’, which Pakistan will repay after two years.
Pakistan is also seeking China’s help for the IP pipeline. In a recent visit to Beijing, President Asif Ali Zardari and Adviser to Prime Minister on Petroleum Dr Asim Hussain succeeded in convincing the Chinese leadership to take part in bidding for the construction of the pipeline.
In addition to supporting the gas pipelines, Russia has also expressed its willingness to cooperate in import of 1,000 megawatts of electricity from Central Asia. Leading financial institutions including the World Bank and Islamic Development Bank have committed financial support for the power import project.
Construction of a cross-border transmission line is being considered for creating a dedicated link aimed at supplying surplus hydropower during summer months from Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to Pakistan.
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What advice would you share with friends and family members of women whose baby has been diagnosed prenatally with Down syndrome? I hope the following article will help give a different perspective to those who want to support and encourage an expectant mother until her child is born, and to celebrate the birth and infancy of her baby.
There are as many ways to respond to a prenatal diagnosis as there are expectant moms. She has not lost her individuality, and may be showing a different depth of character, a new sense of humor, grumpiness or impatience. She may be dealing with issues in random order, out of sync with those closest to her. Her emotions could be more intense, or she might be at peace with what everyone else sees as a stressful situation.
Friends and family also have different feelings and responses. Some people avoid being in situations where they 'might say the wrong thing.' This can create isolation at a time when a woman most needs nurturing, but she might appreciate having some time to herself. Sometimes the mom of a baby with a diagnosis spends so much time taking care of those who care about her that she gets no comfort for herself.
Some people seem intent on expressing a few honest opinions, no matter how insensitive, as if both the baby and the diagnosis were hypothetical. It's important to remember that what might have been a forgettable conversation before a friend's baby was diagnosed could be completely inappropriate and unforgivable afterward.
Expectant mothers all deserve a break from thinking about being pregnant; if they enjoy a few moments of silly gossip or a chat about fashion, let that be the main topic of conversation. Bring her a pot of flowers or pastry, a CD or chia pet.
Some days she might want to take a vacation from explaining, worrying and wondering; other days she might feel the need to explain, worry, wonder or complain. Over the course of five or ten years, she may be the one supporting and encouraging you more than you support and encourage her. It might be good to remind her that she is a great resource and friend to you, or that you love being silly and laughing with her more than anyone else.
A friend who comforted me most during my son's first year seemed quite at ease with him when we were together, and one day when she picked him up I asked her about it. She told me that the diagnosis was a big shock to her, but as long as he was with us, we might as well enjoy him. I think that if any other friend has said that, I might have been offended. But she had kept her shock and worries from me until that moment, and I was so glad that she had been there for me.
My son was diagnosed at birth, and I did try to get as much information as possible from the sources available at the time. I did not want his diagnosis or my interest in that small part of who he was to take away from his newborn days. I did not want to be robbed of my enjoyment of him as a wonderful new life. When we were alone together and he looked into my eyes with my finger inside his little hand, there was no diagnosis and no worries. He needed what all newborns needed and I was just the person to deliver. This person was, simply, my son.
Most of the information that I requested about Down syndrome was not for moms of newborns. I wanted to know about his potential, and the opportunities he might find growing up. Because my OB/Gyn was raising his own son with DS, I learned that teens and young adults with Down syndrome had jobs, independent living arrangements; and all sorts of recreation, social and vacation opportunities. Being able to look ahead to a better future for him helped me invest more energy in enjoying him as a baby.
My favorite thing to do in community outreach to families of newly diagnosed babies was to tell them, "Put this stuff under your bed until you have time and interest in reading it; I just want you to have the best information available if you do have questions later." And I would hold their babies, enjoy them, and ask the same questions about the delivery and birth that I would if the baby did not have Down syndrome.
I believe that expectant moms whose babies have a prenatal diagnosis should have the same option to 'study up' with mainstream baby books as well as the best information on Down syndrome, and also to take a break from all that to enjoy her pregnancy. She should be able to complain about the discomforts and inconveniences, to joke about everything that is funny, and to be fully included in the sisterhood of pregnant women in her area.
Moms deserve to enjoy that part of bringing a new baby into the world. So often their friends and families are so worried about saying the wrong thing about Down syndrome, they miss the regular baby topics. That can be a painful result of having a baby with a diagnosis -- and has nothing to do with the baby.
It has everything to do with us as adults, dealing with grief reactions in our own ways; or trying to be so sensitive toward the mom in regard to the diagnosis that she doesn't have room to enjoy talking about those little toenails, those beautiful little toes, and everything on up.
Plus there is no space for moms to complain about no sleep, no time to shower, no chance to eat a meal that is still warm; all those lovely complaints we cherish because they include us in the community of motherhood.
A mom expecting a baby who is prenatally diagnosed has to work harder for her right to have her pregnancy go along as it should. At this time, people should be surprising her with silly little booties; or full size baseball gloves in anticipation of a future little leaguer or ballet slippers in case the little girl coming wants to be a dancer. These are not the ways that friends and family usually behave when they are worrying about a baby being born with a diagnosis.
They often want to show their support by sending information specific to the disability, because they are seeing that diagnosis first instead of realizing this baby is a unique little rascal first, and a person with a disability second. Of course, as our babies grow, they force the realization upon us that they are writing their own books - whether they have Down syndrome or not.
If a baby was prenatally diagnosed with blue eyes, and friends and family immediately looked up all information about the disadvantages of having blue eyes to present to the mother during her pregnancy, we would feel that is inappropriate, even though people with blue eyes do have special health care considerations and problems. Even though the pregnant woman might have the patience of a saint, eventually I believe she might give someone a piece of her mind on the matter. I wish we felt that confident after hearing the diagnosis of Down syndrome about our sons and daughters.
When my son was born, I sometimes felt that in addition to dealing with my own feelings and worries, I was taking on the worries of everyone in the family, my friends and neighbors. Of course they did not have much information on DS, and a whole lifetime of misinformation, plus they were dealing with their concerns for my life as well as the life of my son, and his sister, too. For some reason, my sense of the absurd took most of that burden from me - and fortunately I do have one of the funniest families on the planet.
I look back on even their worst misbehavior with a tenderness now, because they were so concerned about my son right from the start. And they fell so completely in love with him, at some point it just didn't matter any more. They just needed time for him to show them who he was and how much he had to offer. Like his sister, he proved to us that no matter what we expected when he was a baby, he surpassed our greatest expectations and become that person who he was meant to be, unique and wonderful.
If you are the friend or family member of a mom whose baby is prenatally diagnosed with Down syndrome, this might be the time to buy that unborn baby some silly little booties, and share the information you have gathered only with one another, until that expectant mom wants to know (if ever). Down syndrome is only a small part of who her son or daughter will be. Wish for a healthy heart and an easy delivery. And remember, there is no such thing as an easy delivery!
Down syndrome adds just a few challenges to the life of an ordinary baby; all our sons and daughters are at risk. We treat all pregnant women with deep regard and affection, because none of us can predict where her children's lives will take them. We need all the strength we have for each one.
Family Guide for Your Down Syndrome Pregnancy
Diagnosis to Delivery: A Pregnant Motherís Guide to Down Syndrome
Browse at your public library, local bookstore, or online retailer for books about Down Syndrome, like Babies With Down Syndrome: A New Parent's Guide
National Center for Prenatal and Postnatal Down Syndrome Resources
Tough Calls on Prenatal Tests - Non-Invasive Screen for Down Syndrome Confuse - or Mislead - Patients
Just Like You - Down Syndrome
Down Syndrome in the 21st Century http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I13KxRYqoo0&feature=youtu.be
Featuring the wonderful abilities and potential of people with Down syndrome from infancy to adulthood.
Loving a Child With Down Syndrome: Far From the Tree Doesnít Do It Justice
Far From the Tree: Parents, Children and the Search for Identity
A Brand New Baby with Down Syndrome
New Mother - Newly Diagnosed Child
New Prenatal Testing: Are You Ready?
NDSC/DSOAC Information for Parents with a Prenatal Diagnosis
Thoughts from the Middle of the Night
The Columbus Dispatch: A chosen child
After prenatal testing, Short North couple embraces the future
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I do not really know how I became a writer. I can give certain dates and certain facts about my career. But the process itself remains mysterious. It is mysterious, for instance, that the ambition should have come first—the wish to be a writer, to have that distinction, that fame—and that this ambition should have come long before I could think of anything to write about.
I remember, in my first term at Oxford in 1950, going for long walks—I remember the roads, the autumn leaves, the cars and trucks going by, whipping the leaves up—and wondering what I was going to write about. I had worked hard for the scholarship to go to Oxford, to be a writer. But now that I was in Oxford, I didn’t know what to write about. And really, I suppose, unless I had been driven by great necessity, something even like panic, I might never have written. The idea of laying aside the ambition was very restful and tempting—the way sleep was said to be tempting to Napoleon’s soldiers on the retreat from Moscow.
I felt it as artificial, that sitting down to write a book. And that is a feeling that is with me still, all these years later, at the start of a book—I am speaking of an imaginative work. There is no precise theme or story that is with me. Many things are with me; I write the artificial, self-conscious beginnings of many books; until finally some true impulse—the one I have been working toward—possesses me, and I sail away on my year’s labor. And that is mysterious still—that out of artifice one should touch and stir up what is deepest in one’s soul, one’s heart, one’s memory.
All literary forms are artificial, and they are constantly changing, to match the new tone and mood of the culture. At one time, for instance, a person of serious literary inclination might have thought of writing for the theater; would have had somehow to do what I cannot do—arrange his material into scenes and acts; would not have written for the printed page, but would have written “parts” to tempt actors and—as someone who has written plays has told me—would have visualized himself (to facilitate the playwriting process) as sitting in a seat in the stalls.
At another period, in an age without radio or records, an age dominated by print, someone wishing to write would have had to shape a narrative that could have been serialized over many months, or fill three volumes. Before that, the writer might have attempted narratives in verse, or verse drama, rhymed or unrhymed; or verse epics.
All those forms, artificial as they seem to us today, would have appeared as natural and as right to their practitioners as the standard novel does today. Artificial though that novel form is, with its simplifications and distortions, its artificial scenes, and its idea of experience as a crisis that has to be resolved before life resumes its even course. I am describing, very roughly, the feeling of artificiality which was with me at the very beginning, when I was trying to write and wondering what part of my experience could be made to fit the form—wondering, in fact, in the most insidious way, how I could adapt or falsify my experience to make it fit the grand form.
Literary forms are necessary: experience has to be transmitted in some agreed or readily comprehensible way. But certain forms, like fashions in dress, can at times become extreme. And then these forms, far from crystallizing or sharpening experience, can falsify or be felt as a burden. The Trollope who is setting up a situation—the Trollope who is a social observer, with an immense knowledge both of society and the world of work, a knowledge far greater than that of Dickens—is enchanting. But I have trouble with the Trollope who, having set up a situation, settles down to unwinding his narrative—the social or philosophical gist of which I might have received in his opening pages. I feel the same with Thackeray: I can feel how the need for narrative and plot sat on his shoulders like a burden.
Our ideas of literary pleasures and narrative have in fact changed in the last hundred years or so. All the writing of the past century, and the cinema, and television have made us quicker. And the nineteenth-century English writers who now give me the most “novelistic” pleasure—provide windows into human lives, encouraging reflection—are writers who in their own time would not have been thought of as novelists at all.
I am thinking of writers like Richard Jefferies, whose essays about farming people carry so much knowledge and experience that they often contain whole lives. Or William Hazlitt. Or Charles Lamb, concrete and tough and melancholy, not the gentle, wishy-washy essayist of legend. Or William Cobbett, the journalist and pamphleteer, dashing about the countryside, and in his breakneck prose, and through his wild prejudices, giving the clearest pictures of the roads and the fields and the people and the inns and the food. All of these writers would have had their gifts diluted or corrupted by the novel form as it existed in their time. All of them, novelistic as they are in the pleasures they offer, found their own forms.
Every serious writer has to be original; he cannot be content to do or to offer a version of what has been done before. And every serious writer as a result becomes aware of this question of form; because he knows that however much he might have been educated and stimulated by the writers he has read or reads, the forms matched the experience of those writers, and do not strictly suit his own.
The late Philip Larkin—original and very grand, especially in his later work—thought that form and content were indivisible. He worked slowly, he said. “You’re finding out what to say as well as how to say it, and that takes time.” It sounds simple; but it states a difficult thing. Literature is not like music; it isn’t for the young; there are no prodigies in writing. The knowledge or experience a writer seeks to transmit is social or sentimental; it takes time, it can take much of a man’s life, to process that experience, to understand what he has been through; and it takes great care and tact, then, for the nature of the experience not to be lost, not to be diluted by the wrong forms. The other man’s forms served the other man’s thoughts.
I have always been concerned about this problem of form, and even of vocabulary, because I fairly soon got to realize that between the literature I knew and read, the literature that seeded my own ambition, between that and my background, there was a division, a dissonance. And it was quickly made clear to me that there was no question simply of mimicking the forms.
In one of his early books James Joyce wrote of the difficulty for him—or his hero—of the English language. “That language in which we are speaking is his before it is mine. How different are the words home, Christ, ale, master, on his lips and mine! I cannot speak or write these words without unrest of spirit…. My soul frets in the shadow of his language.”
James Joyce was an experimenter in pure form—form divorced from content. And the James Joyce point about language is not the one I am making. I never felt that problem with the English language—language as language. The point that worried me was one of vocabulary, of the differing meanings or associations of words. Garden, house, plantation, gardener, estate: these words mean one thing in England and mean something quite different to the man from Trinidad, an agricultural colony, a colony settled for the purpose of plantation agriculture. How, then, could I write honestly or fairly if the very words I used, with private meanings for me, were yet for the reader outside shot through with the associations of the older literature? I felt that truly to render what I saw, I had to define myself as writer or narrator; I had to reinterpret things. I have tried to do this in different ways throughout my career. And after two years’ work, I have just finished a book in which at last, as I think, I have managed to integrate this business of reinterpreting with my narrative.
My aim was truth, truth to a particular experience, containing a definition of the writing self. Yet I was aware at the end of that book that the creative process remained as mysterious as ever.
The French critic Sainte-Beuve thought that the personal details of a writer’s life made clear many things about the writer. This method of Saint-Beuve’s was bitterly assailed by Proust in a strange book—a strange and original and beautiful form, part autobiography, part literary criticism, part fiction—called Against Sainte-Beuve, where the criticism of the critic and his method, releasing the writer’s love of letters, also releases the autobiographical and fictive elements of the work.
“This method,” Proust writes (in the translation by Sylvia Townsend Warner)—and he is talking about the method of Sainte-Beuve—”ignores what a very slight degree of self-acquaintance teaches us, that a book is the product of a different self from the self we manifest in our habits, in our social life, in our vices.” And a little later on, Proust elucidates: “The implication [is] that there is something more superficial and empty in a writer’s authorship, something deeper and more contemplative in his private life…. In fact, it is the secretion of one’s innermost life, written in solitude and for oneself alone, that one gives to the public. What one bestows on private life—in conversation, however refined it may be…—is the product of a quite superficial self, not of the innermost self which one can only recover by putting aside the world and the self that frequents the world.”
And it is curious—yet not really surprising—that almost the same thought about the writer’s writing self should have been expressed by a quite different writer, Somerset Maugham. In his fictional portrait of Thomas Hardy in Cakes and Ale, Maugham, by a wonderful stroke (which earned him much abuse), showed the tragic novelist of Wessex to be in his private life extraordinarily ordinary, and for that reason mysterious. “I had an impression”—this is Maugham’s summing up—”that the real man, to his death unknown and lonely, was a wraith that went a silent way unseen between the writer of his books and the man who led his life, and smiled with ironical detachment at the two puppets….”
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Melanie Phillips is an example of an English woman who identifies all the effects of third world migration and Islam, and they are all bad, but won’t say to stop it. This has been pointed out by Lawrence Auster, who has tried to deprogram her but without success. Why? Why can’t she admit the obvious.
The same applies to Peter Hitchens at the Daily Mail. There have been an entire slew of them at Daily Telegraph, Lnodon Times, Front Page Magazine, LGF, etc. What is it?
At a higher level, we see the same thing in Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. The Labour Party has it, but so does the Conservative Party. So do the Lib Dems. Only BNP doesn’t. BNP also identifies that it wants to give up all imperialism. Ron Paul expresses the same thing in the U.S.
The English lost their empire in the 20th century. They could do two things at that point.
- Admit they screwed up.
- Invent a theory for why it was the better thing.
They chose to invent a theory. That theory is Imperialist PC. To the extent that all of Europe lost its colonies, they went along with it.
To a certain extent, Europe lost WWII. America and Russia came in and took over the continent. Central Europe was destroyed and occupied. Europe lost its colonies and status around the world. British, French, Dutch, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, German and other colonies were all lost in the 20th century. Scandinavians and other Europeans had participated in the colonies of other European countries. The movie, “Out of Africa” was by a Danish colonist.
Out of Africa is a memoir by Isak Dinesen (the pseudonym of Danish Baroness Karen von Blixen-Finecke), first published in 1937. The book describes events during 1914–1931 concerning European settlers and the local tribesmen in the bush country of Kenya (British East Africa), from seaside Mombasa to Nairobi, from Mount Kenya to Kilimanjaro, as told from the lyrical, poetic viewpoint of Dinesen.
Europe lost its colonies out of
- Failure to push immigration into their colonies.
- PC that was already manifesting itself to help the natives instead of other Europeans immigrating into the colonies.
This mindset is very clear in 1939. Hitler was forcing the Jews out of Europe. The European countries to the West of Germany had a huge portion of the earth under their control. This was relatively unpopulated compared to today, where its population is billions more.
The European colonial powers could have taken all the Europeans Hitler didn’t want and put them in their colonies and compared to today’s population, it would not have been noticed. Why didn’t they? Because they had a different concept. Britain had settled the eastern shore of America and seen those colonies secede from its empire. To a certain extent, the British became or already were anti-colonial because of this. Anti-colonial in the sense of against settlers.
In the 18th century, they lost America. That came out of arrogance. It also came out of settlers who owned slaves and were afraid perhaps of losing them. The British opposition to slavery in the 19th century was partly out of religion but also to avoid losing colonies from this motive. The main war they fought with settlers was in South Africa after that, the Boer War.
After WWII, the Europeans lost all their colonies. So they would have been better off having taken the Europeans Hitler didn’t want and putting them in their colonies. But they didn’t. Instead they fought a civil war that resulted in Russia and America taking over Europe.
At that point, they could admit they had mismanaged empire. That would mean admitting that what counts are genes. They would have to admit that in spreading their genes in the third world they had failed. They had also let foreign powers occupy them. So they had failed to keep invading genes out. This would mean that instead of saying they had won a great victory in WWII, they had failed at the basic job of a nation, protecting its genes from being extincted.
So instead of admitting they had lost, and that genes are what count, they instead went into PC worship. This allowed them to avoid admitting their failure. They let themselves be invaded by third world genes rather than admit their loss of empire was a real loss. If genes and blood and soil are what matter, then Europe failed in the 20th century. The elites there didn’t want to admit that. They didn’t have the strength after WWII. Moreover, they were occupied and weak. They didn’t have the psychological strength to admit it. They also couldn’t imagine a come back. The inability to imagine a comeback prevented one. They still could have kept their colonies. They could have started immigration into their colonies. They could have avoided the welfare policies for third world populations they did pursue.
