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Print version ISSN 0021-7557
On-line version ISSN 1678-4782
J. Pediatr. (Rio J.) vol.84 no.4 Porto Alegre July/Aug. 2008
The participation of fathers in the breastfeeding process: experiences, knowledge, behaviors and emotions
Cleide M. PontesI; Aline C. AlexandrinoII; Mônica M. OsórioIII
Programa de Pós-Graduação em Nutrição, Centro
de Ciências da Saúde - Universidade Federal de Pernambuco (CCS-UFPE),
Recife, PE, Brazil. Professora adjunta, Departamento de Enfermagem, CCS-UFPE,
Recife, PE, Brazil
IIDoutora, UFPE, Recife, PE, Brazil
IIIDoutora, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Nutrição, CCS-UFPE, Recife, PE, Brazil. Professora adjunta, Departamento de Nutrição, CCS-UFPE, Recife, PE, Brazil
ABSTRACTOBJECTIVE: To identify the experiences, knowledge, behaviors and emotions of fathers with relation to the process of breastfeeding.
METHODS: This is a descriptive, explorative and qualitative study involving 17 couples resident in a favela in the city of Recife, PE, in the Northeast of Brazil, whose most recent child was aged between 6 and 8 months. A semi-structured interview employing leading questions was used for data collection. These data were analyzed in the light of theoretical references, the historical, social and cultural construction of fatherhood, by means of thematic content analysis.
RESULTS: Four themes emerged from this analysis: faint/ambiguous memories of breastfeeding during childhood; knowledge about breastfeeding is focused on the child's health, mother's responsibility and savings for father; breastfeeding-related behavior of father during his participation in the pregnancy-childcare cycle; and interconnected feelings of fragility when breastfeeding.
CONCLUSIONS: The knowledge and emotions involved in fathers' participation in breastfeeding are the products of socialization of both men and women, centered on the biological body and reinforcing the belief that breastfeeding is the preserve of women.
Keywords: Breastfeeding, fatherhood, emotions, delivery.
The results of research demonstrate that the median duration of exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) and overall breastfeeding in Brazil, which are 23.4 days and 10 months respectively,1 do not correspond with those recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO).2,3
The causes of this situation may originate in the experience that breastfeeding is seen merely as a technique, without taking into consideration the historical, social and cultural context, or the fact that this is a process that involves feelings and emotions.4,5 Studies have indicated that the participation of the father is important to the success of this practice.4,6-10 However, Brazilian society delegates responsibility to the man for being the financial provider, marginalizing him and excluding him from participating in the upbringing and care of children, in the context of reproductive health, during the pregnancy-childcare stages of the cycle and, consequently, from participating in breastfeeding. It is as though all of this, almost exclusively, belongs to the woman's world.11-15
Based on these observations, in order to contribute to increasing the duration of breastfeeding, it appears necessary to uncover, from the prenatal period onwards, which factors are facilitating and which factors are preventing fathers from participating in nursing their children. Therefore, the objective of this study is to identify the experiences, knowledge, behaviors and emotions of fathers with relation to the process of breastfeeding.
This is a descriptive, explorative and qualitative study,16 carried out in a favela (a favela is a specific type of shanty-town found in Brazil) in which the Family Health Program (FHP) is being implemented, located in the city of Recife, PE, in the Northeast of Brazil.
The number of participants was determined by discourse saturation, i.e. when the participants repeated the same subjects and no new data was appearing,16 resulting in a total of 17 couples. The selection criteria demanded that each couple have a child aged 6 to 8 months (irrespective of breastfeeding status), be living under the same roof, have been living together for at least 1 year and be the biological parents of the most recent child, who in turn must have been born at full term (with birth weight ≥ 2,500 g, free from pathologies and/or abnormalities at birth).
Before data collection, we held meetings with the FHP nurses and community health agents (CHA) to explain the methodological procedures and the importance of the study. The CHA arranged for the researcher to visit each couple. At this preliminary visit the research provided the necessary explanations about the research and requested permission to interview the couple.
After signature of free and informed consent forms, each partner was interviewed individually, on separate occasions, on a day chosen by them, at the couple's home and without an interval that would give them the opportunity to discuss the content before the second partner was interviewed. The interviews were recorded and then transcribed in full. We decided to use a semi-structured interview for data collection, using leading questions. We asked the father the following questions:
What has been your experience of breastfeeding, since your childhood to becoming a father? Based on your own knowledge, can you tell us what you know about breastfeeding and breastmilk? How has your participation in the breastfeeding process gone, from before your child was born, when he/she was born and since his/her birth? What do you think/feel when you see your child being breastfed by its mother?
The mother replied to the following:
How has your partner's participation in the breastfeeding process gone, from before your child was born, when he/she was born and since his/her birth? With relation to your partner, what do you think/feel about his behavior while you are breastfeeding?
When analyzing the replies, we chose the thematic content analysis, a method proposed by Bardin.17 The themes thus compiled were then interpreted in the light of theoretical references on the historical, social and cultural construction of fatherhood, relying on several different authors.18-21 One of these references includes an analysis of the implications that this construction implies for the model of fathers' participation in the breastfeeding process.22
This study was approved by the Research Ethics Committee at the Universidade Federal de Pernambuco (UFPE). In observance of Resolution 196/96, the participants' names have been changed for fictitious names, with the addition of a number (1 to 17) to identify each couple.
Results and discussion
The personal characteristics of the couples and aspects related to the breastfeeding of their children are shown in Table 1.
Four thematic categories emerged from the analysis: faint/ambiguous memories of breastfeeding during childhood; knowledge about breastfeeding is focused on the child's health, the mother's responsibility and savings for father; breastfeeding-related behavior of father during his participation in the pregnancy-childcare cycle; and interconnected feelings of fragility when breastfeeding. The subcategories within these themes are described in Table 2.
Theme 1 - Faint/ambiguous memories of breastfeeding during childhood
When we analyzed the participants' speech, we perceived that their memories of breastfeeding from when they were children, based or not on information originating from their mothers, translated into scenarios antagonistic to this age-old practice:
My mother said I only breastfed up to 2 months (...) I only ate nothing but porridge (...) (João2); (...) I remember her giving me her breast to suck (...) I remember drinking from a bottle, I drank milk, but not from the breast, no! (Pedro1); My mother said I was quick to give up on breastmilk, in the first months (...) (Tomé17).
These scenarios were repeated when it was suggested that school was a source of information about breastfeeding:
At school they talked about it a lot, in the fourth, fifth grades (...) (André9); We didn't talk about breastfeeding at school, no (Vítor8).
We also found evidence that they may have had these experiences but can no longer remember them, as shown by the partners' speech:
I can't remember experiences from when I was small. I don't know if I was breastfed either . (Vítor8); (...) From the time I was a baby, from breastfeeding, I remember very little (...) I can't remember very much (Rui7).
Five of the male speakers quoted above were born before 1970. The remainder were born during the 1970s and 1980s. With the exception of Nara6, Carla7, Ana13 and Luzia14, their partners were born in the 1970s, 1980s or 1990s (Table 1). There were many pro-breastfeeding movements during these decades of the 20th century.2 Nevertheless, we were able to perceive that, during the interviewees' childhood, at home and/or at school, the conversations they had about breastfeeding and the guidance they received were neither consistent nor substantiated. This is demonstrated by the fact that their speech revealed ambiguous or faded memories: one moment they couldn't remember anything; the next they were breastfed or given milk other than their mothers'; one moment the school discussed the subject; the next, breastfeeding wasn't mentioned. We can infer that during adulthood the interviewees do not indulge in these type of reminiscing conversations, reinforcing their lack of memory, and that their partners do not encourage them to bring up their previous life history of breastfeeding. Therefore, these men express the view that breastfeeding belongs entirely to the world of women, because it is they who provide breastmilk.23 This is a model that has been built up over the years of human evolution, during the social organization that is linked with the different types of families that can be observed.18-21
Theme 2 - Knowledge about breastfeeding is focused on the child's health, the mother's responsibility and savings for the father
Some of the fathers were able to provide correct information about breastmilk and breastfeeding:
Breastmilk (...) prevents infections (...) (Nilo12); (...) breastmilk's got everything (...) phosphorous, iron, vitamins, mineral salts (...) at the right doses, specific for the baby, yeah? For that particular baby, yeah? (Pedro1); Breastfeeding is (...) start as soon as she (the child) is born (...) already has a right to be breastfed (Igo5); It's good to give children breastmilk (...) for 1 year, 2 years, as many years as you can (...) (Diogo10).
This knowledge may be one of the factors that encourages the choice of breastfeeding and continuing to breastfeed.7 In this context, we identified another meaning, which permeates this knowledge: breastfeeding is strongly linked with children's health and economic savings for the father himself:
The advantage is obvious isn't it? (...) when the child's born, they force (artificial) milk on him, he's never going to be as healthy as a baby who breastfeeds until it's a year old (José3); Breastmilk (...) breastfeeding is important (...) for the health of the child (...) it protects them (...) from diseases that children get (...) (Artur14); Breastmilk saves a load, doesn't it? Saves the pocket! The guy's not got to buy milk (...). The boy's a problem when she (mother) takes it away. There's milk, porridge, you have to buy loads of stuff. It's terrible (Diogo10).
However, we perceived that the advantages of breastfeeding for the mother were not mentioned.24 The lack of this focus in the men's speech may discourage their partners from continuing to breastfeed, bearing in mind that just eight of the 17 children were still being breastfed (Table 1). Furthermore, mixed in with this knowledge, and corroborating other studies,25,26 we detected the attitude that breastfeeding is entirely the woman's responsibility:
Breastfeeding? You can count me out. That stuff's more for the women, isn't it? Knowing about that kind of stuff (Diogo10).
Thus, these meanings that emerge from the fathers' knowledge about breastfeeding are guiding their behavior and, therefore, may also bring with them other attributes of the male chauvinist model,27 making it difficult to maintain EBF for 6 months and to continue breastfeeding for 2 years or more. This hypothesis is corroborated by the breastfeeding practices of the people studied here (Table 1).
Theme 3 - Breastfeeding-related behavior of father during his participation in the pregnancy-childcare cycle
During pregnancy, some of the fathers began participating in the breastfeeding process very early on, attending prenatal consultations with their partners. During this period some fathers sought means of ensuring that their partners would produce milk and discussed the subject with their partners:
I went to the prenatal (...) I went to the lecture (...) I went to the consultations (...) (Pedro1); (...) He always went with me to the doctor (...) He always wanted to know more (...) (Maria1); (...) I bought lots of things (...) that they say bring out the milk (...) (Tiago13); I spoke with her (...) so that she would eat well so she'd have lots of milk so our girl could feed as long as necessary (...) Drink lots of liquids, lots of juice, to make more milk (...) (Artur14); he used to stroke my belly (...) talked to me (...) (Vânia11).
In contrast, other men, for a variety of reasons, did not take part in the prenatal consultations and when they did take part, they weren't taken into consideration. Furthermore, there were no breastfeeding-focused actions at the service where women were cared for:
(...) I'm not really into this kind of stuff. I didn't go to prenatal, no (Lucas15); He wasn't interested. I used to go to prenatal on my own (...) he never wanted to go (...) said he couldn't be bothered (Dalva15); (...) He never came to prenatal no, because with him working, he couldn't, (...) (Lívia17); I didn't think prenatal made any sense whatsoever, not even going there (...) (Simão16); (...) He came (prenatal), but he didn't ask a thing (...) just listened (...) They didn't talk about breastfeeding as far as I can remember, no (Joana4).
During the gestational period, although some fathers took part, others met with difficulties and/or were not encouraged to take part in prenatal care, which should include actions aimed at breastfeeding and at welcoming fathers.28 Fathers' commitments to work have also been indicated, in a different study,29 as one of the causes that may prevent men from taking part in prenatal consultations. These impedimentary factors prevent them from learning about breastfeeding, resulting in reluctance to take part in the breastfeeding process, as shown by the speech of one of the fathers:
(...) After the birth (...) I just (...) watched (...) I thought it was beautiful to watch him feeding (...) Everything was new (...) I was reluctant to say anything and instead of helping be causing problems (...) (Nilo12).
With relation to prenatal care, despite the recommendations of governmental organizations28 and the fact that the community studied here is being assisted by the FHP, we noted that the professionals have had difficulties providing an environment favorable to welcoming fathers in issues of breastfeeding. As the pregnancy-childcare cycle continues, with the exception of one father, none of the men in the study took part in their children's births:
No he didn't have the courage to be there at the birth (Aline5); I couldn't be there at the birth, could I? Because I was having problems at work (...) (Luiz11); I was stopped at the door (maternity unit) (...) I had to wait outside waiting for the kid to come into the world (Raul4).
These men lost the opportunity to witness breastfeeding during the first hours of life. Indeed, this was no different for the only father who was present at the birth of his child. He didn't see any actions aimed at promoting breastfeeding, which are an important step to successful breastfeeding:30
I know they should be breastfed as soon as they are born, even at the time of the birth she (his partner) asked to feed him (...) I complained to her doctor, because when he was born she didn't put him straight away on his mother's breast (...) I was there during the surgery (...) Afterwards I asked why, and she (the doctor) came up with some kind of an excuse that I couldn't understand (...) (Rui7).
Once more, although they are also protagonists, the fathers were excluded from the phases of reproductive health, ruling out any possibility of their involvement with the breastfeeding process. This exclusion is part of the principles of patriarchy, which, over time and by means of culture itself, naturalized what is proper to men and what is proper to women.31 Were men to be included in the prenatal and delivery, transformative actions could be carried out aimed at sharing the breastfeeding experience.
Faced with the discontinuity or nonexistence of actions, during the prenatal and delivery, which would provide fathers with a foundation on the breastfeeding process, we observed a range of different behaviors during their children's breastfeeding, some of which exhibited active, encouraging participation intermingled with tenderness, care and comfort:
I used to watch my daughter feeding (...) it was me that used to bring her to the breast. When she (his partner) was tired (...) I'd take her (the daughter) and I'd clean her breast (his partner's) (...) and put her (Artur14); (...) He always comes with me when it's time to feed (Nara6); He helped me breastfeed lots (...) encouraged me a lot (...) he would give me massages to stimulate the milk. He used to buy (...) things to stimulate (...) the milk for the baby. He'd be like that, watching me breastfeed (...) he used to bring the boy to where I was working so that he could feed (...) (Rosa12).
Other behaviors manifest participation aimed at pressuring women, including authoritarianism and aggression:
All the time I tell her that he's (their son) crying because he wants the breast, then she complains, it's his right, it's his right (...) (Davi6); (...) All time he'd be: I think he's hungry (...) sometimes the boy wasn't even hungry, "****he wants the breast," he would say, even so. Straight away: "Oh, the boy wants your breast, go on, go on " (Lea2); (...) Sometimes I don't want to feed and he says: "You've got to breastfeed him for a least 1 year," sometimes it stresses me, having to feed him all the time over and again, (...) (Lívia17); He used to complain, you've got to give her the breast, you've got to give her your milk (...) but if she (the daughter) doesn't want it, I've still got to give it her (...) (Inez8).
We also observed participation that takes only the child's requirements into consideration, excluding the partner's needs:
(...) breastfeeding (...) was really hard (...) right from the beginning my doctor told me I hadn't got nipples. So you've got make nipples (...) I wanted him to take part in that (...) but he was embarrassed and said they're just for the baby, I'm not touching them (...) I had lots of problems (...) dried up milk deposits (...) I cried lots, I got depressed, but all of this on my own because my husband was only interested in the boy. So I went 3 days without being able to shit, then, when I was on the toilet, at the moment when I was going to be able to do it, he said he's crying, it's time for the breast, the breast, the breast (...) it was always the breast. I couldn't have a piss, I couldn't have a shit, I couldn't do anything. My husband's participation (...) with breastfeeding was very unhappy. I was very unhappy (at this point the interviewee cried) (...) he was watching me breastfeed (...) Then he said, he only really likes the breast (Carla7).
Passive participation, due to lack of knowledge, was described in Raul4's speech:
(...) help, I couldn't do much really, I didn't know how to advise her, you know? (...) I didn't express my opinion much, so as not to say the wrong thing (...) I didn't have much to say, I don't have any experience (...).
In the speech of one of the couples, we detected behaviors that were ambivalent towards the breastfeeding process, i.e., sometimes participation encouraged breastfeeding, sometimes weaning:
(...) he wanted me to breastfeed (...) told me to drink lots of juice, to eat sweet things (...) stimulated (...) to produce milk (Ana13); When I went to the maternity unit, since I already knew she didn't have any milk (...) I took a baby bottle filled with fennel tea (...) I went in with it (the bottle) hidden in my pocket (...) then I calmed him (the baby) down, he drank it and was quite (...) When she brought him home she gave him porridge (...) and he's still eating porridge now (Tiago13).
During the pregnancy-childcare cycle, the majority of fathers involved themselves with breastfeeding in the way they have learnt culturally. These participative behaviors continue to be based on an attribute inherited from patriarchy, which is power, guaranteeing the continuation of the paternal lineage.18-22 Within this context, we noted that the participation of the fathers of those children who were still breastfeeding was motivated by some type of pressure on their partners (Lea2; Rita3; Nara6; Carla7; Vânia11; Lívia17). Therefore, we need to reflect on the extent to which this behavior may have contributed to the duration of breastfeeding. How could this participation have contributed to the practice of breastfeeding, bearing in mind that just two children have been exclusively breastfed for 6 months and, maintained supplemented breastfeeding after this point (Table 1), in line with WHO recommendations?30
Theme 4 - Interconnected feelings of fragility when breastfeeding
The majority of the couples' speech demonstrated that the fathers' behavior in response to the experience of witnessing breastfeeding is molded by feelings of happiness, joy, love, affection, pleasure, emotion, pride, and others:
He likes it (...) loves it (...) He feels very happy (...) (Rita3); We feel an emotion (...) (Artur14); I see in him joyfulness (...) (Luzia14); I felt (...) pride to see my first son being breastfed by his own mother (André9); (...) my husband watched (...) all dopey(...) (Sônia9).
We also noted a disagreement in the expressions of emotion of one couple:
(...) I think it's normal, I don't see it that way at all (Simão16); (...) he has good feelings (...) he kisses both of us (Júlia16).
These feelings flow from the day-to-day experiences of the father, and are guided by real images (mothers breastfeeding), illustrating that the mother, through this practice, is guaranteeing his child's survival, keeping the procreator's genetic load alive, showing the world concrete and visible proof of his sexuality and virility: his son. The father therefore proves his condition as man, adult and heterosexual.27
We also observed feelings of exclusion on the part of the men, and also behavior expressed by their silence as a form of blunting their emotions and/or of absenting themselves from what is happening in this world that belongs to women:
(...) I became a little distant, he even complained, because like that I only had time for her, (the daughter) (...) forgetting about him a little (Joana4); (...) He keeps quiet (...) (Dalva15); he didn't make a fuss, (about weaning) didn't even speak, nothing (Alice10); I think I was being left out, you know? When she was feeding the boy we can't even get close (...) Then I'd get up and go out (Lucas15).
The meanings permeating the speech that generated the themes constructed in this study reveal behaviors, both on the part of the men and the women, which exclude fathers from the breastfeeding process, and which can lead to fragilities in the development of practice. These behaviors may be products of the social, cultural and historical process of fatherhood, which have been internalized by society right up to the present, naturalizing over time, and through culture itself, that which belongs to men and that which belongs to women, thereby distancing men from women's tasks, with breastfeeding still being entirely the responsibility of the woman.22,31
In this study, we have observed that the knowledge, behaviors, experiences and emotions that are involved in fathers' participation in the breastfeeding process are the result of the socialization of both men and women, centered on the biological body, registering that breastfeeding belongs to women.
Therefore, it is necessary that actions be implemented by all segments of society, demystifying the attributes of men and women, constructed throughout the history of humanity, and thereby seek other guiding principles which can raise awareness and internalize the message that the practice of breastfeeding should be centered on the conjugality and completeness of all members of the family, thus involving the father in the breastfeeding process.
The authors are grateful to the Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) for financing the project "Proposal for a breastfeeding intervention model that contextualizes partner participation", which gave rise to this article (grant number 472988/2004-2).
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Correspondence: No conflicts of
interest declared concerning the publication of this article. Financial support:
Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico
(CNPq). This study originated in a project that received financial support entitled
"Proposal for a breastfeeding intervention model that contextualizes partner
participation" (grant number 472988/2004-2).
Cleide M. Pontes
Universidade Federal de Pernambuco
Departamento de Enfermagem
Av. Prof. Moraes Rego, s/n, Bloco A - anexo ao HC/UFPE
CEP 50670-901 - Recife, PE - Brazil
Tel.: +55 (81) 2126.8543
Fax: +55 (81) 2126.3932, +55 (81) 3453.5814
Manuscript received Nov 19 2007, accepted for publication May 19 2008.
This article was extracted from a doctoral thesis entitled "Proposal for encouraging the participation of men in the breastfeeding process", written as part of the Graduate Program in Nutrition, CCS-UFPE, Recife, PE, Brazil.
This article was awarded a prize at the IX Encontro Nacional de Aleitamento Materno (ENAM), held between 3rd and 6th of September, 2006, in Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil.
Suggested citation: Pontes CM, Alexandrino AC, Osório MM.The participation of fathers in the breastfeeding process: experiences, knowledge, behaviors and emotions. J Pediatr (Rio J). 2008;84(4):357-364.
No conflicts of
interest declared concerning the publication of this article.
Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico
(CNPq). This study originated in a project that received financial support entitled
"Proposal for a breastfeeding intervention model that contextualizes partner
participation" (grant number 472988/2004-2).
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1. Studies were made on liver stores of retinol in aborted human fetuses and stillborn babies in relation to gestational age, fetal size and maternal retinol status. The mothers belonged to low-and high-income groups (LIG and HIG respectively) in urban Baroda.
2. Fetal weights were less than those reported by Widdowson (1968) for similar gestational ages and the deficits were greater in LIG.
3. The combined mean values (μg/l) for maternal serum retinol for all gestational ages were 193 for LIG and 261 for HIG. They were found to decline in late pregnancy in the former but not significantly in the latter.
4. Fetal liver retinol concentrations were much lower than those reported for healthy Thai subjects by Montreewasuwat & Olson (1979) in early pregnancy but showed complete ‘catch up’ in late pregnancy for HIG and to a considerable extent for LIG.
5. Significant correlations were found between maternal serum retinol, fetal liver retinol and fetal growth.
6. These findings stress the importance of adequate vitamin A supplies during pregnancy to prevent vitamin A deficiency and intra-uterine growth retardation in the newborn.
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Date: October 18, 2010
Creator: Nikitin, Mary Beth; Kerr, Paul K. & Hildreth, Steven A.
Description: This report provides background and current status information on multilateral regimes established to restrict trade in nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons and missile technologies, and to monitor their civil applications. Congress may consider the efficacy of these regimes in considering the potential renewal of the Export Administration Act, as well as other proliferation-specific legislation in the 111th Congress.
Contributing Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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University of Tennessee, Knoxville -- Sports.
Found in 7 Collections and/or Records:
Earl M. Ramer Papers
This collection houses minutes, notes, correspondence, photographs, and other materials documenting the University of Tennessee's Athletic Board and its relationship with the NCAA and the SEC. Of particular interest are those items showing UT's football and women's basketball programs.
Edited Autobiography of General Robert R. Neyland
This collection includes one typed copy of General Robert R. Neyland's edited autobiography. Topics covered include Neyland's deployment during the World War I &II, his political views, and his coaching career. The copy is hardback and has pencil marks for editing errors throughout the entire piece.
Football Card Collection
This collection contains football trading cards depicting University of Tennessee Volunteers players as well as former players in their post-college football careers. The cards include players' statistics and facts. The cards were manufactured under different trading card series.
Marie Dougherty Wellborn Biography of Nathan W. Dougherty
A single typescript biography of University of Tennessee Engineering Dean and athlete Nathan W. Dougherty written by his eldest daughter, Marie Dougherty Wellborn. The text provides an extensive and intimate look at Dougherty's life as a student, athlete, professor, coach, dean, and father.
University of Tennessee 1969 Orange and White Game Reel
This collection contains one AMPEX reel of the 1969 University of Tennessee Orange and White Game donated by Carl Moore in November 2016. The Orange and White Game is an annual spring event for the university. The 1969 Orange and White Game was coached by Doug Dickey on May 7th with a score of White-23 and Orange-22.
University of Tennessee Bowl Game Jerseys
There are four University of Tennessee Volunteers football jerseys from different bowl games: the January 1992 Fiesta Bowl, the January 1994 Citrus Bowl, the December 1994 Gator Bowl, and the January 1996 Citrus Bowl.
UT Rowing Team Collection
The UT Rowing Team Collection covers the University of Tennessee Lady Vols Rowing Team from 1997-2010, but is missing year 2001. The materials contained are media guides, award plaques, and posters.
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Frogs and toads are wonderful animals. They are not only cute, but they sing and leap, and they are harmless. Who couldn’t love a frog? It is a wonder that more princesses don’t kiss princes in the hopes of turning them into frogs.
This page is full of links to important frog facts and lore. Have fun exploring them. When you are ready to learn about specific species and their calls, click on the menus in the right hand column.
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It involves removing a flake parallel to the final intended cutting edge of the tool which creates a single straight edge as wide as the tool itself. It is found in some Acheuleanassemblage and handaxes created using the method are called tranchet axes
Darvill, T (ed.) (2003). Oxford Concise Dictionary of Archaeology, Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-280005-1.
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a crane at the edge of a dock is supported by a cable 15 meters long, attached to the dock 9 meters long from the base of the crane. if the crane is 6 meters long, what is the acute angle that the crane arm forms with the horizontal?
August 14, 2014
The expression (3a^2 b^4 c^2)^2 (2a^4 b^2 c^4)^3 equals na^r b^s c^t It ask what n, the leading coefficient is and I think it is 72? and to find the exponents r s and t would you just multiply it but whatever number is on the outside? or do I need to find the derivative??
March 24, 2009
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- Traders of goods and services will have protection from the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), under the CARICOM Regional Integration Electronic Public Procurement System, being developed across the region.
- Building of the Regional Procurement Regime began in 2001, and so far, institutional support has been received from the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), and the European Union (EU).
- Other countries in the region are at various stages of advancing their procurement systems, and the Jamaican government is developing its staff through procurement training.
Traders of goods and services will have protection from the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), under the CARICOM Regional Integration Electronic Public Procurement System, being developed across the region.
According to Programme Manager, Caricom Single Market and Economy (CSME), CARICOM Secretariat, Ivor Carryl, a Regional public procurement notice board will be created for member states to post their contracts, and where any player feels that unfairness is involved in the award of the contracts, the CCJ can be called on to adjudicate.
“In Article 7, which deals with non-discriminatory, equal treatment and fairness, all of your domestic laws and practices relating to CARICOM, must mirror those provisions,” he tells JIS News in an interview.
“If a Jamaican company under the protocol submits a bid, and for some reason he feels aggrieved that the process (the tender evaluation) didn’t go right, he would have the right under the Treaty to challenge the procuring entity, and ask them to explain why he did not win the bid; and he has the right to go to court and challenge the decision,” the CARICOM official adds.
Mr. Carryl explains that under the Regional Procurement Regime, the appeal mechanism has been strengthened, so persons will have easier access in seeking redress.
The broader objective of the project is the liberalization and integration of the regional market for trade in goods and services. This is to establish and maintain a regime for the free movement of goods and services within the CSME.
Building of the Regional Procurement Regime began in 2001, and so far, institutional support has been received from the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), and the European Union (EU).
Other countries in the region are at various stages of advancing their procurement systems, and the Jamaican government is developing its staff through procurement training.
“The global indicators for a new Government regime are riveting…this is what the integration movement is intended to achieve – greater synergy within CARICOM. Thus a regional hub for procurement will essentially strengthen existing trade relations and guarantee new ones as well,” says Minister with responsibility for the Public Sector, Hon. Horace Dalley.
Speaking at a recent Regional procurement forum in Kingston, the Minister argued that improved procurement systems “can lead to greater competitiveness and export readiness.”
He called on all the participants that are involved in fashioning the new regime to continue with the “efforts to improve the region’s procurement systems and procedures, in order to foster collective growth.”
Meanwhile, Mr. Carryl says the procurement project is to ensure greater transparency in the region.
“With the annual publication of all member states’ procurement plans, our local contractors will be able to mobilize and take advantage of new markets,” he notes, adding that the protocol of the new system mandates the publication of all contracts in the region.
“We expect to see more joint ventures and collaboration of our local suppliers, to strengthen their capacity, to ensure that they can meet whatever qualification requirements are needed for the bidding process,” he tells JIS News.
Senior Director at the Procurement Asset Policy Unit, at the Ministry of Finance and Planning, Cecile Maragh, explains that during the transition period, there will be widespread sensitization, to ensure full understanding of the new rules.
She points out that Jamaica has now put in place more procurement methods and techniques “that will speak to the advancement of our local industries as well as the application of these techniques to allow for the setting of framework agreements.”
“We have included both closed and open framework agreements, so there is wide participation of the local industries in providing goods and services to the Government of Jamaica,” Miss Maragh notes.
The Senior Director says the training component of the procurement project is done in conjunction with the Management Institute for National Development (MIND), and is geared at equipping procurement officers with international standards and approaches to minimize errors.
“It involves not only local content of public procurement, but also international best practices, and how to apply those principles in not only writing a tender document, but how to develop effective evaluation criteria,” Miss Maragh outlines.
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What is liposculpture?
Liposculpture is an advanced form of liposuction and the two terms are often used interchangeably. Liposculpture is the sculpting of the body’s contours by the removal of unwanted fat thru suction. Before the procedure begins, Dr. Milstein and his team use his special topographic mapping technique to draw on the patient’s skin with a marker. By making a topographic map, instead of simply circling the area to be treated, Dr. Milstein creates a much more accurate treatment plan tailored to each patient’s individual fat deposits. After the marking, the patient is made comfortable on a padded table and the procedure begins. The procedure involves the numbing of the fat with a saline based lidocaine solution, called tumescence. After the tissue has been numbed, the solution and the unwanted fat are safely removed using a straw-like tool called a canula which is inserted via tiny 2mm holes called adits. The size of the holes is smaller than a spaghetti noodle and the canula is about the same size as an angle hair pasta noodle. The procedure is quiet and the movements are gentle and slow. Some patients say it reminds them of a massage. Generally, liposculpture is not painful and does not leave any unsightly scars.
Why focus solely on liposculpture?
Dr. Milstein founded LABodySculture, a center that specializes in liposculpture, because he is committed to offering patients a safe procedure that can reshape their body with minimal downtime. His highly trained team is committed to excellence and personalized care for each patient. By focusing on only one procedure, Dr. Milstein and his team have created a center of excellence for liposculpture. Dr. Milstein prides himself on having the happiest and most satisfied patients in any medical practice and he has not ever had a patient experience a serious complication or infection.
How is Dr. Milstein’s technique different?
Dr. Milstein’s techniques are more advanced than the liposuction often seen on television or performed in many other centers. Not only does Dr. Milsteins’s technique remove fat, but it also promotes skin tightening for even better contour changes. Liposculpture instruments are smaller and more refined and use very small skin punctures – so there are no stitches and usually no visible scars. Dr. Milstein’s gentle technique means that heavy anesthesia is not necessary. All liposculpture patients are entirely awake and require only local skin numbing. Patients remain comfortable and enjoy talking to Dr. Milstein and his team, listening to music, and watching their bodies become sculpted. By using smaller instruments in a more gentle fashion, most patients do not have any significant bruising, and many patients are able to return to work or normal activities two days after. Depending on the patient’s individual needs, liposculpture can remove very small to very large amounts of fat and the delicate technique can carefully sculpt the body, consistently achieving smooth and even results.
What areas of the body can be treated?
Almost any area of the body can be treated with liposculpture. The most popular area for men and women are the abdomen, flanks (love handles) and back.
How many areas can be treated at one time?
The number of areas that can be treated at one time depends on your height and weight. Although individuals do vary, there are some general rules of thumb:
- If you are slender or thin, up to 5 areas can be treated in one procedure.
- If you are of average height and weight, up to 4 areas can be treated in one procedure.
- If you are heavy, obese, or a very tall or broad person, up to 3 can be treated in one procedure.
Dr. Milstein’s priority is safety – we have not ever had a patient experience a serious complication – and he will use his judgment to determine the number of areas that can be safely treated during any single procedure.
How much fat can liposculpture remove?
Liposculpture can remove between 50 to 90% of the fat in a treated area. The percentage of fat removed depends on the amount of fat present, the fibrosity of the patient’s fat (some patients have harder fat than others), and the aesthetic goal to be achieved. A good rule of thumb when estimating the final result that you might achieve through liposculpture is to pinch the area you want to have treated and feel how deeply the muscles are beneath the skin. Feeling the muscle is most easily done by contracting the muscle and rubbing your hands over the skin. The distance between the skin and the outside of the tensed muscle is the thickness of your fat layer. If you would be satisfied with a 50% reduction in the fat layer, you would be a good candidate and you would be pleased with your liposculpture results.
What is the maximum amount of fat that can be removed from my body?
The amount of fat removed from each patient varies. The amount removed depends on what is best for your body. The goal of liposculpture is not to remove as much fat as possible – the goal of liposculpture is to sculpt your body and make you look as dramatic as possible while leaving you looking natural and smooth.
Can I drive myself home after the procedure?
Patients who are having one area treated can opt to drive themselves home, however it is always nicer to have a driver. Having a driver allows us to give you additional medication to keep you comfortable and relaxed. If you are having 2 to 4 areas treated, please arrange for a driver or taxi to take you home. If you are having 5 or more areas treated, you must arrange for a family member or friend to take you home (no taxi allowed).
What happens to the skin after liposculpture removes the fat?
Dr. Milstein’s liposculpture technique involves rasping the skin from underneath, which leads to the formation of new collagen and promotes skin tightening. Immediately after the procedure the skin is loose for several hours, however within 24 hours the skin’s natural retraction and the body natural healing mechanisms allow the skin tone to return to roughly the same as it was prior to the procedure. Over the next 6 to 8 weeks, the body heals and the new collagen is formed. The skin retracts over the new contour and is most often times tighter and more toned than before the procedure. For patients above age 60 or patients who have lost more than 100 pounds, significant retraction may not be possible. A consultation with Dr. Milstein can help give you a realistic idea of your outcome.
Are consultations required?
Yes. Our office does not charge for consultations. If you have any questions about the procedure or simply wish to meet with and be evaluated by our team, please schedule a time for a complimentary 20-minute consultation.
When should I return for a follow up appointment after the procedure?
Dr. Milstein encourages all patients return at 1 week post op and for a 6 month follow up, but 6 month follow up appointments are not required.
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Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi are backing the federal government’s argument in court that Congress had the constitutional authority to write the health reform law.
The Democratic leaders, as well as 21 other Democratic lawmakers, said the reform law “tests no limits and approaches no slippery slope,” in a court brief filed Friday.
Story Continued Below
The Thomas More Law Center, a conservative public interest law firm in Michigan, is asking the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals to overturn an October ruling that the health reform law is constitutional. The group argues that the law’s requirement that nearly all Americans buy insurance is unconstitutional and if upheld, could allow Congress to force people to do other things.
“Congress never has required Americans to exercise or eat certain foods – and in our view it never would,” Reid, Pelosi and the other lawmakers wrote in their brief.
The Thomas More case is just one of about two dozen lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of health reform. But it’s the first case to reach the circuit court level, raising its profile.
Nine Democratic attorney generals, Washington Gov. Christine Gregoire, the state of Oregon, several hospital and health industry groups and many pro-reform consumer groups have said they plan to file “friend of the court” briefs.
Democrats are defending the health reform law, President Obama’s signature domestic policy accomplishment, on multiple fronts. This week, House Republicans voted to repeal the law, but Senate Democrats have pledged to block the legislation in the upper chamber.
The lawmakers argue that Congress is the proper branch to decide how health insurance should be regulated – not the courts.
The “disagreement with the manner Congress has chosen to regulate two related and important national markets is an occasion for political debate, not a matter for judicial imposition,” they wrote in the brief. Americans who disagree with the law “may address them in the proper, democratic forum.”
The Democratic attorney generals said Friday that they have formed a coalition to defend the constitutionality of the law in this and other cases. They represent Oregon, Iowa, California, New York, Vermont, Connecticut, Hawaii, Maryland and Delaware.
“I have taken an oath to defend the Constitution three times in my life,” Oregon Attorney General John Kroger said on a conference call with reporters. “I am 100 percent convinced that this bill is constitutional.”
Twenty-six other states, most represented by attorneys general, have filed a separate lawsuit in Florida challenging health reform.
Most of the health reform lawsuits argue that Congress has no constitutional authority to require that nearly all Americans purchase insurance coverage.
So far, two federal district court judges have upheld the law and one, Virginia Judge Henry E. Hudson, has declared the so-called individual mandate unconstitutional. A dozen other cases have been thrown out on procedural grounds.
Florida Judge Roger Vinson hasn’t ruled yet on the most high-profile case, in which 26 states have sued the federal government over the mandate. He heard oral arguments last month.
Oral arguments in the Thomas More appeal case have not yet been scheduled.
The Democrats on the amicus brief are: Sens. Dick Durbin, Charles Schumer, Patty Murray, Max Baucus, Tom Harkin, Patrick Leahy, Barbara Mikulski, John D. Rockefeller, and Reps. Steny H. Hoyer, James E. Clyburn, John Larson, Xavier Becerra, John D. Dingell, Henry A. Waxman, Frank Pallone, Jr., Sander M. Levin, Pete Stark, George Miller, Robert E. Andrews, John Conyers, Jr. and Jerrold Nadler.
Republican Reps. Michelle Bachmann, Dan Burton, Mike Conaway, Lynn Jenkins, Dan Lungren, Tom McClintock, Ron Paul, Ted Poe, Cathy McMorris Rogers, Jean Schmidt and Todd Tiahrt filed a brief in support of Thomas More last month. Several legal groups filed in support of Thomas More as well.
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Possibly from an Ancient Greek term meaning "untouchable"; compare the modern Greek designations Τσιγγάνοι (Tsingánoi), Αθίγγανοι (Athínganoi). Cognates include Hungarian cigány, English tzigane, Italian zigano, Portuguese cigano, Polish Cygan, Russian цыган (cygan), German Zigeuner, and Spanish cíngaro.
- The term Cikán/cikán is often intentionally derogatory and is therefore considered racist by many. Consequently, careful speakers use the term Rom instead. Cikán is still the prevailing term in informal Czech and in historical usage, however.
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The troubled 700 block of Market Street currently features a gaping hole in the ground as its centerpiece, the result of a failed development that has been tied up in years of litigation.
"As you're going down Market, you have all the beautiful buildings, then there's nothing," said Craig Peavy, architect for River Street Architecture.
But if a $19 million plan unveiled Thursday sees the light of day, the site could soon feature a new grocery store, a rooftop restaurant and apartments.
The plan, offered as part of River City Co.'s Urban Design Challenge, vaguely resembles Jack's Alley "by creating a large amount of surface area," said planner Christian Rushing, who advised the designers.
New site maps use the block's existing alleys to create a cross-shaped pedestrian junction in the middle of the block, lined by a multi-layered stack of apartments, stores and restaurants.
By removing a former Cooper Office Supply building on the north end of the block, the proposal creates uninterrupted pedestrian access for several more blocks, north and south.
"We want to re-energize the conversation about what's possible with planning and design," said Kim White, head of River City Co.
The contest paired developers such as Mitch Patel with architects such as Peavy and David Barlew to allow for creativity, while keeping contestants grounded in financial reality.
Patel, who owns and operates a number of upscale hotels in the area, predicted that the project could actually bring in several hundred thousand dollars in profit in the first year.
In addition to a grocery store and a "mid-block arcade," the budget also allows for what designers are calling "green screens," or towering columns filled with climbing vines fed by storm water, as well as a terraced garden.
"The leaves keep the UV rays from heating up the building," Barlew said, and also provide a screen between residents and shoppers.
In what could be a controversial choice, the plan adds no parking, though site designers defended the decision.
A number of nearby lots and a municipal garage with two floors that are "95 percent empty" would provide the majority of residents and visitors' parking needs, Peavy said.
"This is no different than any other urban center in our country," he added.
Chattanooga Mayor Ron Littlefield, who applauded the design, said that for the project to succeed it must return to "friendly hands" from Trey Stanley, who has been unable to develop the site over the six years in which he has owned the property. River City Co. has sued Stanley to reclaim the property and a trial on the land dispute is set for Hamilton County Chancery Court in January.
"The city, River City and others struggled to assemble that land, and of course the developer has it now was not able to go forward with his development," Littlefield said. "Once it's back in friendly hands, it'll be easier to work with it."
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Re: chimps on the savanna? Nooooo.....