In the US, the Anglo elites were in a similar position. They had allowed 19th century immigration of other and Southern Europeans. They too had lost their grip on power. They too had to either admit it was stupid and admit the real reasons they did it, or invent a theory of why it wasn’t bad but good. Admitting the truth would mean acknowledging that to some extent 19th century white immigration into America was motivated by the black population. The same applied to post 1965 immigration in America, but not in Europe.
The Anglo elite could buy into PC for similar reasons as the Europeans could. It let them off the hook for mismanaging their chance. If they said genes are what mattered, then they had screwed up starting with black slavery in the 17th century. If it was culture that mattered, then they could avoid admitting their mistake.
The problem with inventing lies is that it prevents one with overcoming adversity. Genes are what matter. The way to come back from a setback is to admit the truth and concentrate on the comeback. This is something that PC prevents. PC is a way of avoiding the truth of having let foreign genes in and losing great empires. In America, the Anglos lost the American continent as exclusively theirs. In Europe, the Europeans lost their third world empire. In both cases, they have used PC as a false theory to avoid admitting their failure to spread their genes when they had the chance.
Those invading the European world don’t have a failure to cover up. They don’t have to use PC to hide their failure to spread their genes. They are spreading their genes. They are taking over. Jorge Ramos and Maria Hinojosa can openly trumpet their takeover of America. Muslims can march in London showing not just cultural takeover but genetic takeover. Ideology is always the hand maiden of genes.
As an alternative, we might note that Jorge Ramos is European in gene stock to a large degree. He may also be going down this same path. The Hispanic elite is also trying to cover up their failure to make their chance count when they had it. Now PC is a way to cover up the failure to spread their genes when they had the chance.
George Bush shows this attitude completely. So does the entire Bush family. The Bush family are the perfect Anglo elite Wall Street Yale power family. They are completely taken by PC. They are completely taken by power. They see them as the same thing.
The rest of the US elite acts the same way. Whether Anglo or not, they have imbibed PC as a path to power. They are completely imperialistic. This applies to European elites when they have the chance. Tony Blair was as much an imperialist as George Bush. PC imperialism and old fashioned guns imperialism go hand in hand.
PC Imperialism had no qualms in torturing third worlders. If PC was genuine concern for third worlders, then the resort to torture should not have happened instantly. It shows that not only is PC thin, but its really just a wrapper for imperialism.
The problem is that PC Imperialism displaces recognizing the reality of genes. Genes trump culture. Genes create culture just as culture selects genes. This can be an upward spiral as in Europe in the last 50,000 years. But it can also be a downward spiral as in Europe, America, Canada, and Australia in the last 50 years.
We need to admit that genes are what matter. We need to admit that we did fail to spread our genes everywhere when we had the chance. We need to admit that pushing up third world demography by aid was a huge mistake for us and for civilization. We need to admit that third world immigration was the same thing. The reason we don’t stop third world immigration is that we have to admit more stupidity on our part.
==Wright Island Model Sustained Immigration is genetic replacement immigration.
“We investigated various cases of the island model with stochastic migration. If the population is infinite, the immigrants have a fixed gene frequency and the alleles are neutral, the gene frequency on the island converges to that of the immigrants.”
Genetics. 1979 January; 91(1): 163–176.
The Island Model with Stochastic Migration
Department of Biophysics and Theoretical Biology, The University of Chicago, 920 East 58th Street, Chicago, Illinois 60637
As pointed out in a previous post:
The theorem doesn’t say you get a mixture of old and new. The theorem says you get complete replacement of the old by the new. The old goes extinct. This is pure genetic replacement. It doesn’t matter if there is an intermediate mixture or not. Over time, the initial stock is replaced completely. Promises of a mixture are false.
Man tortured 5 years at Gitmo, according to one claim.
==Vanishing American piece today
VA comments on the following Hispanic Nationalist-Supremacist piece by by Abelardo J. Arias, Esquire
My comment at VA
Great article. It seems when Libertarians get tired of losing they return to the reality zone, ethnic interests trump ideology. Libertarians feel they have a chance, so they “stoop” to reality.
But Hispanic Supremacists for Libertarians show how the HS’s have figured out that open borders is good for their openly proclaimed takeover. If Paul is elected they expect to keep their welfare and get open borders. Some Libertarians are willing to pander to that view perhaps.
Perhaps Libertarians are also part of the PC frustrated imperialist group. They have invented libertarianism as a way to avoid the reality of the loss of empire and the loss of a chance to spread genes.
=Mutual Assured Destruction
When the US got the A-bomb in 1945, it tried to keep it to itself. But some scientists betrayed the secret to the Soviet Union.
After the Soviets exploded their bomb, other scientists at RAND and in academia then invented the concept of Mutual Assured Destruction. This was an ex-post rationalization of a defeat, a defeat that came from a betrayal by scientists at the same institutions as those who invented MAD.
MAD said the Soviets having the bomb was good because both sides were rational and neither would use it. But in the Cuban Missile Crisis, the US military wanted to invade and we now know the Soviet army had tactical nukes in Cuba and would have used them. We would have lost millions. We came very close to it. So the MAD rationalization was a lie. MAD wasn’t genius, it was a marketing slogan to cover up betrayal.
The same applies to letting Pakistan keep its nukes after the 9-11 attack by branding Islam as The Religion of Peace. This was betrayal of the same kind. Steve Sailer has been pointing out since before 9-11 that Bush was PC-betraying us by ordering no profiling of Muslims which he promised in the 2000 election campaign.
Many of Bush’s actions since 9-11 have been to cover this up, despite its being publicly available information. Its Vdare available but not MSM available. Evidently George Bush knows the difference. Vdare is running a fund raising campaign now.
==Answer to a criticism
Critic: You make it sound like life is about spreading genes.
Answer: Yeah, it is. Life centers around the DNA molecule, not about spreading culture.
If one wants a more spiritual version:
The only way to transcend genes is to use genes. You can’t beat genes by pretending they don’t exist. If you want a moral purpose to life higher than one gene is the same as another, more or less, then you have to recognize that they are not the same, more or less. If there is something to be built on or out of life, it has to be built on or out of genes. You can’t build a spiritual purpose on genes and not mind the genes.
Said differently, if there is a spiritual molecule it has to be the DNA molecule, because the DNA molecule has life in it. Culture grows out of the barrel of a chromosome. We need to accept that and build on it not against it. We can only fail if we ignore physical, chemical or biological reality. That is what PC Imperialism and Libertarianism both do.
To paraphrase Lenin instead of Mao this time, the PC Imperialist or Libertarian, will sell the future of his genes for money. That will gain him neither the culture he says he wants nor his genes. If we don’t build on the reality of genes, we will get only the reality that nature gives to those who ignore her reality, extinction. At some point, nature stops giving you second chances. The chances go to the genes that survived. If you chose extinction for yours, you lose your vote.
==Lawrence Auster on Melanie Phillips
The above is draft and preliminary and subject to revision. Comments and corrections are welcome. This blog considers different and conflicting hypotheses. The above are hypotheses and should be restated as hypotheses or questions. All other disclaimers apply.
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As mentioned previously, I recently bought a Crumar T2 organ manufactured in 1978 and started ascertaining its condition. Here’s what I’ve been able to fix so far and what I’ve been able to determine about the parts I haven’t yet fixed.
Crackly Volume Knobs and Stuck Master Tuning Potentiometer
Several of the volume knobs were pretty crackly.
Most Crumar keyboards are wonderful to service because of how easy it is to get inside. After removing a few screws, the top panel lifts back on its rear hinge, without even having to take the knobs off all the controls.
Crackly controls need wiper cleaner sprayed into them to loosen and remove the gunked-up graphite and grease built up on their resistive paths. As my can of wiper cleaner turned out to be empty, I used a spray can of silicone lubricant instead — it’s good at softening gunk and of course also at lubricating. Note that something in silicone lubricant (I’m guessing the solvent carrier) dissolves some kinds of plastic — this could be heartbreaking if used on something that mattered (like, say, the odometer from my ’67 Fairlane).
The panel-mounted controls (including the stuck master tuner) were easy to get to with the silicone spray, after which I worked them back and forth over their range to use the potentiometers’ wipers to work loose the now softened gunk. After a couple of applications, they now operate quietly.
Although I used a rag to protect the panel from overspray, I can see in the photo that silicone/solvent still oversprayed or later dripped out of the potentiometers and stained the interior of the cover.
Crackly Keys (Noticeable When Using Overdrive Effect)
Several keys on the upper manual cut in and out and crackle a bit, which is especially noticeable when running the keyboard through an overdrive processor.
In addition to top panels, Crumar manuals (keyboards) are typically hinged as well, lifting up to allow easy access to the underside of the keys and to circuitry underneath. (I love my Crumars!)
Hm, the undersides of the keys have downward-pointing tabs holding one end of springs that are probably being pushed down to make contact with a bus wire running the length of the keyboard. That looks like something I really don’t want to completely disassemble, clean and reassemble. Maybe I’ll fix some other things before worrying about the key crackle.
D♯ / E♭
Up and down the keyboard, the D♯ / E♭ key didn’t make any sound unless (A) I had the 1′ or 2′ drawbars pulled out and pressed one of the highest E♭s on the keyboard or (B) I had a non-octave drawbar pulled out. In other words, only the highest E♭ the organ could make was producing sound; lower octaves of E♭ were not.
Sidebar on Hammond organ drawbars and additive synthesis: Hammond organs and clones have drawbars labeled in feet (16′, 5 1/3′, 8′, 4′, 2 2/3′, 2′, 1 3/5′, 1 1/3′, 1′), with 8′ being the approximate length of pipe needed to make the pitch of the lowest note on the keyboard of a pipe organ and the other lengths representing lower and higher pitches. Each drawbar has nine positions (full off to full on) and mixes the amount of the corresponding pitch (fundamental, octave above, octave and a fifth above, etc.) into the sound created when you press a key, allowing you to create different timbres of sound (hollow, reedy, cathedral organ, etc.) for the same pitch.
Thus a failure of all the E♭s on the keyboard seemed like a problem with the tone generation, drawbar (selection), and/or mixing circuits. The manuals’ wiring harnesses break out to edge connectors:
Each edge connector appears to correspond to an octave’s worth of keys. The vertical backplane’s traces go down to a horizontal backplane and continue toward the front of the organ:
Where they disappear beneath a black cover, which I removed.
Yow, look at all those little circuit boards! Some have one IC on them and some have two; they’re divided into two banks (left and right) that match the wiring harnesses that coming from the upper and lower manuals; there are an awful lot of these little boards and there are an awful lot of keys on the manuals.
Hm, let’s have a look at what’s on them.
Looks like a TDA0470D with supporting resistors. So what’s a TDA0470D? Google gives:
- A Polish IC sales site listing it as a transistor array
- The Vintagechip site listing it as being used in Crumar T1s, among other things, and claiming that it’s a 10-transistor array and that at datasheet is available
- An edaboard.com post describing it in more detail as a multi-gate chip and claiming that it’s equivalent to the TBA470
- The MIDI Gadgets Boutique product selector page listing the TBA470 with datasheet
Gate for Electronic Organs
Monolithic integrated circuit in bipolar technique, designed primarily for use in electronic organs. The device incorporates ten transistors, each replacing a mechanical key contact. Thus it is possible to reduce the numerous mechanical key-contacts on conventional organs (up to ten per key) to one single contact per key.
Each of the ten emitters may be driven by a tone-signal. The sum of all signals will be derived from the common collector (terminal 14) or if the signals are supplied into the base terminals, via an integrated diode from terminal 1. Any undesired peaks caused by blocked transistors are suppressed by this diode and an external capacitor.
So … the tones are presented on all of the inputs, a single key gates them, and this IC mixes them together? Sounds like these chips are the keys’ gate mechanisms for the drawbars, which is what the datasheet suggests. If each IC corresponds to one key and since the T2 had multiple keys with the same problem, I figured I needed to look further upstream toward the tone generation.
While looking at the gate PCBs, I noticed that just behind the long, front PCB, the backplane was labeled Do – Re – Mi – Fa – So – La – Si, with the positions of the notes approximately corresponding (with appropriate gaps for sharps) to the positions of the vertical traces on the front PCB. Perhaps the front PCB is involved in tone generation, then?
I pulled out one of the front PCB’s ICs (with the power off, then powered back up) and a whole swath of keys across the keyboard quit working. Ah ha! A little experimentation yielded that the leftmost IC makes all of the C – C♯ keys (not) work, the remaining upper ICs make all of the D – F♯ keys (not) work, and the lower ICs make all of the G – B keys (not) work. Now I was getting somewhere!
Further experimentation yielded that the upper of the highlighted ICs was the culprit; I could move it around to the other notes’ banks and the problem followed the IC.
So who is this mysterious stranger? A 4727BPC. Back to Google:
- At Datasheet Archive, a listing as a binary up counter claiming 15V supply
- A Synthforum post suggesting that it was CMOS
- And back to Vintage Chip, the HBF4727 and a claim that a datasheet was available.
Hoping to find more information about exactly what the chip did, I emailed Vintage Chip inquiring about a datasheet and was delighted to receive a reply within hours from Valter with a copy of the pinout attached. He doesn’t have a full datasheet but is expecting one within a month or two and will email me when he has it.
From the pinout, I could tell that the 4727BPC / HBF4727 is a bunch of independent toggle flip-flops used for octave division, which makes sense — the organ would have a circuit to generate all the pitches of its highest octave, then divide them into progressively lower octaves. The failure of one of the divider chips would cause lower octaves to stop producing tones, but the highest (original) octave would still be accessible from the highest drawbars of the highest keys.
Curiously, when I moved the faulty IC around within the range of ICs dividing D – F♯, I expected that I would get progressively more of the higher E♭s to work and only the lowest wouldn’t (because only the lowest weren’t being divided / generated), but my recollection is that all of the E♭s on the keyboard continued to not work. This seems odd.
In any case, because I want my dual-manual T2 working so I can practice on it, I borrowed a 4727BPC from my T1 and all the T2 keys now work fine.
Some of the keys are still crackly. I’m afraid I may have to disassemble all the keys and clean the springs and contacts.
When using the Line 6 POD guitar amp emulator to approximate John Lord’s overdriven Marshall stack, I hear a lot of static coming from the organ that I don’t hear with anything else plugged into the POD. I notice that all the op-amps in the T2 are 741s — maybe it’s time for an upgrade to TL081s (which as far as I can tell are pin-compatible, including the offset null).
I’ve left my T1 inoperable by stealing the 4727BPC from it. I could buy one to repair the T1, but I wish I could find an entire cosmetically trashed T1 or T2 to buy for salvage parts. Right around the time I was working on this, I saw one on eBay but let it slip away, and I’ve been kicking myself ever since.
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WP 4 CAPS
WP 4.1 Caps shall be of contrasting colour, other than solid red, as approved by the referees, but also to contrast with the colour of the ball. A team may be required by the referees to wear white or blue caps. The goalkeepers shall wear red caps. Caps shall be fastened under the chin. If a player loses the cap during play, the player shall replace it at the next appropriate stoppage of the game when the player’s team is in possession of the ball. Caps shall be worn throughout the entire game.
WP 4.2 Caps shall be fitted with malleable ear protectors which shall be the same colour as the team's caps except that the goalkeeper may have red protectors.
WP 4.3 Caps shall be numbered on both sides with numbers 0.10 metres in height. The goalkeeper shall wear cap no. 1 and the other caps shall be numbered 2 to 13. A substitute goalkeeper shall wear a red cap numbered 13. A player shall not be allowed to change his cap number during the game except with the permission of a referee and with notification to the secretary.
WP 4.4 For international games, the caps shall display on the front the international three letter country code and may display the national flag. The country code shall be 0.04 metres in height.
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The Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd was built in 1874 at 2374 Grant Avenue. It is the oldest building in Ogden with continuous use. It was the gift of the Hammersely family of New York built in the memory of their daughter. The railroad brought religious diversity to the community of Ogden with the emigration of people from the East. The church membership of Good Shepherd grew from 95 members in 1883 to 600 by 1915.
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Archived TIFF images were scanned by Kathleen Broeder at 400 dpi with an Epson Expression 10000XL scanner. Digital images were reformatted in Photoshop. JPG and PDF files were then created for general use.
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Editor’s note: This is the second of a two-part series. Read Part 1.
The first article in this series noted that borrowers shopping for a mortgage are obliged to select a lender before the price is "locked." As a result, borrowers in shopping mode are vulnerable to lowballing — the practice of quoting a price below the market as a way of influencing the shopper’s selection.
Borrowers who have already selected a lender but have not yet been locked are vulnerable to an overcharge at lock, explained to them as being caused by "changes in the market price." And borrowers who have been locked may overpay if the property appraisal comes in higher than the valuation used to price the loan, and the lender conveniently ignores it.
Importance of posted prices
These lock scams all involve a deviation between a lender’s posted price and the price quoted to or charged the borrower. The posted prices are those the lender will accept, and which are delivered to its loan officers, telemarketers and other employees or agents authorized to offer the lender’s products to the public. Scams involve these employees or agents quoting less than the posted prices when they are attempting to corral borrowers and more than the posted prices when they lock.
Borrowers can avoid lock scams by obtaining direct access to posted prices. They then can’t be lowballed by loan officers, and they can’t be fooled about the market price when they lock.
It isn’t easy, however, because with some notable exceptions, lenders do not want the public to have such access.
3 scams to avoid when locking your loan
When my software firm many years ago developed a system for delivering posted prices to loan officer laptops, our lender clients insisted that critical numbers be obscured. The purpose was to prevent a prospective borrower dealing with a loan officer from seeing the posted prices by peeking at the laptop screen!
The growth of the Internet has made it possible for any lender to make its posted prices available to borrowers, but very few do. In general, lenders view their websites as a way to stimulate potential borrowers to contact a loan rep. For this reason, the prices that borrowers can access on most individual lender sites are incomplete, meaning that they do not take account of all the factors that affect the price of a specific transaction.
Furthermore, in many cases the site won’t provide any prices at all unless the borrowers identify themselves. This guarantees that they will be contacted for a sales spiel.
Channels through which borrowers can access posted prices
A group of lenders I certify as Upfront Mortgage Lenders (UMLs) allow borrowers to access complete prices on their websites without identifying themselves. Borrowers can shop UMLs without fear of lock scams. However, this requires that they access multiple sites, all of which are formatted differently, and they must do it on the same day because prices are reset every day.
Much more convenient are third-party networks on which multiple lenders post complete prices, allowing borrowers to comparison shop at one site. A listing of the major features of 14 multi-lender sites, one of which is mine, will be found at my Features of Multi-Lender Mortgage Sites. These sites are not all created equal, by a long shot.
Make sure the prices you try to lock have not lapsed
A word of warning about using any website, single-lender or multi-lender, to avoid lock scams. Mortgage prices can be locked only during normal business hours when the lock desks of lenders are open. Ordinarily, this is between about 10:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. EDT. Within these hours, posted prices are lockable by a borrower who has been cleared to lock.
This means that the price a borrower sees on a site at 9 a.m. EDT is the price that expired at 5:30 p.m. the previous day. The price that borrower can lock is the one that will appear about 10:30 a.m. Similarly, the price a borrower sees in shopping on the weekend is the one that expired at 5:30 p.m. on Friday. That borrower must wait until Monday morning to see a lockable price.
Borrowers using multi-lender sites who have not understood these constraints have sometimes tried to lock prices that had lapsed, and when they were unable to do so, have complained that the lenders on the site were not honoring their posted prices. Because this has happened on my site, I have decided to flag lapsed prices along with an indication of when new lockable prices will be posted. I recommend that other sites do the same.
Check your mortgage price if the appraisal comes in high
Locks that are issued before the property is appraised usually are conditional on a minimum appraised value. If the appraisal comes in below the minimum, the mortgage price will be raised. But if the appraisal comes in significantly higher, the borrower might deserve a price reduction, yet might not get it.
To check this out, the borrower receiving a favorable appraisal should check current pricing on the site to see whether the higher property value would result in a lower mortgage price than the lower value that had been assumed when the mortgage was originally priced. If the answer is "yes," the borrower should petition the lender to reduce the price accordingly.
The writer is professor of finance emeritus at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Comments and questions can be left at www.mtgprofessor.com.
|Contact Jack Guttentag:|
|Letter to the Editor|
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Yoko Ono thanked McCartney for denying her influence in the split of the Beatles
November 11, 2012
Recently, Paul McCartney gave an interview to a British magazine. There, the former Beatle had noted that the historic band he formed with Lennon, Starr and Harrison had not been separated by the influence of Yoko Ono.
A month after the statements, Ono thanked publicly McCartney for saying that she was not the reason for the split of the band in 1970.
For a long time, Ono was regarded as responsible for the breakup of the Beatles. Paul’s remarks ended the matter. Lennon’s widow argued “he is a brave man.”
“I thought people knew that I was not responsible, but, surprisingly, many people still believe that. Paul is very brave. Thank you” said Yoko.
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The Season Booktalk
- Grades: 9–12
About this book
The last thing Alex wants is to spend her first season in London society shopping for a husband—marriage is definitely not for her. But her mother has different ideas, both for Alex and for her three older brothers.
Alexandra hates dress fittings, being proper, and the thought of being married off to someone rich, boring and respectable. She prefers to do and say as she pleases, something that in not appropriate in seventeenth century London. But her mother and her governess are determined that she learn how to do all the things that are necessary for marriage—how to hold a proper conversation, how to dance, and most important, how to conceal her intelligence and stubbornness, two things guaranteed to scare off even the most determined suitors.
But from the first ball of the season, at Almack’s, Alex is surrounded by suitors. And why not? She’s rich, beautiful and charming, and when she comes downstairs the morning after the Almack’s ball, she finds 40 bouquets of flowers, sent from men begging to accept all kinds of information. She also has an ultimatum from her mother: She has to accept one of the more than 15 invitations to ride on the Serpentine that afternoon. But in the end, she chooses none of them, and goes riding with Gavin instead.
She’s known Gavin for years as her brothers’ best friend, but he’d looked different the night before, his evening clothes making him seem like a tall, broad shouldered, golden haired stranger. He’d looked nothing like the boy who’d been her defender and rescuer all through her childhood.
Alex is intrigued by the person Gavin has become and by her reaction to him. Can this be the first signs of romance? She’s always assumed romance existed only in the books she and her two best friends love to read. Is it possible that she’s been wrong?
The booktalk was written by Joni Richards Bodart, university professor, librarian, consultant, and internationally known booktalking expert.
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Through hawking snacks at the Walmart on Friday, local Canadian Red Cross representatives raised money to help those going through a crisis.
“All of the funds stay here,” Canadian Red Cross community outreach co-ordinator Sue Laflamme said, adding that all funds go toward local disaster response efforts.
These efforts include responding to disasters to help people during the first 72 hours after a disaster, which can include floods, house fires or other such personal tragedies.
The Red Cross provides “all the necessities for the first 72 hours after a disaster,” Laflamme explained, noting that this commonly includes accommodations, food and clothing.
In the Prince Albert area, she said a key area of response in recent years has been flooding. The same as all areas of the province, house fires are also responded to year-round.
This past fiscal year, the Canadian Red Cross has assisted more than 160 families who have had their homes burn or flood. This figure excludes the number of families assisted during community disasters, which include larger-scale storms, flooding and forest fires.
Walmart will continue raising funds at the store’s tills until the end of August, after which time those who want to assist the Red Cross financially can drop by their office, at 54 11th St. E.
As a volunteer-run organization, they’re also always on the lookout for helpers for everything from fundraisers to disaster response.
“If we had to pay for all the people working in a response, we wouldn’t be able to afford to do it,” Laflamme said.
Volunteers receive all the pertinent training, including CPR, First Aid, free of charge.
The Canadian Red Cross’s Prince Albert office can be contacted at 765-2600.
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Shareware is software that is distributed free on a trial basis with the understanding that the user may need or want to pay for it later. Some software developers offer a shareware version of their program with a built-in expiration date (after 30 days, the user can no longer get access to the program). Other shareware (sometimes called liteware) is offered with certain capabilities disabled as an enticement to buy the complete version of the program.
Shareware is sometimes confused with freeware. Like open source, freeware is truly free -- but like shareware, freeware program code is proprietary and the creator retains the copyright.
See also: crippleware
This was last updated in May 2009
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For millions of American homeowners, a second mortgage, or home equity loan, is often the best way to raise money quickly and easily.
As a result of substantial appreciation of property values over the past several years, accumulated home equity (the difference between the present value of a home and the amount remaining on the first mortgage) has become a key source of credit for homeowners.
Home equity loans outstanding are expected to reach $82 billion nationwide this year -- double that of just three years ago.
``The market for this type of loan is phenomenal,`` says Anthony R. Medici, president of The Money Store, an independent mortgage lender.
``As homeowners become increasingly aware of the value of the equity they have built up in their homes, greater numbers will choose second mortgages to achieve their financial goals,`` he said.
Second mortgage lenders will normally lend up to 80 per cent of the value of a house, less the balance of the first mortgage. Homeowners can use the money to consolidtate debts, finance a capital expense, take a vacation, pay tuition, or make home improvements.
Another major market for second mortgage lenders is entrepreneurs who want to go into business for themselves or small business owners who want to expand their operations but find it difficult to borrow under ordinary circumstances.
According to loan officers at The Money Store`s branches throughout Florida, homeowners typically ask four basic questions when applying for a second mortgage.
``The first question we usually encounter is, What are your rates?`` says Edward Tomaini, vice president of Florida operations for The Money Store. ``The rates will vary from loan program to loan program and are dependent on the economy as well. Homeowners should shop around to get the best rate.``
Other questions are:
How long will it take for my loan to be approved?
Turnaround time on second mortgage applications also varies from lender to lender. Information usually required when making an application includes the original purchase price of the home, present value of the home, amount of the first mortgage, remaining balance of the first mortgage, credit history and salary of the principals.
``Any missing information will naturally delay approval time,`` Tomaini notes. ``When we receive complete information, we can, in most cases, offer our customers immediate approval, contingent on verification.``
What kind of loan is it?
With so many kinds of loans and mortgages available in today`s marketplace -- ARMs, balloon payments, fixed and variable rates -- consumers are often confused about loan programs. Second mortgages are usually fixed-rate loans. . . the rate at which the loan is originally written remains the same for the entire term of the loan. Thus, borrowers do not have to worry about fluctuationg interest rates, increasing monthly payments, or balloons becoming due.
What are the terms?
Terms of a second mortgage loan can vary anywhere from two to 15 years, depending on the amount borrowed and the budget requirements of the individual homeowner.
When seeking a home equity loan, homeowners are advised to provide the loan officer with the most complete information available, and to be sure their information will be treated in a confidential manner. And remember, the interest you pay on a home equity loan is tax deductible. . . at least for now. No one knows for sure what will be deductible after a new tax reform program is adopted.
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European Commission - Press release
Certification of passenger ships: the Commission sends reasoned opinion to Denmark
Brussels, 27 February 2012 – the European Commission has sent a reasoned opinion to Denmark for obstructing the freedom to provide services. This is the last step in the procedure before possibly taking the matter to the Court of Justice. Denmark systematically requires Dutch sailing ships with more than 12 passengers docking in its ports following an international journey to have a certification under the SOLAS Convention. In so doing, it fails to examine for each of these ships whether the safety rules they are already subject to in the Netherlands would be sufficient to ensure an adequate level of safety. If there is no satisfactory reply within two months, the Commission may refer the matter to the Court of Justice of the European Union.
The EU rules
Directive 2009/45/EC lays down rules for the certification of certain passenger ships engaged on domestic voyages. However, there is no European measure laying down harmonised rules for the certification of ships engaged on international voyages. Therefore, the Member States are in principle free to impose the safety rules they see fit on these ships, within the limits of European law.
In this regard, applying national safety standards to ships flying the flag of another Member State may be regarded as a restriction on freedom to provide services, which the owners of the ships enjoy under Article 56 TFEU and Regulation (EEC) No 4055/86.
Such a restriction may be accepted only if it is justified by overriding reasons of public interest and if that interest is not already safeguarded by the rules the service provider is subject to in the State of establishment. National legislation imposed on service providers established in another Member State must also be appropriate and proportionate.
The practical consequences of a restriction on the free movement of ships
Dutch sailing ships carrying more than 12 passengers, although certified under maritime safety rules in the Netherlands, risk being held in Danish ports for lack of SOLAS certification.
The issues addressed to Denmark
The Danish authorities have failed to demonstrate why the Dutch safety rules should systematically be deemed insufficient on the basis of the characteristics of the ships involved and why the SOLAS rules should always be considered appropriate.
In actual fact, the Danish authorities should examine the ships involved on a case-by-case basis to determine whether to apply different standards from those they are already subject to in the Netherlands, be they SOLAS standards or other requirements, particularly relating to the conduct of their operations.
The Commission's request takes the form of a reasoned opinion under EU infringement procedures. If Denmark fails to inform the Commission within two months of measures taken to ensure full compliance with EU law, the Commission could refer the case to the Court of Justice of the European Union.
More information on infringement procedures: MEMO/12/134
Helen Kearns (+32 2 298 76 38)
Dale Kidd (+32 2 295 74 61)
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Syria's civil war appeared to widen to the country's mainly Kurdish northeast on Sunday, with a suicide car bomber killing several people in a rare attack on a Syrian Kurdish town near the Turkish border.
Syrian state media said at least four people were killed in the blast in Qamishli, while the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the bomber killed eight Syrian security personnel near a government security compound.
It was the first such attack in the predominantly-Kurdish area since the outbreak of the 18-month Syrian uprising against President Bashar al-Assad's autocratic rule. Syrian Kurds largely have stayed out of the conflict. There was no independent confirmation of the casualties from the bombing because Syria restricts reporting by international journalists.
Aleppo violence continues
Also Sunday, Syrian activists reported another day of intense fighting in the northern city of Aleppo, with Syrian troops shelling rebel-held districts and rebels attacking the military's Al-Nairab air base.
An earlier round of fighting late Friday into early Saturday sparked a major fire in Aleppo's historic covered market, or souk. Activists said the fire destroyed hundreds of shops by Sunday, ruining the livelihoods of centuries-old family businesses selling fabrics, perfumes and spices.
The souk is located in Aleppo's walled old city, a UNESCO World Heritage Site that had been popular with tourists before the outbreak of the conflict. UNESCO says the fighting already has damaged five of Syria's six world heritage sites.
Turkey: 'stop supporting Assad'
In other developments, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan called on Iran, Russia and China to stop supporting the Assad government. Speaking Sunday, he said "history will not forgive those who stand with brutal regimes."
Iran is Syria's strongest regional ally. Western and Sunni-led Arab states have accused Tehran of providing military aid to Mr. Assad.
Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari told London-based Arabic newspaper Al-Hayat that Baghdad plans to conduct random inspections of Iranian planes flying to Syria through Iraqi airspace. In the interview published Sunday, Zebari said Iraq agreed to start the stop and search program at the request of the United States.
In a separate report sent to the media Sunday, the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said the number of Syrian refugees in Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey could increase from the current figure of at least 300,000 to more than 700,000 by the end of this year.
OCHA said the number of Syrians in need of assistance is likely to rise with the winter season approaching and night temperatures already starting to fall significantly. It said tens of thousands of internally-displaced Syrians are staying temporarily in buildings that are "completely unsuitable" for the cold.
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Illegal Immigrants Face Tougher Employment Screening
A few months ago we reported the results of a congressional study that revealed negligence among federal officials in enforcing laws that require employers hire only legal residents. The report, produced by the General Accountability Office, also said that rampant identity fraud tremendously hinders employers’ efforts to verify immigration status.
This week the Department of Homeland Security announced that help is finally on the way via a new program that will help employers verify immigration or citizenship status of new hires (AZ Central Arizona online news service).
Homeland Security also plans to expand the use of an internet-based system called Basic Pilot Project, which allows employers to use information provided by a job applicant to quickly verify the person’s immigration or citizenship status. Only about 5,000 of the nation’s approximately 7 million employers use Basic Pilot, probably because few of them face fines or criminal charges for hiring illegal immigrants.
During a press conference (link to the transcript) to announce the new program, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff was joined by other top immigration officials to talk about other secure border initiatives and specific statistics about apprehensions this fiscal year, a new expedited removal program and the increase in border patrol agents.
President George W. Bush’s proposed guest worker program was also discussed and, according to Common Sense America, of the 11,024 people who have so far voted in an MSNBC poll, 77% are against the program.
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- Posts 4
Last Activity:08-29-2012 3:49 PM
Posted in thread: Measuring Beer in Kegs on 04-04-2012 at 08:26 PM
so you know how many beers are in your keg why not make a counter like is used in golf with 40
beads. Take a beer slide a bead. like this.
Posted in thread: Single bottle batches? on 02-11-2012 at 06:11 AM
I work for a bar and grill I asked for a few bottles and was given a little over 50 bottles. I
would try your local bar.
Posted in thread: First Brew, First Cider on 02-09-2012 at 11:42 PM
Be careful with the pasturization, I recently made a cider that was only in the bottles for 16
hours and was to carbed to pasturize.
Posted in thread: dishwasher pasteurize on 02-09-2012 at 07:53 PM
Just remember pressure=volume(temp) wear eye protection at the least.
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Friday, November 12, 2010
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger announced he will call the new legislature into special session on December 6th, the day new lawmakers are sworn in.
The news from the Legislative Analyst’s office this week about the budget deficit had two elements. The larger one was a projected $19 billion shortfall for the next fiscal year. The more immediate problem is the $6 billion deficit remaining in the current fiscal year.
Aaron McLear in the Governor’s office said the Schwarzenegger Administration ends on February 2, 2010, so time is running out. “He has always said we’re going to spring through the finish line and if we have a deficit it just gets worse every day so he believes we need to act immediately to solve.”
McLear said the state finance department must complete its own assessment of the budget shortfall. He said it’s unclear how the $6 billion gap will be closed, but tax increases will not be a part of the solution.
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Beasley Allen recently filed a lawsuit against BP and others on behalf of several cities and municipalities for losses in revenue. On this edition of Ringler Radio, host Larry Cohen welcomes colleague, Tony Robinson and guest, Attorney Jere Beasley from Beasley, Allen, Crow, Methvin, Portis & Miles, P.C, to take a look at the recent lawsuit and look ahead to compensation for those affected by this disastrous spill. Larry, Tony and Jere look at the spill’s impact on the economy and environment, the Oil Protection Act, how this disaster could have been prevented and the fight to get compensation for the people of the Gulf.
The Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill is considered one of the worst environmental disasters in recent years, with gallons of oil seeping into the Gulf of Mexico and beyond. Attorney and co-host, Bob Ambrogi welcomes Attorney Rhon E. Jones, Environmental Section Head at Beasley Allen, Crow, Methvin, Ports & Miles, and P.C. and Professor Robert Force, Director of the Maritime Law Center at Tulane University Law School, to discuss the latest on this devastating spill. They look at the environmental legal issues and concerns surrounding the spill, maritime law and touch upon the launching of a criminal investigation.
Millions of gallons of oil have spewed into the Gulf since an oil rig, operated by British-Petroleum (BP), exploded and later sank off the Louisiana coast on April 20, 2010. On this edition of Ringler Radio, host Larry Cohen welcomes Attorney Daniel E. Becnel, Jr., to discuss the litigation from the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. They look at the kind of lawsuits that could be filed and the impact this oil spill could have on the fishing industry, tourism and ultimately the environment.
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by Autumn Walden
With the rise of philanthro-technocrats like Bill Gates, Pierre Omidyar, and Jeff Skoll, it’s easy for many of us in the philanthropic and nonprofit sector to get caught up in the digital wave of web 2.0 technologies. The explosion of web 2.0 tools such as blogs, videos, mobile messaging, and social networks has forced many nonprofits and foundations to improve the way they appear to and interact with supporters online.
However, we can’t assume that all donors fall into the category of the “wired wealthy” (Convio, Sea Change Strategies, Edge Research, 2008), who donate an average of $10,896 online each year, spend an average of 18 hours per week on the web, and pay bills/do banking online. Let’s not forget about those practicing what Renata Rafferty refers to as “Dinosaur Philanthropy,” composed of donors who have never heard of web forums and limit their giving activities to galas and family foundation transactions.
While this divide exists, there are two emerging web 2.0 tools that have enhanced the way people interact with causes and issues they care about in a mainstream way: mobile technologies (e.g. apps and text messaging) and video storytelling.
Mobile for Good
Text donations surged after the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, giving rise to services such as mGive. Mobile technologies are used to not only support causes, but also to bridge education and training gaps in developing countries, such as mHealthEd. Donor advised funds are starting to offer mobile solutions for the iPad and smartphone devices such as DonorFirst, while private banks and wealth management firms such as JP Morgan and Merrill Lynch have mobile apps for their clients.
In a white paper titled The Digital Future of Philanthropy, videographer Jessica Kizorek shares tips on how nonprofits and others in the social sector can use high-quality video to improve the online experience, create relationships and emotional connections to causes, and satisfy the need for instant gratification in the information age. Video campaigns and organizations such as The Nike Foundation and NoVo’s Girl Effect, ABC News Journalists’ 10×10, Ashoka, and Rethink Impact, showcase the real stories of women, children, and other vulnerable populations to viewers with the click of a mouse or swipe of a touchscreen.
Linking the “Wired Wealthy” and the “Dinosaur Donors” for Impact
At the Center, we focus on a specific segment of the philanthropic marketplace: individual donors and their advisors who care about social impact. While conducting our research on the giving approaches of high net worth individuals, we learned that donors are not a homogeneous group. It is important to try to meet them where they are, through a variety of formats, both new and traditional. Many of these donors care deeply about the impact of their gifts, and want to be engaged with the causes they care about and to share what they learn with others. While the web provides a wealth of meaningful information on high performing nonprofits and high impact models, it is still challenging to make sure that the available evidence of outcomes and impact is communicated effectively to encourage donor action.