Phil Nicholls (email@example.com)
Sun, 05 Nov 1995 03:43:53 GMT
firstname.lastname@example.org (H. M. Hubey) graced us with the following
>email@example.com (Phil Nicholls) writes:
>>Savannah's are not treeless. They are very different from steppes or
>>the American prairie.
>I guess now Mosaic Savanah is a savannah with a river and two lakes :-)
>Ok. I stop being ornery now. I got the picture already. Yes, savannah
>has already been redefined as being a steppe,prairie,grassland with
It has not been redefined. Please find a book with photographs of a
savannah and look at it very carefully. You will see acacia trees
scattered over the landscape and even an occasional baobab trees.
>>Now I know you mathematicians don't like dealing with actual data, but
>>you can't just continue to ignore it just because it destroys your
>>nice theoretical construct.
>I'm not a mathematician and I don't have any problems with
>data. I even don't have problems with fuzzy data. What I do
>have problems with are pure verbiage which refuses to get
>I don't have any problems with verbal models either. Sometimes
>that's the best that can be done. However I think the future is
>still to turn them into quantitative data. I love equations of
>all sorts. They say a lot. I love plots even more.
Well you know what, Mark, I love plots too. If you examine a copy of
the American Journal of Physical Anthropology or the Journal of Human
Evolution you will find lots of lovely charts and graphs. Why do you
insist that all physical anthropologist do is "bone gaze?" Where does
that come from?
Phil Nicholls firstname.lastname@example.org
"To ask a question you must first know most of the answer"
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Donald De Lue
(1897 - 1988)
Donald Harcourt De Lue was active/lived in New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts. Donald De Lue is known for portrait and figure sculpture.
A figurative sculptor known for monumental and commemorative bronzes portraying heroism and idealism, Donald De Lue served as President of the National Sculpture Society, was Chairman of the Art Committee for the Hall of Fame for Great Americans at New York University and was advertising editor for "American Artist" magazine.
Donald De Lue received his training at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts School studying with Richard Recchia, Bela Pratt and Robert Baker. From 1943 to 1944, he had a Guggenheim Fellowship for study.
His sculpture are in many commemorative places including the U.S. Military Cemetery at Omaha Beach in France; in chapels at West Point Military Academy; the State of Mississippi Memorial at Gettysburg and the P ... Displaying 750 of 3102 characters.
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The Alameda artist begins his mixed media, assemblages, and sculptures with found or collected material from the most unusual sources
by Mary Corbin / Photos by Clayton Mitchell – March 2020
The mixed media, assemblage, and sculptural works of Alameda artist Jamie Banes resemble the remains of architectural cityscapes, and there is a reason for that. Exhibited on the wall or as stand-alone pieces, the work crisscrosses his world view with personal life experiences from a life of building things.
Banes grew up in a blue-collar household in Reno, Nevada, in a family who valued skilled labor. His father was a construction worker, and Banes joined him on construction sites from age 12 to adulthood. “These early experiences helped shape my interest in architecture and the built environment and continue to inform my work,” Banes said.
His current work is a collection of eccentric architectural models, maps, and cityscapes — imagery that connects him to those early experiences and working with his dad.
Banes joined the Navy at 21 to become a surgical technologist, struck by the similarity of surgery and construction work. “They both involve the use of highly specialized tools and techniques and require steady hands. Even some of the terminology is similar. This caused me to begin thinking about the built environment as a massive organic living entity, constantly morphing and regenerating like the body,” he said.
He ultimately found his way to art, studying art and architecture at the University of New Mexico and UC Davis before settling in the Bay Area in 2007. He moved to Alameda in 2009.
Banes cited several influences on his art, from experimental architects Lebbeus Woods and Zaha Hadid to modernist painters Wayne Thiebaud, Hieronymus Bosch, Charles Sheeler, and Frida Kahlo. “I’ve also had the good fortune to work alongside sculptors Roger Berry and Patrick Dougherty,” he said, artists who create work that is environment specific.
Banes uses elements of formal design, color, texture, composition, and movement in his sculptures, which often employ pattern and repetition. “I’m trying to create a dialog between materials, placing seemingly disparate objects together to create unexpected relationships between elements. I’ve been interested in building up texture and approaching each piece as though I’m making a painting or drawing.”
Working mostly with found and collected materials, Banes begins his work outside the studio by organizing materials he acquires from sources like SCRAP, the East Bay Depot for Creative Reuse, Urban Ore, woodshops, curbsides, or dumpsters.
Themes that permeate his art include consumerism, capitalism, the current political climate, technology vs. handmade, environmental impact, ecological decay, waste, excess, gentrification, and wealth disparity.
“The dystopian architectural cityscapes are reflective of the current discord of the nation. I think of them as portraits or snapshots of our present reality, symbolizing difficult and uncertain times,” he said.
“We think of buildings as emblems of shelter, structure, and stability, yet you get the sense here that those expectations may not hold true. Things feel uneasy and transitory. There is a hint of uncertainty and fear. Elements appear to be unraveling from below, exposing the ‘guts’ or inner workings of the city,” he said about one of his newest pieces, Drastic Measure.
“The work’s attachment to the wall is meant to provide accessibility and investigation but also reveal vulnerability and a feeling of impending peril, as though a massive tectonic slab has been gouged from the earth’s crust and precariously balanced upon a questionable matrix.”
Banes uses scale to create intimacy within psychological space, informing his work by a dream state that feels familiar yet surreal.
“In dreams the concepts of time and scale are confused and irrelevant. So in my work, I try to communicate directly with the psyche, attempting to engage multiple layers of consciousness. I’m using an architectural language to imagine and interpret that exchange,” he said.
Banes’ sculptures offer multiple levels of information and narrative, and the artist suggested viewers might relate to them as visions of the past, present, and future; an allegorical reference to heaven, hell, and earth; or as a set of multiple dimensions of the same space.
Banes recently collaborated on a project called Inundation with artists Liz Hickok and Phil Spitler. They created an interactive time-lapse video using a cityscape as a set they flooded with water and mono-ammonium phosphate to promote crystal growth on the model. Viewers could interact with an iPad controlling a 360-degree camera, watching the growth over any portion of the model during the two-week duration of filming.
Banes, a husband and father of three, has worked professionally in art and architecture over the past 15 years, including managing student wood and metal shops at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco and the College of Environmental Design at UC Berkeley. He has worked in galleries and museums and is a fabricator at SFMOMA on design and construction for exhibitions.
“I like that I never really know what I might be working on next. And I like being able to look back at the end of the day and see something tangible that I created with my hands. My work process is not unlike my studio process and I really enjoy getting to stay in creative, maker mode most days,” he said.
Banes has exhibited around California and Nevada and regularly at Autobody Fine Arts Gallery where he maintains a studio. His installation Inundation is on view at Bedford Gallery in Walnut Creek as part of The Great Wave: Contemporary Art about the Ocean through March 22. Learn more about the artist at JamieBanes.com.
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What tones would you use if told to strike the common chord of C in four-part, close harmony, using the root for the highest tone?
A C chord is composed of the tones C, E, and G. The root is C. In a four-part chord, the bass is typically also the root. So, we have a C in the bass and a C in the soprano. A closed chord indicates that the alto should be the closest harmonizing note (beneath the soprano) and the tenor should be the next closest harmonizing note coming down.
Because this is a four part harmony, the bass doesn't have to be the next lows harmonizing note. The interval between the tenor and the bass can be as large as we wish. In this case it is a tenth.
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It seems that every gardener in the world has some species of Kalanchoe. Several species in the genus are regularly used as houseplants. The Kalanchoe genus has over 130 species that are found in areas of Africa, India, Madagascar, and Malaysia. K. daigremontiana, native to Madagascar, is considered a perennial. Succulents in the Kalanchoe genus can also be annual or biennial.
This succulent is relatively care free. Since it does not do well in Phoenix in direct sun, I keep mine in light shade all year. It cannot take frost, and needs moderate water year round. This is definitely a container plant. If left to its own devices in the garden, it will become invasive. Every time one of the little plantlets drops, there is the likelihood of another plant! In the course of a year, the plant can produce hundreds of the plantlets. This plant is also called Maternity Plant for good reason.
The grandmother of the plant in the photo was a spectacular specimen, with curved stems that were three feet long. The plant was in a plant stand, and the stems formed a dipper-shape downward and then upward, ending with the “leaves” and all the babies. (The leaves are not really leaves, but part of the stem.) Unfortunately, the grandmother plant succumbed to last winter’s hard freeze. It was of an age that it would have soon produced flowers, and afterwards, would have died.
I’m sorry I didn’t get to see the flowers as they are said to be a gorgeous purple-orange with some yellow tinges. I would have rather lost it to a natural death and had a chance to see the flowers rather than see it go because of frost. No one I know who has the K. daigremontiana species has ever seen a flower. One of the reasons may be that this plant likes to be root bound, which seems to bring on flowering.
This is not a good plant to have around small children or certain pets. They are tempted to eat the tiny plantlets, which are toxic, along with the stems and "leaves". It certainly isn’t a plant for a chicken yard!
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Reade, J. James and Volz, Ulrich (2011) 'From the General to the Specific – Modelling Inflation in China.' Applied Economics Quarterly, 57 (1). pp. 27-44.
This article uses automatic model selection procedures, based on the general-to-specific approach, to investigate inflation in China. A novelty of this article is the use of a technique called impulse indicator saturation which allows us to uncover instabilities and to specify a very general model and select down to a more specific model that best explains inflation in China. By and large, our findings suggest that China has been able to insulate itself against shocks from the US, although (maybe surprisingly) monetary growth in Europe seems to have an effect. Nonetheless, the main factors impacting Chinese inflation appear to be domestic, namely GDP growth and money growth.
|Item Type:||Journal Articles|
|Keywords:||Chinese inflation; dollar peg; automatic model selection procedure|
|SOAS Departments & Centres:||Faculty of Law and Social Sciences > Department of Economics|
|DOI (Digital Object Identifier):||10.3790/aeq.57.1.27|
|Depositing User:||Ulrich Volz|
|Date Deposited:||29 Jan 2013 14:17|
Item downloaded times since 29 Jan 2013 14:17.
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IDPH: floodwater mosquitoes don't carry West Nile virus | Health
FRANKLIN COUNTY, IL (KFVS) - According to the Illinois Department of Public Health, weeks of rain and flooding in Southern Illinois are the perfect conditions for mosquitoes.
The department said within weeks, floodwater mosquitoes will appear, but they are rarely infected with the West Nile virus. However, as floodwater recedes into ditches, catch basins or other areas where water will sit stagnant, house mosquitos will appear and they are often infected with WNV.
“With the floodwaters and increasing temperatures, we’re going to start seeing increased mosquito activity,” said Illinois Department of Public Health Director Dr. Damon T. Arnold. “It is important to protect yourself against mosquito bites by wearing insect repellent and taking other precautions.”
Last year 30 of Illinois' 102 counties had a West Nile positive bird, mosquito, horse or human case. There have been no confirmed cases of West Nile virus so far this year, according to IDPH.
To prevent getting West Nile, the IDPH offers these tips:
- Avoid being outdoors when mosquitoes are most active, especially between dusk and dawn.
- When outdoors, wear shoes and socks, long pants and a long-sleeved shirt, and apply insect repellent that includes DEET, picaridin, oil of lemon eucalyptus or IR 3535 according to label instructions. Consult a physician before using repellents on infants.
- Make sure doors and windows have tight-fitting screens. Repair or replace screens that have tears or other openings. Try to keep doors and windows shut, especially at night.
- Eliminate all sources of standing water that can support mosquito breeding, including water in bird baths, ponds, flowerpots, wading pools, old tires and any other receptacles. In communities where there are organized mosquito control programs, contact your municipal government to report areas of stagnant water in roadside ditches, flooded yards and similar locations that may produce mosquitoes.
Public health officials believe a hot summer could increase mosquito activity and the risk of West Nile virus.
Copyright 2011 KFVS. All rights reserved.
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- 3 arrested in connection with residential burglaries of elderly in Mt. Vernon
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- Mt. Vernon hospital honors employees for longevity of service
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- Mt. Vernon police looking for robbery suspect
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A US federal court has dismissed a DNC lawsuit against Russia and the Trump campaign over alleged hacking of the organization's servers, according to court documents released on Tuesday.
The multi-million dollar lawsuit was launched by the DNC last year. The DNC amended its 2018 complaint to include the new accusations related to the most recent US presidential election. In the amended complaint, the DNC alleged that in a November 2018 hacking incident, Russian intelligence again tried to infiltrate the party's computers.
The DNC argued that Russia committed cybercrimes leading up to the midterm elections and accused Moscow of trying in August 2017 to hack into the network of a Democratic Senator and longtime critic of US President Donald Trump. It also alleged that Russia tried to hack the networks of two other midterm election candidates.
Russia has repeatedly refuted claims of interference in the US political system, saying the allegations were invented to excuse the loss of Trump's opponent, as well as to deflect public attention from actual instances of election fraud and corruption. Moreover, both Trump and the Kremlin have denied all allegations of collusion, and Moscow has called accusations of interference in the 2016 election "absurd".
US Special Counsel Robert Mueller's report, released in April 2019, claimed that the Russian government allegedly interfered in the 2016 presidential election. The report also claimed that the GRU, Russia's military intelligence agency, hacked DNC networks and stole information.
US Attorney General William Barr, ahead of the report’s release, said the Mueller team concluded that there was no evidence Trump or his team colluded with Russia.
Barr sent a four-page letter to Congress in which he summarized the investigation’s findings. According to Barr, Mueller concluded that Trump's campaign did not collude with Russia during the 2016 elections and that there is not enough evidence to establish an obstruction of justice charge.
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"Green Erasmus, green mobility, green schools" - Erasmus+ online Contact seminar for schools
This TCA is a thematic online Contact Making Seminar, which offers the opportunity to:
- learn about the new funding opportunities in Erasmus+ in the field of school education (focus on Key action 1: pupil mobility and teacher training);
- exchange experiences across borders about climate change and environmental issues;
- get inspired by best practice Erasmus+-school projects on green topics and learn about the concept of blended mobility in the Erasmus programme;
- explore eTwinning and learn about the digital collaboration opportunities of the platform;
- get to know potential project partners from all over Europe;
- learn how to apply for a project and develop first steps towards an Erasmus+-project for newcomers.
- will acquire the know-how to apply for a school mobility project under Key action 1 in the new Erasmus+ programme
- will acquire the know-how to start a project on the eTwinning platform;
- will be connected to teachers in other programme countries with similar interests in "green" initiatives who could be partners in future projects;
- will learn from best practice projects and experienced project coordinators and understand what makes a good quality project (concepts for learning mobility and blended mobility, thematic cooperation projects).
The concrete results of the seminar would be successful project applications under Erasmus+ and new Erasmus+-eTwinning projects launched on the platform.
The seminar will take place on Wednesday 10.03.2021 from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. and on Thursday 11.03.2021 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m (CET).
Since participation requires registration on the eTwinning platform, we kindly ask all participants to register on www.etwinning.net before the seminar.
All participants receive a Certificate of Attendance for this training after the seminar.
We kindly request our participants to download the required communication tool before the meeting and to use a camera and a headset with a microphone. Furthermore, we invite all participants to register on the eTwinning platform before the seminar.
Partners and participants
Pending booked places
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Wool playmats are a beautiful and open-ended way to engage a child’s imagination. Wet felting may sound complicated, but it is truly a very forgiving craft. Follow these simple steps to turn a pile of wool roving into a handmade treasure. Let’s dive in!
Gather Your Wet Felting Materials
Layer the Wool Roving
Begin by laying small pieces of wool in a flat layer, laying in the same direction and overlapping each other. Create the general shape of the playmat during this stage.
Each additional layer of wool roving should be going in the opposite direction of the previous one. You’ll need at least 6-8 layers. The more layers you add, the sturdier your playmat will be.
For the last two layers use the colored wool you’ve selected to create the design you want. We are creating an ocean so we chose blues and browns to create the general shapes we wanted.
Just Add Water!
Fold the bubble wrap over your mat and use your hands to rub back and forth in all directions, agitating the wool and helping the fibers interlock.
Check on your design and reshape the playmat as necessary. During this phase you can still add wool to fill in spots that are sparse and add more details. We added some specialty wool to create a rock texture and some highlights for waves.
Continue to cover your project with the bubble wrap and rub for at least 10 minutes, or until the wool is fully combined. You can use your hands or a roller tool for this.Transfer the playmat, inside of the bubble wrap, onto a towel. Roll it up tightly and secure with rubber bands. Press and roll the towel back and forth for 15 minutes, or toss it into the dryer to thump around for half an hour.
Add the Finishing Touches
Lay the wet felted playmat flat to dry. If you’re happy with your results you can stop here. Otherwise, grab your needle felting tools and add your desired details. We put in a few pieces of tan and green merino for more sand and sea grass, as well as some more highlights and waves in the ocean.
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- Posted by Mary Anne on August 31, 2016
Overleaf Partners with the Center for Open Science on a New OSF Preprints Service
August 30, 2016 | Charlottesville, VA, and London, UK
We have just announced a new partnership with The Center for Open Science (COS), a non-profit science and technology company in Virginia. Overleaf will support the automatic submission of manuscripts authored on our platform onto the new OSF Preprints service that COS is launching this fall. OSF Preprints is a free open source preprint platform built and maintained by COS through their Open Science Framework (OSF). It helps researchers to discover new research as it happens and enables them to receive quick feedback on their own research. The Overleaf integration will initially be available on two OSF Preprints partner services, engrXiv and SocArXiv.
The Center for Open Science (COS) is a non-profit technology startup founded in 2013 with a mission to increase openness, integrity, and reproducibility of scientific research. COS pursues this mission by building communities around open science practices, supporting metascience research, and developing and maintaining free, open source software tools such as OSF Preprints. The Open Science Framework (OSF), COS’s flagship product, is a web application that connects and supports the research workflow, enabling scientists to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of their research. Researchers use the OSF to collaborate, document, archive, share, and register research projects, materials, and data. Learn more at cos.io and osf.io.
The addition of the Overleaf format to the OSF platform continues both of our organizations’ ongoing commitment to open and transparent research practices by enabling research technology standards to work seamlessly within the OSF workflow. In addition to Overleaf, the OSF already integrates multiple software tools such as Dropbox, Box, Amazon S3, Github, and figshare. Researchers who work with the engrXiv and SocArXiv services will now be able to create Overleaf projects on the OSF with a one-click submission, connect all the different components of their research on a single, unified platform, and produce preprints for review. Future capabilities could include the ability for OSF users to open and create new Overleaf documents from directly within their OSF project.
“This collaboration illustrates our companies’ mutual commitment to lowering the barriers that might impede open and transparent scientific research practices,” said Brian Nosek, Executive Director of COS. “The ability to create and submit Overleaf documents to the OSF ensures that researchers can use the tools they have come to depend on without compromising their workflow or process in any way. We’re thrilled to make this integration with OSF Preprints possible.”
“Overleaf has always been committed to enabling powerful scientific collaboration and writing. We are also committed to increasing the dissemination of more open, transparent, and reproducible science,” said John Hammersley, Overleaf’s CEO. “This collaboration with COS and OSF Preprints brings the best tools possible together in one platform to help meet those goals. We are thrilled to be a part of it.”
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Sunday, March 22, 2009
Life Lessons by a Seamstress
"I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels." (Isaiah 61:10)
When you look at a sewing pattern, it's all packaged up neat and tidy. It's perfectly folded and waiting to be used. But is it finished yet? The obvious answer is no, because it has not served it's purpose yet! But is it useful? Yes! The seamstress can use it to make a beautiful dress. But first it must be opened up and taken apart, cut out to the right shapes and size.
A pattern is then set on a solid piece of fabric and pinned on or weighted down. The seamstress carefully cuts around each pattern piece and ends up with a neat pile of material. Is it finished yet? NO! You can't wear a pile of fabric! But is it useful? Yes, to someone who reads the directions provided and takes the fabric to the sewing machine to be manipulated into a beautiful dress!
The seamstress carefully sews it together using their machines and scissors to trim away extra fabric, making all the seams co-operate with the shape of the dress to be. It can be tried on, pinned to size and length and zippers or buttons placed on maybe even embellished with embroidery or lace.
Is it finished yet? It's wearable, it was made to fit. But with all that handling it has creases and wrinkles. It should be ironed with a hot iron to be made crisp and straight. To lay the seams down flat so there are no puckers. But the iron must not be too hot, the seamstress must know her fabric so that she does not burn the fabric and ruin the dress.Is it done yet? It could be. You can wear it with pride, everything looks to be in the right place.
But sometimes the seamstress decides that something is missing, small details need to be added.
And one by one she carefully applies small crystals to the skirt, or the bodice, that makes the dress sparkle when the light touches it. A special detail to make the intended wearer shine above the others around them.
It is done, ready for the big day! The wedding goes on as planned and the day is filled with happy family and friends and a thousand pictures are taken in the garden.
The Garden. Grass. The dress is long, and the grass is damp. And even though we sometimes remember to lift the dress as we walk, all the moving and positioning of the dress during photo's moves the dress carelessly over the grass and stains the underskirts and the hems. Some brides carry white chalk with them to rub over the stains, but it is only a temporary fix. The stains are only masked over for the time being, but they are still there.
Is the dress ruined? If you put no value in the dress, you may say it's ruined and toss it away. But to a bride this was her perfect dress for her perfect day. She will take it to a cleaners and have the stains from that day removed professionally. And then the traditional bride will ask them to box it up carefully for storage, hoping that someday she might have a daughter who she might pass the dress on to.
Now, think of God as our seamstress and our lives as the pattern and fabric.
We come into this life as babies, perfectly folded and sweet. But we are expected to grow, to blossom and experience life. Most of the time we go through life and we are content with where we are . But when strife comes, we question our abilities or our positions or our relationships. And we wonder what we are here for. But God isn't finished with us yet! He still has more to do, situations that will make us grow,instances that will humble us, reasons to show us His love. When we read life's directions from the Bible, we can be more willing to be His fabric and be changed and shaped into something beautiful.
We may feel cut up, pinned or weighted down or feel the heat of hot irons in our life. But that does not mean that God is not in control. Sometimes we put ourselves into those situations because of our free choice to make (bad?) decisions. And sometimes God puts us in those paths, but he knows our fabric and knows how much heat it would take to burn us. God does not desire to ruin us, that is not a part of his plan. He can use those situations to shape us, to iron out order in our lives. He can embellish us, make our lives shine for Him, displaying the light of His Son in this life and allowing us to leave a legacy for our children. But even if we walk faithfully with the Lord, that does not mean our lives will be trouble free. The sinful world will still affect us and even leave stains on us. But when we remain faithful through all these things our reward is with God in Heaven, where we will be perfect in His eyes, "grass stains" and all will be cleaned away, completely gone!
For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
c CEJTM 2009
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Our purpose, in partnership with the Belmont Community, is to promote the academic, social and emotional well-being of each child.
In 1998, Belmont Academy Charter School (BACS) opened its doors to the neighborhood of Belmont with the vision to improve the quality of life of the Pre-K and K students it would serve.Learn More
Our Schools Belmont Charter School and
Belmont Academy Charter School
We use a holistic approach to education that provides academic, emotional, and social support services to address the unique sets of needs of each student. Our vision is for each student to leave Belmont Academy Charter School and Belmont Charter School a thoughtful problem-solver, equipped with the skills necessary to improve the quality of their lives. Belmont hopes to see each and every student attain his or her personal definition of success.
“Every day every kid is an opportunity.” -Belmont Teacher
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The 100th Kansas State Fair kicks off today in Hutchinson. The Fair holds many memories for me. As a youngster at the fair, I met local television personality Ollie Henry, who displayed many of my childish drawings on his noon-time show. That was a thrill.
I also remember seeing a campaign button for a Kansas politician named Bob Dole, who was running for congress.
As a broadcaster I spent many hours in radio station booths at the Fair, greeting the public.
A visit to the Fair was the topic of the first McIntosh Report, aired on September 2nd, 1971 … 42 years ago this week. K-E-Y-N program director Dave Biondi had been after me for weeks … urging me to use by wit and writing skills to do commentary. Finally, Dave reserved the air time and ordered me to fill it.
It evolved into a daily, 200-word commentary that has certainly gained the attention of listeners over the years.
Our thought for today is from H. Jackson Brown Jr.:
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You can express any fraction/number to arbitrary decimal places by using a backtick followed by number of digits required. For example:
This is the same as
N[4/3, 20]. Now combine this with
AccountingForm, which never uses scientific notation to get the output that you desire.
However, be aware that
AccountingForm uses parentheses for negative numbers:
Daniel Lichtblau has a good point that although using
N might be shorter in this case, in general, it might not give the same result — for example, compare the digits of
N[Log,50]. You'll see that they differ in the last couple of digits. However, for small use cases, the difference might be insignificant.
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The Cron Job/Crontab
To have your task run at this frequency, use the following cron:
* 21-22 * * *
This cron command translates to the following (in Human-Readable format):
“Every minute between 9:00 pm and 10:00 pm.”
What is a Cron Job & Crontab?
A cron job is a task that is scheduled to run at a specific time or interval. Cron jobs are typically used for automating tasks, such as running backups or sending emails.
A crontab (also known as a “cron table”) is a file that contains a list of commands that are executed at specified times.
Every cron job uses five fields. Here is an explanation of what each field does in this cron, which runs “every minute between 9:00 pm and 10:00 pm“:
FUN FACT: Cron is typically used for things like system maintenance tasks, running backups etc..
You might want to set up a crontab or cron job to run every minute between 9:00 pm and 10:00 pm for several reasons, including:
- Checking if a website is up
- Sending an email reminder
- Running a daily backup
- Generating a report
Similar Cron Jobs
You might also want to run a crontab:
- every 29 minutes
- every 21 minutes
- every 25 minutes
- every 23 minutes
- every minute between 12:00 am and 5:00 pm
- every minute between 3:00 am and 5:00 am
- every minute between 1:00 pm and 3:00 pm
FUN FACT: If a cron job is not properly configured, it might never execute – so make sure you double-check your settings before setting one up!.
In this article, you learned how to set up a cron job that runs every minute between 9:00 pm and 10:00 pm. Please share this page with friends and colleagues if you find it useful.
If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to comment below.
If you are looking for cron jobs that run at certain minutes, hours, days, weekdays, or months, or if you are looking for miscellaneous cron jobs, then check out our relevant sections, or visit our cron job cheat sheet for a list of hundreds of popular cron jobs.
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Bentley Celebrates Vision of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
January 26, 2005
WALTHAM, Mass. - "Dream, question and achieve. Don't accept limitations that someone else tries to put on you. I had dreams and I still do."
Those words were just part of the message that keynote speaker Daphne Maxwell Reid delivered to Bentley students, faculty and staff at Tuesday's 19th Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Breakfast. Before a standing room only crowd in the Executive Dining Room, Ms. Reid - perhaps best known for starring in the hit television series, 'The Fresh Prince of Bel Air' - shared stories ranging from her childhood in New York City and college days at Northwestern University to Hollywood fame and her current love as founder and co-owner of New Millennium Studios, Virginia's first full-service film studio.
"Understand the importance of integrity. It's vitally important that you choose the road you travel," said Ms. Reid. "Explore the depths of your dreams. Don't just let life happen. Take charge of your dreams and your trip through life."
In his welcome, Bentley President Joe Morone read a passage from David Halberstam's book, "The Fifties," reminding the audience that the civil rights movement and Dr. King's work originally stemmed from an ordinary, everyday incident - a woman named Rosa Parks simply riding the bus home from work.
"We are making progress towards Dr. King's vision, but we still face our challenges on this campus and in society," he said. "What Rosa Parks' story teaches us is that if we're to honor Dr. King's memory, we must pursue his vision with a call to action and to do whatever each of us can in our everyday lives."
"These recipients have helped students achieve their goals by placing their own personal needs aside in order to help others. Their proactive mentality has led to the betterment of students campus wide," said senior and award presenter Shevon Gibbons. "Even 37 years after his death, there are still influential people who emulate the practices of the Martin Luther King through their personal sacrifice and willingness to promote social change."
Professor of Management John Seeger led Bentley's highly successful Black MBA Case competition team, which most recently finished third in the nation in 2003. "Described by many as a competitor who is willing to go to great lengths to accomplish his goals, he is extremely dedicated to his students and devotes his free time to meet on weekends or after school during the evening hours."
Christina Brown, a senior Finance major, is an active volunteer with both the Fernald School and the New York Aquarium. She was the first Liberty Mutual Corporate Partner in Diversity Scholar, and has also served on the Black History Month planning committee and as Campus Life editor of the Vanguard. "She holds dearly the Bentley Beliefs and tries to demonstrate those principles through her actions. She treats others with a great deal of respect and is appreciative of all differences. A diligent and hard worker with the highest level of integrity..she is also one of the most humble students."
Sponsored by the President's Office, Multicultural Center, Spiritual Life Center and Student Activities, the breakfast also included performances by the Bentley Gospel Choir and the jazz ensemble "Galen."
BENTLEY UNIVERSITY is one of the nation’s leading business schools, dedicated to preparing a new kind of business leader – one with the deep technical skills, broad global perspective, and high ethical standards required to make a difference in an ever-changing world. Our rich, diverse arts and sciences program, combined with an advanced business curriculum, prepares informed professionals who make an impact in their chosen fields. Located on a classic New England campus minutes from Boston, Bentley is a dynamic community of leaders, scholars and creative thinkers. The Graduate School emphasizes the impact of technology on business practice, in offerings that include MBA and Master of Science programs, PhD programs in accountancy and in business, and customized executive education programs. The university enrolls approximately 4,100 full-time undergraduate, 140 adult part-time undergraduate, 1,430 graduate, and 43 doctoral students. Bentley is accredited by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges; AACSB International – The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business; and the European Quality Improvement System, which benchmarks quality in management and business education. For more information, please visit www.bentley.edu.
Type: Latest Headlines
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The Best of Horror Films: EMP’s Latest Exhibit
Horror films scare us, so why do we like them? Vampires, monsters, and murderers have fascinated audiences for centuries. Today the movies that feature them dominate the box office, reinforcing the historical significance and cultural relevance of the horror genre.
Can’t Look Away: The Lure of Horror Film , a new exhibit organized by EMP and starting Sunday, October 2, takes a look at the role that horror plays in the human experience. Three iconic horror directors–Roger Corman, John Landis, and Eli Roth–have curated a selection of their favorite films, providing a solid foundation on which audiences can safely explore the spectrum of cinematic horror, from its inception at the turn of the 20th century to the present day.
Visitors will get a chance to view iconic artifacts, including the script from Night of the Living Dead, the alien creature suit from Alien,the scavenger demon from Constantine, Jack Torrance’s axe from The Shining, the original “Gill Man” mask used in Creature from the Black Lagoon, Bram Stoker’s Dracula manuscript, and other horror film memorabilia.
It’s an interactive exhibit, too! Ready for goosebumps?
Head into the Scream Booth: Scream on cue as you watch horror film footage in a soundproof booth. A camera memorializes the moment with multiple shots displayed just outside the stall.
What was that noise? Horror Soundscapes: Explore the fundamental music elements and scoring techniques used in horror to enhance a cinematic sense of suspense, dread, and terror.
Is it the Mummy? Or Dracula? Monster Timeline: A large infographic defines the monster archetypes of horror film, examines their individual particularities, and explores why they continue to inhabit the collective conscious of popular culture.
Who goes there? Shadow Monsters: Philip Worthington’s interactive installation allows visitors to watch as their projected shadows morph into monsters.
BEWARE! Parents, due to the subject matter explored herein, this exhibition has a suggested rating of PG-13. Check out http://www.empmuseum.org for more information on this exhibit at EMP.
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Clinical Spanish Use and Language Proficiency Testing Among Pediatric Residents
Lion, K. Casey MD, MPH; Thompson, Darcy A. MD, MPH; Cowden, John D. MD, MPH; Michel, Eriberto; Rafton, Sarah A. MSW; Hamdy, Rana F. MD, MPH; Killough, Emily Fitch MD; Fernandez, Juan; Ebel, Beth E. MD, MSc, MPH
Dr. Lion is acting assistant professor, Department of Pediatrics, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington.
Dr. Thompson is assistant professor, Department of Pediatrics, University of Colorado, Children’s Hospital Colorado, Aurora, Colorado.
Dr. Cowden is assistant professor, Children’s Mercy Hospitals and Clinics, Kansas City, Missouri.
Mr. Michel is a medical student, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, Washington.
Ms. Rafton is administrative director, Odessa Brown Children’s Clinic, Seattle Children’s Hospital, Seattle, Washington.
Dr. Hamdy is attending physician, Department of Pediatrics, Medstar Franklin Square Medical Center, Baltimore, Maryland.
Dr. Killough is chief pediatric resident, Children’s Mercy Hospitals and Clinics, Kansas City, Missouri.
Mr. Fernandez is supervisor, Department of Interpreter Services, Seattle Children’s Hospital, Seattle, Washington.
Dr. Ebel is associate professor, Department of Pediatrics, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, and director, Harborview Injury Research and Prevention Center, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington.
Funding/Support: Project support provided by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Grant #65127 (Ebel, PI). Additional support provided from Seattle Children’s Hospital Center for Diversity and Health Equity, Seattle, Washington, the Johns Hopkins Hospital and Johns Hopkins Bayview Hospital, Baltimore, Maryland, and Children’s Mercy Hospitals and Clinics, Kansas City, Missouri.
Other disclosures: None.
Ethical approval: Institutional review board approval obtained from Seattle Children’s Hospital, Johns Hopkins Hospital, and Children’s Mercy Hospitals and Clinics.
Previous presentations: These data were presented as a poster at the Pediatric Academic Societies Meeting, May 1, 2011, Denver, Colorado.
Correspondence should be addressed to Dr. Lion, University of Washington Center for Child Health, Behavior and Development, Seattle Children’s Research Institute, M/S CW8-6 PO Box 5371, Seattle, WA 98145-5005; telephone: (206) 884-1049; fax: (206) 884-7803; e-mail: email@example.com.
Purpose: To describe patterns of clinical Spanish use by pediatric residents, and to compare self-assessment of language proficiency against an objective language test.
Method: In 2010, the authors e-mailed a survey to all 247 pediatric residents at three institutions, inviting those with any level of Spanish language ability to participate. Participants completed a survey reporting Spanish proficiency, interpreter use, and comfort using Spanish in a range of clinical scenarios. Clinical scenarios were grouped and analyzed by degree of complexity. Self-reported Spanish proficiency was compared with tested proficiency, as measured by a 20-minute telephone assessment of general language ability. Scores were categorized as “not proficient,” “proficient,” and “highly proficient.”
Results: Of the 247 residents, 78 (32%) participated, self-reporting a range of Spanish skills; 23% of those reported spoken proficiency (“proficient” or “fluent”). Participants at all levels of proficiency reported using Spanish without interpretation, including 63% of those who were not proficient. The majority (56%) of nonproficient residents reported comfort using Spanish in straightforward clinical scenarios, and 10% reported comfort in clinical scenarios with legal implications. Self-reported proficiency had a positive predictive value of 67% for testing at a proficient level and 22% for testing at a highly proficient level.
Conclusions: Regardless of level of Spanish proficiency, pediatric residents provide clinical care to patients in Spanish. Self-reported Spanish proficiency does not reliably predict tested ability, especially when using stringent criteria to define proficiency. Provider language “credentialing” is an important step in implementing a policy to improve care for limited English proficiency patients.
Caring for linguistically diverse patients and families is of growing importance to all medical providers. Nowhere is the population of linguistically diverse patients growing more rapidly than in pediatrics. In 2006, 13.7% of U.S. children under five years old were living in a home where a parent or guardian spoke English less than “very well.”1 These families are considered limited English proficient and are likely to need interpretation when communicating with medical providers.
Many students and residents enter careers in medicine with some level of skill in a second language. In a 2009 national survey of U.S. third-year pediatric residents, 72% had learned a second language prior to residency, and 26% reported learning a language during residency.2 Providers with limited second language proficiency report using these language skills in clinical contexts.3–6 Use of nonproficient language skills may significantly impede communication with patients and families, increasing the risk for misunderstandings,7,8 medical errors,9,10 and decreased patient and family satisfaction.11,12 Federal law and accrediting bodies consequently require that hospitals ensure the competence of individuals providing interpretation or bilingual medical care to patients.13,14
For all of these reasons, it is important that providers not use nonproficient language skills in clinical settings. However, providers’ ability to accurately assess their own skills and competencies has been found to be poor compared with external evaluations, especially among those with the lowest skill levels.15,16 Whether that is also the case for self-assessment of language proficiency is unknown. The lack of an accepted standard for defining the degree of proficiency needed to provide safe medical care complicates the task of assessment. Most authors advocate for a stringent definition to decrease the risk of medical errors and ensure equitable care, but no consensus exists on how to arrive at such a definition.17–20
This study explores several related questions about pediatric resident use of clinical Spanish when caring for patients. Our first objective was to explore the relationship of resident Spanish proficiency level (tested and self-reported) with residents’ use of and comfort in using their Spanish language skills in clinical contexts. Second, we wanted to determine the positive predictive value (PPV) and negative predictive value (NPV) of self-reported language proficiency compared with an objective test of Spanish proficiency. Given the lack of a standard cutoff for defining proficiency, we aimed to evaluate predictive values of self-report for several levels of tested proficiency.
This was a cross-sectional study that was approved by the institutional review board at each site. Study coordinators at each site linked participant survey and proficiency testing data, then deidentified all records prior to review and analysis by study investigators.
Protocol and participants
In March 2010, we e-mailed all 247 pediatric residents training at the University of Washington/Seattle Children’s Hospital (Seattle, Washington), Johns Hopkins School of Medicine (Baltimore, Maryland), and Children’s Mercy Hospitals and Clinics (Kansas City, Missouri). The e-mail notified them of the study and invited those with any level of Spanish language ability to participate. Residents who did not respond to the initial e-mail received up to two reminder e-mails. We obtained participants’ consent as they enrolled. All participating residents received a small gift of chocolates.
Our analysis includes only those residents who completed both a baseline pretest survey, administered via a secure online server through the University of Washington, and a telephone-based test of their Spanish oral proficiency and comprehension. We confidentially shared the results with each resident several days after testing; those results were neither added to residents’ official files nor shared with program directors.
The residency program coordinators provided us summaries of the demographic data for the cohorts of all pediatric residents at each institution, which we used for comparison with our study’s participants.
Baseline pretest survey measures
The baseline survey, developed and pilot-tested before the study, collected demographic data (year of residency, sex, age, and self-reported race/ethnicity) and asked questions regarding Spanish language skill and use. Participants rated their ability to speak about health and pediatric medicine in Spanish (none, rudimentary, basic, conversational, proficient, or fluent). They reported their average monthly frequency of Spanish use (less than once per month, 1–7 days, 8–14 days, 15–21 days, or >21 days) and how often they used an interpreter (always, usually, about half the time, usually not, or never). They then rated on a Likert scale (from 1 = “very uncomfortable” to 5 = “very comfortable”) how comfortable they would be using Spanish in 14 hypothetical clinical scenarios. We grouped these scenarios into four levels of complexity: no clinical content (e.g., introducing yourself and making small talk), straightforward clinical content (e.g., management of wheezing), complex clinical content (e.g., management of wheezing in a child with midline thoracic scar), and clinical content with legal implications (e.g., obtaining consent for a procedure). We placed the scenarios into these categories for analysis because residents have been shown to assess their need for interpreters based on their prediction of the complexity of an encounter, despite the fact that one can never know ahead of time how straightforward or complex an actual encounter will be.4,6 The complete list of scenarios can be found in the Appendix.
Participants completed the Spanish Speaking and Listening Test, a standardized 20-minute oral proficiency test administered by ALTA language testing service. The telephonic test consisted of 12 questions selected from a pool of 120 items. Each question was chosen to evaluate one or more expression or comprehension skill so that the complete test addressed all target skills. Although the general test did not include specific medical content, it has been previously used to evaluate language proficiency in medical trainees.20 Since completing our study, a language test incorporating medical content has become available from the same company.21 No data exist comparing performance of medical personnel on the two tests.
Tests were administered and scored by a trained native Spanish speaker, educated at the university level in a Spanish-speaking country. They had no information about each participant apart from his or her name and organization and based their evaluations on general vocabulary, grammar, speaking speed, sentence structure complexity, and ability to convey ideas in Spanish. ALTA provided us with the scores and brief qualitative evaluations.
Scores ranged from 1 (no knowledge of the language) to 12 (native speaker) and can be mapped to other language proficiency test scales, such as the Interagency Language Roundtable scale.22 On the basis of previous research, we labeled an ALTA score of 9 or above as “proficient.”20 The qualitative description provided by ALTA for a score of 9 is that the individual can successfully handle a variety of communicative tasks, with some errors of grammar or syntax that do not significantly impact understanding.22 Because a provider with a score of 9 or 10 still makes errors that might impact meaning and may have difficulty with advanced tenses and particular dialects or slang, we also conducted analyses for participants scoring 11 or 12, labeled for this study as “highly proficient.” These individuals are described as nearly fluent or fluent, and the few errors they do make do not impact understanding. Given the importance of communication for safe medical care, some institutions might choose to define proficiency using this more stringent criteria.
We present demographic data from the pretest survey and residency program coordinators as percentages. We grouped data relating to self-reported proficiency by tested proficiency and analyzed them using Fisher exact test. We describe further analyses below by objective.
Use of Spanish in clinical contexts.
We evaluated self-reported frequency of Spanish use and frequency of interpreter use, by self-reported and tested proficiency, with chi-square and Fisher exact tests. To facilitate analysis, we collapsed frequency of Spanish use responses from five categories into two (≤7 days per month and >7 days per month).
We dichotomized residents’ responses relating to comfort using Spanish in clinical and nonclinical scenarios into “yes” for Likert responses of “comfortable” and “very comfortable,” and “no” for all other responses. If a resident answered “yes” to any scenario in one of the four categories, we labeled that category “yes” in the clinical scenario analysis. We analyzed differences in percentages of respondents comfortable with each category by tested proficiency using chi-square and Fisher exact tests.
Self-reported versus tested proficiency.
We dichotomized self-reported proficiency, categorizing responses of “proficient” or “fluent” as “proficient” and responses of “rudimentary,” “basic,” and “conversational” as “not proficient.” Similarly, with tested proficiency, we categorized scores of ≥9 as “proficient” and scores of <9 as “not proficient.” We defined scores of ≥11 as “highly proficient,” a subset of the “proficient” group. These categories were determined based on ALTA’s published skill level descriptions and correspond to those used by other authors.20 We calculated the PPV and NPV of self-assessed proficiency predicting tested proficiency using both score cutoffs (≥9 and ≥11), along with the corresponding confidence intervals (CIs).
Of the 247 pediatric residents at the three training institutions, 84 agreed to participate in the study. Six residents who reported having some Spanish language skills in the pretest were unavailable to take the oral language test because of scheduling challenges with out-of-state/out-of-country rotations and so were excluded from analysis. This resulted in 78 participants, or 32% of all residents. Not knowing precisely how many residents spoke any Spanish and so were eligible to participate, we cannot know the true study response rate, but, on the basis of our familiarity with the three cohorts, we believe that nearly all residents with Spanish-speaking ability did participate.
Participants’ distribution of sex, age, training year, and self-reported race/ethnicity was similar to that of all residents at the three sites (Table 1). Participants were also similar across the three training institutions (data not shown).
Use of Spanish for clinical care by self-reported proficiency
Residents at every level of self-assessed proficiency reported sometimes using Spanish to communicate directly with patients and families. Over one-quarter of providers with self-described “rudimentary” Spanish (6 of 23), and over three-quarters of those with “basic” Spanish (13 of 17), communicated without an interpreter at least some of the time (Table 2). Residents who considered their Spanish to be conversational were almost universally comfortable using it in straightforward clinical scenarios (95%, 19 of 20), although only 30% of those residents tested at a level considered proficient enough for clinical care (6 of 20). Among residents rating their Spanish as proficient, all were comfortable using it for nonclinical and straightforward clinical care, and large majorities were comfortable using it in complex and legal scenarios (77% and 85%, respectively). Just over half (54%, 7 of 13) of these residents tested at a proficient level.
Use of Spanish for clinical care by tested level
Over half (58%) of residents who tested at a proficient level (11 of 19) and 15% of residents who did not (9 of 59) reported using Spanish more than seven days per month (Table 3). All residents who tested proficient reported that they sometimes discussed clinical care with families with limited English proficiency without a professional interpreter. Of the residents testing nonproficient, 63% reported that they sometimes discuss clinical care with such families without an interpreter (37 of 59). Less than one-third (28%) of participating residents (22 of 78) reported using an interpreter for all clinical communications with families with limited English proficiency.
Nearly two-thirds of all participants (64%, 50 of 78) reported comfort using Spanish in straightforward medical scenarios. Residents were much less likely (23%) to feel comfortable using Spanish when presented with a medically complex scenario (18 of 78). Twenty-four percent of all participating residents and 68% of residents who tested proficient (13 of 19) reported comfort using Spanish in scenarios with potential legal implications, such as consent for procedures or disclosing a medical error. Among the 59 nonproficient residents, 10% (6) reported that they were comfortable using Spanish in complex clinical scenarios, and 10% (6) reported comfort in medical-legal scenarios. Residents who tested proficient were significantly more likely to report comfort using Spanish in all types of clinical scenarios (nonclinical P < .001; straightforward clinical P = .012; complex clinical P < .0001; legal P < .0001).
Association between self-reported and tested language proficiency
Tested language proficiency scores ranged from 2 to 12. Twenty-four percent of participants (19 of 78) scored at a level considered proficient or better (9–12) on the ALTA test. However, only 6% (5 of 78) were considered “highly proficient” with a score of 11 or higher. When defining proficiency with the cutoff of 9, the PPV of self-reporting Spanish proficiency was 67% (95% CI 41%–86%). Thus, one in three residents self-reporting proficiency did not test at that level. The NPV was 88% (95% CI 77%–95%). Using the more stringent criteria for high proficiency of 11 or 12, the PPV dropped to 22% (95% CI 7%–48%), and the NPV increased to 98% (95% CI 90%–99.9%).
Pediatric residents possess a wide range of Spanish language skills. Similar to other studies, we found that residents with all levels of Spanish language skills routinely care for Spanish-speaking families without professional interpretation.3,4,6 Even residents who are aware that they do not speak Spanish well deliver care without professional interpretation, including in situations involving complex medical issues and potential legal ramifications. Nearly half of the residents who considered their Spanish skills to be basic were comfortable providing clinical care without an interpreter, as were nearly all residents with self-assessed “conversational” skills. However, less than a third of the residents with self-reported conversational skills, and none with self-reported basic skills, tested at a level considered safe for clinical use. Many residents may feel that common or straightforward medical problems require only straightforward language for adequate communication with a family. Serious concerns or questions that a family raises may be poorly understood or poorly addressed by a nonproficient provider who was expecting a “straightforward” medical encounter.
When providers with limited proficiency use non-English language skills in a clinical context, they risk miscommunication. Language barriers are associated with decreased patient and family satisfaction,12,23 decreased understanding of and adherence to medical therapy,24,25 increased expenditures of time and money,26,27 increased risk of medical errors,8–10,28 increased length of stay and hospital readmission,29 and heightened risk of costly litigation.30 Professional interpreters improve communication with families and quality of care.31–34 In contrast, the common practice of ad hoc interpretation by family members or untrained bilingual staff carries significant risk of miscommunication from errors in interpretation.8,31,35,36
Previous studies among other types of medical providers have reported high degrees of concordance between self-reported and externally measured proficiency.20,37 In this study among pediatric residents, however, we found self-report to have moderate to poor predictive validity compared with a standardized test. Within our small group of residents reporting proficiency, 67% had ALTA test scores in the “proficient” range. Using the more stringent cutoff of 11, only 22% qualified as “highly proficient.” The residents who self-reported conversational or proficient skills—a group with relatively high levels of comfort using Spanish in clinical settings—had rates of tested proficiency of only 30% and 54%, respectively. On the basis of these findings, we concluded that self-report of Spanish proficiency is not an adequate predictor of measured general proficiency among residents. This finding has important implications for residency program directors and medical educators entrusted with modeling and ensuring high-quality communication with patients and families with limited English proficiency cared for by residents. In particular, it draws attention to the group of residents reporting conversational or proficient (but not fluent) language skills, who may be very comfortable using their Spanish clinically but may not have the skills to do so safely. Although universal proficiency testing would be preferable, residency programs with limited resources could begin by targeting testing to the group who self-report conversational or proficient skill levels.
Our study had several limitations. The number of participants within each category of self-reported and tested proficiency was small, limiting the precision of the calculated predictive values. Residents’ use of medical Spanish in clinical settings was self-reported and not directly observed. Regarding our choice of test, an important limitation of the ALTA Speaking and Listening test was the lack of medical content. The test measures general Spanish proficiency and comprehension, which is important in understanding the concerns of patients and families, but it may not accurately assess the skills necessary for effective clinical care. The results of a test including medical content might differ in two ways from those we obtained: Residents with good general proficiency in Spanish might lack the medical vocabulary necessary to communicate effectively about health; or, as many of our participants reported, medical Spanish might be a strength for residents, and so performance could be better than what we observed. An additional challenge is the lack of evidence to guide criteria for defining what degree of proficiency is needed to provide safe, equitable care to patients with limited English proficiency. As hospitals develop policies that measure the Spanish proficiency of employees and providers, they must carefully define the specific communication skills needed by various hospital personnel and how those skills should be tested.
Implications and Conclusions
Effective communication is essential for reducing medical errors and providing excellent care in our increasingly diverse communities. The Joint Commission has identified interpreted communication as a core measure of quality care for patients with limited English proficiency.13 In addition, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has mandated that all hospitals and health care providers receiving federal money “must assure the competence of language assistance provided to limited English proficient patients/consumers by interpreters and bilingual staff.”14
Our study suggests that many residents who know they are not proficient nonetheless provide care without professional interpretation, and an additional cohort report themselves to be proficient but do not demonstrate proficiency on an objective test. Medical educators and hospital administrators are faced with the challenge of identifying both groups of residents and intervening to ensure safe, effective, high-quality communication with families with limited English proficiency.
Although ensuring appropriate use of professional interpretation is the most immediate solution, many residents express a desire to improve their language proficiency in order to provide safe bilingual care. Medical Spanish courses may inadvertently increase disparities for families with limited English proficiency by decreasing interpreter use without leading to true proficiency.38,39 A recently described novel model for safe, supervised language skill development within the context of a resident continuity clinic includes objective language proficiency testing to measure progress and the presence of a professional interpreter in the room while the resident is providing care (for those not yet proficient), in order to remedy any miscommunications that may occur and to provide feedback.17 The model has resulted in improved continuity of care and satisfaction for Spanish-speaking families and improved Spanish proficiency for all participating residents. This program serves as an excellent example of safe, supervised language use and skill development that conveys a clear message to trainees that demonstrating language competence is as important to high-quality patient care as any other skill taught and assessed during residency.
Ensuring the best care for every patient will require consistent screening for language need, efficient professional interpretation, and recognition and support for the unique skills that bilingual providers can contribute. Hospitals and residency programs can move towards achieving those goals by establishing “language credentialing” for providers: objectively measuring provider language skill, and establishing and enforcing expectations of professional interpretation for those who are not proficient. Just as residents are expected to document proficiency in performing technical procedures such as intubation or central line placement before performing these tasks without supervision, documented language proficiency is a testable skill that should be measured and reported.
2. Laraque D, Mendoza F, Dreyer B, Frintner MP, Cull W Cross cultural and linguistically appropriate care: pediatric resident preparedness. 2010Paper presented at: 2010 Pediatric Academic Societies Annual Meeting Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
3. Burbano O’Leary SC, Federico S, Hampers LC. The truth about language barriers: One residency program’s experience. Pediatrics. 2003;111(5 pt 1):e569–e573
4. Diamond LC, Schenker Y, Curry L, Bradley EH, Fernandez A. Getting by: Underuse of interpreters by resident physicians. J Gen Intern Med. 2009;24:256–262
5. Yawman D, McIntosh S, Fernandez D, Auinger P, Allan M, Weitzman M. The use of Spanish by medical students and residents at one university hospital. Acad Med. 2006;81:468–473
6. Evans Y, Rafton S, Hencz P, Michel E, Fernandez J, Ebel BE. Provider language proficiency and use of interpretation in caring for limited English proficiency children and families. 2008 Pediatric Academic Societies Annual Meeting. May 5, 2008
7. Flores G, Abreu M, Schwartz I, Hill M. The importance of language and culture in pediatric care: Case studies from the Latino community. J Pediatr. 2000;137:842–848
8. Flores G, Laws MB, Mayo SJ, et al. Errors in medical interpretation and their potential clinical consequences in pediatric encounters. Pediatrics. 2003;111:6–14
9. Cohen AL, Rivara F, Marcuse EK, McPhillips H, Davis R. Are language barriers associated with serious medical events in hospitalized pediatric patients? Pediatrics. 2005;116:575–579
10. Divi C, Koss RG, Schmaltz SP, Loeb JM. Language proficiency and adverse events in US hospitals: A pilot study. Int J Qual Health Care. 2007;19:60–67
11. Flores G. Language barriers to health care in the United States. N Engl J Med. 2006;355:229–231
12. Morales LS, Cunningham WE, Brown JA, Liu H, Hays RD. Are Latinos less satisfied with communication by health care providers? J Gen Intern Med. 1999;14:409–417
13. Joint Commission. Advancing Effective Communication, Cultural Competence, and Patient- and Family-Centered Care: A Roadmap for Hospitals. 2010 Oakbrook Terrace, Ill Joint Commission;
14. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Minority Health. National Standards for Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services in Health Care. 2001 Washington, DC U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Minority Health
15. Davis DA, Mazmanian PE, Fordis M, Van Harrison R, Thorpe KE, Perrier L. Accuracy of physician self-assessment compared with observed measures of competence: A systematic review. JAMA. 2006;296:1094–1102
16. Colthart I, Bagnall G, Evans A, et al. The effectiveness of self-assessment on the identification of learner needs, learner activity, and impact on clinical practice: BEME guide no. 10. Med Teach. 2008;30:124–145
17. Cowden JD, Thompson DA, Ellzey J, Artman M. Getting past getting by: Training culturally and linguistically competent bilingual physicians. J Pediatr. 2012;160:891–892.e891
18. Diamond LC, Luft HS, Chung S, Jacobs EA. “Does this doctor speak my language?” Improving the characterization of physician non-English language skills. Health Serv Res. 2012;47(1 pt 2):556–569
19. Ferguson WJ. Un Poquito. Health Aff (Millwood). 2008;27:1695–1700
20. Reuland DS, Frasier PY, Olson MD, Slatt LM, Aleman MA, Fernandez A. Accuracy of self-assessed Spanish fluency in medical students. Teach Learn Med. 2009;21:305–309
22. ALTA Language Testing Services. Oral Language Proficiency Testing. 2003 Atlanta, Ga ALTA Language Testing Services
23. Mazor SS, Hampers LC, Chande VT, Krug SE. Teaching Spanish to pediatric emergency physicians: Effects on patient satisfaction. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2002;156:693–695
24. Kravitz RL, Helms LJ, Azari R, Antonius D, Melnikow J. Comparing the use of physician time and health care resources among patients speaking English, Spanish, and Russian. Med Care. 2000;38:728–738
25. Wilson E, Chen AH, Grumbach K, Wang F, Fernandez A. Effects of limited English proficiency and physician language on health care comprehension. J Gen Intern Med. 2005;20:800–806
26. Hampers LC, McNulty JE. Professional interpreters and bilingual physicians in a pediatric emergency department: Effect on resource utilization. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2002;156:1108–1113
27. John-Baptiste A, Naglie G, Tomlinson G, et al. The effect of English language proficiency on length of stay and in-hospital mortality. J Gen Intern Med. 2004;19:221–228
28. Jackson JC, Nguyen D, Hu N, Harris R, Terasaki GS. Alterations in medical interpretation during routine primary care. J Gen Intern Med. 2011;26:259–264
29. Lindholm M, Hargraves JL, Ferguson WJ, Reed G. Professional language interpretation and inpatient length of stay and readmission rates. J Gen Intern Med. 2012;27:1294–1299
31. Flores G. The impact of medical interpreter services on the quality of health care: A systematic review. Med Care Res Rev. 2005;62:255–299
32. Karliner LS, Jacobs EA, Chen AH, Mutha S. Do professional interpreters improve clinical care for patients with limited English proficiency? A systematic review of the literature. Health Serv Res. 2007;42:727–754
33. Moreno G, Tarn DM, Morales LS. Impact of interpreters on the receipt of new prescription medication information among Spanish-speaking Latinos. Med Care. 2009;47:1201–1208
34. Moreno G, Morales LS. Hablamos juntos (together we speak): Interpreters, provider communication, and satisfaction with care. J Gen Intern Med. 2010;25:1282–1288
35. Moreno MR, Otero-Sabogal R, Newman J. Assessing dual-role staff-interpreter linguistic competency in an integrated healthcare system. J Gen Intern Med. 2007;22(suppl 2):331–335
36. Flores G, Abreu M, Barone CP, Bachur R, Lin H. Errors of medical interpretation and their potential clinical consequences: A comparison of professional versus ad hoc versus no interpreters. Ann Emerg Med. 2012;60:545–553
37. Rosenthal A, Wang F, Schillinger D, Pérez Stable EJ, Fernandez A. Accuracy of physician self-report of Spanish language proficiency. J Immigr Minor Health. 2011;13:239–243
38. Diamond LC, Jacobs EA. Let’s not contribute to disparities: The best methods for teaching clinicians how to overcome language barriers to health care. J Gen Intern Med. 2010;25(suppl 2):S189–S193
39. Prince D, Nelson M. Teaching Spanish to emergency medicine residents. Acad Emerg Med. 1995;2:32–36
Appendix Text of Instructions and Clinical Scenarios for Which Participants Were Asked to RateTheir Comfort Using Spanish With Patients and Families, Grouped by Analysis Category, Three Institutions, 2010
Please rate your level of comfort in providing the following types of care in spoken Spanish on a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 meaning very uncomfortable, and 5 meaning very comfortable.
1. Introducing yourself and making small talk with a patient’s family
2. Giving a family verbal directions to the cafeteria
3. Asking about a child’s pain overnight
4. Discussing the initiation of care for a wheezing child before the interpreter arrives
5. Midnight rounds with a family who speaks some English
6. Discussing treatment for constipation in a hospitalized patient
7. Answering brief questions about healthy newborn care
8. Discussing the initiation of care for a wheezing child with midline thoracic scar before the interpreter arrives
9. Discussing concern for intimate partner violence with a patient’s mother
10. Discussing a transition to comfort care for a child in the ICU
Clinical Scenarios With Legal Implications
11. Discussing risks and benefits with a family who is refusing the recommended treatment
12. Consent for PICC line placement
13. Consent for biopsy of a lymph node
14. Discussing a medication error without clinical consequence
This article has been cited 1 time(s).
© 2013 by the Association of American Medical Colleges
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Timely stroke treatment is critical to ensuring good outcomes for patients. A new national study compared two programs designed to help hospitals adhere to nationally accepted standards and guideline recommendations for stroke treatment and found that hospitals participating in the Get With The Guidelines–Stroke program were more likely than Primary Stroke Center–certified hospitals to provide all the guideline-based measures of care for patients.
The study appears in the Oct. 14 issue of the Journal of the American Heart Association.
The American Heart Association/American Stroke Association's Get With The Guidelines–Stroke (GWTG–Stroke) Performance Achievement Award (PAA) recognizes hospitals that meet specific criteria in following research-based guidelines for stroke care.
Primary Stroke Center (PSC) certification, given by the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association and the Joint Commission, the entity that accredits U.S. hospitals, provides a framework for consistent clinical processes and program structure to help hospitals meet established standards of care.
The study authors, led by UCLA's Dr. Gregg Fonarow, compared quality stroke-care performance indicators for 400,707 acute ischemic patients at 1,356 hospitals between 2010 and 2012. These indicators included giving stroke patients the clot-busting drug tPA (tissue plasminogen activator) within three hours of stroke-symptom onset, blood thinners within 48 hours of admission, and prescriptions for high cholesterol and atrial fibrillation, if needed, at discharge.
They divided hospitals into those with (1) GWTG–Stroke PAA recognition and PSC certification, (2) PAA recognition only, (3) PSC certification only and (4) neither PAA recognition nor PSC certification.
The researchers found:
- GWTG–Stroke PAA hospitals were more likely to follow the performance measures, even if they didn't have PSC certification. Ischemic stroke patients were 3.23 times more likely to receive all performance measures of care at hospitals that had only PAA recognition, compared with hospitals that had neither PAA recognition nor PSC certification.
- The next highest level of hospital adherence to guideline-based stroke care was seen at PSC–only hospitals. Performance was lowest at hospitals with neither PAA recognition nor PSC certification.
- GWTG–Stroke PAA hospitals provided therapy faster and more frequently than hospitals with only PSC certification. The proportion of patients receiving the clot-busting drug tPA within 60 minutes of hospital arrival was less frequent in PSC–only hospitals, as well as at hospitals without recognition or certification.
"These findings suggest PSC certification programs should consider requiring hospitals to achieve a pre-specified level of achievement in stroke performance measures, adopting similar requirements to the GWTG–Stroke PAA recognition program," said Fonarow the study's lead author, co-chief of the UCLA Division of Cardiology and chairman of American Heart Association Hospital Accreditation Science Committee. "Alternatively, PSC certification programs could add a requirement for GWTG–Stroke participation with PAA recognition as part of the certification requirements."
Fonarow noted that hospitals have come a long way in adhering to recommended guidelines for stroke. These quality improvement programs play a key role in helping hospitals meet national requirements to address patients' needs.
"Primary Stroke Center certification is an important distinction for hospitals to achieve to meet minimum standards of stroke care," said Dr. Ralph Sacco, a past-president for the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association. "Certification and Get With The Guidelines–Stroke performance achievement measures complement one another, as both work for the same goal — improving quality care for all stroke patients."
Co-authors of the study were Li Liang, Eric Smith, Mathew Reeves, Jeffrey Saver, Ying Xian, Adrian Hernandez, Eric Peterson and Lee Schwamm. Author disclosures are on the manuscript. The American Heart Association/American Stroke Association funded the study.
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Young, but Not So Invincible
April 10, 2014
Today we mark the third annual National Youth HIV/AIDS Awareness Day (NYHAAD), an opportunity to raise awareness of and take action against the devastating impact that this epidemic continues to take on our young people. While today's youth have never known a world without HIV, many also never experienced the terrifying reality of the epidemic before the advent of highly active anti-retrovirals (HAART) in the mid-90s. Today, one in four new HIV infections in the U.S. is among youth ages 13 to 24. And each month, another 1,000 young people are infected, with over 76,400 currently living with HIV across the country.
I aged out of the youth category several years ago. But at 30, I am still part (barely) of the so-called "young invincibles," which received so much attention throughout the ACA enrollment process. I'm intimately familiar with the challenges we face in successfully mobilizing this population around health care. Indeed, I was 29 years old before I took my first HIV test. I didn't even have a primary care physician until last October. As a single, sexually active gay man I knew quite well that I fell into a so-called "high-risk" category -- although I felt like this term applied more to mortgage-backed securities than people. In fact, I had been working at the National Minority AIDS Council for more than two years, regularly drafting statements about the importance of knowing your status. Our capacity for contradiction and doublethink, including my own, is truly astonishing.
Despite having a generous insurance package through NMAC (too many gay men are not so lucky), and my daily exposure to statistics around HIV and gay men, I was living in a not-so-blissful state of denial. Like so many in our community, I had engaged in "risky" sexual behavior in the past and knew that, in all likelihood, I had been exposed to the virus along the way. But what began as youthful denial quickly evolved into self-perpetuating cycle of fear and paralysis. The closest analogy is putting off going to the dentist. One year goes by, no big deal. Two or three go by, and you find yourself delaying the visit for fear of the dentist's disapproval -- not to mention the unknown number of cavities that may have accumulated over that time. The longer I put off getting tested, the more terrified I became of the results.
When I finally worked up the nerve to take the test -- with a little coaxing from a friend (and a bottle of wine) -- I purchased an OraQuick in-home test at CVS. By sheer luck, the results came back negative. But after more than a decade of being sexually active -- and any number of slip ups when condoms were involved -- I knew that I was the exception and not the rule. Thankfully, the list of HIV prevention tools available to (relatively) young gay men such as myself continues to grow. In September of last year, I started taking pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), enrolling in a demonstration project at Whitman Walker Health, a Washington, DC-based community health center. The experience has been incredibly positive, not least because I am incredibly lucky to live in a city that is making a concerted effort to implement PrEP into its prevention programming.
Unfortunately, too many young people -- especially young gay men -- are not getting the information they need to take advantage of these exciting new prevention strategies. There are any number of reasons for this, from lack of school-based sexual education, to issues around homelessness, poverty and homophobia and other stigmas, as well as limited access to health care coverage itself. Despite reaching its target of 7 million enrollees, the number of "young invincibles" 18 to 34 who enrolled in private insurance plans through the ACA exchanges was considerably lower than projected. And efforts to educate the public about PrEP continue to be undermined by misinformation and stigma (see a certain CEO's reference to Truvada as a "party drug"). Still, there are a number of great organizations doing amazing work to ensure that young people are empowered to protect themselves and their health.
For our part, NMAC continues to work to develop leadership among youth, especially youth of color through its Youth Initiative Program. We have also launched our PrEPare for Life campaign, targeting young Black and Latino gay men. And our RISE Proud initiative is working to empower young Black gay and bisexual men to address the social and structural contributors to HIV vulnerability that drive the epidemic within their local communities. NMAC is dedicated to empowering young and queer people of color in the struggle to end this epidemic, incorporating them into every aspect of our work. But we cannot do it without you. On this National Youth HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, I hope that you will join us by prioritizing your own health and getting an HIV test, staying adherent to your medications if you're already positive, attending one of our trainings, spreading the word about or programs and/or making a donation. We will never realize an AIDS-free generation until we address the needs of our newest generation.
Kyle Murphy is the Director of Outreach & Public Affairs at the National Minority AIDS Council.
This article was provided by National Minority AIDS Council. Visit NMAC's website to find out more about their activities, publications and services.
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BBC launches Own It app – providing a helping hand to young people, online
Young people getting their first phone will have a new way to help them have a happier, healthier, more positive life online – with the new BBC Own It app.
The app, which features a special keyboard, combines machine-learning technology with the ability to keep a diary of their emotions to allow children the chance to record how they’re feeling and why. In response, the app can offer help and support, giving advice if their behaviour strays outside safe and sensible norms. Children can access the app at any time to get instant, on-screen advice and support the moment they need it.
The BBC Own It app special keyboard will appear wherever a keyboard would surface normally – and offers real-time, in-the-moment help and advice on whatever a child is typing, for example, if a child is typing something which might be upsetting to the person receiving it. It can also recognise if a child types personal details and reminds them to think twice about whether it is safe to share. It can even recognise language that might suggest a child is in trouble and will offer them advice and encourage them to talk to a trusted adult.
The app is packed with specially commissioned content from the BBC Own It app and across the rest of the BBC. This will give young people a range of resources to help them make the most of their time online and build healthy online behaviours and habits – covering everything from managing screen-time to boosting digital wellbeing. Most importantly, the app will encourage young people to have
BBC Own Itis the BBC’s online safety platform to help children aged 7-12 make the most of their digital lives. Own It has a huge number of fun videos, quizzes and child-friendly advice articles designed to support children’s wellbeing and empower them to navigate the online world safely and confidently. Own It has four different sections covering the basics of safely using platforms and devices, digital wellbeing, managing online relationships and getting help when it’s needed most.
The Own It website also features a range of films and articles for parents and carers to help them with those tricky conversations about life online and to ensure their children make the right decisions.
There’s also a teachers’ section, which maps Own It’s content for children against curriculum-linked online safety topics and provides downloadable resources for use in lesson planning.
Alice Webb, Director of BBC Children’s and Education says: “The digital world is a fantastic place for people to learn and share, but we know many young people struggle to find a healthy online balance, especially when they get their first phones. Our Own It app gives them a helping hand as they navigate this new experience so that they can make the most of the time they spend on their phones whilst avoiding some of the pitfalls. We’re using cutting edge machine learning technology in a way no one has done before, putting help, support, assistance and a bit of fun too directly into young people’s hands at the moments when they need it most.”
The Duke of Cambridge says: “It is fantastic the BBC has launched an app which will provide support to young people as they navigate the online world. I am delighted to see this positive and practical outcome resulting from The Royal Foundation Taskforce on the Prevention of Cyberbullying.”
The app has been developed with input and support from many of the organisations and individuals that made up The Duke of Cambridge’s Cyberbullying Taskforce.
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By Megan Kutchman
Knitting patterns are, for the most part, pretty straightforward. This article is designed to break down and define each section of a knitting pattern so you'll know what information to expect in what section. Not all patterns follow these guidelines, but most do.
Usually the page will start off with a title and photo of the finished product. These are standard and self explanatory. Now on to the juicy stuff:
Skill Level Easy, Medium, Hard or Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced are examples of the information listed here. A quick glance here is how to tell if a pattern is within your skill level.
Here are a few examples of what kind of projects you might find in each skill level:
You'll probably find a lot of scarves here, as well as potholders, place mats, handbags, some afghans and even a few sweaters.
Stocking caps, cable knitted scarves and sweaters, afghans with alternating stitch patterns and most knitted tops fall under this skill level.
Generally, if an item has a very intricate stitch pattern, it's likely to be in the Hard category. Knitting pictures and designs would definitely be a more advanced undertaking, as would any type of knitting that requires a lot of shaping.
Sizes, Finished Measurements
-Yarn: Since yarn weights vary by type, look for patterns listing yarn in length, that way you can substitute a yarn and still know how much to get. -Needle Size: You should find information on the needles and needle sizes used to complete this pattern. -Miscellaneous Supplies: If you need stitch markers, cable needles or any other miscellaneous supplies, the pattern should list these here as well.
Some Important Points to Remember
When following any pattern, it is imperative that you: -Test your gauge before starting. There's nothing worse than getting an hour into a project to find it's 6 inches too narrow because your yarn is a smaller weight than the pattern calls for. -Buy all the yarn for the project at the same time. Dyed yarns have "dye lots" and it's important to get all of your yarn for one project from the same dye lot. If you don't, you have a good chance of getting different shades of the same color throughout your knitting. -Take a break if you're frustrated, as you're sure to be at some point. Knitting is a fun and relaxing hobby, don't let it turn into a chore to get that afghan or poncho finished!
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Megan_Kutchman
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(NaturalNews) Multiple nutritional studies have demonstrated that blueberries exert a powerful cardio-protective effect due to the high concentration of polyphenols found in the berry. Researchers from the Texas Woman`s University examined the role this amazing fruit plays in the initial development of fat cells that could have a significant impact on weight reduction efforts and obesity. The result of a study presented to the American Society for Nutrition found that blueberries inhibit the creation of new fat cells by altering lipid metabolism. A daily dose of fresh blueberries may hold the key to natural weight reduction.
Researchers at TWU set out to evaluate whether blueberries play a role in the development and differentiation of new baby fat cells or adipocytes that are the primary vehicle for fat storage in the body. In the past, studies have shown powerful natural polyphenols found in plants to inhibit the formation of fat cells and to induce lipolysis, which is the breakdown of fats from cellular storage.
The study used different concentrations of a wild blueberry extract performed on tissue cultures to determine the effect on fat cell initiation. The blueberry polyphenols showed a dose-dependent suppression of fat cell differentiation. Fat cells exposed to the highest polyphenol concentration showed a 73% decrease in lipid breakdown. Cells exposed to the lowest blueberry concentration exhibited a 27% decrease in lipids.
The lead study author, Shiwani Moghe, MS determined that blueberry polyphenols can inhibit a critical path leading to obesity at the molecular level and may play a significant role in blocking the development of new fat
cells. The berry may also play a part in releasing fat from adipocytes that will help millions with the desire to lose weight. She noted: "This is a burgeoning area of research. Determining the best dose for humans will be important. The promise is there for blueberries to help reduce adipose tissue from forming in the body."
Polyphenols from blueberries have been shown to be effective in the fight against arterial hardening or atherosclerosis. Researchers writing in the Journal of Nutrition
found that regular blueberry consumption can help prevent harmful plaques and lesions from increasing in size in coronary arteries. A diet containing blueberries for 20 weeks was shown to reduce arterial plaque lesions from 39 to 58 percent, dramatically lowering risk for a deadly heart attack.
Blueberries have been a natural part of the human diet for countless generations and provide a tasty source of plant polyphenols that prevent coronary artery disease and can assist with weight loss
efforts. Include four to eight ounces of fresh blueberries to your diet each day or take an organically produced concentrated extract supplement to naturally improve health and prevent fat cell development.
About the author
John Phillip is a Health Researcher and Author who writes regularly on the cutting edge use of diet, lifestyle modifications and targeted supplementation to enhance and improve the quality and length of life. John is the author of 'Your Healthy Weight Loss Plan', a comprehensive EBook explaining how to use Diet, Exercise, Mind and Targeted Supplementation to achieve your weight loss goal. Visit My Optimal Health Resource
to continue reading the latest health news updates, and to download your Free 48 page copy of 'Your Healthy Weight Loss Plan'.
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| A Palestinian boy prepares to throw a stone at an Israeli tank in the West Bank town of Jenin on Tuesday. (AFP)
Jerusalem, May 27 (Reuters): The Palestinian and Israeli Prime Ministers today delayed a meeting on the US-backed “road map” to peace, but dismissed any talk of a new rift ahead of a summit with US President George W. Bush.
The postponement of tomorrow’s talks between Israeli leader Ariel Sharon and Palestinian Premier Mahmoud Abbas sent an ominous signal, but officials on both sides said it was due to scheduling problems and not political differences.
“The meeting...was put off for technical reasons,” Palestinian information minister Nabil Amr said.
The Palestinians said Sharon and Abbas might meet on Thursday, but Israeli officials said no new date had been set.
The road map outlines reciprocal steps leading to an end to 32 months of violence and creation of a Palestinian state by 2005. Israel’s Cabinet approved the plan on Sunday, with reservations. The Palestinians accepted it last month.
The Palestinians say an Abbas-Sharon meeting would help set the tone for the summit expected next week with Bush, but are also concerned by a list of 14 Israeli reservations about the road map which appeared in some Israeli newspapers today.
“Not only will we not accept them (the reservations), we will not even discuss them,” Amr said. “We hope the US administration pursues its commitment to the text of the road map and lives up to its promise not to change it because any change will kill the plan.”
Implementation of the road map is unlikely to start before the summit expected between Bush, Sharon and Abbas in Jordan’s Red Sea port of Aqaba or Egypt’s Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh. However, no date has been announced for the summit.
Sharon aides, foreign and defence ministry officials and representatives of the security services and army were meeting in Jerusalem to plot Israel’s strategy for the summit.
Bush, who may also meet moderate Arab leaders for a separate summit in Sharm el-Sheikh, wants to ensure the success of the most ambitious West Asian peace plan in two years.
He pressured Sharon and his Cabinet into accepting the road map after Washington promised to address Israel’s reservations during the plan’s implementation but ruled out making changes.
Sharon defended the road map to legislators from his Right-wing Likud party yesterday, saying he also had doubts about the plan but realised Israel could not continue its occupation in the West Bank and Gaza Strip forever.
Israelis were left asking whether Sharon, long a champion of Jewish settlements on land seized in the 1967 war, had had a change of heart or chosen his words to appease the US, Israel’s key ally.
According to the list of Israel’s reservations published in newspapers, the Palestinians would have to waive the right of return to what is now Israel of Palestinians who fled or were forced to flee when the Jewish state was created in 1948.
Another Israeli demand is for there to be no discussion of Jewish settlements in the West Bank and Gaza Strip apart from the plans already outlined for freezing settlement expansion and dismantling illegal outposts built since March 2001.
Arab nations and Israel came together today to warn that extremist groups and global terrorists would likely try to derail a new West Asian peace plan with attacks.
A declaration at the end of a meeting of foreign ministers from the EU and West Asia put aside political differences for a general condemnation of terrorism.
“It is most probable that extremist groups will target the road map trying to derail it and bring havoc to the region,” the statement warned.
It said there was “an urgent need to go further than condemning terrorism, violence and human rights violations.”
“Differences regarding the definition of terrorism should not prevent the partners from identifying areas where they can cooperate.”
Egypt is likely to host a US-Arab summit in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh next week to push the US-backed “road map” for peace, Egypt’s official Middle East News Agency reported today.
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For a website, what’s more important: content or design? While design is important to a user’s experience, content is essential for achieving your business goals. Visitors come to a website looking for information, such as contact information, opening hours, and testimonials. But if you want them to convert into bookings, your design is crucial as well. This article discusses the benefits of both design and content to a website.
For a website, the answer to this question is both. Content is the foundation of a website, and should point to the purpose for which it’s intended. A restaurant website, for example, will have information on the menu and location, but it also contains content, including headlines, client images, videos, contact forms, and links that help visitors understand what a restaurant or coffee shop offers. For a website, content-first design forces the owner masstamilan to map out the purpose of the website in advance.
Design is an important part of a website, but content is the king. Websites that are well-designed will have more visitors than those that don’t. While the most important part of a website is the content, the design of the website should make the content easier to read and digest. If the website contains games, the design should take these interests into account, which means that people can find what they are looking for.
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Remember when I wrote about being prepared for the strange “twists and turns” that can happen when you’re researching your family tree?
Well, I don’t know how anyone could prepare themselves for this kind of surprise.
A Utah woman who was remodeling her basement found a surprise hidden behind a shower wall: a tombstone dating from 1900! The gravestone belongs to a a 13-year-old boy. You can read more about how it got to be hidden behind a wall in someone’s basement by clicking on this link.
In another interesting twist, some Japanese officials are making plans to locate and identify the remains of thousands of Japanese soldiers who were buried in mass graves following the Battle of Iwo Jima during WWII. The existence of the more than 2,000 graves was confirmed by records in the U.S. National Archives. This will provide some closure to thousands of Japanese families. Read more by clicking this link.
And Ancestry.com just keeps expanding its reach!
The Utah-based company announced Friday that it has acquired Pro-Genealogists, Inc., a professional genealogy research firm based in Salt Lake City. The 10-year-old firm does domestic and international research for clients located all over the world.
Why Utah you may ask?
For all you genealogy newbies out there – the largest cache of genealogical records in the world is located in Salt Lake City.
Historians have the Church of the Latter Day Saints to thank for locating, microfilming, categorizing and digitizing and storing records from all over the world. And best of all, they are willing to share the wealth with the rest of us. Even if you’re not a member of the LDS Church!
Why do the members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints place such great emphasis on genealogical research? Because it is part of their church doctrine. You can read a more detailed explanation that explains why tracing their family history is so important to them by clicking this link.
The church sends teams of people all over the world to microfilm records of baptisms, marriages, wills, etc. This microfilm may be, in some cases, the only copy of a particular record left!
These microfilms are housed in a specially constructed, temperature and humidity controlled environment under Granite Mountain in Utah.
The 65,000-square-foot mountain facility is 55 degrees Fahrenheit, has filtered air and is kept at 35 percent humidity. It’s under 700 feet of granite in the mountains of the Little Cottonwood Canyon.
There are more than 2.4 million rolls of microfilm stored there that are now in the process of being digitized so they can be shared with researchers around the world online!
That is great news for genealogy researchers!
You can read more about the digitizing effort underway at Granite Mountain by clicking this link.
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Child poverty rates predicted to remain high through 2012
Children’s economic well-being has shown little improvement over the past year, according to several measures. One positive sign is that the number of children with an unemployed parent is modestly down from a year ago. On the other hand, the economy remains weak and the number of families applying for nutrition assistance continues to rise in most states.
Child poverty rates, which provide the most direct measure of children’s economic well-being, are available with a time lag: 2012 poverty statistics will be available next September. To track children’s well-being in a more timely manner, I have developed state-by-state predictions for current child poverty, based on partial-year data on unemployment and nutrition assistance, and lagged child poverty rates. My latest predictions, released yesterday and depicted in the map below, suggest that child poverty will increase in 4 states (Mississippi, Montana, New Jersey, and New York) and decrease in 7 states (Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, Ohio, and South Carolina). The remaining 40 states will not see significant changes in the child poverty rate (i.e., changes larger than the margins of error surrounding the estimates).
I predict that the national child poverty rate will remain close to the 22.5 percent rate reported in the 2011 American Community Survey. The model’s precise prediction is 22.4 percent; the actual rate may be half a percentage point higher or lower, judging from past experience. Over the past two years, the model has correctly predicted the general upward trend in child poverty, and its predictions have been within 0.4 percentage points of the national rate.
While child poverty rates appear to be leveling off in 2012, they remain much higher than before the recession. I predict that twice as many states will have child poverty rates of 20 percent or higher in 2012 as before the recession (28 vs. 14 states).
These predictions and other measures show that millions of children and families are worse off than they were five years ago. As policymakers debate broad budgetary packages of spending cuts and revenue increases, it is important to recognize the recession’s ongoing impact on children and families. In my view, this is not the time to make major cuts in nutrition assistance or other major elements of the social safety net, given the large number of families still struggling to regain the economic ground lost during the recession.
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This here will be a tutorial on how to create a simple marble machine that takes about 10 minutes of straight through working. The supplies are listed below.