We must be mindful of those still “left-behind” in the traditional world of the face-to-face, family office, and word-of-mouth-over-dinner crowd. For example, a survey by the Foundation Center found that only 29% of the 11,000 foundations in the U.S. had a website. Glasspockets, a recent project of the Foundation Center, shows how foundations are now using technology in the world of institutional philanthropy. Yet the Hope Consulting and GuideStar study, Money for Good II, revealed that many foundations and individuals are not yet using these tools, and that many of these tools do not answer donor’s key questions.
So how can web 2.0 technology get adopted, not only by nonprofits and philanthropic institutions, but also by individuals who aren’t technologically inclined and/or who have concerns about privacy? One example is The G9 (formerly the Family Office Channel), an invitation-only online network for wealth managers for families with a history of intergenerational giving. Sure, it’s not YouTube, but links to YouTube videos can be shared and discussed. It’s not Facebook, but profiles can be created and you can “like” a member-submitted article on next generation philanthropy. There are also networking resources such as the Family Office Exchange and the Institute for Private Investors. They are places to share information, learn about best practices, and build a sense of community, both online and offline. It’s not the only solution, but it’s a start.
Autumn Walden is Program Manager, Linking for learning at the Center for High Impact Philanthropy, University of Pennsylvania, School of Social Policy & Practice.
This post first appeared on the Center for High Impact Philanthropy blog; reprinted with permission.
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Personal finance can be a touchy subject. You don't just up and ask someone what they make, how much they spend, and what they're able to save. There's good reason - and manners - behind this; the downside is the lack of comparatives can make it harder to evaluate one's own situation. It can seem like we're living in a vacuum when we don't see behind the scenes: our friends may appear to always have cash on hand, when their financial reality may be quite the opposite.
In the interests of demystifying one 30-something's personal finances, here's my monthly breakdown:
$1000.00 Payment to myself – direct to savings (notice how this is first?)
$994.49 Mortgage payment
$350.85 Condo fees
$300.00 Groceries ($75.00/week)
$150.00 Property taxes
$107.00 Transit pass (discounted through work)
$100.00 Entertainment (drinks/eating out, etc.)
$75.00 Beer and wine
$65.00 Cell phone
Income (monthly take-home, after all deductions, including taxes & pension)
$100.00 (from renting out my parking spot)
$276.11 leftover to spend (or save) as I see fit. So far, this money seems to be enough to cover unexpected expenses; repairs, gifts, etc.
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By Annie Marsen
Vic Gundotra, Google’s vice-president has just announced that Google’s social network service, Google Plus, has exceeded 400 million users. However, it is estimated that only 25 percent of that 400 million are active users, a notable difference when compared to Facebook. Mark Zuckerberg’s company is just a small step away from reaching the 1 billion mark. Gundotra published a message on the network’s own Google Plus profile. He stated that the company has reached a very important milestone: more than 400 million registered users on their Google Plus service.
Too much growth for the web giant?
Gundotra mentioned that the company didn’t expect to reach the 400 million user mark so fast. He stated that Google’s social networking service has only been available for barely a year. To reach almost half a billion users in 12 months is astonishing, he added. However, Google Plus has still a long way to go in order to reach Facebook levels of success. Facebook allegedly has 955 million active users. However, it has been active since 2004. On the other hand, millions of people use Google’s services, especially Gmail. You can access dozens of Google’s apps and services by registering once. If you already have a Gmail, you can access Google Plus immediately.
Numbers too good to be true?
Google mentions that recently there have been more than 625,000 new users per day. Many analysts mention that a majority of Google Plus’s user base comes from people registering their Android devices which run on Google’s operative system developed for mobile devices. Estimates mention that there were nearly 700,000 Android devices activated daily. Those who own a smart phone or tablet than runs on Android are required to create a Google Plus account, whether they intend to use it or not. So the 400 million mark may be a false number rather than people actually sitting down and signing up for Google +.
User over 10 times more active on Facebook than Google+?
Many people attribute Google Plus’s fast expansion to their television commercials and celebrity brand appeal. Curiously, Facebook’s users register higher levels of activity when compared to Google Plus’s. It is estimated that Facebook has 10 times more active users than Google Plus. Google may want to develop new strategies that encourage activity within its user base.
Time will tell just how successful Google’s social network will be compared to Facebook. Some Google Plus supporters mention that the service doesn’t need to compete with Facebook, as it delivers a slightly different experience than its rival. In Google’s favor, it is important to mention that it took Facebook several years to reach 100 thousand active users, while they got to that number in less than 12 months.
About the author: Annie Marsen is what most people would call a Social Media addict. If there's a new social media site that even hints at going viral, she's on it. This is also one of the reasons why she is very suited to be writing about social media strategies as a Virtual Personal Assistant. So the next time you have an inkling to go social, drop Annie a line. You'll probably find her buried deep in some brand new site exploring.
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Dir. Jeanne Jordan & Steve Ascher
Others: So Much So Fast, Lives Worth Living
Links: Raising Renee - West City Films
Beverly McIver’s life is a version of the classic Horatio Alger story: young girl grows up in the not-post-racial American South of the 1960s and 70s, fathered illegitimately, and brought up by a single mother on meager wages. She lives through the 1979 Greensboro Massacre, which occurs on the doorstep of her housing project. She starts dressing up as a clown, initially in classic clown white and then in blackface. Eventually our hero becomes an acclaimed painter, professor, and recipient of various awards and grants. Meanwhile, her family stays back in North Carolina, where her mother cares for Renee, Beverly’s mentally disabled sister. Mother and daughter live a quiet life, listening to gospel radio, going to church, and doing good deeds around the community.
The documentary Raising Renee follows McIver as she is partially forced back into an existence she thought she had left behind. After her mother dies in 2004, Beverly takes charge of her older sister, who functions at the level of a third grader and suffers from epilepsy. Beverly moves Renee to Arizona to live with her, and then back to their hometown of Greensboro after Beverly is offered a position at North Carolina Central University. Renee seems generally unfazed by the changes taking place in her life, so long as she is surrounded by the color pink and is able to make piles and piles of potholders, which she weaves out of cotton loops on a loom kit.
Beverly, to hear her tell it, is much more rattled. She is not afraid to be honest on camera, and she freely admits to feeling burdened by having to be Renee’s guardian, bemoaning a supposedly lost career as an artist in New York. She fancies herself a cosmopolitan specimen and clearly feels that her life is among the cultural elite in Manhattan and at Yaddo, not swinging by the In-N-Out Burger on the way home to pick up food for her sister. At times, she all but wishes Renee out of her life, but she is still content to cajole her into doing odd jobs around the house.
Of course, this version of events is just what we see onscreen, and unfortunately it’s too incomplete a picture. Although co-directors Jeanne Jordan and Steven Ascher put a great deal of legwork into making this film (they followed the McIver family from New York to North Carolina to Arizona and back over a period of six years), the final version of their story seems truncated: too little is seen of Beverly and Renee’s life together, especially since it’s ostensibly the main thrust of the film, and too much of it relies on narration from Beverly, at the expense of a deeper portrait of the sisters. Beverly speaks time and time again of the challenges of caring for Renee, and while there is almost certainly a great deal of truth in what she says, we never get a full sense of what their life together is like, difficult or not.
This is a shame, since most of Raising Renee’s high points come from watching Beverly and Renee interact with one another. Beverly often lightly teases her sister or else ignores her outright, and it’s fun to see Renee take no notice of this and soldier on. In turn, it’s moving to see how quietly grateful Renee is to Beverly for having taken her in. When Renee eventually moves away from Beverly and into an apartment complex for disabled people in Greensboro, Beverly clearly begins to miss Renee’s presence, which had been such an integral part of her life for the better part of a decade. It’s a ruefulness not shared by the viewer, since the film often gives the impression that Renee is hardly there at all.
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Researchers are investigating islet-cell transplantation as a way to help patients to come off insulin or reduce their use of it. Most research in recent years has focused on an islet-transplantation procedure called the Edmonton protocol.
This procedure has only been used in clinical trials, but it has helped some patients with severe type 1 diabetes to become free of insulin injections. However, many of these insulin-independent patients...Read more
Why is it that we realize we take life for granted only after it's almost lost? After my stroke in 2001, that's how I felt. When I... Read more »
An Italian study has shown that people who have both Migraines and hypertension have a higher probability of cerebrovascular events than... Read more »
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Imagine this scenario; you’re at the store and want to buy a bottle of wine for dinner at home. You’re having steak and you want a red wine. This is the extent of what you know. There are a ton of varieties, regions, and styles of wine to choose from. And where your head spins are the price points. Is this $12 malbec not as good as that $25 syrah? Why is this cabernet sauvignon $9 while that one is $90? There is some noise to filter when it comes to price points, but here is a guideline of expectations as you go up in pricing tier.
<$10 – The domain of Three Buck Chuck, large volume wine, and hidden gems. The wines at this level are often value-oriented. They can play in this field because the wines can be a bunch of variables that can drive the price down. The wine can come from a winery that has massively huge volumes of wine. Or it comes from regions that can support large scale production. Or the winery owns all their capital goods and can afford a lower margin (often in Europe). At this stage, you can find good wine, but it will be tough to find a great wine. Good, however, is the pricing bar that many want to find in the wine they buy. It’s not too expensive and won’t be a hit on the wallet.
$10-20 – This is a magical level that plenty of consumer wants to play with. But here’s the thing; generally speaking, the quality bar is different at the $15 mark. Below, you’ll find good stuff. Above, you can come across great wines. How so? Because this is the sweetspot that the modern wine consumer wants to play in, so pricing has adapted. In this field you’ll start to find more layers, nuances, and subtleties in a good bottle. You’ll also have the opportunity to discover new regions that you may be unfamiliar. Portugal, Spain, Chile, and Argentina beckon.
$20-30 – This is a level where you can find some really interesting wine. Many in the industry feel it’s a growing category. Great wine can be had. A wine drinker has almost all of the wine regions of the world at their disposal. You’ll be able to get bottles with more aging, single vineyards, more fruit and provocative flavor notes.
$30-50 – We are now getting to the price category where wine nerds start to surface. Take all of the good that was mentioned at the previous tiers and now amplify them. The wine can border on magic. You’ll start to believe that notes of bacon fat or elderflower are present.
$50+ – You really love wine at this point. Or you want to impress someone.
$100+ – You and wine are soulmates. Or you want to impress someone’s parents.
$500+ – You probably read The Robb Report. And you probably have tasted a DRC. Most of us have only read about a DRC. Even more have no idea what a DRC is.
Disclaimer: wine pricing is a fluid and complicated area. Supply and demand is in play. Location has a hand in pricing. Know this; really good wine can be hand at any price point; it just requires a bit of know how to weed through it. And besides, it’s your palate, enjoy drinking with your tongue planted firmly in your cheek.
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Place of Birth: Port Talbot, November 2, 1911
Position: Full back
Internationals: 14 caps between 1933 and 1939
Inducted: England v Wales (March 20, 2004)
The following article has been adapted from the original by Dai Llewellyn, which focused on two players. It has been changed to highlight only the selected inductee’s information.
The former Wales full back, Vivian Jenkins, died in 2004, aged 92. A double Blue in cricket and rugby at Oxford, Jenkins won 14 caps between 1933 and 1939. He also played cricket for Glamorgan before going on to become a distinguished journalist covering cricket and rugby, first for the News of the World then for the Sunday Times, finally editing Rothman’s Rugby Yearbook.
Jenkins had them gasping on the terraces when he scored a try against Ireland from full back, the first Welshman to do so. It was another 33 years before Keith Jarrett became the second full back to touch down in an international.
There was another first for Jenkins before that. Though. On his debut in 1933 against England at Twickenham – one he shared with two other Glamorgan cricketers, Wilf Wooller and Maurice Turnbull – he was a member of the Wales team which recorded its first victory on Billy Williams’ cabbage patch, a win for which they had waited 23 years. Jenkins landed a conversion which was given as over by the Welsh touch judge, but which was ruled wide by referee Tom Bell.
Article by Dai Llewellyn
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Ezekiel 22:29 WYC
The peoples of the land challenged false challenge, and ravished by violence; they tormented a needy man and (a) poor (man), and oppressed a comeling by false challenge, without doom. (The peoples of the land oppressed, and robbed with violence; they tormented the needy and the poor, and oppressed newcomers, without justification.)
Read Ezekiel 22 WYC
Read Ezekiel 22:29 WYC in parallel
The sins of Jerusalem. (1-16) Israel is condemned as dross. (17-22) As the corruption is general, so shall be the punishment. (23-31)
Verses 1-16 The prophet is to judge the bloody city; the city of bloods. Jerusalem is so called, because of her crimes. The sins which Jerusalem stands charged with, are exceeding sinful. Murder, idolatry, disobedience to parents, oppression and extortion, profanation of the sabbath and holy things, seventh commandment sins, lewdness and adultery. Unmindfulness of God was at the bottom of all this wickedness. Sinners provoke God because they forget him. Jerusalem has filled the measure of her sins. Those who give up themselves to be ruled by their lusts, will justly be given up to be portioned by them. Those who resolve to be their own masters, let them expect no other happiness than their own hands can furnish; and a miserable portion it will prove.
Verses 17-22 Israel, compared with other nations, had been as the gold and silver compared with baser metals. But they were now as the refuse that is consumed in the furnace, or thrown away when the silver is refined. Sinners, especially backsliding professors, are, in God's account, useless and fit for nothing. When God brings his own people into the furnace, he sits by them as the refiner by his gold, to see that they are not continued there any longer than is fitting and needful. The dross shall be wholly separated, and the good metal purified. Let those who suffer pains, or lingering sickness, and find that their hearts can scarcely bear these light and momentary afflictions, take warning to flee from the wrath to come; for if these trials are not sanctified by the power of the Holy Spirit, to the cleansing their hearts and hands from sin, far worse things will come upon them.
Verses 23-31 All orders and degrees of men had helped to fill the measure of the nation's guilt. The people that had any power abused it, and even the buyers and sellers find some way to oppress one another. It bodes ill to a people when judgments are breaking in upon them, and the spirit of prayer is restrained. Let all who fear God, unite to promote his truth and righteousness; as wicked men of every rank and profession plot together to run them down.
Ezekiel 22:1-31 . GOD'S JUDGMENT ON THE SINFULNESS OF JERUSALEM.
Repetition of the charges in the twentieth chapter only that there they were stated in an historical review of the past and present; here the present sins of the nation exclusively are brought forward.
2. See Ezekiel 20:4 ; that is, "Wilt thou not judge?" &c. (compare Ezekiel 23:36 ).
the bloody city--literally, "the city of bloods"; so called on account of murders perpetrated in her, and sacrifices of children to Molech ( Ezekiel 22:3 Ezekiel 22:4 Ezekiel 22:6 Ezekiel 22:9 , Ezekiel 24:6 Ezekiel 24:9 ).
3. sheddeth blood . . . that her time may come--Instead of deriving advantage from her bloody sacrifices to idols, she only thereby brought on herself "the time" of her punishment.
against herself--( Proverbs 8:36 ).
4. thy days--the shorter period, namely, that of the siege.
thy years--the longer period of the captivity. The "days" and "years" express that she is ripe for punishment.
5. infamous--They mockingly call thee, "Thou polluted one in name (Margin), and full of confusion" [FAIRBAIRN], (referring to the tumultuous violence prevalent in it). Thus the nations "far and near" mocked her as at once sullied in character and in actual fact lawless. What a sad contrast to the Jerusalem once designated "'the holy city!"
6. Rather, "The princes . . . each according to his power, were in thee, to shed blood" (as if this was the only object of their existence). "Power," literally, "arm"; they, who ought to have been patterns of justice, made their own arm of might their only law.
7. set light by--Children have made light of, disrespected, father . . . ( Deuteronomy 27:16 ). At Ezekiel 22:7-12 are enumerated the sins committed in violation of Moses' law.
9. men that carry tales--informers, who by misrepresentations cause innocent blood to be shed ( Leviticus 19:16 ). Literally, "one who goes to and fro as a merchant."
10. set apart for pollution--that is, set apart as unclean ( Leviticus 18:19 ).
12. forgotten me--( Deuteronomy 32:18 , Jeremiah 2:32 , 3:21 ).
13. smitten mine hand--in token of the indignant vengeance which I will
14. ( Ezekiel 21:7 ).
15. consume thy filthiness out of thee--the object of God in scattering the Jews.
16. take thine inheritance in thyself--Formerly thou wast Mine inheritance; but now, full of guilt, thou art no longer Mine, but thine own inheritance to thyself; "in the sight of the heathen," that is, even they shall see that, now that thou hast become a captive, thou art no longer owned as Mine [VATABLUS]. FAIRBAIRN and others needlessly take the Hebrew from a different root, "thou shalt be polluted by ('in,' [HENDERSON]) thyself," &c.; the heathen shall regard thee as a polluted thing, who hast brought thine own reproach on thyself.
18. dross . . . brass--Israel has become a worthless compound of the dross of silver (implying not merely corruption, but degeneracy from good to bad, Isaiah 1:22 , especially offensive) and of the baser metals. Hence the people must be thrown into the furnace of judgment, that the bad may be consumed, and the good separated ( Jeremiah 6:29 Jeremiah 6:30 ).
23. From this verse to the end he shows the general corruption of all ranks.
24. land . . . not cleansed--not cleared or cultivated; all a scene of desolation; a fit emblem of the moral wilderness state of the people.
nor rained upon--a mark of divine "indignation"; as the early and latter rain, on which the productiveness of the land depended, was one of the great covenant blessings. Joel ( Joel 2:23 ) promises the return of the former and latter rain, with the restoration of God's favor.
25. conspiracy--The false prophets have conspired both to propagate error and to oppose the messages of God's servants. They are mentioned first, as their bad influence extended the widest.
prey--Their aim was greed of gain, "treasure, and precious things" ( Hosea 6:9 , Zephaniah 3:3 Zephaniah 3:4 , Matthew 23:14 ).
made . . . many widows--by occasioning, through false prophecies, the war with the Chaldeans in which the husbands fell.
26. Her priests--whose "lips should have kept knowledge" ( Malachi 2:7 ).
violated--not simply transgressed; but, have done violence to the law, by wresting it to wrong ends, and putting wrong constructions on it.
put no difference between the holy and profane, &c.--made no distinction between the clean and unclean ( Leviticus 10:10 ), the Sabbath and other days, sanctioning violations of that holy day. "Holy" means, what is dedicated to God; "profane," what is in common use; "unclean," what is forbidden to be eaten; "clean," what is lawful to be eaten.
I am profaned among them--They abuse My name to false or unjust purposes.
27. princes--who should have employed the influence of their position for the people's welfare, made "gain" their sole aim.
wolves--notorious for fierce and ravening cruelty ( Micah 3:2 Micah 3:3 Micah 3:9-11 , John 10:12 ).
28. Referring to the false assurances of peace with which the prophets flattered the people, that they should not submit to the king of Babylon Ezekiel 21:29 , Jeremiah 6:14 , Jeremiah 23:16 Jeremiah 23:17 , Jeremiah 27:9 Jeremiah 27:10 ).
29. The people--put last, after the mention of those in office. Corruption had spread downwards through the whole community.
wrongfully--that is, "without cause," gratuitously, without the stranger proselyte giving any just provocation; nay, he of all others being one who ought to have been won to the worship of Jehovah by kindness, instead of being alienated by oppression; especially as the Israelites were commanded to remember that they themselves had been "strangers in Egypt" ( Exodus 22:21 , 23:9 ).