These are all of the supplies. You will need:
1 Wooden Block
A Stick of plastic tubing, VERY THIN!
2 Same sized small marbles
1 Bottle of Wood Glue
1 Paper Clip
1 Scissors to cut the tubing
Step 1: Marble Machine Tutorial Step 1
Cut your pieces into 4 separate 1 1/4 inches long pieces and into 5 separate 1/4 inch long pieces. You should have nine pieces in total. The long pieces will act as the ramps and the small pieces will act as the stoppers to prevent the ball from flying off of the track.
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The aim of the project was to create a process which could recycle electronic waste completely, economically and environmentally friendly.
After an extensive literature review we drafted a first concept and set out to test it in experiments. The necessary sample material was collected, shredded and milled. With IR-spectroscopy, AAS and thermogravimetry the waste was characterised.
Partial oxidation and melt reduction was tested with our InduCarb, an inductively heated furnace for temperatures up to 1500°C.
With data collected from the experiments our process was modified. Our process reclaims metals, produces energy from plastics and converts glass-fibres and ceramics to clinker replacement, all while being environmentally friendly.
Share this Post
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What is HAGANS POWER CONTROL THEORY?
John Hagan. by Melissa Miguel. Abstract: My paper discusses Power-Control Theory as it is elaborated in John Hagan’s book Structural Criminology (1988:1-287).
In criminology, the power-control theory of gender and delinquency (abbreviated as the power-control theory) holds the gender distribution of delinquency is caused by stratification from gender relations within the family. The theory seeks to explain gender differences in the rates of ...
WHAT IS HAGANS POWER CONTROL THEORY? Mr What will tell you the definition or meaning of WHAT IS HAGANS POWER CONTROL THEORY
What is Hagan's Power-Control Theory? ChaCha Answer: Hagan's theory has been criticized as being basically a fairly straightforward a...
What Is Hagans Power Control Theory? - Find Questions and Answers at Askives, the first startup that gives you an straight answer
Below is a free essay on "Hagan's Power Control Theory" from Anti Essays, your source for free research papers, essays, and term paper examples.
What is DESCRIBE YOUR FAMILY ENVIRONMENT BASED ON HAGANS POWER CONTROL THEORY? Mr What will tell you the definition or meaning of What is DESCRIBE YOUR FAMILY ENVIRONMENT BASED ON HAGANS POWER CONTROL THEORY
Free hagan s power control theory article - - hagan s power control theory information at EzineSeeker.com
POWER-CONTROL THEORY. Power-control theory is an explanation for differences in criminality building on the idea that social control is stratified within the family.
Power-control theory, developed by John Hagan and his associates seeks to explain these differentials. Hagan's view is that crime and delinquency rates are a function of two factors: (1) class position (power) and (2) family function (control).
Possible Answer: John Hagan. by Melissa Miguel. Abstract: My paper discusses Power-Control Theory as it is elaborated in John Hagan’s book Structural Criminology (1988:1-287). - read more
POWER-CONTROL THEORY (Hagan, Gillis and Simpson, 1985) posits that gender differences in delinquency can be traced to power relations between fathers ...
Hagan's Power-Control Theory. Attempt to explain differential rates of deviance related to gender and social class. Hagan's view is that crime and delinquency rates are a function of two factors: (1) class position (power) and (2) family function (control). The link ...
One significant theory integrated into feminist thought is John Hagan’s power-control theory. The creation of this theory stems from the women’s liberation movement.
Describe Your Family Environment Based On Hagan's Power Control Theory Do You See Your Behavior As Being Affected By Coming From Either a Paternalistic Or Egalitarian Family i See My Behavior As Pat Essays and Term Papers
Describe Your Family Environment Based On Hagan's Power Control Theory Do You See Your Behavior As Being Affected By Coming From Either a Paternalistic Or Egalitarian Family Essays and Term Papers
170 Western Criminology Review 4(3), 170-190 (2003) Family Structure, Power-Control Theory, and Deviance: Extending Power-control Theory to Include Alternate Family Forms*
How can I apply Hagan's Power-Control theory to animal abuse? 5 years ago; Report Abuse
to power-control theory in that Jensen is known for his empirical criti- ... "Murder, Race and Gender: A Test of Hagan's Hypotheses." Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Criminology, Chicago. Sacco, V. 1988. "Gender, Fear and Victimization."
power-control theory, gender, and delinquency: a partial replication with additional evidence on the effects of peers †
Describe your family environment based on Hagan's Power-Control Theory. Do you see your behavior as being affected by coming from either a paternalistic or egalitarian family?
Class in the Household: A Power-Control Theory of Gender and Delinquencyl John Hagan University of Toronto and Statistics Canada John Simpson and A. R. Gillis
It's time to rise. Let Mightystudents.com be a bridge between you and your grades. Download free Describe your family environment based on Hagan's Power-Control Theory. Do you see your behavior as being affected by coming from either a paternalistic or egalitarian family? essays, term papers ...
Hagan’s power-control theory was designed specifically to account for this gender difference. However, the evidence in support of the power-control model has been modest at best. At the foundation of the power-control
John Hagan’s Power-Control Theory: Gender, Class, and Delinquency • Positive social change -> unintended negative impact • Class structure of domestic social control • Patriarchal & egalitarian family structures Gender Class Parental control (esp. maternal) Taste for risk
Hagan's Power-Control Theory incorporates the concept of patriarchy through measures within home to examine how differences in occupational authority between parents affects the gender difference in delinquency through differential controls placed on sons and daughters.
Power-Control Theory – Hagan. Less risk averse Individuals. Result of parenting styles and patriarchy – macho masculinity . Bernard 1987. Social bonds and commitment to them is of key importance.
What is power-control theory? Instantly find the definition, meaning and translation of power-control theory at TermWiki.com
POWER-CONTROL THEORY (Hagan, Gillis and Simpson, 1985) posits that gender differences in delinquency can be traced to power relations between fathers and mothers, ... We thus revisit Hagan's (1990) elaborated power-control model, ...
John Hagan developed his power-control theory in 1988. The power-control theory argues that parental authority at home and at work determines how children view gender roles and that how children view gender roles determines their propensity for deviance.
A POWER-CONTROL THEORY OF GENDER AND RELIGIOSITY* Jessica L. Collett and Omar Lizardo University of Notre Dame Last revised: August 12, 2008 Words: 9,772
The paper examines gender-based evaluations of crime. The paper explains the difference between conflict theories and consensus theories and shows how John Hagan's power-control theory of gender and delinquency seems to be primarily a conflict, anti-feminist theory.
Hagan’s late-twentieth-century work introduced the Power-Control theory, which emphasizes inherent power relations in determining delinquent actions and what is considered deviant; for example, ...
Control Theory in sociology can either be classified as centralized or decentralized or neither. Decentralized control is considered market control. Centralized control is considered bureaucratic control. Some types of control such as clan control are considered to be a mixture of both ...
Again, this approach, like Hagan's power-control theory, is a not-so-subtle variant of the liberation hypothesis. Sex differentials are rarely statistically significant. This does not mean, however, that this area of study is not socially significant or meaningful in other ways. Research ...
What is Power-Control Theory? ChaCha Answer: In criminology, the power-control theory of gender and delinquency (abbreviated as the p...
Why is Hagan’s power-control theory considered a liberal feminist theory? What are the links between women’s offending and women’s victimization? ...
Control Theory; Hagan's Power Control Theory; Control Theory; Social Control Theory; Social Control Theory; Social Control Theory; Strain Vs Control Theory; How Might Theories Of Masculinities Help... Are Criminals Born Or Made? Evaluate And... Control Structurer;
They critique Hagan's power-control theory on the grounds that it neglects “social class, negative parental sanctions, and victimization.” Briefly explain power-control theory and discuss how Hagan might reply to this critique.
According to Hagan's power-control theory, what two factors account for female crime and delinquency? class position and family functions: Social control theory suggests that: crime occurs when the forces that bind people to society are weakened or broken:
power-control theory, comparing adolescents from West Berlin, East Berlin and Toronto. Data presented here originate from a panel study of 319 fam-ily foursomes (quadruples: mother, father, daughter, son) from East and West Berlin and Toronto.
According to Hagan's power-control theory, what two factors account for female crime and delinquency? class position and family functions: Instrumental theorists consider it essential to _____ law and justice - that is, to unmask its true purpose.
John Hagan’s “Power-Control” Theory Developmental and Life Course (DLC) Theories Farrington’s “Antisocial Potential” (AP) Theory Sampson and Laub’s “Life Course” Criminality CHAPTER 6 SOCIOLOGICAL MAINSTREAM THEORIES Positive criminology accounts for too much
In addition, the ones related to patriarchy of the family of origin supported Hagan’s original power-control theory focusing on only antisocial risky behaviors. Posted on 3/2/2012 9:07:38 AM. URSA | Imail | Libraries | IT ...
It is getting difficult to keep up with all the conspiracy theories floating around the 'net but, I do my best. ... Of course that is always the dream of folks who imagine themselves as arbiters of Power and Control. Individual liberty is just so messy.
John Hagan’s Power Control Theory (1989) also stems from work done by Gottfredson and Hirschi, but develops along an untravelled path. He recognizes the power of family as a social control and strives to explain the complex relationships between husbands and wives and parents and children.
Hagan, John: Power-Control Theory Brenda Sims Blackwell. Power-control theory was developed during a period that highlighted the neglect of women and girls in theories of delinquency and crime.
Thus, power-control theory can be considered an integrated theory as opposed to a. 16 social control theory. Tittle views his control- balance theory as an integrated theory because it incorporates ideas from a variety of perspectives, including social control theory.
A Power-Control Theory of Vulnerability to Crime and Adolescent Role Ex its-Revisited* Hagan... | Article from The Canadian Review of Sociology and Anthropology May 1, 2002
Tagged teaching and revision resources from tutor2u ... Here are all the entries from the sociology blog that are tagged with "power-control theory" (most recent shown first)
If you didn't find what you were looking for you can always try Google Search
Add this page to your blog, web, or forum. This will help people know what is What is HAGANS POWER CONTROL THEORY
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Lately I've been using a workflow that is completely ";backwards"; order from what I used to do. I used to write notation in Sibelius first, export a MIDI file, then make a better sounding recording in a DAW program like Ableton Live, Logic, Protools, Cubase, etc. A major issue I ran into was dealing with changes in the sheet music, then having to also update the recording. I also felt like the technical side of composing with computer software had a negative impact on the creative side of composing.
So I did a 180. Now I prefer to compose music in the DAW, using VDL and Kontakt, and then get to a point in the music where the customer and myself are pleased with the composition. After that I export a MIDI file and import that into Sibelius for clean-up. It's a little tedious, and sometimes requires pulling a few hairs to get the layout right. The end result, however, is a recording driving the sheet music- and that seems to work best for my brain.
A few things I learned along the way:
1. quantizing the MIDI in the DAW is crucial. The length of the MIDI note determines how Sibelius (or Finale) will be imported. So some effort has to be made if you want to limit the number of strange rests and note-ties.
2. shaping MIDI velocity is faster and easier in a DAW, usually because you can edit/shape the dynamics of many notes at once with pen and line tools. When you import the MIDI file into Sibelius, those velocity values are retained so you get much better playback realism
3. I like to record myself playing on a MIDI instrument to input notes. Drop the tempo way down for accuracy, and you can speed up your note entry. If you have assignable pads on your MIDI instrument, you can assign it to L/R hand notes, shots, buzz rolls, etc. and hit the pads with some rubber xylo mallets.
4. The first notation software company to make a ";piano roll"; type editor found in DAWs will get my business. Neither Sibelius or Finale make realistic playback easy, because dynamics are handled poorly. So the best sounding VDL demos often use notation software AND recording software.
Legacy Forum Post
about 5 years ago
Just wanted to chime in here and say thanks for the great post, Jesse. I'd be interested to hear if other people have found this method of composing beneficial. It makes a lot of sense!
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Arizona Senator John McCain snuck into Syria on Monday to meet with rebel leaders, making him the highest-ranking official in the United States to visit the country since conflict broke out in the country.
Politico reports that McCain's visit took several hours and is the first visit made by a U.S. official since Robert Ford, the Ambassador to Syria, visited the country earlier this month.
Syrian rebels have asked the United States to help with heavier weaponry and a no-fly zone - as well as airstrikes on forces belonging to Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad and those aligned with Hezbollah, since they have vowed to back Assad in the war.
The Daily Beast reports that McCain made the trip from Turkey with General Salam Idris.
"The visit of Senator McCain to Syria is very important and very useful, especially at this time," Idris said. "We need American help to have change on the ground; we are now in a very critical situation."
The trip was organized by the Syrian Emergency Task Force.
by RTT Staff Writer
For comments and feedback: email@example.com
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Antoine of Navarre
|King of Navarre|
|Reign||25 May 1555 – 17 November 1562|
|Spouse||Jeanne III, Queen of Navarre|
|Issue||Henry IV, King of France
Catherine, Hereditary Princess of Lorraine
|House||House of Bourbon|
|Father||Charles, Duke of Vendôme|
|Mother||Françoise of Alençon|
|Born||22 April 1518
La Fère, Picardy, France
|Died||17 November 1562 (aged 44)
Les Andelys, Eure
Antoine (in English, Anthony; 22 April 1518 – 17 November 1562) was the King of Navarre through his marriage (jure uxoris) to Queen Jeanne III, from 1555 until his death. He was the first monarch of the House of Bourbon, of which he was head from 1537. He was the father of Henry IV of France.
He was born at La Fère, Picardy, France, the second son of Charles de Bourbon, Duke of Vendôme (1489–1537), and his wife, Françoise of Alençon (d. 1550). He was the older brother of Louis I de Bourbon, Prince de Condé.
On 20 October 1548, at Moulins, he married Jeanne III, Queen regnant of Navarre, daughter of Henry II of Navarre and his wife Margaret of Angoulême. By his marriage, he became King of Navarre, Count of Foix, of Bigorre, of Armagnac, of Périgord, and Viscount of Béarn. It was reported that Jeanne was much in love with him, but his subsequent actions show that he had little loyalty to her. The southern territory of the Kingdom of Navarre had been occupied by the Spanish since 1512, and Antoine tried to re-establish it. He was ready to sacrifice anything to his political interests.
Antoine appears not to have had real religious conviction and officially changed religions several times. His reconversion to Catholicism separated him from his wife and he threatened to repudiate her. He had an affair with Louise de La Béraudière de l'Isle Rouhet, "la belle Rouet," with whom he had a son, Charles III de Bourbon (1554–1610) who became archbishop of Rouen.
Although his brother Louis was the head of the Protestant faction, Antoine spent most of his life fighting for the King of France. Catherine de' Medici, regent for her son Charles IX, named him lieutenant general of the kingdom in 1561. When his wife allowed the Huguenots to sack the chapel of Vendôme and the churches of the town in 1562, he threatened to send her to a convent. She took refuge in Béarn.
Antoine was vain and unstable. He often disappointed his followers and was manipulated by his superiors and out-witted by his adversaries.
With his wife, Jeanne III of Navarre, he had the following issue:
- Henry (1551–1553), Duke of Beaumont
- Henry IV of France (1553–1610)
- Louis (1555–1557), Count of Marle
- Madeleine (1556)
- Catherine (1559–1604). Married Henry II, Duke of Lorraine in 1599.
|Ancestors of Antoine of Navarre|
Antoine's patriline is the line from which he is descended father to son.
Patrilineal descent is the principle behind membership in royal houses, as it can be traced back through the generations - which means that if King Antoine were to choose an historically accurate house name it would be Robertian, as all his male-line ancestors have been of that house.
Antoine's patriline is the line from which he is descended father to son. It follows the Bourbon-Vendôme, the Kings of France, and the Counts of Paris and Worms. This line can be traced back more than 1,200 years from Robert of Hesbaye to the present day, through Kings of France & Navarre, Spain and Two-Sicilies, Dukes of Parma and Grand-Dukes of Luxembourg, Princes of Orléans and Emperors of Brazil. It is one of the oldest in Europe.
- Trevor Dupuy, Curt Johnson and David L. Bongard, The Harper Encyclopedia of Military Biography, (Castle Books: Edison, 1992), 98.
- Dupuy, Trevor, 98.
- Robin, Larsen and Levin. p. 2.
- Mack P. Holt, The French Wars of Religion, 1562–1629, (Cambridge University Press: New York, 2005), 52.
- Robin, Larsen and Levin. p. 3.
- David Bryson, Queen Jeanne and the Promised Land, (Koninklijke Brill NV:Leiden, 1999), 219.
- Duruy, Victor, John Franklin Jameson and Mabell Shippie Clarke Smith, A History of France, (Thomas Y. Crowell Co.:New York, 1920), 338.
- Bryson, David, 299.
- Bergin, Joseph, The making of the French episcopate, 1589–1661, (St. Edmundsbury Press Ltd., 1996), 581.
- Dussieux, Louis, Généalogie de la maison de Bourbon: de 1256 à 1871, (Lecoffre et Fils, 1872), 81.
- Achaintre, Nicolas Louis, Histoire généalogique et chronologique de la maison royale de Bourbon, Vol. 2, (Publisher Mansut Fils, 4 Rue de l'École de Médecine, Paris, 1825), 26.
- Achaintre, Nicolas Louis, Histoire généalogique et chronologique de la maison royale de Bourbon, Vol. 2, Publisher Mansut Fils, 4 Rue de l'École de Médecine, Paris, 1825.
- Bergin, Joseph, The making of the French episcopate, 1589–1661, St. Edmundsbury Press Ltd., 1996.
- Bryson, David, Queen Jeanne and the Promised Land, Koninklijke Brill NV:Leiden, 1999.
- Dupuy, Trevor, Curt Johnson and David L. Bongard, The Harper Encyclopedia of Military Biography, Castle Books: Edison, 1992.
- Duruy, Victor, John Franklin Jameson and Mabell Shippie Clarke Smith, A history of France, Thomas Y. Crowell Co.:New York, 1920.
- Dussieux, Louis, Généalogie de la maison de Bourbon: de 1256 à 1871, Lecoffre Et Fils, 1872.
- Holt, Mack P., The French wars of religion, 1562–1629, Cambridge University Press: New York, 2005.
- Robin, Diana Maury, Larsen, Anne R. and Levin, Carole (2007). Encyclopedia of women in the Renaissance: Italy, France, and England. ABC-CLIO, Inc.
Antoine of Navarre
Cadet branch of the Capetian dynastyBorn: 22 April 1518 Died: 17 November 1562
|King of Navarre
25 May 1555 – 17 November 1562
with Joan III
Charles de Bourbon
|Duke of Vendôme
1537 – 17 November 1562
Henry IV of France
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Spruce up the home with this spiral Christmas tree craft the kids can make to make your home all cozy and warm for the holiday season!
We don’t entertain a whole lot, really not at all. But as you can tell, we do like to craft for the holidays and we make sure to spread the holiday cheer throughout the home with music, Christmas smells, and fun crafts to brighten up all the rooms!
We decorate the windows, hang Christmas decorations from our curtain rods, make crafts for the season, put on Christmas music and indulge ourselves with a Sweet Holiday Treat™ smell from our sponsor, Glade® 4 oz. Jar Candles.
Our latest Christmas craft the kids made to add to the warmth in our home for the holidays that are coming up so incredibly quick is this adorable, and very easy to make, spiral Christmas trees!
I cut circles from green 12×12 scrapbook paper. I used one of our dinner plates to trace.
For George, I cut the spiral because, while he’s a good cutter, he’s not able to follow lines yet, especially circles.
I drew the spiral on for Henry and he cut his own out.
Huge tip: The lighter the paper you have, the thicker the spirals will have to be, or shorter. The thinner the spirals are, it will stretch out more and won’t look like a Christmas tree.
If you cut thinner spirals, you may just have to cut the tree shorter so it look like a Christmas tree and not just a long tail.
After they’re cut, lay them flat again on a table and add decorations to it!
We used good ol’ school glue to add sequins and glitter to the Christmas trees.
Add glue and glitter around the spirals!
Another tip from lessons learned: Do the glitter part before you add the sequins, the glitter will stick to the glue and sequins you first added if they’re not dry yet!
Let them sit flat to dry.
The center is the top of the Christmas tree.
Punch a hole in that center piece to tie a string to.
Hang it up from the ceiling [using some tape] or tie it around a rod, or ceiling fan chain!
Such a great touch to our home to make it warm and inviting this holiday season, don’t you think?
Pair it with the The Glade® Winter Collection, such as the Glade® Limited Edition Winter Collection, Sweet Holiday Treat™, or anything seasonal, there’s always something new, and it just puts me in the mood for Christmas! And puts a nice big smile on my face, and my kids’ faces, and that’s what I’m looking for this holiday season.
How do you add small touches to your home to make it a warm atmosphere?
Get festive this holiday season with the Glade® Limited Edition Winter Collection available exclusively at Target. Inspired by the best feelings of the season, the Glade® Sweet Holiday Treat™ scent lets you indulge in the irresistible scent of rich cocoa, toasted nuts, and creamy caramel. The 2013 Glade® Limited Edition Winter Collection was inspired by the nostalgic, spontaneous, snowy, moments that build up to the holidays. Creating memories with loved ones defines the season and the holiday lineup from Glade® is just as memorable.
This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Glade®. The opinions and text are all mine.
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Most people recognize Hippie Hill, Kezar Stadium and the Conservatory of Flowers as the easternmost end of Golden Gate Park. Little do they realize that the green space continues another eight blocks as the Panhandle. The Panhandle was originally supposed to be part of the park but was impossible to expand due to squatters who had built homes on either side. So it remains as a thin green strip from Stanyan to Baker bounded by Oak and Fell on either side. The Panhandle adds a lot to the Haight area by providing an ideal spot for walking, biking, dogs, picnics and other outdoor activities. It also functions as a bike commuter thoroughfare for people biking to work downtown.
The Panhandle is fortunate to still exist, as plans to convert it to a freeway were in the works at one point. The space was saved through neighborhood efforts and currently remains as an integral part of the region.
I will admit, in the past few years the park had fallen into slight disrepair. The basketball courts were dilapidated, the playground was not the most inviting and the place was just overall ill-kept. But fortunately it has seen a revival, with court improvements funded by the Warriors, a renovation of the playground as part of a city-wide project, and a general upturn in groundskeeping quality.
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The word "siphons" uses 7 letters: H I N O P S S.
Direct anagrams of siphons:
Shorter words found within siphons:
hi hin hins hip hips his hisn hiss ho hon hons hop hops in ins ion ions is nip nips no noh nos nosh oh ohs on ons op ops opsin opsins os phi phis phon phons pi pin pins pion pions pis pish piso pisos piss poh poi pois pons posh psi psis sh shin shins ship ships shop shops si sin sinh sinhs sins sip siphon sips sis snip snips so son sons sop soph sophs sops sos spin spins
List shorter words within siphons, sorted by length
All words formed from siphons by changing one letter
Browse words starting with siphons by next letter
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Nowadays, the drive to be more eco-friendly has spread to all facets of our lives. From the cars we drive to the houses we live in, we are constantly striving to be kinder to the planet we live on. But what exactly is an eco-friendly house?
When we talk about an eco-friendly house, we basically mean a house that has a low impact on the environment in terms of energy consumption and wastage. Some of the main features are:
- Natural Materials – avoiding plastics, which cause environmental damage. Also, the wood that is used is generally naturally fallen, rather than chopped down.
- South-facing windows to allow for natural lighting and avoiding north-facing windows to minimize heat loss
- Renewable energy sources – solar, wind or biomass
- Growing plants on the roof, which help regulate temperature, quieten the house and produce oxygen
- Double or triple glazed windows – to prevent heat loss
- Rainwater harvesting – collecting rainwater to use for things like watering your vegetables or washing the windows will cut down on your water bill, and could also mean less plumbing required.
- Heat Recovery Ventilation – a system by which warm, moist air from bathrooms and kitchens is recycled and fed back to bedrooms and living rooms – Fresh air, at room temperature, which means no need for central heating.
So now we know what an eco-friendly house is, but do we actually want to live in one? There are many benefits to this, but some of the main ones are:
- Healthier lifestyle – not just in terms of having better air quality and more natural lighting, but also in the sense that most traditional building materials tend to absorb moisture and develop mould and mildew, which can lead to breathing complications
- Cheaper and more sustainable – sure, you might have to make a bit of a higher initial investment, with solar panels and generators and whatnot, but the eventual savings will more than make it worth it. No more monthly gas or electricity bills, no major maintenance fees for most amenities.
- Better living conditions – with everything that we have mentioned above, you will certainly feel better about yourself.
Even if it seems quite daunting in the beginning, going green does definitely pay dividends in the long run, not least of all with the satisfaction of helping the planet. So why not give it a try? If you’re thinking of building a house for yourself, start thinking of a small eco-friendly house. It could seriously change your life.
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In Canada, it can be quite a while before our winter blahs turn to green pastures again. I made this Soda Bottle Vertical Garden to tide me over until spring. I decided to make a DIY Video Tutorial to share this entertaining project!
Don't throw out those 2-liter bottles when they're empty! Turn them into a Soda Bottle Vertical Garden!
Using empty soda bottles for this project ties in perfectly to my philosophy of sustainable crafting – using what you have – and the best part is that they are free! We’re not soda drinkers, but we found an entire box of empties in our neighbor’s blue bin and whisked them away to create this project. Watch the video to see it come together and visit my blog (Birds of a Feather ~ Craft Rehab) for the step-by-step tutorial.
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Saturday, May 22, 2010
The July paper for both Math and Bahasa Melayu will be tough this year. If you are looking to score A in the July paper especially in Bahasa Melayu, please study hard and do a lot of exercises. If you are staying in Penang, do come to our Class which we help hundreds of students to excel in July paper.
Looking for Exam Tips for Math paper ? You can purchase a set of exam tips from our website www.tipsexam.com
Looking for Home Tuition?
Call Edunovice at 012-4594388.
We are Specialist in Home Tutoring. We are one of the website which is featured in NST News Straits Times.
Posted by www.edunovice.com at 11:38 AM
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Jewish World Review Dec. 20, 2002 / 15 Teves, 5762
The solution to the Republicans' "black problem"
In the wake of his idiotic remarks at Strom Thurmond's 100th birthday celebration, Trent Lott's stop and grovel tour continues. Last Monday found him on Black Entertainment Television, calling the controversy "a wake up call," proposing to start a "task force on reconciliation," promising to "move an agenda ... helpful to African Americans" -- and mentioning, by the way, that he now favors making Martin Luther's King's birthday a federal holiday. (Based, no doubt, on Dr. King's many activities since Lott voted against it in 1983.) How well Lott's mea culpa took in the black community can be gleaned from the venom directed at him on BET.com's discussion board after the interview.
The latest twist in the fiasco came midweek, after New York State Senate Republican leader Joe Bruno said that Lott "ought to be cut some slack"; the outrage from the black community at Bruno's suggestion was so fierce that Bruno wound up apologizing.
This is insanity. But it's instructive insanity in that it highlights the futility of Republicans kowtowing to, or tailoring their message for, black voters. The core value of the Republican Party is individual initiative. But this value is palatable only if you believe opportunities for such initiative are readily available to all. Republicans cannot adhere to their core principle and simultaneously admit that black people are perpetually oppressed -- as Lott's "wake up call" implies. This is the basic reason Republicans cannot attract large numbers of black voters. To be black, in the eyes of many black people, is to be perpetually oppressed; more than skin color, hair texture or facial features, the belief in ongoing black oppression is the unifying element of black culture. As civil rights activist Roger Wilkins wrote recently, "For blacks, there is the pain of slavery and the continual loss of dignity that accompanies our treatment as nonstandard citizens."
It's a profoundly wrongheaded sentiment -- but virtually impossible to debate. If someone insists he's in pain, how do you convince him he shouldn't be? In any event, the percentage of Wilkins's black readers who'd nod in agreement is undoubtedly high. Oppression has, in effect, entered into the very definition of being black. Telling black people they're no longer oppressed, under such circumstances, amounts to telling them they're no longer black.
Republicans are thus in a no-win situation with regard to black voters: Either you tell them that they're not being oppressed, and alienate them by your insensitivity, or you admit that they are being oppressed, and alienate them by appealing to individual initiative ... which only matters in a fundamentally fair society.
The solution to the Republicans' "black problem" lies not in prostrating themselves but in recognizing that their ideals serve blacks as well as whites.
The overwhelming majority of black voters are hardworking, taxpaying, law-abiding citizens. They may not realize it, but they have an abiding stake not only in the value of individual initiative, but also in the correlative values of national defense, civic order, economic responsibility, educational accountability and equal opportunity; these are ideals to which Republican politics is committed. It cannot simultaneously commit itself to government programs designed to redistribute wealth or to ensure equal outcomes -- both of which undermine individual initiative.
The overwhelming majority of black voters, in other words, should see the Republican Party as a viable option to exercise their personal interests. They don't because they've been brainwashed, browbeaten and culturally cowed into believing that their natural constituency is made up not of other hardworking, taxpaying, law-abiding citizens but of a ragtag minority of sociopaths who superficially resemble them. And Republicans only reinforce this line of thought when they attempt to woo black voters as a homogeneous block defined by epidermal loyalties. Indeed, the entire idea of wooing groups of voters is self-defeating. Republicans are faithful to their core values only when they woo individual voters by saying plainly what they stand for.
Until black voters begin to think of themselves first and foremost as individuals, the Republican Party will have little to offer them.
Enjoy this writer's work? Why not sign-up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.
JWR contributor Mark Goldblatt' teaches at SUNY's Fashion Institute of Technology. His new novel is A Africa Speaks. Comment by clicking here.
12/05/02: Our 'lunatics' and theirs
10/21/02: The Dowd Rule: Words to read the New York Times by
09/05/02: Other Opiates: What kids know
08/14/02: Middle East pipe dreams
08/05/02: Bugs Bunny, one of the leading intellectuals of his time?
05/23/02: The SAT's the thing
05/10/02: America's newest victims: Persons of Density
04/25/02: On Being Whiteballed: Why my novel is nowhere near your bookstore
04/11/02: Why profs fear testing
03/31/02: If you cannot attack a position on "straightforward logical grounds," what grounds remain? Welcome to Columbia U
03/21/02: Last week, in case you missed it, was a banner week for cheese
03/01/02: Black History Month distorts accomplishments
© 2002, Mark Goldblatt
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Five more ‘Apostles’ discovered off coast of Port Campbell
Five more ‘Apostles’ have been discovered under water near Victoria’s world-famous 12 Apostles.
It’s the first time submerged limestone stacks have been seen anywhere in the world.
The five columns, around six kilometres offshore, have an average height of almost five metres compared with the visible stacks which average 45 metres.
Associate Professor David Kennedy, from the school Geography at University of Melbourne, told Ross and John the stacks would have been above water around 50 to 60,000 years ago.
‘They’re down in 50 metres water now,’ he explained on 3AW Breakfast.
‘It was a complete surprise (to find them).
‘The textbook says they shouldn’t be there.’
Click PLAY below to hear David Kennedy explain more on 3AW Breakfast
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in this section
Many municipal bylaws dealing with backyard burning are for fire protection, and often are not intended to protect air quality. Recently, though, several municipalities have passed bylaws that ban backyard burning, or only allow the burning of dry, garden refuse under strict rules and on certain days.
There are real health hazards that are caused by particulate matter that is created from open burning and these particulates also play a major role in accelerating global warming. With so many alternatives in this day and age to open burning, the Clean Air Society is against all open burning on the Sunshine Coast.
What we can do as citizens:Compost and mulch If you are in need of good soil prepare your own - the Sunshine Coast is a rocky place!
A good aged compost gives very healthy soil antagonistic to many soilborne pests and diseases. Your yard residue can be taken to composting facilities at the dump as well. There you can get composted material for your garden. Just grow rye or oats for few cycles and seasons and this compost will turn into proper soil.
B.C. is proud of its beautiful nature. There is no urgent need to get a groomed forest, spotless lawn, or immaculate garden. Great gardeners know how to use mother Nature's smart ideas and ecological mechanisms to make plants grow properly. Nature has no garbage, no waste and no leftovers.
Don't save money on the wrong end. Instead of burning the debris get tree-trimming services to chop or dispose.
Rent chipping machines
If it is costly ask in your neighbourhood for a 'joined chipping event'. Add some coffee and cookies and it becomes a party!
NOT - NEVER - NO
Don't burn any garbage or toxic materials like tires, plastics, construction and demolition waste, treated and painted wood, and rubber. You cannot see the toxins in the smoke, but they are there.
Prohibited burning materialsTo prevent the release of dangerous toxins, the following materials must not be burned:
- demolition waste
- domestic waste (household material and food waste not including newspaper and cardboard)
- special waste
- biomedical waste
- asphalt and asphalt products
- treated lumber
- railway ties
- paint and paint products
- tar paper
- fuel and lubricant containers.
Report a burnWhen the ventilation index for a given area has a rating of 54 or below, it is illegal to open burn anywhere on the Sunshine Coast. The Sunshine Coast falls under the Central Vancouver Island jurisdiction for the venting index. A burn also should be reported if prohibited materials are being burned (see prohibited material list above). If the burn you are reporting is an open burn (ie: land clearing, yard waste, commercial burn), please take note of the address/location of the burn, take photos if you can and contact the conservation officer right away. People who open burn tend to be repeat offenders. Only by reporting it to conservation officer will the offender change their ways. You can report anonymously online or over the phone.
Halfmoon Bay: 604-885-5712
Madeira Park: 604-883-9011|
Garden Bay: 604-883-9922
Port Mellon: 604-884-5222|
Roberts Creek: 604-885-6871
For Sechelt residents, please contact the by-law officer:
phone:604-885-8486 or 604-885-8480
For Halfmoon Bay residents, please complete this SCRD Bylaw Compliance Complaint Form and email/fax or mail it to:
phone: (604) 885-7909
mail: Bylaw Enforcement Officer
Sunshine Coast Regional District
1975 Field Road, Sechelt, B.C.
You can also utilize our Neighbourly Notification Program. See below:
Neighbourly Notification ProgramIt's not always easy to approach a neighbour whose burning habits are causing you difficulties. Maybe you have already approached the neighbour and have been dismissed or treated with disrespect. This purpose of the Neighbourly Notification Program is first, to target directly the producer of smoke with educational materials and advice to make them aware that such actions are affecting their neighbours and community. Second, to remove the burden of direct complaint from the individual(s) affected by the burning. These complaints might include; back yard burns, use of a burn barrel, construction burns, slash burns, and excessive chimney smoke.
What can we do?
We have drafted a series of form letters that will be sent out by the SCCAS advising the people responsible for the smoke that neighbours have asked the SCCAS to send this letter to inform the person about the consequences of their burning methods. The letter will also include greener and healthier alternatives to the burning methods they are using, educational information about the health hazards, and links and contacts where they can access more information.
Your personal information will not be released. Just send us an e mail to email@example.com included your neighbour's address, including postal code and name, if possible. Tell us what type of burning is causing the issue and we will send a letter to them within 2 days.
From our blog
- No Incineration Campaign on the Sunshine Coast
Posted: Mon January 20, 2014 Powell River’s Mark Biagi, M.S. has a most excellent video on no incineration that is scientifically and community based.
Sustainable Coast magazine just posted an article titled "Selfie" No Incineration Campaign Launched by Zero Waste Canada in Gibsons. http://www.zerowastecanada.ca
- Air pollution ‘still harming Europeans’ health’
Posted: Wed October 16, 2013 Air pollution is continuing to damage European citizens' health and the environment, latest figures show.
The European Environment Agency (EEA) listed tiny airborne particles and ozone as posing a "significant threat".
However, the authors said nations had significantly cut emissions of a number of pollutants, including sulphur dioxide, lead and carbon monoxide.
In a separate study, research identified a link between low birth-weight and exposure to air pollution.
EEA executive director Hans Bruyninckx said that EU nations had made considerable progress over recent decades to reduce the visible signs of air pollution, with cities now no longer shrouded in blankets of smog.
Continue reading: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-24493530
- Clean Air Society August 2013 Newsletter
Posted: Tue August 27, 2013 The August 2013 CAS Newsletter is the link below:
Click here for the August 2013 Newsletter. In PDF format.
- 10 Easy Steps for Clean Air Day
Posted: Mon May 20, 2013
Breathing polluted air affects your lung health now and in the future. Here are some simple actions you can take to reduce air pollution and to keep the air cleaner and healthier for everyone to breathe:
Walk, bike, carpool, or take public transit.
Reduce your heating needs by making your house more energy efficient. Find out about government programs that test your home’s energy-efficiency and give grants to help pay for the cost of improving your home’s energy efficiency.
Don't burn wood or trash. Instead of burning debris, start a compost pile in your backyard for organic materials.
Use hand-powered garden tools. Avoid using gasoline or diesel-powered equipment such as lawnmowers and leaf-blowers.
Know before you go. If you need to drive, plan the most fuel efficient route using free online tool such as Google maps, taking notice of areas of construction and high traffic. Avoiding these areas can help prevent needless idling.
Check your tire pressure. Properly inflated tires improve fuel efficiency. Each 5% of under-inflation translates into a 1% decrease in fuel efficiency.
Reduce, reuse and recycle.
Avoid idling. Turn off your car’s engine while waiting for someone and try to avoid drive-through lines.
Garden without pesticides. There are many healthy and safe alternatives to harmful cosmetic pesticides.
Get involved. Support national and local efforts to clean up the air. Contact your provincial lung association and find out what is happening in your area and how to get involved.
For helpful links to these steps, please visit the original article here: http://www.sk.lung.ca/index.php/protect-your-lungs-mainmenu/air-quality/10-easy-steps#.UZrHXys-v21
- April Newsletter and update
Posted: Sun April 07, 2013 MESSAGE FROM JEFF HOAG, PRESIDENT OF THE SUNSHINE COAST CLEAN AIR SOCIETY
2012 has been a year of steady progress for cleaner air on the Sunshine Coast. Another successful Wood Stove Exchange program is underway. This program, funded by the BC Ministry of the Environment and the BC Lung Association, supports replacement of old inefficient wood-burning appliances with new, efficient appliances that reduce pollution output dramatically. In 2010 SCCAS provided 93 residents on the Sunshine Coasts with rebates of $250 per appliance. In 2011 we facilitated rebates for 70 purchases and in 2012 we issued 61 rebates. We have received $101,000 in grants over the last three years to fund the program. This money has been spent on education, $250 rebates to purchasers of new stoves, advertising, and administration. I am extremely proud that we have been more successful with this program than any other community in BC. (link to numbers).
We had a highly successful Burn it Smart workshop in December 2012, with over 40 people attending this free community demonstration about how to burn wood fuel efficiently to both save money and minimize pollution. I would like to acknowledge the excellent work of Nadi Fleschutt, Jim Dorey, and Jools Andrés, who have administered this program over the last three years.
SCCAS worked with the District of Sechelt to have Bylaw #486, 2012 adopted; this bylaw will see a ban on all developer/construction burns effective January 1, 2014. Until then, we can all use non-burning alternatives by transporting slash piles to Salish Soils in Sechelt for chipping or taking green waste to the landfill for free. This makes for cleaner air and turns green waste into topsoil and mulch for local gardens. We are also working with Gary Nohr of the SCRD regarding a new backyard burning bylaw for Halfmoon Bay and Roberts Creek. The bylaw draft has been written.
Educational advertising has appeared in community publications this year highlighting the Wood Stove Exchange Program, the Burn It Smart Workshop, and the general health effects of smoke. We have a dynamic, well-visited website (cleanaironthecoast.com) that is regularly updated with new and pertinent information, news, and blogs. Our Facebook page is taking on a new life, too. Please ‘like’ us at http:/ /www.facebook.com/CleanAirSociety and get in on community discussions.
In addition to the support that we receive from the Province of British Columbia and the BC Lung Association, grants from the Sunshine Coast Regional District and the Sunshine Coast Community Foundation and help us immensely with our programs. Furthermore, the District of Sechelt is helping to fund an air quality monitoring station in East Porpoise Bay. See the article about this subject, Air quality monitoring a reality in District of Sechelt in this newsletter.
To close, I want to thank former SCCAS directors Heather Waddell and Vicki Tyndal for their past work and to welcome Peter Wooding as a new director. In addition, I want to acknowledge the amazing work of the SCCAS Board, including Louis Legal, Ryan Logtenberg, and Elizabeth McNeill. Their dedication and selfless work has precipitated much progress for the quality of the air we breathe on the Sunshine Coast.
It is our goal to make the Sunshine Coast a healthier place by reducing the pollutants that cause and affect lung disease and respiratory illness. Thank you for your ongoing support.
AIR QUALITY MONITORING A REALITY IN DISTRICT OF SECHELT
An air quality monitor will measure particulate matter in East Porpoise Bay for the next nine months. Photo: Peter Wooding
An air quality monitor was installed in East Porpoise Bay in mid-December, 2012 and SCCAS began sampling soon after on December 17. Sampling will continue over a 12-month period at three-day intervals, giving representative findings for airborne particulate matter deposition (up to both 2.5 and 10 microns) throughout four seasons. Comparisons will be made with other monitoring sites, including an identical monitor on Sechelt's Trail Bay Mall operating on the same three-day monitoring cycle.
This monitoring is the result of collaborative efforts among citizens, the District of Sechelt (DOS), SCCAS, and the Province of British Columbia. Members of the East Porpoise Bay community expressed concerns to the DOS regarding the notably heavy and increasing deposition of "dust" in and on their homes and property. The DOS, in turn, referred their concerns to SCCAS, which led to communication with the Province. Representatives of the government showed interest in restarting a program in Sechelt by establishing the current sampling site in East Porpoise Bay.
Timely monitoring is proceeding as scheduled. It will be some time before the raw results become available and even longer before an analysis is done. However, there is undoubted benefit in implementing monitoring as it has already increased community awareness of and interest in air quality concerns. We will inform the community of the results as soon as they are known.
BURN IT SMART WORKSHOP WELL ATTENDED
More than 40 people attended the Burn It Smart Workshop on Dec. 8, 2012 at the Sechelt Fire Hall. Those in attendance learned how to burn fires more efficiently from Zigi Gadomski, president of Wood Energy Technicians of British Columbia, through an outdoor demonstration of efficient wood burning. Participants had many questions and gave very positive feedback. Zigi commented that “he hadn’t had such a big and enthusiastic group for a long time”.
Jools Andrés and Mieke Bray organized this successful event for the SCCAS, in part by gathering door prizes from Cozy Homes Fireplaces, Sechelt Fireplace and Gas Centre, and Sechelt Home Hardware. (There were two chimney sweep services donated at a value of $120 each!) Smaller prizes were also awarded such as fireplace matches, Fishermen’s Friend lozenges, chocolate, and tea.
Part of the enthusiasm was, no doubt, due to the refreshments. It was generous of IGA in Wilson Creek to support us by providing some of the treats.
We also thank the Sechelt Fire Department for offering the facility to us at no charge. Both the fire department and the SCCAS have the common goal of creating less air pollution and eliminating accidental fires.
NO DEVELOPERS’ BURNS AFTER JAN.1ST, 2014
In the past, many on the Sunshine Coast have suffered from the smoke and particulates that hang in the air after developers clear and burn their slash piles. For years the Sunshine Coast Clean Air Society has worked on banning those burns, as they pose known health risks, especially for children and the elderly.
In August 2012, the District of Sechelt Council passed Bylaw #486, 2012, which bans burning land clearing waste beginning January 1, 2014. Also prohibited from open air burning are: toxic materials (rubber tires, tar, asphalt, batteries, electrical wire insulation, plastic, fuel and lubricant containers, animal waste, and all similar substances that produce heavy black smoke), garbage, construction waste, and demolition waste.
No burning can take place within 100 metres (m) of any building, structure, fence, or hedge, or within 10 metres of any stream and cannot exceed 1.5 m in height or two metres in diameter. Burning cannot take place within 500 m of a school in session, hospital, or facilities used for continuing care, nor can it be within 30 m of a public roadway, airport, or within 10 m of any power pole or power line.
As far as campfires are concerned, the fire has to be in a fire pit or approved incinerator, clear of overhanging foliage, have access to a water hose and tended by someone 18 years of age or older. Campfires cannot exceed one metre in height or diameter, nor create a smoke or spark that could be a nuisance to neighbouring properties, or contravene any Federal, Provincial, or Fire Department regulations pertaining to open air burning.
Ceremonial fires are allowed and defined as an outdoor fire larger than three cubic feet as part of a scheduled public, religious, or private event, but excluding burning leaves, grass, shrubbery, clippings or cuttings.
The SCCAS supported all of the above. We hoped that the bylaw could have been enacted before Jan. 2014, but the votes in support of earlier enactment were not there.
We also did not want back yard burning to be opened during the last two weeks of October; however, Fire Chief Bill Higgs strongly recommended this. Therefore, we have a two-year pilot project to see what happens during the two weeks of back yard burning during October.
The SCCAS and others need to educate people about the alternatives to back yard burning such as composting, mulching, and taking garden wastes to the landfill or having them chipped. Perhaps we could get a total ban on back yard burning reinstated if many more residents understand and adopt alternatives to burning. Can you help?
Overall, we’re satisfied with Bylaw #486, 2012; as you can see there’s more educational work to be done to end back yard burning. Many people worked on this bylaw for years, so our thanks go to them.
- Clean Air - Smells Good to Me
Posted: Fri March 08, 2013 By Jools Andrés
SCCAS Programs Coordinator
I recently worked on a two-month contract from an office downtown. It was exciting to be a city dweller again with so much to do and see. And smell. All around me, indoors and out…food, exhaust, people, garbage.
I stayed in a suite in East Vancouver. My commute was 20 minutes by bus and during breaks I often took a five-minute walk to the waterfront of Coal Harbour. There was great coffee on every corner and public transit meant I didn't drive my car at all.
After one 11-day stint I ventured back to the Sunshine Coast. I took the 7:20 pm ferry from Horseshoe Bay, then drove to Upper Roberts Creek where I live. It was a clear night and stars twinkled above -- they became brighter as I got farther from the highway lights and above the marine air.
I opened my car door once I reached my home and … whoa! The air was fantastic. Clean and fresh. So different from the air I had become accustomed to in the city.
What is it about fresh air that is so…well, so refreshing? In a nutshell: less pollution and therefore fewer odours. Our sense of smell gives us necessary information, but it quickly adapts to most aromas, whether cinnamon buns or noxious fumes, or to absence of smells, in the case of fresh air.
Olfactory phenomenon aside, breathing fresh air makes us feel healthier, happier, and more energetic. One of the main pollutants on the Sunshine Coast is from wood fires. In December the SCCAS held a Burn It Smart workshop, where attendees learned how to reduce smoke and improve heat efficiency. A synopsis of this event is featured in the upcoming SCCAS newsletter, which will be distributed to members and added to this website.
Our Woodstove Exchange Program is now in full swing with over 25% of allotted funds paid out to participants who have replaced their old wood heating appliances with new, certified, efficient ones.
For more information on reducing pollution from burning, please see our Open Burning section.
Fresh air is a quality that we should protect and treasure. We can do this by making sensible lifestyle choices both outdoors and indoors. We welcome dialogue and feedback. Visit our Facebook page and 'Like' us and follow us on Twitter @CleanAirSociety.
Participating Woodstove Exchange Program Vendors
Cozy Homes - Colleen 4349 Sunshine Coast Hwy Wilson Ck, BC V0N 3A1 604-885-4884
Thomas Heating - Dana 1081 Seamount Way 604-886-7111
Home Hardward - Gibsons & Sechelt 921 Gibsons Way, P.O. Box 1039. Gibsons, BC V0N 1V0 - 5484 Trail Avenue Sechelt, BC V0N 3A0 (Dan) 604-886-2442 604-885-9828
Sechelt Fireplace - Tiffany 5654 Wharf Street Sechelt 604-885-7171
Steve Christian Contracting 604-885-7167
Clean Sweep 10116 Sunshine Coast Hwy Halfmoon Bay, BC V0N 1Y2 604-885-1938
- So Easy to Compost
Posted: Tue November 27, 2012 By Elizabeth McNeil
Anytime is a good time to compost. A good mix of green
materials (vegetable and fruit kitchen scraps) and brown
materials (fallen leaves and shredded paper) are needed for
making good compost.
Sometimes people are reluctant to have a compost pile because
it can attract unwanted animals and insects. Don’t use
meat,fish or seafood which would make your compost a buffet for
critters. Discourage animals by turning your compost more often
thereby adding more oxygen to the compost and creating top soil
Compost to reduce global warming. Unlike burning, which
converts carbon to carbon dioxide (a greenhouse gas), composting
returns a good portion of the carbon in plant materials to the
soil where it is stored.
Many of our neighbors don’t know how or don’t want to compost
for a variety of reasons. If you compost, invite them to drop
their Fall leaves into your compost pile. In that way, they
won’t burn them, causing air pollution, or have them carried
away in plastic bags to the landfill. Some neighbors might be
interested in composting but don’t know how to get started. Be
a good neighbor, a good gardener, and help them. By composting,
we’re closer to zero waste, and we’re gaining lots of free top
These websites offer good composting information:
- Sechelt Bylaw to Phase in Banning of Open Air Burning
Posted: Thu September 06, 2012 On August 1st the Sechelt Council passed Bylaw 486 prohibiting open air burning
for the purpose of land clearing beginning Jan. 1, 2014. After Jan. 1, 2014, developers
can no longer burn and will have to use other methods, such as chipping, to dispose of
the wastes from land clearing.
This bylaw has been in the making for about four years, and it’s adoption is good
news to many community, health, and environmental organizations. Many children,
adults and elderly residents with respiratory illnesses, including asthma, have suffered
when smoke from the developers’ fires hung in the air for sometimes days. Passage of
this bylaw is good for obvious health reasons.
The Sechelt Council incorporated suggestions by Paul Martiquet, M.D., medical
health officer for Vancouver Coastal Health, increasing set backs from schools and
hospitals to protect those who are ill and young from the negative effects of smoke. For
example, there can be no fires within 500 metres of schools in session, hospitals, and
facilities used for continuing care as defined under the Continuing Care Act.
Previously there was a 100% ban on backyard burning. This new bylaw opens a
window from Oct. 15th to 31st where residents can burn backyard wastes though not
toxic materials like rubber tires, tar, asphalt, batteries, electrical wire insulation, plastics,
fuel and lubricant containers, animal waste, and all similar substances which produce
heavy black smoke. It’s also illegal to burn garbage, construction waste, or demolition
Opening a two week window in October is a two year pilot program during which
time the District plans to conduct an education campaign to encourage residents to take
backyard wastes to the landfill for free, use chipping, and learn to compost and mulch.
The 100% backyard burn ban was difficult for some with extenuating situations, and
many residents don’t know how to mulch or compost though it’s very easy. The goal at
the end of two years is to reduce and eliminate backyard burning as people learn
alternatives to burning.
There’s been some misunderstanding in the District regarding campfires. According
to Bylaw 486, campfires are ok if they are no more than one metre in height and one
metre in diameter, do not create a smoke or spark nuisance to a neighbor, or do not
contravene and Federal, Provincial or Fire Department regulations. For example, under
very dry circumstances there can be a provincial ban on all campfires. Campfires shall
be contained in a fire pit, be clear of overhanging foliage, have access to a water hose,
and be tended by someone 18 years or older.
Council discussion of this bylaw generated opposing opinions. All sides did a little
give-and-take. Developers can burn until Jan. 1, 2014, and then they incur higher costs
to dispose of wood waste when they can no longer burn. Those with respiratory
illnesses live with smoke until Jan. 1, 2014, and then there will be no more large
commercial burns. Homeowners too close to a developer’s burn will continue to have
particulate matter fall on their houses, cars, and gardens until Jan. 1, 2014, and then no
more. Nothing in this bylaw precludes a developer from using non-burning methods,
such as chipping, right away. Some have already done so. Hopefully more will do so.
In less than two years, we’ll have cleaner air and continuing development of new
residential and commercial projects. In two years, hopefully, more residents will
respond to the education efforts of the DOS and will use non-burning methods to get rid
of backyard wastes. The health benefits are substantial; and health costs, paid by all of
us, are reduced.
- Elizabeth McNeil
- May 23rd: SCCAS presentation to the new Sechelt Council advocating a ban on developers’ burns
Posted: Fri May 18, 2012 On May 23rd the SCCAS will make a presentation to the new Sechelt Council advocating a ban on developers' burns in the DOS.
It would be very helpful if residents living in the District of Sechelt
could attend this Committee of the Whole (CoW) meeting which starts at 1 pm
in the community room across from the library in the Sechelt Municipal
building at Cowrie and Ocean Streets. We expect the opposition to be
strong, so people who favor a ban and attend the meeting could make a
strong statement with your presence.
- Open Burning video about Alberni Valley, Vancouver Island
Posted: Fri September 16, 2011
- Incineration of Garbage and Other Wastes
Posted: Mon August 15, 2011 Introduction
Incineration or burning of garbage and other waste material is hazardous to the well being of Canadians. Nearly half of us will develop cancer in our lifetimes. About 75-80 percent of these cancers will be caused by our environment, i.e., the particles and chemicals that we breathe or otherwise come into contact with over the years. Diseases such as asthma and emphysema have historically been associated with the breathing fine particles. More recently to long term exposures to dioxins, furans, asbestos and heavy metals such as mercury, cadmium and arsenic have been shown to cause numerous cancers, heart disease and other insidious ailments.
Waste Incineration and Links to Cancer
Prevent Cancer Now, a national organization focused on eliminating the preventable causes of cancer cites the following:
Studies in the United Kingdom found an increased risk of childhood cancer, childhood leukemia and solid tumours of all kinds among children living near incinerators.
Studies from France, Japan, Italy, United Kingdom and Sweden found that populations living near incinerators had a cluster of soft-tissue sarcoma and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma; a two-fold cancer-risk; increases in laryngeal cancer; increases in lung cancer or lung cancer mortality and generally higher risks of all cancers but specifically of stomach, colorectal, liver and lung cancer.
Incinerator workers in Italy, the U.S. and Sweden had significantly higher gastric cancer mortality and a high prevalence of hypertension and excessive deaths from lung cancer and heart disease.
Mass burn incinerators have been around for a very long time. Typically they force air into the fire to fully oxidize all the waste material. Modern incinerators, gasification, pyrolysis (starved air) and plasma arc technologies are touted as safer because they use very high temperatures to convert the waste into gas, liquid and solid residues. These gases, liquids or solids still contain toxic materials and must still be eliminated. Gasification incinerators typically burn the gas to generate electricity.
Modern incinerators are capable of reducing toxic air emissions, but these systems are expensive, consume valuable resources, and ultimately lead to increases in green house gas emissions. Toxic air emissions can never be reduced to zero, and the toxic ash and liquids from these incinerators are still hazardous requiring careful disposal.
Regulation and Monitoring of Toxins
Real-time and continuous monitoring technology is not available for many pollutants including some of the most dangerous, such as dioxins. For example, the trial burning of demolition and construction waste at the Howe Sound Pulp and Paper (HSPP) mill specified that only two dioxin samples per year were required for the trial monitoring regime. Dioxin emissions are not constant. They can vary drastically especially during start up and shut down operations. Relying on only two annual samples is totally inadequate.
As well, environmental standards and safe emission limits often are not specified by jurisdictions. In these cases standards from other jurisdictions may be used as guidelines. Because of these limitations, enforcement of emission violations becomes difficult or nonexistent. The BC Ministry of the Environment (MoE) currently uses some Washington State standards for the HSPP burning trial.
Green House Gas Emissions
At first glance, incineration of waste to generate electricity appears to be a win-win situation. Waste is disposed of, and electricity is generated as a by product. However, many researchers would argue with this simplistic view. It can be demonstrated that recycling of waste materials has the least impact on climate change compared to all other forms of waste disposal including incineration. Green house gas emissions are reduced because reusing materials avoids having to re-extract, reprocess and remanufacture these same materials.
Zero Waste Concepts
The Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA) has stated the following with respect to Zero Waste concepts as an alternative to burning:
Zero Waste creates jobs and is good for the economy. For example, U.S. recycling and reuse establishments employ 1.1 million people and gross $236 billion in annual revenues. Designing more recyclable, reusable and repairable products means more jobs for a vital industry.
Zero Waste saves natural resources by reducing consumption and making new items from recycled materials. Ruining materials through thermal and combustion processes means more materials need to be extracted from the earth to replace those resources.
Zero Waste conserves energy through reducing demand for extraction and processing of raw materials, which is energy intensive. EPA analysis shows that recycling is more energy efficient than combustion.
Prevent Cancer Now sums up the use of burning to dispose of waste as follows:
All incinerators generate toxic emissions, including carcinogens, and are a leading source of dioxins globally. Since there are safer, more economical and flexible options, we should adopt the precautionary principle and move away from waste management options that pose a serious risk to human health and further degrade our environment.
Furthermore, the burning of waste destroys resources and locks communities into very expensive contracts, which require large and predictable volumes of garbage over long periods of time to recoup the large initial capital costs. Far more energy would be saved and fewer health and environmental impacts – including cancer – would result from reusing, recycling and composting materials. In a world of depleting resources it makes no sense to incinerate materials when safer options exist.
Most of the material used to prepare this position paper appears in a few documents located on the Prevent Cancer Now organization’s web site: http://preventcancernow.ca/
I have attached the references used by Prevent Cancer Now for added information.References:
1. Canadian Cancer Society/National Cancer Institute of Canada: Canadian Cancer Statistics 2008 2-3
April 2008, ISSN 0835-2976
2. Environmental and Heritable Factors in the Causation of Cancer –Analyses of Cohorts of Twins from
Sweden, Denmark and Finland. Original Article New England Journal of Medicine July 13, 2000 Vol.
3. American Cancer Society Cancer Facts and Figures 2006 P.22
4. The Health Effects of Waste Incinerators 4th Report of the British Society for Ecological Medicine.
Second Edition June 2008
5. Best Environmental Practices and Alternative Technologies for Medical Waste Management
Jorge Emmanuel, PhD. Health Care Without Harm, June 2007, Kasane, Botswana
Eighth International Waste Management Congress and Exhibition
6. Health Canada – Dioxins and Furans It’s Your Health
http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/hl-vs/alt_formats/pacrb-dgapcr/pdf/iyh-vsv/environ/dioxin-eng.pdf (pdf document)
7.Canada-Wide Standards for Dioxins and Furans (2001)
8. CCME Review of Dioxins and Furans from Incineration in Support of a Canada-wide Standard Review
9. Plasma Arc Technology for Municipal Solid Waste: A Proven Technology or Incinerator in Disguise?
Greenaction for Health and Environmental Justice. Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives. March 2008
10. Incineration and Gasification: A Toxic Comparison. Blue Ridge Environmental Defence League. April
11. Gasification, Pyrolysis & Plasma Incineration Fact Sheet Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives
12. Incineration and Human Health. State of Knowledge of the Impacts of Waste Incinerators on Human
Health Allsopp, M. Costner, P. and Johnston, P.
13. Generic Human Health and Ecological Risk Assessment Study. Durham York Residual Waste Study
June 2007. Report No. 1009497.02
14. After Incineration: the Toxic Ash Problem. Petrlik, J. Ryder, R.A. April 2005 4,7-8.
15. Irish Doctors Environmental Association (IDEA) IDEA Position on Incineration
16 .The Health Effects of Waste Incinerators 4th Report of the British Society for Ecological Medicine, Dec. 2005
17. Waste Incineration: A Dying Technology. Global Anti-Incinerator Alliance July 2003.
18.Ontario Ministry of the Environment Guideline A-8 (2004)
19. Durham/York Residual Waste Study. Letter to Ontario Ministry of the Environment June 11, 2008.
20. GAIA Incinerators Trash Community Health June 2008
21 The Pembina Institute – 4 Incineration Fact Sheets: Impact on Global Warming, Pollution, A
Reasonable Energy Option and Understanding the Costs and Financial Risks
- Working with the District of Sechelt toban land clearing burns by developers
Posted: Wed June 15, 2011 The Sunshine Coast Clean Air Society is working with the Mayor and Counsellors of the District of Sechelt to amend the current burn bylaw by banning the burning of land clearing debris by developers. This ban will improve air quality.
Alternatives to burning are now available, such as chipping and grinding through Salish Soils, a Sechelt business. Salish Soils takes land debris and garden wastes, mixes them with fish wastes from the fish farms, and by applying high heat, turns all this waste into compost and top soil. It's a local, green, sustainable business.
In addition, the Clean Air Society is working to maintain a total ban on back yard burning. Homeowners can mulch and chip without resorting to burning. They can also take their garden wastes to the land fill for free thus, again, negating the need to burn. A good educational effort is needed to help homeowners transition to non-burning alternatives.
So much is now known about the health hazards of smoke and invisible particulate matter on the lungs due to open burning. Since there are alternatives to burning, we should come out strongly in favor of health and protect against respiratory diseases.
Campfires for food and ceremonial purposes are still allowed.
Please encourage people you know to chip, mulch, or take their debris to the landfill for free. This helps us all with cleaner air.
by Elizabeth McNeill
- ‘Black carbon’ key to tackling climate threat: UN report
Posted: Wed February 23, 2011 SOURCE: TERRADAILY
Curbing sooty particles emitted by burning biomass and smog caused by traffic fumes would slow the onslaught of climate change and deliver many health benefits, a UN report said here on Wednesday.
Removing these sources of pollution by 2030 would clip 0.5 degrees Celsius (0.9 degrees Fahrenheit) off the expected 1.0 C (1.8 F) rise in global warming by mid-century, it said.
The biggest beneficiaries would be the Arctic, the Himalayas and other glaciated regions that are highly vulnerable to warming.
Health benefits would be almost immediate, by ending a major source of respiratory illness, it said.
The report, authored by specialists for the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), has been submitted to environment ministers from around the globe.
They are meeting in Nairobi until Thursday for talks on how to overhaul governance of the world's environment ahead of a gathering next year to mark the 20th anniversary of the famous 1992 Rio Summit.
The 32-page report touches on two major pollutants: "black carbon," or soot-like particles that are emitted by burning wood or biomass, and ground-level ozone, a gas that results from a chemical reaction between traffic exhaust fumes and sunlight.
Clouds of black carbon become charged with heat by absorbing sunlight,and can alter weather patterns such as the monsoon.
Black carbon is a respiratory hazard, as is ozone, a triple-atom molecule of oxygen that in the stratosphere plays an important role in shielding Earth from ultraviolet radiation.
Man-made ozone in the lower levels of the atmosphere is a major component of smog and the third biggest greenhouse gas after carbon dioxide -- the direct byproduct of burning fossil fuels -- and methane, which comes from forests and land use. It is also damaging to plants.
Pam Pearson of the International Cryosphere Climate Initiative, said that in glaciated regions, temperatures are rising at double the rate of increase elsewhere.
The Arctic was especially hit because it was close to the industrialised countries of the northern hemisphere.
"Some scientists estimate the impact of just black carbon that lands on ice and snow may be as much as (the impact of) CO2 in the Arctic," she said on the sidelines of a presentation of the report in Nairobi.
UN-led efforts to tackle global warming gases have been stymied by national differences over how to apportion the cost of weaning the world off dependence on oil, gas and coal and improving energy efficiency.
The new report said that addressing black carbon and ozone through pollution controls offered early benefits in addressing the warming problem, although this did not exclude the urgency of tackling fossil-fuel CO2.
It did not make any estimate of the cost, saying further work on this was needed.
Daniel Reifsnyder, US deputy assistant secretary for the environment and sustainable development, told the experts gathered that a two-pronged attack was needed.
"We all need to recognise that slowing the near-term rate of warming by acting on short-lived forces does not buy us time to act on carbon dioxide," he said.
"We need to act now on CO2 because today's emissions will affect the earth's climate for centuries to come," he said.
"What agreeing on near-term warming can do for us is to slow down the alarming rate of change we've seen in the Arctic and elsewhere, and in the process delay the onset of some feedbacks that further accelerate warming."
- Clean Air Society Involved in Effort to Ban Developers’ Burns
Posted: Thu September 30, 2010 This Fall the Sechelt Council will consider an amendment to the District of Sechelt's Burn Bylaw that will prohibit developers' burns. Currently the Burn Bylaw prohibits backyard burning. However when developers clear the land of trees, they are not prohibited from burning huge amounts of wood as long as they have a permit issued by the fire department. Sometimes these burns go on for days causing air pollution and difficulties for those with asthma and other respiratory illnesses. The current amendment would prohibit developers' from burning these slash piles.
Many health problems are associated with wood smoke pollution. Exposure to particulates penetrates deep into the lungs and is linked to asthma, acute respiratory symptoms, chronic bronchitis, and decreased lung function. Dr. Paul Martiquet, Medical Health Officer for the Sunshine Coast, spoke in favor of a ban on developers' burns at a Town Hall Meeting in April of this year. Jeff Hoag, president of the SC Clean Air Society (SCCAS) testified at the same Town Hall Meeting saying that alternatives to burning already exist.
The opposition to the ban on developers' burning would be from developers who oppose the increased costs of chipping or hauling the wood to Howe Sound Pulp and Paper to be used as hog fuel.
A Tree Bylaw, passed October 2009 by the Sechelt Council, requires owners/developers of plots more than one hectare in size to submit a tree protection plan. This requirement might encourage developers to keep more trees on the lot, thus saving themselves chipping, hauling, or landscaping costs.
Members of the SCCAS and some community organizations submitted personal public comment supporting a ban on developers' burns. Thank you for your help! Our comments let the Sechelt Council know that there's public support for this ban.
Last Fall, Heather Waddell, director of the SC Clean Air Society, made a presentation to the Sechelt Council advocating a ban on developers' burns. The Council members were very supportive at that time. We're encouraged that an amendment to the Burn Bylaw that will ban developers' burns can be adopted. We'll keep you posted.
Submitted by Elizabeth McNeill
- Burning Construction and Demolition Waste at HSPP - Green Energy? by SCCAS member Louis Legal
Posted: Wed September 29, 2010 Information from SCCAS member Louis Legal, retired meteorologist
Minister Stockwell Day announced in Gibsons last Wednesday that the Howe Sound Pulp and Paper (HSPP) mill was receiving $37 million in federal funds for boiler upgrades. The mill’s president, Mr. Palmiere, said that these upgrades would allow the sale of significant amounts of electricity to BC Hydro. As a result HSPP will become BC’s largest independent power producers (IPP). As well he indicated that this was green energy because it displaced the burning of natural gas.
Indeed there will be a reduction in the emission of green house gases (GHG) because wood is considered a renewable resource. I congratulate the HSPP mill’s management for acquiring this grant and helping to reduce its CO2 pollution. The mill also announced that it is hosting two public open houses so that we can learn more about its application for a permit amendment to allow the burning of construction and demolition (C&D) waste.
On October 26, 2009 the provincial Ministry of the Environment (MoE) granted HSPP a two year permit variance allowing the burning of up to 5200 cubic metres (one barge) of C&D waste per week. A number of monitoring conditions were attached to this variance.
Unfortunately, C&D waste contains plastics, preservative treated woods, manufactured glued woods such as OSB, plywood and particle board, and paint possibly even lead-based paint. These materials emit potentially hazardous toxins into the atmosphere when burned.
The mill management has argued that the emissions measured during the two year variance exercise were the same during the burning of C&D waste as with the burning of normal hog fuel. They also say that the sorting procedures of their suppliers ensure that the amounts of potentially toxic materials are minimal.
Recent history with coal burning and with C&D waste burning at the mill strongly suggests that management at the mill has not acted with good will and integrity. Given this behaviour, it is imperative that MoE implement safeguards to protect our communities.
Prior to granting any permit amendment, MoE must:
- Monitor all emissions independently of those measured by the mill. Potentially toxic emissions include dioxins, furans, arsenic, lead and others. Industry cannot always be trusted to do the right thing. For example, the tar sands industry in northern Alberta claimed that they were not dumping toxic waste into the Athabasca River. Dr. David Schindler proved them wrong.
- Explicitly prohibit or limit the content of certain waste materials to very small percentages as other jurisdictions have done. These of course include plastics, preservative treated woods, manufactured woods containing glues, and painted material from demolition sites.
Local citizens should attend the open houses on September 22nd in Gibsons and on September 23rd in Squamish. The government recently boasted that BC would Lead the world in sustainable environmental management, with the best air and water quality, and the best fisheries management, bar none. Let’s hold the government to this pledge.
- April 15th marks the start of Clean Air Season!
Posted: Thu April 15, 2010 From April 15th to October 15th, open burning (aka burning of a Class B pile) is not allowed.
Here's what a Class B pile is defined as: A small backyard fire for burning waaste material. The accumulations are normally hand piled, garden refuse materials and may be contained within an incinerator.
Enjoy the Clean Air!
- Removing one ton of black carbon will have the same effect as removing 2,000 to 3,000 tons of CO2
Posted: Tue November 24, 2009 How bad is wood burning on climate change?
"removing one ton of black carbon will have the same [climate] effect as removing 2,000 to 3,000 tons of CO2," says climatologist Veerabhadran Ramanathan of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography.
This is one reason why the Clean Air Society is strongly opposed to any unnecessary wood burning.
- Progress and more progress for the SCCAS
Posted: Fri June 26, 2009 Tymax Industries has been approved for a curtain burner to be located near Sechelt. They have advised us that they will not be proceeding with the burner and will instead grind and compost or ship out wood waste generated from the mine site. This will alleviate concerns about smoke from the curtain burner as well as drastically reduce or eliminate the smoke that has been produced in the past. We are meeting with Tymax on June 26 to hear about their plans to dispose of biomass responsibly.
We are currently working on proposals for bylaw changes for all areas of the Coast and should have a presentation ready in July. These changes will address all outdoor burning.
We received a corporate donation of $1,000 this month and we have received a grant of $2,400 for the Wood Stove change out program and expect more grant money for the program in the Fall. We have done some advertising in the local papers which has increased our profile and membership. The District of Sechelt has asked to work with us on the wood stove program. We will be sending out a brochure to all residents of the Sunshine Coast advertising the program. We plan to do this in conjunction with a fireplace dealer.
There was a presentation to the District of Sechelt Committee of the Whole on June 10, 2009 by Heather Waddell under the banner of the SCCAS, concentrated on the smoke pollution that comes from land clearing and development. It touched on serious lung health issues, the topography of the area and confusion over open burning regulations. The result was a recommendation "that staff, in consultation with the Chief of the Sechelt Volunteer Fire Department, prepare a report on potential amendments to the Backyard Burning Bylaw to restrict land clearing burns." It is hoped that other concerned stakeholders will have a say, perhaps by forming a working committee.
- Howe Sound Pulp and Paper Mill is burning plastic
Posted: Sun February 08, 2009 This is an article from the Coast Reporter on Howe Sound Pulp and Paper Mill burning plastic:
Burning plastic raises concern
Howe Sound Pulp and Paper (HSPP) is burning plastic, but it is not burning added recyclable plastic as suggested in a report by a Lower Mainland media outlet earlier in the week, said Al Strang, manager of environment and external relations for HSPP.
Strang said the plant has been burning wood waste that contains less than four per cent plastic for about three years.
"We believe that we have all of the necessary permits to burn the fuel we are getting," Strang said. "It is plastic that is attached to the wood, vapor barrier type plastic, found in construction sites."
Strang was definitive in his answer when he said HSPP has not, is not and has no plans to burn wood waste with added, recyclable plastic such as yogurt containers and milk jugs. While Urban Wood Waste, the Lower Mainland company that supplies the product, does add plastics for another company, HSPP does not receive that mix.
"There is less than four per cent plastic in one barge a week that accounts for one seventh of the total wood strain [burned]," said Strang. Strang said the fuel is used to generate heat and electricity at HSPP and because the mill cannot get all the fuel they need to burn right here on the Coast, they bring in about 20 per cent a year from Urban Wood Waste.
Strang also said he has put no more effort since last October into a proposed partnership to build a thermal power plant to incinerate garbage. Dan Bouman, executive director of the Sunshine Coast Conservation Association, said he received several phone calls this week after residents heard about the news story. He said he contacted Strang to ensure that the Coast community, that is so dedicated to recycling, were not having plastics burned at HSPP.
"I got a statement from Al Strang and I accept that. I believe him," Bouman said.
Critics like Louis Legal, a member of the Sunshine Coast Clean Air Society and Sunshine Coast Council of Senior Citizens of B.C. co-chair, argue the burning of all plastic is hazardous to the environment.
Legal said he was not aware that HSPP was burning any plastic.
"The issues are, of course, air pollution from burning plastics and the disposal of the residual ash from the burning process … it requires more investigation," said Legal.
Dion Whyte, manager of sustainable services for the Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD), sent an email to directors to share with constituents that had Strang’s information regarding plastic burning at HSPP.
While not incorrect, the information from the original news story was understood by several local people, who contacted the SCRD and Coast Reporter, to mean that HSPP was burning added recyclables.
In his message, Whyte wrote: "Monitoring of emissions from HSPP’s facility continues to be the responsibility of the provincial government. Emissions from the facility must not exceed permitted levels. No recyclable materials from recycling programs on the Sunshine Coast (or anywhere else) are being burned as fuel at HSPP."
The Sunshine Coast Clean Air Society was putting together an official statement regarding the matter, but did not submit it to Coast Reporter by deadline Thursday morning. The Ministry of Environment was also contacted, but no official statement was given to Coast Reporter.
Here's a link to the original article
- Drop in U.S. air pollution linked to longer lifespans
Posted: Wed January 21, 2009 Here's one reason why the Clean Air Society exists - to extend the length and quality of lives.
Americans are living longer because the air they breathe is getting cleaner, a new study suggests. The average drop in pollution seen across 51 metropolitan areas between 1980 and 2000 appears to have added nearly five more months to people's lives, according to a study published Wednesday in The New England Journal of Medicine.
Residents of cities that did the best job cleaning up air pollution showed the biggest jump in life span; for example, Pittsburgh's clearer air meant people there could expect to live nearly 10 months longer.
"Here's a situation where we say, 'We think that improving our air quality should improve health and life expectancy,' and so we did it, in many cities more so than others," says lead researcher C. Arden Pope III, Ph.D., of Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. "We wait a couple of decades and see if it really helps, and the answer is that it did, and that's good news."
Long-term exposure to dirty air -- specifically, the tiny specks known as fine-particulate air pollution -- shortens lives and contributes to cardiovascular and lung disease. Particulate matter is inhaled almost like a gas and is thought to hike blood pressure, heart attack risk, and the chance of heart disease-related death.
The American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology recommends that heart patients avoid driving for two to three weeks after leaving the hospital to avoid pollution (and stress). Other research has suggested that a nonsmoker living in a polluted city has about the same risk of dying of heart disease as a former smoker. Health.com: 5 ways to keep pollution from harming your heart
Gas and diesel engines, coal-fired plants, steel mills, smelters, refineries, and other industrial processes involving burning at high temperatures produce these particles, which are no bigger than 2.5 microns across -- or about one-fortieth the diameter of a human hair. "Those are the ones that can penetrate deeply into the lungs and cause most of the health problems," says Pope.
The Clean Air Act of 1970 set nationwide air quality standards and motor-vehicle emissions standards for the first time, and the federal government and some states have continued to take steps to tackle air pollution. Health.com: Both indoor and outdoor pollutants linked to heart problems
Thanks to these efforts, U.S. air quality has improved. Pope and his team decided to use U.S. data on fine-particulate matter concentrations and life expectancy from the late 1970s and the late 1990s as a "natural experiment" to determine whether cleaner air had any effect on health.
They plotted pollution data for 1979-1983 against 1978-1982 life expectancies for 217 counties within 51 metropolitan areas around the country. Then they compared 1999-2000 pollution data with 1997-2001 life expectancies. Finally, they looked at how changes in life expectancy related to changes in air pollution for both time periods. Health.com: 10 risk factors for heart disease
Many other factors can boost life expectancy, such as increases in income and education and reductions in smoking prevalence, so the researchers used statistical techniques to control for these and other relevant factors. After this adjustment, they found that the effect of air pollution reduction remained; for every 10 microgram per cubic meter decrease in fine-particulate air pollution, life expectancies rose by about seven months. Pollution levels averaged about 21 micrograms per cubic meter in 1979-1983 and had fallen to an average of 14 micrograms per cubic meter by 1999-2000.
Life expectancy for the corresponding time periods rose from 74 years to 77 years. Pope and his team calculate that reductions in air pollution accounted for as much as 15 percent of the increase in life expectancy. Heath.com: Heart Quiz: What's your real risk?
READ FULL ARTICLE HERE: http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/01/21/healthmag.airpollution.lifespan/index.html
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No matter how many warnings we heard about the dangers of looking directly at the solar eclipse with our bare eyes, many of us did it anyway.
But that daredevil impulse unleashed a torrent of post-eclipse worries on Tuesday, namely: Did I wreck my eyes? Google searches for “eyes hurt” peaked immediately after the historic eclipse.
Some Minnesotans took to Twitter to air their concerns:
Danny Cunningham tweeted: “The biggest surprise about the solar eclipse is how many of my friends are surprised that their eyes hurt now. From staring at the sun.”
In his tweet, Mike Schardin observed: “I love all these shots with people taking photos of the eclipse and their special glasses are on their head not their eyes.”
And then there was this wisecrack from Thom Wadezero: “Stared directly into the eclipse. My eyes now shoot laser beams and I have no idea how to make it stop.”
Twin Cities eye doctors fielded questions from worried patients on Tuesday, and urged anyone with concerns to consult with their eye doctor.
“I had a patient this morning who was concerned that she looked at the sun too long,” said Dr. Robert Hersman at Hopkins Eye Clinic. “She felt funny, but in fact, her eyes were fine.”
The patient had been wearing protective glasses made for viewing the eclipse, but still, she felt what she described as a mild ache in her eyes, Hersman said.
Damage to the retina from sun exposure, known as solar retinopathy, can happen when the eye is exposed directly and for too long to the sun’s ultraviolet rays. That can happen in a matter of three or four minutes, he said. In Minnesota, the cloudy skies during the eclipse helped reduce the risk of harm.
Hersman’s colleague, Dr. Aaron Mjelstad, also saw a patient on Tuesday who feared she’d injured her eyes by viewing the eclipse. She’d used a welder’s mask to shield her eyes but began to doubt whether it protected her eyes enough.
“She wanted to be safe and get it checked out,” Mjelstad said. “She was fine.”
Ralph Chou, a professor emeritus of optometry in Canada and an expert on sun damage to the eyes, told NPR that the chances of hurting your eyes from viewing the eclipse are very low if you only stole a brief glance — less than a second — at the sun without the protective eyewear.
He also told NPR that it would take 12 hours to notice any symptoms, including “blurred vision, where the very center of the vision might have a spot or multiple spots that were missing in their vision or were very blurred. Around it there might be some clear spots,” Chou said.
Recovery of solar retinopathy happens spontaneously and takes three to six months, though visual recovery may be incomplete, according to the American Academy of Ophthalmology.
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Thirteen and Fourteen Year Visit
Congratulations! You are entering the most exciting time of your life, full of changes and choices. Your health class at school has detailed the physical changes in your body. We would like to make you aware of the changes in relationships and some choices available.
One if the most significant changes in your life will be the importance of your friends as an influence on your feelings and behavior. Sometimes it will be difficult to choose between the different interests of parents and friends. It is important to discuss these differences openly with your parents. Usually a fair solution can be found. Similarly, you should talk with your parents about the strong feelings that often occur during the next few years. Your parents also had these feelings as they went through this time in their lives. They can understand your concerns.
You should also be aware that your behavior and choices now will strongly influence your health for years to come. Many risks to your good health are avoidable. Therefore, we recommend that you think seriously about your decisions regarding smoking, drinking, drug use, driving, and sexual relationships. Although most people your age feel that “it won’t happen to me”, automobile accidents and sexually transmitted disease are the most serious and common threats to your immediate good health. Smoking, which is highly addicting, puts you at high risk for frequent lung illness and cancer. Alcohol and drugs impair your judgment and lead you to act in ways that you would not if you were thinking clearly. In addition, they in themselves can cause damage to your liver and other organs. Please don’t make casual decisions regarding these behaviors.
The media (magazines, movies and especially TV) may carry many subtle but strong messages designed to influence you in ways that profit the advertiser and not be good for your health. In addition, they often show violence and sex without regard for their consequences. Be aware of these attempts to “sell” you.
School is your job so participation in extracurricular activities is really needed so that you are doing something for you that is fun: sports, music, drama, dance, or clubs, whatever interests you-go for it.
We would like to be a resource for you during this exciting and challenging time. We are available to speak confidentially with you about any concerns, problems, or questions you may have. We can provide information about your health, answer your questions about illness, and talk with you about many new feelings and emotions you are experiencing and how to deal with them. Just ask!
The AAP recommends vitamin D supplementation for all children/adolescents. After reviewing the literature, it certainly looks like many people may benefit from vitamin D, although not everyone necessarily needs it. Some risk factors that might make you vitamin D deficient include: dark skin (African-americans, Indians, Hispanics), time spent indoors and not out in the sunlight (particularly in the winter months), low amount of milk consumption (less than 16 oz a day – about 2 glasses), and obesity. Talk to your parents about picking some up for you. The recommended dose is 400 IU (international units) once daily. This can be bought over the counter in either liquid, chewable, or pill form. Another option would be a multivitamin.
Immunizations that will be given during the next several years will be chicken pox booster, Hepatitis A series if not already given (2 shots given 6 months apart), and the HPV vaccine (3 shots in the series). A yearly flu shot is still recommended.