30. the hedge--the wall leading the people to repentance.
the gap--the breach ( Psalms 106:23 ); image for interceding between the people and God ( Genesis 20:7 , Exodus 32:11 , Numbers 16:48 ).
I found none--( Jeremiah 5:1 )--not that literally there was not a righteous man in the city. For Jeremiah, Baruch, &c., were still there; but Jeremiah had been forbidden to pray for the people ( Jeremiah 11:14 ), as being doomed to wrath. None now, of the godly, knowing the desperate state of the people, and God's purpose as to them, was willing longer to interpose between God's wrath and them. And none "among them," that is, among those just enumerated as guilty of such sins ( Ezekiel 22:25-29 ), was morally able for such an office.
31. their own way . . . recompensed upon their heads--( Ezekiel 9:10 , 11:21 , 16:43 , Proverbs 1:31 , Isaiah 3:11 , Jeremiah 6:19 ).
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The cartoonist, Prasad, of Delhi's Mail Today, depicted an Aussie police badge pinned to a character with the notorious pointed white hood of the KKK following a controversy over race-based treatment of Indian students and a murder.
The speech bubble reads: "We are yet to ascertain the nature of the crime".
It was published as an indictment of homicide investigators in Victoria "being unable to say if the recent killing of 21-year-old Indian student Nitin Garg in a Melbourne park was racially motivated", reports News.com.au. A mixture of grief and anger marked Garg's funeral at the weekend.
The website quoted Prasad as saying: "I was responding to the news about the Australian authorities and police refusing to acknowledge the underlying racism in the attacks against Indian youth."
Meanwhile, the Sydney Morning Herald has revealed that the Ku Klux Klan says it has infiltrated an anti-immigration party preparing to contest seats at the next federal election. The paper reports:
David Palmer, the Imperial Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan in Australia, said several Klan members had secretly joined Australia First, a far right party that announced yesterday that it had the numbers to register as a political party.The Australian has condemned the caricature, saying in an editorial this is "no time for crude cartoons":
"We aren't interested in actually registering as a party," Mr Palmer said. "Our main idea was we would move in and take back what we consider our Aryan parties.
"[The Klan] is a white pressure group; a white social group for white families. But also a reserve in case the ethnics get out of hand and they need sorting out."
When he made similar claims about the infiltration of One Nation, the party formerly led by Pauline Hanson, two of his associates were expelled from the party. The NSW director of Australia First, Jim Saleam, vehemently denies his party has been infiltrated by the Klan.
It is offensive and plain wrong, but the Indian cartoon depicting Victoria Police as akin to the Ku Klux Klan reveals the hysteria on the sub-continent over the safety of Indian nationals in Australia. Acting Prime Minister Julia Gillard was right to condemn the cartoon in New Delhi's Mail Today. There is no evidence police are acting in other than a professional manner in attempting to solve crimes involving Indians.
Cartoon: Prasad, Mail Today.
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Leaders of the open-air Shakespeare’s Globe theater in London said on Tuesday that its new indoor theater space will open in January 2014 and be named for Sam Wanamaker, the American actor and director who led the decades-long effort to rebuild the Globe on the south bank of the Thames.
The new 340-seat theater will be designed in the Jacobean tradition, with perhaps the most notable touch being the candles that will light much of the space, according to the Globe’s artistic director, Dominic Dromgoole. The construction of the new Sam Wanamaker Theater is costing approximately £7.5 million, or about $12 million, and £6.5 million has been raised so far, a spokeswoman for the theater said.
The inaugural production for the new theater will be announced next year, the spokeswoman added. The space, which will have two tiers of galleried seating and a pit seating area, will feature Jacobean plays by Webster, Marlowe and Ford as well as works by Shakespeare.
While the Globe is a replica of the wooden open-air theater where some of Shakespeare’s plays were produced in the 16th century, the new theater space was envisioned by Wanamaker and others years ago to augment the Globe for Jacobean works that were performed indoors during the 16th and 17th centuries.
“The Sam Wanamaker Theater will allow the Globe to continue its experimental vision of going back to the future,” Mr. Dromgoole said in a statement. “Just as with the Globe itself, these unique playing conditions offer an opportunity to refresh our understanding of Jacobean theater, and to provoke new visions for the future of how theater can be made.”
Wanamaker, who performed on Broadway mostly in the 1940s and ’50s and appeared in films including “The Concrete Jungle” and “Private Benjamin,” died in 1993.
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My theory about people who put down other people is that they’re deeply insecure. They think they can build themselves up by putting other people down. As I was saying to a friend in another context, when I walk into a room, I’m reasonably sure I’m one of the smartest people in the room. It’s sounds arrogant, but I don’t mean it to. We all have our gifts. I don’t walk into the room thinking I’m the most beautiful, or the best athlete, or the business maven extraordinaire. People like Obama, however, have a completely different attitude when they walk into a room. Rather than believing, as I do, that they’re one of the smartest ones, they have the terrible fear that they’re not one of the smartest ones. They compensate with arrogant, disdainful, insulting behavior.
Exhibit A: President Obama meeting a new House representative. (The following is a post I originally wrote for Mr. Conservative):
President Obama was sure that his complete lack of real world executive experience didn’t mean he was unprepared to become leader of the free world. He wasn’t going to cut any slack, though, for a new House representative who wanted the president’s input on creating jobs in the Congressman’s district. How else can one explain that, in response to the Congressman’s question, the President didn’t give a straight answer but, instead, implied that the Congressman didn’t know what he was talking about?
It all started at a closed-door meeting between President Obama and House Democrats. One of those Democrats was Rep. Dan Kildee (D. Mich.), who was sworn in for the first time in January. When Kildee introduced himself to the President, the President started off with a compliment: “Wow, you’re really classing up the place then.”
Things went downhill from there. Kildee asked the president a somewhat complicated question about the need to create job’s in Kildee’s economically battered district, which has been hit hard by the endless recession. Rather than answering the question, Obama put Kildee in his place by jokingly implying that Kildee, unlike the President, didn’t know what he was talking about:
I can tell you’re a freshman because you didn’t pay much attention to the State of the Union. I talked about that.
If you call platitudes, blame, and wishes “talking about” serious economic issues, the President is right – he did talk about that stuff at the State of the Union. At some point during the State of the Union, the President mentioned his “plan” to spend $1 billion dollars to create 15 manufacturing “innovation centers.” The President didn’t talk about any details, though, because there were none.
What the President didn’t know when he talked down to Kildee is that, just the day before, Kildee had met with the White House legislative affairs team that is actually responsible for trying to come up with a workable plan to support Obama’s wish. Moreover, if Obama had listened to Kildee’s question, rather than responding instantly with a defensive insult, he would have realized that Kildee wasn’t just asking about dream projects. Instead, he wanted specifics about reforms to broken cities, such as Flint, Michigan, which is in Kildee’s district.
Of course, the best advice the President could have given to Kildee about broken cities and states would have been that those cities and states, almost all of which have been under Democrat one-party rule for decades, should try electing some conservatives for a change. Thinking about that, it probably make sense that the president used insults, not facts, to respond to Kildee’s question.Email This Post To A Friend
4 Responses to “Obama’s insults expose his ignorance and mental laziness”
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Somewhere just after 12:30 p.m. on a cold Wednesday this month, the image of Interior Secretary Ken Salazar as a Western pragmatist and wily political deal-maker evaporated in a cloud of heated rhetoric.
After months of doing battle with the oil and gas industry, the typically cautious Salazar lost his cool in a media call Jan. 6, blasting companies for acting like they were "kings of the world" and treating the country's public lands as their own personal "candy store."
If energy companies didn't know it already, the Bush era of free-wheeling oil and gas drilling across the West was officially over.
A year into his tenure as the 50th secretary of the interior, Salazar has surprised both fans and critics. He's
But to critics, Salazar is committing the same sins of which he often accuses the prior administration — politicizing decisions, shutting out views and pursuing an agenda that swaps an industry clique for an environmental one.
In the spectrum of interior secretaries, from activists to compromisers, Salazar has staked out terrain as a sweeping reformer.
He is virtually rewiring the DNA of a department once focused almost exclusively on fossil fuels by pushing it to develop renewable energy on millions of acres of public lands. He has instituted new ethics regulations; raised the profile of American Indian issues; and reined in the galloping oil and gas leasing that was the hallmark of the previous administration.
"Salazar is a larger figure than I would have expected," said Charles Wilkinson, a University of Colorado law professor and expert on the West's public lands. "You have to show you've got some spine, and he's done that."
Accused of puncturing boom
Salazar's fight with oil and gas drillers has been both open and angry. A recent editorial in the Oil and Gas Journal charged Salazar
"I only half-heartedly joke with those in industry that, during the prior administration, their names were chiseled above the chairs outside the office of the Assistant Secretary for Lands and Minerals," wrote Wyoming Gov. Dave Freudenthal, a Democrat, to Salazar this month, criticizing recent changes to oil and gas leasing policy.
"I fear that we are merely swapping the names above those same chairs to environmental interests, giving them a stranglehold on an already cumbersome process," Freudenthal wrote.
In his spacious Washington, D.C., office, a bust of Teddy Roosevelt on a table, Salazar said
"I have no apologies to anybody. The fact of the matter is, we've moved forward with a balanced approach," he said. "That principle has made some in the oil and gas industry mad.
"I'm more at peace relative to my job than I have ever been," Salazar said. "I don't mind the fights, and I don't mind the controversies."
Nor does he appear to have any trouble finding them.
A parade of changes
Known for his energetic drive and staff meetings that can stretch into the night, Salazar has had a first year marked by near-constant activity and a steady drumbeat of initiatives, many of them controversial.
Salazar was front and center last June in announcing federal indictments of 24 people alleged to have stolen hundreds of Indian artifacts from public lands in the Four Corners area.
After two of the suspects committed suicide following their arrests, Utah lawmakers took the former Colorado attorney general to task for the federal government's heavy use of force.
Environmentalists strongly condemned his decision to lift Endangered Species Act protection in the northern Rockies for the gray wolf, allowing hunters to kill nearly 200 of the animals in the first year.
A program to sterilize thousands of wild horses and move thousands more from the West's open spaces to preserves in the eastern United States drew the ire of rock performer Sheryl Crow, among other animal advocates.
Interior's management of the Endangered Species Act has managed to anger both sides. Salazar revoked Bush-era limitations on the act for some development projects but refused to extend the law's protection to the disappearing polar bear, a move that environmentalists say could have forced reductions in carbon emissions.
Salazar wears all of that like a badge of honor, a sign, he said, of his willingness to tackle difficult problems.
Among the fruits of that labor: Salazar stitched together a deal to secure land for a long-delayed memorial to Flight 93 in Pennsylvania farm country. He stopped the agency's royalty-in-kind program that had been plagued by ethics scandals and financial shortfalls.
And he wrangled settlement of an American Indian trust lands case that had been stalled in the courts for 14 years — putting an end to the biggest civil lawsuit in the federal government's history.
"I am most proud of the fact that we've taken real problems and come up with real solutions to those problems," Salazar said. "I've got the best job in the Cabinet."
Fuel as the flash point
But it is in the area of energy development where the interior secretary has gone most visibly on the offensive. Observers say he's linked a broad new agenda — renewable energy development — to an old one: a broadly conservationist view of public lands as a treasure to be preserved as much as a resource to be exploited.
"We're coming out of the most aggressive oil and gas administration we've ever had. Salazar's No. 1 priority had to be to get oil, gas and coal back into perspective," said Wilkinson, the CU professor.
"He does get branded as divisive, but it's not clear he's done anything extreme," he said.
Energy companies say Salazar has gone well past that, swinging the pendulum far to the other side and threatening a significant pullback in domestic energy production.
They complain bitterly of being shut out of critical discussions and say that Salazar is making decisions in Washington that should be left to field specialists — a criticism often leveled at the Bush administration.
Industry defenders point out that the Interior Department in 2009 withdrew already-issued leases in Utah; scaled back oil-shale development in Colorado; is revisiting a Bush-era offshore drilling plan; and added environmental and planning requirements for onshore leasing.
The total acreage offered for lease to oil and gas companies last year was the lowest level on record, industry officials say.
"After a year in the office, it's very clear there is a direction that has been decided, and it's anti-oil and gas," said Jack Gerard, president of the American Petroleum Institute, an industry trade group.
"We had hope. I was one of those interviewed early on and said Sen. Salazar comes from a Western state, understands the public lands," Gerard said. "We wish we had the Sen. Salazar of Colorado sitting in the secretary of interior's seat, because he was very different.
"The benefit of the doubt we give to the good secretary is that maybe those are the marching orders he's been given" from the administration, Gerard said.
Conflict a calculated risk
While the fight with traditional energy producers may have helped define Salazar's first year, observers say the question is how much it will define his second year — or the year after that.
Former Arizona Gov. Bruce Babbitt, who was President Bill Clinton's interior secretary, got into a protracted fight with the ranching industry that partly consumed his tenure, observers say. Patty Limerick, director of the Center of the American West at the University of Colorado at Boulder, said Salazar is likely taking a risk that confrontation will ultimately lead to the industry's cooperation.
"He is a measured man, and I figure he's measured this too," Limerick said.
"Interior has a mandate for both resource development and resource preservation. That means that everything is going to be impure, everything is going to be unsatisfactory to advocates who have just one interest," Limerick said. "I think Salazar is making pretty strategic choices about who he makes mad at any given moment.
"It's a gamble, but it makes for great spectator sport," she said.
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School Superintendent Richard Lavergne says the property is actually on dry land; he maintains that the purpose of the Section 16 land is to produce revenue to help run St. Martin Parish schools.
“It’s not state bottom water land,” says Blanchard. “That’s one of the questions that our attorney researched for us. He answered every question that they had [at the meeting], and none of what they presented was a problem. We followed everything as required by law.”
Dean Wilson of the nonprofit Atchafalaya Basinkeeper organization disagrees. Wilson says he met with Lavergne and Henderson Mayor Sherbin Collette in February, just before the papers for the sale were signed in an effort to convince the two that the trees should be preserved. Wison says Collette and Lavergne agreed not to sign the documents until they could all meet with the school board.
“When Mr. Blanchard found out we did that, he went around and signed the documents the same day that we met with the superintendent to stop him from getting the school board members to back out of the sale,” says Wilson.
Blanchard says he stands behind the board's decision. “This board may make a lot of decisions that a lot of the public is not in agreement with,” he says, "but we make our decisions based on facts and what is in the best interest for the St. Martin Parish School Board.”
Wilson and the rest in league with the Atchafalaya Basinkeeper aren’t swayed. In addition to exploring legal action against both the Good Hope timber company and the St. Martin Parish School Board, they are also challenging Good Hope’s permit for the landing area to be built in the basin for the logging.
To find out how you can help Atchafalaya Basinkeeper protect the basin, visit BasinKeeper.org or find them on Facebook.
in case you missed it
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A 10-14 day program with a focus on deep cultural immersion, global citizenship and service learning. Students will gain an understanding of the local people, their customs, traditions, language and food. Schools can choose to build an on-going link with a community or visit a new destination each time. Alternatively, if your school has its own project you wish to support, we can build a tour around that project and provide professional support and risk management.
Students work as a team on a community project for 4-8 days. We provide access to hands-on activities where your students can decorate, renovate and build school facilities, teach games and interact with local children. This provides an experience that is not accessible to the ordinary tourist. We are not an aid organization, but as a professional educational travel provider our projects allow students to make a real difference by giving of themselves.
In addition to the community project, you can visit sites of cultural, geographical or historical interest. The team can be accompanied by a qualified, professional Australian Antipodeans Abroad tour leader or by local, English speaking, tour guides.
WHY ANTIPODEANS ABROAD?
Antipodeans Abroad offers a comprehensive and personalised travel service. Established in 1991, we are an independent educational travel provider with superior in-country community projects, itineraries, pre-departure support for teachers and parents and extensive risk management experience working with schools.
We will work with each school to design a tailor-made experience. We have the flexibility to allow teachers to choose destination, dates, style of project, sight-seeing focus and the various inclusions that can influence price. We can do all this face-to-face or on the phone, which ever you prefer. Please refer to our destination guides
for further details.
GETTING A GROUP TOGETHER
Once the tour is given the go-ahead, we will visit your school to help present the tour to students and parents. We’ll then handle all the paper work, communications and risk assessment compliance for you.
WHILE YOU'RE OVERSEAS
We look after all the arrangements and logistics allowing you and your students to be immersed in the destination. We will assign a professional and experienced tour manager to look after all your requirements from the first parents’ information evening until after your return. This provides one personal line of communication for teachers and parents throughout the whole process.
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Pope Ignores the War, Gets Free Pass on Sex Abuse
Stay up to date with the latest headlines via email.
Torture: Fresh reporting by ABC from inside sources depicted George W. Bush's most senior aides (Cheney, Powell, Rumsfeld, Ashcroft, Rice and Tenet) meeting dozens of times in the White House during 2002/03 to sort out the most efficient mix of torture techniques for captured "terrorists."
When initially ABC attempted to insulate the president from this sordid activity, Bush abruptly bragged that he knew all about it and approved. That comment and the action memorandum Bush signed on Feb. 7, 2002, dispelled any lingering doubt regarding his personal responsibility for authorizing torture.
Execution: Meanwhile, the U.S. Supreme Court, with a majority of judges calling themselves Catholic, was openly deliberating on whether one gram, or two, or perhaps three of this or that chemical would be the preferred way to execute people.
Always colorful prominent Catholic layman Antonin Scalia complained impatiently, "Where does it say in the Constitution that executions have to be painless?"
Scalia did not seem at all concerned that the Pope might remind him and his Catholic colleagues about the Church's teaching on capital punishment, i.e., the cases in which the execution of the offender is an absolute necessity "are very rare, if not practically nonexistent." ( Evangelium Vitae 56).
It was enough to bring this student of German history (and five-year resident there) vivid memories of frequenting those places where precisely these kinds of torture and execution policy reviews were conducted at similarly high levels by Hitler's inner circle -- yes, including judges.
War: Can the Pope possibly be so suffused with his peculiar brand of theology that he is oblivious to what happened when he was a young man during the Third Reich?
Is it possible that papal advisers forgot to tell him that the post-WWII Nuremberg Tribunal described an unprovoked war of aggression, of the kind that the Third Reich and George W. Bush launched, as the "supreme international crime, differing from other war crimes only in that it contains the accumulated evil of the whole?"
Could they have failed to tell the Pope he would be hobnobbing with war criminals, torturers and the enabling cowards in Congress who refuse to remove them from office?
For this Catholic, it was a profoundly sad spectacle -- profoundly sad.
Not since WWII, when the Reich's bishops swore personal oaths of allegiance to Hitler (as did the German Supreme Court and army generals) have the papacy and bishops acted in such a fawning, un-Christ-like way.
With very few exceptions, the bishops (Catholic and Evangelical Lutheran) collaborated with the Nazis. Meanwhile, Hamlet-like Pius XII kept trying to make up his mind as to whether he should put the Catholic Church at some risk, while Jews were being murdered by the thousands.