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Join Date: May 2002
IBM and AMD to intro SOI for 24% boost
AMD AND IBM said that both firms will use silicon on insulator (SOI) on their 90 nanometre processors.
This process is called "dual stress liner", which the firms claim improve n-channel and p-channel transistors on chips, by "stretching" silicon atoms in one transistor and "compressing" them in the other.
Why does it matter? The chip firms say that it will boost speeds of chips by up to a quarter using the same power levels as non-SOI chips.
|Thread||Thread Starter||Forum||Replies||Last Post|
|AMD Announces Widespread Availability and Broad Global OEM Support for New Quad-Core||jmke||WebNews||0||13th November 2008 17:17|
|AMD to abandon SOI after 45nm||jmke||WebNews||0||11th October 2008 16:23|
|IBM Announces 45nm as well: good news for AMD||jmke||WebNews||0||31st January 2007 13:36|
|Chartered to Boost AMD Production Capacities in July||jmke||WebNews||0||23rd May 2006 01:42|
|AMD Introduces Three New Dual-Core AMD Opteron™ Processors||jmke||WebNews||0||12th March 2006 20:25|
|AMD Expands Successful Semiconductor Technology Alliance with IBM||Sidney||WebNews||0||1st November 2005 16:20|
|AMD, Intel way behind IBM on power tower front||Sidney||WebNews||1||28th October 2005 23:29|
|IBM to use more AMD chip as Fab 36 starts||Sidney||WebNews||0||14th October 2005 18:33|
|AMD, IBM extend technology pact||Sidney||WebNews||0||22nd September 2004 04:38|
|AMD Announces IBM and Oracle Support||Sidney||WebNews||0||25th May 2004 07:24|
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The X axis assembly was pretty straightforward. I'd seen a lot of comments about the Igus bearings being difficult to mount, and easy to split - I can certainly see where this might be the case. I managed to get all four in place with only minor hacking using my trusty needle file.
The linear bearings didn't want to go onto the rods at first, so I spun them in a drill, whilst running
wire wool up and down the length. Once you get over the fact that you look like you're engaging in power tool foreplay, it's worth doing this for all the rods as everything will run a bit smoother. Just remember that if you use this method on the threaded rods, when the drill is spinning clockwise, if you're holding a rag/wire wool tightly, the rod will attempt to mash your fingers into the drill chuck...so go slow! I finished off all of my rods with a healthy coating of WD-40 (substitute your favorite lube), and felt very satisfied with the results. Oh yeah.
There are three recessed nuts in the X assembly - the first of these can be seen in the picture here, between the LM6UU linear bearings. This one went in with some persuasion - I filed away as much material as I could without compromising the structure, and then pushed it in the rest of the way using a flat head screwdriver and some gentle taps. This nut holds an M3 socket screw, which will eventually be used to tension the belt - it works...but it could be a lot better. See below for further details on this step.
Those rods really do go a looong way into the mounts and I took a while to make sure that they reached the ends by dropping a thin screwdriver into the hole, pushing to the end and measuring on the screwdriver the depth. You can of course do the same with your Vernier caliper if it has depth measurements - I didn't this time because the depth rod was too thick for the holes. I then just taped the rods with the measurements so that I could judge when they were fully inserted. This proved to be a good move, because I kept hitting rough PLA as the rods were inserted, which made me think that they were home already.
The belt is fitted before the mount caps are screwed into place - I didn't take a picture for some reason, but do follow the instructions on this stage - you won't be able to get the belt in easily (on the motor assembly at least) with the mounts fully assembled. The idler end could probably be done, but it would be fiddly. For the motor assembly - forget it, you need access to route the belt.
Here's the belt tension adjuster system I was talking about above - like I said it works, but barely and only once.
The idea is that you fold the belt back on itself and stuff it into the recess on the right hand side. The left side has a shallower opening, with teeth which grip the belt firmly. Before stuffing the belt in, you run a loop of chromed wire through the belt loop, and under the socket screw. Once the X axis assembly is installed into the frame, and you have set the exact width using the bolts protruding from the idler mount, you twist the chromed wire to tension the belt. Its a simple solution granted, but the wire broke as I was twisting it, making it useless for later adjustment.
If you've come up with a better solution for this, please let me know!!
The final two recessed nuts can be seen in this picture, in place, with rods threaded into them. The two bolts took me nearly two hours to get in place and involved a lot of filing, swearing and ultimately brute force. I did manage to get them in straight though which is a relief.
Quick tip - leave the rods in place for the Z axis next step - I took them out and ended up having to do some disassembly on the next stage, which was my own fault for not paying enough attention to the instructions.
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Many people, when they are feeling miserable from a cold or the flu, get the urge to gorge on food. But picking the right foods can benefit and even speed healing.
"This is more or less a new area," said Kerry Neville, a Seattle dietitian and spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association. "There has been some good research, and we'll be seeing more. But it remains to be seen how much of this can actually be helpful."
Teasing out how and where food can benefit is difficult because our immune systems -- a coordinated system of signals sent and received, feedback loops and multiple redundancies to ensure that foreign molecules are identified and destroyed if they are harmful -- are so complex. A breakdown in any part of the system leaves the whole body susceptible to infection and illness.
And lifestyle and environment can cause small breakdowns in the system all the time. Smoke, air quality, sunlight and poor diet can all contribute to a weakened immune system, particularly in the form of free radicals. These highly reactive molecules with unpaired electrons can break down cells, leaving them vulnerable to invading viruses and bacteria.
Antioxidants, a type of chemical found in plants, help neutralize free radicals and protect cells, thus bolstering the immune system. Antioxidants often give plants their color and can also include vitamins C, A, and E. Experts estimate that there are many more antioxidants that are as yet unidentified.
And studies have shown that some of the protective vitamins and minerals, when given alone, do not benefit people as much as getting those nutrients from their diets.
"I don't say any one food is going to protect you," said Dawn Jackson Blatner, a registered dietician and author of "The Flexitarian Diet." "There is a crazy thing that happens, and it is called synergy. ... You start putting multiple [foods] together, the effects are multiplied and it is shocking."
The nutrients in food are not meant to be consumed in a vacuum. The context in which the body encounters the healthy minerals and molecules is almost as important as the nutrients themselves, which may be why chicken soup is such a popular home remedy.
"It's the recipes that have the magic, just the way the foods are combined," said Dr. John La Puma, author of "Chef MD's Big Book of Culinary Medicine." "If you just eat one food and expect it to act like a drug, you're out of luck."
But prevention is not the name of the game for most of these foods in targeting a specific illness. Once ill, the expert advice boils down to fluids, rest and eating a variety of healthy food.
"Nothing is a magic bullet, as far as making a major impact in making you feel better as quickly as possible," Neville said.
Some dietitians do recommend taking a daily multivitamin because, as Neville pointed out, people do not typically eat as many fruits and vegetables as they should -- around two to three cups per day.
Over all, maintaining a diverse diet, rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains and lean protein, is the body's best defense against viral invaders.
Following are some foods to focus on to help boost your immune system when feeling under the weather.
Yogurt can be delicious layered with fruit in a parfait or as a cooling side for a dish of spicy food, but it also packs a healthy dose of good bacteria that can protect the body against harmful bacteria and infections.
"They're like little soldiers, lining the intestinal tract to fend off invading germs," said Blatner, also an ADA spokeswoman.
These little soldiers -- the good bacteria -- are called probiotics, and studies have shown eating yogurts rich in them can lead to an improved immune response by increasing the body's white blood cell count. Probiotics are found in yogurts with live or active cultures -- the lactobacillus and bifidobacterium strains.
Traditional kefir is similar to yogurt but cultured with special kefir grains, so it contains slightly different bacteria. Originally from the Middle East, kefir has a sour, refreshing taste and is slightly effervescent from the carbon dioxide produced during fermentation. Unlike the bacteria in yogurt, which are transient and pass through the system over time, the bacteria in kefir are capable of colonizing in the intestinal tract. Kefir also contains good yeasts that help fight off pathogenic yeasts in the body.
This rich, flavorful spice has been used for centuries as part of Ayurvedic and traditional Chinese medicines, in addition to being used for cooking. Turmeric is found in every yellow curry, and its golden color is the result of curcumin, a polyphenol with strong cold and flu-fighting properties.
Although the mechanism is unclear, a 2008 study published in Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications found that curcumin prevents some immune cells from responding to stimulants and so has modulating and anti-inflammatory effects. Other studies have also shown the immune-boosting properties of curcumin in turmeric, however these have not been confirmed in humans.
Turmeric is found naturally as the rhizome part of the turmeric plant and it looks very similar to ginger. The powdered spice is made by boiling, drying and grinding the root. The powder has antiseptic qualities when applied topically and often is used on cuts, burns and bruises.
Garlic may be the wunderkind of the plant world, its properties ranging from medicinal to mystical to culinary. Ancient Egyptians considered garlic holy and used it as currency. Indeed, the pungent smell is a small price to pay for the health benefits garlic can confer.
"Garlic has been a miracle food for everything," Neville said.
Much of the immune-boosting properties of garlic come from its sulfur-containing compounds, which also give the bulb its aroma, particularly one called allicin. These compounds are effective against bacterial, viral, fungal and parasitic infections. They also enhance the immune system and have anti-tumor and antioxidant features, which help guard cells from everyday wear and tear.
Americans are growing increasingly aware of the powerful properties of garlic. According to an article in the Journal of Nutrition, garlic is the second most used supplement in the United States.
In some parts of the world, particularly the Balkans, garlic is considered so powerful it is thought to guard against vampires and witches. In 1994, a group of scientists decided to test the protective effect of garlic against vampires using leeches as a stand-in for the blood-sucking monsters. They offered their leeches two arms, one bare and the other covered in a garlic paste.
Unfortunately, in two out of three cases the leeches showed an obvious preference to the garlicky arm, attaching to it in 14.9 seconds, compared to 44.9 seconds for the bare arm. In an article published in the Journal of the Norwegian Medical Association, the researchers concluded that garlic may attract vampires rather than repel them and that restrictions on garlic use might be considered in order to avoid Balkan-like developments in Norway.
Oregano is an herb whose name is derived from the ancient Greek word meaning "joy of the mountains." And it is joyful indeed to think that your spaghetti sauce or pizza, flavored with this bold, peppery herb, can help keep you free from infections.
"Herbs and spices are incredibly potent antioxidants," Blatner said. "In terms of herbs, [oregano] is the highest in antioxidant compounds."
The antioxidant activity in oregano is due to its high content of phenolic acids and flavonoids, color compounds that are also anti-inflammatory. When eaten, oregano can protect against the common cold, influenza, fevers and indigestion.
But oregano is rarely eaten alone, and the combination of the herb and other foods may contribute to its disease-fighting abilities.
"It could be a synergistic effect," said Mary Beth Kavenagh, an instructor in the department of nutrition at Case Western Reserve University. She also pointed out that oregano is often eaten with immune-boosting garlic and tomatoes, which contain vitamin C, beta carotene and leutine, all of which benefit the body.
Topically, oregano has antimicrobial properties, guarding against bacteria. Scientists have plans to tap this property by using oregano to create thin wraps for covering fresh food to protect it from spoiling.
Bell peppers are part of the nightshade family and originated in South America before spreading to Europe and the rest of the world. Bell peppers are both low in calories and dense in nutrients. They are a good source of phytochemicals as well as beta carotenes and vitamin C.
In fact, gram for gram, red bell peppers have twice the vitamin C of most vitamin C-containing fruits and vegetables, Blatner said, including oranges.
Linus Pauling, one of the most influential scientists of the 20th century, was an advocate of megadoses of supplemental vitamin C to prevent colds. Whether vitamin C is effective at preventing a viral infection that will cause a cold is under debate and hasn't been fully proved or disproved.
But research has gone far enough to show that increasing vitamin C intake can reduce the length of time cold symptoms last as well as reduce the severity of those symptoms.
And experts are not huge proponents of supplemental vitamin C.
"The best way to get vitamin C is through food," La Puma said.
The FDA recommends getting about 90 milligrams of vitamin C each day, which is easily obtainable through daily meals. A half cup of raw red bell pepper contains 142 milligrams of vitamin C.
Vitamin C is known to maintain the skin, which is the body's first line of defense against microbes and viruses of all kinds. Vitamin C may also help to increase white blood cell count as well as antibody production.
Tea is the most widely consumed beverage in the world, after water, and to great effect. Tea is rich in polyphenols -- plant antioxidants -- as well as a number of other chemicals that can help protect the body against cold or flu.
Green tea has undergone minimal oxidation during drying and processing, and it has been subject to many scientific studies. Some of the more convincing studies highlight a compound called epigallocatechin gallate, or EGCG, a powerful antioxidant and anti-cancer agent. EGCGs have been shown to inhibit the growth of cancer cells without harming healthy tissues.
Tea can also be physically beneficial.
"Some of the helpfulness of tea is the fact that it's warm and therefore kind of soothing," La Puma said.
The soothing, steamy effect can apply to any warm drink or soup, as well, including chicken soup.
And Neville said some studies have shown that EGCGs can inhibit a virus' ability to replicate, which may offer an offensive strategy for preventing a cold, as well as improving the body's overall immune response.
Pumpkins are good for more than a lighted jack-o-lantern on the front porch. Their rich, orange flesh is packed with beta carotene, a nutrient that the body breaks down to make vitamin A.
Vitamin A helps the proteins that regulate cell-to-cell communication, which is the foundation of the immune system. Vitamin A also aids in cancer prevention, because cell-to-cell communication breakdown is one of the primary causes of cancer.
Research suggests that vitamin A may help keep the respiratory system healthy, Blatner said, which can be particularly helpful when you have a cold or the flu.
"The good news is we're in beta carotene season now," Kavenagh said, referring to the abundant orange fall vegetables such as squashes, carrots and sweet potatoes, all good sources of the nutrient. And the more intense the color, the higher the levels of beta carotene.
But experts caution against too much vitamin A. Because it is fat-soluble, excess vitamin A can be stored in the body's fat cells and large quantities can be toxic, Blatner said. Eating beta-carotene-rich foods should provide the FDA recommended nine milligrams each day and may be safer than taking a vitamin A supplement directly.
Perfumed and flavorful, the word 'ginger' comes from the Sanskrit word meaning 'horn shaped,' referring to the root's branched structure.
While it can be sweet, ginger also has some heat from a compound called gingerol, a relative of capsaicin, the compound that gives chili peppers their zing and heat. When it is dried, ginger contains less gingerol and more shoagol, an anti-inflammatory agent.
Ginger is often recommended as a tea or a bath for those with a cold or flu because it is helpful in increasing sweat production, which may help us get rid of germs and "sweat out" toxins.
"It might be an old wife's remedy, but people do swear by it," Blatner said.
Ginger has also been shown to reduce nausea and vomiting, making it a very useful food to have around when you have the flu.
Oysters are widely thought to be one of nature's most potent aphrodisiacs. This fact probably has to do with their high zinc content, which is necessary for testosterone production, one of the most important hormones behind the human sex drive for both men and women.
Oysters may or may not give you a boost in bed, but there is no doubt that zinc is very good at protecting the body against colds and flu.
Zinc functions in more enzymatic reactions than any other mineral, making it indispensable to the immune system, which is involved in reactions and signaling all the time. In particular, zinc enhances the function of helper T cells, which are important in identifying foreign antigens and alerting other cells of the immune system to invaders. Even a mild zinc deficiency can have adverse effects on the immune system, particularly in children and the elderly.
But too much zinc can be toxic and will inhibit immune function. The FDA recommends about 11 milligrams of zinc per day.
Lean meats such as beef, chicken and seafood are the best sources of zinc. Nonmeat eaters may have a harder time getting enough of the mineral because zinc in plant proteins is not as available for use in the body as zinc from animal proteins. Some options for getting zinc into a vegetarian diet include pumpkin seeds, beans and mineral-fortified cereals.
Broccoli, with its intense green color and dense florets, just looks healthy. Derived from the Latin word for "branch" or "arm," broccoli belongs to the family of cruciferous vegetables which includes cabbage, brussels sprouts, cauliflower and turnip.
"These would, for sure, be foods with extremely potent antioxidant compounds to help fight disease," Blatner said.
In the winter, when some of the more exotic fruits may be of lesser quality than the summer, broccoli and other cruciferous vegetables are an excellent -- and cheap -- source of vitamins A, C and E. In addition, broccoli is high in glucosinolates which stimulate the body's immune system.
Broccoli is a doubly powerful food because of its high concentration of sulforaphanes, which are potent anti-cancer agents.
Cold & Flu season is here! Visit the ABCNews.com OnCall+ Cold & Flu Center to get all your questions answered about these nasty viruses.
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一、主 题：Untangling Blockchain: A Data Processing View of Blockchain Systems
二、主讲人：新加坡国立大学 OOI Beng Chin教授 ACM Fellow, IEEE Fellow
五、主讲人：计算机科学与工程学院 国家“千人计划”入选者 申恒涛教授
Blockchain technologies are gaining massive momentum in the last few years. Blockchains are distributed ledgers that enable parties who do not fully trust each other to maintain a set of global states. The parties agree on the existence, values and histories of the states. As the technology landscape is expanding rapidly, it is both important and challenging to have a firm grasp of what the core technologies have to offer, especially with respect to their data processing capabilities.
Public blockchains, such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, enable secure peer-to-peer applications like crypto-currency or smart contracts. Private blockchain systems, on the other hand, target and aim to disrupt applications which have so far been implemented on top of database systems, for example banking, finance and trading applications. Multiple platforms for private blockchains are being actively developed and fine tuned. However, there is a clear lack of a systematic framework with which different systems can be analyzed and compared against each other. Such a framework can be used to assess blockchains' viability as another distributed data processing platform, while helping developers to identify bottlenecks and accordingly improve their platforms. In this talk, I shall review some state of the art systems, and present our benchmarking framework and results.
Beng Chin is a Distinguished Professor of Computer Science, NGS faculty member and Director of IDMI at the National University of Singapore (NUS), and an adjunct Chang Jiang Professor at Zhejiang University. He obtained his BSc (1st Class Honors) and PhD from Monash University, Australia, in 1985 and 1989 respectively. His research interests include database, distributed processing, and large scale analytics, in the aspects of system architectures, performance issues, security, accuracy and correctness.
Beng Chin has served as a PC member for international conferences such as ACM SIGMOD, VLDB, IEEE ICDE, WWW, and SIGKDD, and as Vice PC Chair for ICDE'00,04,06, PC co-Chair for SSD'93 and DASFAA'05, PC Chair for ACM SIGMOD'07, Core DB PC chair for VLDB'08, and PC co-Chair for IEEE ICDE'12 and IEEE Big Data'15. He is serving as a PC Chair for IEEE ICDE'18. He was an editor of VLDB Journal and IEEE Transactions on Knowledge and Data Engineering, Editor-in-Chief of IEEE Transactions on Knowledge and Data Engineering (TKDE)(2009-2012), Elsevier's co-Editor-in-Chief of Journal of Big Data Research (2013-2015), and a co-chair of the ACM SIGMOD Jim Gray Best Thesis Award committee. He is serving as an editor of IEEE Transactions on Cloud Computing and Springer's Distributed and Parallel Databases. He is also serving as a Trustee Board Member and President of VLDB Endowment, and an Advisory Board Member of ACM SIGMOD. He co-founded yzBigData (hhtp://www.yzbigdata.com) in 2012 for Big Data Management and analytics, and Shentilium (https://shentilium.com/) in 2016 for AI- and data-driven Finance Data Analytics.
Beng Chin was the recipient of ACM SIGMOD 2009 Contributions award, a co-winner of the 2011 Singapore President's Science Award, the recipient of 2012 IEEE Computer Society Kanai award, 2013 NUS Outstanding Researcher Award, 2014 IEEE TCDE CSEE Impact Award, and 2016 China Computer Federation (CCF) Overseas Outstanding Contributions Award.. He is a fellow of the ACM , IEEE, and Singapore National Academy of Science (SNAS).
编辑：罗莎 / 审核：罗莎 / 发布者：林坤
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Description: RNs in this field provide care for patients in their own homes, such as those recovering from illness, an accident, or childbirth. This nurse visits a variety of acute and chronically ill patients who are "homebound" and in need of skilled nursing care under a treatment plan developed and signed by the patient's physician. The nurse may perform a wide range of tasks from collection of a laboratory specimen to changing a dressing to administration of chemotherapeutic agents. While the focus is typically on the patient, interaction with family members and community agencies often takes place. The average number of visits expected per eight-hour day is seven.
Job Outlook: Nursing as a whole will be one of the top 10 fastest growing professions in the U.S. in the next decade, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Home health care nursing will continue to grow at a rapid rate as patients' preferences for remaining in their own homes continue to mesh with economic imperatives: home health care is usually less expensive than hospital care.
Opportunities: Home health care provides the RN to practice in a one on one relationship with their patients and to use all of their generalized nursing knowledge to care for the whole person. Positions are usually quite flexible so there are hours available for nurses who wish to work full-time, part-time, and/or "on call."
Challenges: The autonomy of home health care practice is unique in the nursing profession and may be overwhelming for a nurse who prefers to practice always in team environment.
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How To Enjoy 4th Of July Fireworks Without Deafening Your Kids
Parents should go out of their way to protect children's eardrums.
Baby ear protection is important, and especially on holidays like the 4th of July. The world can get incredibly loud, even on a regular weekday — consider all the construction noise, growling buses, and honking horns. But none of that can compare with 4th of July fireworks displays, with families gathering outside with kids of all ages for the spectacularly loud annual spectacle. All loud sounds are bad news for infants, who have delicate eardrums and can easily suffer future hearing loss if not protected. Wearing baby ear protection is always a good idea, but it’s essential if you’re going out to watch fireworks.
“When we talk about age-related hearing loss it really is compounded by exposure to noise over the course of one’s life,” explains Ian Windmill, Ph.D., Clinical Director of the Division of Audiology at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital. “The earlier you start protecting your hearing, the better off your hearing is in the long term.”
Windmill notes that long-term damage isn’t the only concern. As more very young children spend more time listening to music or shows through headphones, volume increases along with the prospect of short-term hearing damage. “Children today are exhibiting more signs of noise-induced hearing loss,” he says. In fact, patterns of hearing loss associated with prolonged domestic noise — as opposed to industrial noise — were observed in up to 10% of children in the early 2000s, a number Windmill is certain has climbed since.
How to Use Baby Ear Protection and Preserve Baby Hearing
- Try to keep noise to normal conversation levels.
- Download a decibel meter app and keep noise below 70.
- Anytime you have to struggle to understand someone three feet away it is too noisy.
- Invest in earmuff style hearing protection with an adequate noise reduction rating or NRR.
- Understand that the closer you are to the source of the sound, the louder it will be.
- Never use ad hoc methods of hearing protection like cotton balls or tissue paper.
The problem of noise is particularly acute in infants. This is largely due to their anatomy. Windmill notes that sounds for infants are actually louder for babies than they are for adults due to the size of their ears. This can make it difficult for parents to understand when the noise is becoming too noisy.
Interestingly the source of the noise doesn’t matter. Loud is loud. Loud classical music, for instance, is no different than loud rock music. Loud industrial noise is no different than a noisy restaurant, which can have similar decibel levels. The trick is to understand that the louder an environment is, the less time a child should be exposed to it.
For parents unsure about being able to tell when things are getting too noisy because they have suffered hearing damage themselves or are just part of a loud family, Windmill notes that there are plenty of apps that offer decibel monitoring and they generally work well to get a ballpark understanding of how loud an environment is. “Generally speaking you want to keep everything below 70 on those decibel scales,” he says, but also offers another handy non-app trick. “If you’re in a room with anybody else and you have to raise your voice for someone to understand you at a distance of three feet, it’s too loud.”
The best noise prevention according to Windmill is to simply remove a child from noisy environments. Still, life gets noisy. Parents can’t help that. They can, however, pick up some products that help provide baby ear protection. The most comprehensive devices are “earmuff” style protection that resembles headphones. They’re common and come in varying sizes. Parents should make sure that whatever they purchase has a noise reduction rating. One of the main benefits of this type of hearing protection is that it covers the ear rather than going inside the ear and causing problems with ear wax.
Earplugs, on the other hand, are not designed for children. Not only can they fall out and create a choking hazard, but they can also cause damage to a child’s short ear canal. This is the same reason Windmill warns that parents should never use ad hoc methods of baby ear protection such as wadded tissue paper or cotton balls.
In the end, Windmill urges parents to be mindful of hearing issues. “We call it the invisible problem,” he says. “Once you damage parts of the ear, it’s damaged forever. You protect a kid from falling down, so protect their hearing too.”
This article was originally published on
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Objectification’s Role in a Suicide
It all began when Amanda and a few of her middle school friends started videochatting with strangers just for fun. Some told her she was “stunning, beautiful, perfect,” a complement any 13-year-old would enjoy. Eventually, a man asked her to flash. And she did.
A year later this same guy found her and threatened to send the nude photos to her family, friends and her entire school if she didn’t “put on a show for him.” When she refused, he did.
Amanda became the laughingstock of the school and lost all of her friends. Anxiety and major depression overtook her life and she turned to drugs, alcohol and cutting to cover the pain.
She moved a couple of times, trying to get away, but her stalker always collected the names of her new friends and even set up a Facebook page with her boobs as the profile picture.
The pictures followed her wherever she went. And so did the derision. And the isolation.
She made two suicide attempts.
A couple of weeks ago she posted a nine-minute video, “My story: Struggling, bullying, suicide and self harm.” She never speaks in it, but holds up note cards that tell her story. Maybe you’ve seen it. If not, it’s a powerful message against bullying which you can see here.
Near the end she seems hopeful, holding a card that reads:
Everyone’s future will be bright one day, you just gotta pull through. I’m still here, aren’t I?
But depression finally won and she committed suicide last week.
How could objectification have played a role? Well, how does objectification encourage men to see women? Actually, it doesn’t encourage men to see women, but to see women’s bodies – as objects that exist for their purposes.
The images are often bodies without heads—without minds and thoughts and emotions or personalities or a will to act in the world. Sometimes the bodies are shaped in the form of an object, like a table, for a man to use as he will.
The man who harassed Amanda did not see her as a person who had hopes and dreams for the future. He is not a man who cared about her. He did not think of her as a person. She was just a thing for him to play with and manipulate for his own sadistic purposes. If he had seen her as a real person and felt any empathy he would not have behaved as he did.
Now, all men are subjected to objectification, yet not all men behave like Amanda’s stalker. So of course it takes more than objectification to drive a man like that. But objectification combined with a twisted mind can be a dangerous thing.
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MOSCOW (AP) — Some of the recent failures of Russian satellites may have been the result of sabotage by foreign forces, the nation's space chief said.
Roscosmos chief Vladimir Popovkin stopped short of accusing any country of disabling Russian satellites, but in an interview published Tuesday in the daily Izvestia he said some Russian craft had suffered "unexplained" malfunctions while flying beyond the reach of his nation's tracking facilities.
Popovkin said he didn't want to proportion blame, but modern technology makes spacecraft vulnerable to foreign influence.
"I wouldn't like to accuse anyone, but today there exist powerful means allowing to influence spacecraft, and their use can't be excluded," he said.
Popovkin added that in 2013 Russia will launch three new communications satellites that would be able to retransmit signals from other spacecraft as they fly over another hemisphere.
Roscosmos spokesman Alexei Kuznetsov refused to elaborate on Popovkin's statement, which marked the first time a senior Russian government official has claimed foreign sabotage has been used to disable one of the country's satellites.
Popovkin made the comment when asked about the failure of the unmanned Phobos-Ground probe, which was to explore one of the Mars twin moons, Phobos, but became stranded while orbiting Earth after its Nov. 9 launch.
Engineers in Russia and the European Space Agency have failed to propel its toward its target, and the spacecraft is expected to fall to Earth around Jan. 15.
Popovkin said that experts so far had failed to determine why the probe's engines failed to fire, but admitted that the program had suffered from funding shortages that led to some "risky technological solutions."
The $170-million craft was supposed to collect soil samples on Phobos and fly them back to Earth in one of the most challenging unmanned interplanetary missions ever. It was Russia's first foray beyond the Earth orbit since a botched 1996 robotic mission to Mars, which failed when the probe crashed shortly after the launch due to an engine failure.
Scientists had hoped that studies of Phobos' surface could help solve the mystery of its origin and shed more light on the genesis of the solar system. Some believe the crater-dented moon is an asteroid captured by Mars' gravity, while others think it's a piece of debris from when Mars collided with another celestial object.
The failed mission was the latest in a series of recent Russian launch failures that have raised concerns about the condition of the country's space industries and raised heat on Popovkin. Space officials have blamed the failures on obsolete equipment and an aging workforce.
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Diamond cut is one of the most important factors of diamond quality. It denotes symmetry, beauty, and sparkle. Though they aren’t the same, diamond cut is often used interchangeably with diamond shape. When comparing radiant cut vs emerald cut, in particular, it’s important to know that cut and shape are different, because these two diamond cuts can be rather similar in terms of shape.
There are more similarities and differences to learn if you are considering a radiant cut diamond or an emerald cut diamond for your engagement ring. We’ll first explore the defining characteristics of both a radiant diamond and an emerald diamond. Then, we’ll compare and contrast the two and share which one is better for your diamond ring.
Spoiler alert: the trait that tips the scales in favor of one diamond cut over the other is style, and only you can decide what style is your style.
What Is a Radiant Cut Diamond?
The original radiant cut is a lesser-known diamond cut because it is relatively new, but it’s gaining popularity quickly. Why is this cut so popular for a diamond engagement ring? Because this cut is one of the most captivating in terms of sparkle. It has 70 facets, which is more than any other diamond cut, even the round brilliant cut.
A radiant diamond can have a square or rectangular shape and has cut corners, which enhance its resistance to chipping. When the radiant shape is in square form, it is most similar to the cushion cut diamond, and when it is in rectangle form, it is most similar to the emerald cut, but its faceting pattern differs from both.
What Is an Emerald Cut Diamond?
The emerald cut diamond is a classically elegant diamond cut. It has been around for centuries but is most closely associated with the Art Deco movement of the 1920s. Its step-cut facets are long and rectangular, just like its silhouette, which gives the emerald its enchanting geometric appearance. Other step-cut diamonds include the Asscher cut diamond and baguette cut diamond, but the emerald is by far the most popular.
Radiant Cut vs Emerald Cut
One of these two diamond cuts may already be at the top of your list, but selecting the stone for the center of your diamond engagement ring is a big decision. Let’s compare the two to help you finalize your choice.
Both radiant and emerald cut diamonds are fancy shaped diamonds. They are typically rectangle in shape but can also be square. Their silhouette is what causes many people to mistake one for the other, but when you understand their different faceting patterns, you will be able to spot each unique cut from a distance.
The faceting pattern is what determines how much light a diamond will emit, and thus, how much sparkle it will produce. The faceting patterns on an original radiant cut and emerald cut diamond are very different. Henry Grossbard, who invented the radiant diamond cut in 1977, was the first to apply a brilliant faceting pattern to both the crown and pavilion of the stone, using 70 facets. This created unmatched sparkle. The emerald cut diamond features 50 to 58 step cut facets. These long and narrow facets create a stunning “hall of mirrors” effect that is much different than the fiery sparkle of a radiant cut diamond.
Both diamond cuts sparkle, but they do so very differently. If you are looking for a level of sparkle similar to a round brilliant cut diamond, you will prefer a radiant cut, and if you are looking for a more subdued sparkle, you will prefer an emerald cut.
For both emerald and radiant cut diamonds, it is important to select a stone with a high cut grade to ensure optimal symmetry and a flattering length-to-width ratio. After cut, it’s important to prioritize a high clarity grade for an emerald cut, in particular, as the long and open facets make internal flaws more visible. Radiant cuts, on the other hand, hide flaws extremely well, so a stone with a lower clarity grade may appear flawless.
Quality standards can be quite confusing, but they are critical to ensuring your diamond’s beauty and invincibility. If you don’t want to worry about quality when selecting a diamond, we suggest opting for a diamond alternative. Selecting the Nexus Diamond™ alternative means securing a stone with an ideal cut that is internally flawless and colorless.
Which Cut Is Better?
If you are looking for a diamond with an elongated rectangle shape, you can achieve it with either a radiant diamond or an emerald diamond. So, the questions you should consider are: what kind of sparkle do you want? And what cut suits your style best? A great way to determine your answer to both of these is to explore both radiant cut engagement rings and emerald cut engagement rings.
It’s also important to consider what type of diamond you are looking for. There are so many great benefits to choosing a lab grown diamond over a mined diamond. Understanding how they compare can help you reduce the impact of your purchase on the world and on your wallet. At 12FIFTEEN Diamonds, we carry both emerald and radiant lab diamonds so you can find the cut you’re looking for in the type of diamond you want.
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"The Energy Design Plugin is a free plugin for the Google SketchUp 3D drawing program. The plugin makes it easy to create and edit the building geometry in your EnergyPlus input files. The plugin also allows you to launch EnergyPlus simulations and view the results without leaving SketchUp" to find out more...
"In partnership with the private sector, state and local government, national laboratories, and universities, the Building Technologies Program works to improve the efficiency of buildings and the equipment, components, and systems within them. The program supports R&D activities and provides tools, guidelines, training, and access to technical and financial resources. Read our program fact sheet for more information (PDF 363 KB)." to find out more...
"The Building Technologies Program advances the research and development of the next generation of energy-efficient components, materials, and equipment. The Buildings R&D portfolio focuses on the following emerging technologies:
- Heating, Cooling, and Commercial Refrigeration
- Walls, Roofs, and Foundations
- Windows and Doors
To help near-term emerging technologies overcome market introduction barriers, the program uses a combination of strategies including demonstration/evaluation and technology procurement. These strategies are designed to increase buyer confidence and build demand for new energy-efficient technologies. Learn more about near-term emerging technologies and market introduction strategies." to find out more...
Passage from http://www.eere.energy.gov/buildings/energyplus/energy_design_plugin.html
Passage from http://www.eere.energy.gov/buildings/about/index.html
Passage & Image from http://www.eere.energy.gov/buildings/tech/emerging.html
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The strategy of organizing content around a common topic such as legal or medical information is mature in information publishing. As other publishers mimic the strategy of organizing their content into silos they would be wise not to confuse their efforts with community building or market making. Users are interested in accessing validated, useful and important topical information but this could just as easily be web based content as it is published content. Often it is just that.
Whereas information companies formally organized their businesses around topics (medical, tax, legal, etc.) more than 15 years ago they quickly understood that their customers needed more. Initially, it was often the integration across what had been independent databases that produced the most utility for their users and, their early work led to the development of taxonomies, search techniques and applications which enabled work flow integration. But nothing stands still and as the information business continues to evolve what is happening currently in information should be of interest to all publishers. In short, their experience suggests it may be simplistic to believe establishing a silo of content will produce a community of willing publishing consumers.
Having built platforms supporting information products, information companies now recognize that their customers are looking for integration across subject areas. Importantly, the customers are looking for ways to validate a much wider pool (ocean) of potentially useful and important information. To Thomson Reuters (and others) the silo increasingly looks like a pyramid and they have have begun to conceptualize the management of information and data using this framework. In part, this has to do with the excessive growth of information: Increasingly information providers are as useful to their customers as filters of a vast catalog of information as they are providers of tools, techniques and proprietary data. Consequently, information providers are beginning to see themselves providing access to as much content and information as possible - available on their platforms - and then progressively adding value to the consumer as they move up the pyramid in terms of need and application.
At the top of the pyramid are those publisher specific technologies and content that provide the most value to customers. Companies like Thomson Reuters recognize customers have broad needs and thus there is business logic to providing different services at each level of this pyramid as well as integration points with companies outside the Thomson Reuters family. Inherent in this approach is the recognition by Thomson Reuters and others that it may not be possible to operate in a closed environment any longer. The information space is simply too large to organize in the manner in which information aggregated content in the 1990s. The more addressable issue is to provide consumers with the information critical to their needs and filter that information or content such that it is unambiguous.
The lesson for less advanced publishers is that building a concentration around siloed content is not enough; in-fact, aggregating consumer interest and appeal around publishing content will fail unless that concentration includes content from the web, television, radio, newspapers, magazines, etc. which is also organized, validated and served up in the most effective manner for the consumer. Information publishers have been able to evolve their model to support the needs of their professional customers but the consumer market is more anarchic and it remains to be seen whether trade publishers can pull it off. Silos may not be worth the effort.
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“Twitter is really the stupidest thing in the world,” Chris Brogan, blogger and social media expert, said in his Blogging and Social Media panel at the O’Reilly Tools of Change for Publishers conference in February. But he didn’t mean it. At first blush, Twitter does seem like a dumb idea. It describes itself as “a service for friends, family, and co-workers to communicate and stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequent messages. People write short updates, often called ‘tweets,’ of 140 characters or fewer. These messages are posted to your profile or your blog, sent to your followers, and are searchable on Twitter search.” Your followers are the people who sign up to receive your tweets, and you are following anyone whose tweets you sign up to receive.
A February 2009 Compete.com study found that Twitter is the third largest social-networking site, after Facebook and MySpace. Many people and companies have ventured their ways on in the past year; it was ranked #22 in 2008. It has nearly six million users and 55 million monthly visits. Meanwhile, people are spending less time on MySpace and visiting it less often, as Twitter use surges. It’s easy to imagine it climbing to #2 in 2010. A February Pew Internet & American Life study reported that 11% of online American adults use a service like Twitter, an increase of nearly 50% since May 2008. Anyone who’s read their friends’ mundane Facebook status updates may question the value of a social network devoted solely to status updates.
But Twitter has proven that status updates can go beyond writing about what you had for breakfast. Think of it as digital word of mouth. “I think of Twitter as the new phone,” said Brogan. “I use it to talk to people and get business. I don’t use it to talk about my cat.” Yet in a February Abrams Research Social Media Survey of “over 200 social media leaders” from the U.S. and Canada,” 40% of respondents chose Twitter as the #1 social media service for businesses, with LinkedIn at a distant second. One survey respondent described Twitter as “the quickest way I’ve seen to spread information virally to a wide scope of people attached in a lot of random ways,” while another said it’s the “best way to bridge the personal-professional gap. Once people care about YOU the person, they care about YOU the brand.”
“I pay a lot of attention to what is going on in social media, since publishing as an industry will grow ever more reliant on the tools it develops,” says Richard Nash, formerly of Soft Skull and Counterpoint. “And in order to understand, you must use.” Here’s how and why according to the pros, book publishers should be using Twitter now.
Developing Your Twitter Presence
The number-one tip from people we talked to: Publishers shouldn’t be afraid to get personal on Twitter, and their tweets shouldn’t sound like marketing. “The best people using Twitter are the ones who talk back to people, not just the people who are talking about their dumb stuff,” says Brogan. He recommends looking at companies whose Twitter presence you like and emulating them. Ron Hogan, founder of Beatrice.com and a producer of writers’ workshops and conferences, agrees: “The publishers that use Twitter best are the ones who let the person running the account put a personal spin on their posts, not just announcing every press clipping or YouTube clip that comes down the pike.” In fact, rather than having one company Twitter account with the company’s name, it may be better for employees to have individual accounts. “Publishers should empower and encourage ALL of their employees to Twitter, and to talk about what makes them truly jazzed to work with books. There are huge transparency issues publishers have to work through to become comfortable with this, but I believe it would be worth it.”
“I do not have a separate personal account,” says Heather Adams, Director of Publicity at Thomas Nelson. “I don’t distinguish between my personal and professional tweets. My career is a significant part of my life and intertwining it with my life as a mother, wife, community volunteer, etc. is important. It’s a part of my total makeup. I also believe this allows my followers to learn more about the person behind the updates.”
“I like the [publishers on Twitter] that aren’t sales-y—it’s not just every tweet on ‘what a fab book we just released.’ There’s a transparency online that publishers, if they are going to use social media, need to adhere to,” says Penny Sansevieri of Author Marketing Experts. “I like to see posts on stuff they’re working on, industry news, new things going on in their offices. This gives their operation a ‘voice.’ Best of all, it gives me the inside scoop on new titles.”
“We’re still experimenting, but at the moment we’re just using it to connect with readers,” says Anna Rafferty, Digital Marketing Director at Penguin UK. “We want to hear from them, ask them questions, let them know what we’re up to, and generally keep in touch. I hope it will be a tool for inspiration and will prompt unexpected reading, but more than anything it’s about Penguin being a friendly, interesting brand.”
Using Twitter to Connect with Your Audience and Gain Recognition
The Pew social media survey found that Twitter users as a group are much more likely than the general population to use wireless devices like cell phones, laptops, and handhelds for Internet access. They use those devices to get their news. “For many Twitter users, learning about and sharing relevant and recent nuggets of information is a primary utility of the service,” says the report. “While Twitter users are just as likely as others to consume media on any given day, they are more likely to consume it on mobile devices and less likely to engage with news via more traditional outlets.” In addition, publishers trying to spread the word about their books via blogs should take heart in the fact that many of the people using Twitter are the same people reading and writing blogs. Pew found that 21% of Twitter users had read someone else’s blog “yesterday,” 57% had ever read a blog (as compared to 29% of the population who is online but not on Twitter), and 29% had their own blogs.
Making a connection with a Twitter user has an impact far beyond the initial conversation if she goes on to blog about you, or if her followers on Twitter see her interactions with you. If you already have a blog, posting your Twitter handle on it and letting your Twitter followers know when interesting new posts go up increases the ripple effect. Last fall, Thomas Nelson launched Book Review Bloggers, which allows bloggers to receive free copies of Nelson books in exchange for 200-word book reviews (positive or negative) posted on their blogs and on any consumer retail website (like Amazon). “It is amazing how much overlap we find between bloggers and Twitterers,” says Lindsay Nobles, Nelson’s Director of Corporate Communications. “When we share information about new books available, we find a major surge in interest.”
Twitter is also a free research tool for publishers. “Publishers should set up Twitter searches on keywords within the topics or subject areas in which they publish,” says Chris Webb, Associate Publisher of Wiley’s Professional and Trade division and head of its European Technology Publishing Group. “We absolutely should be listening for people talking about our brands, our book series, and our products. Listening provides opportunities for publishers to engage people in conversations where we can provide value—a solution to a problem, a new resource for a reader, or a new book to a new customer.”
And these conversations are a great way to influence the influencers. “At this stage, Twitter’s still small enough that it’s useful for seeding news to influential people, whatever your industry,” says Ryan Chapman, Internet Marketing Coordinator at Macmillan. “I’ve used it informally to give Macmillan books away, as other publishers have, and any conduit between customers and publishers can only help us.”
Oh, Yeah—It Leads to Increased Sales
“Publishers should not think about Twitter initially as a way to drive book sales. Instead, it’s a way for them to connect and communicate with readers in a way that is foreign at first,” says Webb. “If we [are part of the community], the opportunities to introduce people to the books we publish will present themselves naturally. But we have to listen for them as part of the ongoing conversation….Having said that, Twitter can drive sales. It has been widely reported that Dell [computers] drove an additional $1 million in revenues in 18 months via its Twitter account.”
“I’ve gotten a lot of business from Twitter. People follow my tweets, love what I have to say and book a consultation,” says Sansevieri. “It’s a permission-based way to get and stay in front of folks, and if you use it right, it can really be a revenue generator. The key is to offer help first and ask for help (or business) later. Don’t lead with your wallet.”
Nash agrees, saying that people who follow publishers “are likely themselves to be folks who influence others on if and which books to buy. So I do actually see it as part of a customer service paradigm. You’re servicing a community to try to build.”
And remember to keep an eye out for new authors to sign. “I’m counting down the days,” says Chapman, “until someone’s offered a book deal off of his or her Twitter stream.”
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Though he is often remembered for his pre-World-War II precisionist paintings of urban and industrial subjects, Ralston Crawford produced a significant body of work after 1949 inspired by the culture of New Orleans. This summer, NOMA will present Ralston Crawford and Jazz, an exhibition that considers the relationships between music, photography, painting, drawing and film as they intersect in Crawford’s work in New Orleans. Organized by the Sheldon Art Galleries, in Saint Louis, MO, the exhibition includes 148 photographs, prints, paintings, drawings and films, many never before published.
Different aspects of New Orleans have inspired many artists and writers, but for Crawford, New Orleans jazz music had the most profound effect. In his work, Crawford imported the elements of jazz—syncopation, polyphony, and improvisation—and transformed them into visual strategies. Thinking along these lines, Crawford produced photographs of jazz musicians that are as punchy and rhythmic as the music that his subjects played. He made equally strong, graphic photographs of the cemeteries, weathered buildings, signage, and boats at dock. Always inventive, Crawford also interpreted these same scenes in lithographs, paintings, and films. This exhibition brings together works in all of these media and, in some cases, displays the painting, lithograph, or drawing, next to the photograph that inspired it.
Although Crawford never lived in New Orleans for any long amount of time, he continued to visit throughout the rest of his life. Many works in the exhibition highlight the strong personal connections that Crawford developed during these visits to New Orleans and its community. His candid photographs of jazz musicians such as Billie and Dede Pierce, “Wooden” Joe Nicholas, and Bill Matthews [Figure 4], suggest a mutual respect or even friendship. In the early 1960s, Crawford’s photographs of New Orleans streets, signage, and buildings were used as cover images for Riverside Records’ New Orleans Living Legends jazz series.
Crawford was born in St. Catharine’s, Ontario, Canada in 1906 and spent his childhood in Buffalo, NY. He studied art at the Otis Art Institute, the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts and the Barnes Foundation. During World War II, he served as chief of the Visual Presentation Unit of the Weather Division in the Army Air Force. After the War, he taught painting in Honolulu, Cincinnati and New Orleans. In 1985, his work was the focus of a major retrospective at the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York. When Ralston Crawford died in 1978, he was buried in New Orleans St. Louis Cemetery No. 3, with a jazz funeral.
A fully-illustrated exhibition catalogue is available, with essays by the exhibition’s curator, Olivia Lahs-Gonzales, Director of the Sheldon Art Galleries, and by John H. Lawrence, Director of Museum Programs at The Historic New Orleans Collection, published by the Sheldon Art Galleries and Virginia Publishing, (162 pp., $24.95.)
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Central/South American countries to strengthen early warning systems in urban areas
As part of its commitment to promoting the development of multi-hazard early warning systems (EWS) in urban areas, WMO joined with several partners to organize a workshop from 10-12 December on “Multi-Hazard Warning Systems in Urban Areas in Central America.” Hosted by Costa Rica through the National Commission on Emergencies (CNE) and the National Meteorological Institute (IMN), the workshop explored the challenges, gaps, needs and opportunities for strengthening early warning systems and climate resilience in large and medium-sized cities in Central America.
Mr Juan Carlos Fallas, Director-General of IMN and President of WMO Regional Association IV (North America, Central America and the Caribbean), summarized the case for strengthening urban early warning systems. He cited key vulnerabilities such as the growing size of cities in the region, the increasing vulnerability of expanding populations, weak infrastructures (such as drainage systems and buildings), and current zoning codes. As a result of these factors, urban populations are highly exposed to hydrometeorological hazards such as severe precipitation and flash floods.
Ms Maryam Golnaraghi, Chief of WMO’s Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) Programme, stressed that effective early warning systems are an essential component of disaster risk reduction and can best be delivered through operational partnerships between disaster risk management agencies and municipal governments. WMO seeks to support National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHSs) in developing these systems through technical assistance for severe weather forecasting, storm surge and coastal inundation forecasting, flash flood guidance, and integrated data processing. In addition, the WMO Information System (WIS) and WMO regional and global specialized centers are well positioned to support early warning systems in urban as well as rural areas.
The Costa Rica workshop explored good practices by urban early warning systems in a number of cities in South America and the Caribbean. The examples that were presented demonstrated the critical need for operational cooperation involving different national agencies and municipal governments. The meeting concluded by recommending that the technical capacity of NMHSs for providing meteorological, hydrological and climate services to municipal areas be strengthened. Key capacities include nowcasting and longer-term forecasting, effective observing networks, and cooperation amongst national agencies and local governments. It also recommended preparing relevant and actionable risk-based warning messages and dissemination channels, developing coordinated emergency drills and evaluation systems, and launching multi-agency national projects for urban early warning systems.
In addition, the workshop discussed concrete opportunities such as national capacity development projects involving regional cooperation and regional technical and multi-stakeholder training activities that WMO and its partners could undertake collaboratively to support countries.
The workshop was led by WMO and co-sponsored by regional and international partners, including the Center for the Prevention of Natural Disasters in Central America (CEPREDENAC), the World Bank, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), and the United Nation International Strategy for Disaster Risk Reduction (UN-ISDR) and USAID-OFDA. For more information see the workshop webpage.
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Historical Evolution of the Shoreline of Reggio Calabria
The urban development in the last century was characterized by a depopulation of the mountains and a concentration of the population in urban areas, most of them are located near the coast. This factor increased significantly the problems and risks connected to coastal erosion. Thus, it implied a stricter monitoring activity in order to protect the coast and the population, as well. This paper discusses the historical variation of the shoreline in Reggio Calabria.
Carmelina Bevilacqua, Francesco Calabrò and Lucia Della Spina
G. Barbaro et al., "Historical Evolution of the Shoreline of Reggio Calabria", Advanced Engineering Forum, Vol. 11, pp. 157-162, 2014
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One stroke separated the three leaders of the 1960 U.S. Open as they went into the final two holes. Arnold Palmer, who had overcome a seven-stroke deficit in the fourth round, won the championship by two strokes, beating both Ben Hogan and a young amateur named Jack Nicklaus. This remarkable come-from-behind achievement, which still stands as the greatest final-round comeback at the Open, signaled the end of an era and the beginning of modern-day golf and set the futures of all three men.
This book recounts that fateful Open, from the 8:00 a.m. first-round tee-off to the finish, bringing alive a near-mythic moment in modern golf. Along for the journey are some of the greatest players of the day: Sam Snead, Gary Player, Ken Venturi, Tommy Bolt, Billy Casper, Julius Boros, Bob Rosburg, Dow Finsterwald, Gene “The Machine” Littler, and Art Wall.
Julian I. Graubart has written for Golf Journal and various other publications. He lives in Washington, DC.
©1997 Julian I. Graubart (P)1998 Blackstone Audio, Inc.
“Not many sporting events can continue to hold you spellbound long after their completion, but the 1960 Open is one of them. It had everything: a nail-biting charge to victory by Arnold Palmer, the end of an era in Ben Hogan, and the beginning of a legend in Jack Nicklaus. Tension builds hole by hole and stroke by stroke in Julian Graubart’s rousingly detailed replay of four of the most exciting days in golf history.” (Amazon.com review)
“[Graubart] makes a convincing case here for adjudging the 1960 US Open…. the greatest links tournament to date…. [It’s] enormously exciting, and Graubart captures all the suspense.” (Publishers Weekly)
“Replete with insights and information about golf and its times, this account also touches on the Palmer-Nicklaus rivalry in the sixties and the Senior PGA tour that Palmer and Sam Snead popularized. Recommended for public libraries.” (Library Journal)
As a golf nut, enjoy reading a good story about the sport. This book was full of facts but there was little in the way of a story.
There are no listener reviews for this title yet.
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Arizona State University is one of the largest universities in the nation. And, according to the Princeton Review, it is also one of the greenest, with the establishment of its School of Sustainability, its aggressive program for reducing waste, and its goal of becoming carbon neutral.
The UPS Store locations on the Tempe campus serve approximately 8,200 university residents with mailbox services, package receiving, shipping, printing and everything else you would expect from The UPS Store. As you can imagine, fall is one of our busiest times. Often, incoming freshmen ship their packages to their new mailbox on campus ahead of time. We receive thousands of packages during the first weeks of school. With that many students moving in, you can only imagine how much cardboard, foam and packaging peanuts there is!
So, when ASU shared with our team their goal of reducing waste to zero tons (yes, I said zero tons!) by 2015, I saw the opportunity to support that challenge. ASU already had plans in place to station volunteers at the trash and recycling stations and to collect cardboard and foam; I volunteered to accept the packaging peanuts.
In the past, the university’s biggest challenge was educating students to recycle rather than dispose. This meant that volunteers had to hand sort most of the materials—a very time-consuming and messy task. I offered to help by printing signs and promoting our efforts through the media, on Facebook and through various associations on campus to promote to the parents and students the recycling program. We also placed stickers on all the boxes we received at our two locations, asking students to bring back empty boxes and packaging materials to The UPS Store for recycling. We even had a Hybrid Package Car on display during the check-in period to help showcase UPS’s commitment to sustainability (did you know that The UPS Store locations also offer a carbon neutral shipping option?).
I am happy to report that the results are in and we did make an impact with the help of the added communication and the extra hard work of the volunteers. We had a 41% increase in the tons of recycled materials recovered and a decrease of 19% in the refuse that was discarded over last year. We have a long way to go, but as long as we all work together we can reach this goal.
|Tags:||Arizona State University, carbon neutral, carbon neutral shipping, green, recycling, sustainability, The UPS Store franchise|
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What if we fielded an Army, and nobody joined?
That’s the 2022 version of the 1966 anti-war slogan, “Suppose they gave a War and Nobody Came,” penned by Charlotte Keys.
We’ve all seen the “help wanted” signs all over our communities. It’s a sign of the times (literally). According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, there are currently 11.3 million job openings in the nation. Anyone who really wants to get a job should be able to have one.
A shortage in the fast-food industry is one thing; we may have to wait a few minutes longer for our burgers and fries. A lack of manpower in our armed forces is quite another. It directly impacts our national security and our posture as a global superpower.
We live in a time of great uncertainty. China is a superpower with enormous military might that has more than a bit too much control over the American supply chain. Russia is at war with Ukraine, and NATO is nervous. Putin seems to be psychologically coming apart at the seams, and he keeps reminding the world that he has a big nuclear button he can push anytime he wants.
This is not a good time to be reporting that it is unlikely the US will meet its modest recruiting goals for any of our armed services. We are about halfway through the fiscal year, and the Army and Navy have both jacked up their recruiting bonuses to a record-high $50,000.
In a letter verified by Air Force Times, Major General Ed Thomas told Air Force Recruiting Service employees on January 10th, “We have warning lights flashing.”
He also noted in a recent emailed statement:
“Two years into COVID-19 and amidst U.S. labor shortages, our pool of qualified applicants is about half of what it should be at this point in the year.”
The Marine Corps Times reports: “Recruiting challenges have been amplified in a world where young Americans seemingly have more options and are less likely to choose the Marine Corps.”
They go on to state: “The manpower model will move away from one based on processing a large number of unskilled teenagers and young adults into one more capable of identifying and nurturing talent from the experienced civilian population.”
Personally, I would think it would be more difficult to lure a skilled and experienced civilian population into the Corps. I hope I’m wrong about that.
There Are Not as Many Qualified Applicants to Choose From
Just showing up at a recruiting office willing to serve is not enough. Every year, fewer and fewer potential applicants qualify for military service. Obesity, mental health issues, past criminal records, and lack of a high school diploma cut deeply into the pool of potential warfighters. Contrary to elitist smears that claim losers join the military because they can’t get into college or hold a regular job, studies have consistently shown that service members are more likely to have high school diplomas and college degrees and less likely to have criminal records than the general population.
Since we have an all-volunteer force, the military depends on a constant flow of new recruits every year. A 2017 survey conducted by the Pentagon shows that of Americans between the ages of 17 and 24, a full 71% are ineligible to serve in the United States military. The situation isn’t any better today.
In other words, more than 24 million of the 34 million young people in that age group could not join our armed forces, even if they wanted to, which most of them do not.
Here is the situation we are faced with: Only 29% of our nation’s young adults are qualified to serve. This manpower shortage in our troops directly compromises national security.
In what some might cite as a candidate for understatement of the year, Undersecretary of the Army Gabe Camarillo said at a recent press conference: “We’re facing, obviously, some challenging conditions in terms of our ability to recruit and attract talent.”
Roger that, sir.
He blamed what he called “a very tight labor market” for the shortfall.
Camarillo said the Army’s total number of forces would go from 485,000 soldiers currently to 476,000 in the fiscal year 2022, which ends in September, and further down to 473,000 in the fiscal year 2023.
Retired Army Lt. Gen. Thomas Spoehr, director of the Heritage Foundation’s Center for National Defense, called the situation unprecedented. He said:
“The Army has not faced such recruiting headwinds in the last 30 years. I am unaware of a situation where the Army has cut its end strength in response to a negative recruiting outlook.”
The general also attributed the decision to the Biden Administration keeping the Army budget below the rate of inflation.
“If the Biden administration was not holding the Army’s budget below the level of inflation, I am not sure they would have had to resort to cutting their end strength.”
According to Military Times, the reduction would leave the service at its smallest size since 1940, when it had just over 269,000 troops. This small size can lead to its own retention problems. A smaller force will result in longer deployments which makes reenlistment less attractive to those serving.
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Originally Posted by JLyon
Actually you could get away with 6-12 more officials, by having them calling the far sideline only, the chair can usually see the rest of the lines pretty good.
You'd still have spots that don't get a good angle to look at. In volleyball, they stand right on the corner with a perfect line of sight down a baseline and sideline. Due to the net in tennis and the service line, you need 5 per court to have someone at the fence calling a line.
Even then, you'd have interference issues with finding places for the line judges to sit.
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Most propable cause - use of other than class legal sail?Poesje
Yeah, there is that. The Laser gods will not be mocked.
Lately I've noticed videos like this on Youtube and other places recording mess-ups and bloopers. Why is the word 'fail' used instead of 'failure'? Just curious
That's not a Laser. Looks like an i-Sail dinghy.
The earliest documented usage of the term “FAIL” can be traced to a Japanese 16-bit scrolling shooter game, Blazing Star (1998), often mocked for its grammatically incorrect “game over” message that reads:“YOU FAIL IT!YOUR SKILL IS NOT ENOUGH-SEE YOU NEXT TIME- BYE BYE.”As seen with the All Your Base are Belong to Us meme, the combination of a retro video game narrative and Engrish translation proves itself to be a powerful source of lulz.While the exact origin of “FAIL,” as an interjection, remains unknown, the earliest appearance of “FAIL” on slang repository Urban Dictionary 1 dates back to July 22nd, 2003, where the word was defined as meaning either an interjection used when one disapproves of something, or a verb meaning approximately the same thing as the slang form of suck.1] “you actually bought that? FAIL” 2] “this movie fails.”According to Google Trends, Internet users began exchanging and searching for pictures and videos labeled with “FAIL” as early as in 2004.This use of “fail” not as a part of speech but as a stand-alone interjection was further popularized by message board sites like 4chan and Something Awful forums. Due to the increased popularity of FAIL image macros and videos, the Cheezburger Network launched FAILblog 2, an aggregator of FAIL-related media, in May 2008.
With cut-and-paste, you too can become an Internet bore.
Believe me, I've employed that trick. I was hoping for your personal, more cynical response
Hmmm. I read today that an early sign of dementia is a failure to recognize sarcasm. Or "sarcasm FAIL" as we in the FAIL-media say. Was that last comment meant to be sarcastic?
Not necessarily. I think we need to have lunch again.
Sure. Have your people call my people.
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MANILA (Reuters) - Australia, Japan and the United States on Monday urged Southeast Asia and China to ensure that a South China Sea code of conduct they have committed to draw up will be legally binding and said they strongly opposed “coercive unilateral actions”.
The Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) and China should establish a set of rules that were “legally binding, meaningful, effective, and consistent with international law”, the foreign ministers of the three countries said in a statement following a meeting in Manila.
Foreign ministers of ASEAN and China on Sunday adopted a negotiating framework for a code of conduct, a move they hailed as progress but seen by critics as a tactic to buy China time to consolidate its maritime power.
Australia, Japan and the United States also “voiced their strong opposition to coercive unilateral actions that could alter the status quo and increase tensions”.
They urged claimants to refrain from land reclamation, construction of outposts and militarization of disputed features, a veiled reference to China’s expansion of its defense capability on Mischief, Fiery Cross and Subi reefs in the Spratly archipelago.
The three countries are not claimants but have long been vocal on the issue, arguing their interest is in ensuring freedom of navigation and overflight.
They urged China and the Philippines to abide by last year’s international arbitration ruling, which invalidated China’s claim to almost the entire South China Sea, where more than $3 trillion worth of sea-borne goods passes every year.
Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam also have competing claims there.
The code framework is an outline for what China and ASEAN call “consultations” on a formal agreement, which could start later this year.
Several ASEAN countries want the code to be legally binding, enforceable and have a dispute resolution mechanism. But experts say China will not allow that and ASEAN may end up acquiescing to what amounts to a gentlemen’s agreement.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said there was a “sharp contrast” in perceptions this year between regional and non-regional countries, and the statement by Japan, the United States and Australia showed that.
Coastal countries had “fully recognized the progress we have made through concerted efforts from all parties”, he said.
”On the other hand, some non-regional countries remain in the past ... They are not recognizing the positive changes occurring in the South China Sea.
“Is it that some countries do not want to see greater stability in the South China Sea?” he asked.
Singapore’s foreign minister, Vivian Balakrishnan, said on Sunday it was premature to conclude the outcome of the negotiations, but added: “Surely when we move into the COC, it has got to have some additional or significant legal effect.”
Jay Batongbacal, an expert on the South China Sea at the University of the Philippines, told news channel ANC the adoption of the framework gave China “the absolute upper hand” in terms of strategy, because it will be able to decide when the negotiating process can start.
China also called out “some countries” who voiced concern over island reclamation in the South China Sea in the joint communique issued by ASEAN members on Sunday.
“In reality it was only one or two country’s foreign ministers who expressed concerns of this kind,” Wang told reporters.
Wang said that China had not carried out reclamation for two years. “At this time, if you ask who is carrying out reclamation, it is definitely not China - perhaps it is the country that brings up the issue that is doing it,” he added.
Several ASEAN diplomats told Reuters that Vietnam was one country that had pushed for stronger wording in the statement. Satellite images have shown that Vietnam has carried out reclamation work in two sites in the disputed seas in recent years.
Additional reporting by Martin Petty; Editing by Nick Macfie and Pritha Sarkar
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Over the past few years, you’ve probably heard of the microbiome in every wellness media outlet out there – especially its relation to the skin barrier. However, it can oftentimes be difficult to really grasp what your microbiome is. Fairly enough, the skin microbiome has been an emerging research field for about 2-3 decades. In result, the research on this field has opened up many clinical studies and tissue model tests that depict a link between the skin microbiome, and many other microbiomes around your body, like the gut microbiome. Here, we are enamored with microbiome research and its ability to reveal behaviors and interactions between different body systems. So of course, we’re breaking it down for you below.
1. What is a microbiome?
We like to break down somewhat “scary” scientific words into digestible roots words. In this case, micro = extremely small-scale (like microscopic), and biome = environment. Think biomes, like different climate environments all over the world (tropical vs desert vs tundra). Therefore, we can assume that a microbiome is a small environment on your body.
2. What is it made of?
Typically, your microbiome is made out of an ecosystem of teeny tiny bacteria. While a lot of “bad” bacteria exists that can get you sick, we actually carry a lot of “good” bacteria all over our bodies that are essential to maintaining important processes to their specific body part.
3. Why is it important?
Because a microbiome is a small environment on your body composed of bacteria, we (along with research) can conclude that each microbiome on your body is specialized to that specific area. Your underarms have their own special little microbiome (hence the odor that can occur from bacterial imbalance in that area), your vulva area has its own microbiome (full of lactobacillus bacteria), your facial skin has its own microbiome, your gut has its own microbiome (also full of lactobacillus bacteria…;)), and so much more.
4. Why does this matter?
As mentioned above, each area has its own special microbiome. However, there’s a lot of overlap of bacteria in each microbiome. For example, your vulva area, gut, and skin all have a ton of lactobacillus bacteria. Therefore, your different body systems can actually communicate with each other through the bacteria that they share. This is an example of a body axis.
Furthermore, we like to focus on the emerging research data that shows that your skin microbiome is its own layer of the skin barrier. This piece of data has been the driving force of our skincare research, as we find more exciting ingredients and technologies to optimize our products to accommodate this important layer of the skin.
If you’re interested, apply to our DOTCOM (our exclusive social community) to test these exciting new products and to get a behind the scenes look at our process ☻
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BANGALORE: He may have been a little over 5' but he towers at 7'9" in theatre and film personality C R Simha's den `Guhe'. Carved in black granite from head to toe, the little tramp is a central pillar in Simha's Banashankari III Stage home -- cane in one hand, derby hat on the head and feet twisted, ready to shuffle off.
It is no geometric pillar, rather an amorphous rock structure -- 10 feet tall and weighing 3 tonnes. In front is sculpted the classic Chaplin, while the back remains an uneven rock, and serves as a creative support for the roof. It is placed in the centre of the main living room, measuring 22'x 22'.
The house, built in 1990 by architect Jaisim, is built 10 feet below road level. The pillar is located in the basement, and Simha was first shocked when Jaisim suggested that it be placed bang in the middle of the room, but for a structural reason. Simha and his wife settled for it after a creative suggestion from friend John Devraj.
Ask him why a Chaplin, and he is quick to reply: "We are both from theatre and films. There are actors who despite their talent, get confined geographically due to the language, but Chaplin is a `universal hero'. Chaplin had no language. He is also the only actor to have survived five generations and still entertains globally."
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The Swearing-In of Privy Councillors
Privy councillors are members of The Queen's Privy Council for Canada, established under the Constitution Act, 1867 (formerly the British North America Act) to advise the Crown. The Privy Council includes all past and present Cabinet ministers, as well as a number of distinguished persons. Members are appointed for life by the governor general, on the recommendation of the prime minister. After being sworn in, privy councillors carry the title "Honourable" for life and the initials P.C. after their names.
The Constitution Act, 1867 states:
"There shall be a Council to aid and advise in the Government of Canada, to be styled the Queen's Privy Council for Canada; and the Persons who are to be members of that Council shall be from time to time chosen and summoned by the governor general and sworn in as Privy Councillors, and Members thereof may be from time to time removed by the governor general."
The appointment is for life, effective from the date of the swearing-in.
The first members of the Council were sworn in by governor general Viscount Monck on Monday, July 1, 1867, in Ottawa. They were appointed by the governor general at a formal meeting of the Council, on advice tendered by an Order in Council. The members took the Oaths of Office as heads of departments, in addition to the Oath of the Members of the Privy Council.
Until 1891, all privy councillors were either Cabinet ministers or former Cabinet ministers. In that year, for the first time, privy councillors were appointed who were not Cabinet ministers when former speakers of both Houses were sworn in. There is no legal limitation on those who may be made members, but they must be in a position to take the Oath of Allegiance and the Oath of the Members of the Privy Council.
The entire Privy Council meets rarely and then only for ceremonial occasions. It does not conduct the business of government.
Ministers are privy councillors who, by convention, are members of the House of Commons or the Senate, or who are in the process of being elected to a seat. They are appointed by the governor general on the recommendation of the prime minister, who determines their titles and responsibilities.
Many distinguished Canadians have been among those who are appointed to the Council as an honour, without being made members of the Cabinet. In 1967, on the occasion of Canada's centennial, and in 1982, on the occasion of the patriation of the Constitution, the provincial premiers then in office were summoned and sworn in as members of the Privy Council at a ceremony on Parliament Hill in the presence of The Queen, who signed the Privy Council Oath Book and the roll. In addition, on July 1, 1992, on the occasion of The Queen's visit to Canada to celebrate the 125th anniversary of Confederation, Her Majesty presided at a special swearing-in ceremony at Rideau Hall.
The Clerk of the Privy Council administers the Oath of the Members of the Privy Council as well as the Oath of Allegiance and the Oath of Office to a minister-designate. Each new privy councillor signs the Privy Council Oath Book, which is also signed by the governor general and the Clerk of the Privy Council.
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Researching Downeast Maine and Maritime Canada Families Together
Andrew Jackson Berry was born 25 February 1834 at either Paris, Maine, or Wilton, Maine, the son of Levi Berry, Jr. and wife Mary Polly Hammond, who married at Paris, Maine in 1823.
His paternal grandparents were Levi and Lusannah (Bryant) Berry. His maternal grandparents were Joseph and Lydia (Parsons) Hammond.
On 30 October 1855 at Lincoln, Maine, Andrew Jackson Berry married Julia Elizabeth Estes, who was born 25 March 1836 at China, Maine, the daughter of John and Elizabeth (Kennedy) Estes.
Her paternal grandparents were Caleb Estes, Jr. and Charlotte (Day) Estes. Her maternal grandfather was William Kennedy, who was born in Ireland.
Andrew and Julia raised their family at Smyrna, Maine, where Andrew was a tax assessor and postmaster. See his leatherbound notebook with his tax assessor's report for the year 1887 here.
If you have any corrections, additions or insights regarding any of the information presented above or in the family trees of Andrew J. Berry and Julia Elizabeth (Estes) Berry below, please leave a comment. Thanks!
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An inkjet cartridge contains liquid ink that is available in four colors including black, blue (cyan), yellow, and magenta (red). The cartridge can have one or more chambers that store ink in sponge and disperse it through holes. A laser toner is fine carbon-based powder mixed with a polymer that is stored in a “hopper” chamber.
In an inkjet printer, ink is injected into an access hole through a syringe bottle, whereas toner is poured directly from a bottle into the hopper. Filling ink in inkjet printer is little risky as you need to locate a hole to inject ink, otherwise it can spill outside and ruin the printer. Refilling a laser printer is relatively easier.
An inkjet printer sprays ink on to the paper and can print high-quality graphics. In a laser printer, toner sticks to the surface of paper in a particular pattern and creates the texts and images on it.
The choice of cartridges depends on the model of your printer and your personal needs. Both inkjet and toner cartridges have their own advantages and disadvantages. They are completely different from each other and a little knowledge about them can help you make the right choice.
Advantages of Inkjet Cartridges
- Inkjet printer cartridges are usually preferred because of their low cost.
- Inkjet printer is user-friendly and is very easy to handle.
- They are capable of printing in four main colors including blue, black, magenta, and yellow, and they print high-quality graphics.
- Inkjet printers are good for non-professional, low-volume needs, and home use.
- Though inkjet printers are very easy to use, their slow printing speed is their main drawback.
- Another main disadvantage is that inkjet cartridges have a tendency for the ink to smudge. That can ruin the whole paper.
- They are not ideal for office use or for high-volume needs.
- They require good quality paper for proper printing. Cheaper or low-quality paper cannot be used.
- Refilling an inkjet printer is not easy.
- Toner cartridges offer high resolution. It depends on particle size of the toner. The smaller the particles, the better the resolution.
- They have long life and are very efficient.
- Laser printers can hold a substantial amount of toner at one time and print at least 5000 pages.
- Laser accessories last long and laser printers can print on low-quality or cheap paper.
- Laser printers are very complex as compared to inkjet printers.
- Toner cartridges are more expensive than inkjet printer cartridges.
About the Author: Andrew Yeung is the Marketing Director of ComboInk, a leading online provider of premium printer ink cartridges, including Canon cartridges and HP deskjet cartridges. By purchasing a large volume from factory, ComboInk is able to sell laser toner cartridges at steep discounts, saving small businesses thousands in operating costs each year.
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August 25, 2018
What does one do when institutional leadership misleads? When some of the “shepherds” are really wolves? Where does one find a trustworthy guide for life? Where does one find inspiration and hope for tomorrow? After so many ecclesiastical disappointments and ongoing revelations, many are turned off or disappointed. The questions abound.
To start, I suggest we need to focus on the church not primarily as a religious institution but a gathering of believers. One of the unfortunate mis-translations in the New Testament concerns the word ecclesia. It is usually translated “church.” In fact it should be more correctly translated as an “assembly” or a “convocation” of those called together under Christ: people of faith, brought together, inspired, and enlivened by the message and spirit of Jesus.
My reflection today is not a bunch of pious old rhetoric. It is a contemporary plea to take Jesus seriously.
Perhaps we need to dismantle and deconstruct some church structures before credibility can be restored.
The lifestyle and teaching of Jesus are indeed our anchor in restless times and our blueprint for personal, group, and institutional regeneration.
Re-reading the Gospels this week, these Jesus virtues challenged me:
HUMILITY: Jesus was a humble man from a humble town: Jesus of Nazareth. People joked about Nazareth. In the Johannine Gospel, we read: “Philip found Nathanael and said to him, ‘We have found him of whom Moses in the Torah and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.’ Nathanael said to him, ‘Can anything good come out of Nazareth?’ Philip said to him, ‘Come and see.’” (John 1:45-46)
In Luke 14 we read “those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” When putting on a meal, Jesus said “Don’t invite your friends, brothers, relatives, and rich neighbors. For they will invite you back, and that will be your only reward. Instead, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. Then at the resurrection of the righteous, God will reward you for inviting those who could not repay you.”
We can live humbly with each other. How does one live humbly in an institutional church well known for grandeur, fancy dress, and imperial pretense?
GENDER EQUALITY: Jesus was not an old boys club kind of guy. Among his disciples were men and women. The first disciples to discover and announce that Jesus had been raised from the dead were women. Luke’s Gospel gives us the account of Jesus at the home of Martha and Mary. The whole point of the narration is that Mary can be a disciple just like the guys. The New Testament scriptures strongly attest to women disciples, women apostles, and women ministers.
If today we could have an abundance of women ordained ministers and bishops, we would witness a marvelous ecclesiastical transformation.
NOT A PATERNALISTIC PATRIARCH: Jesus was not an authoritarian leader. He did not exercise power OVER people. He empowered people. His virtues were compassion, forgiveness, and challenging people to do better.
In the community of faith we must discover ways to move ahead with honesty, clear judgment, respectful ministry, and dialogue.
FAITH IS MORE THAN RELIGIOUS OBSERVANCE: Some of Jesus’ strongest words were criticisms of religious leaders. One finds them throughout the Gospels. Here I recall an account in Matthew 23: “Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, ‘The teachers of religious law and the Pharisees are the official interpreters of the law of Moses. So practice and obey whatever they tell you, but don’t follow their example. For they don’t practice what they teach. They crush people with unbearable religious demands and never lift a finger to ease the burden.’”
STRUCTURES SPRING FROM FAITH: The historical Jesus was not an institutional organization man. He did not establish an institutional church, did not ordain anyone. He did not create bishops, dioceses, or a pope. Jesus left structural systems to his followers: to the community of faith.
The community of faith, the assemblies of believers, need to do some re-structuring today.
NOT A WHITE SUPREMACIST: Jesus wasn’t white. He was a brown-skinned, Middle Eastern Jewish fellow. He was neither xenophobic nor racist. His social morality is clearly explained in the narrative about the Good Samaritan.
WHAT WE DO NOT KNOW: Looking at Jesus, there is much we do not know. Things he didn’t talk about. Was he single? Married? Gay? Straight? For the evangelists these were not important questions. Perhaps they are really not important for us either, although some get hung up on just these issues.
GOD WITH US: Jesus is the revelation of God for us. He is the “image of the invisible God.” (Colossians 1:15) He is also the revelation of authentic humanity. He is for us “the way and the truth and the life.” (John 14:6)
Now let us reform, rebuild, and restructure a church worthy of Jesus Christ.
[Photo: Recent research by Joan Taylor (professor at King’s College London) suggests Jesus may have been of average height, with short black hair, brown eyes and olive-brown skin. Credit: Painting by Cathy Fisher, showing shorter clothing and hair for Jesus, in accordance with Taylor’s research.]
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Find a school near you!
Kansas State University’s Barbara Anderson Discusses the Global Turn That the Fashion Business Has Taken, and How They Prepare Design Students for the New Demands
Like everything else in the 21st Century, technology has changed the Fashion World. Everything is faster. A fashion blog shines the spotlight on a model in Los Angeles wearing a new dress, and someone in Boston wants it in the mall tomorrow. It’s called Fast Fashion, and it’s one of the many demands of designers in the modern world. Kansas State University is preparing its aspiring designers to hit the ground running by providing students with the basic requisite skills, along with teaching them the latest design technology. K-State students get first-hand experience through internships. They are also encouraged to take Study Tours in places like New York City, London and India.
To learn more about the program, we talked to Barbara Anderson, Associate Professor and Department Head of Apparel, Textiles, and Interior Design at Kansas State
(This interview was conducted via email & edited for length & clarity)
FS: K-State has so much to offer its design students. Please give us an overview
KS: The Apparel and Textiles program is focused on providing opportunities for students to learn about the global apparel and textiles industry within a framework of human ecology, that is we focus on how our students and alumni will improve quality of life through their work.
The Apparel and Textiles program is designed to inspire students to envision fresh new approaches to the global challenges facing every aspect of the apparel and textiles industry. Our programs of study give our graduates the aesthetic, practical, technical, professional and intellectual skills needed for a variety of roles in the apparel and textiles industry.
The program offers students an academic experience that includes strong industry ties, required internships, faculty-led study tours within the United States and abroad, opportunities to study abroad, and events that bring professionals and alumni to campus.
There are two areas of specialization for apparel and textiles degree candidates:
Apparel Marketing and Apparel Design and Production. The Apparel Design and Production specialization is accredited by the National Association of Schools of Art and Design (NASAD).
FS: What are the most common misconceptions incoming students have about pursuing a career in fashion?
KS: That careers in the fashion industry are typically glamorous, provide generous incomes early in careers, and often result simply as an extension of a personal interest in fashion and shopping.
That there is no math or science involved in university coursework or professional positions within the apparel and textiles industry.
That they will be able to secure good positions in the industry without working in retail sales first.
That they can design what they like (or for a young demographic) and not what other people want to buy.
That immediately after graduation they will be able to open a successful business or launch their own fashion line.
FS: What is different about the business of fashion design than say, 25 years ago or even 10?
KS: The industry is far more global and uses advanced technology more than 25 years ago. Vertical integration in the supply chain (resulting in greater speed in garment production), brand proliferation, mass marketing, and designer looks being made available to the public quickly through “fast fashion” have changed consumer expectations and behaviors. As a result total apparel consumption has increased.
At the same time, some brands have become committed to social and environmental responsibility and are leading the way in making it possible for consumers who want to make eco-conscious apparel choices.
FS: Talk more about technology, and how it’s changed the business
KS: Technology has had sweeping influences on the industry from fibers and textiles to the ways products are designed and produced. Changes in technology will continually be present and our students are taught to recognize the opportunities new technologies bring to the industry.
Teaching technology in the classroom includes teaching specific software and hardware uses, but it also means that we need to make our students aware of the diversity of technology being used in the industry and to develop the personal confidence to adapt and learn new technologies as required to stay current and competitive in their chosen field.
FS: What core classes that are not directly related to fashion, are required of students?
KS: Students in the Apparel and Textiles program earn a Bachelor of Science and are required to earn approximately 42 semester credit hours in communications, humanities, math, and the social, natural and physical sciences. In addition, students specializing in Apparel Marketing are required to take business courses and students specializing in Apparel Design and Production are required to take art courses.
FS: Which fields do you see the most opportunity career-wise for graduates now and how are you preparing students to meet that demand?
KS: It is not exactly a subset of the industry that we believe will provide the greatest opportunity for future industry professionals. We believe globalization and sustainability are going to continue to be major forces in the entire industry in the future. We are preparing our students for a globalized industry focused on sustainability by integrating these concepts into all of our courses. One aspect of that effort is that we are providing opportunities and experiences for students to gain the knowledge and skills required to be agents of change in the industry upon graduation and in their future careers. We require students to participate in at least one internship for credit and encourage students to study abroad, participate in study tours, and develop strong relationships with industry through our alumni and advisory board members.
FS: Tell us about opportunities on campus or in professional partnerships, where your future designers can showcase their work?
KS: Primarily our students showcase their work through K-State Project Runway, a departmental fashion show, a student fashion show, a relationship with a Korean university where our student work is shown every other year, and the International Textile and Apparel Association competition.
FS: What advice would you give to aspiring fashionistas starting at Kansas State in the fall?
KS: The industry is constantly changing and requires individuals who are able to adapt quickly and stay enthusiastic even when the work is hard. You need ambition, patience, persistence, and a good work ethic to do well in the exciting careers related to the fashion industry.
Check out more interviews at the Fashion-Schools.org Fashion School Interview Series.
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Introducing Play 2.0
We announced in November that Play framework, the highly productive Java and Scala web application framework would become part of the Typesafe Stack. Now, just a few months later, we are happy to announce that Play 2.0 has arrived and is now available as part of the open source Typesafe Stack 2.0 and the commercial Typesafe Subscription.
Let's see some of the highlights!Native Java and Scala SupportWhile the original version of the Play Framework was written primarily in Java (and provided Scala support through a plug-in), Play 2.0 embraces Scala more completely. Not only has Play’s core transitioned to Scala, but the new release also makes the Scala language a first class citizen for developing Play applications. As a result, the new version of the framework now provides two equally polished sets of APIs: one for Scala developers and one for Java developers.
A Controller class using Java
The same Controller class using Scala
Rapid Application Development
One of the features that provided the “Play feel” in the 1.x series of releases was the development console and browser-based error reporting. Play 2.0 greatly extends these capabilities by allowing developers to execute code snippets, tests, and shell scripts in the runtime application context and also by compiling and building many additional parts of a typical web application.
Pushing Type Safety to a New Level
Play 2.0 takes compilation and type checking even further. Routes (which define URL and action mappings), templates, and even assets are now compiled (using LESS, CoffeeScript and the Google Closure compiler), providing a unified development workflow for both client side and server side developers. The result of all of this is that more errors will be detected earlier, speeding your development process. It also makes it a lot easier to work on large projects with many developers involved.