In 1948, in the shadow of that monstrous world war, the French author/philosopher Albert Camus accepted an invitation from the Dominican Monastery of Latour-Maubourg.
To their credit, the Dominicans wanted to know what an "unbeliever" thought about Christians in the light of their behavior during the '30s and '40s. Camus' words seem so terribly relevant today that it is difficult to trim them:
"For a long time during those frightful years, I waited for a great voice to speak up in Rome. I, an unbeliever? Precisely. For I knew that the spirit would be lost if it did not utter a cry of condemnation ...
"It has been explained to me since, that the condemnation was indeed voiced. But that it was in the style of the encyclicals, which is not all that clear. The condemnation was voiced and it was not understood. Who could fail to feel where the true condemnation lies in this case?
"What the world expects of Christians is that Christians should speak out, loud and clear, and that they should voice their condemnation in such a way that never a doubt, never the slightest doubt, could rise in the heart of the simplest man.
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Mathura-mandala Parikrama, Part 25
BY: SUN STAFF
Mathura Street Scene
Oct 05, 2011 CANADA (SUN) By Srila Narahari Chakravarti Thakur.
Sanatana Gosvami Receives Lord Chaitanya's Mercy in a Dream
"O Shrinivasa, by the order of Mahaprabhu, Sanatana Gosvami came here to Vrindavana to stay. When Sanatana heard that Lord Chaitanya would come, he arranged a secluded place for the Lord to stay. Understanding Sanatana Gosvami's anxiety, Gaurahari appeared to him in a dream at this place. Lord Chaitanya was sitting on a wonderful asana. Seeing the Lord, Sanatana fell at His feet. The Lord then tightly embraced Sanatana and after comforting him in every way, He disappeared. Who can understand the Lord's wonderful pastimes? By His own will He always enjoys in Vrindavana.
See here is Praskandana-kshetra. By taking bath here one is freed of his sins, and by giving up one's life here he attains Vishnuloka."
The Adi-varaha Purana says: "O Vasundhare! Please hear about another holy place. There is an auspicious abode named Praskandana-kshetra, which is the destroyer of all sins. Whoever takes bath there is delivered from all sins, and whoever leaves his body there surely attains My abode."
O Shrinivasa, due to the heat from twelve suns, the Lord's cold body became warm and began to perspire. The perspiration entered the Yamuna River and therefore this place is called Praskandana-tirtha.
The Vraja-vilasa-stava gives this description: "This great tirtha was born from the perspiration of Govinda's body due to the excess heat of the twelve suns. I offer my respectful prayers unto Praskandana-kshetra, which is filled with the fragrant water that emanated from the soft beautiful body of the Lord."
After showing this Praskandana-tirtha to Shrinivasa, Raghava Pandita continued to speak very sweetly.
Shrila Advaita Prabhu's Appearance and Activities
Shrila Advaita Prabhu, who is nondifferent from Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, stayed here in this forest for some days. He used to worship Lord Krishna under this vata tree. Who can understand His inner desire? Please listen and I will describe briefly the appearance and activities of Shrila Advaita Prabhu.
Madhavendra Puri, Ishvara Puri, Shacimata, and Jagannatha Mishra appeared along with Advaita Acarya. Shrila Advaita Prabhu is unlimitedly merciful to the living entities. The whole of Bengal was glorified by His appearance there.
In Bengal there is a village near Shrihatta named Nava-grama where Kuvera Pandita, the son of Nrisimha lived. Kuvera Pandita was exalted on the path of devotion. He knew nothing except the lotus feet of Lord Krishna. On the same standard of devotion was his chaste wife Nabhadevi, the mother of Advaita, who was worshipable by all. They settled in Shantipura near the Ganges and were always absorbed in discussing krishna-katha.
One day Shri Kuvera Pandita and his wife wanted to die after hearing Vaishnava blasphemy. Seeing their state, one fortunate soul pacified them by the desire of Lord Krishna. Even though they were still unhappy, they both fell asleep. After a short time, they both had a wonderful dream. A beautiful effulgent person, whose bodily luster defeated the beauty of a mountain of molten gold, appeared before them. This person was holding the hand of another exceedingly beautiful person and in sweet words said to Him: "You should quickly incarnate to relieve the unhappiness of the living entities who are suffering under the onslaughts of Kali-yuga. By Your loving invitation, I will be unable to remain here. I will quickly appear along with My elder brother.'
Hearing these words, the second person became very happy and at an auspicious moment He entered the womb of Nabhadevi. Seeing this, Kuvera Pandita became very blissful and, as he awoke, his heart became overwhelmed.
Kuvera Pandita, who was a learned scholar in all the shastras, considered in his mind that the Supreme Lord would appear in Kali-yuga in the form of guru. Thinking this way along with his wife, he again became overwhelmed and could not check his tears.
From that day on, Nabhadevi manifested signs of pregnancy and she therefore returned to Nava-grama. Soon the whole world became joyful as Advaita Prabhu appeared in the village of Nava-grama.
Suddenly a voice arose from Him, "Shri Krishna Chaitanya will appear in this world along with Shri Nityananda Rama. Together with Their associates, They will enjoy wonderful pastimes. They will distribute loving devotional service in each and every house, thereby destroying the unhappiness and lamentation of the living entities. The ocean of bliss arising from the sankirtana movement will overflow and inundate everyone without exception. This Kali-yuga is so glorious!'
Hearing this voice, everyone became joyful. The house of Kuvera Pandita became filled with auspiciousness. Fortunate people who witnessed Advaita Acarya grow day by day were filled with jubilation. Advaita would sometimes hide Himself, and only by the will of Shri Chaitanya was He found. Having Advaita in their village, the residents of Nava-grama floated in bliss forgetting all unhappiness and lamentation.
Although the Lord had two names—Kamalaksha and Advaita, everyone called Him Advaita. The childhood pastimes of Advaita were very wonderful, only fortunate persons were able to witness them. Who has the power to describe them? Shri Advaita Prabhu was like the pupil of everyone's eyes. They glorified Him in lying down and in their dreams. Again and again I say that all His associates were glorious as is the land of Bengal by the Lord's incarnation there.
Shri Kuvera Pandita, who was most sober and full of loving devotion told everyone, "We will move to the banks of the Ganges." Then along with his friends and other villagers, they all came to Shantipura from Nava-grama. Staying with a happy heart in Shantipura, sometimes he would go to Navadvipa to meet his friends. Kuvera Pandita carefully arranged for the Lord to study the shastras. Within a short time the Lord, the deliverer of the fallen, also became known as a pandita for His learning.
Although the mother and father of Advaita knew the truth about Him, still they forgot everything due to their parental affection. All the learned people of Shantipura were astonished seeing the activities of Advaita. Someone said, "Advaita Acarya could not be a human for, how could a human being attract the heart of everyone the way He does? Kuvera Pandita is a glorious personality because he had such a son by whom everyone is benefited."
In this way the people spoke as Advaita became the life and soul of everyone. Who can understand the desire of Advaita Prabhu, who gave His parents so much happiness in various ways?
After some time the Lord's mother and father disappeared and Advaita went to Gaya to offer shraddha. Taking the opportunity He visited all the holy places along the way. At that time He took mantra diksha from Madhavendra Puri. Who has the power to understand the activities of Advaita, who travelled always filled with ecstatic love of God?
While traveling thus, Advaita Prabhu arrived at Mathura-mandala. Seeing the beauty of Vraja, He became overwhelmed in ecstasy. After seeing all the places, He came to Vrindavana, whereupon all the Vraja-vasis carefully arranged His stay. Eating only some fruits, roots, and milk, people were astonished seeing His luster. Mad in ecstatic love, the Lord roared and cried out, "Will I see Krishna?'
In this way Advaita Acarya would feel various ecstatic moods at different times. The Lord would worship Krishna near the Yamuna. Then, knowing that the time had come for the appearance of Lord Chaitanya, He left Vrindavana and returned to Bengal. The pastimes of Advaita Acarya are like nectar, but only the fortunate can taste them.
O Shrinivasa, the tree under which Advaita Acarya used to stay became well known as Advaita-vata. Just by seeing this Advaita-vata one's sinful reactions are mitigated and the very rare gift of devotional love is obtained.
See the plants and creepers on the bank of Kalindi which are always fresh and beautiful. This is the very old tintidi tree [tamarind tree known as Amli-tala] where Radha and Krishna enjoyed Their pastimes with Their associates. Remembering His previous activities, Lord Chaitanya came here and sat in unlimited happiness."
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By JOSEPH B. WALKER
It isn’t that Sam is unsociable. It’s just that he’s . . . well . . . you know . . . an engineer.
Not the kind that drive trains. Those guys are social animals (who wouldn’t want to party with a guy who has one of those awesome train whistles to blow?). Sam is the kind of engineer who sits at a desk and uses mathematical theories and scientific principles to design things.
How sociable can you be when your brain is full of stuff like that?
And that’s where Sam’s brain was as he boarded the plane for Phoenix. He had a briefcase full of work, and he was planning on some nice, quiet air time to get a few things done before he touched down in the Valley of the Sun.
Then Clayton sat down next to him.
“Hi,” he said, “I’m Clayton and I’m 9 and I’m going to Arizona to visit my Grandma!”
The little boy’s enthusiasm was charming – and a little overwhelming.
“Hi, Clayton,” Sam replied. “I’m Sam and I was 9 about 48 years ago.”
See what I mean about engineers? Everything is an equation.
The row-mates chatted for a little while. No, that isn’t quite right. Clayton chatted and Sam listened. In just a few minutes Sam learned that Clayton attended a year-round school that was “off-track” for a couple of weeks, that he had an older brother and two older step-sisters and that he was especially excited to have some new coloring books and “bright liquid color” crayons. Clayton didn’t even slow down when the flight attendant brought their snack. He just kept chatting away while he munched, discussing everything and anything until he finally had to leave to use the rest room.
“OK,” Sam said to himself hopefully, “maybe he’ll settle down now and I can get some work done.”
He pulled out some reports and spread them on the fold-down table in front of him, trying to send a subtle message to Clayton. But Clayton is 9, and 9-year-old boys don’t DO subtle.
Or do they?
After settling back into his seat, Clayton looked Sam right in the eye.
“Sam,” he said, “you’re a pretty nice guy.”
That caught Sam a little off-guard.
“What makes you think that?” he asked.
Clayton didn’t hesitate. “You talk to me,” he said. “The last airplane trip I went on, the guy sitting next to me told me to shut up because he had to read.” He glanced at the pile of papers on the table in front of Sam. Then he looked back at Sam.
The fact is, Sam IS a nice guy. Which is why he spent the rest of the flight talking – well, OK, mostly listening – to a talkative 9-year-old boy. And then when they landed in Phoenix he stayed on the plane until the flight attendant was finished with her other duties and could take care of Clayton.
And you know what? All of that work that Sam wanted to do on the plane eventually got done anyway. Only it got done by a smiling engineer who had a new 9-year-old friend.
Of course, it’s entirely possible that Clayton set Sam up and used his “niceness” against him. But even if he did, where’s the harm? There’s always plenty of work to be done, and plenty of quiet, boring plane rides in which to do it. But the chance to make a new friend doesn’t come along every day.
Especially if you don’t have one of those awesome train whistles to blow.
(To read more by Joseph B. Walker please go to Josephbwalker.com.)
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A stunning design structure.
Instead of the traditional waiting shed, designers from Iosa Ghini Associati have created the South Face, a shade-like architectural installation made of insulated modular walls that face the south. The wall is composed of hollow panels that are made from eco-cement and quarry substrates. These components are known to have the ability to accommodate thick, lush foliage, and because of this, the eco-façade forms a vertical garden that is responsible for absorbing carbon dioxide and eventually uses it to insulate the façade’s enclosed environment. The South Face has inviting built-in seating areas wherein passersby are invited and encouraged stop by and relax.
via i green spot
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Observations of Kim Jong-Il's funeral
In this photo taken on December 28, 2011 a car carries a portrait of Kim Jong-Il, (lower R) in front of the procession carrying Kim's body (upper L) during the funeral procession in Pyongyang.
This final note today. From North Korea, where a black hearse carried the departed Dear Leader Kim Jong-Il through the streets of Pyongyang to his grave today.
The hearse that carried him was actually a 35-year old Michigan-made Lincoln Continental. An interesting choice given the state of U.S.-North Korean relations.
Also worth noting: It appears North Korean State Television didn't have enough cameras to cover the entire funeral procession. After about 20 minutes, the channel cut to interviews with mourners, then came back with more of the procession. Though one observer said the light in the sky got brighter on TV as evening approached outside, suggesting the shots were probably not live.
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The Idaho Transportation Department has issued a permit today for a mega-load to roll across Idaho from the Port of Wilma in Washington, entering Idaho on Route 128, and along U.S. Highway 12 to the Montana border. But this time, the shipment – which weighs approximately 520,000 pounds – is water purification equipment destined for northern Alberta.
The load, which has been shipped up the Columbia River, is expected to leave the Port of Wilma beginning Monday, October 22, and take four days to reach the Montana border before heading north.
The mega-load, which is 300 feet long, 20 feet wide, and 22 feet high, will be accompanied by three flagging teams, three pilot vehicles, two vehicles with portable signs, and the Idaho State Police.
(By George Prentice, Boise Weekly)
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6 Easy Resistance Band Exercises
Take a break from your dumbbells and try this resistance-band workout three times a week.
Think you need a pile of weights to get in shape? Snap out of it and grab an exercise band instead. This portable piece of equipment may be even more effective than a set of dumbbells, because it improves strength and balance. Plus, “you work in a full range of motion, so it targets muscles that you can miss with weights,” says Lawson Harris, creator of this routine and owner of the Lab, a fitness studio in Brooklyn. Try these moves three times a week.
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I am sure that a work done by one or two pious men is not done without the cooperation of the Holy Spirit. For when nothing merely human is put before us, when holy men are moved to action with no thought of their own personal gratification, and with the sole object of pleasing God, it is plain that it is the Lord Who is directing their hearts.
St. Basil the Great
But there is a second kind of faith, which is bestowed by Christ as a gift of grace. For to one is given through the Spirit the word of wisdom, and to another the word of knowledge according to the same Spirit: to another faith, by the same Spirit, and to another gifts of healing?. This faith then which is given of grace from the Spirit is not merely doctrinal, but also worketh things above man?s power. For whosoever hath this faith, shall say to this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place, and it shall remove?. For whenever any one shall say this in faith, believing that it cometh to pass, and shall not doubt in his heart, then receiveth he the grace.
St. Cyril Archbishop of Jerusalem
Catechetical Lectures. Lecture V
The Lord says, ?Why call ye Me Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say to you? ?? For men of this stamp do indeed say that they believe in the Father and the Son, but they never meditate as they should upon the things of God, neither are they adorned with works of righteousness; but, as I have already observed, they have adopted the lives of swine and of dogs, giving themselves over to filthiness, to gluttony, and recklessness of all sorts. Justly, therefore, did the apostle call all such ?carnal? and ?animal,???[all those, namely], who through their own unbelief and luxury do not receive the Divine Spirit, and in their various phases cast out from themselves the life-giving Word, and walk stupidly after their own lusts: the prophets, too, spake of them as beasts of burden and wild beasts; custom likewise has viewed them in the light of cattle and irrational creatures; and the law has pronounced them unclean.
Irenaeus Against Heresies, Book V, Chapter VIII
Yet it is in our power, if we will, no longer to be in the flesh, no, nor upon the earth, but in heaven, and in the Spirit. For our being here or there, is not determined so much by our position, as by our disposition. ... Let us then be in ourselves, in heaven, in the Spirit. Let us abide in the peace and in the grace of God, that we may be set at liberty from all the things of the flesh, and may be able to attain to those good things which are promised in Jesus Christ our Lord, with whom to the Father, together with the Holy Spirit, be glory, and might, and honor, now and henceforth, and for ever and ever. Amen.
St. John Chrysostom
Homilies on the Epistle of St. Paul to the Ephesians, Homily V
The point is, as you know, the zeal that we were discussion, that active, live, fervent, untiring zeal that is the sign our spirit has been rehabilitated and restored to its former power through reunion with God by means of the grace and action of the Holy Spirit. We do have outbursts of zeal, but they are only outbursts, and then they are extinguished. The zeal which is always fervent constant and untiring zeal, exists only when our spirit is filled with grace by the Holy Spirit.
St. Theophan the recluse
The Spiritual Life, (p. 116)
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WALKER LAKEMiles of SANDY BEACHES provide access to boating, water and jet skiing, and camping. The lake is a desert terminal water body, one of only four or five in the world and one of two in Nevada. In prehistoric times, it was part of Lake Lahontan that covered much of the state, including the area around Fallon and Pyramid Lake. Near the town of WALER LAKE, Highway 95 winds across awesome CLIFFS with turnouts for lake viewing. BIGHORN SHEEP can sometimes be seen in the area. The lake is overlooked by MT. GRANT, towering 11,245 feet high.
CAMPINGToday there are four federal and state campgrounds on the west side of the lake, just off Highway 95. Some have shaded tables with grills and fire pits and rest rooms. A minimal fee is charged at Sportsman's Beach. Note the signs there indicating lake levels at various years. Hiking, rock hounding, and wildlife viewing are added benefits.
WILDLIFEIn addition to pelicans and gulls, seasonal birds such as cormorants, grebes, plovers, ducks, and geese stop over on their migratory flights. Other wildlife you may see include hawks, coyotes, foxes, bighorn sheep, wild mustangs, and an occasional eagle, mountain lion or bear.
4 X 4 OHV ROADS AND TRAILS
Over 1,000 miles of 4 wheel drive trails and roads, many of which can be traveled by passenger car during the summer. See our Off Roading Routes tab at the top of this website and or for additional trails go to our sister website, www.minatrails.com.
Mineral County is OHV and ATV friendly, and we attract enthusiasts from neighboring states. In addition, Hawthorne has a competitive BMX track.
GHOST TOWNS AND MINING CAMPSAmong them, Rawhide, Candelaria, Marietta, and Aurora are accessible by passenger car in summer. Others, like Cabin under the Rock, require 4 wheel drive or ATVs. Marietta is home to a national wild burrow range. Fletcher Station, near Aurora, was once a stage stop. A cool water spring gushes from a lava bed, part of Aurora Crater.
UNIQUE MUSEUMSThe COUNTY MUSEUM displays geologic and historic items from Mineral County's prehistoric and mining past. Memorabilia from the WWII town of Babbitt is also featured. Our resident historian, Sue Silver, has published five volumes about Mineral County's history. The ORDNANCE MUSEUM displays wartime ammunition and military gear; it is one of only a few of its kind in the country.
GATEWAY TO THE SIERRAWithin a few hours, one departing from Hawthorne can visit Mono Lake, Yosemite, the Mammoth ski area, many Sierra lakes, Bridgeport, and the ghost town of Bodie.
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How to Make Your Own Solar Powered LED Christmas Lights
Each year we speak to and receive emails from a number of people who are interested in solar power Christmas lights. We’ve looked at several options for solar powered Christmas lights and found that most of the stuff that is on the market today simply isn’t very good. Most of the units we have looked at have solar panels that aren’t large enough or high enough quality to collect enough light to charge even a small battery. Additionally, the batteries on the sets we have tested all seem to be very low quality and don’t hold much of a charge. And worst of all, the lights weren’t even very bright. The average light output of the solar powered Christmas lights we tested had light output that was comparable to a dim power indicator light on a DVR or something. Since we couldn’t find any good solar power LED Christmas light sets we decided to make our own.