Example route compilation failure detectionPlaying NicelyPlay 1.x implemented many of its original ideas (like providing properties for Java classes and hot class reloading) through techniques that required a relatively Play-specific runtime environment. Play 2.0, on the other hand, takes a more standardized approach to runtime deployment. This was made possible partly by writing the core framework in Scala and also by building on top of SBT, the popular build tool for Scala. Play 2.0 delivers the same simple “play new, run, start” experience as the 1.x series, while standing on a more extensible foundation. Play 2.0 comes with a preconfigured build script that will work unmodified for most, but if you need to change the way your application is built and deployed, you have the ability to customize and adapt it as needed. As a result, you’ll find it even more straightforward to deploy Play 2.0 applications in a wider variety of scenarios. Pick and Choose
Because web application design has evolved a lot in the last few years, Play 2.0 features a modular architecture that helps to avoid making hard assumptions about your technology stack. You do not want to use a database? You can disable the DBPlugin. Want to use your own templating engine? Just plug it in. Do not need a full featured web framework with all the bells and whistles? Use Play as a library. How much of the architecture you want to use in your application is entirely up to you.
Play is based on a lightweight, stateless, web-friendly architecture that features predictable and minimal resource consumption (in terms of CPU, memory, threads) for highly-scalable applications. This is partly thanks to Akka 2.0, the event-driven middleware at the heart of Play 2.0. Developers also have direct access to the many additional features Akka provides, to build highly distributed systems that can scale to meet any level of demand.
One of the recent trends in web app development is the emphasis on push-based and non-blocking technologies. Play 2.0 uses an Iteratee IO implementation to provide out-of-the-box support for many advanced push-based/streaming technologies, from WebSockets and Comet to file streaming.
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The Trouble With Tough Love
Fortunately, the short-term residential treatment I underwent was relatively light on confrontation, but I still had to deal with a counselor who tried to humiliate me by disparaging my looks when I expressed insecurity about myself.
The trouble with tough love is twofold. First, the underlying philosophy -- that pain produces growth -- lends itself to abuse of power. Second, and more important, toughness doesn't begin to address the real problem. Troubled teenagers aren't usually "spoiled brats" who "just need to be taught respect." Like me, they most often go wrong because they hurt, not because they don't want to do the right thing. That became all the more evident to me when I took a look at who goes to these schools.
A surprisingly large number are sent away in the midst of a parental divorce; others are enrolled for depression or other serious mental illnesses. Many have lengthy histories of trauma and abuse. The last thing such kids need is another experience of powerlessness, humiliation and pain.
Sadly, tough love often looks as if it works: For one thing, longitudinal studies find that most kids, even amongst the most troubled, eventually grow out of bad behavior, so the magic of time can be mistaken for the magic of treatment. Second, the experience of being emotionally terrorized can produce compliance that looks like real change, at least initially.
The bigger picture suggests that tough love tends to backfire. My recent interviews confirm the findings of more formal studies. The Justice Department has released reports comparing boot camps with traditional correctional facilities for juvenile offenders, concluding in 2001 that neither facility "is more effective in reducing recidivism." In late 2004, the National Institutes of Health released a "state of the science" consensus statement, concluding that "get tough" treatments "do not work and there is some evidence that they may make the problem worse." Indeed, some young people leave these programs with post-traumatic stress disorder and exacerbations of their original problems.
These strict institutional settings work at cross-purposes with the developmental stages adolescents go through. According to psychiatrists, teenagers need to gain responsibility, begin to test romantic relationships and learn to think critically. But in tough programs, teenagers' choices of activities are overwhelmingly made for them: They are not allowed to date (in many, even eye contact with the opposite sex is punished), and they are punished if they dissent from a program's therapeutic prescriptions. All this despite evidence that a totally controlled environment delays maturation.
Why is tough love still so prevalent? The acceptance of anecdote as evidence is one reason, as are the hurried decisions of desperate parents who can no longer find a way of communicating with their wayward kids. But most significant is the lack of the equivalent of a Food and Drug Administration for behavioral health care -- with the result that most people are unaware that these programs have never been proved safe or effective. It's part of what a recent Institute of Medicine report labeled a "quality chasm" between the behavioral treatments known to work and those that are actually available. So parents rely on hearsay -- and the word of so-called experts.
Unfortunately, in the world of teen behavioral programs, there are no specific educational or professional requirements. Anyone can claim to be an expert.
Maia Szalavitz is the author of "Help at Any Cost: How the Troubled-Teen Industry Cons Parents and Hurts Kids" (Riverhead Books).
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CHICAGO -- Inside a room on the third floor of the John T. Richardson Library at DePaul University is a display that includes some heavy boots and a thick belt -- not the kind for holding up pants, but rather the kind to which prisoners’ hands are shackled. They’re part of a small representation -- in this most unlikely place -- of the iconography of capital punishment in the United States.
The exhibit includes materials having to do with the book Dead Man Walking and the making of the movie of the same name. They were provided by the book's author, death penalty abolitionist St. Joseph of Medaille Sr. Helen Prejean, and they serve as a gripping introduction to the university's newly opened archive, "Social Justice Collections."
Prejean, who was on campus for several days in May to officially open the collections, is certainly one of the best-known, still busy figures who have agreed to have their papers archived at DePaul in a collection that is decidedly marked by Catholic activists of the Vatican II era. In many cases there is a seamless overlap with the civil rights and Vietnam War eras. For many, those periods are inextricably linked, the Second Vatican Council providing the framework for ordained and lay alike to exercise faith in a new and public way; the civil rights and Vietnam War eras waking up moral muscles that had remained dormant prior to the mid-1960s ecumenical council.
Vincentian Fr. Edward Udovic, secretary of the university and senior executive for university mission, has been involved in establishing the collection, which he said was the result of opportunism. For instance, someone in the ministry department was very close friends with the Jesuit poet and antiwar activist Fr. Daniel Berrigan. His papers had already been spoken for but the connection led to DePaul obtaining a portion of the archives of Berrigan's late brother and fellow activist, Philip, and those of Philip's wife, Elizabeth McAlister.
A Vincentian who was translating some of the work of the late Archbishop Oscar Romero of El Salvador led to a connection with Romero biographer Jesuit Fr. James R. Brockman, and DePaul's obtaining Brockman's research and documents dealing with the biography.
Among the documentation of groups and individuals being preserved are records of the Catholic reform group Call to Action, which is headquartered in Chicago.
The connection with Prejean came through Professor Susanne M. Dumbleton of DePaul's School for New Learning. Dumbleton is in the process of writing a biography of the famous nun.
Udovic said DePaul is one of a number of universities gearing up to archive the papers and work of activists of the 1960s and '70s "because that generation is passing off the scene very quickly. "The major figures," he said, "are gone or leaving the stage."
Chicago, which in retrospect was a kind of seedbed for Catholic social justice activists, is a particularly ripe location for searching out such archives. He also believes that DePaul, which emphasizes that the archives are not just storage, but are intended for use by both scholars doing research and by students in the normal course of class work, is particularly suited to take up the effort. As if to punctuate that point with unambiguous symbol, a statue of Msgr. Jack Egan, a Chicago priest who was legendary for his advocacy of Catholic social thought, stands at the entrance of the student union.
In one sense, the archiving under way represents the final boxing up of an unusual era in the history of the U.S. church. But Udovic believes the era still has resonance: "Particularly the challenges of peace and war have not gone away. If you even look at the roots of environmental justice and activism, those obviously have emerged and have had to emerge." He mentions labor issues and the digital divide, as well as life issues, all entering "a new era" evident in the political debates of the day. All those conversations, he said, have roots in the activism of the past half century or so.
One need not go further than Prejean to establish the case that social activism that emerges from the Catholic community remains relevant. "There is no other individual in this country who comes close to" Prejean in advocating for those on death row, for victims' families and for traumatized prison workers and executioners, said Abe Bonowitz, director of affiliate support for the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty. He's known Prejean since 1989 and said he was there when she opened one of the first boxes containing her 1993 book, Dead Man Walking. The book, for months on the New York Times best-seller list, is an account to that point of a ministry that began in 1982, when the Louisiana native moved into a housing project in New Orleans and took up a correspondence with Elmo Patrick Sonnier, "number 95281, Death Row, Louisiana State Penitentiary, Angola." On those early printings, there was no picture of actor Sean Penn on the cover depicting a fictional prisoner based on Sonnier and another of the convicted murderers Prejean befriended. It was before she was portrayed by Susan Sarandon in the 1995 movie directed by Tim Robbins.
The book and movie boosted her ministries in ways unimaginable in the early days when she was wrestling with her own presumptions about crime, the justice system, the humanity of convicted killers, and learning, painfully, about the needs of victims' families. The trajectory of her work and ministry took on a higher and longer arc that today seems nowhere near an end. It is the story of activism, certainly, but it is also the story of a contemporary nun.
She is still telling her story everywhere, a story that at its core is a plea, as she would put it, "out of the heart of the Gospel." It is a plea born of her long experience and one that exemplifies, perhaps, the "stumbling block" of the Christian scriptures because it asks people not to seek vengeance, in fact to take a nonviolent path, in circumstances where vengeance seems so understandable and justified. Breakthroughs have occurred, of course, in ways that have little to do with that kind of argumentation. DNA evidence has helped unravel the mysteries of criminal forensics and overturned convictions. Awareness is growing that demanding death for death is, practically speaking, more expensive than incarceration, no longer necessary to protect the populace and lacking in any justification as a deterrent to crime. States increasingly are considering doing away with the death penalty.
But Prejean, at heart a storyteller who can marshal evidence from a host of disciplines and put it across as compelling narrative, derives most of her credibility not from argument but from where she's placed her life. And the constant in her life that undergirds her work is the fact that she's a nun. So it is that reporters today want to know what she thinks of the investigations -- of the individual orders, of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, of the recent Vatican takeover of LCWR. She won't bite on the questions, says she doesn't want to put the energy into a head-on confrontation. The closest she gets to the subject during her visit to DePaul comes one evening when she describes how her order, just after Vatican II, took seriously the council's mandate to return to the roots and discover anew what the order should be doing.
The sisters took a look at their beginnings in the mid-1600s, and the early conviction that the women "were to get out with the people. The only women who could get out on the street at the time without men were widows. So we dressed like widows," she explained. In the 20th century, she said, "we took off the habit to be with the people, not just to be comfortable."
More than that, the sisters began to seek places to act on matters of justice. "Action liberates," she tells her mostly young audience. "When we begin to move toward justice, we are liberated." Don't look for the world-changing act, she says. Just do something, she urges. Her life's ministry began with a letter to a convict. "No matter how small, do it. If you stay in your head you remain paralyzed."
The archives contain a 1994 letter to her editor regarding a new book idea, one about which she was momentarily passionate. The working title: If Mama Ain't Happy, Nobody's Happy: Women's Struggle for Equality in the Roman Catholic Church.
It never got written because events of the moment took over: She was accompanying two people she believed innocent, who were eventually executed. Those stories -- wound tightly with her passionate condemnation of the death penalty and indictment of the American justice system -- would become her second book, The Death of Innocents: An Eyewitness Account of Wrongful Executions.
In a recent phone interview she gets a bit closer to the point of the investigations of the sisters and her life as a nun. She is in a Western state, amid mountains' grandeur, working on a third book, River of Fire: Spiritual Journey to Death Row. She describes it as a prequel to her public ministry, a dive into Vatican II, "and the call to be the people of God." It is the best way for her, she says, to take on the issues of the day. "I don't want to directly take on these issues in themselves. I would rather just demonstrate or embody what a life is living out the Gospel. That is a way of telling the women's story: Here's what happened to me.
"Instead of countering with theological or ecclesiastical argument, I want to stay on track of what I'm bound to do, the mission I'm called to do." And that means telling what led her to a ministry of, to date, "accompanying six human beings who were put to death in front of my eyes."
[Tom Roberts is NCR editor at large. His email address is email@example.com.]
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Identifying the best onychomycosis treatment Canada can be difficult, especially when your healthcare provider does not have enough information about your infection. Your physician should review your medical history and perform laboratory tests, including culture, to make a diagnosis. They should also confirm mycology or the infection’s cause. If the diagnosis is onychomycosis, you should treat the infection with medications and procedures. There are several types of antifungal medications used to treat onychomycosis. Some are available by mouth, such as amphotericin B, fluconazole, and terbinafine.
Terbinafine is the most effective oral medication for treating toenail fungus. It is a broad-spectrum antifungal agent that is commonly prescribed for 12 weeks, but it may have adverse effects. Terbinafine is commonly associated with headaches, gastrointestinal disturbances, and elevated liver enzymes. It is also not as effective against molds. You should not use terbinafine at the same time as other medications. It is not recommended for patients with diabetes. It is also flammable and should not be used near an open flame.
Topical formulations using essential oils may also be effective for the treatment of onychomycosis, although the evidence is mixed. Although snakeroot oil has shown some success, there is limited evidence of its effectiveness. However, topical formulations using essential oils may also pose an irritation risk. In addition, larger studies are needed to determine the efficacy of snakeroot oil and whether it is safe and effective for home use.
Oral antifungal agents:
Currently, oral antifungal agents are the most common treatment regimens for onychomycosis. These medications need to be taken for a prolonged period, and they may have unpleasant side effects. In addition, patients may be at risk for interactions with other medications. If a patient is experiencing side effects, the healthcare provider may check for other medications that may be needed in addition to oral antifungal medications.
Disinfecting fungal reservoirs in shoes and socks:
Other methods of treatment include disinfecting fungal reservoirs in shoes and socks, which will reduce the recurrence of the infection. You should also trim and thin your nails to allow your antifungal drug to reach the deeper layers of the nail. You can also try filing away white marks.
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Ann Friedman did a great book review that turns into a sort of broad overview of the contemporary landscape from a feminist point of view:
Today, Collins writes, the biggest factor contributing to the wage gap is not likely to be overt sexism or discrimination, though there is some of that (just ask Lilly Ledbetter). It is “almost certainly” due to women’s “tendency to drop out of the workforce or to scale back to part-time employment when they had children.” As women’s work-force participation steadily climbed in the decades following World War II, men may have felt they were losing standing at work by competing with women for jobs, but they stood to gain at home. A wife with a nonthreatening wage-earning job eased the economic burden. In the 2000s, Collins writes, “the question was no longer whether [women] would have jobs but whether they would be able to stick with them consistently enough to make real progress when it came to paychecks and work satisfaction.” We have come to a point where women will be able to achieve fulfilling careers only when we make clear that families — and, by extension, men — stand to gain when parents are willing to make equal sacrifices.
This is not a battle that can be won with legal challenges or legislation. Yes, it would undoubtedly be greatly aided by the passage of major social policies such as universal child care. But at its core, this is a fight that plays out within homes and between partners. And as Gerson’s research makes clear, the fight has not changed all that dramatically in the past 30 years. The public revolution may be unfinished, but the private revolution has barely begun.
Yes. I think there’s a tendency to underplay this. Really taking seriously the idea that men and women deserve equal consideration in the set-up of our culture, our institutions, and our lives has quite dramatic implications and there’s a huge mismatch between the level of acceptance of very abstract precepts about equality and the ground-level implementation of their consequences.
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After World War II, because of technologies that had been developed, you had a kind of celebration of the natural sciences. Inside the university, those fields were getting all the favoritism; part of that favoritism is funding. After World War II, economics discovered that for a long time it had been considered a social science, paired with things like history, sociology. These were not the favored fields. The economics profession made a decision that its future in the university would be to become more and more like the natural sciences — to prove its science-like nature by looking like those others. What has happened over the last 50 years is to say to the student who comes in all excited to understand depressions and inflations and to see how it all relates to history and politics: ‘We don’t do that anymore.’ Economics becomes this technical field...inaccessible to all but a few.
An awful lot of students have had bad or no experience in economics as part of their training. So they come out of college and they don’t know much about this subject and they have a bad feeling about it. We have a low degree of economic literacy which is part of what allows the weirdest, wildest junk to pass for economic perspectives.
I can assure you that nothing that I’ve said should make anyone doubt for a minute that there’s enormous personal interest in learning more about economics. The truth of it is, the economy isn’t all that complicated. And to make economics simple is not to take something terribly complicated and falsify it.
What do you think is a fundamental misunderstanding on the part of the American people about Marxism, socialism, and the ideas you espouse? Socialism existed long before there was a Soviet Union or whatever particular society you want to point to. Socialism is a creature of capitalism — it is the self-criticism of capitalism. Every system that the human race has ever had has people who love it and celebrate it and people who are critical of it. That’s the normal condition and capitalism is no different. A healthy society knows that criticism is part of what ‘health’ means. It’s sad — it holds back the level of discourse in this country. To be unable to listen to a critic, that’s nothing to be proud of. That’s a defect of our culture.
You advocate for ‘Worker Self-Directed Enterprises’ as the foundation of an alternative economy. Tell me more. I am interested first and foremost in the cooperative organization of the workforce. Even when workers become owners [as in many co-ops], it is typical that the worker-owners still turn over the direction of the enterprise to people other than themselves. What I’m talking about is when workers themselves transform the workplace into a cooperative. The workers, all of them, have a job description that has two parts: part one, you do a particular task in the division of labor. Your job description also has a second part, namely your participation in the direction of the enterprise: what to produce, how to produce, where to produce, and what to do with the net revenue or profits that the enterprise generates. [The current] top-down un-democratic arrangement we have now [is] ethically unjustifiable, contrary to all democratic principles.
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What does Velvet mean?
Originally made of silk, it is commonly found today to be composed of rayon, nylon, and acrylic cut pile fabrics.
Heddels explains Velvet
An ancient fabric, velvet has been produced for almost 4,000 years and is often associated with royalty and nobility. It is a woven fabric with a short, dense pile and lush feel. Velvet is considered luxurious because it requires more time and thread to create than most other fabrics.
Traditionally it is made of silk thread; however, today it is frequently made of cotton or synthetic fibers. Velvet must be manufactured on a special loom that weaves two pieces of cloth that are then cut apart to produce the pile. It requires special care to maintain as it is easily damaged by folding or crushing the pile, and should be dry cleaned only.
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The Ministry of Justice has confirmed that glass fell from Lendlease’s Manchester Civil Justice Centre onto a footpath and road below.
A spokesperson told CN’s sister title the Architects’ Journal that “three glass panels were noted to have broken” on the Stirling Prize-nominated building late last month and that “some fragments” of glass landed on public spaces around the 10-year-old landmark.
The MoJ added that the panels had since been made safe and that the landlord had carried out a preliminary inspection of the 17-storey building, which was nicknamed the ‘Filing Cabinet’ due to its drawer-like cantilevered structure.
The glass incident is the latest in a series of issues to have emerged with the £113m development – the largest court building to have been built in the UK since the Royal Courts of Justice was completed in 1882.
In June it was reported that the centre had to be evacuated after parts of the building on floors seven and eight, and some of the courtrooms, became filled with smoke.
A spokesman for Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service told the Manchester Evening News at the time that the fire has been caused by a problem with machinery in a utility room.
The MoJ also confirmed that on 25 July this year a basement area became flooded due to a problem with the sprinkler system.
A spokesperson added: “As a result, the fire and electrical installations were isolated for safety reasons. The system has now been repaired and is fully functioning.”
Designed by architects Denton Corker Marshall, the building was handed the RIBA/English Partnerships Sustainability Award in 2008 after narrowly missing out on the Stirling Prize that year.
A spokesperson for contractor Lendlease said it was meeting with the team at the court to “understand the situation”.
Denton Corker Marshall has been contacted for comment.
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Floodlights, or Rat lights, are bright, intense lights used by Dunwall authorities to deter the rats that have infested and infected the city. Like all other technologies, they are powered by whale oil, and several mechanisms use floodlights, such as watchtowers and tallboys.
Floodlights can impede stealth, as Corvo Attano is more easily spotted while in their glare.
- Floodlights are manufactured using a special type of crystal. Deposits of the valuable mineral were recently discovered on land belonging to the Boyle family.
- They are also used on the drawbridge section of Kaldwin's Bridge to watch for any boats passing through at night and are required to be disabled for Samuel to reach Anton Sokolov's Safehouse at North End during the mission The Royal Physician.
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WHEN people talk about Singapore's education miracle, they normally think of rows of clever young mathematicians. The hair-design and beauty-therapy training centres at the Institute of Technical Education (ITE) are rather different. The walls are covered with pouting models, L'Oréal adverts and television screens. There is a fully fitted-out spa and a hairdressing salon. It all seems rather more “Sex and the City” than Asian values, though the manicurists, pedicurists, cosmetologists and hairdressers toil diligently.
Asked whether he wants to go to university, the holy grail of most Asian families, a young barber called Noel replies that he would rather open a hairdressing salon. Mei Lien wants to set up her own beauty salon; Shuner would like to work in hotels abroad.
Until recently ITE—dubbed “It's The End” by ambitious middle-class parents—was the dark side of Singaporean education. The city state streams pupils rigorously and is unashamedly elitist: one school claims to send more students to Ivy League universities than any other secondary school in the world. But such a system also produces losers—and many of the bottom third who do not make it to university come to ITE.
Since the 1990s the government has worked hard to change ITE's image. It has not only spent a lot of money on new facilities and better teachers but also put a great deal of thought into it, scouring the West for best practice in vocational training. And it has encouraged students who are used to failure to take pride in their work. That has involved discipline (a list displays the names of class-shirkers) but also fun outside the classroom: ITE has sports teams and concerts just like any university.
This attention to detail has paid off. Many of the graduates have to compete with cheap migrant workers, especially in service jobs, but most of them are snapped up quickly. The hairdressers and beauty therapists are off to the new casinos, or “integrated resorts”, as they are prudishly known. Singapore, already near the top of most educational league tables, has created yet another centre of excellence that is beginning to attract foreign visitors.
Singapore is important to any study of government just now, both in the West and in Asia. That is partly because it does some things very well, in much the same way that some Scandinavian countries excel in certain fields. But it is also because there is an emerging theory about a superior Asian model of government, put forward by both despairing Western businesspeople and hubristic Asian chroniclers. Simplified somewhat, it comes in four parts.
First, Singapore is good at government (which is largely true). Second, the secret of its success lies in an Asian mixture of authoritarian values and state-directed capitalism (largely myth). Third, China is trying to copy Singapore (certainly true). Last, China's government is already more efficient than the decadent West (mostly rubbish, see next section).
For all the insults hurled at “Disneyland with the death penalty” (to use William Gibson's gibe), Singapore provides better schools and hospitals and safer streets than most Western countries—and all with a state that consumes only 19% of GDP. Yes, that proportion is understated because it does not include the other fingers the government has in the economic pie, such as its huge landholdings, the Central Provident Fund (a mandatory savings scheme) and Temasek (a government-linked investment company). Yes, it is easier to serve 5m people on a tiny island than 309m Americans on a vast landmass. Yes, it has relied on immigration, which is now creating strains (and will be the main topic in the next election). And yes, Singapore's bureaucrats can make mistakes, such as letting an Islamic terrorist escape in 2008. But its government does pretty well.
The Chinese are fascinated by it. “There is good social order in Singapore,” Deng Xiaoping observed in 1992. “We should draw from their experience, and do even better than them.” It sends streams of bureaucrats to visit Singapore. One of the first things that Xi Jinping did after being anointed in 2010 as China's next leader was to drop in (again) on Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore's minister-mentor, who ran the island from 1959 to 1990, and his son, Lee Hsien Loong, who has been prime minister since 2004. The Chinese are looking at other places, too—most obviously Hong Kong, another small-government haven. But it is hard to think of any rich-country leader whom China treats with as much respect as the older Mr Lee.
So what lessons are the Chinese learning? There is an odd imbalance between the things that Singapore and others make so much noise about and the reasons why the place works. In particular, the “Asian values” bits of Singapore—its authoritarianism and its industrial policy—that the Chinese seem to find especially congenial are less vital to its success than two more humdrum virtues: a good civil service and a competitively small state.
Singapore is certainly a fairly stern place. It has been run by the People's Action Party for half a century. The older Mr Lee, a Cambridge-educated lawyer who was originally seen as a bit of a left-winger, set up a parliamentary system in which it has proved curiously difficult for the opposition to do well. From 1966 to 1981 Mr Lee's PAP won all the seats. It has opened up a bit, and in the most recent election in 2006 it won only 66% of the votes and 82 of the 84 seats. The media, and particularly the internet, have also got a little freer.
The Singaporeans argue that they have the perfect compromise between accountability and efficiency. Their politicians are regularly tested in elections and have to make themselves available to their constituents; but since the government knows it is likely to win, it can take a long view. Fixing things like ITE takes time. “Our strength is that we are able to think strategically and look ahead,” says the prime minister. “If the government changed every five years it would be harder.”
There is more truth in this than Western liberals would like to admit. Not many people in Washington are thinking beyond the 2012 presidential election. It is sometimes argued that an American administration operates strategically for only around six months, at the beginning of its second year—after it has got its staff confirmed by the Senate and before the mid-terms campaign begins.
Yet even assuming that voters are happy to swap a little more efficiency for less democracy, Singapore still seems a difficult model to follow. Not only is it manageably small, but balancing authoritarianism and accountability comes down largely to personal skills (and even the opposition admits that the two Lees have been extremely good at it). More generally, Singapore's success as a planning state has a lot to do with the sort of people who run it.
One thing that stands out in Singapore is the quality of its civil service. Unlike the egalitarian Western public sector, Singapore follows an elitist model, paying those at the top $2m a year or more. It spots talented youngsters early, lures them with scholarships and keeps investing in them. People who don't make the grade are pushed out quickly.
Sitting around a table with its 30-something mandarins is more like meeting junior partners at Goldman Sachs or McKinsey than the cast of “Yes, Minister”. The person on your left is on secondment at a big oil company; on your right sits a woman who between spells at the finance and defence ministries has picked up degrees from the London School of Economics, Cambridge and Stanford. High-fliers pop in and out of the Civil Service College for more training; the prime minister has written case studies for them. But it is not a closed shop. Talent from the private sector is recruited into both the civil service and politics. The current education minister used to be a surgeon.
Western civil services often have pretty good people at the top, but in Singapore meritocracy reigns all the way down the system. Teachers, for instance, need to have finished in the top third of their class (as they do in Finland and South Korea, which also shine in the education rankings). Headmasters are often appointed in their 30s and rewarded with merit pay if they do well but moved on quickly if their schools underperform. Tests are endemic.
How much strategic intervention takes place in the economy? The Lees have dabbled in industrial policy, betting first on manufacturing and then on services. Temasek manages a portfolio of S$190 billion ($150 billion). The country is now trying to push into creative industries, with limited success thus far, as ministers admit.
These attempts at dirigisme have made Singapore a more reserved, less entrepreneurial place than Hong Kong with its feverish laissez-faire. It certainly has far fewer larger-than-life billionaires. But it is hard to hail Singapore as a success of top-down economic management in the way some Chinese seem to think. Indeed, the core of Singapore's success—its ability to attract foreign multinationals—owes far more to laissez-faire than to industrial policy.
Rather than seeing foreign investment as a way to steal technology or to build up strategic industries, as China often does, Singapore has followed an open-door policy, building an environment where businesses want to be. The central message has remained much the same for decades: come to us and you will get excellent infrastructure, a well-educated workforce, open trade routes, the rule of law and low taxes.
In other words, Singapore's competitive advantage has been good, cheap government. It has worked hard to keep its state small; even education consumes only 3.3% of GDP. But the real savings come from keeping down social transfers and especially from not indulging the middle class. The older Mr Lee thinks the West's mistake has been to set up “all you can eat” welfare states: because everything at the buffet is free, it is consumed voraciously.
Singapore's approach, by contrast, is for the government to provide people with assets that allow them to look after themselves. Good education for all is one big part of it. The other mainstay is the Central Provident Fund. A fifth of everybody's salary goes into their account at the CPF, with the employer contributing another 15.5%. That provides Singaporeans with the capital to pay for their own housing, pensions and health care and their children's tertiary education.
There is a small safety net to cover the very poor and the very sick. But people are expected to look after their parents and pay for government services, making co-payments for health care. The older Mr Lee especially dislikes free universal benefits. Once you have given a subsidy, he says, it is always hard to withdraw it. He is convinced that if you want to help people, it is better to give them cash rather than provide a service, whose value nobody understands. China, he thinks, will eventually follow Singapore's model.
But arguably the place that should be learning most from Singapore is the West. For all the talk about Asian values, Singapore is a pretty Western place. Its model, such as it is, combines elements of Victorian self-reliance and American management theory. The West could take in a lot of both without sacrificing any liberty. Why not sack poor teachers or pay good civil servants more? And do Western welfare states have to be quite so buffet-like?
By the same token, Singapore's government could surely relax its grip somewhat without sacrificing efficiency. That might help it find a little more of the entrepreneurial vim it craves.
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Cacao Vs. Cocoa
Often, the terms Cocoa and Cacao are used interchangeably when describing chocolate products, leading to the conflation and mystification of the terms; but Cocoa and Cacao are notably different. The term Cacao originates from the Aztec word cacaua, while the term Cocoa is thought to have come about through a misspelling/ error by english translators and traders. In modern times, chocolate makers have a more refined distinction between the two, where the difference lies in the process by which they are made into chocolate powders and bars, this process affecting the nutritional content of the final product.
After being separated from their pods, Cacao beans are placed in large drums/containers and left to ferment. Once fermented, the beans are dried then minimally roasted. Since the application of high heat in the roasting process changes the molecular structure of cacao, minimally roasting the beans aids in the preservation of cacao’s nutrients. The amount of roasting done to the beans is one of two criterion that separates Cacao from Cocoa. After roasting, the dried and roasted beans are crushed into raw cacao nibs and ground into a liquor. This liquor is left to cool, and once cooled is ground into Full-Spectrum Cacao Powder.
Cacao and Cocoa are differentiated by two junctions in the chocolate making process; the roasting of the raw nibs, and when the cacao liquor is pressed to extract the natural fats (cacao butter).
For cocoa powder, the beans are roasted at higher temperatures, as the higher temperatures -by way of changing the chocolate's molecular structure- bring to fruition the chocolatey and sweet taste we find so familiar.
Although this step of roasting is integral, the true difference between cacao and cocoa comes after the nibs are ground into a liquor. Once ground, the liquor is put into a large hydraulic press machine. When activated, the machine presses out all natural fats present in the cacao, transforming the liquor from cacao into cocoa (cacao contains around 40-50% natural fat). Left is a thin pancake-like substance (the cocoa) and liquid-form cocoa butter (the natural fat). As the cocoa butter hardens, the pancake-like cocoa is left to cool and then ground into cocoa powder.
While “fats” are often demonized, the natural occurring fats in cacao retain many of the antioxidants responsible for guarding against toxins, protecting against certain cancers, and reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease. In conjunction with minimal roasting, refraining from removing these natural fats helps to preserve cacao’s healthy natural nutrients. These natural nutrients and chemicals such as resveratrol produce calming effects in the body. Since Cacao belongs to the methylxanthine chemical family, and methylxanthine chemicals cross the blood-brain barrier allowing them to attach to the central nervous system, ingesting cacao leads to a calming and soothing effect. The chemicals bond to the central nervous system, producing the calming effect, while simultaneously helping to protect the central nervous system.
Chocolate is often pigeonholed as a dessert; delicious but unhealthy. This designation is due to the copious amount of sugar, artificial ingredients, artificial flavorings, oddly named refined oils, and artificial sweeteners that are added to chocolate. When not using these additives, both cocoa and cacao products are healthy foods. Although the fat in cocoa has been pressed out, the fat only makes up 40 -50% of cacao. Consequently, the other 50% still remains in cocoa. As a result, cocoa remains a healthy option for consumption. By using a cold pressing technique, and refraining from adding unnecessary and unnatural ingredients, we preserve many of cacao’s necessary nutrients in ChocoVivo’s bulk cacao powder. Since our beans are still minimally roasted, our bulk powder is still considered a cacao powder, although the fat has been pressed out. Without as much fat, the powder is easier to mix and use for baking.
Why Full Spectrum?
We use the term “Full Spectrum” to help convey the richness of our cacao powder. When purchasing CBD products, full spectrum refers to a product that, in production, was not stripped of any natural nutrients or elements. By using the term “Full Spectrum” in reference to our Full-Spectrum Cacao Powder, we call attention to the natural and full state of our chocolate. By only using natural techniques and not stripping the chocolate of its natural fats, we are left with a true full spectrum cacao powder; rich with resveratrol, antioxidants, theobromine, protein, and vitamins.
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A few weeks ago I attended Margaret Macmillan’s talk at the Vancouver Public Library. I came across Macmillan because my professor recommended her book, The War That Ended Peace , to the class. It hadn’t hit me that this is the centennial year of the start of WW1 so it is apt that Macmillan’s book is becoming more talked about now.
It was really a novel experience to be around people who liked history as much as I did although I was disappointed that there were very few people in my age group there. It was an even better experience to listen to someone speak who has a connection to history herself ( Macmillan is the great granddaughter of David Lloyd George, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom for the first couple of years of WW1).
I found the event absolutely engaging. If I’d taken any History courses during my undergrad, I’d have loved to have had a professor like Macmillan. It’s so clear when someone is passionate about their work as she is. Macmillan said she loves “moments in history where issues become clear even when they are not settled.” She gave a lot of food for thought.
I found it interesting that Macmillan said there were a lot of parallels between the time pre-1914 and our present time, namely, we have become used to peace like our forebears did. She also made very interesting observations about Europe in those days. Europeans were overly-confident about their progress and about how powerful their continent was. They believed any war that would take place would be short-lived. They also believed that it was only a matter of time before China and the Ottoman Empire were divided up among them. They believed in the evolution of the human race and that Europeans were too civilized and advanced to go to war. Macmillan referenced the 1909 book entitled “The Great Illusion” where the author believed that war was unlikely as it profited nobody.
Interesting fact: When WW1 broke out, 30,000 works in England were published to discuss the cause of the war, whose fault it was. It was more than just the assassination of Franz Ferdinand. This is of course worrying because if we’re not sure of the cause how are we going to deal with similar situations today?
In history there are a lot of “what if’s”: What if there had been no WW1? Would there have been a Russian Revolution, and by extension, a Stalin, communism, or a Cold War? If the Ottoman Empire had still been intact, how would the Middle East have turned out? Is it possible that the British and French empires would still be in existence today, and that the USA would not have been as powerful as it is today if WW1 hadn’t broken out?
Was WW1 inevitable? Macmillan doesn’t think so. She believes that a couple of main factors were the reason. Globalization was one; this made people more suspicious of each other as they became intimately linked, Germany and Great Britain in particular. There was an 1896 pamphlet entitled “Made in Germany” that contained protectionism against Germany, who was seen as a threat economically.
The second reason was the growth in nationalism as the public became more literate and informed. Mythical histories formed, the popularity of social Darwinism which helped propagate the idea that struggle is good was also an issue, and the fact that military was seen as noble was not to be questioned all lent a hand here.
During the very short Q&A section, the first question from the audience, and I could see this one coming, was to ask Macmillan her thoughts on the crisis in the Ukraine. What I’d like to say here is that I’ve heard a lot of people question the value of humanities degrees (and I have one so this is speaking from experience), yet at this time where Russia and the Ukraine are making the news, people see the need of turning to a public intellectual, a humanities scholar (historian), for assurance and clarity.
In response to the question about the Ukraine, Macmillan stated that it all depends on Putin, which makes sense. The Ukraine can’t respond with force but the crisis has the potential to bring in other powers.
Another interesting question was about social media. Macmillan stated that although it’s good that we get messages a lot quicker, it does put a lot of pressure on the government to make quick decisions in times when they really should be taking their time to think things carefully.
And I loved this line from Margaret Macmillan, it sums up my approach to social justice and advocacy: “We keep trying and I think we have to keep trying.”
Slightly off-topic, I met a very interesting lady at the event. She writes lyrics for The Raging Grannies. She talked to me about her life, how she stopped working as a fashion designer to do activism work. I’m not sure how old she is, only that she shares a birthday with Nelson Mandela, but the fact that she’s still going strong, writing, and going to protests really inspired me.
Here is one of the songs that she wrote:
BE A THORN OR BE A SPANNER (to the tune of The Rose by Bette Midler)
“Be a thorn or be a spanner…
Be a sharp stick in the spokes,
Be a challenge…be persistent…
Be a poke…or several pokes!
Be a voice of new direction,
Be a satire! Be your age!
And remember…all you Grannies…
It’s up to us to rage!
Be a rose…or be a bouquet,
Be gently firm…or tough.
Come on, y’know it’s OK
To rebel!…Enough’s enough!
Just remember that we’re called on
To be thorns in the side…
Or a spanner in the old works…
From which a new world will arise!– Barbara Calvert Seifred
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The lottery is a game wherein a person can win big money by playing a game. However, the odds of winning are very low. The prize money can vary from a few thousand dollars to millions of dollars. This game is very popular in the United States and contributes billions to state revenue. However, the game is also a form of gambling and can be addictive. There are many ways to play the lottery, such as buying a ticket or entering online. The winner will be determined by a random drawing. The word lottery comes from the Latin loter
A player can buy a ticket from any authorized lottery seller. The prize money may be distributed among several winners or a single winner can choose to receive a lump sum of cash or annuity payments that will be paid over time. Regardless of the prize money, the purchaser must pay a fee to purchase a ticket.
While the lottery is a fun way to pass the time, it can be harmful to your financial health. It can also increase your chances of becoming addicted to other gambling activities. It’s best to avoid playing the lottery unless you can control your spending and addictions. It’s also important to note that the amount of money you win in the lottery depends on your dedication and proven lotto strategies.
Lotteries are popular in Australia, where one of the first was established in 1849. Its proceeds have financed many public works, including the Sydney Opera House. The country has also held a number of charitable lotteries to raise funds for education, healthcare, and community projects. In addition, the Australian government has legalized online lotteries and has a centralized system for collecting and reporting sales.
People who play the lottery are often lured by promises that life will be better if they win. However, it’s important to remember that God forbids coveting wealth and the things that money can buy. Moreover, winning the lottery is not an end to poverty, illiteracy, or disease. People who believe this myth are putting their lives in danger and ignoring biblical teachings that are critical for a happy and fulfilled life. So, instead of relying on luck to change your circumstances, focus on developing good habits and using proven strategies to improve your financial well-being. This will enable you to make wise decisions in the future. Then, you’ll be on the path to a fulfilling life that doesn’t depend solely on luck. Good luck!
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N. H.—North America, Europe.
Properties: Heart tonic and restorative.
Use: This is a superior remedy in various heart troubles, it not only relieves, as many other remedies do, but often proves curative as well. Being a good heart tonic and restorative it improves circulation and consequently favors better oxygenation of the blood. We think of it in hypertrophy, valvular insufficiency, praecordial oppression, tachycardia, neuralgia of the heart, cardiac dropsy, or dropsy the result of weak heart's action; vertigo, apoplexy, angina pectoris, pericarditis and myocarditis. Of value in Bright's disease and diabetes. It appears to have solvent and absorbent power, and has been found to be of value on that account in atheroma, sclerosis of the arteries And also in calcareous and other similar deposits in the arteries. This drug needs further investigation. Crataegus oxyacantha has often given good results where other heart remedies have failed. If it should cause nausea or fullness in the head the dose should be reduced. A valuable heart tonic.
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"Technique is being able to sing freely and with ease, so that your body can really obey your artistic ideas. What goes into that is a lot of study, a lot of rigorous and occasionally tedious repetition of exercises, so they become muscle memory, so that when you're in a performance, you're not thinking, Is my jaw tight? Is my tongue loose enough? Are my ribs expanded? You're only thinking about communicating with your audience."
"The Elements of Vocal Technique class is half lecture and half master class. Several people per class will get up and perform for the class, and then we work on technical issues that they have. Today, we looked at the larynx, so they have a better idea of what is physically going on with their instrument. It's much easier to see with an instrument outside of yourself. But when the instrument is you, it's so important to really understand the fundamentals, so that you can keep healthy and have a long career."
"I am a classical singer. There's something about opera that is just addictive. I think that it's really a combination of collaborating with an orchestra, other singers, directors, conductors and being onstage in costume. It's really exciting."
"One of the things that I was excited to find in Berklee's Voice Department is that they really want students to have a basic knowledge of classical bel canto singing. 'Bel canto' simply means 'beautiful singing' in Italian, but it encompasses an aesthetic of singing with your whole voice, with singing legato and with as much voice and vowel as you can. I think that can be translated into many styles and many genres. It's a really lovely, basic, healthy concept of singing."
- D.M.A., Stonybrook University
- J.O.C./M.A., Juilliard School
- Diploma, University of Toronto
- B.Mus., Dalhousie University
- Member of Ensemble Poema and Vilas Baroque
- Performances at Chicago Opera Theater, National Arts Center of Ottawa, BAM, the Kennedy Center, Carnegie Hall, and Alice Tully Hall
- Recordings include Samuel Barber, Russian Philharmonic Orchestra
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