List of Materials
Working with a modest budget of around $200.00 we purchased everything that we needed for our solar powered Christmas light set up. (This may seem like a lot to those who have shopped around for solar Christmas light sets and found them for under $50 for the complete unit but anyone who has tried them will tell you they aren’t worth $5.) We were also able to purchase everything that we needed to complete the project at local stores like Menard’s. Most of the items in our materials list are also widely available online. With a few minutes on the computer or a quick trip to your local store you can have everything you need to create your own solar powered Christmas lights. Here is what you’ll need (*we are listing the exact materials we purchased the set up we constructed and which we feature in our video. We will add some comments throughout this article about what we think you might be able to do to improve the efficiency of the set up.):
- SunForce 15W Solar 12v Battery Charger Kit
- 2 Spade Terminals
- 2 Push on female spade terminals
- Victor 12v Power Outlet
- Peak 100W Power Inverter
- Woods Heavy Duty Timer
- Huskee 165 CCA Lead Acid Battery
- A plastic battery cover (We got ours at Tractor Supply but you can find them most anywhere.)
- 8 sets of 50 light LED Christmas lights
- The first step is to install the terminal connectors to the battery. The connectors are fastened to the two positive and negative terminals on the 12v battery using a simple nut and bolt assembly. Fasten the connectors tightly to each terminal on the battery.
- Next, bring the positive and negative wires from the 12v power outlet and the connection wire included with the solar panel unit together so you have two parallel wire lines. Tape the two positive wires and the two negative wires together using some standard electrical tape. Twist the wire ends of the positive and negative wires from the 12v outlet and the solar panel wire together and insert them into the connection end of the 2 female space connectors. (It's probably best to solder the wires to the female spade terminals.)
- Next, insert the male end of the 12v power inverter into the female end of the 12v power outlet. This is as simple as plugging something into the cigarette lighter in your car.
- Once you have connected the power inverter, plug the outdoor timer into the outlet on the power inverter. Although, the timer is not required we recommend using one so that you can set the lights to run only during certain times and conserve battery power.
- The next step is to connect the solar panel wire to the solar panel unit. The wire which was included with the unit we used had a simple male/female connection system so it was easy to connect.
Those are the items we picked up to build our solar powered Christmas lights set up. I think this could be improved and I would suggest that you consider a larger battery than what we used. The ideal battery would probably be a deep cycle marine type battery. This battery unit will be a bit more expensive but if you are serious about having a viable solar powered Christmas light set up this is definitely the way to go. I also think the power inverter we used would have been ideally a 50W inverter. The inverter also had a built in fan designed to cool the unit when it was handling larger amounts of power which isn’t necessary for our application. I suspect that the fan used as much power as or more than the LED Christmas lights. I spent some time looking around online and couldn’t find any lower wattage 12v inverters that didn’t have a built in cooling fan so this is something you might have to compensate for with a larger battery.
Building the Solar Power Battery Charger Unit
Putting the solar panel and battery charger unit together with the power inverter was relatively simple. The SunForce solar panel unit came equip with basically all the connections we need to get this going and we only needed to add a few things that can easily be done even if you are not an electrician or even considered to be “handy.”
At this point, the solar panel and battery assembly are ready to go. The battery you purchased is likely already fully charged so it will not require initial charging. You are now ready to position your solar unit for maximum efficiency.
Installing and Positioning the Solar Panel
We didn’t spend any time trying to figure out the best way to mount the solar panel but it will need to be mounted to a pole, tree, or some other object. It should be mounted in a manner so that it can be easily adjusted as necessary in order to receive maximum sun exposure. (I can imagine many sets up and I might figure something out later. If I do I’ll post something about it to share what I learned.) Once you have figured out a suitable method for mounting the solar panel it you need to look at some data for your geographic area to determine the optimal tilt and angle orientation for the solar panel. There are several websites out there that provide charts and explain how to make this calculation for your geographic area. This site has a pretty cool solar angle calculator. Be sure to take the time to look at one of these sites, make the calculations for your area, and take the time to position your solar panel properly--it can make a huge difference in performance.
Once you have determined the best angle and position for your solar panel, install the unit at the appropriate angle at a location near the site of installation. You may need to use some extension cords but we would recommend that you minimize the use of extension cords to avoid losing power due to voltage drop.
Install Your LED Christmas Lights
The final step is to install your LED Christmas lights. With the small tractor battery we purchased we were able to run 8 sets of our 50 light LED wide angle Christmas lights for about 4 hours. If your display requires more than 400 lights or you want them to operate for more than 4 hours a day you should purchase a larger battery. Each of these light sets consume about 4 watts so the total draw for our set up was 32 watts. This works out to be 128 watt hours. According to this watt calculator 5 hours of direct sunlight collected on a surface of 1.65 square feet would be required to produce this much energy. This (I assume) considers a collection surface which is 100% efficient and even high end solar panels are not this efficient.
After you have installed the Christmas lights, plug the lights into the outlet on the time and set the timer to turn the lights on and off at the desired time. The solar panel will continuously charge the battery.
Depending on your location and the time of year you may find that the solar panel does not gather enough sunlight to adequately charge the battery. There are two potential solutions to this. The first is to purchase a larger or more efficient solar panel unit but these can be costly. A less expensive option would be to buy an extra battery. You could charge one battery during the day with the solar panel and then take it inside and top it off with a standard 12v battery charger. each night you could swap the fully charged battery with the one which was being charged with the solar unit during the day.
We are currently have our solar panel unit installed outside in southern Michigan. Today is a nice sunny day so we will see how long it takes to charge the battery. I will update this post with more information as we conclude our experiment.
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The Benefits of ScotBUG
By joining Scotland's cycling community and registering a BUG, free of charge, on ScotBUG you will:
- get your own customisable homepage, a great place to show your organisation's commitment to cycling, your employees and your community;
- become connected with all of your cycling colleagues by posting comments on your BUG's 'wall';
- get connected with BUGs around the country enabling you to share info/events/news with them;
- gain access to free promotional materials, posters, information leaflets etc;
- have a 'downloads' section to store cycling doc's that your colleagues may need access to;
- receive email notifications for activities on you BUG;
- take a step towards the Nationally recognised Cycle Friendly Employer award;
- view location specific weather forecasts;
- receive regular updates from the Bike Station.
All you need to do is sign up, which takes about 2 minutes, then start telling your colleagues about it. We even make that easy with customisable posters available in the downloads section of you BUG.
Once your BUG is up and running why not contact us at the Bike Station to find out how you can strengthen your BUG and get more people cycling to work. Below are just some of the services we can offer:
- Dr Bike 'free bike servicing' sessions for your workplace;
- A Cycle Friendly Employer assessment;
- help promoting Bike Week and other cycling events;
- supply of puncture repair kits and tools to keep on site;
- training on bicycle maintenance;
- one-to-one on-road cycle training;
- bike buddying for novice cyclists;
- advice on installing the best cycle parking.
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Teach For America Q&A with Zachary Simmons
9th Grade Physical Science and Physics Teacher
Todd County High School
Undergraduate Institution: University of St. Thomas, St. Paul, MN
1) How did you decide to apply to Teach for America?
I had been looking for some sort of service to do after my undergrad work before grad school that would draw on my science and engineering education. I looked at some foreign programs, there are some in engineering through the peace corps, and that kind of thing, but most of those were in areas like civil engineering and I didn't think would match as well with my skills in EE and physics.
I stumbled across TFA at a service program info session at my school and was drawn in by the fact they have a site in South Dakota. I'm from SD and I liked the idea of making a contribution in my own state, helping a situation that i felt i should really know more about anyway. I know there is a special need for qualified teachers, especially in technical fields, and especially in rural areas, and i felt that would be one of the best ways to apply my education, so I applied. Also, i come from an undergraduate institution with a strong focus on teaching and students, and i came to greatly appreciate that and want to give something back in that regard. Also, they're working on renewable energy on the Reservations that TFA places people in SD which is something I'm very interested in.
Something i heard at a TFA info dinner really summed it up for me. We were all sitting around discussing future plans and talking about, almost lamenting, all the options we had. One of the TFA alums made the comment that one of the reasons he did TFA was to give his students that same right, that right to opportunities. That idea became one of my main reasons for me wanting to join TFA.
2) What do you like most about teaching? ...like least?
As for teaching, i like being able to connect with students and use what I know to open their minds and their opportunities. I know that a big problem in technical fields is that they can intimidate students. I've heard a lot of "i'm bad at math" or "I just don't do math" and these statements are so sad to me because they're not true. I know that my students could do it if they were held to a higher standard and given some extra help and I hope to be some small part of that. I feel like if they can catch the bug that is the wonder and possibility of science, that can be a tremendous motivating force toward their academic achievement and giving them opportunities in life.
One thing that i did not fully appreciate about teaching is how much work it is. A big part of that is the institute experience, but its a lot of work to think about how to best present material for students so that they get the most out of it. Its definitely cultivated a different perspective on science in me.
3) What kinds of things did you like to do within your SPS chapter? Is their a connection between your SPS activities and your decision to join Teach for America?
I didn't have a tremendous amount of involvement with my SPS chapter. It wasn't because i didn't want to as much as we were just a fledgling chapter from a pretty small physics program. I was in charge of service activities for a year and organized a few things in that vein but I don't have any grand projects to talk about. I would say though, more broadly, that there was a definite connection between my physics educational experience and my decision to join TFA. I come from a liberal arts university and the focus is on teaching, on the students, and i really liked and came to appreciate that focus. That was one of the things to get me interested in possibly teaching.
4) Who are your favorite teachers, and what did they do to achieve that status?
Theres a lot! I'll mention a couple. My physics advisor, Marty Johnston, had a big influence on me. He challenged me a lot academically which I really enjoyed and appreciated, but also he was always there to talk about things, anything really, and he treated me and my fellow students as equals and gave us a lot of responsibility. I liked that.
Jeff Jalkio, my EE advisor, was another prof that i really came to appreciate. He had the amazing ability to make anything interesting, which is a tall order when you're talking about something like computer architecture or assembly code. I came to admire that and that had an influence on my own desire to perhaps be a teacher. Also, he went to great lengths to help his students and i really appreciated that. He really knew the underlying material and that showed in his classes and I want to be like that.
5) Who is your favorite physicist?
Richard Feynman comes to mind.
6) What would you say is an important consideration or piece of advice that you would give other SPS members who are thinking about applying to Teach for America?
Talk to grad schools. Most I think are quite accommodating as far as deferral and TFA. That was a concern I had but was put to ease once I started talking to schools. Also, the application process is not dissimilar to the grad school application process, so you might as well give it consideration.
Also, since i've been in SD, it has really impressed me how much of an impact you can make. Not only are you helping students get through school and give them the educational opportunities they deserve, but as a student of physics myself, to know that i can directly help my students see some of the wonder in the world that i find so fascinating is really motivating.
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The AACA’s Next Steps Transitional English Program celebrated its 20th anniversary on Jan. 17. Current and former students shared their experiences in America, while teachers congratulated them on their success.
When Danfeng “Annie” Chen came to America, she had no family and no English skills.
She enrolled in basic English classes, but felt stuck in terms of improvement. That changed when she signed up for the Next Steps Transitional English Program in 2009 at the Asian American Civic Association.
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This gene encodes one member of a family of immunoglobulin Fc receptor genes found on the surface of many immune response cells. The protein encoded by this gene is a cell surface receptor found on phagocytic cells such as macrophages and neutrophils, and is involved in the process of phagocytosis and clearing of immune complexes. Alternative splicing results in multiple transcript variants. [provided by RefSeq].
* Shipping is in business days
* OriGene provides validated application data and protocol, with money back guarantee.
HEK293T cells were transfected with the pCMV6-ENTRY control (Left lane) or pCMV6-ENTRY FCGR2A (RC205786, Right lane) cDNA for 48 hrs and lysed. Equivalent amounts of cell lysates (5 ug per lane) were separated by SDS-PAGE and immunoblotted with anti-FCGR2A.
Immunoprecipitation(IP) of FCGR2A by using TrueMab monoclonal anti-FCGR2A antibodies (Negative control: IP without adding anti-FCGR2A antibody.). For each experiment, 500ul of DDK tagged FCGR2A overexpression lysates (at 1:5 dilution with HEK293T lysate), 2ug of anti-FCGR2A antibody and 20ul (0.1mg) of goat anti-mouse conjugated magnetic beads were mixed and incubated overnight. After extensive wash to remove any non-specific binding, the immuno-precipitated products were analyzed with rabbit anti-DDK polyclonal antibody.
Researchers who bought this antibody have also purchased:
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Sunday, July 20th, 2008...7:17 pm
#48: Child Empowerment
The Best Parent Ever is better than you because they are ensuring their child feels “empowered” beyond all reasonable human (or even god-like) abilities, certain to succeed in this world with little more than their good looks and Mount Rushmore-sized ego.
Let’s face it: is there anything worse than the whole “believe in yourself” movement? Children’s media, education, and parenting techniques are all geared towards convincing our young ones they can succeed almost by self-esteem alone. Forget hard work, lucky breaks, and rich relatives. You just have to set your mind to a certain accomplishment — sort of like programming the Favorites on an Ipod — and then it magically plays out. Except, that’s not how it works. Otherwise, we would all be instant rock stars, astronauts, and the President of Canada (yes, we know they only have a Prime Minister, but empowered children won’t let that stop them).
Sure, building self-esteem is important, but so much of the empowerment movement feels like a kneejerk reaction to the esteem-crushing ’70s and early ’80s, when today’s parents were themselves growing up. On the other hand, a lot of those old latchkey kids turned out just fine. If only the same could be said of this new generation of uber-narcissists. Don’t take our word for it. Just ask anyone with an older child still living at home well into their late 20s and 30s, despite a Costco-sized surplus of post grad degrees and career-making opportunities. Note to Best Parent Ever: you won’t be getting that extra scrapbooking room anytime soon.
So take that, ya lazy-ass Pilgrims and your do-nothing Native American pals! How this incredible modern world was built up from a couple of maize seeds and rotten bark chips without child empowerment classes just baffles the mind of the Best Parent Ever. Too bad they didn’t have Blue from “Blue’s Clues” to find some food at the First Thanksgiving, or Dr. Sears to invent the papoose for the Indians. We’d all be better off by now. In fact, we’d be the Best Parent Ever.
For more “helpful” parenting tips, join the BPE Discussion Board!
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Delta Air Lines has dedicated one of its Boeing 757 aircraft to America’s servicemen and women in time for Veterans Day.
A Delta Air Lines flight made an emergency landing in New York Thursday afternoon when it suffered a bird strike and the cabin filled with smoke, according to passengers.
Four flights, 44 hours of flying, and one day trip to Ethiopian Airlines headquarters in Addis Ababa later, we’ve gathered quite a story about one of Africa’s fastest-growing carriers.
After capturing the first video of Donald Trump’s new Boeing 757 in action and speculating that it was the perfect size to move Donald and an entourage around the country for a presidential run, the New York Post one-upped us and actually got onboard the jet. But about that $100 million price tag…
WestJet has published a photo of their new Boeing 757, an aircraft wet-leased from North American Airlines which the carrier will use for service to Honolulu and Maui out of Calgary and Edmonton.
Arrow Air, the Miami-based cargo carrier with a long history of cargo, passenger and even aircraft leasing operations, grounded their fleet on Wednesday, concluding several years of financial gloom.
American Airlines introduces their fourth plane in Oneworld titles, most recently this 757-200 registered N174AA, caught in Miami by photography Robert Collazo.
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Elizabeth Streb has been testing the potential of the human body since childhood. Can she fly? Can she run up walls? Can she break through glass? How fast can she go? Combining memoir and theory, Streb conveys how she became an extreme action choreographer, developing a form of movement that’s more NASCAR than modern dance, more boxing than ballet. This book is for those who try or are willing to do just about anything to become a hero in their own way.
"...it’s incredibly well written, blazingly articulate, brimming with ideas regarding space, time, movement—as if Martha Graham and Albert Einstein had a love child and named her Streb; like Batman and Robin gave her the secret code to how to explain all that happens behind KAPOW, SPLAT, and ZOWIE."
"Fearlessness and intelligence combined—that is what makes Elizabeth Streb's work so potent and beautiful."
"Elizabeth courts danger, tricks the eye, and thrills the spirit. She is a dynamic force. She's superhuman. She's Superwoman."
"in this inspiring and passionate book, ultra-tenacious Elizabeth shares with the reader some of her surrealist goals: leaving a room through the walls; never landing after jumping; and moving so fast that you stand still. Wow!"
"A daring, fiery rebel against constraints on mind and body? A brilliant prophet of a new metaphysics and physics of dance? Elizabeth is all this, and more. Against all odds, she made herself a great, original artist. Now she takes flight while staying rooted in the soil of the hard-working practioner. STREB is her irreplaceable story."
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Are you constantly struggling to get your tween or teen to put down his phone?
17-year-old Austin Wierschke of Wisconsin garnered $50,000 yesterday for his texting skills as the winner of the U.S. National Texting Championship. The competition, held in New York's Times Square, challenged competitors' dexterity, accuracy and speed. Austin won the competition by typing a 149-character message with correct punctuation, capitalization, and symbols in only 39 seconds.
Wierschke's explanation for his unusual talent might surprise: "I like texting because you think more about what you say."
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Ames Manufacturing Company. Bronze Foundry,
Collection size: 0.2 linear ft. (on partial microfilm reel)
Collection Summary: Correspondence, castings record, financial materials, photographs and printed materials relating primarily to the work of the Bronze Division of the Ames Manufacturing Company.
Professional and personal correspondence, chiefly of James Tyler Ames, with sculptors, architects, government officials, and colleagues, including his brother, Nathan Peabody Ames, Henry Kirke Brown, Randolph Rogers, and Thomas Ustick Walter. A castings record (16 p.) contains expenses and final prices of bronze castings, a printed list of "Bronze Works Executed by the Ames Manufacturing Company," and photographs of completed work. There are also an expense account for the Lincoln National Monument artillery and cavalry groups, lists of expenses relating to "Bronze Castings for Washington and his Horse," the (Benjamin) "Franklin Statue," and other works. Photographs are of works cast by the Ames Company and of unidentified works, of Ames' artisans, of a room in James Ames' house with framed medallions of Washington and Franklin on the wall, and of a head of Washington and a head of his horse in Thomas Ball's studio; reports by the architect of the Capitol extension, and the U.S. Art Commission (1860); Ames Company promotional items; a printed narrative of the incidents connected with the statue of Washington in Union Square by Henry Kirke Brown; and clippings relating to various statues.
Biographical/Historical Note: The Ames Manufacturing Company, Chicopee, Massachusetts, was founded in 1835 by James Tyler Ames and his brother, Nathan Peabody Ames. The company manufactured small tools, cotton machinery, swords, cannons, and did casting of bells. It began manufacturing large bronze statuary circa 1850.
Donated 1986 by Malcolm Stearns, Jr., who purchased them from Parke Bernet, New York, in the 1960s. There are numerous notations on the backs of letters and photographs. It is not known who added this information.
How to Use this Collection
- Microfilm reel 3828 available at Archives of American Art offices and through interlibrary loan.
- Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center. Microfilmed materials must be consulted on microfilm. Contact Reference Services for more information.
- For more information on using the Archives’ resources, see the FAQ or Ask Us.
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Thursday, May 23, 2013
I am interested in the editorial in the March 14 Press Herald headlined "Our View: Concealed carry permits are public documents."
Spectators watch from the hallway last week in Augusta at a public hearing on a bill that would make permanent a ban on releasing the names of Mainers with concealed-weapons permits.
2013 Kennebec Journal File Photo /Joe Phelan
The logic behind that opinion raises several questions. Many government documents are not public. Who decides which are public and which are not?
A few years ago, my car was parked in the parking lot at a marina. When I came out, two other cars had blocked me in.
I called the local police to find the owners of those cars. The police would not call the state Motor Vehicles Bureau to identify the owners. Apparently that information is not public.
I am the property manager at a church in Portland. We often find cars parked in our lot that interfere with snowplowing and other activities.
The Portland police will not identify for us the owners of these cars. Apparently that information is not public.
So I question why public documents pertaining to motor vehicles are not available to the public, while the Portland Press Herald considers that public documents pertaining to concealed-carry are.
Allen J. Bingham
While it is true that public disclosures of concealed-weapons licenses are essential to accountable government, that is not, for this reader, the most compelling reason for them.
Citizens may be entitled to fill their own properties with all the guns and ammunition they can legally acquire, so that they can defend their homes against marauding bureaucrats and liberals gone wild. And they may be entitled to fire their weapons on their own properties or those of their like-minded friends and neighbors.
But no citizen should fear for his or own safety when in public spaces or on the public ways.
Jurisdictions far and wide erect caution signs, yellow blinking lights, railroad crossing warnings, etc., to prevent harm to the unsuspecting from the missteps (however innocent) of others in command of equipment capable of doing inordinate and unexpected harm. A gun is such a piece of equipment.
An unconcealed gun carried on a public way by a stranger not in uniform is frightening. Even more frightening is the prospect that the man or woman approaching you from down the street might have such a weapon concealed – and you have no way of knowing it.
If we must have concealed weapons in public – which is questionable – who has them should be regularly published public information.
The gun owners of Maine are beginning to awaken to the terrible shadow of doubt and blame being put on them by the anti-gun people and the media.
Most, if not all, gun owners were more shocked by and sorrowful at the heinous act committed at Newtown, Conn., than ordinary citizens. They knew what was going to happen next as the president, media and the antis pointed at them.
Well, with the recent anti-gun rhetoric and articles in the Maine media, I have decided, "Enough."
Those who spout this ignorant garbage cannot do it without a cost. I've been a loyal customer of Downeast Energy for 30 years, but the recent bias shown by their former president, John Peters, was the last straw.
I refer to the front-page article in the March 1 Portland Press Herald ("Business safety concerns vs. gun permit holders"). It was written to cast concealed-weapons permit holders as less trustworthy than John Q. Public, and that is not so. Therefore, I am changing energy companies!
It is time that gun owners spoke up and made those who point the finger know the cost of such wrong and hurtful words. Actions speak louder than words!
It is time that gun owners tell advertisers they will not trade with them if they continue to do business with newspapers that are not fair and unbiased.
(Continued on page 2)
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This year’s British Food Fortnight is being held from 18th September to 3rd October and there is plenty happening to keep even the most devoted foodie busy. Since Autumn 2002 British Food Fortnight has helped to inform and educate people about England’s seasonal and regionally distinct produce and highlight the health benefits of local, seasonal food. The organisers aim to encourage a renaissance in the pleasures of preparing and eating regional food and drink. Thousands of activities are taking place across the country including food and drink festivals, special menus in pubs and restaurants, promotions and celebrations, making this year’s event the biggest ever. There are many diverse entities taking part this year from the Army to the BBC, Harrods and John Lewis. More than twenty British universities, the National Trust and even St Paul’s Cathedral are also hosting special events, as are many more groups, organisations and businesses. There is even afternoon tea and traditional British Ales on offer at Heathrow Airport’s first British Food Fortnight celebration.
There are also more opportunities than ever before for everyone to get out there and taste the best of British food with over twenty food festivals, fruit and vegetable shows, competitions (including the Battle of the Bangers competition for British butchers), cooking demonstrations, talks, trips to farms, and more. This year there is also a fabulous competition for British school children, where they are being challenged to plan and cook a meal based on recipes that would have been served in their region of the country in previous generations. The prize? An invitation to London to cook their chosen meal for HRH The Duchess of Cornwall and television chefs The Hairy Bikers.
More importantly, this year is a warm up for the incredible British Food Fortnight planned for London’s Olympic Year in 2012. For just that year, the dates of British Food Fortnight will be changed so that it runs in tandem with the Olympics, showcasing the best of British produce for the eyes of the whole world to see.
Want to know more? Here are some useful links, plus keep your eyes open for lots more articles in the press, promotions in shops and restaurants, and events in every corner of Britain. And if you can’t be here to celebrate with us, visit some of these great websites to get a bit of the flavour of all the wonderful food our great country has to offer.
The BBC Good Food website will be highlighting the ‘Best of British’ on their website by highlighting a different classic dish each day. Today it is Gooey School Treacle Sponge. Click here to go and have a look at more recipes at BBC Good Food.
UKTV Good Food Channel have dedicated a whole section of their website to British Food Fortnight. Click here to visit and learn more about our cuisine, regional food and for some really great traditional recipes.
You can also check out Delicious Magazine’s British Food Fortnight recipes by clicking here .
And to learn more about British Food Fortnight and loving British food all year round visit the Love British Food website itself. They also have a page with links to some great British food recipes that you can go straight to by clicking here.
Britain has a food heritage to be proud of and British Food Fortnight is the perfect opportunity to celebrate it!
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For many, 2012 was a landmark year. It was full of activism and advocacy. Community organizations grew and changed. North Carolinians banded together in the face of an anti-LGBT amendment. The community grew closer and stronger. The amendment, by far, will rank atop any imaginable list of the major stories of the year, as it does here. But, there were certainly other noteworthy happenings over the past 12 months. Good or bad or otherwise, these moments are the hallmarks of this year’s LGBT history.
‚ÄúWe don‚Äôt think government can solve all our problems. But we don‚Äôt think that government is the source of all our problems ‚ÄĒ any more than are welfare recipients, or corporations, or unions, or immigrants, or gays, or any other group we‚Äôre told to blame for our troubles.‚ÄĚ
QPoll: Were you impressed with Charlotte’s hosting of the DNC? Did everything go over smoothly? Did Charlotte really shine?
Were you impressed with Charlotte’s hosting of the DNC? Did everything go over smoothly? Did Charlotte really shine?
Organizers for the Democratic National Convention last week said they wanted to have the most open and accessible convention in history. From the looks of things, all went as planned, as thousands of convention delegates and guests packed into Uptown Charlotte with thousands more protesters, lookers-on and native Charlotteans looking to get into a bit of the DNC action.
A who’s who of LGBT and LGBT-friendly politicians, party leaders and other special guests gathered at the last LGBT caucus of the 2012 Democratic National Convention on Thursday.
With flags, banners and signs flying as chants and applause filled Time Warner Cable Arena, President Barack Obama on Thursday accepted his nomination to run again for president.
The 2012 Democratic Convention proved to be reflective of the country‚Äôs ‚Äúmelting pot‚ÄĚ moniker in multiple ways. The number of LGBT delegates is historical and record-breaking: 486 in total from every state in the country and a dramatic upswing from the 288 on board for the DNC in ‚Äô08.
President Barack Obama’s nomination acceptance speech has packed out the Time Warner Cable Arena in downtown Charlotte. Anticipating a stirring speech, thousands of delegates and guests began pouring into the venue as early as noon today.
As delegates and party activists arrived in Charlotte for the Democratic National Convention, several LGBT delegates from Colorado were mixing it up with the other party faithful. While the convention is always a flood of energy and excitement, Elizabeth Harris and Brayden Portillo are riding the high with unbridled enthusiasm.
It hit me as I was standing outside of the convention hall Tuesday looking at all of the various protestors, vendors, and security officers. For the first time, I hadn’t seen any stand-alone religious bigots standing outside and chanting about “perverts” and holding signs about sexual deviants and “the sin of homosexuality.”
The last caucus of LGBT delegates and guests at the Democratic National Convention was held early Thursday afternoon and comments about gay Republicans from outgoing Massachusetts Congressman Barney Frank stirred controversy.
This year’s Democratic National Convention saw a significant and historic jump in the total number of LGBT delegates. New Jersey had one of the most significant increases, and Garden State LGBT delegates have been in the middle of the action all week.
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March 1, 2007
Daniel Pipes fights the worldwide threat of Islamism—from Malibu
Pipes spoke at UC Irvine in January
The view from Daniel Pipes' front porch in Malibu is "California Dreamin'" perfect. With the Pacific stretching beyond the horizon, the vista induces a Zen-like calm. If the scholar's striped cotton shirt and khakis betray his Boston roots, Pipes' barely audible voice and gentle demeanor suggest that he has gone native just weeks after his arrival as a visiting professor this semester at Pepperdine University.
But Pipes' words are not so laid-back. The 57-year-old Harvard-educated Middle East expert is one of the most prominent scholars to have warned of the growing threat of fundamentalist Muslim terrorism to the West before the Sept. 11 attacks. He has become a lightening rod for some Muslims as well as other critics, in part because he predicts that radical Islam is a far greater threat than most people would like to imagine. The United States, he says, must gird itself for a protracted struggle against an enemy that wants nothing less than to transform this country from a beacon of democracy into a repressive Islamic state.
"You name it, radical Islam is anti-Semitic, anti-Christian, anti-female, anti-moderate Muslim and anti anyone who disagrees with it," said Pipes, who is Jewish. "Anyone in their way is their enemy."
Pipes calls himself a "soldier" in the war against Islamic fundamentalism; he is founder and director of the Middle East Forum -- a Philadelphia think tank that publishes Middle East Quarterly -- and he has written hundreds of newspaper columns, appeared countless times on Fox News and CNN and traveled the globe, including a recent trip to England to debate London Mayor Ken Livingstone with the purpose of warning of the growing danger. He soon plans to unveil Islamist Watch, a Web site which he describes as an attempt to monitor nonviolent radical Islam in the West.
Pipes gets nearly 3 million visits annually to his Web site, making him, if not exactly a household name, then at least one of the most prominent anti-Islamists on the scene.
"It used to be that people would ask him if he was related to me," said Pipes' father, Richard Pipes, professor emeritus of Russian history at Harvard and a former policy adviser to President Ronald Reagan. "Now, it's the other way around."
Like his father, Daniel Pipes has a reputation for bluntness and a willingness to go against conventional wisdom -- both in the academy and elsewhere. Whereas Richard Pipes sounded the alarm against appeasing the Soviets, Daniel Pipes preaches against working with radical Muslims, no matter how law-abiding, scholarly or open-minded they might appear.
Instead, "like David Duke and Louis Farrakhan," Pipes said, "Islamists should be ostracized socially and politically."
He favors the profiling of Muslims at U.S. airports.
Pipes has come to Pepperdine to teach a graduate seminar on "Islam & Politics." During his time in Southern California, he is also speaking about the war on terror and the Arab-Israeli conflict at a number of local institutions. In late February, Pipes gave a talk at Valley Beth Shalom in Encino; on March 29, he will speak at Sinai Temple.
His supporters believe that Pipes provides an invaluable service.
"Without Daniel Pipes, we would never be able to prepare ourselves to face the enemy," said Tashbih Sayyed, the editor in chief of Pakistan Today and Muslim World Today, weekly newspapers that oppose militant Islam. "We would be standing unprepared and unarmed, just like a sitting duck."
Pipes, said Robert Spencer, founder of Jihad Watch and author of the New York Times bestseller "The Truth About Muhammad," is "one of the most heroic defenders in the United States against global jihad." However, Pipes' detractors call him paranoid, prone to conspiracy theories and anti-Islamic, though Pipes has long said, "Radical Islam is the problem, and moderate Islam is the solution."
On Jan. 31, dozens of members of the Muslim Student Union interrupted a speech he was delivering at UC Irvine before they stormed out in protest. In 2003, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a Muslim civil rights group that Pipes has characterized as a Saudi-funded, pro-Hamas Islamist outfit, led efforts to block his nomination by President Bush to the board of the U.S. Institute of Peace.
After several senators opposed Pipes, including Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.), who said that Pipes' record "did not reflect a commitment to bridging differences and preventing conflict," the White House made a recess appointment, which allowed Pipes to serve for 16 months.
UCLA law professor Khaled Abou El Fadl, author of "The Great Theft: Wrestling Islam From the Extremists," and a presidential appointee to the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, described Pipes at the start of his career as a "promising scholar" of Islamic history, who has since lost his perspective.
"Pipes has grown ... more suspicious and more alarmist," said El Fadl, whom Pipes has called a stealth Islamist. "His whole recent work has turned to a critique of Islam based on conspiracy theory."
Driven largely by a desire to discredit Muslim critics of Israel, Pipes is "clearly opposed to the interests of the American Muslim community and would do anything in his power, I believe, to prevent the political and social empowerment of American Muslims," said Ibrahim Hooper, national spokesman for CAIR.
Stephen Suleyman Schwartz, executive director of the Center for Islamic Pluralism, a Washington D.C.-based think tank that promotes moderate Islam, said groups such as CAIR "smear" Pipes, because he exposes the dangers they pose.
Yet, Pipes' critics have failed to derail him. With untiring zeal, he works to blunt what he sees as the threat of radical Islam wherever it crops up. A recent crusade involved a seemingly minor issue at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.
For years, some Muslim cab drivers had refused to pick up passengers visibly carrying alcohol, typically in duty free bags, because of religious considerations. The situation had inherent frictions, as the cabbies who turned down the fares had to return to the back of the cab line, while the riders who had been denied service sometimes felt angry and confused as to why the drivers had bypassed them. To resolve the problem, the Metropolitan Airports Commission came up with a proposal: Drivers unwilling to carry clients carrying alcohol could have a second light on the roof of their cabs that would indicate their intentions. The cabbies would no longer have to go back to the end of the line, and customers would be more informed.
After the national media picked up on the issue, however, the commission began to receive complaints that Muslim drivers were getting special treatment. Pipes ratcheted the pressure even further when he wrote an opinion piece for the New York Sun, published last Oct. 10 and posted on his Web site, blasting the proposed program.
"Why stop with alcohol?" Pipes asked in his op-ed. "Muslim taxi drivers in several countries already balk at allowing seeing-eye dogs in their cars. Future demands could include not transporting women with exposed arms or hair, homosexuals and unmarried couples."
In the end, the commission scrapped the plan. Instead of accommodating the Muslim drivers, who make up an estimated 70 percent of the airport's 900 drivers, the commission recently announced that it plans to conduct a public hearing to consider increasing penalties for taxi drivers who refuse service to customers at the airport.
"I'm sure [Pipes] helped bring attention to" the issue, said Patrick Hogan, public affairs director for the Metropolitan Airports Commission.
James Zogby, founder and president of the influential Arab American Institute in Washington, D.C., an organization that serves as the political and policy arm of the Arab American community, accuses Pipes of seeing threats where none exist, and said Pipes' "disinformation" fuels suspicions about American Muslims and Arabs.
"He is obsessed, in a not healthy way, with all things Arab and Muslim," Zogby said.
Pipes grew up outside of Boston, and as a child was reserved and bookish, devouring classics in his free time. As a student at Harvard, he experienced a political and academic awakening.
He initially hoped to become a mathematician, but said he found the material too abstract. Trips to Niger and Tunisia piqued his interest in the Islamic world, and he changed his major to Middle East history.
During his college years, in the late 1960s and early 1970s, Harvard, like many universities nationwide, was a hotbed of protest and anti-war activism. After some students took over an administrative building, Pipes felt alienated by what he describes as their "wild-eyed, untenable views." Foreshadowing his later experiences as a professor, he found himself feeling isolated -- a conservative in a liberal, even radical, environment.
After graduating in 1971, Pipes spent nearly three years in Cairo. He learned Arabic and studied the Quran, which he said gave him an appreciation for Islam. His experience in Egypt led him to pursue a doctorate in early Islamic history at Harvard.
His parents, he said, initially questioned his career choice.
"They said, 'How will you ever make a living at that?'" Pipes said, with a laugh.
Yet in 1979, a year after he completed his doctorate, the overthrow of the Shah of Iran by radical Islamists made the field of Islamic studies seem more pertinent. Career opportunities opened up, and between 1978 and 1986, Pipes taught courses at the University of Chicago, Harvard and the Naval War College. But, even at this early date, his conservative politics, including his implacable anti-Islamist views, put him "at such odds with the consensus in the field that I would not have the kind of opportunities that I would have wanted," he said.
In 1986, Pipes moved to Philadelphia to run the Foreign Policy Research Institute, a conservative think tank. Eight years later, he founded the Middle East Forum, a pro-Israel, pro-Turkey think tank that today has an annual budget of about $1 million and a staff of 16.
In the 1990s, Pipes and terrorism expert Steven Emerson began publicizing the rising dangers of radical Islam. Few heeded their warnings. In 1998, Pipes wrote an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal Europe in which he said that "a state of war exists between them [radical Muslims] and the West, mainly America, not because of the American response but because radical fundamentalist Muslims see themselves in a long-term conflict with Western values."
Post-Sept. 11, much more of the world began listening to what Pipes has to say. And what he is saying now might surprise those who accuse him of cynically fear-mongering for profit.
"I expect that before too long, Muslims will see that this is not the way for them and try something else," Pipes said. "Let's hope it's something more progressive and functional."
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News & Features Car & U Highway driving tips
is our cars head lights are enough while driving in nights, is road lights are available in highways
I recently had second service for the new Honda Jazz X which I bought 3 months back, I observe variance performance and fuel efficiency. Is there a possibility that "Honda Authorized Dealership Ring Road Honda Moti Nagar New Delhi" can change important engine parts OR the entire engine of my new car?? They kept the car for 6 hours...Any thoughts on this please??Is there a way i can check if they have done some changes to the engine??
Very useful and informative article for learner.Thanks.
one important thing i noticed in highway driving is always have an eye on the front wheels of truck or bus infront while overtaking.most of time i drive from bangalore to cochin trucks use to change lanes without putting indicators.if u have an eye on the front wheels of heavy vehicles u will be able to predict the intention of drivers
Spot on. I've learned something about highway driving I'd like to share here. I don't think it makes sense to use the horn sometimes on the four-laners especially for trucks and buses. The sound of their engines or the noise insulation of their air conditioning can often drown out a car horn,: your presence can be more efficiently communicated with your headlights even during the day. Flashing your headlamps a couple of times as you approach politely alerts the driver of your presence, and then passing with the lights flashing. The rule is that if you can't see his mirrors, he can't see you, so make sure you flick your lights only when his rear view mirror is in your clear line of vision.
And never change lanes when you see a solid line in yellow and never stop at an intersection or a turn.
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